Stores that carry "FIRE" season clothing

[awhfy]

Loving the review! Oh, monte cristo, my favorite sandwich. I do make them on occasion but with turkey instead of ham & raspberry jam to dip the sandwich into...hmm, sounds like dinner to me. Melody

 

 

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[Anita Latte]

Monte cristo! That was on the menu at Bennigan's! Yum!!

 

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[Member123]

@Melody. Hi! Thank you. Glad to know you're rambling with me through Barcelona!

 

Does everyone remember that this is laundry day?!? Maybe Anita gets her laundry procrastination technique from her Mom?!? LOL.

 

Can't put it off any longer, mainly because I don't want to be walking the streets of Barcelona, with my laundry, at night. So, we head back to the hotel. And, just in case you're wondering exactly how busy La Rambla can be on a Sunday afternoon? Here you go....

 

 

I don't know how many of these people are tourists and how many are locals, but as you can see... super, super casual dressers.

 

Laundry in Barcelona (if you can believe this statement) was kind of FUN. No kidding. Mainly because the laundry spot that I had scoped out from the internet searches was just a great place. So well thought out; super clean; had folding tables. The machines that you could use were priced according to weight. This laundry was high-tech! There was a vending machine that controlled all the washers and dryers. You would put your clothes into a washing machine (had a choice of 5kg, 7kg, 13kg load weights) and then you would go to the vending machine and find the washing machine's number. Put in your money; press Start. The machine's display would light up and you could choose your laundry's water temperature and wash cycle (gentle, cotton, perm/press, etc.). The time would start a countdown from 22 minutes. The laundry detergent and fabric softener were automatically dispensed during the appropriate cycle. You just had to repeat the procedure for your dryer. We were done with laundry in less than an hour. And, we did all of our unmentionables and my DH's exercise clothes, pants, tops. Fabulous!

 

And, the second best thing? The laundry was right by the University, so we had a lot of students keeping us company. We didn't have a lot of conversation, but we had quite the people-watching opportunity. One student... he deserves a prize... pulled out of the 13kg machine... such a load!... wow, he had the equivalent of at least 5 of my "normal" loads PLUS a comforter in that machine! And, the best part? He didn't even bother to dry any of it. The spin cycle was so tremendous on those machines that you knew they'd be dry in a matter of moments. The dry cycle only lasted 15 minutes, as it was. No problem, even with drying socks and underwear elastic waistbands. I was super impressed, as you can tell.

 

Back to the hotel to celebrate! So, I have to show you one of the smallest, cutest balconies EVER. Yeah, no... we didn't spend any time on the balcony.

 

 

And we also didn't have the window opened much. Let me show you our street view from the room.

 

 

Yeah, it was a bit noisy. Especially when the accordion player was doing his thing. Have you ever heard flamenco music played on an accordion? Well, I can say that I have! I guess "played" and "flamenco" music might be a bit of a stretch in that sentence. He also played a bit of Elvis and some Beatles. And, no... I'm not kidding. The marquee sign over the tables on the far left actually says "TAPES." Amusing.

 

By this time in the day, I was feeling quite tired. Walked and walked today. And, had some issues.

 

So, I have four pairs of shoes. One pair: Helle Comfort Heels, strappy sandals that I wore for the formal nights on board the Oasis. Not meant to be worn for any distance, walking. One pair: Walking Cradles that I've worn before and they are nice and comfortable. They do have a heel, so can't be worn when walking on terrain with any inclines. One pair: Ryka Sneakers. One pair: NEW! Ahnu Crissy, described as a sporty version of a ballet flat. I have some no-slip, no see-um socklets to wear with this.

 

I chose to wear the Ahnus today. Ugh. Epic failure. The socks kept falling down from my heel and bunching up under my foot. So annoying and ultimately a problem because they caused my foot to have some abrasions. Nuts.

 

I just wanted to do something super easy for dinner tonight. I wasn't super hungry cause we'd had a later brunch. So, we ended up going down to one of those restaurants that are pictured on the street view picture I just showed you. It was called Bar Lobo; and the food was tasty. I didn't get a picture of the chicken fajitas we ordered, but I did get one of the guacamole. I just wanted to see how similar the Spanish version was to the Mexican version that I really love. You know what? Identical.

 

 

I told our waiter that I was surprised that the Spanish guacamole recipe was identical to the Mexican one. He told me that I shouldn't be all that surprised. He said... "you know, we taught them how to make it." I don't know if that's true or not, but we'll leave it at that.

 

Tomorrow is a big day. Big plans. Too bad I didn't set my alarm.

[Member123]

Big, big plans for today.

 

Before we left home, I'd researched the cruise ship port calendar so I could get a feel for how crowded Barcelona and its various tourist attractions would become on any given day of the week we were there. Monday was the lightest port load of all the days; so, Monday was the day I scheduled to go to Monserrat. I knew that the boys' choir would sing Gregorian chants in the Basilica, and I really wanted to experience their performance. I had checked the weather and it was predicted to be a sunny, warm-ish day.

 

So, with all that anticipation? I slept right through what was probably a glorious sunrise and on and on until mid-morning. You can't believe how distressed I was when I woke up and saw my hubby just looking at me. What?!? Of course, he doesn't really know our itinerary. He leaves most of the trip planning to me and is very content to just go and do and eat and be.

 

Sigh.

 

I checked the internet for tomorrow's weather, and it was predicted to be quite a bit the same. So, change of plans... today would be a different day than I had planned, but it's Barcelona. Right?!? So much to see and so much to experience.

 

First order of business. Breakfast. We are running super late and breakfast isn't a big deal in Barcelona to begin with. So, we hustled to a bakery and bought incredibly delicious pastries. DH decided on a chocolate croissant (BIG surprise!). He was a bit disappointed; we just hadn't hit our stride with his chocolate pastries. I bought a croissant filled with a custard called Catalan Cream. Wow! This cream reminded me of a creme brûlée, only it didn't (of course) have the crystallized sugar topping. I tasted just a hint of citrus, lemon or orange. It was creamy, custardy without being eggy, and so, so good.

 

And, then? My DH looked at me and said..... <drumroll> "Would you like to get a latte at Starbucks?" YES! YES! YES! Now, here's a whimsical Starbucks story. Remember my experience in Starbucks when I was trying to buy the VIA Ready Brew or the little espresso cans? It was quite an attempt at having conversation, at the time. Must have been memorable to the barista as well because when I arrived at Starbucks this morning, the barista looked at me and yelled to the back "English, por favor!" Up came running a pretty girl who said, "May I take your order today?" Starbucks. Home away from Home.

 

 

Lattes and "drinkable" hot chocolate later, we began our adventurous, unplanned day.

 

Off to the Gothic Quarter to see the Cathedral. There is a lot of historical information about this beautiful cathedral; some of it is quite disturbing to me. Maybe because I'm Protestant, and the stories of Sainthood can be a bit graphic... if you want to know the history behind this, I'll leave it for you to research. Being there, for me, was just some moments to have quiet reflection. There are supposed to be 13 geese, and there are: I just didn't get them all together in my picture. There is an association with the keeping of 13 geese in the courtyard that honors the Patron Saint of Barcelona, who is honorably buried in the Cathedral.

