Miguel and I have been in Barcelona for a few days. There have been some interesting events happen and a few change of plans, but we've been very happy with our experience.
Let me talk about the flights, Copenhagen, and our first night in Spain.
LAX is infamous for being a confusing airport, but it holds a very special place our hearts for multiple reasons. That's a story of itself! Anyways, LAX was not the problem. We wanted as much of our family and friends as possible to accompany the ride to LAX and send us away to Europe. My in-laws, niece, and our Ukrainian friend were able to come. We did have plenty of other people wish us well, like my sister-in-law and best friend Noëlle. We made it to our checkout just on time. We had a scare that we were going to be late because of LA's traffic but we made it. It was a tearful sendoff with many hugs. We already miss our loved ones. We know that we'll return sometime in the future.
Before we landed, we flew to Copenhagen for around 10 hours. We settled into our two seats next to each other (which we were lucky to get in the first place). We told each other, "Look, Baby! We're, actually, going to Europe!" That excitement fueled my smile when we the plane's wheels lifted from the ground. My thought was that it will be a while before I touch American soil again. Wow.
During the flight, we had a stereo of babies near us (stereotypical, ha!) that we did not mind too much. They're babies. What can you do? What really surprised us was that Norwegian provided dinner AND breakfast for us. We were so happy about that. We were prepared to finish the bag of chocolate my mother-in-law gave us, which we did anyway. We attempted sleep in awkward positions, talked, and watched outside our window for all those hours. I remember that we flew over Vegas. Cool, huh? Even cooler, we saw Greenland's ice. I thought that was the coolest things. I have photos that I'll add later.
Once in Copenhagen, we exchanged some money for their Kroners and had our passports stamped for the first time. Woohoo! We landed 30 minutes late and only had an hour and a half to quickly tour Copenhagen. We saw it's main canal Nyhavn, Frederik's Church, the palace behind the church, and other old and modern buildings. We even had a delicious Dane's Danish. We felt successful. We also felt out of place there since most of the people there were white and spoke Danish. Even Miguel was lost. (I love my linguist.)
It was a brief flight from Copenhagen, with another baby behind us, to Barcelona. We landed around 11PM their time and nothing was open. Not even the exchange. We only had a few Euro's. We debated on either using public transport or a taxi. We should've chose the metro... The taxi driver was able to take us to our one night stay at our hotel, which we loved their breakfast with Spanish tortilla's and muffins. We tried to give him our credit card, but he wouldn't accept it. Miguel tried to convince him to take it. He wouldn't budge. He said that our short ride wasn't enough to be charged for a card and he didn't want to be tracked because he trusted cash. Well, we didn't have cash. We were driven to find somewhere that we could exchange for a few Euro's, thinking that the guy was kind to help. He then turned around and charged us for that. We gave in and handed over the funds. We just wanted to be in a comfy bed and rest from the jet lag.
That bed was glorious! We informed our mothers and our friends that we landed. It's a good thing that we use internet based communication methods to text and call. We knew that we needed local phones, though. In the morning, we got two sim cards for our unlocked phones from a phone store called Orange. We've heard that their ok. We only needed a plan with them for emergencies, getting lost, and job interactions.
That whole day of being with family, flying, being in Europe, and finally landing in the place that we've worked so hard to get to was priceless. So many emotions rolled and I felt a new layer of appreciation for life. We're in Barcelona. We made it. But we had more to experience while here.
To be continued...
Let me talk about the flights, Copenhagen, and our first night in Spain.
LAX is infamous for being a confusing airport, but it holds a very special place our hearts for multiple reasons. That's a story of itself! Anyways, LAX was not the problem. We wanted as much of our family and friends as possible to accompany the ride to LAX and send us away to Europe. My in-laws, niece, and our Ukrainian friend were able to come. We did have plenty of other people wish us well, like my sister-in-law and best friend Noëlle. We made it to our checkout just on time. We had a scare that we were going to be late because of LA's traffic but we made it. It was a tearful sendoff with many hugs. We already miss our loved ones. We know that we'll return sometime in the future.
Before we landed, we flew to Copenhagen for around 10 hours. We settled into our two seats next to each other (which we were lucky to get in the first place). We told each other, "Look, Baby! We're, actually, going to Europe!" That excitement fueled my smile when we the plane's wheels lifted from the ground. My thought was that it will be a while before I touch American soil again. Wow.
