In the past, I've always found that having to go the airport, check in your bags, go through security, have your passport checked multiple times, wait for the boarding to start, wait for the plane to take off, get a headache or become uncomfortable from sitting too long on the flight, and be unable to sleep...It was such a hassle. I still wanted to travel, that's for sure. But besides getting to see picturesque bird's-eye views (good photo opportunities!), I thought flying was rather troublesome.

It was especially difficult this time, when I was trying to get home from Barcelona after I had finished cruising. We were supposed to fly to London, and then from London to San Francisco, because there is no direct flight from Barcelona to San Francisco. Apparently air control people in France were on strike, so our flight to London was delayed. (I mean, if there aren't enough people working to make sure the planes don't crash into each other up above, then everything gets backed up) This meant that we would miss the flight from London to SFO. We were told to go to Iberia's ticket sales (Iberia is another airline) so that we could find a way back home. (I believe that Iberia and British Airways are part of some alliance of airlines or something like that.) However, we didn't see Iberia's place right away, so we lined up at the wrong place. Then eventually we left that line to go join the line for Iberia. When we got up there, we were told to go to American Airlines and try to check in our bags and get onto one of their flights instead. However, we were told it was too late and they couldn't accept more passengers. I was very annoyed at the time because I believed that if my parents had listened to me and spent more time searching for Iberia's ticket sales, we might've made it in time to catch a flight home that very day. But after a while my anger dissipated. (I still have to work on anger management.)

The lady who was searching for a flight home for us came up with a solution, although it was a complicated one.

Bsrcelona to Madrid, Spain
Madrid to Miami, Florida
Stay overnight at Miami in a hotel
Miami to San Francisco

I thought we might as well take it since I wanted to see Madrid's airport and Miami's airport. But my mom thought it was too much hassle, and plus we would have to stay in Miami, so my parents asked the lady to find another way to get us back to California. Eventually she discovered something that everyone in my family could accept.

Barcelona to Zurich, Switzerland
Zurich to San Francisco

The only catch is that we would be flying the next day. But we took the opportunity nevertheless and looked for a hotel not far from the airport where we could stay that night.

When the time came to fly home, I was filled with trepidation, thinking that some other catastrophe would befall us and force us to be stranded in Barcelona for a longer time, but we did manage to get on the planes without mishaps. I have decided that I like Swiss International Airlines a lot. They gave us some lovely food, like croissants and milk chocolate, and even ice cream on the long flight from Zurich to SFO. I would have been content to stay on the plane forever. I didn't feel particularly airsick, and it was very enjoyable photographing what we saw (like the snowy mountains in Switzerland - I think those were the Alps). Since we were flying west, it was like going back in time. It was as if night would never fall and the daylight would last forever. I haven't felt so peaceable and content when traveling in a very long time. For the first time, I didn't want to go home.

Labels: airport, anger management, barcelona, daytime, flight, food, happiness, hassle, home, iberia, london, missed, options, photography, san francisco, strike, swiss air, travel, trouble, zurich

This summer, for vacation, my parents and I flew to Barcelona, Spain. We spent a few days there to see the sights in the city before boarding a cruise ship, Celebrity Century, to visit various towns by the Mediterranean Sea.

I didn't know much about Barcelona before I went there. My mom seemed to know more about it than me - perhaps she did some research on the Internet or something of that sort. I didn't really know what to expect, besides a big city where people speak Spanish.

I had hoped that, having taken French in school, I might be able to understand what was being said, but it turns out that there are two languages commonly used in Barcelona - Spanish and Catalan, the language of Catalonia, the region of Spain in the far east. I have to pay more attention to Spanish so I'll actually be able to tell the two apart. I feel rather pathetic not knowing which is which even though the languages are different enough to be distinguishable.

There was some rather interesting architecture in Barcelona. I visited this church called the Sagrada Familia. It was rather different than the other churches I have seen. It was...a bit more modern and more nature-themed rather than being Gothic and medieval-looking like the norm. Inside the church, the columns are made to look like trees. Too bad the church is still being built. How many years is it going to take? The church, designed by Antoni Gaudi, has been under construction since 1882.

We also visited Parc Guell, a park of sorts. Both of these places had been swarming with tourists. I was rather irritated at first when we got to Parc Guell. I dislike going up stairs, and then when I had gotten up to a higher level, it turned out to be a vast area of sand, which irritated my senses...Eventually I went with my parents up to a home which had been turned into a museum. There was some interesting nature-inspired furniture. It was pleasant standing in one of the rooms in front of an open window and feeling a cool breeze. The countries along the Mediterranean Sea all seem to have hot, humid weather during the summer.

It was just my luck that I happened to come to Barcelona on the day of the World Cup match between Spain and Germany. After Spain scored a goal, it started to get noisier outside. There was the sound of horns and chatter. And once the game had ended and Spain was declared winner of that match, people started to show up, walking down the street. Some even sang. We had chosen the hotel Rivoli Ramblas, which is on a fairly busy street, La Rambla. The racket continued long into the night. (Do people even sleep? My parents say that they probably wake up late, take a nap after lunch, and stay up late every night) I was kind of annoyed at not being able to sleep, but I also felt like joining the people outside and celebrating.

Oh, and if you were to walk for a ways from the hotel, you would arrive at Placa de Catalunya. I was charmed by it immediately, for when I walked there, the sun was setting. The fountains and pigeons looked so beautiful to me. (There are so many pigeons there, I was astonished.)

I later came back to the square, and saw something rather amusing. There were some boys and a man (the father?). They dropped some food and the pigeons swarmed to eat it. Then one of the boys, amazingly, grabbed hold of a pigeon. (He released it, though) He was able to catch multiple birds, although he let them all go. It was pretty cool. But my dad says it might be rather unpleasant for the bird, and so we didn't make any attempt to try and get one.

I like Barcelona as a city on the whole, both in the urban parts and on the outskirts. I had the chance to stay in a hotel for one night on the edge of Barcelona. But I'll be telling that story another time.

Labels: barcelona, catalan, city, cruise ship, language, mediterranean sea, parc guell, pigeons, placa de catalunya, sagrada familia, spain, spanish, tourism, weather, world cup

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