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Barcelona (Kelly)

I slept a lot when we were in Barcelona..probably 2 days all together..haha..but yah I gotta talk about everything up until now..but for this post I’ll just talk about Barcelona..btw most of the pics (if not all) my mom posted are mine >.>

Plane Ride

It took 19 hours altogether to get to Barcelona >.<..we got to the airport at 3am and waited for the international check in to open at 4:45am -.-..but it was ok since we all had things to entertain us..haha ^.^..well we got through everything and then we went to get something to eat..I got a good old mcmuffin while mom and nick got mexican food..don’t know why they got mexican food for breakfast >.>..after we ate it was time to get on the plane (6:30am)..so we get on and I fall asleep real quick..hehe best way to go ^.^..next thing I knew we were in Philadelphia..we got there around 3pm and our next flight was at 6:25pm..so we had time and me and nick got some linner..I guess my mom wasn’t hungry and was gonna wait until we got to Barcelona to eat..but yah me and nick got some japanese food which was really good..after we ate we kicked back until it was time to get on..but of course there was a delay because of mechanical problems with the plane..can't be a proper vacation without some kind of delay *thumbs up*..well anyways..they announced that the estimate time we leave was 9:30pm..so my mom went to go get some dinner..a little after that they announce that anyone leaving for Barcelona can get $10 off any food..so nick goes and tells my mom and of course she got her food right before they announced that..hahaha ^.^..so my mom and brother get back and out of nowhere they announce that they fixed the plane and are now boarding..so everyone gets on and the people tell us that'll it'll be a 7 1/2 hour flight..it was suppose to be 13 hours so I guess the people driving the plane were speeding..but once again I fall asleep pretty fast..hehe ^.^..I wake up looked out the window to see if I saw light or whatever and the first thing I saw was a the big dipper..it was huge!..the thing took up the whole window..so beautiful ^.^..so after looking at the stars for a while I opened my laptop and watched Death Note: The Last Name..by the time the movie was over we were in Barcelona and were starting to land

waiting for the airport to open

our flight schedule

the sunrise from the plane ^.^

Barcelona

so we go through everything and get our bags and stuff..we get a taxi and go to our hostel that’s on a street that looks a lot like an old part of downtown LA >.>..so we get there and check in the people were nice and told us there was breakfast downstairs and computers with internet..so we go up to our room that’s on the 3rd floor..but you know luckily there was an elevator..on the 2nd floor <.<..so we had to take our 5 bags..plus our own..up those stairs to get the elevator on the 2nd floor..we get our room and first thing I think is ‘wth!?’ the room is tiny I don’t even know how they got everythig to fit..seriously..here’s a pic to show you how it looked

well this was our room..I took this pic from the bathroom

ok..my mom couldn't figure out how to turn on this light..she thought the switch was the plug (and she knew that was a plug)..so I had to show her the black botton under the light..haha

for the shower you had to literally fling your leg over the wall..unless you were my mom who had to climb over it..hehe XP..anyways..the first thing we do after we got comfy and take a nap..I slept for about 5 hours ^.^ and then my mom woke me up for dinner..we walked down Las Ramblas blindly looking for a restaurant until we just decided to pick one and ate there..it was nice and the food was good..only one problem

yeah do you see anything wrong with that?..it was super expensive mainly because of the meat platter my mom and bro got so that’s understandable..but wth? The water’s super expensive..and we only got 3 bottles! O.o..like Nick said it was probably water from the polar icecaps..so expensive for 3 bottles of freakin water! >.<..but after we left we headed back to our hotel to get some more sleep ^.^..on our way there..we see little shops that are open and some were closed..we stopped and got some gelatos and then went on our way to our room..but on the way we passed a door with those really big circle knockers on the first and of course my mom had to say something >.> “wow those are some big knockers”..lol XD..me and Nick just looked at each other and started laughing..hahaha..it was at that point that I knew this was gonna be a lo~ng vacation..so we get back to our room and go to bed..we woke up around 7 got showered and dressed and then went downstairs to where they served breakfast..it was pretty good..we had cereal, toast, ham, and cheese..it was really good actually haha ^.^..that day we went to a monastery up on a mountain called Montserrat..it took us like 1 ½ hours by using 2 metro trains to get to the funicular that took us up there..the funicular was a lot like the baskets at disneyland but there were only 2 of them

