Day 1 - We Made It!

Hey everyone.. well we made it, we're officially in Barcelona, Spain! From the moment our car touched the Rockford parking lot we've been getting the first class treatment.. it's been fun! Right away they grabbed our bags from us in a special check-in spot in the parking lot and directed us to where the valet parking was! We sat in the airport waiting for our flight which was actually scheduled to leave at 11:45pm. They had snacks, drinks and music set up for us, so it wasn't too bad.

We boarded our MD-11 airplane about 11pm.. and were one of the several unfortunate guest to sit across the aisle from each other rather than right next to each other. But it was nice that we were each on the aisle for stretching and getting out! The flight was just under 8 hours.. throughout the flight they spoiled us with our choice of steak or chicken a salad and appetizer. Unfortunately neither of us ate just because it was around 1am in the morning.. however we did partake in the Ben and Jerry's ice cream at 3am during one of our movies! Then again towards the end of the flight when they served us breakfast. The flight wasn't so bad, but each of us was able to only get around 3hrs of sleep!

Once arriving in Barcelona they walked us all through the airport to the several shuttle bus waiting to take us to the ship. So far we've been impressed at how smooth every things been going. They really went over the top on the amount of staff they took on to help with everything.. all which sport a fluorescent green "Trip of a Lifetime" shirt. We arrived at the ship around 3:30pm or so (8:30am Chicago) and went through a process similar to checking in for a flight. Our room is on the 9th floor of the ship and has a balcony that looks over the Mediterranean. We had about an hour to explore the ship before we needed to get ready for the nights event! Around 7pm we boarded another shuttle that took us away to a Spanish village about 15mins from the ship where we stayed til around 11pm. The event was a lot of fun.. we started at the entrance to this village where they brought in a bunch of sidewalk acts (painted people), to perform as we walked in. We navigated our way through the cobblestone village where we were able to stop at the little shops along the way to shop. Our destination was a large center courtyard where they had food, drinks and entertainment! Words can't really say what this look like but it was pretty impressive! The food was a bit over the top... probably the highlight was the deer leg they had clamped in this contraption as they sliced meat from it's leg! Needless to say the mozzarella sticks and potato skins tasted good once we got back to the ship!

I'm typing this and it's about 7am and were preparing to tour the streets of Barcelona today! Unfortunately the phone we brought doesn't look like it will work.. but we'll try to figure something out! We'll be checking email throughout the day so feel free to email! We miss everyone, especially Riley.. but watching the other couples wrestle with their kids confirms we did the right thing! Thanks for reading!