Hola Barcelona!

We took an overnight train to Barcelona last night. First, we went from Stuttgart, Germany to Paris; had a four hour layover, and then, we took a "hotel-train" to Spain. My mom made it out to be something luxurious and first class, etc. but if you have ever seen the Darjeeling Unlimited, you'd know what our "room" looked like. In fact, it wasn't as nearly as large as it was in that film. We did have a shower in our bathroom, but I was too creeped out by the floor-cum-drain. Seriously, almost the entire bathroom floor was a drain. As someone who is oddly afraid of drains (what if somethings crawls up while my hand or foot is near?!), I avoided it as much as possible. I went in there with shoes, I tell you. And man, it was a bumpy ride! Can you tell I'm complaining a little bit? I really shouldn't be. I should be proclaiming it as an experience of a lifetime! And truly, it was. We enjoyed a very nice albeit shaky dinner. I had salmon and goat cheese for my starter, porkchops in apple puree with a side of vegetables confit for my main dish and fresh fruit for dessert. We had a very nice waiter who put up with my dad's antics. My mom calls him "rough around the edges". He very much is. He pointed to what he wanted on the menu without uttering a word, didn't say please or thank you and he sort of just does whatever he wants. In retrospect, he is always endearing, but sometimes it's a little hard to watch.

After our dinner, we headed back to our cabin. Despite being able to drink, it wasn't me who was a little tipsy on the way back to bed. My mom has a sensitive case of Asian Glow and my dad just gets silly. "You're not allowed in my room. Honey, make sure your mom doesn't come to my room!" He kept saying that through half of dinner. Ah, young love. Oh, I forgot to mention that my dad had his own cabin because our room was honestly five weet wide and maybe ten feet long. No joke. Once our beds were set up, we had about a foot and half between our beds and the wall. He definitely wouldn't be able to fit comfortably on the bottom bunk with my mom. Plus, he snores like no other! I could hear him through my wall on the top bunk with his bathroom between us. It's bad, I tell you! But the rocking of the train lulled me to sleep and it was just peachy. My mom woke me up at 6am thinking we would be arriving in Spain at 7:30. Groggily, I threw on some clothes and stumbled to the dinner (now breakfast) cart. We weren't the only ones there, thank goodness. There was a sweet Spanish gay couple a few tables away...and us. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we were al little early. Try two and a half hours early. Our train wasn't supposed to arrive in Barcelona until 8:30. I could have slept in an extra hour. Bummerrrr...especially since Spaniards don't even take their dinners until 10:30 at night. It's been a long day already. But my mom was so cute! For a whole hour and a half beforehand she kept saying we had arrived already by pointing out people jogging in some random park or by seeing some buildings she assumed were the downtown of Barcelona. Cute, man. She was just so excited! That made one of us. My dad and I just let her go on and be excited. Why not?

So then, we made it to our hotel via taxi, dropped off our bags and headed to one of those hop-on/hop-off tours. We rode the blue and green lines and tomorrow we'll be taking the red line. I used to dread them, but I realize now city tours can help orient you in a brand new city...if you pay attention. Don't worry, I was paying meticulous attention in fact. I hope to stop by the Mediterranean at Port Olympic and dip my toes in the sea. I hope to get to Park Guell to check out Gaudi's works among others. It's going to be great. We did have a little boo boo while riding the buses and my dad and I got separated from my mom but thank goodness for Blackberries and buses that go predictable routes. We met at a transfer stop and took the blue line back to Catalunya Square. Then, we took off to lunch. I "indulged" in one of those prix fixe meals while my parents had paella. It was a satisfactory first lunch in Barcelona, but if anyone has any reccomendations for good eateries or cuisines to try while in Spain, I'm all ears! Dinner will be in about six and a half hours.

I'm now carrying a journal with me to make notes for good entries, but it's ironic of course. Now that I have something to write with at all times, I have nothing to make note of. I'm sure it'll come after a few days. I'm not worried. Also, I'm making a list of places to see and visit when I'm on my own and again, I'd love to hear your feedback.

Thank you, Kim, for following my blog. You are now the person encouraging me and reminding me to update my blog and make note of my adventures no matter how mundane, frustrating, guilty, exhilarating or happy.