#884962 by mrsw
07 Oct 2014, 15:01
We had a lovely relaxing weekend in Barcelona, including a lot of eating, sleeping and walking around. OH and I have both been to Barcelona previously, so we didn’t feel the need to rush around and seeing all the sights. On the first day, shortly after we arrived at our hotel, we caught some sort of a food festival in a square near our hotel on Rambla del Raval, where 2 bowls of paella and 1 drink cost a mere €3!! We couldn’t resist but had 4 bowls of paella (between us), and although we had to wait for some of them for over half an hour (poor OH wasn’t half as good as me at choosing the queues), and painfully watch the paella simmer, only to have more stock added to it xx( , they were worth the wait, and we enjoyed the very authentic experience.

We spent the other two days walking around Las Ramblas, visiting the Joan Miro Foundation (for no particular reason the entrance was free on the day we visited – a very pleasant and welcome surprise 8D ), and had lovely tapas and pinchos, as well as a few mojitos y) . The weekend really helped us relax into our full holiday mode, and putting all the stress and worry with the building works behind us (but this didn’t last too long!)

After spending 2 days in Barcelona, we were ready to start our real itinerary of BCN-LHR-PEK-LHR(-CDG). Off we went to the airport by Aeroporto Bus to T1, which was a smooth and quick journey. After searching for the luggage lockers 2 days ago, this time we headed straight there. Due to the delay on the outbound journey, we actually only had just shy of 48 hours, meaning that the locker only cost us €11.60. In case anyone mind find this useful, to use the locker, you pay €5.80 (how much it cost per 24 hours) when you deposit the luggage, and once you closed the door, you can’t then open it without paying. When you collect it, you pay for the remainder depending on how long you’ve had the locker for. Although the locker itself only takes coins, there’s a free change machine at the entrance which will break down your notes in euros. However, these lockers do not take cards.

Having picked up our luggage, we went to BA check-in and luggage drop-off. We checked-in online the day before (though a little late so I won’t reveal the SEQ number here), and were able to choose seats for both BCN-LHR and also LHR-PEK, which was a pleasant surprise. Having the connecting flight therefore meant that we were able to select seats before check-in opened 24 hours before the PEK flight, so we beat the crowd there and chose the bulkhead seats for the long-haul. The extra legroom turned out to be the only good thing about that flight n( , but more on that in that TR later.

The bag drop agent wasn’t half as friendly and smiley as the one at LGW 2 days ago, but no surprise there. We were asked whether we wanted the bag to be checked through to PEK, our destination rather than LHR and we said yes. Security was fairly quick by memory, and we had some time at duty free and did some exploring, testing of products, tasting of chocolates, and almost bought some travel-friendly moisturiser at €24. However, I really wanted to use the free wifi at BCN to check how much it would be to buy in London. After many frustrating attempts on all 3 phones (collectively), the free wifi refused to work. I decided to take my chances at Heathrow instead (and rightly so, as it was £14.70 there! ^) ). I did feel, though, that the lack of free working wifi for such a big and shiny new airport terminal is rather disappointing. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by the 1.5 hours generously offered to Heathrow Reward customers.

Not too long after that, the gate number was showing on the big screen, and we headed to it. Boarding was fine, again with no free papers or magazines (maybe it’s this route?), but much to my surprise, we stepped onto a newly refurbished A320! It had that new plane smell, and was so shiny I almost cried ^) . The seat was comfortable, there was a special plastic storage thing for the High Life (and other) magazines (a bit ironic given the lack of free magazines), and the plastic is almost a pure brilliant white (can you tell I’ve been doing too much home improvement lately?)

The service was fine, nothing spectacular, but ok. A lovely flatbread was handed out with chicken tikka on it (no cheese! Yippee!) and it was delicious! I’ve had some lovely sandwiches/wraps on short-haul BA flights and this was amongst the very best.

The flight was pretty quick again, a mere 2 hours. I was quite excited to land and check-out T5 for the first time. By the way, the fact that this flight lands at T5 is one of the reasons why we chose the BCN route as our ex-EU departure point, as LHR to PEK is departing from T5, and a lot of the ex-EU flights to LHR land at other terminals and we didn’t want the faff in case the first sector is delayed. That said, the connecting experience was not great by any means, but I’m jumping the gun again and this probably belongs to the TR for the next sector. ):

I will wrap this TR up by saying that overall I thought BCN was a great hub for the ex-EU trick. The relatively short flights, the convenient and affordable airport buses to the city centre, the cheap lockers (with the change machines), and the lovely city itself lands itself well for us as a starting point for a long-haul trip. I tried working out the cost for this extra little break on the flight, including the one-way flight to get us to BCN, the hotel, the food, and transport, lockers, etc, and the total cost per person for the 2 day break was about £160 each, significantly lower than the £400 saved by doing the ex-EU trick. Of course with that saving also came the happiness and relaxation gained from the little break (and some sun), and you can’t put any value on that. :)
#884966 by hiljil
07 Oct 2014, 15:55
Thank you for Part Two. What a nice bonus to be on a new plane.

Look forward to Chapter Three ! :D
#884970 by Bretty
07 Oct 2014, 16:37
Ditto what hiljil said, looking forward to chapter 3 and I'm intrigued as you've left little breadcrumbs for us...
#884991 by Blacky1
07 Oct 2014, 20:01
Bretty wrote:Ditto what hiljil said, looking forward to chapter 3 and I'm intrigued as you've left little breadcrumbs for us...


Ditto bretty's ditto about what hilljil said !

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