Funchal, Madiera, Portugal (and Isla de Jose)

Today was our first island day, and the only one in a Portuguese island. Good thing we took our half hour Portuguese class yesterday! The scheduled time at port was pretty short—only from 9am to 4:30pm. But based on the map, that is plenty of time to see all the highlights in Funchal by foot. There were some tours that went more to the interior of the island to see some of the wildlife and the tropical mountains, but we opted for exploring the little town on our own instead.

This decision had the added benefit of allowing us to sleep in. Which ended up being until about 8:00am when the sun had finally become so bright as to make the curtains almost superfluous. By the time we got out of bed and dressed, we were already at the port but the ship had to be inspected and cleared by the local authorities so none of the passengers had been given the go ahead to get off yet. Instead, as we soon discovered, they all decided to wait it out in the dining room. We waited a bit for things to clear out and the found a two-top table near the window with the perfect vantage point to watch the sunrise over the village built right up the island mountains. It was so enchanting to watch that we ended up just sitting and enjoying watch the sun slowly brighten the mountainside for nearly an hour.

We finally got going and headed off the ship for a day of exploring. We were given a map by the local tourist authorities and took a look at some of the options for the day—shopping, eating, even a little Christmas market. But the one thing that stood out the most was the half-hour long cable car ride to the top of one of the peaks called Monte. We had seen it advertised on one of the shore excursions, but weren't sure it was worth the $80 each to go on the tour so were very glad we would get the opportunity to do it on our own.

We ambled towards the other side of the village along the coastline, passing by the marina and over the pebble beaches. I was really surprised to see that the “pebbles” were more rocks than pebbles—most were about the size of my fist! Though beautiful, I can see why were discouraged from trying to sunbathe on these particular beaches! We also got to remember some of our geography lessons when we saw tetrapods, a unique type of coastal defense that is usually reserved for volcanic areas (thanks to Scott for his vast knowledge of coastlines!). Of course, we had to take a picture of Scott pointing them out. After all, a picture speaks a thousand words in the classroom. Especially one in which the teacher is being really weird.

When we reached the base of the cable cars, we saw that there was a Christmas market set up just underneath it. The stalls were mostly run by locals selling handmade goods. There was a bit of a line for the tickets, so we decided to check out the stalls while we waited for things to clear up. There were a lot of fairly typical arts and crafts, and then some unique things as well. There were some really cool purses made out of recycled coffee bags! I was very tempted buy on at only €5, but then remembered what usually happens to all the bags that I buy on a whim while on vacation (hint: they end up hidden in the closet until my next move!).  We did stop at one stall with a woman selling traditional Portuguese cookies that she made herself using recipes passed down from her grandmother. She let us have a sample of each flavor, and told us that the honey and the butter flavors were particular favorites of the Portuguese at Christmastime. Of course we had to buy those ones!

Finally we made it back to the cable cars where the line had died down a bit. Each car could fit up to 8 people, and we were paired with a German couple who weren't very interested in talking. But just as well because the view was magnificent! I don’t think I've ever seen anything like how the sun makes the waters sparkle here. It was also very interesting to see the variety of houses and buildings stuck right into the side of the hills, pretty much wherever they fit! And the contrast between huge lavish houses with private pools and three cars right next to a burnt-out shell with no roof and only blankets to cover the windows was an odd site. We even saw goats grazing inside one of the abandoned houses!

When we finally reached the top, we were greeted by a woman trying to sell us a photo of ourselves that she had taken when we first entered the cable car. It was a very entertaining photo—Scott can give some excellent side-eye—but in the end we opted out. The road to the left went up and to the right it went down, so obviously we went left. We passed by a group of men with (traditional?) hats with “Madeira” written on them standing next to giant sleds, ready to pull the next willing volunteer all the way down the hill for only €25! This historical activity, called carreriros do monte in Portuguese, apparently dates back to the 19^th century when the village on the top of the hill was fairly isolated from the village of Funchal at the bottom. Local residents would use the toboggans as a quick way to get between the two. According to the guides, it only takes 15 minutes to be pulling down by the two runners. We didn't partake, but it was good fun to watch the look of terror on others’ faces as they began their journeys!

We continued our upward descent to the church of Monte. We entered through the side door and were taken on a tour of the most elaborate nativity scene ever! Completely constructed, it was about 9 different rooms showing the whole history of Jesus’ life from birth until death with life sized mannequins! We had also seen other nativity scenes on the way up  (and would see quite a few more before the end of the day), so we gather that this a fairly important Christmas custom for Portuguese, or at least for Madeira-ians(?).

