Thursday, December 31st
First on the agenda today, besides breakfast, is the Market on La Rambla!! Alex came with me and we left the other 2 in the room to sleep. It was kinda a cold rainy morning, but I enjoyed the walk in the morning air. The market was buzzing with eager early morning consumers and it was difficult to manuver the walk ways. Lots of interesting things for sale, like goats head (including the eyes), the skin from animals (with out the fur), pigs feet and many other things. Beautiful fruits and vegitables decorated the booths and there was so much cheese to choose from it hurt my brain; especially since it was all in Spanish and I didn't know what I was buying. But I bought some any ways, I hope it's good. Alex purchased fresh eggs to cook at the hostel and we both purchased fresh fruit smoothies, this was a GREAT place. It was also explained to us by Simon, that it was Spanish tradition to eat 12 grapes at midnight on New Years Eve, it gave you good luck. The hostel was planning on giving us these grapes, but Alex and I purchased a souviner champainge "glass" (plastic), that was filled with grapes and had a sticker with the year printed on the side. We felt very accomplished when we left and headed back to the hostel, the tour was leaving promptly at 11 a.m. During our casual trip back, we did manage to stop and grab a few sandwiches and water for lunch at Mountserrat, and we purchased a bottle of Red Wine (Tinto) to take as well. Promptly at 11, the four of us joined the large group and headed out to grab a metro train for the 64 minute ride to the mountain. This is a benadicting cathedral and monistary that has a world famous boys choir and we were on a mission to get to the cathedral by 1 p.m. to hear the boys sing. We were instructed that once we jumped off the train (litterally jumped), we needed to sprint to the cable car that took us up the mountain, then sprint up the stairs to the cathedral. However, after all of this effort, we found out that the buys choir was on vacation; every year the week after Christmas is a holiday. Simon was our tour guide and appoligized profussly, but we all just laughed it off. We did really enjoy the sound of the clock bells chiming and we got our history lession for the day. This cathedral housed one of the very rare, Black Madonnas and we were strongly encouraged to go inside and see it. This was an absolutley magnificent cathedral and we all were in awe of it's grandure, detail and the unbelievable spiritual feel. The visit to the inside of the cathedral was done in two parts, one was upon arrival, the second was after a hike to Saint Magdelina point on a trail that wound it's way into the steep mountains above the Monistary. This is where we climbed for 1 1/2 hours before learning that the peak was another 1 hour and 25 mins away, this would be getting awefully close to sundown by the time we decended, so we chose not to chance it. At what we thought was the half way point, we stopped and ate the sandwiches we had brought, then at our stopping point, we drank our bottle of wine, it was absolutley horrible!!! Alex didn't seem to mind it to much, so he drank the majority of it. The pictures I got of the amazing view of Catalunya did not do it justice, it was quiet a site though. Along with the visit again to the Cathedral, we stopped in the gift shop to buy some of the awesome chocolate that is supposed to be a specialty of the Monks in this area, it was really good Chocolate.
After an exhausting hike and ride back to Barcelona, we had to eat again, but not before I printed my boarding pass for my flight tomorrow and making another call home. We settled on another local cafe and discussed the plans for tonight, since it is New Years Eve afterall. The food for tonight was a burger with a fried egg on it, I wanted to see what the beef tasted like. I'm not sure if I like it much, but at least I got to try it.
