Trip Report September Mediterranean Magic DCL

MagicalMaci · Apr 4, 2017

Day 0- Travel Part 1

I had been mentally preparing for days but when I woke up Wednesday morning it was crunch time! I had some clothes set aside and a major packing list but still ended up scrambling which of course resulted in overpacking and I still ended up leaving 30 minutes later than I had hoped. I account the extra time to reshuffling items as my luggage had hit 55 lbs. I really regret not just taking some of that stuff out but instead I moved it into my carryon… Which I chose my Vera Bradley instead of a second roller bag. Yeah I was sore from carrying it almost immediately. I think it was about 20lbs. Plus I had my backpack with my plane essentials. My Fitbit charge HR also broke this morning, so I spent some time trying to fix it before I went to work.

Trying to be organized…

Someone didn’t want me to leave

I requested an Uber and quickly threw together a sandwich for the plane and headed out. It was a bit of an anxious ride knowing I was cutting it close. I was able to check my bag (49 pounds, woo!) and then headed to the farther checkpoint for TSA Precheck. Not having to dig for liquids or my laptop was totally worth the extra walk!

Another hiccup of the day was we accidentally left my iPad on all night because to load movies on it and didn't realize I had it set to never shut down. I prefer it that way so I don't always have to unlock it when using for cooking recipes. Anyway I charged it as much as I could while getting ready but only had about half life when getting on the plane.

I found a seat at my gate and plugged in the iPad within eyesight. I hopped on my laptop (which was new at the time and I absolutely adore by the way!) and did some last minute things online in the short time I had. It was about this time I realized I forgot to pack my raincoat which I had worked so hard to find a good one before the trip. This actually means I packed no coat at all. So I was really keeping my fingers crossed for nice weather!

Soon they were calling for boarding so I packed up and headed to the ladies room. In no time I was settled into my window seat and enjoyed my lunch while everyone else boarded. We seemed to take off on time and I watched Insurgent on my iPad trying very hard not to fall asleep. I hadn't seen it before and it kept me engaged!

Halfway through the movie I got a sharp pain in my back and probably got very annoying and fidgety to the person next to me. The plane just felt extra uncomfortable

Thankfully that subsided once I got off that plane.

Once my movie ended I took some time to check on Magic Kingdoms and type up some trip report! Not quite enough time for another movie so just needed to stay busy until landing!

It was quite a beautiful flight today

The rest of the flight was uneventful and I was quickly landing in Philly where my mom was waiting at the gate for me just like in the movies before no one was allowed through security without a ticket! (She had actually arrived before I even took off, she had quite the layover today!)

Up Next: Day 0 - Travel Part 2

LeighM · Apr 4, 2017

So excited for this trip report! My husband and I had discussed one day doing the Mediterranean cruise - can't wait to see more

MagicalMaci · Apr 4, 2017

LeighM said:
So excited for this trip report! My husband and I had discussed one day doing the Mediterranean cruise - can't wait to see more

It was a great way to get a taste of Spain, France and Italy and definitely left me wanting more!

MagicalMaci · Apr 4, 2017

Day 0- Travel Part 2

While I was flying in, mom was exploring the Philly airport which is actually really nice and has a lot of art and interesting things to look at in addition to quite some shopping

She was also busy checking out the scene if we could get a new FitBit in the airport, the answer - yes! There were vending machines as well as several stores that had a nice little selection of electronics and she sneakily had them hide the one she thought I would like

That was our first stop to go get that purchase made and then figure out where we needed to go. We actually didn’t have a super long layover (well I didn’t at least) so we didn’t have a ton of downtime to dilly-dally.

Once we had that squared away we headed off to the A (International) Terminal to wait out our 45ish minutes until boarding. There was a Vino Volo nearby so that’s where we decided to head. We knew there would be food on the flight, but just weren’t sure the quality so wanted to make sure we had a bit of substance in us just to be on the safe side.

I set up a little charging station to get my Fitbit going...

And of course… we had to have some wine too!

Unfortunately the service was severely lacking here. By the time our waitress even came back it was too late to think we’d be eating there, but thankfully they offer their entire menu to go! We settled our bill and headed over to our gate for boarding to begin. We probably took a bio break at this point as well.

There’s our big plane!

We had paid for a “premium” seat selection so we were on the left side where there were only two seats across which was lovely. Since I have the AAdvantage Visa and we were flying American, we were Boarding Group 1 and were getting on the plane in no time. Once we settled in and figured out what we wanted at our feet versus overhead (ample overhead room!) we pulled our food out.