After exploring the church and the nearby square, we noticed a small pathway of winding stairs that seemed to lead straight to the top of the hill. Naturally, we followed it. We passed by some beautifully ornate gates that led to—I can only image—equally ornate estates. I did wonder how any of the residents of these massive homes managed to get their cars anywhere near their houses though, because this pathway was at times only one enough for us to go one at a time. We followed it up to the top where we discovered a huge abandoned house/ villa/ hotel/ something equally as grand. We stood for a while and marveled how anyone could just let something so magnificent fall into total ruin. In the end, we couldn't come up with any good answers. Maybe when we get back home we can see if we can find it listed on the real estate market—it would definitely be a good “fixer-upper!”

We also took a moment to enjoy the breathtaking views of the island, the village, and the vast ocean beyond. Our ship is so massive that it still dwarfed any building down below, and definitely stood out! On the way down the walkway I tried unsuccessfully to catch one of the seemingly thousands of little geckos scurrying along the walls. I don’t think I've ever seen them in so many different colors! Unfortunately, those buggers are fast so I didn't really get a good picture of the variety of colors.

By the time we reached the square again we were starting to get hungry so we decided to try some handmade Portuguese garlic bread and some Maracuya (passion fruit) soda—the official drink of Madeira! We watched as the baker rolled out fresh batches of garlic bread and lay inside of them long chorizos. Then, a woman slathered the hot bread with heaps of freshly whipped garlic butter (yes, more). Um, it was delicious! Like a beautiful marriage of thick garlic sticks and the pizza all rolled into one. Scott was fairly impressed as well. More and more I am beginning to think that I should start researching some jobs in Portugal!

We had intended to walk down the hill, but with the long winding streets (without sidewalks), we weren't sure if we would be able to make it back down in time to catch the ship. So we bought another ticket to ride the cable cars down. The line was pretty long again so we entertained ourselves in the gift shop while we waited. We even got to try some of Madeira’s famous wine—100% grown and produced right here on the island! Strong stuff too—18% alcohol! We figured that would be a good souvenir of the island, and would go great with our cookies from earlier.

On the way down in the cable car we got paired up with another couple from the cruise, this time from California. Scott said they reminded him of his aunt and uncle, who are also from Southern California. They said that cruising is their preferred method of travel and in fact they have seen nearly the whole world via cruise ship! They also gave us some advice about getting teaching jobs in California—“just tell them you’re a math teacher!” Apparently, one of their friends was trained as an art teacher but couldn't land a job with that credential so just applied as a math teacher instead. He has been teaching math in California high schools for over 20 years now.

Once off the cable cars, we decided to head back towards the ship but this time via the town. It was totally decked out and ready for Christmas, complete with plenty of nativity scenes. My favorite part was, of course, the Christmas train! I was sorely disappointed that it was made specifically child-sized so I could not fit into the doors to go inside. I settled on taking my photo in front of the engine. We also watched a troupe of dancers perform some traditional dances from Madeira. The most interesting part of that was the instrument that was basically a “tree of bells.” I really can’t think of any other way to describe it—it looked like a Christmas tree but had little people dolls holding bells all the way around it. The player would shake it up and down like a maraca with the beat of the music. I took a video, so hopefully that will help you to understand my description.

We walked the rest of the way back towards the port, admiring the old buildings and tile work along the way. When we were also there, we noticed a very large rock with some stairs spiraling around it. And up the stairs ran about 4 cats! At the bottom there were another 3 sleeping. This of course warranted some investigation. We climbed the stairs until we reached a doorway jutting right out of the rock. A man came out and invited us in to the “cave” inside of the rock. He handed us a piece of paper and told us “welcome to the kingdom.”

It turns out that this little rock to the side of the Madeira port is, in fact, its own sovereign nation! The Principality Islet Pontinha is officially a separate country, complete with a national flag, national animal (the cat), and even a national gastronomic specialty (takeaway). The man told us that all of the cats are adopted by the king of the island and are therefore royal cats—prince and princesses of the island, as it were. They don’t have names, just numbers. We were cordially introduced to their royal highnesses Fourteen, Fifteen, and Sixteen. They cordially ignored us. We got to explore some of the “royal palace,” which had previously been the ancient Fort of San Jose. You can learn all about this little country on their official website here!

After our royal visit we headed back to the ship where we took a nap, watched some TV, and freshened up for dinner. We decided to eat in the smaller of the two main dining rooms this time around, so headed over to the Garden Restaurant in the midship. I enjoyed some shrimp ceviche as a starter (more like a cold shrimp and diced pepper salad), and a cold swordfish steak salad for my main. I was a little apprehensive about having the swordfish cold, but I’m now a believer—that was delicious!

