On our way again!

FRIDAY, MARCH 27th
I have never been this ready for a trip! Suitcases were ready to go last night - I have been packing for about a week, so you would think this would not be a miraculous feat, but it is. Jim came by around 9:00 am, and shortly thereafter we were on our way to Orlando International Airport. I checked in online yesterday and printed out our boarding passes. I was also given the option to check our bags online, which I also did. But why? We still had to wait on line with all our bags and do it all again. So I am not sure what I gained from doing it online. We were given one of the first “zones” to board the plane, so maybe that’s it. The flight to NY’s JFK was uneventful. The people sitting behind us were also headed to the Norwegian Jade. Two sisters and a couple of teenage boys. Since we had three hours to wait for our connection for Barcelona, we hit the airport Chili’s. Really, really bad stuff. Finally we boarded Flight 94 to Barcelona. A seven hour flight, and no personal video! Delta! WTH? We had the personal video on both of our transatlantic flights a year ago. Granted they did not work properly most of the time, but you know. They did show two movies, The Secret Life Of Bees and The Express. I didn’t really watch either. The flight was pretty pleasant. We landed a full 50 minutes early, which was nice, although the wait for our bags made up for it. John decided to pull some euros from the ATM - he walked out of the baggage area, and was not allowed to return without his boarding pass, which I was holding for safekeeping, or, maybe I had thrown it away at his point. So it was the kids and I vs. the baggage claim. After about ten minutes of waiting, the woman next to us muttered, “I am becoming INTERNALLY UPSET!” Leah turned to me and said, “What does that even MEAN?” Seriously. We grabbed all five bags and headed outside for the Aerobus.

SATURDAY, MARCH 28th
Oh, yeah... it is actually Saturday. Spain is five hours ahead of EST, so when we landed in Barcelona, it was about 6:00 am. Our body clocks? 1:00 am. None of us really slept on the plane, so I know things are going to go downhill here soon. When we flew over to London last year, we landed at Heathrow at 6:00 am their time, and could not check in to our hotel until 3:00 pm. We walked around the city having not slept for roughly 24 plus hours. I was prepared for that scenario this time as well. We boarded the Aerobus, which was both pretty much empty and waiting, two things I really look for in a bus. We disembarked at our stop, Placa d’Espanya, and hoofed it approximately five minutes to our hotel, Hotel Fira Palace Barcelona. Imagine our surprise and relief when we were given the keys to our rooms - ready at 8:00 am! We took a little nap, then got up around noon to do some exploring.

The weather in Barcelona was a little disappointing, and not the greatest for walking the city. But we braved the gray chilly drizzle, hit the streets, and had a great time. We strolled down La Rambla, a wide, tree-lined, pedestrian street featuring street performers, open air markets and tapas cafes, flower stalls and even kiosks selling birds and roosters (and of course the obligatory Starbucks). We walked the boulevard down to the Monument a Colum, a huge statue of Christopher Columbus pointing out to sea. We circled back up La Rambla, stopping for dinner at Hard Rock Cafe (insert groans here). Not the first choice of the grown-ups, but being day one of a sixteen day trip, a necessary one designed to keep the young folk on our side. We then wandered into a shop called Desegual... oh wow. Maybe the coolest, funkiest clothing store EVER! Then it was back to our hotel to make up some more sleep. As luck would have it, Europe begins Daylight Savings Time tonight... so we will lose another hour of sleep! Before bed, we snuck on the internet to find that we have a new baby in the family... Sean and Lisha’s son Race has arrived!

SUNDAY, MARCH 29th

Not the best night’s sleep, but sleep nonetheless. We ate breakfast at the hotel’s buffet and caught a cab to the Port of Barcelona. We arrived at the Norwegian Jade around noon, got all checked in, and were among the first to board the ship. As we entered the gangway, we were greeted by a crew member with a smile and a spray of hand sanitizer. OK, I like it. Come to realize, these people are quite obsessed with the Purell. There is a Purell dispenser around every corner, in every elevator, next to every buffet line. I understand the risk of germ-spreading is pretty high on a cruise ship, but I am telling you that by the time we are done with this trip, we will probably have been sprayed with Purell 4,000+ times.

We made reservations for dinner in the Teppanaki restaurant, and set out to explore what will be our home for the next 12 days. There are 13 restaurants, tennis/basketball courts, pools, hot tubs and waterslides, a library, lots of clubs, and many things we haven’t even discovered yet. We did the mandatory muster drill before heading to dinner, where we coincidentally sat with the family from our plane. After dinner we hit the sundae bar, and watched the sun set over Barcelona as we headed out into the Mediterranean Sea.