I fianlly made the decision that I was only going to celebrate the coming of the new year here in the hostel, I have a flight in the morning and I don't think I'm young enough to do the club thing there in BCN. The party at the hostel started after 7 p.m. and we were kinda ready for it. Although 2009 was a great year for me, it hadn't been as kind to others and we were happy to put it to rest, once and for all. Everyone from that was staying in the hostel made there way to the lounge/bar area by 11 p.m. and we drank, took some pictures and had a good time. Just before 12, we handed out the grapes and made sure everyone had 12 of them; oh and a cup of champaigne. We gathered around the TV and waited for the clock to strike. For each chime of the clock at 12 a.m., we had to eat a grape, a little difficult when the grapes we had, had seeds, but we managed. Then we toasted the New Year and drank our champaigne, ick, however, it was fun. I hung out for a little while and then, with everyones disapproval, I headed to bed. I had to leave for the airport at 7 a.m., so I had to be up at 6! I was going to get a little bit of sleep!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Day 4
Wednesday, December 30th
I'm going to Dali today, and nothing was going to stop me. Andrew had woke up at 4 a.m. very sick and told me he was not in any shape to make the 2 hour train ride with me. Quickly, Alex volunteered to stay with Andrew for the day, but Kyle surprised me and said he wanted to go and was excited to get out of the city and see something different. Different is an understatement when it comes to Salvador Dali. Leaving the 2 guys behind, Kyle and I had breakfast and got the exact info on how to get to this town of Dali's. We left a little later then we really wanted to, but we were at the train station at 11 a.m., promptly got in the wrong line, then found the correct one and we were on a train by 11:16. The train was more like riding light rail in denver, very stiff seats with no head rest, but, 2 1/2 hours later, we were in Figueres; it was a really nice, cute town. We found our way to the museum, via a 10 minute walk, following the directional signes to the Theatre Museu Dali. The line was a little long, but I was super excited to see that I could take pictures, most museums you can't. It took us another 2 hours to wind our way through the 5 levels and little crevases of this magnificent display; I was in heaven. I took around 80 pictures, I'm sure I could have taken a lot more, but I just couldn't stop at everything I wanted a picture of and still be able to get back to the train before dark. Kyle was very inpressed by the warped mind of Dali and we really had a good time hanging out. When we finished, we ate "lunch", at 4 p.m., in a little cafe in the plaza at the entrace to the museum, Tapas and Vino Blanco (white wine), then headed back to the train. When we go to the train station, one of the express trains was stopped on the platform and we decided we were just going to hop on that one instead of the regional train we had a ticket for. Once the train started down the tracks, the ticket guy came buy and in very broken English (actually not any English at all), told us that we had to pay 5.60 euros more the ride that train, well we were already on it and it was going to get us home faster, so we gladly paid. Plus we were sitting in 1st class and just having a seat that reclined was worth the price as well, especially after the ride on the way here.
I convinced Kyle that since we were heading into Barcelona, that I needed to stop by Hard Rock Cafe again and pick up the t-shirt, shot glasses and lapel pin that I always get when I go to an HRC. He agreed and I completed the 2009 tour!!! We also decided that we would walk back to the hostel from here, probably 10 blocks or so and we would check out the market on La Rambla. I'm really glad we did, because I needed to buy some cheese for a friend back home, and I was able to see what they had before making a decision. It also woke us up from the long train rides and we got our 2nd winds.
When we got back to the hostel, Andrew was feeling a little better and was starting to think we got lost or something, since we were gone for around 10 hours, haha. I guess they were waiting for us for dinner plans, so we all headed out to eat and talk about out day. I was really surprised that Andrew and Alex didn't go see Avatar at the IMAX theatre, since they were trying to convince me to go with them. We went to another close little place and I ate Paella for the 1st time, I really enjoyed it; now I can understand a little better what they are making on the show "Top Chef" when I watch it on Bravo. After dinner, I really wanted to make a call home to my friend Tim, since we had only chatted once via Skype and had sent several e-mails back and forth. I found out that there was an internet cafe, very close to the hostel and only charged 10 cents per minute to call the States... whoo hoo! So I made my call and the boys hung out and made sure I wasn't alone to walk back. Andrew and Alex had met 2 girls from Argentine earlier in the night and when we got back, we all sat at the bar and drank some Sangria. After about an hour, it was after midnight and Kyle and I retired to our room and left the 2 guys to hang out with the girls. We all decided to take the guided tour of Mountserrat tomorrow, so I need some sleep.