After dinner we went back to our room for a quiet night in. We read for a while and watched “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” before heading off to bed.

Day at Sea #1

We were a bit tired this morning, what with our “little walk” from Barcelona center to the ship yesterday (carrying all of our luggage no less)! So, we decided to just relax and get up when we got up. One of the advantages (disadvantages?) of having a room with a window is that the lovely sunrise comes through the window in the morning. Today, sunrise was around 7:30. So much for sleeping in! Our next-door neighbors also have a young baby who was a bit fussy this morning but so far he hasn't been too loud. We managed to fall back asleep for a while and didn't really get going until around 9:30 or so.

We headed up for breakfast at “Raffles,” which is the big buffet-o-everything that is open nearly all the time. You can eat breakfast in the restaurants but neither of us are huge breakfast fans so the buffet is perfect for us. When we got there, we realized that quite a few other people had the same idea, as all of the tables inside were taken. Luckily, the weather is a bit warmer on this cruise than our last one so we checked outside on the “Raffles Terrace” to see if there were any seats out there. It’s laid out like a stadium with 4 levels of seating all facing the stern so it's a great way to watch the world go by. This morning we were passing by some mountains somewhere near Málaga. Scott was pretty excited about that because he has applied for a job in Málaga so who knows? We could be climbing those very mountains this time next year!

Even though I’m not much of a breakfast person, I am very much a coffee person so I held our table and enjoyed my coffee while Scott braved the crowds inside at the buffet. When he came back, we spent some time people watching and noticed the different styles of people from different countries. People from the U.K. were wearing very tropical attire, even though the temperature was hovering around 60° F with a strong ocean breeze. There was even one lady eating breakfast in only her swimsuit! The Italians and Spanairds, on the other hand, were bundled up quite nicely and many even wore scarves or gloves. We were somewhere in the middle, as were most of the other Americans who were generally wearing oversized sweatshirts and some form of casual pants (some still wore their pajama bottoms!).

I decided to grab some salmon and scrambled eggs because, well, I could! While I ate we did a little more people watching and enjoyed the reactions of people as they put their hands on newly-varnished banisters despite warning signs not to literally every foot along the entire length of the railing. One man was so engrossed in his photography that he didn't even notice until his hand got stuck to the button on his camera!

During breakfast it was announced that there would be a presentation about all the shore excursions in just a few minutes, so we headed over there to see if there were any worth doing. We had decided that we will probably go it alone in most of the ports except for Casablanca. Neither of us are very outgoing and it can take us a while to come out our shell in new places where we don't understand the customs. Casablanca is just different enough that we’re not sure we want to tackle it solo on just a day trip so we watched the guides talk about the upcoming tours and decided on one that gave a tour of Casablanca town, some of the historic buildings, and then to a farm for a traditional lunch and folklore show. They said that tour was very popular and spaces filled up fast, so we left the presentation immediately to sign up.

By the time we got to the shore excursion desk, we were told that that tour had been cancelled! Oh, well, we opted for our second choice which includes a tour of Rabat, a city about an hour and a half from the port. There we’ll get to see the royal palace and the archaeological site at Chellah. We'll also get a quick tour of Casablanca and the Hassan II Mosque. So it should still be an interesting ride!

After booking our tour, we headed back to our room to “freshen up,” shower, and change our clothes. We ended up staying in for a while and just reading and relaxing before venturing back out in search of some lunch. Most people don’t eat in the restaurants for lunch so we took the opportunity to eat in the main dining room “Windows,” so named because of the huge Venetian windows along the entire back of the restaurant. We got seated off to one side but luckily it was the side towards the mountains so we enjoyed a great view.

The food selection was listed as “traditional.” I’m not sure what that means, but we enjoyed a starter of hummus and bagel chips—traditional American dish, I suppose? For the main, Scott had some Penne Arrabbiata (it was supposed to come with shrimp but he opted out of that part), and I had a shrimp burger. Yes, it was a patty made with shrimp topped with sautéed onions and guacamole. Surprisingly delicious. We had wanted to have some dessert, but by the time we finished all of that we were too full for it. We got asked by three separate waiters if we were really sure that we didn't want dessert?! I can imagine that turning down dessert is not something that happens often on cruise ships.