cool grafitti

meh..doesn't look that far up ^.^'

ah..nevermind O.o

we're really high up >.<..nice view though ^.^

so we get on it and it was ok going up..not windy or anything so that was fine..we got there and first thing we do is get some water since it was really hot and we kinda had to walk up hill and some stairs >.>..so anyways after we kick back in the cafeteria for a little bit we got to the basilica and take some pictures..or I did even though we weren’t suppose to..hehe ^.^\..it was a beautiful basilica ^.^

the inside was really pretty

it had beautiful paintings like this one inside too

After the basilica we went to the museum and went down a floor looked at stuff there..at first there were a bunch of paintings and then we went down another floor and looked there..there were a bunch of really old things back from the roman and greek times..my mom saw something from 600B.C. and first thing she says is “that’s imposable!”..once again me and Nick look at each other..lol..so we get through that section and went to the Egyptian section..which is even older >.>..so we look at one of the artifacts and say “wow..that’s imposable!”..let me tell you this now..whenever we see something old we say “but that’s imposable!” my mom just shakes her head or says “shut up!”..lol..yeah we’ll never let her go on that one..hehe ^.^..another thing we saw were a bunch of chalices and other old things they probably used at the monastery..but when we saw them the first thing Nick says is “choose the right cup and you will have eternal life”..lol..my mom didn’t really get it right away..she’s not that fast when it comes to those types of thing..haha ^.^’\..anyways after the museum we ate at the cafeteria and then went back to the funicular..by this time there was a good wind going by..so we got on and the thing was rocking back and forth >.<..but luckily the winds weren’t that bad *sigh*..so we got off and headed back to our hostel..when we arrived I took another 5 hour nap and at some point in the middle of me sleeping my mom asked me if I wanted to go walking with her and Nick..I just turned over and went back asleep..I finally woke up when they got back and we talked a little..I stayed up to watch some Death Note and when I got tired after a couple episodes I went to sleep for the night

so we wake up around 6:30-7, get dressed, and then go down for breakfast..I had my usual (corn flakes, ham & cheese on two slices of toast, and orange juice)..today we go left after breakfast to Place de Jaume to meet Edgar for our segway tour around Barcelona at 10..so we meet him and he takes us to where he has his other segways for us..after we get the segways he gives us a quit tutorial about how to use and maneuver it (note that he also told us that there’s no way to crash it because it keeps perfectly balanced so you don’t have to even try to stay balanced on it because it does it for you..so basically like Nick said they’re 99% crash proof..you have to try really hard to crash it)..so it was a cool tour..we got to see a lot of Barcelona in only 3 hours and since they’re small and not very fast..they can go through small streets..and at one point he tells us about how they celebrate Christmas in Catalonya..apparently they get a log and feed it and then they get a stick and they all beat the log and sing something like “crap log, crap torrons, hazelnuts and cheese, if you don’t crap I’ll beat you with a stick. Crap log!” and then they beat the log until presents come out XD..lol..so anyways we get to the beach and he lets us go a little faster by turning off the segway and turning it on with the yellow key instead of the red key like he did before..after we explore the beach and a beautiful park we head back through the gothic part of Barcelona to where we started..but on our way there at one point I saw Edger look behind him and he had a surprised look on his face..all of a sudden I hear a crash..I looked behind me and I see my mom and the segway on the floor..I don’t know how but she managed to crash the segway..apparently she leaned forward while trying to put away her camera and the segway went forward like it’s suppose to..and then she looked up and saw the wall..she didn’t have enough time..or strength..to stop the segway in time and she crashed into the wall..she fell off and (I’m taking a guess because these things balance themselves) she took the segway down with her..so we rush over to her to see if she’s alright..she’s fine (I try not to laugh XP) and we head back to where we got our segways

