Barcelona where are you?

Rome was beautiful but people were not so beautiful. Maybe they do not like American's. More about the later. Our next stop is Barcelona but because it was a last min thing our flight was to Toulouse, France. We rented a car but I'm not able to drive because it is a standard. We tried to get a vehicle with gps but the rental guy said if would be cheaper to go buy one. He give us a small photo copied map of Toulouse area. We decide to find a service station and get a map.

As we leave the airport we are not even sure where to go or which direction. This is where the language is becoming a bit of an issue. MK took French in high school several moons ago so that is helping. Oh did I mention that she hasn't driven a standard in awhile either. We are laughing so hard I'm surprised we found are way any where. We finally find a place to ask and he tells us to follow this high to Barcelona. Away is go. Remember we still do not have a map.

The drive is awesome. We see several castle's along the way and lots of grapes. The roads are interesting. There are pictures that show this exit castle, grapes, food..etc. Our drive is several hours. We make it to the border. It is no different than crossing into another state. The road is a toll road both in France and Spain. No people at the booths. The booth in France had an English option but the booth in Spain did not. We had fun trying to figure out how to put the ticket in the machine and which way the credit card went. It was funny to us of course not to the people behind us.

Now we must have a plan because we are approaching Barcelona with no map and we do not know how to get the the hotel. We decide to use the map app on my iPhone. I am not sure how many of you have used this map but I hate it. The road signs are in Spanish and I do not speak the language which makes it hard to navigate someone in the correct direction. We go in circles for awhile. Btw we think we are in Barcelona. We stop are a hotel to see if we can get help. We are not in Barcelona at all...lol. We are still 20 mins away. We are not sure why we thought what we thought. The good thing is we now have 2 paper maps. :-). They are now my best buddies. Once we had the map we only make one wrong turn but we found our hotel. We are so excited.

I guess we must have done something right because when we checked into our hotel they updated us the a balcony room. We thought this was nice but we really did not the care. As We are getting into the lift the hotel desk person comes to get me again to give us another upgrade to a suite with a terrace. Wow, I thought maybe all the getting lost was worth it. As many of use know standard European rooms are very small. This one is very large. I think we are spoiled. :-) I am excited to explore Barcelona. The city seems to have a different feel. The people seem nice. The city is a mix of old and new. We do not they any tours planned. We are going to relax and see the city.

Wow what a night

My first night on a train sleeper car was a night to remember. This train's sleeper cabin had 6 beds. When we arrived one bed was taken. The guy did not say a word or offer to help us with anything. We did not pack for a long train ride. Later we found out he was Korean and spoke very little English. The 2 other beds were taken by a nice couple from Kentucky and we picked up a 6th person along the way.

Shortly after we left Amsterdam I am awaken by the police knocking at our door. We had locked the door otherwise the would have just come in. There were 3 of them fully dress with fire arms. Only me and the Korean guy were awaken. They came in and looked around with flashlight and left. I thought weird and rude. Maybe this was normal. We made a stop at every broader so the staff could change and I assume the train could be searched. At some point the 6th person got on but also did not speak much English and no one else was awaken.

Next thing I knew the alarm was going off and we were in Basel, Switzerland. Mk and I were waiting in the bike car and prior to the train doors opening the police with dogs went to the sleeper car next to us. Two of the girls were taken off by the police onto the platform and it looked like they were being questioned and searched. My thought was really you thought you could get away with leaving Amsterdam with what I'm assuming to be drugs? Diffidently not rocket scientists.

Im in love with Latte Macchiato

It's all about the food right? The drink Latte Macchiato was courtesy of my uncle Ed. He gave me euro's for Christmas to purchase something when I arrived. Omg it was so good. The hotel has a machine like a keurig coffee makers that is for latte, cappuccino, espresso, etc. I love it any really want one.

I have also added dinner from the last 2 nights in florence. Both meals were amazing. It has been so much fun. The waiter's can be interesting. Tonight the we're going into the square trying to get customers. Plus, a few of them were dancing to some street musicians. It was entertaining.

It has been very hot and the humidity is high. We are leaving tomorrow for Rome and more of the same weather. Spain and France are suppose to be colder. I am look toward to that.

I have so much more to add but we have had problems with Internet connections. I will try and add more stories tomorrow.

Happy Father's Day

Dad happy father's day from Basel. I hope you have a wonderful day.

For the other father in my life William, I hope you and the kids have a great day. Do something fun!

Making progress.

We are in Germany and it's 4:07. I can't seem to sleep. I think it is the lag. Oh well, it is fun to wake up in another country. We will be in Switzerland in a few more hours. :-)

Europe will not win.

The last 36 hours have been a challenging adventure. Europe will not win. We did not make it to Venice. The long story short is because of the they weather they were not sure when they could get us there. The nice Atlanta lady's got us to Amsterdam instead. I know what you must be thinking Amsterdam and Italy are no where close to either other. This is true but they do share something...lots of water. Amsterdam is known at the northern Venice. Although I am not going to get to Venice I did get to take a boat ride and spend 8 hours in a beautiful city on a beautiful day. We took a tour of Anne Franks home and I received my first passport stamp.

I will also add a few more county's to my European adventure - Switzerland hopefully Germany. This means all is not lost. I will post more photos once I can upload them and I have a wifi connect.

I have a bed tonight on a high speed train. :-)

Goodnight to you!

We are in the air. It is fun to be able to be a post from 29,000 feet.