We finished lunch just in time to attend the introductory art auction. We went mostly because, as members of the Latitudes rewards program we earned extra raffle tickets, giving us 6 chances to win a free piece of artwork. Also, free champagne. When you go in they give you a bid card and some stickers with the same number on it.  You have half an hour to walk around and choose the paintings that you want to see put up for auction, and you indicate this by putting your sticker on the frame. Then, when the auction starts, the items with the most stickers are the ones that get put up for bid. We chose 4 works of art including one by my favorite artist Romero Britto. We didn't really think we’d end up buying anything but it is fun to see how much our favorites our worth.

Well, so much for not buying anything. By the end of the auction we had not won the raffle, but Scott had purchased his very first piece of fine art! It is a beautiful signed print of painting of a bear by an artist named Jim Collins The list price was $490 so we were surprised when the bidding started out at only $60 and even more surprised when we won it! Now, we just have to decide where to get it shipped. It’s much cheaper to ship to the U.S., so we will probably have it sent to one of our parents’ houses and have them hold it for us for a few months, but of course that means we won’t get to enjoy it during those month. Oh, the price of international living.

We left the auction feeling a high from having made our very first art auction purchase and went through the buffet to grab some snacks to take back to our room to relax. As soon as we got back, I promptly fell asleep for over an hour. Scott read and had some snacks. I woke up just in time to enjoy watching the sunset from our big window. We also turned on the TV in time to hear the breaking news about sanctions with Cuba being lifted! It’s about time! We’re both very excited to see where this will go next.

Tonight is the “Norwegian Night Out” tonight, meaning it’s the night when everyone gets dressed up and gets their photo taken by the Christmas trees and the giant gingerbread houses. We were both still recovering from our colds, so we skipped out on the party and went to the gift shop to get some medicine before doing a bit of work. The shop manager is from Chile, so that was pretty cool—we got to reminisce a bit about “good ‘ol Chile!”

After Scott finished some of his work and I did some reading, we headed to the buffet to grab a quick dinner before it closed down. Scott enjoyed some Indian curry, of course! We were going through the Strait of Gibraltar during our meal, so it was very scenic!

Embarkation Day

Today is embarkation day for our cruise! The ship wasn't scheduled to leave until 7:00pm, though, so we decided to spend the morning doing some last minute explorations of Barcelona. We ate our last breakfast at the hotel, packed up, and checked out. The receptionist was gracious enough to allow us to leave our luggage at the front office while we were out for the day.

We took the opportunity to go back to Park Güell and take it all in. This time, we got off at a metro station a little bit closer to the park (and with better signage showing us the way). Apparently this was the “back way,” and there was a lot of graffiti along the way. Most of it was complaints about having to pay to go to a “public” park. I didn't get any photos of this protesting graffiti, but it was mostly along the lines of “art should be free to all,” etc. When I learned that the entrance ticket was €8, I couldn't help but agree.

On the other hand, Park Güell was never really meant to be public anyways! It was originally created by a partnership between entrepreneur Eusebi Güell and architect Antoni Gaudí who planned to create a housing development for the high class of Barcelona. They began development in 1906, but by 1915 only two houses had been sold and Gaudí quit the project to devote himself full-time to the construction of the Sagrada Familia. Eventually, the Park Güell housing project was completely abandoned and the space turned into a public park. Today, one of the houses is privately owned while the other serves as a museum. So in the end, I must say I'm grateful that the project failed because it allows me to see art that I probably would never have gotten the chance to see otherwise!

We spent a long time wandering around the park, taking in the sites and also periodically laughing as we watched tourists attempt to use “selfie sticks” but mostly just end up backing into each other. We even took the time to wait in line to go inside one of the model houses (or Gingerbread houses, as they appear to me). I would definitely invest in one of those houses! Though it's definitely only for the physically fit—there were only 2 rooms on each floor, and 5 sets of staircases!

After we finished touring the house, we decided it was probably about time to pick up our luggage and head to the ship. We took the metro back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage, and headed back out towards the metro where Scott once again got to wrestle the luggage up and down the stairs. We got off at the same stop we had on Monday when we went to the aquarium. We’d look at a map and saw that the cruise port wasn't too far from there. We’d read that most people take taxis from that point to the ship, but we were up for a walk. Plus we (*ahem* Scott!) are cheap and don’t like to spend money when it isn't absolutely necessary.

We walked for a good 40 minutes and still didn't see any cruise ships in sight. We did, however, see a ferry terminal, so we stopped in there to see if they knew how to get to the cruise port. When I told the woman we wanted to walk there, she laughed and gave me an incredulous look. “I guess it is possible to walk there,” she said, “but it is over 3 kilometers, and you have to get over the bridge!” Scott was insistent that we could do it, so the woman reluctantly gave us the best walking directions she could.