 

 

Walking, walking, walking. You never know what delights are right around the corner.

 

 

I had an IPOD app that gave me general direction information for Barcelona. We decided to head to the harbor and see the neighborhood called Barceloneta.

 

And, I'll divert for just a moment to talk about my lack of fashion for this day!

 

 

Omigosh. Such a disappointment with my planned wardrobe. First of all, the weather, right?!? Sitting at home, in front of the computer, looking at historical weather temperatures and conditions, I thought we were heading to a coolish, maybe mid-70s (Arizona, remember!... 70s is definitely cool for me!), and there was a strong possibility of rain at various times of the day. There was so much possibility of rain that I bought a rain jacket for the trip! I'm not complaining (much!), but the weather was gorgeous. WARM! HOT! I didn't have the clothes for warm, warmer, hot! The clothes that I brought for the land portion of the trip were substantially heavier than was comfortable to wear. I was immediately too hot in them to wear them all day... if I got dressed in them in the morning, by the time I'd gathered my stuff together to leave for the day, my pants waistband was sweaty and my bra band was ... never mind.

 

Shoes! Socks! Omigosh. I just don't know how I'm going to find a pair of shoes that can tolerate the rough conditions I put shoes through when we travel. We walk everywhere! We walk all day long! I had managed to get my feet sore the day before with the attempt to wear those stupid no-see-um socks. So, today was all about trying to achieve some foot comfort. And, this was the best I could do. Thank goodness for Barcelona being a very casual city. I didn't feel too, too badly dressed. OK. I avoided mirrors which helped a LOT with my emotions.

 

Barceloneta is pretty, and whimsical, and fun.

 

[Member123]

 

Lunch time. Mirando al Mar. Beautiful location. Much needed. Need to sit. Need to eat. We had a great introduction to the restaurant by a patient host who identified several dishes for us and tried to give us a description of the food selections.

 

Pescado fresco del Mediterráneo a la brasa was translated to be a fresh Mediterranean fish taco. When I look up the spanish-to-english translation of la brasa, it means "grilled." I wish that I had known that; I did find that some of the English translations missed their mark.

 

I had a Dorado "taco." Uh. Oh.

 

 

DH had a salmon "taco." Hey! I don't like my food to have a head. What he's having, please! I was a good little tourist and made the most of my decision. Actually, the fish was flavorful and very fresh; I just wish... never mind.

 

 

And then the world became a better place when I told our waitress that I didn't like sweet, sweet desserts and she suggested a Catalan specialty. Miel y mató (queso fresco catalán del Cadí, sorbete de frambuesa, miel y frutos secos)- Catalan fresh cheese, raspberry sorbet, honey, and nuts. Yum!

Wish I could describe to you how good this is.

 

 

Lunch must end; walking begins again. Barceloneta is, as you can see, in the harbor/pier area of Barcelona, a place familiar to all cruisers. We are near the Columbus statute, which means that we are at the pier end of Las Ramblas. Which, of course, means....

 

Street Performers!

 

[Member123]

And...

 

 

After a lot of fun and a bit of time watching some of the performers get into costume, we decided to take the Metro to Park Guell. This is the "residential neighborhood" that Gaudi built and eventually got turned into a park. It is a fun place to visit; it was crowded which by now shouldn't have been a surprise. I did research on a visit to Park Guell, but I completely forgot about the timed-entry tickets that you had to purchase. We ended up spending a lot more time at Park Guell than I initially thought we would. It is quite entertaining.

 

 

Look at our elevation! You get quite a view from Park Guell. I think DH caught me talking, when he snapped this one. Omigosh. I felt so sorry for this Asian young man. Before I could stop him, he had reached out to see what a prickly pear cactus felt like. Oh man. Tears of pain! I hope no one reading this has ever decided to pet a prickly pear cactus; they have these small needle-like thorns that penetrate your skin in the most painful way. I tried to describe to his girlfriend how to get those tiny needles out of his skin. Dang. I can still almost feel his pain! No, I'm not talking to them in this picture. I can't really remember to whom I may be speaking; as you can imagine, I will talk with anyone who will listen and try to speak with me!

 

 

So, we stayed at the park for quite a while, as I mentioned. There's another area of the park that has three crosses, and we thought it would be meaningful to visit there, grab the view, etc. Unfortunately, that area is where a crowd of young people have decided to celebrate sunset with some mind-altering substances; my parental side was just screaming at the situation because they were sitting on top of a monument that was, really, a climb-at-your-own-risk sort of experience and I just wanted to lecture, lecture, advise, and spank some bottoms if I'm being honest. So, we left...

 

Climbing back down to Metro elevation. See what I mean about walking inclines? They have an escalator ride to the top and you are on your own to get back down.

 

 

It was twilight by the time we got back to La Rambla.

[Member123]

Dinner tonight was quite an experience. We went to Irati Taverna Basca in the Gothic Quarter, considered to be one of the best pintxos bars in Barcelona. From what I can determine, a pintxos differs from a tapas only in the manner in which it is served. Look at this place! The variety is a bit overwhelming.

 

 

This is a "belly up to the bar" type of place. When you enter, you are given a plate, a napkin, and a wine glass (if you want wine). You hand your glass to the man behind the counter and let him know if you'd like red or white. You hang onto your plate as this is where "service" to you is provided. You serve yourself from the ample selection; if you can't reach something you want, you hold your plate over the counter so the "server" can grab an item for you.

 

 

When you feel satisfied, you get a server's attention; they take your plate and count the number of toothpicks on it. Quite the honor system! Multiply the number of toothpicks by (if I remember correctly) 2.25Euro and that's your bill.

 

 

I think I was a little too tired to thoroughly enjoy my evening at Irati. For one thing, I couldn't figure out what everything was so I couldn't assist my DH with knowing any of the ingredients or flavors that we might be eating. For another thing, literally, you had to stand and eat. There were no seats, just high-top tables that you could rest your plate upon and/or the counter that you might be able to rest your plate upon. This isn't the most comfortable dining. I found myself really, really wanting to just call it an evening.

 

Down La Rambla from our hotel is a market. Quite an entertaining space, in and of itself. Because I'd gone there in my coffee hunt, I knew that there were wine bottles there! So, it became a mission to get to the market and grab a bottle of wine and rest my feet! Upon arrival at the market, it was pretty confusing, to say the least. I know so little about Spanish wine. Here's what I finally figured out: out of all the wine bottles on offer, there were three that had theft-deterrent devices installed on them. Hey, there's a clue! I did witness quite a bit of theft going on in the store. Picture a store as crowded in the interior as La Rambla is on the exterior. Minor theft: chips bags opened, partially eaten, and then left on shelves. That type of activity was prevalent despite the security guards that were present. In any event, we decided upon a bottle.

