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Published: April 27th 2009
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This trip started with another moment of panic (I seem to have recurring problems booking air travel!). I checked in online with SAS the day before we were to leave and discover that there was a ticket to Barcelona for me, but no ticket for Bruce! So Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before departure, I freaked out just a little. I called SAS and they searched but could not find a ticket for Bruce. *PANIC*. "Can I still get a ticket on the same flight?", I asked, "You see, we are leaving on this cruise and we have to be there by Friday afternoon!" (As if she cared.) "Yes, you can get a ticket, but it will cost twice as much". "Thank God! Please book it."
Another ticket disaster averted! We have a cheap ticket and a not-so-cheap ticket, but we have tickets! We arrived at the airport with plenty of time for a couple glasses of wine (helps me fly a little better). We will be in Barcelona by 4:00 PM, have a walk around, some tapas, some fine Spanish wine, and a good night's sleep before boarding our cruise ship on Friday. Bon Voyage!
We boarded
First dinner in Spain - what's morilla?!
Morilla is blood sausage. I will eat most anything, but can't cope with blood sausage. the plane at noon for a 12:30 take off. We taxied out to the runway, then the pilot announced there was a slight technical problem and we would be going back to the gate. We sat on the plane for 1 1/2 hours as they fixed the issue. Damn. There goes my wine buzz. At 2:00, we took off. I was sober and a little worried about the technical issue. did they really have time to fix it?!
Three hours later, we landed safely in Barcelona and deplaned to go get our luggage. We proceeded to the baggage area, unaware that there were two baggage areas separated by the length of the airport. We waited by the luggage belt designated for the CPH plane. It was the wrong plane number and the wrong airline, but the only reference to CPH we saw. After 1/2 of waiting I asked at the info kiosk and she said "Oh, you must go to terminal B. Out that door and to the right". What she did not tell us is that we would have to go back through security and walk to the other side of the airport! Apparently the security guys have
seen this before, because as we presented our out-dated boarding passes and he saw that we had landed over an hour ago he looked at us and said "Baggage?"
We finally arrived at our hotel around 6:00, checked in and set about looking for our first tapas. We found a little unassuming place on a side street and had some cheese and sausage and a couple of Spanish brews. We wandered around for the next few hours taking in the sights in the Ramblas. Talk about street performers! I have never seen anything as elaborate as these guys - Big elaborate costumes, some with moving parts! There were street vendors as well and each section of the street seemed dedicated to a certain specialty. There were typical tourist stands, then there were several flower shops in a row, then there was the pet shop area. There were brightly colored parrots and cute little finches in cages. There were rabbits and guinea pigs, and ducks and roosters and pigeons ...pets or dinner? Hmmm...
Around 10:30, we were ready for our real dinner (hey, we are respecting the local customs and eating on Spanish time!) Again, found a small restaurant
on a side street where Bruce had a delicious Paella and I had a plate of steamed mussels. We wandered back to the hotel a little in love with Barcelona.
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