Day One- What an Adventure!

Day one of the Ranger Family vacation as been quite the adventure so far...the 7 hour plane to Barcelona took the road in progress route...there was so much turbulence that I thought on several occasions that I was going to be sick...sitting in the middle seat next to a women who insisted on planting her elbow and/or her hip into me for the entire trip, being sick didn’t seem to be an option. I didn’t take any gravol this time, and in hour 5, 6 and 7 I was beginning to regret that oversight. Once we arrived in Barcelona we were greeted with wide open arms of Marc’s sister Marie-Josee and her boyfriend Mathieu. MJ and Mathieu continued to guide us through the airport and onto the train to head into the city. So far so good...nothing out of the ordinary happening. Once we climb up and down many....and I mean M-A-N-Y flights of stairs we were on our way on the metro to our hotel/apartment. The REAL fun started once we got off the metro and started walking towards our hotel...now...I thought that I was in shape, but clearly after walking close to 30 city blocks to our hotel, I had had enough. My patience, energy and strength to continue on with the trip were tapped dry. I impatiently revealed that I needed to get out of my wool sweater and fleece pants if I was going have any way to continue on with the day. The hotel/apartment that we are staying in was not going to be ready until 3 pm...not good news to the group that had just walked (more like hiked) for over an hour with all our baggage...all we wanted as a place to have a shower...hot, sweating and tired...all we wanted was the shower. It worked out that we could get one of the two rooms and the shower rotation has begun. As I sit and write this paragraph, I had the fourth spot in the shower...and man it was nice! Jet lag is starting to set in so I’m going to get Marc’s Red and my pillow and camp out on the floor for a little while. OK...my do-do was excellent...the floor was the best thing I have felt in a few hours!! We explored the city for a few hours tonight...we hopped on the City tour bus and it took us all around the city’s prominent destinations...with the city trek over...pizza is on order for dinner...a quiet night ahead is promising a good night’s sleep! We embark on the boat tomorrow afternoon...there is excitement in the air!