 

 

I'm showing you the label because it was very, very good! It wasn't that expensive, about 15Euro. It was just that by comparison to the 5Euro bottle price, I guess the wine was considered to be a target for those darn pickpockety people. We had an ice bucket service provided by the hotel; so charming and wonderful. Picture an ice bucket on a silver tray, with cloth napkins and crystal wine glasses being delivered by a person who was so incredibly professional and thoughtful that he brought his own wine opener. Pure heaven. He apologized that he couldn't leave the opener and would have to open the bottle for us; many apologies. Yeah! Perfect end to quite an eventful day. He informed us that we'd made an excellent wine choice. Yeah, again!

 

Tomorrow we plan to go to Montserrat, for sure.

[Member123]

We are going to Montserrat. We've checked the weather and it is supposed to be a warm, non windy, beautiful day. We know that we're going to higher elevation and will probably do quite a bit of walking. My biggest concern is, to no one's surprise, my feet! My DH thought I should try out his athletic socks, which are wicking, etc. They were just a little too big for my feet; my own socks were causing me such problems because they were cutting into my heel; so I ended up padding my socks with my husband's socks. So, my "look" got a bit worse today; now, I'm really feeling like my footwear is bringing my fashion sense DOWN... literally, DOWN to the ground, brought DOWN by my shoes! At least, I have achieved a certain level of comfort.

 

We had a few hiccups, getting started with this day.

 

OK. The Barcelona Metro is really easy to navigate. Most of the time, you can enter the Metro and it doesn't matter where you've chosen to enter the station because you can always make your way underground, using the signage, to get to the platform that has the train that will be going in the direction you need. There are a few exceptions, as I found out this morning. The Liceu Metro station, within the street of La Rambla, is one of those exceptions. You need to pay attention to the metro map that is located outside the station, because once you go downstairs and use your ticket to get through the turnstile and onto the platform, if you find yourself going in the wrong direction, you have no choice but to go back up street level and go to the other side of La Rambla to enter the Liceu Metro station and get to the platform going in the direction that you wish to travel. We "burned" one of our metro tickets when we entered the Liceu station... going in the opposite direction of where we wanted. We could have stayed in the station and rode the metro around until we maneuvered our way to the right direction... but I was in no mood to take the time to do that.

 

There is a lot of information on how to get to Montserrat. They all tell you that you have to go to the Espanya Station and get the R5 train to Manresa; you have to decide, before you purchase your ticket, whether you're going to take the aerial tram (the cable car option from Aeri Montserrat station) or the train option that departs from a different station. Let me tell you: the directions sound much, much more difficult than it really is. There are also a LOT of warnings about the pick pockets at the Espanya station who "prey" on confused tourists who are trying to purchase their tickets. I've begun to think that a lot of these WARNINGS are an attempt by some guides to frighten you into using a private service rather than the public option. I'm not making light of the very real problem of pick pockets in Barcelona; but I am saying that being vigilant and observant goes a long way to personal protection of possessions. OK.

 

The Espanya station is very confusing. The best description that I found of the experience at the Espanya station stated the following: The best advice here is just to ignore the line information displayed as you enter a surface entrance to the underground station and just enter the nearest surface entrance you can find. Once you are underground look for signs for the R5 track. You may have to walk around a little but you will find it eventually! Uh. OK.

 

Here's the deal. The Espanya Metro station is different than the Espanya train station for the R5 train. If you use the Metro, you need to go to street level and walk above ground to the Espanya train station. We stumbled around in the underground area, vainly trying to find signage for the R5; it was there, but we didn't believe it because every time we saw the sign it was at an exit! When we finally did go where the sign told us to, we exited the station and were thoroughly confused. We ended up seeing an Information Kiosk and went there to ask for the R5 line; the guide pointed to a building across the street. So, literally, the Espanya Metro station is on a diagonal, across the street from the Espanya train station. I felt like a couple on the Amazing Race that was making everyone scream at their televisions, "Look Across the Street! OMG. Look Across the Street!" while the Amazing Race producers were pointing arrows at the building that was Right Across the Street!

 

When we entered the Espanya train station, there was a really, helpful lady sitting at a table who was only there to discuss your Montserrat options. We already knew that we wanted to take the cable car (Aeri Montserrat option), so she just circled the departure time for the train on a brochure, told us how much we needed to pay, and sent us to a gentleman who was assisting with obtaining your tickets from the kiosk. Maybe this procedure has been put into place to deal with the pick pocket problem; it was very helpful and very easy.

 

The train was a one hour, pleasant ride through interesting landscape. And, then we arrived...

 

 

When the train pulls into the station, you only have one place to go... and that's to the cable car area. You'll line up and wait for the door to open; the man will look at your ticket to make sure you got off at the proper stop, and then direct you into the cable car. It is Standing Room Only, and has a passenger-count limit. I don't know, but I think that everyone got a ride that was in line.

 

I'm not fond of heights, but this ride didn't pose any problems for me. And I knew that I just had to do it because my DH would love it, and he did.

 

The monastery is nestled into the mountain, Montserrat. Look, Anita! It's like the Boulders in Carefree on Steroids!

 

 

This can give you an idea of our elevation. The sun was making is presence known, and I just couldn't look at my DH and his camera.

 

 

[Member123]

I wanted to go to Montserrat for several reasons: I wanted to see the area, and I wanted to see the Black Madonna. I leave the story of the Black Madonna to you to research. The main reason that I wanted to see her is because of the belief that this Madonna was carved in Jerusalem and, maybe, by the Gospel author, Luke. And, that he had used Mary as a model.

 

So, we got in line...

 

 

There are more people behind us than in front of us. We had no idea how long this line actually was; once we came upon the realization of just how long we were going to be waiting, we had committed ourselves to the experience as we had entered through the outside doors. We were in line for 1-1/2 hours, moving very, very slowly.

 

 

I'm glad that I went. I didn't participate in any of the tradition... or ritual... that surrounds this carving. I was behind a Catholic gentlemen who began a ritual of kissing his cross, and putting his hand on the golden globe. When I realized that I was a witness to what should be a private moment (in my opinion), I stopped observing him and just looked at the exit area so that I'd know when he was finished. So, I don't know... exactly... what the significance of the moment might be for people of Catholic faith; for me, to be honest... I felt the need to move along because I didn't have any feelings of piety for the carving. I do appreciate the symbolism. Well, it's complicated... when you visit so many religious artifacts, I just believe in being respectful.

 

Not to be disrespectful, but at this point... I was starving! I made a mistake and started unwrapping this wonderful sandwich before I had exited from the Basilica courtyard. I was rapidly approached by a guard and informed as to where the picnic areas were located. Oh, thank you! And I meant it... go sit on the steps and enjoy. Except I had to share with my DH. No, I was grateful that I had known to bring something to eat along with us.

 

 

Because our morning had (a) gotten started later than we wanted and (b) gotten mired down with some fumbles regarding the transportation... we didn't get to the monastery in time to enjoy the boys' choir. We did spend a bit of time walking through the Basilica and some surrounding rooms. There is so much that you can do when you visit Montserrat, including walking on some fabulous trails, taking a funicular ride further up the elevation, visiting the museum that houses information on various Madonna carvings as well as some incredible art. We didn't stay that much longer. I would return, on a future visit, and spend more time just being there. It's quite beautiful.

