Arrived in Barcelona

I made it. I am actually in the hotel room. Here is how it happened.

After my last post from the airport, I wandered around looking for a drinking fountain. There aren't any in Terminal 1. I bravely asked a group of security guards who were chatting together where I could find a water fountain. I should have known better. One of the men said there is a beautiful fountain at Buckingham Palace, at least that's what he had heard. I smiled and asked for a drinking fountain a little closer than Buckingham Palace, and they confessed they did not know. How does one say "drinking fountain" in England? I did not look that one up. I walked around and found none. But I did find a coffee shop open where I could buy juice with American dollars. Isn't it coincidental that the pound has reached a 26-year high against the dollar. The Euro is up, too. Just in time for us to exchange money.

Photos of the empty terminal. Notice the sleepers on benches.

I read DIckens for a few hours, ate some granola bars, and rejoiced to see people start to arrive at the aiport around 4 am. At 6 am, I was able to enter the gate area but had to wait in a common area for British Airways to announce my gate. Once the gate was announced, I had to hurry to get to the gate. It is easy to get frustrated flying in other countries. THere seems to be a lack of organization here. Tom said it took him 4 hours to get through customs and to his proper gate in Madrid on Monday. He could not get clear directions. One section does not know what the other sections are doing. I sure appreciate the US when I travel.

Once I arrived in Barcelona, I had to find the public train to take me to the subway station. Tom was so kind to take my big suitcase with him, so I only had a light carry-on to deal with. First I had to change some money to Euros. Not too bad. Then I bought a train/subway card and hopped on. There were other on the train who were new here. I loaned my subway map to them. Though it was hard to understand the announcer when she announced my stop, I made it off the train and looked for the subway. I had to ask a man reading a newspaper if he could help me find the way to the subway. He did not speak English and was glad to hear my Spanish. He very politely showed me where to go and, finding the entrance, I walked for 10 minutes underground before finding the train toward the University District. Once on the subway, I just had to wait minutes before getting off at the stop closest to the Hilton Hotel. Once out of the ground, I was able to look around and see which way to proceed. The hotel is on a 9-lane avenue and I was happy that I exited on the correct side of the busy road. I have to tell you that before leaving home, I had Christian use Google-earth to find an actual photo of the street I would be walking down, so I would be familiar with it. That helped so much, as I knew immediately in which direction to walk and was familiar with the look of it. I began walking and you can't imagine the thrill I felt when I saw the Letters "Hi" on the corner of a tall building just ahead of me. The first two letter of "Hilton," that is. I walked in and asked for the envelope Tom left for me at the desk. There it was and I was quickly inside my room. I am sure I could not have found it without the many prayers that have been offered by many of you. Thanks.

Though I thought Tom would be in his conference all day, he was in the room asleep when I arrived. He was not feeling well. He told me to let him sleep. I jumped in the shower and went right to bed also. I was asleep in two seconds and woke up 5 hours later not knowing where I was. Tom had awakened and returned to the conference without waking me, so I just waited for him to return. When he returned, we went out to find an ATM to get some money. He then returned to the conference and I came back to the hotel to get a bite to eat. Since Tom stays at Hiltons often, he has executive membership and one of the perks is acdess to the executive room with free breakfast and snacks.

I just want to sleep. Tomorrow I will venture out and take some more exciting photos.