Hola Espana!

During junior high and high school there are often many opportunities for students to travel abroad with their class for a week or two. I knew a couple friends that had the privilege to visit several countries overseas. That opportunity did not present itself during my school years, but I was always intrigued by the experience of others. Since then I developed a deep desire to travel overseas. My country of choice was always Spain. Maybe because I grew up in a borough that was highly populated with Hispanics or maybe it was because I absolutely loved Spanish food.  Maybe I got the idea to visit Spain from all the pictures I saw of it illustrated in various books I read as a teenager. Maybe I just had a wild imagination and held fast to a dream that appeared completely unrealistic. Whatever the reason was for my interest in Spain, it was an interest that I believed would always remain simply a vision. So many times I have heard the saying, “Dreams can come true.” I thought after meeting and marrying the man of my dreams, my miracle would stop there. But on 29 September 2012, God fulfilled yet another dream of mine. The opportunity presented itself for both my husband and I to vacation in Barcelona, Spain. It was also a bonus that we got to go the same week as my birthday and our three year wedding anniversary.

We arrived in Barcelona that Saturday evening around 9:00 p.m. The level of excitement that ran through our bodies was a sensational adrenaline rush that never seemed to come down. As we stood at baggage claim waiting for our luggage, both Douglas and I felt like two young teenagers eager to explore the city. Exiting the airport all we could see were the city lights shining in every direction we looked. Barcelona is a lively city. As a reminder, we weren’t visiting Spain from a state in the U.S. like New York, California, D.C. or South Carolina. We were visiting from living in Algiers, Algeria for the past six months, where all of the normalcy we grew accustomed to in the states was basically non-existent. So yes, we were enthusiastic about the city lights.

Our first taxi ride in Barcelona was from the airport to our hotel. I was surprised to see how clean the taxi cabs were. I grew up in the Bronx where cabs were never freshly cleaned. Granted, times have changed now and I’m sure they have stepped up their service along with their prices. I didn’t feel like I was getting into a foreign car. It felt as comfortable as my own. A friend of ours from the embassy recommended a few hotels for us. She has been to Spain several times and knows the best places to stay. We chose The Mirror Hotel located in L’Eixample District. She informed us this was a very popular area and convenient for sightseeing by foot.

The taxi ride was smooth and relaxing. It took approximately 20 minutes to arrive at the hotel. I was already feeling relieved that we didn’t elect to stay at a much cheaper hotel directly across from the airport. Our taxi ride cost $45. I couldn’t imagine spending that kind of money or time every day to travel into L’Exiample District or other popular areas nearby. It appeared she was right; the liveliest part of the city was right outside our hotel. 

The Mirror is a superbly modern hotel. Its central color is white and as the name states, there are nothing but mirrors all around you. Our check-in went very smoothly. The staff member gave us our keycards and directed us to take the elevator to the 3^rd floor where we would find our room. As we exited the elevator, we entered a short hallway. There was a door on the left that displayed 351-354 and a door to the right that displayed 355-358. Our room number was 354 so went to the left. We began looking for a place to insert our keycard, but there were no slots. We then began trying to push the door open. Douglas went to the other door on the right to see if it was different - it wasn't. We began doing the same thing repeatedly for the next five minutes. I don’t know what made us think that the door was going to magically open by us continuously pushing and pounding on it. After almost 10 minutes we both gave up. I said we needed to go back downstairs and let the front desk know that we have no idea how to enter the door that should lead to our room. Right before we got on the elevator I thought to myself, “It shouldn’t be this hard to get in.” So I mentioned to Douglas maybe we should try again. I thought maybe if we waved the key card in front of the door then it would magically open. Seriously, that makes no sense. So why didn’t we try that in the first place??? Douglas took the key card and waved it in front of a sensor beside the door and voila, the door automatically slid open. Naturally we had to do the same thing to enter our room door. Are you kidding me!?! Clearly our past hotels have not been this modernized. Welcome to 2012! 

(Sure, the entry looks simple....only after we figured it out!)

The room was beautiful.  Although it was small, it felt surprisingly big. Everything was spread out into different sections. We had a king size bed that was ultra-soft. There was a large window covering the entire side of one wall. In addition to curtains, there was a large shade that could be controlled automatically by a button to the side of the window. We had a standing shower that offered a variety of water pressure and dispenser options. However, we were convinced that we would need an instruction manual to work the shower after spending so much time trying to figure out how to enter our room. The bathroom was a man’s dream. It had a flat screen television at eye-level while sitting on the toilet. As if my husband needs another reason to stay in the bathroom longer. There was no doubt that we were in gadget heaven. This room was like no other we had ever seen.

                      

 

 

For the first time I didn’t sketch out a plan for our trip prior to leaving. We both needed a break from Algiers, especially with the heightened security measures placed on the embassy due to the unrest in many countries surrounding us. The only plan we had set in stone was our flight schedule and hotel accommodations.  Everything else would be filled with spontaneity.

Despite not having an agenda, we thoroughly explored the city. Douglas and I ate to our bellies' content. We traveled throughout the city of Barcelona by foot and by Metro. We did an ample amount of sightseeing. We found great joy in fun activities that are not available in our present country, and we celebrated my birthday and our three year anniversary in style and in love. We went to so many places, took so many pictures, all in six days; where do I begin? The next blog entry will take you around the city.