Day 6: Baby Shark

This day was long on hours and short on story. 

We went to Gare de Lyon early enough so there would be no worry of missing the train. That was all well and good, except that I forgot Gare de Lyon is COLD. It's mostly open to the outside, especially Hall 2,which is where our train was coming in. 

We sat in the one beam of sunshine and waited. And waited. And... Yeah. But Mom got to use a pay toilet, so that was a new experience for her. And, yes, she remarked about how great it is to have full doors at the stalls. That's right. America needs to stop with the peep-gaps. 

We settled in the train and basically just watched the scenery, which is lovely this time of year, pointed out a castle or two, ate overpriced mediocre food (at least mediocre by European standards), and tried in vain to convince Mom that what she was seeing was, in fact, snow on the mountains near Perpignan. 

We also took several naps and watched downloaded videos to pass the time. We were also kept entertained by the family next to us. At every stop, dad would hop off the train and tap the window from the outside, making his two girls crack up laughing. 

 

Oh, and why is this one named Baby Shark? Because the adorable youngest girl (about 2 years old) played it once on her tablet while her mom helped her do the hand motions. Her giggling gave us the warm and fuzzies. And her 4-ish big sister was a doppelganger for my little niece. Except I heard this little girl speak English, French, Catalán/Spanish, and what sounded like Punjabi. Kira needs to step up her game! 

The rest of the day was mundane travel stuff. Except now it was en español. 

Oh, one thing of interest. The hotel we're staying in in Barcelona is named Leonardo Boutique Hotel. I've never stayed at a "boutique" hotel but I was pretty sure it would not be too my liking. In my dictionary, "boutique" is French for "expensive." And the champagne waiting at the front desk did nothing to dissuade me from that belief.

This hotel was mostly good but the rooms had this musty/sewer smell. I aired both out and went to the store. Sure enough, the funk was back. I traced it to the shower. It seems there was no water in the p-trap. Once we used the shower, the smell stayed gone.

The second thing that annoyed me was that there were no full size beds. Only twin beds pushed together. Not something I'm used to. 

But the breakfast made up for many sins. Their breakfast buffet had everything you could imagine: jamón Ibérico, eggs, toast, croissants, an espresso machine, cereal, jamón Ibérico, emmental and other cheeses, baguettes, jamón Ibérico, fresh fruit, fresh yogurt, assorted fresh juices, champagne, and jamón Ibérico.

Yes, I repeated jamón Ibérico. If you've ever had it, no explanation is needed. 

All in all, not a bad place. Good location, great staff, and jamón Ibérico. That's good enough for me.