Greetings from Barcelona!
It’s 8.45pm in Barcelona now and I am back in hotel. So tiring. I didn’t sleep for more than 24 hours! I couldn’t sleep on the plane because it was not very comfortable (despite paying more to fly on SQ) and there was a crying baby on board!
Getting to the wrong Novotel Hotel (there are 4 Novotel Barcelona’s) and having a close shave with Barcelona pickpockets made my already miserable flight into a disastrous nightmare.
I survived the first day in Barcelona and learn how to get around with the Metro.
Get a Barcelona Metro Map
Barcelona Metro is damn confusing and messy. No one can speak a full sentence of English here except those who work in the Tourist Information Center. So, get a Metro Map from your hotel or at the station. Then, just point at the map the station you want to go and the local will point you to the right platform.
Some stations like the one I stay near at Almeda look scary. Just like those you see in movies: old, rundown, dark and eerie!
I wasted €2 when I got out of the wrong gate and have to re-enter. It’s that complicated as there is no signboard in English! This is definitely much more challenging than taking a train in Japan.
Barcelona T10 Train Ticket
You can buy a Barcelona T10 ticket for €8.45 for 10 trips with interchanges between different metro companies within Zone 1. Normal one way single journey ticket costs €1.45 or €14.50 for 10 trips. This will help save some money if you plan to visit more than 3 places of interest within zone 1.
If you plan to visit Sitges which resides in zone 3, prepare to pay addition €3 on top of €8.45. Of course, you can also pay €20 plus for a zona-3 ticket.
At the ticket machine, opt for English language and select T-10 (Zone 1). Zone 1 means the train journey can go up to 1.15 hours. Most of the places of interest are within this duration. This card is god-given – very handy and it makes my travel in Barcelona a lot easier.
