Finally in la Barca

Finally got here intact! After some creative stuffing of valubles into a very small locker I´m ready to go explore. For some reason my wifi isn´t working on my laptop... so no pictures. Maybe itll work by tonight. Here´s a blog I wrote at the airport this morning-

Well I´ms itting herein the Vienna airport, attempting to write my next blog while waiting for the check in for my flight to open at 12. I still find it funny that word is automatically in spanish, even though I wrote the first paper I´ve written in two years in english only last week. Here in Austria, I´ve already gotten a somewhat spanish start to my trip to barcelona! After asking many people at Wien Sudbanhof where the heck the stop for the airport bus is and getting pointed in may different directions with varying levels of helpfulness/english (ah, europe), I finally found where I needed to be. the sign above the bus stop, ticking off the times each bus was supposed to arrive and depart, seemed to be slightly optimistic. The guy standing next to me )yes, the tall dark and handsome type about my age) didn´t seem so hopeful, as he kept eyeing his watch. A bus, which read "Wien Flughafen" (last time I checked that meant Vienna Airport=, was declared not our bus. the bus came and went without taking any passenfers and a few people started restlessly heading over to the taxi station, ¨"convienently" located next to the stop. It was then I realized that the man was speaking spanish into his phone When he hung up, I asked him ¿hablas aleman? (do you speak german?) to which he answered No, do you? He turned out to be a real cutie named Jesus, fairly worried about making his plane to Madrid. Though I wasn´t in a big rush myself, I felt a little bad for him (cough) so I offered that we share a taxi to the airport. It ended up he had been on vacation all around Austria for a while, turning out to be a real sweet guy. Ge even gave me some pointers on what I should go see in Barcelona, and waited to walk with me over to Iberia´s terminal. Maybe I should have gone to Madrid instead! (no dad I wouldn´t give you a heart attack) Too late though because he made his flight'--thanks to my heroics- which is boarding now and I´m sitting in the airport cafe, drinking my overpriced (3 euro!!!) cappucino, dreaming of spanish boys, and writing horrible run on sentences.

I´ve decided they should make it a rule that whenever on a trip to Europe, a fencer shouldn´t have to get up before 830 am. Getting up way early in the morning during a trip like this messes with my sleep schedule even more. I have decided though that the Austran train system is designed for fencing travel. Invredibly punctual, the OGG train system picked me up at EXACTLY 600.00001 am. Inside the train and eats were impeccably clean, and in the compartments the seats facing each other slide together to form a bed! Perfecto! I slept soundly until about 750, when a knock came at my compartment door. the nice lady sharing my compartment looked up and a potbellied man asked if he could squeeze in with us. Both prior occupants give the hesitant go-ahead-turned-mistake, as the man sits down and pulls two Becks out of his pocket. theother woman and I exchange looks as she also adds an exasperated rolling ofthe eyes. the man asks if it is ok that he smokes. Upon entering the train I had made a concerted effort not to share a compartment with a smoker. I did not know, however, how rude itis in Austria to say NO YOU CANT so (mistake mistake) I said¨"a little" in my sleep deprived state. The other lady then looks at me, at him, declares "NO FUME" and leaves in a hurry. Darn it! At this point I don´t want to give up my med so I hope desperately that he´lltake "a little" to heart and pretend to sleep so he doesn´t talk to me (he was a loud guy). Unfortunatly, and probalby what I get for not standing in solidarity with the lady, another man comes in to join him in a smoke ever after I told mr. potbelly ¨"outside!" The first 30 minutes of the rest of the train ride was spent getting used to the smoke, and the rest was spent dozing.

Hope you enjoy my little anecdotes of European travel. I have decided that although it is not my very favorite of all the places I´ve been, Austria is definitly the most beautiful!

The cabbie from the airport was really cool and he ended up telling me basically the area, where to go and where to avoid etc. Really sweet and helpful, so I tipped him! Off to las Ramblas for me! Plan- Don´t get robbed! =)