The portions were disappointingly small for the price paid. I think about $15 for a small bowl of mac and cheese - think appetizer size, which is what I got and mom got a sandwich for about the same price which came with no sides. It was fine, we just needed a nibble but I felt a little jipped. Also I was apparently starving so for once I don’t have any food pics

Our flight took off on time and mom and I decided to settle in with The Boss and as always it’s a bit of a struggle to try to sync up those headrest TVs, but we got it pretty close. We were barely into the movie when dinner was served. The options were pasta or chicken. We went with one of each.

It was chicken with potatoes and veggies and tortellini and red sauce. Neither very exciting but neither bad either. We enjoyed our meals and couldn’t finish all the side snacks they give with it! It was also nice that wine was complimentary so we enjoyed a glass or two here as well

After we enjoyed dinner we finished the movie and then it was time to try to catch some ZZZs. We put on some compression socks since we wouldn’t be walking around much and got a bit cozier. Last trip abroad I didn’t have much of a challenge but this year I really struggled with it. I think the flight was a bit shorter and I don’t know I just never fell into that solid sleep so I was in and out a lot watching Night at the Museum and re-runs of the Big Bang Theory. As soon as I felt like I was finally getting some rest, breakfast was served! Isn’t that always the case? Mom always has a hard time sleeping on flights but she managed better this time around!

Gorgeous sunrise out the window!

Nice little variety of options here.

We enjoyed breakfast and took a few more peeks out the window as we approached Spain and Barcelona! Of course there was tea and coffee to be consumed as well! Once they took the trash from breakfast I went and brushed my teeth and tried my best to wake up. In no time we would be arriving in a new country and ready to embark on our new adventure

Up Next: Day 1!

MagicalMaci · Apr 5, 2017

Day 1- Hello Barcelona!

As the day broke we got closer to land and enjoyed the lovely views. We gathered up our belongings and got ready for the first leg of our adventure, Barcelona!

Deplaning was pretty smooth and in no time we were making our way to Passport control and of course excited about another stamp in our Passport books! Mine actually just expired last month so I’ll be applying for a renewal with the masses here shortly…

There was a line but it kept moving and wasn’t really too bad at all and soon we were on the other side - officially in a new country!

I freshened up while mom kept an eye out for our bags and they were just starting to come out when I finished. We gathered our belongings, made a final check and headed out to find a taxi.

Easily finding a ride, we took in the area and once we got into the city I was happily playing Pokemon impressed by the amount of Pokestops and enjoyed catching the Europe exclusive on the way to the hotel! Checked that off my to-do list

We checked into the Hotel Colon and it was still pretty early, maybe about 10am at this point and of course our room wasn’t ready… so we had to come up with a plan! But first we shuffled our belongings to store our luggage with Bell Services and took a little breather in the lobby to gather our thoughts. It was small but lovely!

Up Next: Day 1 - Okay we have time to kill

MagicalMaci · Apr 5, 2017

Day 1 - Okay we have time to kill

So we greatly debated before this trip whether or not to buy tickets in advance for La Sagrada Familia to go inside the basilica this afternoon. We ultimately decided against it because we weren’t sure what would happen with the flight and everything. (We were looking into 1pm tickets - this is important for later)

Since our room wasn’t ready, we decided to venture out and over to the basilica anyway because it’s supposed to be so beautiful! We got directions and headed out to the Subway to hop a ride.

It was a lovely walk!

We found the station alright, but buying tickets was something we probably should have done more research on… we couldn’t figure out what we needed and the agent working there didn’t speak any English. We thought we were getting somewhere (she had to point out the “English” option on the screen), but then the machine didn’t take my card and we couldn’t figure out why! We originally thought it did charge the card and didn’t give us tickets because we had gotten so far in the process. So we spent probably a good 30 minutes here trying to figure it out and she was on the phone with someone and opened up the machine and everything.

Eventually we got it all figured out and were on our way. Thankfully the route was easy enough, keeping us on the same line! It was an uneventful ride but of course, always makes you feel like a “real” traveler taking public transportation in a foreign country! We emerged and had to ask directions but eventually got on the right path.

At this point it was about 11:30 I believe and our tummies were getting rumbly, so we started thinking about a lunch stop. Thankfully we were in an area with a lot of options - however they all looked closed or deserted! We wanted something “local” and eventually came across a tapas bar with Tripadvisor approval and other people dining inside, so we popped on in.

The service was wonderful and they thankfully had an English menu and our server really worked with us on some of the details and was very patient with our horrible lack of Spanish

We decided on some sandwiches and sangria!

Somehow we got talked into this wonderful lava cake!

After our delicious lunch we were only a few blocks from the Sagrada Familia Basilica and were there shortly, right around 1pm. The next tickets to go inside were for after 2pm and we just didn’t see ourselves lasting that long today. It was a bummer the timing would have worked out perfectly had we gotten advance tickets, but ultimately we could not have known it would work out that way and I think we made the right call to play it by ear. We took in the exterior and did a walk around before heading back to the subway station to head back to the hotel with fingers crossed that our room would be ready when we arrived once again!