I'm going to Dali today, and nothing was going to stop me. Andrew had woke up at 4 a.m. very sick and told me he was not in any shape to make the 2 hour train ride with me. Quickly, Alex volunteered to stay with Andrew for the day, but Kyle surprised me and said he wanted to go and was excited to get out of the city and see something different. Different is an understatement when it comes to Salvador Dali. Leaving the 2 guys behind, Kyle and I had breakfast and got the exact info on how to get to this town of Dali's. We left a little later then we really wanted to, but we were at the train station at 11 a.m., promptly got in the wrong line, then found the correct one and we were on a train by 11:16. The train was more like riding light rail in denver, very stiff seats with no head rest, but, 2 1/2 hours later, we were in Figueres; it was a really nice, cute town. We found our way to the museum, via a 10 minute walk, following the directional signes to the Theatre Museu Dali. The line was a little long, but I was super excited to see that I could take pictures, most museums you can't. It took us another 2 hours to wind our way through the 5 levels and little crevases of this magnificent display; I was in heaven. I took around 80 pictures, I'm sure I could have taken a lot more, but I just couldn't stop at everything I wanted a picture of and still be able to get back to the train before dark. Kyle was very inpressed by the warped mind of Dali and we really had a good time hanging out. When we finished, we ate "lunch", at 4 p.m., in a little cafe in the plaza at the entrace to the museum, Tapas and Vino Blanco (white wine), then headed back to the train. When we go to the train station, one of the express trains was stopped on the platform and we decided we were just going to hop on that one instead of the regional train we had a ticket for. Once the train started down the tracks, the ticket guy came buy and in very broken English (actually not any English at all), told us that we had to pay 5.60 euros more the ride that train, well we were already on it and it was going to get us home faster, so we gladly paid. Plus we were sitting in 1st class and just having a seat that reclined was worth the price as well, especially after the ride on the way here.
I convinced Kyle that since we were heading into Barcelona, that I needed to stop by Hard Rock Cafe again and pick up the t-shirt, shot glasses and lapel pin that I always get when I go to an HRC. He agreed and I completed the 2009 tour!!! We also decided that we would walk back to the hostel from here, probably 10 blocks or so and we would check out the market on La Rambla. I'm really glad we did, because I needed to buy some cheese for a friend back home, and I was able to see what they had before making a decision. It also woke us up from the long train rides and we got our 2nd winds.
When we got back to the hostel, Andrew was feeling a little better and was starting to think we got lost or something, since we were gone for around 10 hours, haha. I guess they were waiting for us for dinner plans, so we all headed out to eat and talk about out day. I was really surprised that Andrew and Alex didn't go see Avatar at the IMAX theatre, since they were trying to convince me to go with them. We went to another close little place and I ate Paella for the 1st time, I really enjoyed it; now I can understand a little better what they are making on the show "Top Chef" when I watch it on Bravo. After dinner, I really wanted to make a call home to my friend Tim, since we had only chatted once via Skype and had sent several e-mails back and forth. I found out that there was an internet cafe, very close to the hostel and only charged 10 cents per minute to call the States... whoo hoo! So I made my call and the boys hung out and made sure I wasn't alone to walk back. Andrew and Alex had met 2 girls from Argentine earlier in the night and when we got back, we all sat at the bar and drank some Sangria. After about an hour, it was after midnight and Kyle and I retired to our room and left the 2 guys to hang out with the girls. We all decided to take the guided tour of Mountserrat tomorrow, so I need some sleep.
