Flying and Gracia

We left for Spain on the 22nd. Leaving Ashton was the hardest part. She had no clue what was about to happen and there was no way I could warn her of it. She's staying with a family friend and their five kids and dog. She definitely loves their house and always cries when we leave it. So far, the mom watching her has said she's doing well and is a sweetheart. She had a rough first night (whatever that means to the mom) but has been okay since. Every night, I get sad and miss her. But I know she would not have survived a week in Spain. Way too much walking and traveling for a little girl.

The plane rides were long. We flew to Montreal, where I was able to recognize a few French words from all the years I took French in school. Fortunately, most people speak English very well so we still knew what they were saying. The flight from Montreal to Barcelona was a little difficult. It was overnight so most people slept but I cannot sleep with lights and noise. Ashton has made me even more of a light sleeper than I was. I think Joseph and I got about 2-3 hours of sleep that night with the help of sleep aids.

We landed at 10am in Barcelona (3am Texas time). Since it was day, we went straight to being tourists. No rest for the weary. I learned that "non-smoking" in Europe is a little different than in the US. A non-smoking hotel room simply means it hasn't been smoked in for a while. Our first room was far from adequate, considering the fact that I'm pregnant. So they found us another room, which is smoke-free. The quality of hotels here are quite different than the US too. Our hotel, price wise, is average compared to a hotel in America. But the quality is lower. Although, Joseph keeps telling me this is one of the nicer hotels. YIKES! I'm glad we got this one!

On Friday, we visited Gracia, a part of Barcelona. We walked a lot around that area of town. Even though Joseph served his mission here, he never lived in Barcelona. He was always in other areas of the mission. So we relied a lot on maps and asking people. Every time we have to ask a question, I am grateful Joseph knows Spanish. It helps a lot. Friday night, we went to Parc Guell, a cool park/monument thingy for tourists. I'm sure there's more history behind it than that but that's all I know. It was cool. We got tapas at a restaurant for dinner and headed back to the hotel pretty late. I am definitely not used to walking 2-4 hours a day so my feet were exhausted. I could blame the baby but I think I'd be tired either way.

 

All in all, it was a great first day. Still hard to believe we're in Barcelona.