Barcelona and Rome I
Wednesday June 17, 2026
I arrived into Ponta Delgada early on Wednesday morning in transit to Barcelona. I was somewhat nervous about whether Europe’s new Entry/Exit System would be functional enough for me to get through immigration on time to catch my connecting flight. The staff at the airport were routing people in different, seemingly random directions - some to the automated kiosks, some to the immigration officers. I got sent to an officer, who took my fingerprints and my photo, and sent me on my way into the Schengen area without any fuss.
Arrival in Barcelona was smooth. I took the metro to Sant Marti and met up with Owen, somewhat impressed that I had managed to do this without GPS. After talking and catching up for a bit, we headed out for a stroll to the beach, before circling back to the Clot area for some tapas for dinner. We got some gelato from the market and we headed back for the night.
I tried to force myself to wake up early the next day, even though I had been awake from 3am to about 6am. Bea and Owen had been talking about a fancy new restaurant that opened up last week in Tibidabo, and I was super keen, so we made a booking and headed off soon after. We stopped by Sagrada Família for a quick photo; the reflecting lake was unfortunately fenced off due to the pope’s visit the day before, but it was still impressive to see the completed exterior with the Tower of Jesus Christ.
I’ve been to Tibidabo a few times and I love the view of the city from there, and I was looking forward to trying some great Catalan food. It was indeed phenomenal, with several of the waitress’s recommendations on point. We were both stuffed. We made our way back down the mountain on the funicular and I stopped by at the big supermarket to grab some ingredients for lunch the next day, since I would need to be at the airport at that time. At night, we grabbed some light Galician tapas and headed to the Montjuic Fountain for their music and light show. I swear the timing could not have been more perfect - as we arrived, they started playing Circle of Life with some beautiful sunrise colours being projected on the water, and this launched into a ten minute Disney medley including A Whole New World, Colours of the Wind, Beauty and the Beast, Under the Sea, Be Our Guest and the Bare Necessities. On our way home, we stopped by Sagrada Família again, just to take some photos at night.
The next morning, I followed Owen to his office and dropped my luggage with him, then promptly made my way to my favourite chocolate cafe in the Gothic Quarter for a suizo and a xuixo. I was completely over saturated with sugar so I decided to skip the gelato and instead went back to Montjuic to admire the views of the city. I went back to pick up my luggage, said my goodbyes to Owen, and went to the airport. I cleared security in under 20 minutes and I was off in the air to Rome.
As I exited Rome Fiumicino Airport, I was greeted with a horde of people at the train station to the city. I overheard a lady say that nothing was operating due to fire on the tracks. I looked at Uber pricing; it had surged to over €100. Next option was the bus. I managed to find a ticket for €4 so I quickly bought it and set out to find the departure point. The bus station was equally as chaotic as the train station, but eventually my bus arrived and I made it to the guest house, almost four hours after landing at the airport.
Dinner was simple. I just wanted something quick so I could crash out for the night, so ended up with some Roman-style pizza. On Saturday, I began my day at the Spanish steps, which I had missed the last time. It was busy, with tons of people posing and snapping photos, so I left pretty soon after. I continued on to Villa Borghese, which was a nice area to walk around, but not particularly interesting to me. From there, I took the metro to Cipro to grab some lunch from Bonci Pizzerium, then to Valle Aurelia for a short walk up to Monte Ciocci to burn off all those carbs and for a nice view of St Peter’s Basilica.
After resting a bit at the guest house, I went for dinner, and afterwards to the Colosseum to take some night pictures. I managed to capture Venus and Jupiter in frame, it seemed somewhat poetic that these Roman Gods were looking down on the city at this time. People had gathered in the plaza overlooking the area, listening to a busker singing karaoke. At first I heard him sing Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You, but then he loudly announced to the cheers of the largely Spanish crowd that they should join him in singing Alvaro Soler’s Sofia! It was meant to be. What a fun time.
On Sunday I was up early to get to the Appian Way before the crowds. There were some others on the walk with me, mostly older locals who had come to enjoy the serenity of a Sunday morning. The road is paved in typical cobblestone fashion, with fields, houses, forts, catacombs and ancient structures dotted along the path that I walked. I ended up going for 90 minutes before taking the bus to the Park of the Aqueducts. In the afternoon, I visited Villa Doria Pamphili and then got some delicious gelato near Flaminio station.
Posted by Jeremy at 12:14pm on Wednesday June 17, 2026 :: 0 comments :: 