Will and Sarah's Most Excellent Adventure: Part 1

I've been putting this blog off for awhile because A) I've been writing poetry inspired by this trip for a creative writing class I'm presently taking.  I don't consider myself much of a poet, which is why I haven't posted them and B) We had so much fun that the thought of putting it all into words is overwhelming.  So I'm going to give a litany of everything cool/semi-interesting about the trip. Also, in the interest of packing light, I only took my point and shoot camera and iPhone, so the picture quality isn't as awesome as I would have liked. Sorry.

The adventure begins...

After a relatively uneventful 8 hr 45 min flight from Dallas, Will and I met up in the Amsterdam airport.

-It was cool to see the tulip fields as we flew in (even though there were no flowers), no old windmills, but there were a lot of modern wind generators.

-We flew KLM and LOVED it.  I highly recommend them for an international flight.

-Impressions of the Dutch stewardesses... Are you from Minnesota?  I didn't even know they were Dutch---their English was flawless!

-Over in Europe they sell Coke Light rather than Diet Coke. Tres chic.

- Since Amsterdam was our point of entry into the European Union, it's the only stamp in my passport. Boo! However, all of the guys stamping passports were hotties!  Hey baby, you can be the first to stamp my passport any day!

-59 FREAKING DEGREES in Amsterdam? Are you kidding me? Too bad I only got to enjoy it for like 5 seconds as I boarded the plane.

We finally touched down in Barcelona a couple of hours later, and the airport was stunning---light, airy, modern.  There were some very nice stores, but my favorite was the FC Barcelona shop.  Hmmm.

Add caption

Welcome to Barcelona.  (FCB Store in airport)

-We had a little trouble deciding how to get to our hotel. Bus or taxi?  We opted for the bus (cause we wanted to be all European and use cheap public transportation) to drop us at the city center, and from there we would walk to our hotel.  It would have been easier had we had our bearings and knew exactly which way to go to get to the hotel.

A little too excited (delirious) for a bus ride.

- Barcelona does not have clearly marked street signs, and only some of the buildings have numbers.  What gives, yo?  After making a block lugging around our suitcases in the heat (which was only in the 80s mind you). Will finally asked a guy working the door at a tapas bar if we were close.  We were about 4 blocks away but going in the right direction.  Will was an awesome navigator.

-First order of business upon checking into our swanky hotel? Nap!  Jet-lag is a be-otch. I think it was about 1:30 or 2:00 pm when we arrived. We had dinner reservations at Cinc Sentits (Five Senses) that night, so we made sure we set our alarms. 

Between our room and the elevator. Ready to hit the streets. haha

-Dinner reservations are pretty late in Spain.  We got the earliest one at 8:30 pm and they took reservations all the way up to 10:30 or 11:00 pm.

- Cinc Sentits was lovely.  Our waiter had the cute Barthelona lisp, and I wanted so badly to record him talking, and I almost busted out my iPhone to capture a video of this ninja napkin folding thing he did when Will got up to use the facilities.  He folded the napkin using four spoons to clamp and fold rather than using his hands.  Now maybe they do that at all the fancy Michelin star places, but I was trying to force Will to get up and leave again so I could catch it on video. I've never seen anything like it in my life. One of the highlights of the dinner in my opinion. haha.

So I'm going to continue in another post.  The dinner itself deserves its own entry.