 

[Member123]

EZ train ride later and we're back at Espanya train station. EZ walk across the street and we're at the Espanya Metro station. EZ metro ride to Liceu station and we're out on La Rambla. Walking to our Hotel 1898, up to our room AND

 

 

What a beautiful sight! When we entered the room, the bottle was nestled into the bucket... but I wanted you to see the label because this is seriously good... very, very tasty. The card is expressing their appreciation for our stay and hoping we're having a wonderful time. Well, yes we are! And you just made it better!

 

Tonight is a specially researched dinner at Patagonia Beef and Wine, an Argentinean steak house. Delicious! Beautiful restaurant. And, the joy is that (a) it's a short walk from our hotel and (b) it's level walking. So, I was able to switch out of my Ryka sneakers and into my Walking Cradle sandals. Such a relief to have on a different pair of shoes that didn't make me feel so frumpy.

 

 

I think that I have a bit of a "champagne glow" going on here. This was one of the best meals that we experienced in Barcelona. It wasn't what I would call "fancy," just really good quality, cooked perfectly, and full of flavor. We had empanada appetizers and there were three sauces that they brought, table side, to eat with your steak. Just outstanding.

 

The star of the meal:

 

 

and, for DH:

 

 

Afterwards, we strolled a bit through Barcelona. It's really beautiful at night.

 

 

Must set the alarm for tomorrow. We will be traveling, by train, to Figueres to learn a bit about Salvador Dali. And, the weather forecast is... RAIN.

[Member123]

How much do you know about Salvador Dali? We have a lithograph that was given to my DH by his parents after they visited Spain. It's an unassuming little art piece entitled "Don Quixote." I had no idea what we were headed toward in Figueres.

 

It's difficult to plan from afar, but so worth while, in my opinion, to make your eventual trip that much more meaningful. So, I sat at home and thought about this day; after studying the opening/closing time of the museum, factoring in the train ride length of time and effort to get to the station, figuring out the walk to get from the train station to the museum in Figueres, etc., and navigating the Renfe site... I pre-purchased round trip tickets, in Turista class, traveling on an AVANT style train (high speed and newer), leaving Barcelona Sants at 9:45am and arriving in Figueres Vilifant at 10:40am; departing Figueres at 4:55pm and arriving back in Barcelona at 5:48pm. For the two of us, the cost was a total of 33,00Euro.

 

I had a booking number. Also, when I purchased the tickets online, the website sent me an email with a PDF-file attachment; I printed that and carried the paper with me, as well.

 

Barcelona Santa train station is attached, underground, to the Sants Estacio Metro station. This was a much easier effort than the previous day's meandering through the Espanya situation. I knew that there were food vendors at the station so our plan was to just get ourselves together and get to the station, grab some food, and board the train. Hopefully! I didn't know what I was going to have to do to obtain actual train tickets as I couldn't find any information on the procedure. I was "fingers crossed" winging it. So, all we did was check weather dot com to find out if the forecast had changed; nope, we were heading to a rainy day. Umbrellas, rain jackets, warmer clothing attire... ready to go!

 

This couldn't have been easier. Barcelona Sants is very well-organized, logically laid out, signage is good. It was easy to find the platform number of our train going to Figueres; I had the train number and departure time; easy to locate the information on the signage.

 

Getting onto the train was controlled by security. You had to wait in a lobby-type area, near the platform entrance. About 15 minutes before departure, the person (guard? ticket agent?) opened up the entrance and began scanning tickets. They used my paper ticket and just scanned the bar code on it; a few beeps later and we were heading toward the train. I had assigned seats in an assigned car so I just had to look for the train number, printed on the side of the train car. Upon entering the train, it had signage similar to an airplane's row/seat assignment. Locate, sit, and settle in.

 

Here's a picture to give you an idea of the comfort of this AVANT train. The train station information was displayed on the monitor so you had knowledge of your travel; dining car was available. Clean bathrooms. Nice.

 

 

Arrival at the Figueres Vilifant train station and it felt like we were kind of in a little bit of nowhere land. But, not to worry... good signage that matched the street directions that I had researched. It's all good. This appears to be a smaller, Spanish town... cute. And, all about Mr. Dali.

 

We made our way to the museum. Although I could have purchased tickets online, I didn't. We were immediately in a fairly long queue, with everybody wondering if they were doing the right thing. There wasn't much information available to us... so way far back in line. It was pretty logical though; there was a door that had some information printed on it that "felt" like it would be translated to be a Groups Entrance; this was confirmed when group after group after group gained entrance through this particular door; people with tour ticket numbers on Avery-type labels attached to their jackets. Hey! Cruise ship passengers! I'm pretty sure! They kept gaining entrance as we waited patiently for anything to happen to make the line we were in move along. I was beginning to wonder if this was another timed entrance ticket situation... or if it was capacity controlled? Maybe I'd made a major mistake by not pre-purchasing the darn tickets? Nope, eventually the line started to move and in we went.

 

 

 

So unprepared for what we are going to see!

 

 

[Member123]

OK. Wait a minute. I thought I knew about surrealism. I mean, I know the definition of surrealism. I think I was now wandering through the essence of surrealism, like... would it be really corny for me to say that the experience felt surreal? Yes, that would be corny. I won't say that.

 

There is a quote from Salvador Dali, in the museum. He said, "There is only one difference between a madman and me. The madman thinks he is sane. I know I am mad."

 

This is the art piece of Salvador Dali's that I knew before my visit to the museum. As it turns out, I really didn't know much about this artist and his life. After visiting the museum, I really want to read his biography and learn more. There was a lot there that was simply fascinating. This is the art piece that I was familiar with, but I didn't know it was a tapestry!

 

 

I can imagine that people who knew and loved his work were in awe of this museum. It was immense. This is an interior space, just behind the courtyard.

 

 

All I can say is... this experience was tremendously entertaining.

 

 

 

Beautiful day. Yes, quite a beautiful day. Warm. Blue skies. Wait?!? What happened to the rain? Well, I just don't know. What I do know is that DH carried my rain jacket around all day, and I lugged around the umbrellas. You know... the problem with this whole idea of dressing in layers? Well, the essential problem, when you are traveling, is that whatever layers you dress in are the layers that you will be carrying around when you get too hot! Darn it. Again, not complaining... just saying.

 

Take a look at the Rain Jacket across DH's arm. Don't you think I nailed a FIRE color? I purchased the jacket from REI; it's a Columbia, Pardon My Trench Rain Jacket, in Red Hibiscus. Maybe it also has super powers to ward off rain! Further testing required.

 

We spent hours and hours inside the museum. I don't think we saw everything. No, I know we didn't see everything. I was standing in front of a piece that was very puzzling to me; I thought DH was near me so I said out loud, "Can you explain this to me?" A lady answered (with a British accent, no less), "Oh my dear. Absolutely not. I'm feeling quite barmy." I think that's what she said. Anyway, the thing that made us leave the museum (besides the walking, walking, walking) was just plain hunger. I had scoped out a lunch location and we had a tasty meal. Then, we wandered around Figueres a bit before heading back to the train station. The whole town seems to have embraced Salvador Dali's artistic point of view.

