Barcelona, Day 1

Saturday, May 30^th: 

On May 29^th, we departed Birmingham at 1:55 pm on US Airways flight to Philadelphia for our 2 week trip to Spain with the IPC choir.  In Philadelphia, we changed planes for our 7-3/4 hr flight to Barcelona, Spain.  Both flights were excellent and I did managed to get about 4 hrs sleep in the process.  We arrived on time in Barcelona as did a number of other flights at that time of day, because the passport control center was swamped with hundreds of people.  About one hour later, our passports were stamped and we retrieved our luggage, met our guide, Daniel (will be with us the entire 2 weeks), and waited until the other group arrived.  We then proceeded to our bus and drove to the center of Old Town Barcelona for lunch. 

Old Town was filled with people dressed in their favorite soccer team colors and “celebrating” the upcoming Spanish championship soccer game this evening between Barcelona (blue and red or yellow and red) and Athletic Club, Bilbao (red and white).   People were marching with flags in impromptu parades, shouting, and having a great time.  Supposedly about 70,000 Athletic Club fans were in town to support their team.  After lunch, we headed to our hotel (Hotel Silken Gervasi) to shower and get ready for our overview tour of Barcelona later this afternoon.   

At 4 pm, we gathered in the lobby and began our overview tour, which took us down the Diagonal Avenue into the heart of Barcelona and to the beach area on the Mediterranean, where there are numerous sculptures, and then to the mountain for a panoramic view of Barcelona and the coastline.  With the gorgeous clear weather, we had a fabulous view.  After a short ride we arrived at the Spanish Village, where we had a tapas dinner seated in a courtyard.  The setting was gorgeous and the food was excellent.  Arriving back at the hotel by 10 pm after a full day with much less sleep than normal, the bed was certainly welcome.  Tomorrow will be a full day with a visit to the Sagrada Familia in the morning that includes a performance by the choir.