Day 1 23 December

Got up at 5:30, had breakfast, left the house at 6:05 arriving at 7:25 at Seville airport. Minimal traffic so the driving was uneventful. I checked in on-line yesterday morning but still had to check in at the counter for our luggage. The departure lounges were nice: marble floors/walls, well-spaced bench seats plus circular ones and had its own bathrooms. Boarding time was at 8:55 but the plane didn´t arrive until 9:05. Still managed to leave on time though since passengers were assigned seats and boarded the plane by rows. Nice feature for a low-budget airline.

Arrived on time at Barcelona and then took the AeroBus to the hotel. We missed our stop though and ended up at the Catalunya Plaza which was just another block farther away from the hotel. Had to look for the hostel though because the name wasn´t posted on the doorway. Checked in and were given a note from Lita who stopped by at 11:00. She set up to meet later on at 8:00 pm infront of our hotel to eat at the Japanese restaurant across the street.

Freshened up a bit and then walked to the Passeig de Gracia and viewed the Casa Batllo, one of Antonio Gaudi´s creations. We walked back to the Catalunya Plaza, got some information about the places of interest and then got a 2-day bus tour ticket which is the easiest and most convenient way. We got on the Blue Route first and viewed the Casa Batllo again, La Pedrera, Estacio de Sants, Creu Coberta, Plaza de Espana, and other places.

We got off at the Mirador de Colom where we had some hot waffles from a stand manned by Pinoys and chatted with them. Walked across the boardwalk to the MarreMagnum complex and had some capuccino at Starbucks.

Got back on the bus for the remainder of the trip, got off at Catalunya Plaza and walked back to the hotel. Rested for a while and then met up with Lita and Fumio in front of the hotel. Found out later that they had dinner at the restaurant last night and they loved the food. I had tempura and mom had katsudon while Fumio had fish and Lita had katsudon. They also ordered assorted seaweed salad and sushi. It was almost like being back in Japan since we were also drinking Asahi beer. It was great to finally meet Fumio and we had a blast talking just about everything. Needless to say, it was a wonderful dinner: great food and great friends.