After what seemed like months of planning, it was time for our cruise of a lifetime! We were initially going to vacation in Athens and Santorini, Greece but ultimately decided that a cruise would be much easier on us and we would get to visit a lot of places in a short amount of time.
We crossed the causeway into Bahrain with no problems. It was late in the evening so the traffic wasn't too bad. When we got to the airport I thought that Connor felt feverish so I got the thermometer out of the bag to check his temp, but it was normal. I should have trusted my instinct though because by the time we got to our gate I knew that he had a fever. Since the thermometer and Tylenol was packed in our check baggage Harry went on the hunt for a pharmacy. Sure enough, he had a fever. I was almost certain that it was a sinus infection, but at the time MERS was all over the news and I'm pretty sure the reported case in the USA was from someone that had just come from Saudi Arabia. Harry being the worrier that he is started to panic. The fever was really bringing Connor down and Harry was telling him that he needed to stop acting sick! Haha! He was convinced that if we even made it onto the plane, they would realize he was sick during the flight and quarantine us when we got to our layover in London. I mean, I know it was possible but I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he sounded. The fever broke before we boarded and all was well. We had a great flight! I'm not sure where we were at this point, but it looked really cool from the air.
All smiles :)
After arriving in Barcelona it was my turn to panic. While at baggage claim I realized that I didn't have my phone. I was reading a book on it during the flight and I must have set it on my lap and forgot it was there so when I got up it either fell on the floor or slid onto the seat. I have several voicemails from my dad saved on it so I really started freaking out! To top it off, I don't speak Spanish so trying to communicate was a bit of a challenge. Finally I got the number to the gate attendant and she eventually found it before the plane left. Then came trying to find the office where I could pick it up. Thank goodness we had a private driver pick us up because he was a tremendous help! We walked around for a while, but we did find the office and got my phone. I don't know how we would have done it without our driver because he was able to help translate and communicate for us. The office we went to was in a totally separate building on the other side of a parking garage!
Finally we were able to leave the airport and get to our hotel. We stayed at the H10 Catalunya Plaza Boutique Hotel right in the Placa de Catalunya. It is a beautiful hotel in the perfect location! The Placa de Catalunya is a large square in central Barcelona. It's considered to be where the old city and new city meet. The famous street, La Rambla, is right off of the square. It is also know for its fountains and statues as well as the flocks of pigeons that gather in the square. We spent some down time in our room while waiting for Mimi and Pop to arrive!
We decided to grab a bite to eat at a restaurant right next door to the hotel. Sangrias and our first taste of tapas! I have no idea what the crazy straws were about, but I didn't care! Haha!
After Harry's mom and dad arrived we had dinner at a restaurant that the guy at the hotel desk recommended. The food and drinks were delicious! We ordered more tapas and two different kinds of paella. When the paella came out we all said it looked like jambalaya! It pretty much was too!
After a good night's sleep, we headed out to explore Placa de Catalunya and La Rambla. This is what Jameson thought of touring Barcelona!
We stopped at a little café for breakfast. It was a gorgeous day!
Ham, fresh squeezed orange juice, and cappuccino? Yes, please!!
Francesc Macià monument.
Statues and fountain around the square.
Sights while walking down La Rambla. The architecture is stunning!
Before we knew it, it was time to get back to our hotel to meet our driver that was taking us to our ship!
All settled into our stateroom.
We had lunch on the back of the boat and watched the hundreds of sailboats leaving the port! I don't know what was going on, but I'm sure it was some type of event since there were so many.
We were off to a great start!
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