Mammy’s Back in Town!
- Mar 15, 2017
- 10 min read
Location:
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
While we are sad our incredible adventures travelling through the ever-impressive Japan is coming to an end, myself and Jason still have something quite big to look forward to. It may be the end for now, but someday we will return to ‘The Land of The Rising Sun.’ As we waited at the train station for our train to the airport, Jason decided to see if he could find some snacks for us to keep us going, while I stayed and watched the bags. Soon after Jason left, I realised that we needed to wait further up the platform so I decided to move all our luggage up in one go. As I was doing so, a train pulls up. Once the doors opened, I could not move. I had to just stay still. I have never seen anything like it. A practically empty platform a few seconds ago, is now swarming with people. And in less than 60 seconds it will be completely empty again until the next train arrives! Life in a city with nearly 14 million people! To be fair, if it was Dublin, it would be utter chaos!
After my little ordeal, we made it to the airport in one piece. On our way back to Europe, we had a little stopover in Moscow, Russia. What a chaotic airport. There were no proper queues, everyone was just all over the place. Our flight was delayed. We didn’t know what was happening. Let me out of here please! I’m sure Russia would be an incredible country to visit if it weren’t for their out of touch views on homosexuality. After the chaos comes the peace! Back on the plane, high up in the sky, we each breathed a sigh of relief! The excitement was beginning to set in.
After a fair bit of travelling, we touched down in Barcelona, Spain close to 11PM. It has been so long since we have been on European soil, and boy, does it feel good. Are priority for this evening is getting all our luggage and making our way to our hostel for tomorrow will be another big day!
Eventually we made it to ‘St Christopher's Inns’ hostel, which is right in the centre of the city beside ‘Plaça de Catalunya.’ After checking in, we both went straight up to our dorm for a few hours’ sleep before the madness begins. For a night’s stay, the hostel is very nice. If we ever find ourselves back in the city, I definitely wouldn’t stay no to another night or two.
At the crack of dawn, we were up. We have so much to organise. After checking out of the hostel, we enjoyed a rather cheap buffet breakfast deal in the hostels bar before making our way to our apartment for the next few nights, courtesy of ‘Habitat Apartments Jazz.’ I don’t know why I am saying ‘Courtesy of’ them. We are the ones paying for it. So far, the area we are staying in seems nice. There are lots of nice bakery’s and café’s. The apartment is right next to the metro station, so location wise, its pretty good. While I tried to sort everything out, Jason went out to pick a few fresh croissants from one of the nearby bakeries to have in.
Oh my God! The time has finally come. We are back at the Airport waiting for our very special guests. It’s been two years since we were last at home. Two years without… After much excitement, the first of our two very specials guests walks out. Jason looks up with his eyes lighting up. His mother Joanne, is standing right in front of him. It was like watching one of the final scenes from ‘Home Alone’ when Kevin and his mother are finally reunited! Surely Joanne didn’t leave my poor mother back in Dublin! Where is she? I want my mammy! I went into the terminal building to see if I could see her. My wonderful mother finally came out, and how amazing it was for us to be reunited with each other after two long years. While we missed our mammies, we wouldn’t change our time away from home. Getting engaged in Melbourne, Jason turning the big 30 in a helicopter over ‘The Great Ocean Road,’ celebrating my big birthday in Borneo with some rather impressive Orangutans and learning to dive in Gili Air, to name but a few, not to mention the amazing time we had with the ‘Bounce Crew’ in Sydney! We have so many amazing memories! Eventually, my special guest who was delayed, walked out, and how wonderful it was!
Thinking it would be easier to get a taxi back into the city, it turns out they are all on strike. Of course, cheeky Jason pushes his way up near the front of the queue, I mean after all, we do have to look after our two VIP’s. The bus into city was fine. With a packed bus, we were thankful that we each got a seat beside each other. It’s so nice to be able to be in the company of our two amazing mothers. The bus brought us to the city’s famous plaza where we had to figure out what metro to get to our apartment. Bless our mothers, they are doing great despite the very early flight they had. They are probably living off adrenalin. As we brought them to our neighbourhood for the next few nights, they seem very happy. After all our searching and worrying, the apartment was met with a lot of positive comments. Could it be that we found the perfect place? Remember the croissants Jason picked up, well, they went down a treat! After getting ready, we went for a stroll down to the nearest supermarket where we all got some things in to do us for the next few days. Myself and my mother were very impressed with the strawberries. We got a huge tray of them for no more than €10. Now that is what you call value! Jason and his mother were off finding their own treats, let’s just say theirs was a little bit stronger than ours. After our little shop, we walked back to our apartment before heading out to explore this rather magnificent city.
Our apartment being was in walking in distance to the famous Sagrada Família, a large unfished Roman Catholic church. An impressive piece of architecture, of which we were too miserable to pay to go inside, but never the less, we enjoyed walking around the outside and having a good look around before indulging in some nice cakes and hot beverages. Well, we are on our holiday! On our first proper day in the city, we had a nice casual afternoon exploring the city before trying to find somewhere nice to eat. While myself and Jason enjoyed some rather sophisticated tapas with a modern twist, let’s just say if it didn’t go down to well with my mother, it certainly didn’t impress Joanne!