She was not kidding—walking to the cruise port is definitely not for the faint of heart, especially carrying two backpacks and a big suitcase! Once we got past the ferry terminal, we did see the cruise ship, but it turned out that we had to walk past it, then back over a very large winding bridge and past it again before making our way to the check-in area. But we refused to give in, and we did manage to make the entire trek in just about an hour. We made it just as they were starting to clear away the baggage area. We were some of the last ones aboard, but at least we weren't the last.  Plus, who else can say they walked the entire way and got to enjoy the view the whole way?

We got settled in to our room and then went straight to the theater to watch the welcome show. It’s a sneak-preview of all the shows that are going to be on for the rest of the week, and a good way to decide what you want to see. We decided against seeing the magician again, but definitely want to see the acrobats again. The musical “show choir” group: we’re still making up our minds. At the end of the show, they introduced the officers and heads of each department on the ship. They’re from all over the world! The captain is from Croatia, and the head engineer is from the USA. But the most exciting part (for Scott, at least) was learning that the head chef is from India. This is going to be a good trip.

"The Rainy Day"

This morning we woke up to quite a different scene from yesterday—complete downpour! We checked out the weather online and saw that it was pretty much supposed to stay like that all day, although it looked like it might let up a little bit in the afternoon. We had a leisurely breakfast while we waited to see if the rain would clear up at all. By about 10:30, we were full up and tired of waiting and the rain was coming down even harder than before, but we decided to venture out anyways.

Initially, we had planned on walking down to the waterfront but in light of the weather we decided that the metro was probably a better option. Besides, we did have our 4-day pass that we needed to use up! We’d seen on the map that there was a Barcelona history museum down near the marina and figured it would be a great place to spend a rainy morning. We got off at the nearest metro station to discover that it was raining even harder than before! Luckily, there was a convenience shop right near the metro exit so we popped in and quickly purchased a very-overpriced tiny umbrella for €5. We paid and went back outside to continue our trek to the museum. Unfortunately, the umbrella wasn't quite up for it—when we opened it up, one of the wires completely fell off, covered in rust!

I went back to the store to ask to exchange it. By this time the manager (owner?) was there, chatting to the cashier about “business” things. When I showed the cashier the umbrella, he just gave me a look of confusion and looked to his boss who turned to me and said “No. Todos son así.” Now, normally I’m pretty soft-spoken but I was just so taken aback by his response that I responded probably a bit louder than I intended, “¿De veras? ¿Todos están rotos?” This, of course, caught the attention of other customers who were also perusing the high-quality souvenirs and bric-a-brac in the store.  With me and the other customers waiting eagerly for his response, he grabbed the largest umbrella he could find, shoved it into my hands, and “escorted” me out the door. But not before putting the broken umbrella right back on the rack to be purchased by the next lucky customer!

Anyways, we now had a functioning umbrella so we continued on our way. We got turned around a little and ended up doing a pedestrian-style imitation of “National Lampoon’s European Vacation” around a very large roundabout, but in the end we found our way towards the museum. By this point I had also realized that my shoes were not quite as waterproof as the large “WATERPROOF” tag on them might suggest, and I was very much looking forward to getting into a nice, dry museum. Sadly, said museum is apparently closed on Mondays. And why isn’t that information published anywhere? Why, because it’s a new policy, of course! I mean, they just implemented it in September!

So, on to plan B. Wait, we didn't have a plan B. Luckily, look! There is an aquarium right across the street! I’m not a huge fan of aquariums, but apparently this one has the largest and best collection of Mediterranean sea life in the world (outside of the actual Mediterranean Sea, of course). It turned out to be a pretty great way to spend the morning, and they even had a “shark tunnel” where you could walk “through” the water and watch the sharks and other fish swim around you on all sides. We even got to see a sunfish! According to Scott, this is a very rare occurrence. According to me, sunfish are the weirdest fish ever invented and it looks like someone had a little bit too much to drink before designing them.

After a few hours in the aquarium, we ventured outside where it was still raining although not quite as much as it had been earlier. By now, I was thoroughly done with walking around in soaking wet socks, so I insisted that our next stop be to find a place to get some dry ones. We’d looked at the aquarium gift shop for some but with no luck. There was, however, a mall just at the other end of the block so that seemed like as good a place as any to try. We had to make our way past the “Sea of Golden Santas,” but we eventually made it to the only reasonably-priced clothing store in the mall: Claire’s. And, they were having a sale! Three pairs of fluffy rainbow animal toe-socks for the price of two! Jackpot! I got a panda, a cat, and a fox.