After the segway tour we made plans to go to the Hard Rock Café there..so we took the metro there and got seated around 3..they lost the ticket with our food one it so got free chips and guacamole..yum~

after Hard Rock we went to the huge Corte Ingles to get some small things we needed that we forgot to pack..it was so expensive there >.<..example..I saw some beautiful stockings with red and black roses and little leaves on them..54 euros..my eyes literally went like this O.o..so we just bought what we needed and left..we got back to our hostel after the long day and took naps..me and Nick woke up around 2am and since we weren’t tired we watched some DBZ..after a few episodes we went to bed and woke up the next day ready to get on the ship

I'll put more pics later ^.^

7/27/07 - Barcelona and the Segway Tour (Mary Jo)

Since we had a Segway Tour to go to at 10am, we had to get up “early,” and so we had breakfast, and then walked to the Place St. Jaume, where we were to meet our Segway guide, Edgar. We hung out for a bit in the square, and I was a little surprised to see trucks parked there. Edgar later explained that trucks are allowed to park in the square until 11am so they could deliver the goods to the local shops.

Edgar showed up on a Segway, and we then walked a few feet to his shop where he keeps the Segways stored. We walked them to another square - Place de San Juste, or Plaza de San Justo, where he gave us a 15-minute lesson on how to operate the Segways. After practicing we were off!

I would recommend this tour for everyone. We had so much fun zipping through the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona.

Edgar showed us the Cathedral, various shops, other churches, squares,

streets where the richest used to live, a street where they used to have jousting (pretty cool),

the seaside, where we were able to go faster, the Olympic area near the sea,

and the city park, where we saw some children playing “war” with flour water and eggs. They were a proper mess, and they were having a great time. Okay, I should probably talk a bit about crashing on the Segway. I admit I was trying to do too much. I had just taken a picture, and was leaning forward to put my camera in the pouch at the front of my Segway. Of course, when you lean forward, the Segway goes forward, and I kind of forgot that when I was putting my camera in. There was a huge wall in front of me, and I um, forgot all the lessons we had about stopping, and crashed head on into the wall, tumbling on the ground, and banging myself up a bit… but my camera survived! I was able to climb right back on, and continue.

Our Segway tour lasted around 3 hours. After that, walking seemed just a bit inefficient and slow. We decided to go to the Hard Rock Café for a bite to eat and the Corte Ingles for a bit of shopping before heading back to the Barcelona Ramblas Hostel. I had gotten 2-day unlimited Metro tickets, so we hopped on the metro and went to Placa Catalunya. We walked up the steps (my knee was a bit sore from the spill I took), and walked up to this huge Plaza. The Corte Ingles was huge & to our left. The Hard Rock Café was straight in front of us… across the street.

As usual, I got the kids a t-shirt from the Hard Rock Café, and there was a long line waiting to get in. The place was PACKED. I was glad that I took the advice of Andrew (from the DIS) and made reservations for the HRC over the Internet. We were able to be seated right away. We were there for a long time as they had misplaced our ticket in the kitchen, so they gave us some chips & guacamole - good, and then shortly we got our meal. It was very good.

After lunch we walked to the Corte Ingles to get some toiletries that we had forgotten at home. This is where I got some serious sticker shock. We got some simple things - deodorant, face cream, bandage for my leg, and a couple of other things - 58 euros, or $70. But we needed them and so I got them. I then looked at crew socks, and they were 13 euros for two. It looks like I’ll be doing some washing on the ship. We didn’t get them. With the euro and the weak dollar, things are pretty expensive here. After the Corte Ingles we took the metro to Las Ramblas and walked back to our hotel. It was a good day today, we had a ton of fun, and saw a lot of Barcelona we wouldn’t have otherwise seen.

High: Segway Tour

Low: Crashing into the wall and twisting my knee

7/26/2007 - Montserrat (Mary Jo

Today we decided to visit Montserrat. (Montserrat comes from Mont Serrat, or Monte Serrada, which means saw-toothed peaks.) Deb Wills gave great instructions on visiting the monastery via train/aerial way, instead of using a tour. So, I decided to go that route.