The next day was certainly more Irish than the previous. You can’t get more Irish than Paddy’s Day. Well unless your American! How they go overboard on everything. I mean, just look at ‘President Trump’ and his heavy hand with the mahogany cream. ‘President Trump’ what horrible, vile words. This is the world we live in. Joanne very kindly brought nice celebratory t-shirts for us all to wear and a head piece for my mother, that was going nowhere near her immaculate ‘wig.’ It would have been funny if it did. Imagine! I would have to get the camera out then. Our day began right in the centre of the city on Plaça de Catalunya, where we were able to capture some rather lovely photographs. Just like Joanne his hard to please when it comes to food, my mother is the same about photographs. Of course, she can spot a nice one when she sees it, the problem is there are very few of herself that she really likes. After our little wander through the square, Mummy wanted to check out some of the shops including a browse in the official ‘FC Barcelona’ store for Jack, before heading deeper in to the old part of the city. The Spanish architecture is out of this world. It is stunning! One of the things I really like about the city is the way you walk down a little street and there is something rather impressive just around the corner like a plaza or a rather magnificent building.
Before splitting up for a few hours, we ventured up to the famous ‘St. Josep La Boqueria’ food market, where we had a nice look around while Jason sampled some free treats. For lunch, we just couldn’t resist that amazing noodle place we found in Amsterdam, remember, ‘Walk to Wok!’ I think our mothers enjoyed it just as much as we did.
We both enjoyed exploring the ancient ‘Gothic Quarter’ of the city with our mothers. It was nice to have alone time with them. My crazy mother decided to pop into a craft like jewellery store where she was getting very creative. At one point, it looked as if she had birthdays and Christmas sorted with all the fancy pieces she was going to create. Afterwards, my rather generous mother treated me to some rather tasty handmade chocolates and a lovely coffee on ‘Plaça Reial.’ What a lovely setting for afternoon tea! I think this will do for mammy and me! As we wandered through the streets, we found ourselves looking in awe at the jaw dropping gothic style of ‘The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia’ or ‘Barcelona Cathedral’ as it is more commonly known. Between the 13th and 15th centuries, this ever-impressive piece of architecture was constructed.
Later on, after doing our own thing with our mammies, we met up to go for some food. Jason and his mammy were not impressed with us being so late. When you are as important as us, you can’t arrive on time. To be fair, we simply lost track of time. Later on, that evening, Jason and Joanne decided to go out for a Paddy’s Day drink. As it wasn’t my mother’s cup of tea, I decided to give it a miss. After all, it’s good to let Jason and his mother have some nice bonding time together.
The next day, Jason and Joanne woke after their wild night out. At least they both got back in one piece. They appeared to have had a good night. I guess that is the main thing. Later on, that day, myself and my mam did so much walking through the wee streets of the city, we ended up at the harbour. We both sat down for a few minutes as we were a tad bit tired. After a nice long rest, we had a nice look around before getting some lunch. The place we picked looked nice with great views, but the food was pretty average. Oh well! After a bit of time at the waterfront, we began to head back for the city in search of a metro station. Eventually we found one. Before meeting up with the others, we had to go back to the apartment to get changed. On the way back, we picked up another little treat for ourselves. Sure, why not!
We were kind of late again, which Jason was certainly not impressed over as he wanted to see a traditional ‘Flamenco’ show. I felt really bad Jason missing his show. I know how much he was looking forward to it. I was in his bad books, for a little while at least! All that was left to do on our final night together in the city was to find some where nice to eat. And what a gem we found. It might not have wowed Joanne, but certainly impressed the rest of us. The setting was lovely, the food was amazing and the company was top class!
On our last full day in Barcelona, we checked out of the apartment and our mothers gave us a helping hand with all our luggage as we made our way to ‘Pars Tailor's Hostel’ for our one night stay. I knew it would do the job when mammy was impressed. I think the old tailor inspired interior did it for her. After leaving all our stuff in the luggage room, we ventured over to the harbour for something different. As the three of us figured out where to eat, Joanne couldn’t resist a bit of sunbathing on the beach! It took us a while to find somewhere nice, but eventually we did. After lunch, myself and my mother went off exploring while Jason and his mother relaxed on the beach.
Later on, we were back at the airport saying good bye to our wonderful mammies. I think they enjoyed themselves. I know myself and Jason did. On the way, back home after spotting the ‘Plaça d'Espanya’ on the bus with my mother, I decided to get off here and have a good look around. Jason, who was tired, went straight back to the hostel. It was only a stop or two before where we were supposed to get off! It’s a pity I didn’t get to show my mam around, she would have loved it. What an impressive space. It is probably the most impressive area I have seen so far in Barcelona, and that says it all. The ‘Venetian Towers’ which are two large, dominant structures which sat at the start of the Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina’ an avenue that led all the way up to the ‘Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya’ which sits at the top of a series of steps. From the architecture to the landscaping, a simple ‘OMG, WOW!’ will do it! After some nice photos, I eventually walked back to my Jay Jay. I’m sure he was wondering what happened to me.
What an amazing time we had back in Europe! It was so nice to be able to see our two mothers again. How we missed them! As for the city, I can see now why it is so popular! While the trip wasn’t all about us, there was no big, mad rush to see and do everything like it normally is with us! We both agreed that it is our mothers holiday as well, and it was important that we give them a nice casual few days. If we see things great, if we don’t, well, we can always come back! I think it worked. We ended up seeing a lot while enjoying a cheeky coffee or two! Little do they know that we have a surprise in store for them…
By Andrew
Comments