 

[Member123]

It was just... one of those days...

 

At the risk of sounding corny one more time, even our dinner was a bit surreal. (synonyms being weird, strange, dreamlike, uncanny). We decided to just have pizza (!) at a restaurant really close to our hotel, Luzia.

 

Our waiter has quite a personality...

 

 

The restaurant is quite comfortable...

 

 

And the chefs watch over you to make sure you are enjoying your food...

 

 

We got a geography lesson from our waiter. He informed us that we Americans don't realize that there are only five continents; we think there are seven. But, really... there are only five. They are: "America, Europe, Africa, Australia... uh... and one I can't remember." So, the couple at the next table said they could help him out if he looked at their faces! He said..." uh... uh... " ... they leaned toward him like they were trying desperately to help... "uh... ASIA! That's it!" Funny!

 

Just a funny, funny day. Tomorrow we are off to Tarragona to see what the Romans left behind.

[Member123]

So, again, sitting at home at the computer and planning out this day. I decided that we might have a late day on the day before, coming back to Barcelona from Figueres... and that we might want to have a leisurely start to our day. I knew that today would be loads of walking; I was looking at another train ride that would be about an hour. I found a highly-rated restaurant for lunch in Tarragona, so I decided that we would (a) eat lunch as our first order of business once we arrived and (b) head to the Roman ruins and spend some browsing time there and © see what else Tarragona had to offer. My decision was to purchase pre-paid, round trip tickets. The itinerary became an 11:00am departure from Barcelona Sants, arriving in Tarragona at 11:53am and a 6:41pm departure from Tarragona, arriving back in Barcelona at 7:30pm.

 

I researched two things: dinner tonight. I found, online, a place that served a Happy Hour that, for the price of a drink, had a complementary tapas spread. Wow, that sounded like a bargain. Reminding me of the old days in Silicon Valley, I actually believed that this would happen. I also found out that I had two choices of train: (1) the high-speed train, but that train station was outside the proper city limits of Tarragona and required a bus to get to the city, itself or (2) a regional, commuter train that would deposit us right at the area we thought we wanted to see. So, regional train it was.

 

Pleasant experience in Barcelona Sants. Same procedure as the day before. We had NAILED this portion of our trip, even finding the best chocolate pastries (a version of pain au chocolate) for DH. Happy. Happy.

 

When we arrived at the Tarragona train station, I was a bit surprised at its kind of industrial location. Not a good start to the day, as we immediately got very, very lost. Signage was almost non-existent; it took us a bit of time to realize that the signs that we did see were advising car, rather than pedestrian, traffic. We were going way, way out of our way in our attempt to locate our luncheon restaurant. Ugh.

 

First pretty sight right outside the train station.

 

 

Finally located our restaurant, Meson del Mar. When we first saw the restaurant, I wasn't pleased with its appearance. Thank goodness I thought we had no other choice (and I was exhausted from endless walking and feeling lost), because our lunch was really, really good. It turned out to be a typical, shoreside type of restaurant. Actually brought back memories from Santa Cruz, California.

 

 

Restaurant interior. We were one of the first people to arrive for lunch. The restaurant filled up with mostly business patrons.

 

[Member123]

Ironically, the restaurant wasn't that far from the train station. We had just started walking in the opposite direction of where we needed to, so it was a matter of just not being familiar and not having good directions. Fortunately, the Roman ruins are a big deal. Signage for them was very good, and we arrived with no unnecessary, additional walking or angst.

 

Roman ruins. Wow. They are just impressive to me; I think I have a vivid enough imagination that it becomes a playful time for me. I'll just let a series of pictures speak to how interesting this structure is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surprise! Another HOT day. This wardrobe challenge of mine is really kind of exasperating, but I can tell you that just a few pieces absolutely saved me. If I hadn't thrown these few, light weight pieces into my luggage, I seriously think that I would have had to go shopping for shorts and a cheap T-shirt. Even though the Athleta top is long-sleeved, it's a lightweight fabric that was just enough to give some needed sun protection without being so heavy that it wasn't comfortable. What a relief that I had these few pieces! I just can't emphasize enough. This experience has made me really, really think about what is essential to have on a trip of this length, with the possibility of having the weather be so unpredictable.

 

After becoming thoroughly saturated with the Roman ruins, we just wandered around Tarragona a bit. This is really quite a large city; there's so much more to see: a Roman forum, Roman aqueduct, various museums. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough information to feel comfortable getting too, too far from the train station. We walked along their Rambla street; apparently, Rambla is a common name for a boulevard-type street. We were in the midst of a lot of school children who were playing major games; I don't know if there was a festival going on? The kids were riding skate boards and running in groups and carrying on as happy children will do: fun to see.

 

We stumbled upon this statute and learned a little history.

 

 

Tarragona is famous for the building of human towers, known as castells. Just a few weeks ago, they just held the Tarragona Castells Competition. Amazing. Who knew?!? They also do re-enactments of Senate meetings in the Roman ruins, complete with appropriate dress, food, etc. Might be fun!

 

We headed back to the train station, in plenty of time to catch our train. Way too much time, as it turns out! When I was on the Oasis, a man told me that I could use my train tickets in a way that I thought was too good to be true. Yes, I was right. This gentleman lives in Sitges, which is a small, seashore town actually very close to Tarragona. He told me that my train ticket would allow me to disembark the train at any point on its journey and then catch another train going to my destination... whenever I felt like it on the day of travel. For example, he told me that by buying a ticket to Figueres, that I could also go to Gerona. I told him that I had reserved seats and his response to me was "don't worry about it." WELL. When we arrived at the train station, our scheduled train had been delayed for 45 minutes! I spoke to the customer service agent and asked him if I could get a seat on an earlier train... nope. Every question I asked was met with the response, "Go sit down. Wait for your train." I didn't want to sit down and wait for my train! I wanted to leave Tarragona. So, I told him that a man from Sitges told me that I could do what I wanted to do. That didn't go over well, and I ended up sitting down and waiting for my train. But, they never even looked at my ticket.

 

What I can tell you is that, when I boarded the train after it eventually arrived, there were only two vacant seats in our car number! Fortunately, yes... they matched our tickets. That train car was packed! And everyone had an abundance of luggage. Wow; it seemed to take forever and ever to get back to Barcelona. I was so, so tired.

 

AND, where did I find that information about Happy Hour? Don't know. Happy Hour didn't exist at that restaurant; in fact, the restaurant was almost empty which is never, ever a good sign for having good food. Right?!? So, DH and I ended up having a mediocre meal, at best. AND, the server did something that thoroughly irritated me! He converted my bill from Euros to USD$ before he sent it through the credit card charge. Ladies, don't ever let them do this! Unfortunately, the charge had already been presented, and he just handed me the receipt with the USD$. I demanded to know why he had done the charge in that way, without asking me, and he said that he didn't have a choice from his credit card provider. No; he lied to me... there is a choice; he just made an assumption and then couldn't reverse the error. This is a big deal. Why? Because even though my credit card doesn't have a foreign transaction fee, if there is a conversion done then the originating company charges a fee for the "service" provided. Small print on my receipt says: Service and exchange rate provided by Commercia Global Payments. I accept that I have been offered a choice of currencies for payment and that this choice is final. I accept the conversion rate, the final amount approved at the selected currency is USD. INCLUDES a 3.25% MARK UP over wholesale rate. When I returned home and compared all my charges, this charge just irritated me once more! Just a lesson, not to be repeated. From that point forward, I made sure my server knew to charge Euros. Mostly I just heard... of course!

