Greg's Odyssey

And we're off....Finally made it to Barcelona around 11:00 I think local time.  Our plane had a problem with its navigational system in Philly and was delayed in taking off for about an hour and half, not cool but Im glad they fixed our navigation since we did fly across the Atlantic. 

Due to my mother the travel agent and the wonderful AAA guidebook she gave me, I was able to quickly (relatively fast considering my gargantuan backpack teeter tottering me around) find the aerobus that travels from the airport to the center of the city.  Cheap in far and pretty much empty, it gave me a nice view of the city coming in.  The city itself is absolutely stunning with ornate Romanesque architecture everywhere and huge plazas with fountains and tourists everywhere.  I made it to Las Ramblas and Placa de Catayluna today which are near my apartment.  Las Ramblas is like Alvera street with trinket shops and street performers everywhere.  This is supposedly one of the worst places for pickpocketing but I escaped scott free.  I also wandered into a random bar on a sidestreet that was showing the world cup game.  After managing to spit out some Spanglish I had a delicious beer on tap and watched the game with the locals.

Before venturing out however, i managed to locate my residence for the next three weeks.  Set on a beautiful tree lined boulevard with wrought iron lamp posts, the apartment is currently undergoing construction on the ground floor as there is not posted address except for a very dusty small sign "don quijote" (the name of my school).  After depositing 150 euros for the room with front desk and wondering how the hell does this place cost so much, I realized my luck had changed when I opened the door of my apartment to find a BALCONY onto the main drag.  Realistically, the place isn't bad with the same type of old school neat architecture yet the internet is stagasaraus slow in that you have to be in the common area to really have a good connection.

There's about 28 rooms here in the complex and I have already met some great people including a college grad in Spanish from Philly, a Norwegian bartender, and two Brazilian friends who are currently chattering away in Portuguese right next to me apparently upset about something.  They are all very nice and eager to learn Spanish, some more advanced than others.  Also all kind enough to help me out with directions to the school, for in the morning at 8 AM I have a Spanish placement exam.

On that note, buenos noches.