We had kind of a late morning, but finally everyone was up, and we walked to the metro. It was quite easy to get to Montserrat, and I learned that there are two types of round-trip tickets you can get. One includes the train and the aerial tram, and the other includes the train and the tramway - a kind of train that goes up the mountain. The kids and I wanted to take the aerial, and the full ticket came to 32.50 euros each. The tickets included round-trip tickets on the train, aerial gondola, museum, lunch at the cafeteria (one meal), funiculars to the Holy Cave, and Saint Joan (something?), and an audiovisual show.

We wanted to take it easy so we visited the Basilica and the museum. The Basilica was impressive, especially when you think how long ago it was built. There is a legend that a statue of a black Virgin Mary was found up in these mountains, and so the statue is displayed in the Basilica. You can walk up some stairs, go behind the altar, and see the statue. There is also an opening in front of the statue, so that it can be seen from the altar and the rest of the church. We spent some time sitting in the pews of the basilica, and then walked around. I didn’t see any candles. I wanted to light them for my parents and a certain cousin of mine. (Oh well, we’re in the old country, there will be many churches with candles.

After visiting the Basilica, we went to the museum. I thought it would be a museum that told us about Montserrat, but it was a museum with various artworks throughout the years. We enjoyed walking through it. I found the old Torah scrolls and mezuzahs to be really interesting. Too bad we couldn’t take any pictures. I would have taken them. Nick enjoyed seeing the paintings by Dali (his favorite painter), and I think Kelly enjoyed all of it, especially the statues and the huge paintings. I have to ask her what impressed her most. Everyone’s energy level was a little low, and it was hot, so we didn’t do other things up at Montserrat, like going up to the cave, or seeing the audiovisual (I would have liked that). It was a good thing that we didn’t go up to the cave. I later spoke with a couple who said that they took the funicular up to see the cave, but that after that there was a two-hour walk (so they said), and so I am glad that we did not go up there.

High: Visiting the Basilica of Montserrat & enjoying a late night stroll with Nick
Low: Still not over jet lag

7/25/2007 - Barcelona Dinner - priceless (well, just about) (Mary Jo)

After taking a nap, a long nap, the kids and I decided to go out to eat dinner. Now, just about everyone has said to avoid the restaurants on Las Ramblas, but it was pretty late, and I wanted a well-lit area to eat. We ate at a restaurant called El Choquito and the food was very good, but it ended up being pretty expensive. It was a little over 84 euros, which came out to about $115 for the three of us. We had a meat platter for two that Nick & I shared, and Kelly had prawns.

We had three waters to drink -- the waters came out to 8.25 euros which was about $11 -- I do not think I will complain about Disneyland prices again! However, we had such an enjoyable meal, that it was worth it to me. If it weren’t for the fact that it was expensive, I would recommend that restaurant to anyone. It looked like it was in a very old building (which it probably was), and the decorations were interesting. We spent a good time trying to figure them out. If money is really not an issue, I would recommend going there.

Afterwards, we walked down Las Ramblas back to our hostal (or hostel, in English). There were so many people on the streets, even this late at night, and it was fun watching everyone and hearing all the different languages. There were many students, and it reminded me of the times I lived in Spain when I was 21.

High: Enjoying dinner together

Low: Realizing that I had not packed everything I needed

Pics of the First Couple of Days (Mary Jo)

We have been having a great time on our vacation, and time is going quickly. I thought I would post some pictures and then try and catch up to where we are today.

Here is a pic of Nick and Kelly at about 3:45am on Tuesday morning before we left. We arrived at 3:30 to find out that the ticket desk didn't open until 4:45, so we had a wait.

I thought that I had picked a hotel near Las Ramblas, but in reality, I picked a hostel near Las Ramblas. I was a little surprised, but figured it would be another adventure for us, and hey, we got a triple room (3 beds in a room), which is a little difficult to find. Our room is the 2nd window above the entrance. The guys who manned the desk were super nice, and downstairs in the sotano, or basement, was a common room, where we could have breakfast in the morning, and there were two computers with Internet service. This room closed at 10pm each night. The view from our room.

This is our room. Nick had the bed on the left, me on the right, and Kelly had the bed in the "entryway." I am standing inside the bathroom to take the pic. However, we DID have air conditioning and a little balcony. It was good enough for us.

More later