Our loop around the Iberian Peninsula is almost done — all that's left is to cross the north from west to east, from Galicia to Catalonia. But there's still a long way to go on our round-the-world bike trip.
Over the past few months we crossed the Pyrenees through Navarre, hugged the Mediterranean coast, crossed the Sierra Nevada, rested in Madrid, did the Camino de Santiago in our own style, dipped into Portugal, and now find ourselves in Galicia following the coast.
We've got Barcelona in our sights and a date in mind: 22 June. By then we'll be almost six months into our round-the-world ride, and we've decided to take a short holiday.
A holiday from travelling — and from the bike
Ilze will fly home to Latvia in time for the summer solstice celebrations, which are a national holiday there. I'll split my time between Zaragoza and Barcelona for a couple of weeks.
During those days I want to move forward on a few projects:
- Putting together a photo book of our first six months and the preparations for the round-the-world trip.
- Catching up on the blog — a backlog of stories to tell, plus a few practical posts for travellers.
- Following the Ebro river by bike, from Zaragoza to the Delta, probably solo.
- Giving a couple of talks and possibly putting on a photo exhibition from the trip.
They'll fly by, so we'll see how much actually gets done.
Ilze and I will be apart in Barcelona for two weeks — the first time since we met up in Poland to hitchhike together during her holiday, a "holiday" that has already lasted three years.
But in July we'll meet back up in the Catalan capital, a city we've visited before and love. We'll catch up with friends and wander its streets.
What to do in Barcelona
Anyone who's never been to Barcelona — or is planning a visit — shouldn't miss the Gothic Quarter, the beaches, the Sagrada Família or Park Güell; but if there's one thing Barcelona does better than almost any other European city, it's aimless wandering.
Barcelona has a special magic, and the entertainment, activities and places of interest on offer are enormous.
Life in Barcelona is expensive, but you can find accommodation that suits your budget: a few days with locals through Couchsurfing, a hotel found on search engines like Venere, or renting a flat from locals through platforms like Airbnb. It all depends on what you're after.
If you're flying into Barcelona or catching a flight from there, check out the airport connections — there are city buses that will save you the premium of the official Aerobús.
Barcelona memories
What great memories Barcelona holds for us. It was one of the cities we visited at the very start of our time travelling together, right at the end of our hitchhiking trip from Latvia to Spain in 14 days.
And a year later we spent 24 hours straight pounding its streets — no sleep, a nap on the beach, visiting friends who happened to be passing through at the same time.
Thanks for the Barcelona photos to Vaidotas Mišeikis and Luc Mercelis — a hard drive failed a while back and I lost several months of trip photos, including the ones from our previous time in Spain.
I'm sure we'll enjoy Barcelona just as much this time — the people, the atmosphere — and come away with plenty of new photos.