With that dilemma solved, we realized that it had been quite a while since breakfast and we were getting hungry. We found a nice restaurant overlooking the waterfront that was offering a prixe fix menu for lunch. It was still raining with no indications of letting up so we decided to sit down and enjoy a relaxed lunch. Scott got some chicken paella (which I hold is not ‘real’ paella, but he enjoyed it), and I got (surprise, surprise) some fish. We talked and watched the boats come and go and just enjoyed a few slow moments. By the time we finished eating, the rain was actually starting to let up!

One of the attractions I was most looking forward to in Barcelona was Park Güell, so we decided to head over there and try to see it before it got too late. Once again we navigated the metro and its myriad stairs. We got off at the stop that seemed to be the closest according to the map and went to walk the rest of the way. Unfortunately, it wasn't as straight-forward as it seemed and by the time we got to the park it was nearly 6:00—closing time. Oh, well, we still have one more day so we can try again tomorrow. Besides, it was by now a really nice night and perfect for a walk! We enjoyed the 6 kilometer walk back towards the hotel through the Gràcia and Poblenou districts.

When neared the metro station near our hotel, we noticed a site we hadn't seen before—a giant market with any sort of wares you can imagine, from second-hand clothes and books to car engines and light bulbs to antiques and Persian rugs! There was even a whole section for food! Of course we had to take a look. It was all a little overwhelming, and it took us over and hour to just get through all the different sections. We got to the food section last, and I was still full from lunch but Scott grabbed an empanada to tide him over until breakfast. 

Good Friends + Good Food

After a good night’s sleep, we were both much more rested by morning, though still suffering with the sniffles. We had breakfast included with our hotel so we got dressed and headed down to try a true “Continental” Breakfast complete with about a dozen types of cold meats and cheeses and even some Spanish tortilla. It was very good but we tried not to get ourselves too full because we already had plans for lunch.

"The Kids" in 2005

When we set up our plans to visit Barcelona, I got in touch with Alba, a friend whose house I had stayed at for a summer exchange program in high school. When I stayed with her family, they actually lived in Matadepera, a town in Catalonia about an hour away from Barcelona city. Recently, Alba had been living and working in Paris (something we found out last year when we visited the city and found out she lived only a few blocks from our hotel)! But I figured I’d get in touch on the off chance that she might be able to meet up for coffee or something while we were in town.

It turns out that not only had Alba moved back to Barcelona to start a new job, her father and brother had also moved into the city! And as it turned out, they didn't have anything planned for the Sunday we were going to be in town, so they invited us over for lunch, Catalan-style. I was so excited! It had been nearly 10 years since I’d seen them and was eager to catch up.

Alba had given us the address and as it turned out, it was clear across the other side of the city from our hotel. By metro, it is about an hour journey. However, by the time we finished up breakfast it was still early in the day and the weather was looking good so we decided to see how far we could get by walking and then just take the metro for the last leg of the trip. It was a pretty straight shot—we could just follow Avinguda Diagonal for most of the way up so there was not too much chance of us getting lost like when we tried to meet Alba in Paris (that should have been a 10 minute walk but we ended up going across town on the metro and back again before realizing this!).

Anyways, we ended up walking the whole way to the park next to Alba's house. It took about two hours, and it was a nice way to get a quick overview of the main street of Barcelona along the way. We arrived just in time to see a big yellow lab bounding towards us. I thought the dog looked familiar, but it wasn't until I saw Alba following closely behind with her arms outstretched that I realized why. This was Bril, the same dog that I had met during my summer stay in 2005! I couldn't believe it!

Bril in 2005

Alba came up to greet us and told us that she had been sent out by her father to “stall” us while he made some last minute preparations for lunch. She showed us around the park and told us about her new job that she had just started a couple weeks before. Of course, we had to give some love to Bril too! She was only about a year old when I first visited, but by now she is 11 years old and not quite as spry as she used to be. Still just as adorable though!

After our walk in the park, we went to Alba's house and she showed us a huge nativity scene in the front entranceway that the doorman had created by hand. It was meticulously crafted and very beautiful. Sadly, I was so entranced that I forgot to take a picture! Guess this just means that I will have to go back for another visit next year.

