Having spent all night in the Barcelona airport, I set up camp across from "Terminal A," reading a little of my Relaciones Internacaionales book. At "8:02," my mom's plane landed and I got up to wait by the railing. People started to come out and I waited anxiously for my mom. More and more people came, but still not my mom. I was getting nervous, ringing my hands and asking some of the other people if this was still the New York plane. About 40 minutes from the time I'd started waiting, I received a call explaining that my mom was here, but her luggage had been lost. I quickly talked to her before she told me she'd come out in a second.
I was really happy to see my mom come through the sliding doors. Seven months since I'd last given her a hug, I hugged her for a long time.
After telling me about her flight, we decided to take public transportation to our hotel. After walking in circles a little bit, getting lost and asking for help we boarded the "Renfe" train to the metro stop. The train had funny "chipmunk" voices calling the stops out. It was great,, different and the same talking to my mom as we stood on the train, navigated the metro and wandered until we found our hotel. In walking distance of La Sagrada Familia, and next to the 600 year old Hospital Sant Pau, our hotel was nice, business-style, with friendly staff. The best part was the huge balcony that overlooked the Hospital Sant Pau. Looking left over the balcony we had an ocean view. We used my computer to check my mom's baggage status and emails. her baggage had been lost and sent to Nashville, Tennessee. She'd been lucky to make it here as her flight form LA to NY had been delayed 4 hours and she had luckily been able to be put on another flight that was super crowded. It was so crowded that she had to check in her carry-on sized suitcase. In the quick transfer, her luggage had been sent to the south and she to Europe. I was glad she made it on time.
Before checking into the hotel, we had left our luggage at the hotel, well my big green backpack, and went for a quick walk around the area. We took the tree lined avenue Guadí that starts at the Hospital Sant Pau all the way to La Sagrada Familia, taking our time to admire the architecture and design that makes Barcelona so beautiful. We walked all around the base of La Sagrada Familia, passing the 1 hour and 30 minute line just to get in. The day was perfect, almost hot with a cool breeze. We stopped in some shops before heading back to check in to the hotel, finding a bread store first. We bought a baguette and cheese and had a picnic on the balcony. I was really glad to talk to my mom. We talk frequently on skype and through email, but it was great to talk to her in person and really catch up.
After our picnic lunch, we went downstairs so that my mom could skype the airline and travel insurance company. After talking to a lot of people, she was cleared to use her card to go shopping for necessities. We then took bus 47 to Plaza Catalonia, cutting through the heart of the city. We got off on Passeig de Gracia and walked through Plaza de Catalonia (I always like how the bank of Spain is in the center of Barcelona's biggest plaza to solidify Spanish hegemony). We then got onto Las Ramblas where we stopped into an H&M so my mom could purchase clothes. After finding a cute shirt we ended up taking Las Ramblas all the way to the statue of Columbus and Port Vell. Surrounded by the visceral cacophony of sounds, sights and smells we stopped to admire the numerous pet shops selling turtles, bunnies and even chinchillas. Flower stalls lined the long street, bursting with colors. Dozens of street performers and vendors flanked the mass of tourists, clamoring for attention. All the way at the end by the statue of Columbus, we crossed the street to the center round about where we took pictures on the stone lions. Meandering along the walk of Port Vell, we headed toward the beach. We decided to have paella for dinner and I headed in the direction of the restaurants where I had eaten in the summer. Each restaurant tried to bring us in with bonus deals, each saying their paella was the best. We stopped in "La rey de la Gamba," a restaurant I'd eaten at during the summer. For 22 euros we both had salad, pan con tomate, a large paella and flan for dessert. The food was excellent and we talked a lot about my future goals, my mom's plans and my incredible year abroad. We sat for a long time soaking it all in. A group of German's next to us took our picture, while a French couple ordered an exquisite squid platter. An old waiter waited patiently with the wine opener and a little dog, who might have belonged to the restaurant, ate up the dropped rice and fish.
After the great meal, we walked in the direction of the metro. It had gotten cold and I hugged my mom as we walked. We bought a 10-ride pass for the metro and easily made it back to the hotel. After taking much needed hot showers we climbed into our individual beds and fell immediately to sleep at 10:30pm.
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