Up Next: Day 1 - Will we make it to tonight?

LeighM · Apr 5, 2017

I took 4 years of Spanish and I was never able to speak it. I could read and write it decently well but I could never say more than a sentence or two. That was years ago and my Spanish got worse after I took Latin - now it's just a jumble of both languages. I remember the most important things to say though - I don't know, I don't speak Spanish, Do you speak English, and Where is the bathroom

MagicalMaci · Apr 5, 2017

LeighM said:
I took 4 years of Spanish and I was never able to speak it. I could read and write it decently well but I could never say more than a sentence or two. That was years ago and my Spanish got worse after I took Latin - now it's just a jumble of both languages. I remember the most important things to say though - I don't know, I don't speak Spanish, Do you speak English, and Where is the bathroom

We got around pretty well without Spanish speaking abilities - so I think you will be even better off!

MagicalMaci · Apr 5, 2017

Day 1 - Will we make it to tonight?

We made it back to the hotel with much less trouble and were happy to find that our room was ready! We got our key (which is an old school heavy key, and only one!) and headed up to the second floor to find our room and were followed shortly by bell services with our luggage!

We never really established what that second thing was… but it was so close to the toilet I hit my knees on it

This was a “double” room...

Once we got our luggage and I took the room pics, it was time to lay my head down and rest

I know you are NOT supposed to do this to counteract jet lag. But I wouldn’t have functioned otherwise. The important part was we did have plans for dinner tonight which we did get up for. After a little lay-down (I think we found the only english channel on TV, CSI re-runs, for the background) we got up, changed and refreshed and headed out for the evening.

Views from our room!

Adorable little balconies on the rooms

Tonight we were headed to Las Ramblas, a street that reminds me of the Champs Elysee in Paris and it was walking distance from our hotel! We got directions and dropped our key off (you pick it up when you get back) and headed on out right on time.

Up Next: Day 1 - A taste of Spanish Culture

MagicalMaci · Apr 6, 2017

Day 1 - A taste of Spanish Culture

It was a beautiful night for a walk and there were a lot of people out and about. In a few short turns, we had found La Ramblas and headed down to find where our dinner and show would be tonight. We had no problem finding it and were too early! Since we had pre-purchased our tickets for this, they told us to go enjoy and come back basically at 7:30 when it started.

We wandered back up Las Ramblas and decided to stop at one of the many outdoor eateries for a “little” pre-dinner drink. A certain place had caught our eye on the way down so we wandered back to that one, although they were all pretty similar you probably couldn’t have gone wrong with any! Mind you, they are all very touristy, but in a good way

There were also a bunch of cute little flower shops and your typical stores and hotels along the outside as well.

Mom and I easily found a table and were greeted by a very friendly staff. We both ordered the Mojito!

And then we got the check… :jawdrop:

As you can tell, this was not your typical mojito, as these drinks were HUGE! We had a great time with them and sat and people-watched. The cost was not printed so we were not expecting such a big check, but the drinks were well-made and very sizable so it wasn’t too bad!

We finished up our drinks and headed back down the road to dinner. We easily checked in and were escorted upstairs to our table. The restaurant was small and cozy and there was a buffet set up in a small room as well. It almost felt like you were in someone’s house with a bunch of small rooms, we liked it!

We were greeted by their “signature” sangria cocktail and some fresh hummus and olives ready for us at the table. We enjoyed those bits before heading up to the buffet ourselves! Of course the signature dish was paella and the one negative about this place, they couldn’t keep it full on the buffet it was going so fast!

MagicalMaci · Apr 6, 2017

We made several trips up to the buffet, my favorite was actually a pasta dish but the paella was great too. The desserts were struggling to stay full as well but we eventually got them. We are slow eaters so in no time they were hurrying us along so we could go into the show. Those who purchased dinner got the first dibs on seats, and those just coming for the show filled in after, so they needed us to go in. We were the last one in from the dinner as we were just on dessert when they started moving people in, so our seats were in the “back”. However, the show area was also cozy so I don’t think there was a bad seat in the house!

The show was all in Spanish, so it was hard for me to follow along, but the music and dancing were mesmerizing in any language! The show was mostly a no-photo zone until the end, but then we were able to get some good ones! So now I’ll let a few photos give you a small taste of our traditional Flamenco experience!

We thoroughly enjoyed the show but were exhausted at this point. We simply walked back to the hotel, headed to our room, and went right to bed! A successful day getting to Spain!

