Barcelona airport to hotel

Hello,
In the Zurich airport we passed an ATM, however it seemed prudent to wait until Barcelona to get some Euros. In the Barcelona Airport, on the way to claim luggage we did not see an ATM now that we wanted one. We had to ask for directions twice to make the connection. We seldom use an ATM resulting in a discussion of how much money, as well as how to follow the directions. We grabbed our card and our money before we dashed away to find the baggage claim area. After a two minute walk Leroy asked, "Did you pick up the receipt?"
"No!" I said while visions of someone else finding that, knowing how much money we had, and robbing us, ran around my head.
We scurried back to find it still in the machine, snatched it, turned around and retraced our steps.
At the baggage claim we could not immediately figure out which of the 15 lines had our suitcase. We had not been told that information and did not see a direction sign for that. We went all the way to one end where there were some people but it was not our flight, however we could ask someone who told us where the directory was. When we got to our belt there were only three cases left on it, luckily one was ours. It felt like finding an old friend as we grabbed it off the line and stepped on out the door that indicated buses could be had.
With little difficulty we found the bus we needed. We thought the woman there told us we could buy the ticket from the driver, but that was not correct as he sent us to a machine. While waiting our turn to buy, the bus left. When getting the ticket Leroy first put in the debit card, but we had gotten too much money out at the ATM and it was denied. He pulled out the credit card and used that. Something else was wrong, no big deal, but he had to start over. Finally we had the tickets in hand as another bus pulled up. I handed her the tickets, but one thing was a receipt and not a ticket. We had left the second ticket in the machine. I guess we looked a little desperate because a young man who was also helping raced back to the machine, saw the second ticket on the floor and brought it over.
As we got on the bus, Leroy took the large suitcase, hoisted it into the luggage holding area while I managed two backpacks and a another zipper tote. Unburdened, Leroy moved to the empty seats to the back of the bus. I called his name and added, "take one of the bags."
He turned around looked at me, turned forward again, and moved into an open seat leaving me behind to struggle up, and it was up, the aisle the rest of the bags trying not to let them swing into anyone else. I managed to only hit two people on the way. I apologized, hoping they understood English and it had not been hit to hard. The bus people had given us three maps so we were well supplied, told us we needed the last stop, and took off for the ride to the old town.
I asked Leroy why he did not help me with the bags. He answered, "I thought you were telling to get a seat."
We had quite a good laugh about that misunderstanding. It was wonderful to release some of the tension that had been accumulating since we had landed. Somehow it seemed that everything would now be alright.
Paula

At O'Hare

Hello,
There was plenty of time to get to the international terminal, but we started off right away because we like to be in place before we take a break. The woman at the airline desk gave us the directions to terminal 5. With backpacks on and Leroy carrying one small bag we walked off. The signage was good. We came to a turning point with the sign up there, when I stopped and said, "This is where we should turn."
A woman came up to us and asked, "Are you going to terminal 5?"
To our yes she said, "You do not want to go that way because then you have to go through security again."
I wondered, "Who is this person and why is she telling us this?" Out loud I commented, "The woman at the desk gave us these instructions."
"I am a volunteer. I have done this for years. this will save you a lot of time. At the desk they do not know about this. " she assured us.
She was wearing an official lanyard so we trusted. Her way did not have signage and she walked us to the turning point before heading on her way home. Soon there was signage. At the end point a desk was manned by two people. One of whom took our boarding pass, looked at our passports, kept the pass, handed back the passports, and said she would call us when it was time to get on the shuttle.
I kept thinking more people would show up, but there were just about ten of us. When she called, only Leroy and I got up. They gave us back our passes, escorted us out to the giant bus for only two little people, drove to the back side of terminal five, escorted us up to the proper floor, wished us a good journey, and left us. It took a little bit to figure out where we needed to go. We were quite early so we could relax or get in some walking time. I got 8,000 steps for the day.
The flight was as pleasant as most flights that I have been on. I do not sleep easily, but managed to get a little. My neck complained frequently so I had to shift position. Also a girl about the age of four came past twice, stopped by my seat, and called out, "Daddy!" Creating a wake up call for me, not that I needed one as my neck was doing a good job.
I was happy to get a little sleep from time to time and be fed.
Paula

Bus to Airport

January 25, 2018
Hello,
Two days ago, although it seems much farther back in history, Leroy and I collected all of our packed items, went down the stairs, up to the far end of the block, and settled in to wait for the bus which we hoped we had not missed. Bus times in this city have some varation in when they come; even though we were ahead of time it feels a little risky to be as close to the possible time as we were. I was just considering our alternative options when the bus came. There were plenty of seats and we settled in as if we belonged. The bus driver then told Leroy he would have to get the suitcase out of the aisle as about 20 people were getting on at the next stop. Usually we have plenty of space on thhe bus. I almost morn the lack of riders because that makes bus service more expensive to upgrade. Leroy had a little bit of a struggle moving the luggage. and we took up three seats as two of the backpacks sat on one seat. Leroy had the large suitcase tucked in close. Later at another stop, with more riders, he had to put it on his lap. He complained about the weight after we got off. While on the bus, I looked around and had an amazing thought, "These are my people." Somehow a feeling that could be described as love for them seemed to fill me. Should I be doing something different with my life?
The man who sat next to me was a bit of a talker and he was sure that I needed to be told many things about riding the bus. Did I look like a newbie?
At the downtown station, Leroy bought a second bus pass so I would have one to use. Because we need the senior pass we have to have their ID which I also could not find.
The second bus we take was not so crowded, but still had a number of riders. I am happy to see that because I believe the more riders the better changes of the them increasing the service. I know that some people depend on it as their only mode of transportation.
We did get to the airport quite early because a later bus would get us there closer to our departure time than we were comfortable with. At least we had plenty of time to do all of the airport tasks of check in and security.
Paula

Lost Passport

Hello,

Leroy and I were busy repacking our bag with the freshly laundered clothes when I noticed Leroy's passport on the dresser along with his bus pass. "Where did I put my passport?" I wondered as I started to look in the most obvious place.

