We are here! Day 1

---

April 23rd, arrival and Barcelona

It has been a wonderful day so far. sorry for no caps, i am at the hotel and this keyboard is not normal. our plane was 45 minutes late in taking off last night, because of rain, so we were about half hour late this morning, and arrived 9 am barcelona time. easy to get the baggage and get a taxi. our driver was very nice and helpful, and comunicated well with dicedawg who has a limited knowledge of spanish. i understood maybe 3 words. the taxi was 28 euro. we had a slight problem when we were close to the hotel...la ramblas was closed! It is (oops I just figured out caps) Sant Jordi day (St. George´s day) and there were lots of festivities. Girls give books to boys, boys give roses to girls, so there are people, books and roses everywhere. We had to haul our suitcases, thankfully on wheels, down La Ramblas to a side street to our hotel. Dicedawg left Beau, Belle (our friends, don´t blame us, they picked the names), and Belle´s parents at the airport to exchange cash, and we walk in and they are already in the lobby! THEIR driver took them a different way and they got dropped off in front.

From coversation and some eavesdropping, there were at least 30 people on our flight that are on our cruise, including several DVC cast members (one sat in front of us).

We are staying at the Hotel Curious, a little boutique hotel that is a bit funky and retro, clean, with a great location. The views from the rooms suck, big time, but I really like the hotel besides that. Free use of their computer and breakfast for 116 Euro. They speak decent English and were very helpful.

The other 4 members of our party passed out. Dicedawg and I showered and left, walking up La Ramblas finally to the Barcelona Cathedral. One word: Magnificent. Just go. 10 Euro for the two of us.

Then we had lunch, I forget the name but I´ll post it later. We drank delicious Sangria, had meat and seafood paella, and bread with garlic, tomatoes, olive oil and vinegar in the Catalan way. It was wonderful. We sat outside and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was 56 Euro.

After, we tried to find Parc Geull or however it is spelled (one of the Gaudi houses) but were directed the wrong way by a local and ended up really near our hotel. Before returning to rest a bit we stopped by a shop and bought my two youngest girls flamenco dresses with heels and fans. Black with red polka dots, they are adorable. The dresses were 7 Euro, and we got two pairs of shoes for 17, and the fans were 2 for 5.

Not sure what we are doing yet tonight, we might pass out and not wake up

So far, this trip is incredibly magical.
__________________

---

Comments

[sayhello]

Yay! You made it!
So glad to hear you made it to Barcelona! Looking forward to reading about your adventure, as I'll be following you in 3 weeks! Sayhello