Viva España

Good grief! What a day!
After dropping Noodle off with Alex's mum for weekend dog-sitting duties, & an appointment to open my business bank account, Alexander & I were finally on our way to Barcelona for my birthday trip away!
My airport tradition is perfume, his is beer, so I indulged in both, whilst he just had a double quantity.

We got to our apartment pretty late after a very welcome Apple Maps guided route through the city.
Alex had been told by many people about the high pickpocket rate & that put us both slightly on edge, especially carrying our luggage- in addition to our travel notes noting our neighborhood, El Ravel was "the edgier part of town"...
The apartment was a total hidden gem, at the very top of a very narrow, 78 step staircase! 3 balconies & fab interior design.
Despite our slight apprehension en-route we headed out to the locality for a night cap.
The Ladies of the Night & unsavory looking characters selling cans of beer for ?1 didn't phase us & we finally leaded to bed at 3am...
A very enjoyable & carefree start to the weekend...