Day 3
Tuesday, December 29th
As decided yesterday, we all agreed that the hop on, hop off bus was a good plan for the day. We all got up early, 8 a.m., to shower and partake of the free breakfast at the hostel, before our adventures. The free breakfast consisited of cereal, juice, biscottie, toast and coffee. It was at least something. We also got a chance to hit the computers in the lounge before the area got busy. The wifi in the hostel had stopped working, so I didn't get much use out of taking my little computer with me, this is why the posts are being done after I got home. We set out at about 9:30 a.m. and headed for the bus. It was absolutly beautiful day and the temps were great, so we purchased our tickets and got our seats on the top of the double decker. The route of the bus had 2 lines, blue and red. The Blue (Azul) line took you around the South part of the city and the Red (Rojo) line, took you around the North. The plan was to take the Blue line all the way around, about 2 hours, then transfer to the red line and get off at the cool places we wanted to spend some time at. Well, as with every good plan, we didn't stick to it. After about 1/2 of the blue line, we got off in the Plaza de Catalunya, a very busy Plaza with lots of people and excitement down the side streets. We stopped at Hard Rock Cafe to see what the New Years Eve entertainment would be. I was appaulled at the price of 140 euros per person!!!! That over $200 dollars, WOW! That option was emidiately removed from the list. It did include dinner, but I wasn't willing to spend the money, let alone ask the other 3 people in the group to do it, they were on stricter budgets then I was. After that shell shock, we left and went on a little tour of some alley ways. They were quiet charning and I was surprised to see little stores and thing and cafes in these allies. We walked a few blocks and found a neat little antique market, that Andrew and Alex loved, me and Kyle found it cute for a few minutes, then went and sat on some stairs. We thought we were at Gaudi's Church, la Sagada Fimiliar, but instead we were at the Cathedral de Barcelona. It was gorgeous and we walk all the way around the inside. Once finished with the cathedral, we decided it was time for lunch. Since we were not going to go to Hard Rock for New Years Eve, we decided to go there for lunch. It was a smaller Cafe, but still cool, yet I forgot the gift cards I had received for Christmas, so I didn't purchase my normal t-shirt and glasses, at least not on this trip. Lunch took a little longer then expected, so we jumped on the Red line bus and headed over to la Sagrada Familiar, what an amazing place. Gaudi is the architectural artist of this building and in his lifetime, he never got he opportunity to finish the church, so it is still under construction, but still awesome to see. His buildings, which includes an apartment building, were all inspired by nature and mainly by the movement of the Mediteranian Sea, so they are very odd and round. I have a buch of pictures of couse. We didn't spend to much tme here, but I did get a chance to buy some souvenirs, which are really cool and are very Gaudi-esq. Once finished, we were back on the bus, headed to a park by Guadi, Park Guell. It is an amazing botanical area, that continues to show off his ideas of art in architecture. It has many little intricacies and we tried to explore as much as we could. Rain began to fall as we were leaving the park and we had to attempt to catch the bus again; along with almost everyone else that took the tour that day. I think it took us 2 or 3 buses coming by on the route to have space for us and it ended up being on the top deck. We got pretty wet and it was now getting dark, kinda funny actually. Instead of us heading back to the hostel, we decided it was time to jump back onto the blue line and finish the tour; I wanted to see Moutjuic, a large hill at the South West end of the city. It was the area that most of the Olympic stadiums were from the 1992 Olympics. It was a fantastic place to see the city at night and although we didn't get a chance to jump off the bus and explore a little, I'm very glad I go to see it. By the time we got back to the beginning, the rain had stopped and we had a nice walk back to the hostel. Once we got a little dryer, it was time for dinner. We asked at the front desk about a good place to eat, this is where we met the activities director Simon. Simon was born in Tokoyo and then lived in New York, had worked in another hostel last year and had recently come to "Hello BCN" to start up their activities department. He told us of a little dive bar place that served good foor, local beers and was super cheap, so we jumped on it. Just a couple block from the hostel, I don't even remember the name of it, but it was really good, I had some turkey dish. We then all decided it was time to call it a night, we are going to head North tomorrow for a town called Figueres, where the Salvador Dali Museum is; Simon gave us all the details for this too, haha. If I hadn't mentioned it, he was super cute and I had a little crush, pretty funny!
Adios for now!
