After a little over three years to the day, Anthony and I are back in Catalonia’s capital. The last time we went we stayed in the Raval area at the Hotel Barceló, a decent hotel with a nice rooftop bar but in a less than desirable neighborhood that I figured was a neglected part of the city and a favorite of daytime streetwalkers. For our trip this time around, we’re staying an unusually long eight days starting off at Vincci Maritimo, a nondescript hotel pretty much in the middle of nowhere before moving uptown to the Gothic Quarter in the last few days of the trip.

Barcelona Airport felt familiarly comforting, the ride from the airport was painless thanks to weekend traffic, and by the looks of it we’re back to the searing summer weather as was in Seville. I’ve also just found out that we’ve arrived during pride weekend. If locals are complaining about there being too many tourists, a large medical convention and the always popular gay pride will definitely ruffle a lot of feather boas.