Barcelona

We survived the 15 hours of plane travel and we are now in Barcelona. For all of us who travel in coach let me just say that sleep is highly unlikely. Hard to get comfortable in teeny tiny seats with no leg room. However, the flights went extremely smooth and we had no delays. When we went through customs in Barcelona Mr. Smiley didn’t ask us one question (not even sure if he really looked at us) but we did get stamps in our passports! For those considering making this journey with kids just keep in mind that it may be hard for them to go without sleep for this long and a melt down may be forthcoming. I’m not mentioning any names but Sydney and Eric know whom I’m talking about. Don’t plan anything on the day of arrival and let it just be a rest day.

As we were walking to our hotel I had to ask someone in one of the shops directions to our hotel. He said he would just show us so he walked out with us and pointed us in the right direction. As we were walking and talking I told him we were from the U.S. and he said we were very lucky as he sees us as having so much more opportunity. He said in Barcelona there is not much opportunity and he works very long hours (14 hour days) for very little pay. I told him he should come to America someday!

We’re staying at Hotel Jardi, which is a historic hotel on a picture perfect square. I especially like the fact it has an elevator (not all hotels do). So when it came time for us to carry our luggage to our room, which was on the 7th floor I said to David, “I sure am glad there’s an elevator here!” We had to stop dead in our tracks as we came around the corner and saw the repair crew fixing it so it was temporarily out of order. Stairs were steep and kids had a hard time carrying their luggage so there we were Eric and Sydney at the front bounding up the 7 flights unencumbered. After being awake for a full 24 hours David and I were carrying our backpacks along with the children’s suitcases up 7 flights of stairs. We’ve never felt so alive!

I know people will ask about our weather so here it is so far. I’ve realized something very important! The rain in Spain does NOT fall mainly on the plane. It falls, in buckets, all around Barcelona. Didn’t think it could rain this hard for 2 days straight but apparently it can! We're staying 2 days post cruise so hopefully we'll see some sun. We decided we really don't mind the rain and kind of makes it quiet and places are mostly filled with locals so we don't have to contend with the throngs of tourist that are here in the Summer months. It definitely is worth it to come in the Spring!

We went into El Corte Ingles, which is a huge department store. It even has a grocery store in the basement. Eric and David went off and Sydney and I did some looking around. We had lunch in a cafeteria-style restaurant on the top floor with and amazing view of the city! Funny moment occurred when we all had to make a restroom break before heading out. I had finished up and when I opened the door to leave I saw Eric standing alone in the hall waiting. There was a nice older man also waiting out there for his wife. He was trying to strike up a conversation with Eric and was asking him (in Spanish) if he was a Spanish boy but Eric only shook his head. I told him we are from the U.S. so he then spoke to us in English and kept patting Eric on the head. When we left he told us Eric was a very good boy and patted his head just one more time! Eric didn’t really seem to mind! Afterwards, we hopped on Bus Turistic and saw the highlights of the city, which had an audio guide explaining the sights along the way.

We found a great Tapas Bar called Taverna Irati. We stood at the bar and helped ourselves to whatever looked good. After you’ve finished they count the toothpicks on your plate and charge accordingly. Such a great idea! Don’t know why it hasn’t caught on in the U.S.

We’re looking forward to boarding the Disney Magic and seeing more of the Mediterranean!