During the flight, we had a stereo of babies near us (stereotypical, ha!) that we did not mind too much. They're babies. What can you do? What really surprised us was that Norwegian provided dinner AND breakfast for us. We were so happy about that. We were prepared to finish the bag of chocolate my mother-in-law gave us, which we did anyway. We attempted sleep in awkward positions, talked, and watched outside our window for all those hours. I remember that we flew over Vegas. Cool, huh? Even cooler, we saw Greenland's ice. I thought that was the coolest things. I have photos that I'll add later.
Once in Copenhagen, we exchanged some money for their Kroners and had our passports stamped for the first time. Woohoo! We landed 30 minutes late and only had an hour and a half to quickly tour Copenhagen. We saw it's main canal Nyhavn, Frederik's Church, the palace behind the church, and other old and modern buildings. We even had a delicious Dane's Danish. We felt successful. We also felt out of place there since most of the people there were white and spoke Danish. Even Miguel was lost. (I love my linguist.)
It was a brief flight from Copenhagen, with another baby behind us, to Barcelona. We landed around 11PM their time and nothing was open. Not even the exchange. We only had a few Euro's. We debated on either using public transport or a taxi. We should've chose the metro... The taxi driver was able to take us to our one night stay at our hotel, which we loved their breakfast with Spanish tortilla's and muffins. We tried to give him our credit card, but he wouldn't accept it. Miguel tried to convince him to take it. He wouldn't budge. He said that our short ride wasn't enough to be charged for a card and he didn't want to be tracked because he trusted cash. Well, we didn't have cash. We were driven to find somewhere that we could exchange for a few Euro's, thinking that the guy was kind to help. He then turned around and charged us for that. We gave in and handed over the funds. We just wanted to be in a comfy bed and rest from the jet lag.
That bed was glorious! We informed our mothers and our friends that we landed. It's a good thing that we use internet based communication methods to text and call. We knew that we needed local phones, though. In the morning, we got two sim cards for our unlocked phones from a phone store called Orange. We've heard that their ok. We only needed a plan with them for emergencies, getting lost, and job interactions.
That whole day of being with family, flying, being in Europe, and finally landing in the place that we've worked so hard to get to was priceless. So many emotions rolled and I felt a new layer of appreciation for life. We're in Barcelona. We made it. But we had more to experience while here.
To be continued...
Miguel and i have been in Barcelona for a few days. There have been some interesting events happen and a few change of plans, but we've been very happy with our experience.
Let me talk about th flights.
LAX is infamous for being a confusing airport, but it holds a very special place our hearts for multiple reasons. That's a story of itself! Anyways, LAX was not the problem. We wanted as much of our family and friends as possible to accompany the ride to LAX and send us away to Europe. My in-laws, niece, and our Ukrainian friend were able to come. We did have plenty of other people wish us well, like my sister-in-law and best friend Noëlle. We made it to our checkout just on time. We had a scare that we were going to be late because of LA's traffic but we made it. It was a tearful sendoff with many hugs. We already miss our loved ones. We know that we'll return sometime in the future.
Before we landed, we flew to Copenhagen for around 10 hours. We settled into our two seats next to each other (which we were lucky to get in the first place). We told each other, "Look, Baby! We're, actually, going to Europe!" That excitement fueled my smile when we the plane's wheels lifted from the ground. My thought was that it will be a while before I touch American soil again. Wow.
During the flight, we had a stereo of babies near us (stereotypical, ha!) that we did not mind too much. They're babies. What can you do? What really surprised us was that Norwegian provided dinner AND breakfast for us. We were so happy about that. We were prepared to finish the bag of chocolate my mother-in-law gave us, which we did anyway. We attempted sleep in awkward positions, talked, and watched outside our window for all those hours. I remember that we flew over Vegas. Cool, huh? Even cooler, we saw Greenland's ice. I thought that was the coolest things. I have photos that I'll add later.
Once in Copenhagen, we exchanged some money for their Kroners and had our passports stamped for the first time. Woohoo! We landed 30 minutes late and only had an hour and a half to quickly tour Copenhagen. We saw it's main canal, a Saint Frederick's Church, and a few old and modern buildings. We even had a delicious Dane's Danish. We felt successful. We also felt out of place there since most of the people there were white and spoke Danish. Even Miguel was lost. (I love my linguist.)
