Okeedokee – we have internet again, huzzah! If you’re interested in seeing more photos from Amsterdam, I just went in and uploaded to those days.

So, we woke up early this morning to catch our last breakfast at the bus and the first shuttle in to Holendrecht station and then a train to the airport. Our plane was pretty tiny (poor Ray!) and full of the most chatty group of Dutch folks you’ll ever care to meet. Upon landing in Barcelona, we were informed that the airport workers were on strike so we were stuck in the plane until they could convince the van drivers to come get us. We speculated that we may have to use the inflatable emergency slides to get out of the plane, but they found some stairs for us.

Any new city we’re in involves a learning curve of the local transit system. Amsterdam was really confusing as (Ray’s friend informed us) each “kind” of transit (train, bus, etc.) is owned by a different private company and you therefore have to buy a different ticket for each.

In preparation for Barcelona, we’d purchased an all-access transit pass online ahead of time and just needed to trade in our printed voucher for our tickets. Which sounded easier than it turned out to be, between the van ride from the plane to an odd part of the airport, to finding the metro area, to finding the place to exchange the voucher, to finding the “aerobus” which was supposed to only take 30 min, but accidentally getting on the train instead which was really late and then stopped in the middle of a field for a good 15 minutes with no explanation… Getting on the tram was much faster and more reliable, but you can imagine our relief at arriving at our Airbnb after a crowded walk down Las Ramblas.

Our host was worried about us (having expected us an hour sooner) but soon set to showing us the beautiful little space we’ll be occupying. With high ceilings and doors that reach the length of the wall onto our own little balcony, full use of the living room (with similar doors looking out onto a public square) and kitchen, and INTERNET, we are happy campers.

We’d neglected to eat and so were pretty ravenous at this point. Ray found a tapas bar that looked good so, changing out of our sweaty travel clothes, we headed out to find this place. After a good 10 minutes of walking around, we realized it was, in fact, next to the public square that our living room overlooks!

Our server spoke very little English and, becoming frustrated by the sheer amount of food we were ordering, asked his colleague to tell us in English that we really shouldn’t order as much as we were. Settling for prawns in guacamole and “supernachos” and a couple tasty drinks, we enjoyed the open air, people watching, and, well, the food.

Following dinner, we took a walk up and down Las Ramblas, a long, tourist-heavy street full of vendors, food stands, street performers, and more. We were determined to find the beach that I remembered so fondly from my trip here in high school and, alas! There it was. As beautiful as I remember, we watched the waves, the clouds, the sea, and the people (oh, the people!) until the sun set.

It began getting chilly so we headed back. I had to resist the urge to drink every cold, sweet thing they were selling on the side of the street, knowing that what I really needed was water. We stopped in at a little market to grab some water for our stay and a couple beers to enjoy on our terrace while we updated you all on what’s going on.

So, that’s us! Just enjoying the sounds and smells of our neighbors enjoying their evening meals, with our window/door open and a cold drink in our hands. Life is very, very good.

-Jessie