Edrie

VACATION BLOG Tuesday night and all of Wednesday

Since we were going East to Spain we decided to work a full day and leave that night from work for the over night flight.

Got to the airport no problem (thanks to the new and handy off ramp) and parked in the long-term lot, this isn�t too terribly expensive. Bus to the terminal and a HORRIBLE self check in. I have to say. Using NW I am usually able to check in online but since this was a KLM flight, even though I had an electronic ticket I was forced to check in at the airport. They required all sorts of crazy screens and no one was there to help and it was loud and hot... needless to say I got frustrated.... But got through it and got to our gate (though security which didn't take too long) and got settled to wait....

And wait...

And wait....

The plane ride was pretty uneventful, the food wasn't terrible and there was a movie (the title of which escapes me). I actually did sleep a bit and our seats were good since it was jus the two of us in the row.

Got to Amsterdam Wednesday morning and was as VERY impressed with the airport. So clean and nice! And very nicely set up. Went through emigration and waited at our terminal for the flight to Barcelona

Landing in Barcelona 2 hours later... Our bag came off the plane almost first so we went to find customs and ended up outside... Um, no customs... OK what ever...

Standing there I was trying to find my little notebook with the phrases for asking a taxi to take us to a hotel when an older man asked us in broken English if we needed a taxi. Hell yeah we need one, so he ushered us across the street while looking at the address for our hotel. He seemed a bit distressed at the address but we got in and were off. He spoke no English but I think he was explaining to us something about how our hotel might be hard to get to but (and he made hand gestures for this) we could walk a short way to it from where he would drop us off.

It was a pretty wild ride. Red lights and pedestrians mean nothing and neither does a traffic lane... And when we got close he suddenly veered off of the main road after a garbage truck, which had a police office opening a gate to an alley for it. It was quite clear that this little alley was off limits for car and the police office wagged his finger at us, but the cabbie just laughed and I laughed and he said something to the effect of, the police wouldn�t stop us cabs... Or something... So we darted quickly down this alley and then ended up in a pedestrian street (read no cars, but LOTS of people) and suddenly we were in front of our hotel... Which I have to tell you is not on a street but is in between two strictly pedestrian squares... But hey that didn't stop our taxi driver... He wished us a good stay and thanked us for our tip and I wished him Bueno Suerte cause had no idea how he would get out of the pedestrian area...

At the hotel they gave us some lovely champagne and we went up to our room quickly so as to take showers and change. We decided a proper Spanish lunch was in order (at 2:30pm that is exactly lunch time). So we walked down the narrow and windy Del Pi to a lovely square with a bit cathedral in it (which we would visit later). We found a place called La Buena Estrella (the lucky star). S had lovely Paella and I ordered from the menu of the day. I had NO IDEA what I was ordering and there was a bit of confusion when I actually did get something (as we didn�t know if it was mine or S�s) But when it all did come it was really good.

We then tried the farmacia to get shaving stuff and to try for bubble bath, but I got too shy to ask� though S did get a razor and foamy cream.

We walked around a bit to get oriented and took some pictures of some amazing graffiti. Then it was back to the hotel for a nap until 8pm where we then got up to go to dinner (8pm is still early for dinner in Spain but what the heck�)

We found a place called Irati in our guidebook, which ended up being very close to our hotel. I wanted to try tapas very badly. We had a nervous start, but after a quick check of the phrase book we were back in, ordering, and doing OK. Tapas are a wonderful invention!!! We also tried gelato later, but I was full so only had a few licks. We walked around a bunch more getting more oriented and avoiding tourists, motorbikes and beggars. The buildings are ALL so amazing it is hard not to walk around looking up with your mouth gaping open� We stopped for espresso at a chain called Cappuccino. I even had one and it was GOOD! We went back to the hotel late to look up thnigs to do the next day and to make a quick call to the family.