When we got our bags, I decided I was too sick to mess with the shuttle and walking back to the hotel. Thankfully, it was the same Hotel Gaudi that we stayed at initially, so there wasn't any real thought into where we needed to go or what to expect. We caught a cab at the taxi stand just outside the doors where we picked up our bags. The cabbie knew just where to go, including which sidewalks to drive on when the narrow street was blocked. Chrissy brought the bags in and headed off for sightseeing. We had planned to go back and see a few things in detail this time, but I just couldn't do it, and I saw no reason to hold Chrissy back. She wasn't sick.
The hotel couldn't let me check in that early, but they stored our bags and let me upstairs on the rooftop terrace, where I took some pictures of the beautiful scenery and went back to sleep.
Chrissy sent me some awesome shots of La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell and a few other places. They served to let me know everything was fine, and I could go back to sleep. Sometime in the mid afternoon, a lady came up to the roof and let me know our room was ready and our bags had been delivered to them. So, I went downstairs and checked in, texted Chrissy the room number, letting her know to pick her key up at the desk, and promptly went to bed.
Chrissy came in at some point, and we went to the restaurant downstairs. I was able to keep a ham sandwich down, but I had to eat it slowly. Just so you know, as of that morning, I was able to keep water down, too, and had been drinking water all day. After dinner, we went back upstairs. I took a shower, and guess what I did!! I went to bed.
The next morning, I was feeling a little better, but still wasn't good. We took a cab to the airport and found that our flight had been significantly delayed, and we had been booked onto a later flight on a different airline. Except they didn't book it. After a couple of trips back and forth between the desks trying to check in, I finally got a manager who did manage to get the tickets taken care of. After we were taken to our gate, Chrissy walked back and got some breakfast and brought me a croissant. When we landed in Heathrow, Chrissy headed out to get lunch. I met her at the gate. I survived the flight back to Seattle, though it was not fun at all. With my fever and the sleeping on and off, I was, unfortunately, a little smelly by the time we got off the plane. I also felt bad about the possibility of others catching whatever I had, but The airline wasn't going to put me on a new flight because I had a stomach bug. After Chrissy gathered Grandkitty up where Bruce had been kitty sitting and headed back to her place, I took a shower and - what? You got it. I went to bed. I felt better by the next day. Not quite 100%, but enough to eat a real meal.
As for the after action on the cruise, I think this was my last canned trip. The last couple of trips have been good, and I've enjoyed them, but I prefer to go back to setting my own time tables and schedules. I want to do my own research for places to go and places to see instead of relying on someone else, and I want to have the option of spending more time in a place, I want the option to do that. I don't want to be so focused on keeping up with the group that I can't fully enjoy the scenery. The guided tours haven't been any better than what I've been able to get at a particular site individually. These were fine when I was younger, but at this point, we'll be going on our own from now on. No more keeping somebody else's schedule.
No comments:
Post a Comment