We entered Alba’s apartment and were greeted by her father and his girlfriend as well as her brother. Her father looked just like a remembered, and her brother looked even taller if that’s possible! They said that I looked even younger than when I had stayed with them. Sigh. We got a quick tour of the house while Pere finished setting up the table. It was a huge apartment with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, two sitting rooms, a kitchen, and dining room with beautiful views overlooking the city. And the most shocking part? They are paying the same in rent as we are for our little country cottage in England! Another great reason to look for a job in Spain…

Alba, Guillem, Scott, Brittany, & Pere

We sat down to lunch, but not before snapping a photo of the lovely presentation. I was very excited to see that it was homemade paella! Seriously, I remember having it back during my visit in 2005 and have been dreaming about it ever since. It was even better than I remembered, although I don’t think I've had whole shrimp since then so I struggled a little in eating those. My only regret is not having enough room for seconds!

We ended up staying and talking for about 4 hours about pretty much everything under the sun. We even mentioned that Scott had applied to a couple international schools in Barcelona, both of which turned out to be very near to Alba’s house. She even offered to drive us around the area to get a closer look. So, after a lovely afternoon full of true Catalan hospitality, we said our goodbyes and went with Alba and Bril for a tour of the hills of Barcelona.

Scott may or may not have had a bit much to drink during our 4-hour lunch, so the car ride made him a bit sleepy. Bril was also quite exhausted from her 4 hours of attempting to beg food from anyone at the table, so the two of them snuggled up in the backseat for the duration of the ride. In a totally manly, tough sort of way, of course.

Alba drove us up to the top of the hill in the park near her house and we walked up to the outlook at the very peak. She pointed out some of the important landmarks in the city, including Montjuïc, or “Jew Mountain,” so named because it was once the home to the city's entire Jewish population. It was later used as fortification during conflicts, but was bombed in 1842 during an uprising of the Catalan people against the Spanish government. It later became home to the Olympic Ring in 1992 and is now a popular tourist destination, complete with cable car. She also pointed out two nearby international schools and a couple other British schools with English-language instruction that Scott may be interested in working for.

By the time the tour was over, it was pretty late and Alba still had some preparations she had to do for work in the morning. She dropped us off at the closest metro station and we said our goodbyes, promising not to let another decade go by before we see each other again. By now it was starting to get dark and a little chilly, so Scott and I decided to head back to our hotel by metro. By the time we got back to our hotel, our colds had caught back up with us. We barely managed to get our pajamas on before we fell asleep!

Our Christmas Adventures

Today was the first day of our Christmas adventure, and it started with a long travel day. I probably gave us a little bit too much leeway in getting to the airport, but I’d much rather spend time waiting at the airport than having to rush to get there. With so many legs of the journey just to get to the airport, I wasn't sure how long it would actually take. We ended up catching the 10:00 bus into Cambridge and getting the express train from there to London King's Cross. From there we went over to St. Pancras and caught another train towards Gatwick. From there we took a people-mover to the northern terminal to wait for our flight. All in all, it was fairly efficient and we ended up all checked in and ready to go by 1:30pm.

Luckily, it turns out that Gatwick airport is a pretty cool place to hang out. First: lunch. I’d only had coffee for breakfast so I was more than ready to grab something to eat. We checked out the terminal map and saw the usual airport fare—a deli, an Italian restaurant, and of course McDonald’s. Then we saw something in the corner of the map that caught our attention—Lebanese food! I wasn't even quite sure what Lebanese food entailed. Of course we had to try it!

On the way over we passed a neat tea house with a giant Tea-Rex vouching for the health benefits of tea. The Lebanese restaurant was located in the uppermost corner of the terminal, very easy to miss if you weren't looking for it. But judging by the number of occupied seats, we weren't the only ones who had made the effort. The restaurant was decorated with Lebanese décor like lamps and purses, and even oriental tea pots. I ordered some salmon with hummus and Scott got a lamb tagine. He also got some tea, I suspect mostly for the experience of pouring it from one of the beautiful silver pots.

After lunch we browsed the shops for a while until our gate was announced. When it was announced, we followed the crowd to it and I was excited to see that our plane was painted to look like a giant eagle! I didn't snap my own picture, but I did manage to find a promotional photo from British Airways to give you an idea of how awesome it is!

The boarding process was fairly uneventful except for the two young women who kept insisting that row number eleven should obviously be given priority over everyone else, despite the fact that the boarding crew told them over and over that they were boarding from the back of the plane and they could come up when their row was called. There were a few kerfuffles as the two women repeatedly hopped in front of the line every time a new row was called, only to be sent back by the crew. We were in row 15 so I didn't get to see them when their row was finally called, but I can image that they (and everyone else) was very happy about it. 

The plane was very full and it looked as if most of the people on it had tried to stuff as much as they could into their carry-on to avoid having to check it in. This caused some problems as there wasn't enough room in the overhead bins for everyone’s luggage and many people were forced to have theirs placed in the hold anyways. One young Spanish man, aged about 21 or so, tried to flirt his way into being allowed to keep his cabin luggage. As the stewardess was an English woman about 60 years old and very “down-to-business,” his technique did not work out very well. 

