Mediterranean Day Two

DAY 2 – WE HAVE ARRIVED (May 14)

Today we woke up as we should always wake up every morning with a warm, smiling flight attendant asking us if we would like some orange juice. And then vanilla French toast and scrambled eggs and turkey sausage and fruit and bagels or croissants and coffee brought in a silver coffee urn. I looked out the window and you could see along the horizon the effects of the volcano burping but underneath us the clouds were so fluffy and white that you actually felt that you could step out of the plane and walk on them.

So we landed in Barcelona and you cannot imagine the relief that washed over us. We were here – and after all that fussing and worrying. The entire airport smelled like cotton candy. I think we need to make LAX smell like oranges – not to be outdone you know. We made it through immigration and then waited for our bags. And waited. And waited. And then 2 of our 3 showed up and we waited. And waited. Just as Tom was about to despair our last bag arrived. Outside it was pouring. If it rained that hard in Los Angeles they would have called out the national guard for a weather emergency. So we step out of the arrival area and into the warm and loving arms of Disney.

While we were waiting we ran into a couple from North Carolina who were also on our cruise and are also doing Adventures by Disney and who are staying in the same hotel before AND after our cruise. There were a lot of people on our flight who are doing a Royal Caribbean cruise. Too bad for them we have the best cruise. We’ll get the best weather and the best ocean – they can have the rain and the rough seas. Just my completely unbiased opinion. So we are driven to our hotel. The one word I have to say about the parts of Barcelona I have seen is charming. And man does this place have interesting architecture. They love the effect of buildings apparently suspended over nothing. I suspect that they do not have many earthquakes here.

So Tom and I checked in – and they upgraded us to a junior suite with a beautiful view of the beach and a very large hotel right smack in the middle of our view. And by some miracle the room was ready. And since this is a pre-hotel booked by Disney Cruise Line we were able to check in for the cruise while in the hotel so tomorrow we only have to pass by security to get onto the ship. Score!!

So we came up to the room and then went to find some lunch. The one restaurant in the hotel was reserved for some doctors’ convention on surgical infections – ewww– so we had lunch in the hotel bar. We asked the very nice server for some recommendations and we had three tapas: mushroom croquettes, vegetable tempura and Iberian ham. Iberian ham is delicious and VERY expensive. I was going to buy some but you can’t bring it back into the United States or the cheese either.

So after that we came back upstairs and took a nap. Tom said get up at 5. Sure no problem. 5 came and went and Tom got up and I snoozed and snoozed until at least 7. We went over across the street and they have the Diagonal Mar mall. You know for a country that is refreshingly cool the interiors of the buildings are SWELTERING. I swear the cotton candy airport was 100 degrees inside. So was the mall. But interestingly enough they have such region specific stores as Nine West, Toys R Us, Sanrio, Bath and Body Works. It was like walking around South Coast Plaza. They had a HUGE grocery store in the mall and so we walked through and the food looked so yummy and interesting and I would love to have bought more than water but what would we do with it but they had an entire wall covered in that Iberia ham and about 5 people to help you get some so you can see that it really is very expensive even in the grocery stores. As we were walking the hall in the mall they had a cart selling goat meat and it was right on the goat’s leg – hoof and all.

For dinner we had cheese soup (the best ever), salad with feta cheese, Tom had the Catalon stew and I had the sea bream – not my favorite fish but it was well cooked and too late I remembered that aubergines is raisins. LOL! You can tell that Barcelona is further north than Los Angeles because it gets dark very late here however while it is now 9:30 PM my body thinks it is noon and while I’m exhausted I do not feel sleepy. Hopefully we can get some sleep. Tomorrow is our first cruise day. Yay!!!!