Woke up at 5AM-packed up the last things I needed to and was off to catch the Aerobus. I said good bye to Emily who had a few hours before her train and was off. I walked to Placa de Catalunya (about 10 minutes away), and got in line for the bus. There were a lot of people waiting (surprisingly for being 530AM), but I got on no problem. The ride was about 30 minutes to the airport.

When I arrived at the airport, I had some initial problems because the agent couldn’t find my ticket, but it was cleared up within 20 minutes and I was off to spend the last few Euros I had. Luckily my flight boarded early…what? That is never heard of in America!!

First Flight: BCN->Munich: Got served a chocolate croissant which was huge!! Mmmm and it was good! Very smooth ride, only about 1 hr 45 min. I read the whole flight so it went really fast. I had to go through Germany security before boarding the next plane. I walked all the way through the huge airport and then another check point before being able to sit in the waiting area. First they check passports, then bags, and then get to wait in the holding area to board.

Second Flight: Munich-> CLT: Huge plan and I got to sit by myself. Lots of empty seats on this plane. This flight was about 9 hours so got a nice nap in and read. I was served chicken and spaghetti—which was great but it came with a salad, cherry coffee cake, and a chocolate which made up for the entrée. Because the plane was fairly empty so I went back a few rows to one that was completely empty and laid down along 4 seats to take a nap and watch Philomena. The ride was very smooth but I was ready when we landed to get off!

Third Flight: CLT->HHH: Of course this was a super small plane and it was packed. Only an hour flight to HH and by the time I landed I was ready to stay on land for quite some time. Alex picked me up and brought me home!

Woke up and worked on in the hallway with my resistance bands. I made my oatmeal again and then was off to explore my last day in Spain. We went to the market first since it was closed yesterday. The market is called Mercat de la Boqueria. This market is huge---tons of fresh fruit/meat/cheese/veggies—very vibrant colors and mmmmm delicious! We both had some fruit—I went with the Strawberries and fresh whip cream which were just delicious! We walked to every corner of the market, gathering interesting sights (full fish, meat being cut and served with the heads of animals still attached) and smells (some good some not so much). After spending a good amount of time in the market we went down to the end of Las Ramblas which leads out to the water and saw the Colon (Columbus monument in honor of his first voyage to America).

We decided to buy a picnic lunch at the market and then take it to Park Guel (another Goudi famous creation). We took the subway and had to find our way to the park which involved lot and lots of stairs and straight uphill walking for about 15 min—some great cardio (definitely missing my workouts if your couldn’t tell). I am pretty sure I was sweating by the top and ready to eat!! Once we got to the top of the park, we enjoyed a spinach pocket, tuna/veggie pocket, chocolate, and pistachio macaroon. MMMM wonderful lunch. After lunch we walked down to the most famous part of the park. This part of course we paid to get into. Goudi is just exquisite. His creations are very fairytale, dream-like. Very curvy nature, no right angles. I got to take a few pictures with the infamous lizard which Goudi put into the park.

After exploring the park, it was back to the subway. On the way to the hotel, we stopped at a Tiger store—like a dollar store/container store/cool gadgets for the home/kitchen. Emily and I had a ball in here playing with everything and checking out new home/kitchen tools. Then we got some frozen yogurt at Tuity and Fruity. I am vanilla and blueberry yogurt with cookie bits and mango. Then it was back to the hotel to repack and shower. I went to sleep around 1AM

Today was the first day I felt my legs were somewhat normal and my legs didn’t hurt. I slept in until 10:30AM today! I guess I needed some sleep! I went down to the restaurant and had a server help me make my oatmeal (can’t beat free) and then was off to explore. A lot of places were closed because it was considered a labor-related holiday today. Additionally, there was also a protest of the working class going on which was much like a parade—music, confetti in the streets, megaphones! One of the places we were heading (huge market) was closed so we went to see the Cathedral Barcelona and Las Ramblas (significant street which use to sell flowers, now a tourist trap-lots of the same things being sold in every shop).  Guess who I bump into walking back down Las Ramblas---Maggie Czerwien. Of all places, I see her in Barcelona (She lives in Madrid and was just there vacationing and visiting—very ironic!) We chatted for a bit—what a pleasant surprise!

After walking a bit we decided to go to Sitges which is right along the Mediterranean Sea just for a couple hours.  Woohoo beach time!! We took a fast train, only about an hr ride or so. Sitges is beautiful, a little warmer here. When we arrived we had to make our way to the water so we walked down many meandering streets. These streets were very well crammed and lead into hundreds of shops/restaurants/cafes. We stopped at a little shop and had some fresh fruit cups…mmmm  they were delicious!! Finally we made it down to the water and discovered it was a nude beach. Ohh boy hide my eyes. Of course it is the old old men who are completely naked just walking up and down the beach….Emily and I had our fix rather quickly and enjoyed many many laughs. Being Europe, most women were topless (all ages), but those that chose to be completely nude, most were aged but some middle age as well.

We decided to look at more of the waterside and walked by the harbor which had many restaurants, shops—seemed to be where those who vacation here at Sitges all went to dinner—seemed pretty fancy. We walked back along the beach and head back toward the train and window shop along the way. We stopped in a café since we were both a little hungry. We had a few little sandwiches, tuna/peppers and cucumber with cream cheese on bread---small little appetizers to hold us over, both were very good! In this café, they were playing 80’s music and Whitney Houston (Wanna Dance with Somebody) came on. Emily and I started singing, laughing---just relaxing and having a good time. It seems everywhere we went we would make friends and could always find someone who spoke English. After we finished our snacks we headed back to the train station and got off at Plaza de Grasie (35 min ride). From here we walked to Casa Mila, also known as “La Pedrera “which is Goudi’s amazing, grand created apartment building. We took the official tour, went to the rooftop (could see the whole city from here-just wonderful), the attic, and at the apartment—so unique, each nook and cranny was detailed and very distinctly Goudi. After we walked around the building, we walked back to the hotel to shower and head to our Flamenco Show! I was so stoked for a live dance performance. Only 180 people were allowed into the show, it was very small and guess who had the front row? Woot woot! We walked to the theatre which was just down Las Ramblas so maybe just 30 min or so.

The show was fantastic. Lots of stomping, singing (very different accents than what I am use to so I am not sure how much appreciation I had for the singing), partnering, 4 female dancers and 2 males, an entire band. The dancing was very intense---very focused dancers, no smiles until each dance was complete. These male dancers were sweating and few times as they whipped their hair back during their dance and to make more accented movement I got a little wet!. The show lasted about 2 hours and then it was back to the hotel to sleep! What a day!

I learned the origin of tapas from Emily---Tapas origin: couldn’t just drink and have nothing inside their stomachs so they out food on top of their drink and called them tapas.