As decided yesterday, we all agreed that the hop on, hop off bus was a good plan for the day. We all got up early, 8 a.m., to shower and partake of the free breakfast at the hostel, before our adventures. The free breakfast consisited of cereal, juice, biscottie, toast and coffee. It was at least something. We also got a chance to hit the computers in the lounge before the area got busy. The wifi in the hostel had stopped working, so I didn't get much use out of taking my little computer with me, this is why the posts are being done after I got home. We set out at about 9:30 a.m. and headed for the bus. It was absolutly beautiful day and the temps were great, so we purchased our tickets and got our seats on the top of the double decker. The route of the bus had 2 lines, blue and red. The Blue (Azul) line took you around the South part of the city and the Red (Rojo) line, took you around the North. The plan was to take the Blue line all the way around, about 2 hours, then transfer to the red line and get off at the cool places we wanted to spend some time at. Well, as with every good plan, we didn't stick to it. After about 1/2 of the blue line, we got off in the Plaza de Catalunya, a very busy Plaza with lots of people and excitement down the side streets. We stopped at Hard Rock Cafe to see what the New Years Eve entertainment would be. I was appaulled at the price of 140 euros per person!!!! That over $200 dollars, WOW! That option was emidiately removed from the list. It did include dinner, but I wasn't willing to spend the money, let alone ask the other 3 people in the group to do it, they were on stricter budgets then I was. After that shell shock, we left and went on a little tour of some alley ways. They were quiet charning and I was surprised to see little stores and thing and cafes in these allies. We walked a few blocks and found a neat little antique market, that Andrew and Alex loved, me and Kyle found it cute for a few minutes, then went and sat on some stairs. We thought we were at Gaudi's Church, la Sagada Fimiliar, but instead we were at the Cathedral de Barcelona. It was gorgeous and we walk all the way around the inside. Once finished with the cathedral, we decided it was time for lunch. Since we were not going to go to Hard Rock for New Years Eve, we decided to go there for lunch. It was a smaller Cafe, but still cool, yet I forgot the gift cards I had received for Christmas, so I didn't purchase my normal t-shirt and glasses, at least not on this trip. Lunch took a little longer then expected, so we jumped on the Red line bus and headed over to la Sagrada Familiar, what an amazing place. Gaudi is the architectural artist of this building and in his lifetime, he never got he opportunity to finish the church, so it is still under construction, but still awesome to see. His buildings, which includes an apartment building, were all inspired by nature and mainly by the movement of the Mediteranian Sea, so they are very odd and round. I have a buch of pictures of couse. We didn't spend to much tme here, but I did get a chance to buy some souvenirs, which are really cool and are very Gaudi-esq. Once finished, we were back on the bus, headed to a park by Guadi, Park Guell. It is an amazing botanical area, that continues to show off his ideas of art in architecture. It has many little intricacies and we tried to explore as much as we could. Rain began to fall as we were leaving the park and we had to attempt to catch the bus again; along with almost everyone else that took the tour that day. I think it took us 2 or 3 buses coming by on the route to have space for us and it ended up being on the top deck. We got pretty wet and it was now getting dark, kinda funny actually. Instead of us heading back to the hostel, we decided it was time to jump back onto the blue line and finish the tour; I wanted to see Moutjuic, a large hill at the South West end of the city. It was the area that most of the Olympic stadiums were from the 1992 Olympics. It was a fantastic place to see the city at night and although we didn't get a chance to jump off the bus and explore a little, I'm very glad I go to see it. By the time we got back to the beginning, the rain had stopped and we had a nice walk back to the hostel. Once we got a little dryer, it was time for dinner. We asked at the front desk about a good place to eat, this is where we met the activities director Simon. Simon was born in Tokoyo and then lived in New York, had worked in another hostel last year and had recently come to "Hello BCN" to start up their activities department. He told us of a little dive bar place that served good foor, local beers and was super cheap, so we jumped on it. Just a couple block from the hostel, I don't even remember the name of it, but it was really good, I had some turkey dish. We then all decided it was time to call it a night, we are going to head North tomorrow for a town called Figueres, where the Salvador Dali Museum is; Simon gave us all the details for this too, haha. If I hadn't mentioned it, he was super cute and I had a little crush, pretty funny!