Day 1
Location: Travel & Barcelona
Activities: Flight, Hotel, La Sagrada, Flamenco Show
Weather: Stunning!
Highlight: getting to wander Las Ramblas and get a taste of Spain!

Up Next: Day 2

Sillysidewalker · Apr 6, 2017

Loving this so far! Love that you travel with your mom and Barcelona is gorgeous.

LadyBelle · Apr 7, 2017

That second object in your bathroom is a bidet - very popular in Europe. Here in the States, not so much...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet

MagicalMaci · Apr 9, 2017

Sillysidewalker said:
Loving this so far! Love that you travel with your mom and Barcelona is gorgeous.

Since we don't live in the same place anymore, traveling together is one of the ways we get to keep in touch! Love it

LadyBelle said:
That second object in your bathroom is a bidet - very popular in Europe. Here in the States, not so much...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet

That's what we thought at first too but it didn't look like others we had encountered. Either way, it was too close to the toilet lol!

MagicalMaci · Apr 9, 2017

Day 2
Location: Barcelona
Activities: Barcelona Highlights Tour, Monstraat, Dinner

Day 2 - We’re really in Spain!

The first day of the trip was such a whirlwind it didn’t really hit me until I woke up the next morning that hey, I was in SPAIN! We had a pretty early start and a full day ahead, so we quickly got ready and headed down to breakfast which was included with our hotel rate with the package I booked.

Somehow mom found time to take a bunch of photos of our view again before the sun even came up while I was getting ready.

The dining room you saw in my first hotel posts was actually NOT where we would be eating breakfast, they had a second breakfast room in the basement for hotel guests and we found our way down. Thankfully mom had asked about it at another time and they told us or I think we would have been very confused this morning.

MagicalMaci · Apr 9, 2017

Once we were both ready we headed downstairs to breakfast and were a bit confused at first, but quickly all was rectified when a server came over and told us to sit anywhere and took our room number. We picked a table and went to investigate the options.

hot selections

yummy breads!

I eat so much more for breakfast on vacation...

As you can see, the spread was quite lovely. Not extensive, but the food selection that was there was tasty and fresh! Once we had our fill we headed back upstairs, took one last check of ourselves in the room and headed off to our destination.

Up Next: Day 2 - What time were we supposed to meet?

MagicalMaci · Apr 9, 2017

Day 2 - What time were we supposed to meet?

So the Hotel Colon is located in the oldest part of the city and doesn’t really have a modern street nearby, so they actually don’t allow vans/busses in the area. In order for our “hotel pickup” we actually had about a 10 minute walk to a nearby hotel with a very lively pickup scene. It was a beautiful morning for some outdoor walking so it wasn’t bad to have to head to a meeting point.

We found our way pretty easily with directions from the front desk and were there a few minutes early. There was no sign of others or our tour so we just kind of kept looking around as time ticked away. It was a busy area as the city was waking up, pretty fun to soak it all in!

Well what happened was they had actually changed the meeting time to about 20 minutes later and we never got the message

We eventually found a couple going on the same tour who filled us in. The little van with our guide, Helena did show up a bit after the new time but one couple was still MIA and we waited for them. Unfortunately this did give us a bit of a later start to the day.

The first part of the tour was via the van around town for a tour and brief history of Barcelona and the architecture. Helena was great about filling us in and you could tell she had great pride for her city as she spoke. She pointed out the various Gaudi buildings and explained how he always wanted his style to be with nature and used natural elements, that’s why so many curves and colors of nature.

Once we were in an ideal location, we were able to hop out for photos and to get a closer look!

Next up we loaded back on the van for a trip to the hills with sweeping views of the city.

Up Next: Day 2 - Park Guell

MagicalMaci · Apr 10, 2017

Day 2 - Park Guell

In no time at all we were arriving at our next stop of the day, Park Guell.

Park Guell is a park on the outskirts of the city designed by Gaudi. It has elements of nature woven into the architecture and is buzzing with the hum of tourists coming to take it all in. This area was originally designed to be a neighborhood of houses for the rich and famous of Barcelona, but after its inception, those with enough money to invest in a house here decided they'd rather be in the hubub of the city and close to the action, so the full plans for the park never saw completion. (only two houses ever got built!)

It does require a ticket to get in and our guide got that all sorted out and we were able to skip the line. Outside the ticketed area there’s a ton of street vendors with all kinds of stuff but once inside it’s nice and peaceful. The sun was definitely starting to get hot today as we walked around. I’ll let the pictures do the talking from here! (And there are quite a few!)

MagicalMaci · Apr 10, 2017

the group together learning about the area (it was a nice small tour group!)

our lovely tour guide was so great about making sure we had photos together!

Trip Report September Mediterranean Magic DCL

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