Barcelona - 5/14

Day 1 was really just travel - DFW to JFK (for me), MCO to JFK (for mom), then JFK to BCN.

Except, we almost missed our flight to BCN, and it was totally my fault.

Our flights to JFK were landing right about the same time. Neither of us had been to JFK, or knew what to expect. All I could tell was that our expected gates were close together - WHEW!!

So as my flight approached JFK, I listened carefully as they announced connecting flights. Hopped off the plane and headed off to the gate they told me.

There I waited for my mom to find me, munching on a salad and some fruit (hey, one last chance to eat somewhat healthy before I gorged in Italy! don't judge).

Except, no mom.

I ate. I waited. I called. I texted her. I ate some more.

Still no mom.

I checked for her in-bound flight, and it actually arrived BEFORE mine.

So where was she??

Yeah. You guessed it. She was at the OTHER gate for our actual Barcelona flight. I was at the wrong gate...

We boarded, got settled into our seats, and endured the crossing.

After a decent meal, restless naps, a movie or two (Rent, The Tourist and Shrek), we caught the first rays of the sun rising through the clouds

And then we saw Barcelona - a city spread by the Mediterranean Sea, backed by mountains.

Oh yeah. I'm ready!!

We breezed through immigration, and found our bags waiting for us. I tell ya - DFW has a lot to learn from Spain!

After a game of charades with our taxi driver, finally being saved by my iPod/email, we arrived at our hotel: Hotel Continental Barcelona.

aka the hotel where pink threw up.

Now, I knew full well everything in these hotels rooms were pink. Friends had stayed her before, and I had browsed Trip Advisor before our trip.

What I didn't expect was the plastic furniture. Disclaimer: I borrowed these from tripadvisor.com - they are NOT from our exact room.

So see that plastic "dresser"? yeah..that's it.

and see those pink chairs? Lift up the covers..and plastic! the kind you'd put out on your patio (if you're cheap). (again, not our actual room..but you get the idea)

Now, if you know me at all, you know that pink is simply NOT my thing. That said, the hotel was comfortable, clean, and we had no complaints.

And the hotel is located right in the heart of the old historical part of the city, on Las Ramblas. I've never seen so many people - day and night - in the street.

But I'm getting ahead of myself - we didn't actually get to check into our room when we arrived. It was 8:30am after all. And our tour of the city was meeting at 8:45.

That meant a quick swill of some coffee, a light freshen up in the restroom, and we were off to start our adventure.

Stay tuned for more of Barcelona!