Choosing Our Adventure

Normally, I don’t subscribe to the idea of jetlag, but its’ a real thing and it can be brutal.

Having just endured several days of travel, heading eastward, we’ve finally arrived in beautiful Barcelona. Unfortunately, we arrived completely exhausted, and against all my better judgements to push on, our bodies won out.

Our plane had cameras on it

Our journey started early Saturday morning in Minneapolis and concluded yesterday, Monday afternoon here in Catalonia. In between we stopped in both Chicago and Munich, creating a lengthy, 24 hour trek. The flight out of Chicago began at 4pm Sunday, and try as best I might, I could not convince my body to sleep at any point on the flight. We arrived in Munich at 7am local time, but to our bodies it was just about midnight. As we deplaned, I quipped of feeling fresh and awake, and our brief 1.5 hour layover seems to parlay that feeling.

However, the ensuing two hour flight to Barcelona was to be our downfall. While short in overall flight time, it was just enough for us both to fall asleep, and our arrival had us weary and a bit zombie like. Arriving at our Airbnb, we had trouble getting in and had to wait around for help. The sitting and waiting heightened our exhaustion, and there was nothing we could do once inside the apartment, as we were both asleep within minutes.

Jet Lag derives from the simple fact that jets travel so fast they leave your body rhythms behind.

Horace Sutton – LA Times
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140523-the-science-of-jet-lag

The silver lining here is that we’re in Spain, home of the siesta! Our afternoon slumber was rewarded with an early evening stroll through the Gracia neighborhood, an early (by Spanish standards) dinner and a late-ish walk about.

We enjoyed the classic Potatas Bravas (brave potatoes), Jambon and bread, and chicken wings, washed down with a massive Aperoel Spritz, at the charming Sol Soler.

As we meandered about the barrio, we stopped to indulge in the quintessential Spanish snack, churros at the quaint Xurreria Trebol. Eli picked nutella filled and they did not disappoint.

Churros!

Arriving back at the apartment, we slowly started to fade again before calling it a day … jetlagged.