We made these plans a number of months ago, not long after I returned from the New Zealand Cruise in October of 2023. It was always a long way off. Now it is TODAY!!

I booked a Van Taxi to pick us up today. Arriving at the Lewthwaite’s on Stanton at 6:45 and then making their way to me in Pitt Meadows by 7:00am. We did this on the way to the cruise port in September with Dana, Callum, Aidan and I and it worked out just fine. They must have put many many more KM’s on this van since then (if it was the same van)! It was pretty rough. The small speed bumps in our lane in Pit Meadows made groaning noises below. It was a long hour in this van on the way to YVR, giving us all a bit of anxiety along the way. However, not as much anxiety as hearing about the WestJet labour dispute that threatened The Lewthwaite’s on Stanton’s trip. They were flying WestJet and I was booked on Air Canada. Thankfully WestJet reached an agreement with their Mechanics and the dispute did not affect our travel day.

We arrived at YVR with plenty of time. My flight was leaving at 11am and the others an hour and a half or so later. They flew through Calgary and I through Toronto.

They were very long flights for all involved. The Lewthwaite’s however, had an very unruly toddler behind in the row behind them that made their’s feel even longer than the 9.5 hours that it was.

I arrived in Barcelona about 10:30 local time, spent 45 minutes in the line for customs and after a bit of searching found the baggage carousel and my bags. I settled down for a nice peaceful wait for the rest of my family, continuously searching for their flight on the Info board so that I could let them know which carousel to pick up their bags. The WestJet site said that they arrived early, but nothing showed up in the terminal. I noticed that the WestJet site said the were arriving at Terminal 2. I was at Terminal 1. Off I go to figure out how to get to Terminal 2 as our accomodation had arranged for transportation based on their flight. Not to difficult, just had to find the free shuttle bus. No big deal. I found the cab driver, but we had to wait an hour. Even though the flight arrived early, the customs line and big delays in deliverying the luggage added a lot of time. Finally they arrived!!

We had a much nicer cab van to take us to our apartment here in Barcelona. We enjoyed looking at the architecture as the cab driver navigated the busy streets.

Michael and Adam went exploring while Alex took a much need nap as the toddler didn’t allow him any sleep over night. Nicole and I sat in the living room listening to beautiful birdsong from our terrace. This is a beautiful spot.

When Michael and Adam returned we all succumbed to our exhaustion. We all had a much need sleep.

We ventured out for dinner and found a great spot. Pasta, risotto and beef were our choices. A very nice little spot. They even brought us some shots. Apparently, Gin, Pineapple juice and something red. Very yummy. Cold and refreshing. I was the only one not able to down it in ONE. 🙂

After dinner we continued walking and found more beautiful buildings and parks. Alex didn’t bring his camera this time. The light wasn’t the best for his purposes, but we will make sure he gets back here to get some awesome shots.

Barcelona has an Arc de Triomf as well. It was built in 1888 as the gateway to the fair which was held in the Parc de la Ciutadella.

We made our way back to our apartment, stopping for Gelato along the way, as well as a stop at a small grocery store for drinks and breakfast food. Once home we made plans for our next 2 Barcelona days. Stay tuned!!