Today started off early with a 5:30 a.m. alarm at my home in Mount Juliet. Fortunately most of my bags haf already been packed and the only thing I really needed to add was my retainer and  USB charging plugs. Lately I’ve been able to start really packing light and taking only things that absolutely needed. Last time I packed way too much and this realm of electronics with a bunch of redundant plugs and other equipment that I never use which cause my bag to get heavy.

I drove to the airport while my dad rode along. Security at Nashville airport with very uncrowded. There is virtually no line to the initial check for passport and boarding pass.

I made the mistake of not charging my phone as I was chatting with friends at the gate and Nashville which ran down my phone.

Arrived in Chicago O’Hare without any issues. I wandered around Terminal 2 and 1 looking for a place to eat. I was craving Chili’s potato soup and I knew there was a Chili’s Too around.  A Chili’s Too has a very abbreviated menu and hence they seem to be able to cook the meal faster or at least it was in my case. I had the potato cheese soup and old-timer hamburger with cheese.

After paying my check I set out to try and find Terminal 5 which was the international terminal at O’Hare. The problem is it’s not marked very clearly about where you should go. So I spent the better part of 45 minutes wondering around O’hare Airport until finally finding the train that took me to Terminal 5.

As I have complained about in the past I had to go through security again even though I had initially gone through security in Nashville. I feel like this is very inefficient and way over compensating for security issues. But I get the feeling that someone from the outside can just park in Terminal 5 parking lot and enter and therefore they would have to go through security initially. I just feel like it was very poorly designed from the start.

I found a plug and began to charge my cell phone. I needed to make sure that my cell phone was able to be fully charged when ever I got to Barcelona in order to find my way to my hotel from the airport.

It was at this point that I begin to hear autentic Irish sounding accents within the terminal. I was flying Aer Lingus, the Irish carrier to Barcelona with a layover in Dublin. My seat was in the very back and with an aisle which meant I probably was not going to be able to get much sleep as I was not able to lean against anything. The guy next to me was Chinese and seem to be studying calculus. If it was me studying calculus that would be a sure fire way to put me to sleep.

My earphones only work on one side which and kept me from hearing as I was watching Fight Club and War Dogs.

We were given the option of beef or chicken for our evening meal. I chose the chicken which came with a side of rice, salad, a roll and fruit.

I was able to rest a little bit using my ear plugs and neck pillow and sleeping mask. But I never actually went to sleep. It was at this point in the trip I was wondering if I was traveling too much. Deep down I’m fearful about how others see me I am a wonder that I’m a privileged person who travels way too much. I also begin to dread how tired I knew it would be during and after the trip. I think I tried to do way too much and one trip and I should probably space it out a little bit or just do less.

We arrived in Dublin at around 5 a.m. In lieu of checking our passports we were assured to the transfer area. I begin to worry that if my passport never did get stamped would it be valid once I got to Spain?

After I found my gate we seemed to  board really quickly. But we were held on the transfer bus until the plane got cleaned out. In Europe it is different in that they have a bus that actually takes you on to where the plane is part rather than the US way of having a skybridge to the plane.

I met a nice older lady who was traveling to Barcelona to see her daughter who was traveling there to be part of a unnamed conference. We spoke at length about traveling and about the ins and outs of the process.

We arrived in Barcelona and sure enough there was a long line to get one’s passport stamps. I had hoped to catch a special native dance outside one of the cathedrals in Barcelona but it was not to be. The dance takes place every Sunday at noon and I actually did not get back to my hotel until at least 1.

In fact getting out of the Barcelona Airport is terribly confusing. Google had told me to bride a particular A1 bus but I did not have my transport pass. In order to save about 4 Euro on my ticket online before I left the US. Now I just had to figure out the right machine that would take down my confirmation number and spit out a ticket. The guy working behind a desk direct me to the right machine but it was up to me to figure it out.

Barcelona’s Metro system is very confusing. It took me awhile to find my stop on the subway map. Then it took me some more time to figure out the direction of the trains of where I needed to go. One time I got off at a stop too early and had to wait on another train.

I eventually made it to my hotel room. What helped was looking at the streets on Google street view Maps so that I could try to recognize them in person.

My hotel room is very small. In fact I do believe my walk in closet in my bedroom is maybe bigger. It took awhile for the hot water to warm up in my shower. Also the TV appears to only play Spanish channels.

I had lunch at Subway. The Sandwich Artist spoke good English and recommended that I avoid walking to the Picasso Museum. However I did not follow his advice as I was apprehensive about using the bus. I passed by another Museum that had a waiting line. It was free museum day and both Picasso and this new Museum was free.

Eventually found myself in the Picasso line. After probably a 20-minute wait we were able to get tickets. It was 2:45 p.m. and we got tickets for the 3:15 entry.

It’s at this point which I should probably declare myself as someone who does not get Picasso’s work. It looks very juvenile looking as if cubism is just something that preschoolers could come up with. I try to see Beauty in my own eyes rather than what someone thinks beauty is. And to be quite honest with you Picasso falls into that category of what art critics think is beautiful but is actually not very beautiful.

I realize Rick Steves gave the Picasso Museum a must-see rating however I probably could have just skipped it. Due to the jet lag I found myself falling asleep during the self-guided tour.

After this I would try to find the other Park Guell Museum. By the time I found it I found that all the tours were sold out for the day. That’s one thing about me is that I tried to squeeze way too much into one day. I had a whole list of free Sunday museums and was thinking that I could head up maybe three or four but in reality I was only able to hit one and that was after a long wait.

Afterwards I explored the city of Barcelona in the gothic area. After a while I noticed an obelisk with a statue of Christopher Columbus when he got to see. I thought to myself this is somewhat fitting as I currently am exploring the city of Barcelona. Maybe I could try to call myself a modern-day Explorer least in my own mind.

I decided I would like to have I Domino’s pizza for supper. I walked way out of my way in order to get to this Dominos which was the nearest to my hotel room. I was able to speak to an English-speaking worker who was able to take down my order. It was a thin crust bacon.

Tomorrow I have an appointment at 9 a.m. at the Sagrada Familia. I also have an appointment at the parque guell. It’s supposed to be sunny tomorrow last time I checked so I’m looking forward to seeing the city.