It was a brief flight from Copenhagen, with another baby behind us, to Barcelona. We landed around 11PM their time and nothing was open. Not even the exchange. We only had a few Euro's. We debated on either using public transport or a taxi. We should've chose the metro... The taxi driver was able to take us to our one night stay at our hotel, which we loved their breakfast with Spanish tortilla's and muffins. We tried to give him our credit card, but he wouldn't accept it. Miguel tried to convince him to take it. He wouldn't budge. He said that our short ride wasn't enough to be charged for a card and he didn't want to be tracked because he trusted cash. Well, we didn't have cash. We were driven to find somewhere that we could exchange for a few Euro's, thinking that the guy was kind to help. He then turned around and charged us for that. We gave in and handed over the funds. We just wanted to be in a comfy bed and rest from the jet lag.
That bed was glorious! We informed our mothers and our friends that we landed. It's a good thing that we use internet based communication methods to text and call. We knew that we needed local phones, though. In the morning, we got two sim cards for our unlocked phones from a phone store called Orange. We've heard that their ok. We only needed a plan with them for emergencies, getting lost, and job interactions.
That whole day of being with family, flying, being in Europe, and finally landing in the place that we've worked so hard to get to was priceless. So many emotions rolled and I felt a new layer of appreciation for life. We're in Barcelona. We made it. But we had more to experience while here.
To be continued...
Let me talk about th flights.
LAX is infamous for being a confusing airport, but it holds a very special place our hearts for multiple reasons. That's a story of itself! Anyways, LAX was not the problem. We wanted as much of our family and friends as possible to accompany the ride to LAX and send us away to Europe. My in-laws, niece, and our Ukrainian friend were able to come. We did have plenty of other people wish us well, like my sister-in-law and best friend Noëlle. We made it to our checkout just on time. We had a scare that we were going to be late because of LA's traffic but we made it. It was a tearful sendoff with many hugs. We already miss our loved ones. We know that we'll return sometime in the future.
Before we landed, we flew to Copenhagen for around 10 hours. We settled into our two seats next to each other (which we were lucky to get in the first place). We told each other, "Look, Baby! We're, actually, going to Europe!" That excitement fueled my smile when we the plane's wheels lifted from the ground. My thought was that it will be a while before I touch American soil again. Wow.
During the flight, we had a stereo of babies near us (stereotypical, ha!) that we did not mind too much. They're babies. What can you do? What really surprised us was that Norwegian provided dinner AND breakfast for us. We were so happy about that. We were prepared to finish the bag of chocolate my mother-in-law gave us, which we did anyway. We attempted sleep in awkward positions, talked, and watched outside our window for all those hours. I remember that we flew over Vegas. Cool, huh? Even cooler, we saw Greenland's ice. I thought that was the coolest things. I have photos that I'll add later.
Once in Copenhagen, we exchanged some money for their Kroners and had our passports stamped for the first time. Woohoo! We landed 30 minutes late and only had an hour and a half to quickly tour Copenhagen. We saw it's main canal, a Saint Frederick's Church, and a few old and modern buildings. We even had a delicious Dane's Danish. We felt successful. We also felt out of place there since most of the people there were white and spoke Danish. Even Miguel was lost. (I love my linguist.)
It was a brief flight from Copenhagen, with another baby behind us, to Barcelona. We landed around 11PM their time and nothing was open. Not even the exchange. We only had a few Euro's. We debated on either using public transport or a taxi. We should've chose the metro... The taxi driver was able to take us to our one night stay at our hotel, which we loved their breakfast with Spanish tortilla's and muffins. We tried to give him our credit card, but he wouldn't accept it. Miguel tried to convince him to take it. He wouldn't budge. He said that our short ride wasn't enough to be charged for a card and he didn't want to be tracked because he trusted cash. Well, we didn't have cash. We were driven to find somewhere that we could exchange for a few Euro's, thinking that the guy was kind to help. He then turned around and charged us for that. We gave in and handed over the funds. We just wanted to be in a comfy bed and rest from the jet lag.
That bed was glorious! We informed our mothers and our friends that we landed. It's a good thing that we use internet based communication methods to text and call. We knew that we needed local phones, though. In the morning, we got two sim cards for our unlocked phones from a phone store called Orange. We've heard that their ok. We only needed a plan with them for emergencies, getting lost, and job interactions.
That whole day of being with family, flying, being in Europe, and finally landing in the place that we've worked so hard to get to was priceless. So many emotions rolled and I felt a new layer of appreciation for life. We're in Barcelona. We made it. But we had more to experience while here.
To be continued...