 

Oh well. Tomorrow is our last day in Barcelona.

[aoknkentucky]

Pam, I am so enjoying your pictures and your commentary about the trip. I feel like I'm really there. I read a book several months ago (maybe, years!) about a grown daughter and her mother that visited several old cities. Part of their mission was to track down as many Madonnas as possible. I remember a Black Madonna being especially important and was glad to see your picture. Isn't it strange what information I retain in my little pea brain?

 

Had to interrupt to say--I think I have the same rain jacket!!! I ordered it from Columbia.com to be sure that I purchased a FIRE jacket. I had a cream with black interior (yuck! around my face), a pale green (horrible) and a pale blue (just as bad), and was determined to have a good FIREY jacket. Paid lots more than I would ordinarily, but couldn't find anything I liked in local stores. I really like the packable thinness of the jacket; the jacket length and hood are perfect. I'll let you know if it keeps the rain away for me.

[Member123]

Hi, Debbie.

 

Oh what a giggle! If you take the Rain Jacket and keep rain away with it, then everyone will want one... FIRE or not!

 

I'm on my last day in Barcelona. Whew. What a "chin wagger" I've been, right, Kim?

 

My thinking is... Debbie, please take us to North Carolina next! I know that we need to visit Paris, but I feel like I've just been hogging this thread like there's no tomorrow, and I would love to see you in North Carolina. It was North Carolina, right? I should go back and read your post to be sure, but I'm in fog mode at the moment.

 

Going to finish up with Barcelona. I was hoping that I could do justice to the trip and let everyone see just how wonderful Barcelona is. If, at any time anyone has a question about Barcelona, I just "might" be able to answer!

 

So, the last day in Barcelona dawns and... it's sunny... and warm... and a beautiful day. What to do on the last day? Well, there was a bit of revisiting the highlights of the week along with just a few new things to do along with packing, the inevitable.

 

Pastries! My DH's favorite? No surprise, a pain au chocolate. My favorite? Anything, literally anything, with Catalan creme! OMG.

 

 

Walking and walking and walking. You never know what you're going to stumble onto. What WAS this?!? Don't know.

 

 

OK. This I know. A Gaudi house...

 

 

A walk along Las Ramblas; this was so unique to Barcelona at one time and has been copied so many places. I still think the original Street Performers in Barcelona are among the best...

 

 

We decided to have lunch at Milk Bar & Bistro, again. This was the Monte Cristo sandwich place (for me)... again. This time, when we entered the restaurant, the host just nodded to a corner table and gave us the "I remember you" nod. We ended up sitting next to a young, Swiss couple who have a touching love story. It went something like this: the girl was riding on a train and met his mother and grandmother who can apparently talk off anyone's ear. She thought they were lovely women and when she found out that the mother had a son, she thought how wonderful must be this man who has such a fantastic mother. When the young man was told of the train ride by his mother and that there was a young girl who had listened to his mother's stories for the entire train ride, he thought how wonderful must be this girl who has the patience to listen to my mother. Cute, right? The girl is half-Italian; the young man told us that the only thing that worries him is her father. He said that her father told him that he really, really liked him and it would make him very sad to have to kill him if he hurt his daughter... so, don't let that happen. All-in-all, a fun lunch for us!

 

We just walked around Barcelona. No surprise. We got ourselves ready for the next day. DH liked the laundry spot so much he decided to do a load, all by himself! I was tasked with resting up in the room. Thank you very much!

 

And, we went up to the roof top bar after dinner for a night cap and a good-bye to Barcelona.

 

 

Wonderful visit.

 

 

Buenas noches, Barcelona.

 

Bonjour, Paris.

[awhfy]

I feel like I was in Barcelona with you. Your photos were stupendous. I think I have the Columbia jacket in teal... Melody

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Edited October 22, 2014 by awhfy

[snuggles]

Pam, Pam, Pam, Pam, Pam, such a tease you are! :D I just finished reading you posts and am loving it all! Such fun- and love your looks, even if you were tired:p I know the feeling after having gone throught it in Alaska. All the planning in the world and we still get a few surprises and hick-ups along the way, and learn it's best to just let it go and let the universe have its say. (at least I do- now)

 

I've been on the fence a long time about wearing rash guards & swimdresses and may just have to break down and order one. I'm at the "old" age where I try to be careful what I wear as I don't want to look like an "old lady" trying to look like a "teenager". KWIM? But your swimdress and top look so comfy....I'd sort of like to give it a try if I can pull it off. Maybe I'll look at them really hard for my Bermuda cruise next spring.

 

Anyway, can't wait for the rest of your pictodiary! I'm so giddy today!

 

Debbie, are you ready?

[aoknkentucky]

Ready, she asks? These days I feel like I'm meeting myself coming and going, Linda. I'm never ready. I have my dress for DS's wedding, but it isn't pressed. Wrinkles galore. Where's my iron/steamer? I have it all. I just don't have it all together. KWIM?

 

Pam, I know I've said thank you already, but I really appreciate the time and effort that you've taken to show us Barcelona. I don't think you've hogged the thread at all. In fact, because I knew you travelled to Paris and I've been waiting to see and hear all about it, I haven't started compiling my pictures and thoughts about our North Carolina (you were right) trip.

 

If you need a break and want me to post NC before we see Paris, I will, but it will take a bit of time. I have Halloween, DS's wedding and a camper with 9 months of "stuff" to bring home in the next three weeks. I keep telling DH that I don't have time to be working 5 days a week! I'm too stinking busy to be trying to work! However, if it wasn't for office time, I don't know when I'd catch up here. I'll be working on compiling my thoughts as office hours permit. Tee-hee-hee!

 

Oops, Pam. I forgot to add that I didn't think the Guadi house was gaudy at all. It may have been my favorite! I must go and find the info on it and educate myself. It struck me funny.

Edited October 22, 2014 by aoknkentucky

[Member123]

So, Linda, I know what you're saying. Years ago I heard that awful statement (that I won't repeat because it formed such a visual that I can't shake it and I won't do that to anyone else) about women not dressing their appropriate age. You know, when I see an "older" woman dressed in a fashion that someone might deem to be youthful, it depends upon a number of things, in my opinion, on whether she carried off the look well. As far as a sundress or swim dress goes, I think that the length should be a bit longer than the youthful dresser might want; for example, I'd make sure that the dress was quite a big longer than mid-thigh. And, for the rash guard, I'd just make sure that there wasn't a huge amount of cleavage. I don't have to worry about cleavage, at all! But, I know that larger breasted woman do have that situation, and I think that, for an older woman, the look of cleavage can be a "less is more" type of dressing mantra.

 

Anyway, for your comfort and its versatility, please look into the swim dress/rash guard combination! I tell you... this is my new "go to" style, especially for sea days on board ship or shore excursions. Maybe even sitting around here in AZ during the summer... I'm just saying that I think it's that comfortable!

 

So, after re-visiting the Barcelona trip, I thought... wow, I'm really hogging the FIRE party! I thought maybe I should take a breather? If you ladies really aren't feeling like you need a break, then I'll just continue on and take you to Paris.

 

Debbie, when is the wedding? You said that you really wanted a bright purple dress. Did you find one?

 

Melody, are you ready to go to Paris? Does your rain jacket keep the rain away on your trips? LOL. I'm taking a survey!

 

I'll be back soon....

 

because we're off to Paris! And, we get to find out just how good my researching skills are. Here's a teaser: not that great! We find out how easy it is to transport luggage. Here's a teaser: not that easy!

Edited October 23, 2014 by Member123

[snuggles]

Ready, she asks? These days I feel like I'm meeting myself coming and going, Linda. I'm never ready. I have my dress for DS's wedding, but it isn't pressed. Wrinkles galore. Where's my iron/steamer? I have it all. I just don't have it all together. KWIM?

 

 

Yep, I know exactly how you feel! Feel that way a lot! Anyway..You have your dress...YAY!! That's a biggie, but I must have missed the announcement somewhere. What did you end up with.. Pictures????

 

PAM- Of course we want to hear it ALL!! You're just too darn cute and sweet to be called a piggie--ever! IMHO:p So, we're off to Paris NOW!:cool: And in case I haven't said it before- Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into this trip and the report! It's simply "Mav-oooo-lous Dahling"!!

Edited October 23, 2014 by snuggles

[Member123]

OK.

 

How to start?

 

Let me explain just a bit about flying with Air France.

 

You ladies know that I spent a bunch of time weighing my clothes options, right? And I weighed all my toiletries and ... well, let's just say that I weighed everything! When we left, we were carrying a bit of weight, maybe not quite as much as we were allowed but definitely as much as we could handle. Because of Air France weight restrictions (especially for carry on items... I had read on their baggage allowance guidelines that they would weigh EVERYTHING, and that your weight allowance was INCLUSIVE of your carry on and personal item. So I knew that I had to keep within the weight allowance for both my purse and carry on)... so, we decided that we would check a bag that was packed to its limit of being able to be rolled by me (note: i didn't say lifted!) and that we would each bring on a duffel type of bag.

 

So, when you purchase a flight with Air France... at least what they consider to be a short haul flight like the one from Barcelona to Paris... the procedure is that you REQUEST a seat preference. Since there were two of us, they gave me a choice of seat request to be either (a) an aisle and a middle or (b) a middle and a window. I couldn't request, for example, an aisle and a window... the seats had to be together, being on the one reservation. AND, they don't assign seats when you make a reservation. Their procedure is that they will send you an email within 24 hours of your flight's departure in which they will give you a RECEIPT for boarding; this is not your boarding pass. You check-in, using the link provided in the email, print your receipt, and proceed to the ticket counter where you will give them your baggage and receive your boarding pass.

 

When I received my email for check-in... thank goodness I was sitting on the bed... I would have hit the floor at the information that I was sent. Unbelievable.

 

A little more background. Initially, we were going to take the high speed train from Barcelona to Paris, which would have been about a 6 hour train ride. No big deal; the trains are very comfortable (especially the high speed ones) and it would have been interesting to see a bit of landscape as we went rolling by. No big huge security issues, etc. A lot of pluses to the idea. HOWEVER, when I was looking into buying the tickets beforehand, sitting at home in front of my computer, a message rolled across my screen... TRAIN STRIKE SCHEDULED FOR THIS WEEK.... HIGH SPEED TRAIN CANCELLED BETWEEN BARCELONA AND PARIS... EXCHANGE YOUR TICKET FOR REGIONAL TRAIN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE... WHAT?!? Now, this wasn't the week that we would be traveling; it was the current week at the time that I was looking at the message. So, about 2 or 3 days of warning. I looked at the regional train schedule; it was an 18-1/2 hour train ride! OH, NO, NO, NO. I couldn't stand the thought of that happening to us; I know that scheduled strikes are so common in Europe, and I was not going to have anything to do with that. I would rather deal with luggage restrictions.

 

Can you imagine my surprise when I found out that Air France pilots were on strike! And that all flights between Barcelona and Paris had been CANCELLED for Wednesday and Thursday and Friday... and Sunday. Miraculously, our flight on Saturday was leaving, as scheduled.

 

I didn't believe them. I was so worried. My DH said that we would make something work and not to fret. I printed out my "receipt," and we went to the airport. What else could we do?!?

 

We got in line at the ticket counter area. As we approached the line, a lady was asking everyone to tell her how they were handling their luggage. What was a carry on item? What was going to be checked? When we arrived, she just put a tag on my purse and my duffel bag and my DH's duffel bag and his other personal item. Our checked bag got its own little tag, and off we went to the ticket counter for our boarding passes. No weighing of anything! Now, I suppose that she could have weighed our stuff IF she felt like it. Maybe she just didn't feel like weighting anything that day? DH said that we probably didn't look "heavy," so there wasn't any cause for concern on her part. Whatever.

 

We got our boarding passes; security was no big deal. Plane left on time. And, it wasn't even a full flight! With all the cancellations, I thought we might have a fully packed plane, but it was really comfortable.

 

We had great service! Such a short flight that you felt like you were getting served the entire time. First came the drinks. I noticed that a woman had asked for some wine, which I thought was a really, really good idea. It wasn't five o'clock, but it wasn't early morning either! It was just... a nice idea to help with all the internal stress that I'd put myself through. So, I asked the flight attendant how much the wine cost. His response to me: "Madam, this is Air France. How could we charge for wine?!?" OK. He came back around and asked me if I wanted a ham-and-cheese sandwich or cheese only...

 

... I forgot to tell you. We were assigned the aisle and middle and our row companion was a young, pregnant French woman...

 

... he asked the young lady by the window if she wanted a fromage. Hey! I want a fromage and that's what I told him. Her sandwich sounded so much better than mine! He thought I needed another glass of wine! This guy and I were on the same wave length! What a great flight... LOL...

 

What a relief. We landed in Paris. PARIS! Right?!? Everything was going so smoothly until....

 

.... we got to baggage claim.

 

OK. No problems with getting our bags, except that we now have our bags. We have to roll our bags through the airport to the public transportation area, because we (I) decided that we could take the RER trains to our hotel and it just wouldn't be that big of a deal. Except that it was.

 

Such a big deal. For one thing, remember that I can't really lift my checked bag? What made me think I could carry it up and down stairs? For another thing...

 

I had read that when you board the RER train from the CDG airport that you don't really have to worry because it will be "relatively" empty. You can just get yourself all situated and have a pleasant ride. What crack was the person smoking who wrote this description? When we boarded the train, there were only a few, empty seats. No seats together. And, there was minimal room for our luggage. So, we decided to stand by the doors, in the back.