Adios for now!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Day 2
Monday, December 28th
I slept in until 8 a.m.! That is pretty good considering the last time I was in Europe, the 1st 2 days I would wake up at 4 a.m. wide awake. My friend Andrew finally made it in and it was good to see him walking up the street, since I was concerned that he was stuck in Atlanta for a night and then had to fly to New York, before flying here. Once we got him settled, we headed out to hit the streets. He wanted to see the beach, so thatś were we headed, but not before we stopped for lunch. I had a fantastic chicken and vegitable sandwich and Andrew had some of the Spanish Jamon (ham), it was all delicious. We got a little turned around, but after a short detour, we headed towards the water. We walked around quite a bit, and stopped to get information on the bus tours that are available, the hop on & hop off busses are the best. For 21€,there are 44 stops, with 2 routes, that take you to ALL the spots we wanted to see. Mountjuic, Sangrada Familia, Park Guell, The Cathedral of Barcelona, Plaça de Catalunya and of course Hard Rock Cafe!! SO, this is going to be the day 4 plan when the other 2 guys are here. After we figured this out, we continued to the beach. It was beautiful and well worth the walk. We then made some additional plans for ¨when the guys get here¨ and we headed back to the hostel. We didnt do a siesta, but we did just kinda chill out. Since we were scheduled to meet the guys at 10 p.m. at the bar in the hostel, we headed out again for dinner. We decided against Tapas, since we wanted to eat that with the other guys too, so we walked a while and looked at all the different restaurants on the Pararl-lel (one of the main streets). We settled on a place that was quiet and we ate pizza, which I find as funny, but it was really good. Andrew was pretty happy that his pizza had frankfurters on it, haha. Mine had Jamon, since I swore that I would at least try the Ham in Spain, but Im not a ham fan, so that will be the last of that. We also had some fantastic wine, that was super cheap! What a great area for local wine. After dinner we just waited a the hostel for the guys and once they finally arrived, we headed out again for them to get some food. We walked a little ways along and street called the La Ramblas, another main street here. After stopping at a couple of places, we ended up at a Middle Eastern Restaurant, I thought this was funny, but I was happy to get some Baclava. The wine here was GREAT as well, so double bonus! We all chatted and caught up with each other about who had the better flight and what movies we watched and things like that. We then decided that it was a good time to just go back and rest.
I slept in until 8 a.m.! That is pretty good considering the last time I was in Europe, the 1st 2 days I would wake up at 4 a.m. wide awake. My friend Andrew finally made it in and it was good to see him walking up the street, since I was concerned that he was stuck in Atlanta for a night and then had to fly to New York, before flying here. Once we got him settled, we headed out to hit the streets. He wanted to see the beach, so thatś were we headed, but not before we stopped for lunch. I had a fantastic chicken and vegitable sandwich and Andrew had some of the Spanish Jamon (ham), it was all delicious. We got a little turned around, but after a short detour, we headed towards the water. We walked around quite a bit, and stopped to get information on the bus tours that are available, the hop on & hop off busses are the best. For 21€,there are 44 stops, with 2 routes, that take you to ALL the spots we wanted to see. Mountjuic, Sangrada Familia, Park Guell, The Cathedral of Barcelona, Plaça de Catalunya and of course Hard Rock Cafe!! SO, this is going to be the day 4 plan when the other 2 guys are here. After we figured this out, we continued to the beach. It was beautiful and well worth the walk. We then made some additional plans for ¨when the guys get here¨ and we headed back to the hostel. We didnt do a siesta, but we did just kinda chill out. Since we were scheduled to meet the guys at 10 p.m. at the bar in the hostel, we headed out again for dinner. We decided against Tapas, since we wanted to eat that with the other guys too, so we walked a while and looked at all the different restaurants on the Pararl-lel (one of the main streets). We settled on a place that was quiet and we ate pizza, which I find as funny, but it was really good. Andrew was pretty happy that his pizza had frankfurters on it, haha. Mine had Jamon, since I swore