Costa Firenze Postcard #1 – The Journey to Barcelona & Pre Cruise

This morning started with a 15 minute walk to the end of our street to the bus stop where we caught the 4:17am Airport Shuttle to Bristol Airport. Costing just £7 return and with a journey time of just 30 minutes it was a real no brainer. The airport was a different ball game, with long queues for security it took the shine off our great start. It’s the first time for me flying out of Bristol and the airport was extremely busy, I can’t say I was too impressed with the experience but it was a nice not to have to drive to Heathrow or Gatwick.

Our Easyjet flight departed on time and it was lovely to see out over our local area as we took off. We acquired masks for the flight because Spanish law states on all in coming flights passengers should wear them, however we were in the minority, with only around 10% actually putting them on, even after being reminded to by the flight attendants over the PA. If I was to say it was full of hen party and stag do’s then you will get the picture. On arrival at Barcelona we then had to navigate the Covid Pass screening which took a good 30 minutes followed by passport control which was another 30 minutes. We eventually arrived at the baggage carousel to find ours was the last case. Sat there all alone on a stationary carousel. Our taxi to the hotel was not without jeopardy too but we did arrive early and in one piece. Our hotel (H10 Universitat) came as part of the package is nicely located and within easy walking distance to most things and will be comfortable enough for just the one night.

After checking in at our hotel we set off to get our antigen test done for boarding. It was a 30 minute walk in really hot sunshine but within an hour of the test we both received a negative test results so will be able to board tomorrow with everyone else. Is it €80 well spent or just ticking boxes?

For lunch we used the Happy Cow app so Nicole could eat something vegan, we selected a place called CactusCat which was a really great choice. Catalonian vegan tapas which I thoroughly enjoyed too. Back to the hotel for a quick shower before setting off again for vegan gelato at Parallelo which was recommended by the CactusCat owner. It didn’t disappoint and it was well worth the 20 minutes walk. The fact there was a queue out in the street which should give you some indication of how popular and good it was. By early evening we were both feeling pretty jaded so finished our day off with a couple of drinks on the hotels rooftop bar. Tomorrow, our boarding time is 4:30 so will try and find something to do until then and thankfully it won’t be such an early start.