Day 91. Friday 6 June.

This was the day that had caused all the fuss (months ago) about travel insurance/credit card status: exceeding 90 travel days. It was also the ‘hand back the car day’ and there was only one more drive to do. Needless to say, D had allowed more than adequate leeway in his timings to make sure we weren’t late for the 1300 handover.

He chose a ‘non toll road’ for the 40 mins trip; T thought that may have been to spare her the autovia seat- clutching, but it turned out to be a cliff-top C road clutching (think Cinqueterra)! And there were cyclists as well as continuous oncoming traffic to detract from relishing the sea views.

Despite this we arrived 40 minutes early and the gates were closed (lunch). No worry – a phone call, the gate opened, a quick check was done, a few papers signed, the last pics taken and then we were dropped at the airport railway station. No fuss: no issue with scratches, and no mention of half full petrol tank (just as well on the latter, as we were handed the car 80 plus days ago with just a 135km range!) The car will be sold in France, secondhand, minus scratches.

Since we needed a train into Barcelona (Sants) in order to get the train to Vilanova, it made sense to use the opportunity to revisit the Sagrada and the train trip was a chance to recon for Monday – in reverse. 

Quite simple: one return ticket from the airport to Vilanova, changing at Sants. This also involved getting on the Metro, buying a ticket for that system, with an assurance from the staff that our rail  ticket would still be valid when we came back, which was reassuring.

We’d visited the Sagrada in 2006 when there was still serious construction happening; we thought that it was now completed, but no surprise, there was still fencing all around, some scaffolding nets and a crane ( maybe aim for 2026 finish). Queues were very long and when T checked with staff, we learnt bookings could only be made online, and that it was probably booked out for today and possibly till 21 June!

So decided to do the Spanish thing and have lunch, chose a spot under trees and umbrella and ordered a Margarita pizza and a couple of glasses of wine. The wine arrived soon enough – the pizza took forever(as in they forgot). We chatted about future travel plans and soaked up a ‘freedom’, not having to drive again in the next few days. Checked on Sagrada website and sure enough it was booked up: until Monday. The pizza still hadn’t arrived, but our drinks had evaporated, so we ordered two more. When they arrived, the waiter whispered ‘they are free’. The couples on either side of us also waited, and waited, with the Brit couple eventually telling the waiter abruptly to cancel their drinks order and bring the bill: ‘this too slow!’ The other couple were still waiting on their fish and chicken dishes, as we joked that they were probably catching the fish and slaughtering the chicken. Their meals came eventually: fish was good, chicken over cooked. We chatted about travel and home bases: they work in aged care/nursing jobs in Reading (the woman was a nurse from Romania and the guy from Guyana).

Back to the Sagrada for some photos and to marvel. It really is the most outrageous construction.

We also had an ice cream to relax, and to just watch the passers by and tourists. We joked with a tour leader bearing the usual flag on a stick as he tried to herd his charges: ‘5 mins for ice cream’…good luck with that! T wondered if he had a whistle: yes, he did and blew it, but rather softly, because that was a Polizia job, did the head count again, ‘I’m missing someones’…there was another toilet stop, more head-counting and eventually the group moved on. But we did notice, perhaps it was the ‘someones’ who were dragging the chain.

Metro back to Sants was fine, but when we tried to use our rail tickets to get onto the concourse they were rejected: wrong advice earlier today apparently. A quick explanation to the staff and we were waved through, to join the restless crowds waiting for delayed trains. In our case, the 1715 train to Vilanova did not come at all; other destinations were delayed and the next one for us was due in 30 minutes.

A slight moment of consternation: the platform had been changed, and although it had probably been announced, our Spanish wasn’t adequate. Fortunately D was occasionally glancing anxiously at the Departures board and noticed. D remarked that this recon was a lesson for planning Monday’s trip.

But made it, after stops and starts: the 40 minute trip took 75 minutes. Home, carless, enjoying a beer and champagne to celebrate/mourn the moving on of ‘Josie’ and the end that stage of our trip. After our lunch, just some tapas for ‘dinner’.