Eventually everyone got settled and we took off, only about 10 minutes later than expected. On the way, we were served (free!) drinks (even including the option of wine or beer), and (free!) sandwiches! Apparently this is standard treatment on British Airways but I was pretty excited about it nonetheless. After a smooth trip, we touched down in Barcelona about 10 minutes earlier than expected. I would probably have been happier about this if my cold hadn't been worsened by the flight and my ears hadn't popped so badly that I could only hear out of my right side and then only just.

Going through immigration in Europe is one of the rare times that I'm glad I don't have a European passport, because there is a separate line for all “other” passports and it tends to be infinitely shorter than the line for Europeans. There were only two people in front of us, so we got through before they even started the luggage belt. By the time we took a bathroom break, our bag was coming off the belt so we grabbed it and headed out towards… well we weren't quite sure yet. I knew the hotel was about 20 minutes away by car but that it would take about an hour by public transportation. I didn't know the cost of either option, so we decided to get some money from an ATM and then investigate further. 

We weren't the only ones with a similar idea, so we ended up waiting about 20 minutes to get to the ATM. We were a little confused about why it was taking so long because there had only been three people in front of us, but when we got up to it ourselves we realized what had been going on. In an attempt to create a “super-advanced, uber-safe” ATM, the creators had installed so many safeguards that it took forever even to get it to accept the card! And it was more than a little unnerving to see a giant camera in our face and watch our own every move on a life-sized video screen right in front of us (next to the two other screens with the instructions for using the ATM). Eventually we did manage to get some euros. I've never felt so accomplished. 

We headed outside, shedding layers as we did even in the dark of the night. We were definitely not in England anymore. The first thing we saw upon stepping outside was the airport bus that ran to the city center. It was cheaper than I thought and it was about to leave, so we hurried over and hopped on. After about a half hour ride, it dropped us off at Plaza España (the photo shows what it looks like at night - I did not take the photo but can't find information about who did). Getting out I accidentally dropped the suitcase on Scott’s (already injured) foot. After some choice words that drew the attention of some of the locals, we hobbled over to the Metro station. 

Then it was on to the challenge of deciding which ticket to buy. We thought about just getting one for the trip to the hotel and figuring out the rest of our weekend later, but saw that there were great savings for buying multiples at once. But you had to know which zones you were going to travel to. Well, no problem—we knew which attractions we were going to see so that should be easy to figure out. Except that among the 5 different maps we managed to find around the station, there were none that listed the zones. In the end, we just got a 4-day pass for all the zones. It may have been more expensive than we needed, but I guess I can rest in the fact that the ticket itself was much prettier than the shorter tickets—excellent for my scrapbook. 

We (and by we, I mean Scott) struggled to get the large suitcase down the stairs and onto the train. We had to make a transfer with—you guessed it—lots of stairs! When we finally got to our destination, there were oddly some stairs going down which led to a long tunnel, at the end of which were stairs going up. And then some more stairs. By the time we had gotten to the top, Scott had sworn off stairs for the rest of the trip. He forgot to swear off cobblestones, though, and got to endure them for the 8 blocks or so to the hotel. At least we got to pass by a pretty color-changing building on the way! Though we only had to go up one floor to get to reception, there was no question that we were taking the elevator.

By this time, my cold and lack of hearing had gotten the better of me, and I just wanted to be done with it all. We were so close—all we had to do was check in. This was made more difficult by the fact that I couldn't hear the desk clerk but I just kept nodding and agreeing. I don’t think I signed up for anything I didn't mean to—guess we’ll find out when I check the credit card bill later! Finally, everything was all set up (I think), and the clerk handed us our keys. All I had to do was sign and we could be off. Except it was right at this time that my body decided it was totally done and it needed to give me a stronger hint. My nose started to bleed and I needed a tissue, NOW. It must have been quite entertaining to see me sign my name while looking straight up at the ceiling, practically throw the paper at the clerk, and make a mad dash off to the restroom still without lowering my head. 

Luckily I made it just in time and managed to stop the bleeding fairly quickly. I emerged from the bathroom to see Scott with an expression of concern and bemuse on his face, patiently guarding our luggage and waiting for me to return with the room keys. Finally—for real this time—we got on the elevator and headed to our room on the 5th floor. We were too tired to go out in search of food so we got a couple of snacks from the vending machine to stave off our appetite until morning, and then promptly fell asleep.