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Published: September 22nd 2009
This hotel computer is not the easiest to use but I will attempt to blog a little about my trip so far.
The flight out here wasn´t too horrible. I actually succeded in getting in an hour nap on each flight which is a huge improvement from my last trip. I took some dramamine before each flight which helped with my motion sickness and making me drowsy so i could get some sleep but i think it might have contributed to my jet lag. We arrvied in Barcelona around 8 in the morning. Took a cab to our beautiful hotel and were told that check in wasn´t until 2pm but there was a possibility that we could check in around noon. We ditched our luggage at the front desk and walked around town for a few hours. It was hard to appreciate barcelona with how jet lagged we were. During our stroll we ran into a gigantic path of marathon runners. I think it took about 20 minutes of watching them run by before we could cross the street. 3 streets later we ran into them again and decided to sit at the cafe and drink a coffee as we watched them run by again. Quite an interesting assortment of people runnin. Old people. Children. Men running with strollers. Kids on rollerblades. A man with no legs using a bike with arm pedals. An old man on a bike with a sidecar for his dog. Very entertaining.
We returned to the hotel around 11:30am to see if we could get our room early and were told it would probably not be ready until 2pm. The man at the front desk suggested we go to the hotel rooftop. We took a 2 hour nap on loungechairs on the rooftop. Then we went back down and got our room key. Went to the room and took another 2 hour nap. Woke up. Walked around a bit looking for dinner. It was very difficult to find food. Most restaurants do not serve food until 8pm. We found a place serving tortillas de patata wich is like a potato omlette. After our meal we crossed the street and the sky opened up and it was POURING rain. We stood under the awning of a bank for a good 20 minutes waiting for the rain to die down enough so we could make it back across the street to a cafe to sit out the rain. After our coffee we walked back to the hotel and then the sky opened up again and really started to pour but this time with lightning and thunder. The loudest thunder I´ve ever heard. We were watching tv and the thunderstorm in our hotel room and ended up falling asleep around 10pm. I woke up every two hours but was somehow able to sleep through the night.
The next morning I woke up around 7am and couldnt take it anymore. I showered and then we had some breakfast and went to placa juaime to find the bike tour. The bike tour was very fun. Met some guys from Chicago and another guy from New Zeland. The bike tour removed quite a few places off our list of things to see including Sagrada Familia. The tour ended on the beach where we drank mojitos and had a light lunch. I started calling Bonnie back-of-the-pack-berenice because we kept losing her at the back of the group. The bike group was about 20 people and not everyone could make it through the signals in time which meant a lot of stopping and waiting for people to catch up.
Once the bike tour was over the guys from chicago asked us if we wanted to grab a 50 cent beer and check out las ramblas with them. The beer was warm but 50 cents so I couldn´t complain. The ramblas was pretty interesting. It was a bit like 3rd Street in Santa Monica. Street performers and tourist junk being sold. The weird thing was there were a lot of vendors selling animals including- roosters, chipmunks, chinchillas, porcupines and i kid you not pigeons. Pigeons in a cage for you to buy. What the hell? In the middle of the ramblas there was a meat market area off to the side. It was starting to close when we got there but we did have the chance to walk around a bit. I made the mistake of asking a woman selling candy if there was cajeta or amoncillo in spain or if it was only mexican candy. She looked at me in disgust and said estamos in espania no mexico. Really? I thought maybe I was in mexico.
After our walk we parted ways and went back to the hotel for a late siesta. An hour and a half nap and then off to dinner. I wanted to try pallella. The guy at the front desk called about 5 restaurants for me before getting us reservations somewhere. We at at barceloneta which is also the name of the area in barcelona which is near the ocean. The pallella was ... interesting. Those of you who know my fear of cooked fish especially fish with head and eyeballs left on will be impressed to know that I ate everything including a baby lobster with his head still on, oysters, clams and even octopus. We finished dinner at :::::drumroll::: um around 1am. Then we went back to the hotel to ask where a bar was. After some walking around we ended up in a bar called GAP. GAP it turns out were the initials of the bar owner who I thought looked like Christopher Walken. That guy was hilarious. He ended up giving bonnie and I 6 free drinks plus shirts and hats. He didn´t speak english but was very happy when I would attempt to speak spanish to him. He kept dedicating songs to us girls from los angeles including hotel california. The bar was only the owner and a female bartender julieta. 4 guys from the canary islands. A french jazz guitarist. Bonnie and I. Drinks were being poured and hats passed out to all of us. The most fun we´ve had in Barcelona so far. Somehow we weren´t drunk until we got back to our room around 3am. I woke up feeling pretty good this morning. Miss Berenice is not doing so well however. We just finished a late breakfast and she went back up to the room for a nap and I came back down to go to the bank and jump on the internet. Plans today are to get manicures and then go to park guell. Buy souvaniers. Possibly check out one of the gaudi musems around here and then dinner at the jazz club where the french guitarist will be playing. We might be going back to GAP but Berenice will not be drinking tonight. I however might press my luck...
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Mom
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Pallela
Lucky to find restaurant serving Pallela. Bandally and I went to 5 restaurants, they looked funny at me or said they didin't serve Pallela. And that's supposed to be a Spanish dish??? Some found a fast food spot near the docks but looking at the exterior didn't influence me, hence I never got to eat Pallela. Maybe when you come home we'll have Alfie make it for you! Or, I'll look for an authenic recipie. I wish Bijou could speak, occasionally she looks at me deeply with her eyes and saying something pero no comprendo! Anyway she said to tell you, "Woof woof woof, roof roof roof, grrrrr woof!" I think she's saying that she loves me and she misses her Mama'. Happy to see that you're enjoying yourselves. Let me know if you run into any Gypsies!! Met one on the train, she told me stories that I had to translate to my STMs (Short Term Missionaries). NOTE: Spaniards think they are better than Mexicans, that's why you got such a rude remark - but you hold your head up and be respectful, remember that you're better than them. The Mexicans are a cross of Mexico and Indios, and the Spanish claim to have blue blood and are pure! Butttt, some Spaniard are crossed with Arabs and Moors, now you know how much better they are. LOL Love you Punkin! Enjoy every moment!