Primero dia en Barcelona

Buenos Dias! This here officially begins my blog. I’m currently in my hotel just outside of Barcelona, and luckily have free Wi-Fi in the room. But anyways, the trip over…
My plane was scheduled to leave O’hare at 1:45, so my parents and brother drove me in to say goodbye. The plane was packed, and I ended up sitting there in the plane for an hour while they weighed it to make sure if wasn’t off balance. After leaving about 3, we got into Philadelphia around 6, at which point I had to catch a plane leaving at 6:25. So after speed walking to the new terminal, I found it to be delayed till 7:15, so I got to sit down and make some last minute phone calls before leaving the country. The flight over was great (on a 767), and having never been over seas, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I really felt comfortable, enjoyed the food, and was able to get some sleep in preparation for the 7 hour time change.
After arriving fairly close to on time, we got off the plane through this cool tube stairwell (see pic) and took a bus to the terminal to go through customs. Following that, I spent the next 30 minutes trying to locate my 80lbs bag, but to no avail. It seems there were a good deal of people on that plane who’s baggage had somehow been left in Philly, or so they say. So I am currently without all my clothing (good thing I dressed somewhat nice coming over). Supposedly there’s another flight coming in tomorrow that my bag should be on, at which point they will try to get it to the ship before it leaves for the next port. I let the Royal Caribbean people know about it, and they didn’t seem too worried, so I guess I won’t be either.
Today, after finally locating my unmarked shuttle getting me to the hotel, I was given a great room, and two meal tickets for the restaurant. I got to my room and walked back down for lunch, where I had a great tomato and cheese salad, and then a veal dish that was fantastic, followed by authentic Spanish flan! Why are Best Westerns a million times better in Barcelona? After lunch, I came back to the room, tried to find something to keep me busy, which eventually brought me to finding my pillow for the next 5 hours. I just woke up at 10:50PM, but with the restaurant closing at 11, missed dinner…idiot. Well, now I can talk to you. Tomorrow, I’ve been informed that my ship gets in at 7PM, but they’ll be picking me up around 11AM so that I have the day in Barcelona, which I’ll be looking forward to. Also, I’ll be setting my alarm for everything from here on out. But that’s about it for now, the hotel isn’t in the best neighborhood for tourism, so I’m stuck here till 11. My phone does work here, but please don’t call, it’ll cost me millions per minute, so send emails and leave messages here! Needless to say, I’m excited to be here, and can’t wait to see the ship tomorrow (but will fully enjoy this 2 day pre-employment vacation). Talk to you soon, Adios!

P.S. My 4 years of high school Spanish is getting some chuckles, but I can tell they appreciate the effort. I could almost communicate with my shuttle driver…almost.

P.S.S My blog page is now comes up in Spanish, not helping my communication difficulties.