Then the first delivery truck arrives. Noises echo with great ease through the narrow street. Dollies rolled on cobblestones rumble and the sound of early morning deliveries seems to go on forever.
Voices lose their language in the echo.
Sound builds as more and more people awaken, begin their work, and start their days.
My hotel, the Hotel Catalunya, is not a fancy place, but it suits my needs and the price is right.
It has a small elevator and a steep almost spiral staircase.
My room is on the second floor, which is to say that it is on the third floor. Here the first floor is called the basement and holds the reception area and little more. On the first floor (in the States this is the second floor) there are two vending machines ( water, sodas and beer in one, the other dispenses hot coffee, tea and hot cocoa), two computers, the hotel office and a restroom. WiFi is only available on this floor. I've spent some rather long hours here. Thankfully the hotel has created a sort of brightly lit lounge area with upholstered chairs and a coffee table. I've discovered that if I stand by the stairwell on my floor I can pick up the WiFi. It's rather awkward to simply stand there and the stairs are too narrow to accommodate more than one person at a time. I think it appears a bit odd to my fellow travelers, this American woman in her fifties standing by the stairwell cradling her iPad, so I spare them the sight and instead I enjoy the amenities of the little common area below.
My room is small, although it's not small for a single room by European standards. It has a closet that has been added into a corner of the room. I sleep on a twin bed. There don't seem to be many true single rooms around these days either here or anywhere else I've traveled. Tourists seem to move in groups of two or more.
To turn the lights on in my room I have to insert my card key into a little holder next to the door. I had the same set up in Japan in 2008. It's a great way to conserve energy. There'll be no leaving all the lights and the air conditioning on with no one around to use them.
My room has a sliding glass door that opens onto a narrow, dead-end street, more of an alley than a street actually although it does have a name, Carrer de Bonaventura. There is a wrought iron rail outside the sliding glass door and I have a balcony,of sorts, about nine inches of it. My bathroom has a window that opens onto the same street. If my neighbors across the way open their curtains at the same time I do we will find ourselves face to face with a mere eight feet of open space between us. A little too close for my needs for personal space. I keep my curtains drawn most of the way, thus avoiding awkward moments.
The furnishings in my room are minimal: the twin bed, a small night stand with two drawers, a writing desk without drawers, a small refrigerator, a straight backed chair, a bench/coffee table-ish piece of furniture, a TV attached to the wall high up in the corner, a mirror in a plain frame on the wall and a small reading lamp also wall-mounted. It's a very efficient use of space.
There's a step up into the bathroom. The bathroom has a freestanding sink, a toilet, a bidet, and a small shower/tub. If I plug the drain I can fill the tub and soak in a little over a foot of water. There is no coffee maker, but there is a blow dryer.
What the Hotel Catalunya has more than anything else is location. It is on the Carrer de Santa Anna. If I head left as I exit the building I come to the intersection of Carrer de Santa Anna and Carrer de Canuda at La Rambla. If I go right I come out at Avinguda Portal de L'Angel. It's about a block to Plaça Catalunya where everything comes together, Metro lines, major streets and the main tourist office.
For most of the day Carrer de Santa Anna is pedestrian traffic only with the occasional bike rider or skate boarder for added excitement. In the evening it opens to vehicular traffic which consists of delivery trucks, taxis, police cars and garbage pick up.
I don't use the air conditioning. The weather is mild and the breezes that blow in coupled with the shade of the buildings keep my room cool. I keep the windows open and enjoy the sounds of the city. It keeps my evenings and my mornings more interesting.
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