This morning we started our trek from the truck stop to the city of Barcelona. A 25minute walk along a dusty old track followed by a 35minute train ride and we'd reached our destination! We've found one of the best ways to orientate yourself quickly in a new city is to make use of the "hop on, hop off" tourist buses so off we went (or should I say on). We hopped off first at a great park area and walked ourselves through it in search of the cable car to take us to the Fort on top of the hill. The bus does stop right in front, however to really see the sites you need to identify a few spots to get off and let your feet do the work.
The cable car gave terrific views of the city as it worked it's way up the hill and given we'd hogged a 6 person car to ourselves we were able to sit back and enjoy it without interruption. The views from the top were magnificent with the open calmness of the bay on one side and the crowded bustle of the city on the other. With a clear blue sky you couldn't ask for a better view of either side.
Back down to the bus stop and we luckily secured front seats on the top deck. Our rule is if we get these seats then we do a full lap on the bus as you can secure all your landmark photo's and then get off and do it on foot. Reaching the top of the Rambla we hopped back off to find a snack and explore the old town. The Rambla is a main street with a pedestrian access down the middle full of buskers, cafés, artists and ice-cream stalls. We'll admit that we have indulged at a fair number of the ice-cream stalls, it's just so good and so easy to justify it to each other!

Off to the side is the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, essentially the old part of town with narrow streets, little restaurants, cafés and locals going about their daily business. This was what we'd come to experience in Barcelona, although the truck stop will be a funny story to us by the time we come home. After taking some great black&white photo's of these streets we took a break in one of the many cafés and watched the world go by on the streets outside the window....

Refreshed, it was on our feet again as we made our way down the Rambla towards the marina for a couple of hours by the bay. With so many yachts here Sarah could hardly decide which one she wanted, so she took some photo's of them all so she could think about her choices later on.......

Stumbling across the local market we grabbed dinner on the go. As it was near closing time many stalls were trying to clear our the stock that couldn't be kept till tomorrow so we enjoyed 5 individual real fruit juices and a crusty bread stick for only $2.70 euro.
It was now around 7pm and with about an hour of daylight left we decided to start our trek back home. The long dusty track isn't something we wanted to be tackling after dark as there are no lights along it and there's nothing around you. Too many movies have been made about stupid tourists walking tracks like this after dark........