that I would at least try the Ham in Spain, but Im not a ham fan, so that will be the last of that. We also had some fantastic wine, that was super cheap! What a great area for local wine. After dinner we just waited a the hostel for the guys and once they finally arrived, we headed out again for them to get some food. We walked a little ways along and street called the La Ramblas, another main street here. After stopping at a couple of places, we ended up at a Middle Eastern Restaurant, I thought this was funny, but I was happy to get some Baclava. The wine here was GREAT as well, so double bonus! We all chatted and caught up with each other about who had the better flight and what movies we watched and things like that. We then decided that it was a good time to just go back and rest.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Day 1 was travel day
December 26th and 27th,
I decided that since it was the day after Christmas and there would normally be a ton of people out at DIA, I was dropped off at the airport at 2:15 pm for a 5:40 pm flight. Well, for some reason, this year was very quiet at DIA at 2:15 and by 2:39 I was sitting in the terminal beginning the wait. Classic hurry up and wait, but I'd rather be safe then sorry. I got a call from my friend Andrew, whom was supposed to land in Barcelona 8 hours before me. He told me that he had a 3 hour delay in his flight to Atlanta and missed his connecting flight to BCN. So now he will be staying in Atlanta for the night, flying to New York and then to Barcelona from there, he won't be there until Monday morning, 24 hours after his original itinerary. Totally sucks for him. The other 2 guys, Alex and Kyle, are scheduled on Monday night, hope they make it. My plane boarded really fast and it was an awesome plane, a Lufthansa Airlines 777. I really enjoyed the touch screens in each headrest and I watched The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3; with John Travolta. It was also nice to be on an international flight with free wine, so I indulged with 2 glasses of a great white wine, hoping it would help me sleep through the night. I got about 5 hours and a stomach ache, haha. Oh well. After 9 hours and 45 mins I was in Frankfort. The girl next to me on the plane, 17 yrs old, was a resident of Denver, but lived in Germany as a kid, so she was going back to visit her boyfriend. I didn't get her name, but no big deal, she was fun to talk to, but she interrupted me watching UP, haha. Anywho, once in Frankfurt, I had a 4 1/2 hour layover, so I took it pretty slow getting to the gate. I realized after getting through customs/security, that the walk I was making today, was the exact same as the RUN I had to make back in July to catch my flight to Budapest, it was over a mile from security to the gate, so no wonder I thought I was going to die after running! After 2 gate changes, I even ended up at the exact same gate too, but much happier to have been able to calmly make it there. I did some crocheting at both airports while waiting and I got a really great head start on the 1st blanket I'll finish in 2010. Once on the plane to Barcelona from Frankfurt, I passed out; I hope this doesn't hurt my sleeping tonight, but I was exhausted. Once I woke up and ate the snack they give you, I started talking to the guy sitting next to me, Lisandro. He lives in Barcelona, but is originally from Argentina and he was coming home from his holiday trip. I was asking him questions about the train/bus I had to catch from the airport and he said that if his friend comes to pick him up, he would just give me a ride. I thanked him and agreed to hitch a ride if it was possible. However, once in baggage claim, his bags didn't make the trip from Frankfurt and his friend had already left, thinking he probably missed his flight too. After hanging out with him, while he dealt with lost luggage, he helped me catch the bus that would get me to the area that I needed to jump on the subway and he pointed me in the direction of my hostel. Then he was on his way home himself; but not before we exchanged email addresses. Such great hospitality. I did have to stop and ask where the street was that I was looking for, but it was pretty easy and close to where I was, sweet! I checked in and headed straight for my room to grab my computer and make a Skype call to a friend at home, I love Skype! The city looked really cool from the bus windows and my short walk, but I'm super tired and I think tonight is a wash. BUT, I'm here and excited about what the next few days have in store for me!! So check back to see what I do.
