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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Friday 6/11: A Series of Unfortunate Events

Friday was a very, very long day.

It started normally enough. We went to class, learned some stuff, and then we grabbed our (very, very heavy) bookbags and headed for the metro.

We were on our way to the airport to board the plane for Barcelona. Can you say "excited?" Because we sure could.

We checked in with the automatich check-in machines, found the board that told us our gate, and sat and waited. Our plane was supposed to take off at 2:40. We had to board at 2.

At 2:45, we were still sitting there. But, the plane was starting to load. We get in line, wait a bit more, then get to the front, only to be told by the lady working the desk that we had the wrong gate.

Unfortunate Event #1

"Go to D62," she said. So we did. At a flat-out run.

There is no one at gate D62. NO ONE. We just knew we had missed our plane.

There was a lady at the desk. Scared out of our minds, we asked her if the plane had already taken off. For an agonizing minute, she checks the flight number in the system.

"No," she says, "Go to D60."

I look down two gates, and I see a long line of people. We hadn't missed it after all. THANK GOODNESS. I ceased hyperventilation immediately.

See, we figured out later that the Madrid airport does not announce things over the PA system, and they are notorious for changing gates at the last minute. I am not cool with this, but I guess it's normal here.


So we get on the plane, and after a turbulent hour and a half, we land in Barcelona. We're so excited, and we're sure nothing else can go wrong. Karin and I navigate the train and metro systems to the closest stop to our hotel (Hilton Diagonal Mar. Look at the website and be envious. Can you blame us for being giddy?)


We got lost.

Not horribly, and when we called the hotel, they knew where we were and directed us there. But still, Unfortunate Event #2.

We arrive at the hotel, in awe at the amazingness that we see. Then we get told that, since we're using Karin's dad's gift cards/points things, they need to see his passport and credit card.

Unfortunate Event #3.

More freaking out. We are positive they are going to kick us out. We unpack and freshen up for dinner with the other girls in Barcelona in utter fear that they will come knocking and throw us to the curb. Karin's dad, who we called immediately, says not worry, but we just can't help ourselves. However, we breath deeply and start out toward the center of town. Dinner, we are sure, will help us keep calm.

We got lost finding the metro stop. Unfortunate Event #4. But we asked a nice French girl how to find it, and she got us there very easily. Thank you, mysterious French girl.

Of course, getting off at the right metro stop does not assure that we will soon arrive at our destination. Oh no. In keeping with the theme of the day, we got very, very lost trying to find the restaurant.

Unfortunate Event #5. (A lot of these have to do with getting lost, if you haven't noticed.)

The other girls told us to look where the tall statue was pointing (we did) and take the bridge. The restaurant was at the end of the bridge and we'd be there very soon.

We took the wrong bridge, apparently. And the bridge we took was probably a mile long. We walked around for a good 45 minutes before figured out we had the wrong bridge. And then we still went to another wrong one before getting to the right one.

All in all, an hour or so spent lost. Conclusion: There are a lot of bridges in Barcelona.

And, of course, when we got the group, they were done eating, but we got some crepes/waffles from a stand at the end of the bridge and my stomach was happy again : )


We walked around a bit more, then decided to go back to the hotel to sleep. I slept like a baby in the marshmallow bed in the hotel. I haven't slept like that since I got to Spain.

Like I said, Friday was a very, very long day. But it just made the next two days that much better.


Hasta luego!

Faith. Trust. Pixie Dust.
~Jackie

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