In Barcelona!

Okay so I finally made it to Barcelona!! By the way, worst day ever to pick to come to Barcelona!! Sept. 29th, the day I arrived, was a scheduled nation-wide strike. NOTHING was open! in fact, my flight was canceled! I had a layover in copenhagen and didn´t know about the strike until I got there and saw that my flight was canceled. Being there by myself and only knowing English didn´t make it any easier. But luckily, after a good ordeal of talking to numerous people trying to figure out what to do, I ended up getting a flight out. The lady told me I needed to get out asap because she didn´t know how long the strike was going for, so it was good that i did.
So I arrive safely to barcelona only to find that my backpack that i checked is not there. They told me I would have to call the next day because with the strike there was no way it was getting here that day. So I ended up going straight to the hostel with just my carryon. Only problem, there were no busses, trains or metros running. I waited nearly 20 minutes for a taxi that was probably way too expensive.
Once I got to the hostel i decided to walk around and explore. Again everything was closed and I couldn´t take any transportation anywhere. The streets here are crazy! Nothing is parrallel to each other and the names of the streets are only found on the sides of buildings (if they´re there at all) so having just a giant map while walking around wasn´t the greatest. So I didn´t really go anywhere, but it was a nice walk just the same.
Later, I ended up making some friends at the hostel! There were four of us who went to the local market and bought stuff to make tapas (a traditional meal here in spain). It was delicious! They all gave me some great advice about the city too! They showed me their pictures that they´ve taken over the last week and they helpped me out with my lack of luggage by sparing me some toothpaste.

Last night i had to sleep in my jeens and today I´m in the same clothes as yesterday :( but I called the airport this morning and they will bring by my bag sometime today! So that´s great news! Though it was definitely an adventure getting here, everything seems to be working itself out now. I´m really excited that today the metro should be working again so hopefully I´ll really be able to explore the city!

Almost There!

Finally!!! I've been planning and talking about this for months, dreaming about it for years, and it is now officially the night before I leave for Europe! :)

The past couple of weeks I've spent in Georgia, visiting family. My brother helped me get all my gear for the trip, and thank god he did because he is a lot more skilled in that area than I am. Thanks Jared! My niece is now 10 months old. I'm sad I'm going to miss her first birthday but I did get to witness her taking a few steps!! She is the cutest thing ever, I'm so glad I got to see her a bunch while I was here!

By the time I get back she'll be running and talking! She's growing so fast!

I also got to hike up Amicalola Falls with my Dad and cousins! My Mom met us at the top of the falls and we enjoyed a delicious picnic! It was gorgeous, and a pretty decent hike. It felt good getting out of the house and having a break from planning the trip. Over 600 steps up and the same amount back down; I was pretty soar afterwards. I was going to post pictures of the falls but all of a sudden it's not letting me so I'll have to do that later.

Anyway, so far it's been a pretty good trip, but it really begins tomorrow; followed by nearly 18 hours of car/plane travel and layovers and THEN I'll be in Barcelona! I can't wait! :)