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.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
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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