Days 1 & 2

The alarm screeched us awake at 4:00 am. This is possibly the worst way to begin a vacation – with adrenalin coursing through the body. To make matters worse we were at an Oktoberfest party the previous night followed by whisky at the Brennan’s. This is important because we were (up to that point) being so good. We were completely hydrated, as the smart people say is necessary, to help alleviate jet lag - and no alcohol prior to the flight. The Oktoberfest had bratwurst, sauerkraut, warm German potato salad, and beer. Yep, high amounts of salt and alcohol both of which dehydrate the body. John and Lisa just made things worse with the whisky later that evening at their house. Well, so much for a low-sodium, no alcohol, full hydration flight.

The flight was delightful even if it was on US Airways. I swear they use old Boeing 757s and 767s that no other airlines want any longer. What happens to old planes? They go to US Air! In any case, two events took this plane ride over the top. First, although we had window/aisle seats, there was no one on the interior three seats across the aisle. I quickly left Ann and moved across the aisle to hold dominion over those three seats. I was able to lay flat making a bed – a cramped 4 foot bed but a bed, when sleep time came. But no, my record is intact. I have never slept one minute on an airplane.

Second, much to Ann’s amazement, I had ordered a kosher meal for myself when I purchased the airline tickets online. Mostly it was done as a lark since my brother-in-law, Allan, had suggested I try this to get better airplane meals. Well, SCORE, Allan. My meal was delicious. I was stuffed after eating the perfect chicken Florentine with many delightful side dishes. The tray came wrapped in imprinted film with a note from KoshAir Cuisine inside saying the meal was made under “…strict constant supervision of the KashRuth Department of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America” and “… dairy meals are not Cholov Yisroel” and the meat was “…Giatt Kosher”. Wow!

When the meal came, it came on two trays. Since I had three tray tables to deploy I had no lack of space for this meal. I soon realized, though, that since this was a strict kosher meal, meat cannot be mixed or on the same plate as dairy. After coming to grips with this I was terrified so as not to mix together these trays. Being six miles up in the air over the cold north Atlantic, I felt it was not wise to irritate any God: Jewish, Christian, Catholic or Muslim – even if they are the identical God. I guess I did not screw up the meal. We made it to Barcelona.

As for the jet lag, we did nothing as it turned out to help with that problem - mostly because we ended up doing nothing beneficial, i.e. un-hydrated.

We arrived earlier than projected at the Barcelona airport. We were through customs, had our luggage, used the airport shuttle to the center of town, hailed a taxi and were at the hotel by 9:30 am. Although the check-in was after 2:00pm, they had a room available for us. We got a room on the 11th floor overlooking the city with full floor to ceiling windows across the entire room. It is perfect (and relatively cheap).

Because of the excitement of finally arriving, we showered, changed clothes, brushed teeth and were on the metro to catch the tacky on-off Touristic Bus. This works well for ”jet lag day” since little effort is required to ride a bus. Unfortunately, we could only make it until about 4:00 before we hit the wall. I guess it is hard riding a bus. The fatigue was so bad we took a taxi back to the hotel, went across the street to a market to get bread, cheese and wine for dinner in the room. It is 7:30pm here, we have been up for 27 ½ hours and I am now so tired I can hardly mke t to rite mor werd Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz