11 hours...

...are all it takes for Gretchen and Erin to get from Collioure, France, to Barcelona. Actual distance can´t be more than a few hundred kilometers...one could drive it in a few hours. But because there are exhorbitant fees when you return a car in a different country than you rented it from, we turned in our car and had the train situation all planned out...catch the 8:56 morning train and be in Barcelona by 2 pm or so. But alas, we ran into our first major travel mishap so far...the 8:56 was full, and so we sadly watched it go and settled in to wait for the next train at 1:45! After all the waiting, including another wait for a different train at a different station, we finally dragged ourselves into our room here in Barcelona around 7:30 pm...over 11 hours after we left this morning. But, always looking on the bright side, we made some keen observations today we would like to share:

*It´s easy to feel very safe in the train station when there are young French marines with serious shades and automatic weapons walking slowly amongst the waiting travelers.

*It´s OK to stick out your tongue at rude, staring little girls on trains, especially when they stick their tongues out at you first.

*The latest Euro summer fashion for men: white capri pants. They are everywhere, and the thinner the material, the better. Not just for Rafael Nadal anymore...

*No one shushes their children on Spanish trains....or stops them from hitting each other with their seat cushions.

*The loudest folks on the train, almost without fail: British and Americans. (Not us, though, of course. We travel as quietly as mice, except when Mama "steps" on my toes.)

In any case, after car, train, metro, and bewildered stumbling with suitcases through the streets, we are here, we are OK, and we are still glad to be traveling....more on Barcelona, hopefully with pictures, to come!

erin