Barcelona Travel Diary | Day Four

Our last day in beautiful Barcelona didn't turn out as we had expected. Was this karma teaching us a lesson when we didn't really wanna be there? Heck knows! 

We checked out at 12 that morning, and proceeded to the usual coffee shop. We took a proper stroll around the local area that we stayed in, Clot, and walked around the park. The aqueduct was really impressive, I had to get a picture before we left! 

La Sagrada Familia

Our plan consisted of heading to La Sagrada Familia and taking some proper pictures and finding somewhere for patatas bravas before we left for our evening flight. Did this go to plan? Of course not. The sky opened up and we were forced to take shelter in the metro station. We managed to pop our heads out a couple of times for pictures, but nothing satisfactory! 

McFlurry Adventures

The rain put us off trekking around, looking for patatas bravas, so we ended up in trusty Maccy D's! It seems to be a running theme for us to try each city's own McFlurry! Budapest was peanut M&Ms, Berlin had Bounty and Snickers, and Barcelona had Praline, which seemed more like the Lotus Biscoff biscuits you get with coffee, paired with hot caramel! I ate all of the biscuit and gave the ice-cream to Sam! It's practically a rite of passage at this stage for myself and Sam to order fries with our McFlurries, because our first ever, 'proper date' was McFlurries and fries! Cringe? Cheap? You bet! I guess it will always be our thing now. Yum!

Pint? Cocktail? ANYTHING?

With nothing left to do on our check-list, and an unending rain-shower, we decided we would head to the airport early, shop around the duty free, and grab some food and maybe even a drink! Do you think we could find even ONE bar in the airport??? Us Irish are spoiled in Dublin Airport. We were appalled. All we wanted was a pre-flight tipple at a bar, but not a chance of it! 

The food selection wasn't mega either. We ended up in a steakhouse. Yes, we, the vegetarians, ended up in a steakhouse. We got nachos, and any kind of fries they could offer us, and we were actually happy out.

2 vegetarians + 1 steakhouse = 1 surprising success

Spanner in the Works

We shopped around duty free for cheap alcohol and perfume, denting our bank accounts before we decided on coffee instead of a cocktail. We sat in the practically deserted café, watching the rain pour, and working on our own plans for our individual pursuits. One of my favourite things about our relationship, is that we both work independently and can do our own thing in each others company, making spending time together a little more productive at times! 

We tucked into some snacks, and I managed to get a can of San Miguel, and as we waited on our gate number, something funny appeared on the display board....our flight was DELAYED. It didn't even say the word delayed, it just displayed a new time. We were so confused and we just prayed that it was wrong, or that it was the estimated time of arrival in Dublin, or SOMETHING else. 

The Wait was On

Sure enough, when we went to our gate, it was confirmed, delayed. We were already there way too early for our flight, and now it was delayed more and more each time we looked. As the hours ticked on, I got more tired, more anxious, more hungry, it was a nightmare for me. Sam kept me really grounded through it all, and we even made mates with a group of men slugging cans as they waited. 

Extra Expense

The most sickening thing about the delay was not the wait in Barcelona airport, it was the fact that we missed our bus home, and had to pay 60 quid on a taxi to my apartment in Maynooth, and a further 20 odd on a train home the following day. It was sheer luck I had my keycard in my wallet. The universe didn't want us home at all!

What was your worst travel disaster?

Thanks for reading

xoxo