I decided that since it was the day after Christmas and there would normally be a ton of people out at DIA, I was dropped off at the airport at 2:15 pm for a 5:40 pm flight. Well, for some reason, this year was very quiet at DIA at 2:15 and by 2:39 I was sitting in the terminal beginning the wait. Classic hurry up and wait, but I'd rather be safe then sorry. I got a call from my friend Andrew, whom was supposed to land in Barcelona 8 hours before me. He told me that he had a 3 hour delay in his flight to Atlanta and missed his connecting flight to BCN. So now he will be staying in Atlanta for the night, flying to New York and then to Barcelona from there, he won't be there until Monday morning, 24 hours after his original itinerary. Totally sucks for him. The other 2 guys, Alex and Kyle, are scheduled on Monday night, hope they make it. My plane boarded really fast and it was an awesome plane, a Lufthansa Airlines 777. I really enjoyed the touch screens in each headrest and I watched The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3; with John Travolta. It was also nice to be on an international flight with free wine, so I indulged with 2 glasses of a great white wine, hoping it would help me sleep through the night. I got about 5 hours and a stomach ache, haha. Oh well. After 9 hours and 45 mins I was in Frankfort. The girl next to me on the plane, 17 yrs old, was a resident of Denver, but lived in Germany as a kid, so she was going back to visit her boyfriend. I didn't get her name, but no big deal, she was fun to talk to, but she interrupted me watching UP, haha. Anywho, once in Frankfurt, I had a 4 1/2 hour layover, so I took it pretty slow getting to the gate. I realized after getting through customs/security, that the walk I was making today, was the exact same as the RUN I had to make back in July to catch my flight to Budapest, it was over a mile from security to the gate, so no wonder I thought I was going to die after running! After 2 gate changes, I even ended up at the exact same gate too, but much happier to have been able to calmly make it there. I did some crocheting at both airports while waiting and I got a really great head start on the 1st blanket I'll finish in 2010. Once on the plane to Barcelona from Frankfurt, I passed out; I hope this doesn't hurt my sleeping tonight, but I was exhausted. Once I woke up and ate the snack they give you, I started talking to the guy sitting next to me, Lisandro. He lives in Barcelona, but is originally from Argentina and he was coming home from his holiday trip. I was asking him questions about the train/bus I had to catch from the airport and he said that if his friend comes to pick him up, he would just give me a ride. I thanked him and agreed to hitch a ride if it was possible. However, once in baggage claim, his bags didn't make the trip from Frankfurt and his friend had already left, thinking he probably missed his flight too. After hanging out with him, while he dealt with lost luggage, he helped me catch the bus that would get me to the area that I needed to jump on the subway and he pointed me in the direction of my hostel. Then he was on his way home himself; but not before we exchanged email addresses. Such great hospitality. I did have to stop and ask where the street was that I was looking for, but it was pretty easy and close to where I was, sweet! I checked in and headed straight for my room to grab my computer and make a Skype call to a friend at home, I love Skype! The city looked really cool from the bus windows and my short walk, but I'm super tired and I think tonight is a wash. BUT, I'm here and excited about what the next few days have in store for me!! So check back to see what I do.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Going... going....
Almost ready to rock across the pond!! I'm finishing up the last steps for the trip and pondering how wonderful my Christmas was and that I can't wait to see what the new year has to offer!
Cheers to everyone! Happy New Year!!!
Cheers to everyone! Happy New Year!!!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Getting ready
I'm sitting in a snow storm in Denver, 3 weeks from landing in Barcelona. So, I'm preparing for the journey and decided to create another BLOG for everyone to follow my 5 days away. I'll be leaving Denver on December 26th at 5:30pm and landing in Barcelona on December 27th at 5:55pm. I'll be returning on January 1st, so really I'll be enjoying Spain for 4 days, but that's a lot of time in one city for me!
Keep checking back to see how my travels are going! Cheers for now!
Tess
Keep checking back to see how my travels are going! Cheers for now!
Tess
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