The "en famille" holiday in France and Croatia started with our Korean Air flight, which included a stopover stay at the Incheon Grand Hyatt hotel. Incredible value to get the flight plus a stay in a fiver star hotel with meals, for 1100 dollars! And the kids seemed to find the in flight entertainment to their taste. Korean Air really is a good airline. Their transit lounges are great- bathrooms, dormitory area to sleep, activity rooms for the kids, lots of comfortable seating.
Our Barcelona arrival was marred by us having booked the car hire starting on the 13th. We got there on the 11th. Which meant an overly complicated hire of our car for two days before i would have to come back to the airport and do a whole new contract. The whole thing was a bureaucratic nightmare, which was incredibly expensive. In an Orwellian use of language, the receipt showed I had been charged 40 euros for an optional extra. When I queried this, they said it was the fully comprehensive insurance. I said I had not asked for it, nor wanted it, to be told that it was compulsory. At least I got the person to admit that it was a bit of a misnomer to call this an optional extra! Finally, we did get out of the place and down to our beachside apartment. Our next mistake was buying the wrong sort of multi trip ticket at the machine. Having already used up the ten trips of our T10 pass, we bought a T50, thinking it would save money, instead we discovered it was a single user ticket unlike the T10, which is multi-user.
Our dental visit went much better. Turns out the first consultation is free, including x-rays on a machine which is apparently quite rare in Australia, but common dental equipment here. We were greeted by a very friendly, professional dental assistant who spoke excellent English, as did the dentist. Joy had ther appointment because her Australian dentist had told her she needed a crown, at 1600 dollars. Here they cost 260 euros- 400 dollars. And the news got better, because after looking at the xrays and our teeth, the dentist told us neither of us needed any work done! To top it off, on our way out the dental assistant gave us a load of different toothpastes to take away. Total cost for two dental check-ups- 0 dollars. Amazing. I was sure that a free consultation would result in them finding something that we would need doing on our teeth, so it was a very pleasant experience.
After that we got into the touristy side of the day and visited the Picasso museum, which turned out to be housed in a beautiful old building and full of a huge array of artworks. We then joined the throng in La Sagrada Familia. Despite the exorbitant entry fee- 32 euros per adult, it was worth it, given the absolutely spectacular interior and the incredible array of sculpture on the outside, right down to tiny insects attached to one set of doors.
Next stop Park Guell and more extravagantly overpriced tickets, and this time the place was pretty underwhelming, with less to see in terms of Gaudi architecture than I had been expecting and by now there were two very tired and increasingly grumpy children and at least one adult wasn't much better(me, obviously- is Joy ever grumpy?)
Barcelona has many sights to attract tourists, but it really is drowning under their weight. At least we are providing a lot of money to the palce through the high entry prices. Hopefully all that money is going towards making the place better for residents. It seems like it, based on the excellent public transport and other amenties on offer there.
Yesterday involved me having to finish the kafkaesque car hire drama by driving the car back to the airport and then driving off in the same car again. And then it was off to Girona and a visit to the lovely Arab baths, which, like the rest of the historic centre, are extremely photogenic. Girona is a lovely town. We were there to meet a friend from Brisbane who just happened to be nearby. We enjoyed a delicious array of meats and cheeses accompanied by some excellent verdelho wine all provided by a charming Brazilian, who apparently owns the place.
Our Barcelona arrival was marred by us having booked the car hire starting on the 13th. We got there on the 11th. Which meant an overly complicated hire of our car for two days before i would have to come back to the airport and do a whole new contract. The whole thing was a bureaucratic nightmare, which was incredibly expensive. In an Orwellian use of language, the receipt showed I had been charged 40 euros for an optional extra. When I queried this, they said it was the fully comprehensive insurance. I said I had not asked for it, nor wanted it, to be told that it was compulsory. At least I got the person to admit that it was a bit of a misnomer to call this an optional extra! Finally, we did get out of the place and down to our beachside apartment. Our next mistake was buying the wrong sort of multi trip ticket at the machine. Having already used up the ten trips of our T10 pass, we bought a T50, thinking it would save money, instead we discovered it was a single user ticket unlike the T10, which is multi-user.
Our dental visit went much better. Turns out the first consultation is free, including x-rays on a machine which is apparently quite rare in Australia, but common dental equipment here. We were greeted by a very friendly, professional dental assistant who spoke excellent English, as did the dentist. Joy had ther appointment because her Australian dentist had told her she needed a crown, at 1600 dollars. Here they cost 260 euros- 400 dollars. And the news got better, because after looking at the xrays and our teeth, the dentist told us neither of us needed any work done! To top it off, on our way out the dental assistant gave us a load of different toothpastes to take away. Total cost for two dental check-ups- 0 dollars. Amazing. I was sure that a free consultation would result in them finding something that we would need doing on our teeth, so it was a very pleasant experience.
After that we got into the touristy side of the day and visited the Picasso museum, which turned out to be housed in a beautiful old building and full of a huge array of artworks. We then joined the throng in La Sagrada Familia. Despite the exorbitant entry fee- 32 euros per adult, it was worth it, given the absolutely spectacular interior and the incredible array of sculpture on the outside, right down to tiny insects attached to one set of doors.
Next stop Park Guell and more extravagantly overpriced tickets, and this time the place was pretty underwhelming, with less to see in terms of Gaudi architecture than I had been expecting and by now there were two very tired and increasingly grumpy children and at least one adult wasn't much better(me, obviously- is Joy ever grumpy?)
Barcelona has many sights to attract tourists, but it really is drowning under their weight. At least we are providing a lot of money to the palce through the high entry prices. Hopefully all that money is going towards making the place better for residents. It seems like it, based on the excellent public transport and other amenties on offer there.
Yesterday involved me having to finish the kafkaesque car hire drama by driving the car back to the airport and then driving off in the same car again. And then it was off to Girona and a visit to the lovely Arab baths, which, like the rest of the historic centre, are extremely photogenic. Girona is a lovely town. We were there to meet a friend from Brisbane who just happened to be nearby. We enjoyed a delicious array of meats and cheeses accompanied by some excellent verdelho wine all provided by a charming Brazilian, who apparently owns the place.
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