 

And, you know what?!? No body, and I mean NO BODY, waits for another train. If the train arrives at the station (and, yes, this was a commute train) and the doors open, that person waiting on the platform IS GOING TO BOARD. There isn't a question of that person actually assessing the situation and considering the next train... no... there is a pushing and shoving that happens. There isn't any eye contact actually made... you are just going to find yourself closer to the person next to you. If you get shoved up against luggage, then maybe you shouldn't have brought your luggage? No sympathy. No help.

 

Can you imagine how I felt, being stuck in the middle of this mass of bodies... duffel bag hanging from my shoulder... hand on my suitcase... trying not to stumble every time the train lurched at starting and stopping... and wondering how in the world I was going to get OFF this freakin' train when it came to our connecting station? Because, yes... we had to make a connection to another train to arrive at our final destination.

 

There was only a limited time with the doors open. It literally was a matter of pushing/shoving and YELLING... EXCUSE ME... PARDON... it wasn't easy; the people didn't make it a teensy bit easy. I'm going to be honest and tell you that I was getting pretty angry.

 

And, then we had all these stairs to navigate. It was so stupid. People just streamed around us; what utter chaos.

 

We managed to get from one train to the other. And we arrived at our destination. And, OMG. We were at a station that we couldn't exit with our luggage. I am not exaggerating this dilemma. You have to exit these train stations through a turnstile system. The space between the turnstiles was too small for us to get our luggage through. We had to find an exit with some form of doors so that we could actually leave the area. What happened was that there was a woman with a metro card who activated an exit door for us; so we managed to leave.

 

And find ourselves in a MALL. What?!? No clue where we were. We rode escalators and walked through shoppers. OMG. Finally got out of the mall. No clue where we were. Found a map of the area and located our hotel. We were about a 15-minute walk away. Just ask me if there were stairs between us and our final destination? Go ahead... Oh, since you asked... of course! Of course there were.

 

We made it to the lobby to check in.

 

I was so irritated. So upset with myself for putting us through this horrendous ordeal because, after all, I was the one who had researched this "opportunity" and decided it was a good idea. I had no one to blame but myself and I was feeling so sorry that I had put my DH through it right along with me.

 

We have several stories like this. The time I decided we could walk through Venice with our luggage. The time I thought I knew how to get to our hotel in Civitavecchia from the train station, with our luggage. The time I thought it would be OK to walk from the Termini train station in Rome to our hotel, with our luggage. This is a pattern that just has to STOP; it really has to stop.

 

OK. We get checked into our room. Our flight departed at 12:35pm and arrived, on time, at 2:30pm. It was almost 5:00pm! We had been struggling for a few hours.

 

I totally forgot that the French don't want to hear your stories of woe. Actually, they aren't keen on hearing personal stories from complete strangers. I forgot that when I decided to tell the hotel receptionist my RER story. She informed me that they have taxis and perhaps this should be considered in the future? Well, OK. That's an idea...

 

At least I had dinner reservations. Because, yes, I'd researched the area and I knew that there were only a few restaurants that were open on Saturday night. We were in the La Defense area of Paris, which meant that we weren't really IN Paris, proper. We were staying in a "business" district, which had what was called a "sleepy" weekend. Since the restaurants catered to the business clientele, not many stayed open on Saturday.

 

So, I had made dinner reservations. Well, let's just see how that worked out, on this highly stressful travel day...

[Member123]

Would you believe I have NO pictures of today! That's how bad it was; not even a thought to take a picture.

 

So, arriving in the room. We try to get situated, but this is a dilemma. I don't know if I can adequately describe what we have to work with for the next 10 days, but I'll try: we have a closet that contains four hangers; the closet has some sort of structure in it that prevents you from hanging anything after the space of about a foot; the floor of the closet is big enough to hold two pairs of shoes; that's the closet space. We do have some shelves, to the left of the hanging area... about 8 shelves total. We have one drawer each in the nightstands; we have one, deep drawer in a unit that doubles as a luggage rack. Housekeeping has filled this drawer with a tray full of amenity items, like shoe horns and slippers. We are going to definitely be on top of each other, during our stay here.

 

We unpack. I try to calm down. Thank goodness for high speed internet. Complementary! I decide to get detailed directions to our restaurant. Thank goodness I had received an email confirmation for our reservation.

 

I used a service that is similar to our Open Table. Everyone familiar? This service is called theFork. I've used Open Table for years; I'm pretty comfortable with making reservations through the internet.

 

Our reservation is for 8:30pm, so we get all sorted, calmed down, and take off... walking... of course.

 

We head out. I can't even describe what we went through. Words just fail me. Let me just say that Mr. Google may be smart about a lot of things, but when it comes to maps in Europe... Mr. Google is sitting right there at the bottom of the curve. Mr. Google is Europe Stupid. Mr. Google knows nothing about how to give proper directions, at least for Paris or the surrounding area of Paris.

 

We walked and walked and walked. And, by now, it's late and the street lights are on... and the signage is terrible! There are no street intersection signs; you are just on your own with a wing and a prayer, so to speak.

 

Would you believe we actually found the restaurant! Yes, we did it! OMG. I am so hungry; starving. We enter the restaurant and inform them of our reservation. There is a mistake. What?!? Madam, a mistake has occurred. We have no reservation. We are not open this evening. We have a private party.

 

Let me show you my confirmation email. I see your confirmation email. Let me show you my email that I sent to theFork telling them of my private party and that I could not accept reservations for this evening. Let me ask you to leave and perhaps come back at a later time.

 

I just looked at him. Let me get the manager.

 

Madam, there is a problem? I had a reservation. Let me show you... and by then, I'd just gotten to the end of this day and wanted it to be over. I told this man, "Look. I don't care who is right and who is wrong. This is what I know. I know that I'm starving! I want some food. My mission now is to get FOOD."

 

He looks at me. "Madam, you need a drink. May I offer you a cocktail?" So, he proceeds to offer us a cocktail... and adds a plate of really good appetizers. There is a wedding reception being held at the restaurant! We sit at the counter and watch the festivities. They watch us; we watch them. It's pretty funny, actually. He gives me his business card and tells us of a restaurant that is pretty near that is open, if we don't mind eating pizza.

 

We couldn't find the restaurant.

 

So, we went back to the hotel. We had what I would call, if I'm being polite and kind, a "disappointing" dinner. Of all the meals that we had on our trip, this meal was the most disagreeable. Just didn't have good flavors; just didn't have good choices on the menu; just didn't have good quality. It didn't have anything to do with my emotions, in case you are wondering about that. It was just a huge disappointment as our first meal in France. Unless I count my wine and fromage on my Air France flight! That was very tasty!

 

Tomorrow we have Sunday brunch reservations at an incredible restaurant in the Left Bank of Paris. It's "supposedly" a chocoholic's dream brunch! And by now you all know how much my DH loves chocolate. I was thrilled to have this reservation.

 

Tomorrow will be a better day. Maybe? OMG. It's just time to get some sleep...

[awhfy]

Sounds like us in Asia. My DH resorted to using his first sergeant voice & saying "make a hole people". People scattered like rice at a wedding. FYI,I still overpack... Melody

 

 

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