Barcelona ended up as our next stop purely because it is the starting place for a cruise we were hoping to get on. It wasn't in the original plans and frankly I wouldn't have minded if it had stayed that way, but I guess it's all part of the adventure.
So, night trains are not my favorite. Actually they are now my arch enemy. It was possibly one of the worst nights of my life. I would rather have stood for 12 hours. I am hoping to arrange things to I don't ever have to take one again but it did get us safely from Paris to Barcelona arriving just as the sun was coming up over the water. Just as we were gathering our stuff to leave the room, a piece of metal jumped out at me and almost cut off my thumb. It had nothing to do with me at all, it was all the stupid ladder's fault. Cursing the train and everything associated with it, I walked-thumb in hand-straight to the dock where we sat for most of the day. We were unable to get on but by the time we left my thumb ran out of blood to gush so the day wasn't a total disappointment.
We were starving so we headed to find something to eat. I was so excited to eat something un-french but my hope died as we walked through the streets finding shop after shop full of none other than french baguettes. They didn't have quite the same amount of mayonnaise but everything else was the same. Why??? I ended up eating at McDonald's-which I would never do in the states, but I was desperate!
Fortunately that was the end of disaster and we found a really nice place to stay right off La Rambla-the main road where everything goes on. Now, if Barcelona had been the only place in Europe I had seen I would have thought it was a pretty cool city. But, come on-London, Paris, Barcelona? Pretty much doesn't compare. It was fun though and it was a nice break from non stop sight seeing. We wandered around the city and had a much needed good night's rest. In the morning we saw the major tourist attraction-the Sagrada familia-an unfinished but massive chapel begun over a century ago, scheduled for completion in 30 years or so. It was neat I guess but we were ready for the next city.
So, the question is where am I now? After much contemplation on what we should do and how we should best spend our time (and not forgetting my intense hatred for night trains) we chose to fly to Rome, and what a good choice that was! We just found out we have gotten on the cruise we wanted the most (which leaves from Rome on Monday and goes to many ports in Greece and Turkey) and which gives us 3 wonderful days here. We found a fantastic bed and breakfast to stay in and have already had an unbelievable day-Rome is back up to par with our other sight seeing show stoppers. I'll give details about Rome in another entry but I have to say I LOVE IT HERE!
So, night trains are not my favorite. Actually they are now my arch enemy. It was possibly one of the worst nights of my life. I would rather have stood for 12 hours. I am hoping to arrange things to I don't ever have to take one again but it did get us safely from Paris to Barcelona arriving just as the sun was coming up over the water. Just as we were gathering our stuff to leave the room, a piece of metal jumped out at me and almost cut off my thumb. It had nothing to do with me at all, it was all the stupid ladder's fault. Cursing the train and everything associated with it, I walked-thumb in hand-straight to the dock where we sat for most of the day. We were unable to get on but by the time we left my thumb ran out of blood to gush so the day wasn't a total disappointment.
We were starving so we headed to find something to eat. I was so excited to eat something un-french but my hope died as we walked through the streets finding shop after shop full of none other than french baguettes. They didn't have quite the same amount of mayonnaise but everything else was the same. Why??? I ended up eating at McDonald's-which I would never do in the states, but I was desperate!
Fortunately that was the end of disaster and we found a really nice place to stay right off La Rambla-the main road where everything goes on. Now, if Barcelona had been the only place in Europe I had seen I would have thought it was a pretty cool city. But, come on-London, Paris, Barcelona? Pretty much doesn't compare. It was fun though and it was a nice break from non stop sight seeing. We wandered around the city and had a much needed good night's rest. In the morning we saw the major tourist attraction-the Sagrada familia-an unfinished but massive chapel begun over a century ago, scheduled for completion in 30 years or so. It was neat I guess but we were ready for the next city.
So, the question is where am I now? After much contemplation on what we should do and how we should best spend our time (and not forgetting my intense hatred for night trains) we chose to fly to Rome, and what a good choice that was! We just found out we have gotten on the cruise we wanted the most (which leaves from Rome on Monday and goes to many ports in Greece and Turkey) and which gives us 3 wonderful days here. We found a fantastic bed and breakfast to stay in and have already had an unbelievable day-Rome is back up to par with our other sight seeing show stoppers. I'll give details about Rome in another entry but I have to say I LOVE IT HERE!
2 comments:
Hola Monique!
Que'Pasa? Your writing is great.
We just need a few spies or mystery men in the darks avenues and we can see the inspiration of so many writers or movie producers. I can't wait for your first screenplay or novel.Say hello to the Pope for us...also,
watch out for those Italian men...they love the blondes!
Caio'Bella!
Love, Aunt Patti
Your trip sounds amazing. I can't believe all of the things you are able to cram into such a short amount of time. Good luck on your next adventure.
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