Retirement trip - Day 23

 Just a short one today after yesterday's marathon blogging session.

Got up early and headed off. The previous day I'd had a slight problem with the bike, an occasional 'surging' usually at higher speed. It felt as if the bike was being switched off then back on again very quickly. However, this morning it was worse, every time I crossed a speed bump (there are thousands of these in Spain), the engine cut out and I had to pull in the clutch, press the starter button, and release the clutch. One time it wouldn't restart for a couple of minutes, so I knew something was wrong. My feeling was an electrical problem, so I found a quiet place to stop in the shade, removed the saddle and tank, and pushed together all of the electrical connectors (you can tell I used to be an Electrical Engineer!) Reassembled it and it ran OK and the problem disappeared. I rode about 150 miles/250 km without problems, so I'm happy that it's fixed.

The bike was serviced just before I left that included removing the tank and saddle to gain access to the valves, so something could have been dislodged then.

As I rode along, it was a fine day with a view of hills to one side and the coast to the other. I eventually made it to my destination for today, the very busy and attractive city of Barcelona. I had arranged to rent what I thought was an 'apartment', but was suspiciously cheap for what is a very expensive city.  I'd had some ongoing messages from the owner and we'd arranged that I would meet her at the apartment building at 16:00, and I was to send her a WhatsApp message when I arrived. As it turned out, I arrived in Barcelona at 13:00, parked the bike outside the apartment block, and spent a rather sweaty 3 hours walking about the city in my bike clothes.

Saw this place and thought they might be able to help me with my 'romantic skills'. Imagine my disappointment when I realised it was a hairdressing college! 

In Barcelona they have advanced stopping lines for motorcycles and scooters, similar to the advanced cycle lines we have in the UK. The idea is that when a light is at red, all the bikes and scooters filter between the lanes, gather in this area, and are first away when the lights turn to green.

Some of the interesting buildings I saw whilst walking around.

I made my way back to the apartment block and sent the owner a WhatsApp message saying I had arrived. I could tell it had been delivered but hadn't been opened. I tried telephoning her on the two numbers I had been given, but no reply. I hung around outside for about an hour then went to a local café and had a couple of cups of coffee and used their Wi-Fi to contact the owner via the Booking.com website. She replied asking when I was coming at about 17:30 even thought I had agreed with her yesterday that I would be there at 16:00! She sent a young girl employee (possibly to avoid talking directly to me), and she let me in to the apartment, which was across the road from the address I'd been given. Turns out to be so cheap because I was getting a small room in an apartment with 5 letting rooms, communal bathrooms (2) and a communal kitchen. Luckily there's a supermarket across the road so I could get stuff to prepare for tonight's dinner. I also put two loads of washing on, saves doing it by hand in a hotel room, and met one of the other guests, a Chinese girls who spoke English and now lives in Norway! She seems to be sharing a room with her friend, but I haven't heard or seen any other guests. Oh well, all part of life's rich tapestry and it gives me another story to tell!

Tomorrow I'm going to have a day off the bike and spend it exploring the architectural gems that Barcelona is famous for.