A slight panic hit me as I looked in some of the other pockets of my carry on bag. No passport. I knew I had gotten it out of the file and moved it. Next I moved on to looking in the suitcase, but no passport came to light. Panic was growing as I started to wail a little. Taking everything out of the bag seemed like a good idea, but then decided to look in the file in case I had put it back. I also looked in the spot where I store my bus pass. No pass. "Have I done something stupid, and put them in a weird place?" I said as I held back tears.

All clothes came out of the suitcase, all pockets were searched again and again with more speed and ferocity. In the same timee visions of me staying home and waving good-bye to Leroy as he left alone to go on this wonderful trip, danced in my head. Finally I just stopped and cried, "What could have happened? I know I got the passport out and I know that I had the bus pass when I went to Miriam's in Dec."

The bus pass is a small matter I can just pay for the ticket, but the passport is another bigger concern, no going into the other countries without that document. Finally I went through the carryon bag more carefully and found it nestled down, out of sight hiding behind a little notebook almost its size. Relief rushed in. Later I noticed how tired I was because of all this emotional energy flying out the window. We never did find the bus pass, but I just used money and it worked fine.

Paula

Hot Air Balloon and Travel Issues

Hello,

Yesterday on the way to the car wash we saw a hot air balloon so low that I almost felt I could see the stitching. No people were visible, but the replenishing flames certainly were. Would it be quite a lot colder so high in the air? Even thought the day was clear it was still quite cool. They went over, or we went under them before we moved on and they moved on. It was a little gift that brought smiles to our faces.

Today the temp was 43 which seemed like it should be warm. Indeed many college age people had on sweatshirts without jackets. Leroy and I had on a scarf, coat, hat and gloves. Leroy commented, “I am not hot, but I am not cold. How do they manage dressed as they are?”

Could they be as warm as they appeared or do they just tough it out?

We are struggling a little with how warm our clothing should be for this upcoming trip. Today we have the suitcase out and we will do a trial run of packing even though some of the clothes we want to take are in the wash which I will do on Monday before I go to work. Leroy also has a sweater at the church that he forgot to bring home. He will pick it up on the way home from work tomorrow. Will today’s experience help for the final assault on the plan? At least now we have the benefit of much technology that can report temps for all destinations in the days ahead. Although from past experience we do not figure that it will be right all of the time.

The suitcase is packed with everything we can think of that we might need/want. It all fits even though we have not weighed it. We are both taking a tablet. I have not done that before and I certainly notice the weight in my backpack.

Also Leroy helped me download a book so I will have that with me. It was a rather frustrating experience to download everything I needed to be able to do that. It exposes my frailties and lack of patience. I wanted it all to go as I thought it should, instead it veered off on unknown trails. I fussed, fumed and foamed. No, I did not foam, but it worked with alliteration and I could have foamed with just a little more annoyance. I have to compliment Leroy who often thinks I am yelling at him when I am upset about something. Instead he took it all in stride and just tried to show me a better way. He uses the program quite often so he is much more familiar with it.

Paula

One Car Washed

Hello,

We went to the car wash when it was still below freezing this morning. It seemed like the streets would not yet be slushy when finished. Other people were there ahead of us so we got to sit and visit for a time. I suppose it did not really take two of us, but I am not comfortable driving through a car wash. I had never even been in one until after I was married. After that we frequently washed the car at home. So it is not really in my skill set although I realize it does not take so much learning as something that I lack.

The streets were really quite clear, but our alley is still part off the winter scene. I had Leroy stop so I could scrape out the junk in the garage that had fallen off the car before he pulled in. After that we dried a bit more even though the wash is supposed to do that. It was not perfectly clean, but much better than it had been. We are not big on the car wash detail so it had been months, but I do not know just when.

I am not sure when the other car will get a bath. It could still be some time before that happens.

I washed bedding today and we hung that out. It was quite cold then, but has warmed up now. The sun is on the clothes line more in the summer, but I am hoping the breeze and the good temps will help.

Leroy and I are making tracks on shredding extraneous papers in the files. That feels so satisfying to me, especially when I think about lifting weight and moving. It is important to get some things done on a regular basis. I also eliminated two books. I realize that is not many, but each one out is good. Now if I could just go through pictures and lower that supply we would be in good shape.

Paula

Melt

Hello,

It amazes me how much and how quickly temperatures can change. It seems that two days ago we were quite stiff and solid with cold. Today snow and ice are disappearing. I gave the packed snow or ice in the alley by the garage quite a lot of assistance to go elsewhere. When I came back from shopping the car once again slipped as I pulled in, once again that feature in the car held it steady and gradually I got up that short steep incline. This is certainly not like driving as it was when I learned. In those days I might have given up in despair or hit the garage.

One of the car salesmen told us that white vehicles do not show the dirt so much. Today there were ample dirty vehicles to check out that theory. It seemed to hold true. I had thought we did not need another white car, but it makes me reconsider a little bit.

I should have gotten the car washed, but did not take the time to do that. I noticed one clean car in the parking lot standing    out in glorious pristine splendor.

I would imagine that it would be good to clean the gunk off the bottom as well. Maybe we can get that done tomorrow, although the lines will no doubt be long.

Our grey car also does not look as dirty as some that were on the road. Apparently gray is the second color to get which also does not show the dirt so much. In spite of this knowledge, I would like a change of color, but it will not be a deciding factor as to which car to buy.

Paula