Part 6, continued from part 5
We hopped back on the tourist bus and rode to the other Gaudà house that we hadn’t yet seen, only to find a long line for it. So we rode the other bus line to Parc Guell, the “English-style” park that Gaudi’ had designed for his patrons, the Guells. We walked around there, photographing and filming, until we were hungry, then got back on the bus (rush hour – we had to wait in line and the first two buses were full before we could board, but they were running every 5-10 minutes) to go to another part of town in search of lunch.
We dismounted in Sarria’¡ and walked until we found, on a side street, a small restaurant full of local people – not a tourist in sight, and no one spoke English. But we managed to communicate well enough to obtain appetizers of fried artichokes (greasy, but yummy), followed by a cheeseburger with no bun (for Ross) and a small tuna steak (for me). Total cost: 20 euros.
Travel Tip: For a cheap, decent meal, follow your nose to where the local people are eating.
Back on the bus for a leisurely ride, with explanations of the sights we were seeing, until we got back to the university area and went to meet Enrico. I checked my email on his office computer while he sat outside on a bench helping Ross with her math homework, then we all headed back to Sant Cugat to pick up our luggage, and Enrico drove us to Gerona airport and our Ryanair flight back home. Nothing much to say about that except that, unusually in my experience with Ryanair, the flight was late. I had arranged a ride from my taxi driver friend Antonello since the flight, even when on time, gets in too late to catch the last train from Bergamo to Lecco. We also had to wait a while for the luggage – luggage delivery seems to always be slow in Italian airports, and I distinctly saw a man running along behind the luggage train with my suitcase in hand – I guess it had fallen off on the last curve (no breakables in it, fortunately). With one thing and another, it was 1 am by the time we got home and to bed. Getting up again at 6:45 for school and work was hard…
Unfortunately, the cold I had throughout the trip has developed into bronchitis. I worked the Thursday and Friday after our return, but will probably be home all this week, coughing, feverish, and not able to sleep properly… At least today (April 25th) is a national holiday and Friday I would have been working from home anyway due to a transport strike.
gallery of Ross’ photos of Parc Guell
