May 10 - 12, Tue- Thu - Arriving in Barcelona

Tue-Thu, May 10-12 - I took Miss Maddie down to the Cat House Hotel and settled her into her regular Jr. Suite, and, after sopes at Super Rica, we took off for LAX and checked into the Comfort Inn Cockatoo where we could spend the night and leave the car for 23 days.

We got up at 4:30 AM on Wednesday and checked out. As we headed out the door the clerk handed each of us a little sack breakfast which I thought was pretty cute! We got to LAX by six and met my sister, Hilary, by the Priority check-in desks, went through security with only moderate hassle and had breakfast at Chili’s. We boarded the flight to JFK at 8 and after watching “True Grit” and “30 Rock” landed in NY at about 4:30. We had a four hour layover, but Hilary got us into AA’s Admiral’s Club where we had lunch, sampled beer and relaxed in comfortable chairs in the quiet lounge overlooking the distant Manhattan skyscrapers.

Our flight to Barcelona left the gate almost on time, only to have the jet idle for almost an hour in a long line of departing flights. After takeoff, we settled into our cramped seats, finally got a gin & tonic and some wine by 10:15 and then some rather spicy curry and veggies for me and beef and potatoes for Bob. The crew didn’t turn down the lights until midnight (6AM Barcelona time), so we didn’t get much sleep before breakfast appeared three hours later!

We crossed northern Spain, glimpsing some snow-capped summits of the Picos de Europa mountains projecting through the clouds, and then descended to the east coast and Barcelona. We passed low over the harbor and saw our very snazzy hotel, the Hotel Arts, right on the beach. We landed, went through immigration, picked up our bags, got some euros and grabbed a taxi. Our brief impression of the city is pretty favorable: very clean, beautiful modern buildings, great setting.

We checked in to our elegant hotel, courtesy of Hil’s many Marriott points, and got rooms on the 18th floor overlooking the beach and the 1992 Olympic Village. We cleaned up and down to the lobby to meet Margaret & Robert Brucato who had bussed over from the apartment they are renting for the week.

We strolled along the malacón looking at the beach full of sunbathers and at the amazing art and architecture that seems to be everywhere!

We were feeling peckish by then and finally wandered back to our hotel and went into Bites, their small café, which, at this hotel, has big prices! We had excellent Caesar salads with asparagus and chicken and wine, and set a date to meet the Brucatos tomorrow at 7 pm for tapas. We collasped for a while and then set out for a short walk through apartment buildings, all interesting artchitecturally, in search of gelato and found Mozart Gelato, with the best hazelniut flavor ever!!