First Entry...

First off i want to apologize for taking so long to publish my first post. We are both still alive and well, minus April´s passport, debit card, and drivers license, but we´ll get to that later. Our flight left LA at 3:30pm on Thursday and was nonstop to Paris. So, we landed on Friday at noon in Paris after very little sleep on both our parts because of the individual tv´s at each seat with the 100+ movie library to choose from. We almost felt like we had to watch movies just to get our moneys worth and to watch movies that we would never watch otherwise. After getting our bags and through customs, it took us a little bit to figure out how the metro/train system works in Paris. But we figured it out and were on our way. We found our cute little cheap hotel pretty easy. It was about 1000 meters from the Eiffel tower so that was fun. So, still barely walking from the lack of sleep, we stumble into the hotel, drop our stuff off and get on our way immediately. No time to waste. We took a stroll over to the Eiffel tower. Walking through the narrow streets through the typical parisian architecture was far more intriguing than i imagined it would be. The Eiffel tower was pretty cool. the line was too long so we didnt want to go up it. I felt like i was in the Paris hotel in Vegas almost. So we then walk down the river to the Museum d´Orsay which is in an old train station. unfortunately we arrive there at 5:02 and they close the doors at 5:00 so that was upsetting. so we hang outside the for a little bit and then continue our stroll, which by now had become at least 2 miles, and head through the Tulieries gardens and up the main street to l´arche de triomphe. So here we are walking on barely any sleep and walking several miles. it was quite exhausting. Needless to say that night was much needed sleep. The next morning we sleep in and then then catch a train to the Chateau Versailles which was immense and amazing. way over the top and extravagant. great to see. after that we head over to a few old churchs and on to Catedral Notre Dame which was pretty awesome. We then continued walking through downtown Paris and around the Latin Quarter. We had to cut our stroll short and head back to the hotel to get our stuff and head to the airport to Barcelona. We then find out that there is an Ash cloud covering barcelona and the close the airport and cancel all flights to Barcelona. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:45pm. they told us we could go the next morning but what if the cloud was there the next day? so we ended up switching our flight to go to Valencia, Spain which is about 300 kilometers south of Barcelona. Our original intent was to get to Valencia and take a train or bus to Barcelona but then our flight didnt arrive until after midnight. So here comes another sleepless night... So we wait in a car rental line for over an hour to find out there are no cars to rend and even if there were cars they were 280 euros per day (roughly 350-400 dollars). So we figure we will just find a cozy place in the airport and sleep until morning and get a train or bus then. We found a nice bench and April goes to sleep while I go and try to find internet and to make some phone calls. I figure out that we should just head to the train station in downtown Valencia because the first train leaves at 5:00am. So i wake poor April up and we grab our stuff and she is missing her purse which has her passport, drivers license, cash, debit card, student ID and everything else. Apparently she thought it would be safe if she just layed it under her bench near her other stuff. not the case. somebody must have been by to snatch it. so now we have a whole new problem. we talk to the police to get the Embassy or Consulate information to get a new passport. which one of the main places is in Barcelona. so we decide to continue to the city to get the train for barcelona which ended up leaving around 8:45am. we both sleep as much as we can on the 3 hour train ride. then we get to barcelona, find our hostel, drop our stuff off and are off again to see the city. Definitely a different feel than Paris. Paris was much cleaner i thought and much classier people. It felt like I was watching ¨Devil Wears Prada¨ Everyone was extremely fashionable and classy in paris whereas that is not the case in Barcelona. Barcelona still has a pretty cool feel though. very narrow streets with tall buildings (taller than those in Paris I felt). not as clean though. we then head off just around the corner from our hostel to start our tour and realize that the Cathedral of Barclona is less than 200 yards away. really cool building. even cooler though was how we get there and there is a band on the steps of the cathedral and there are several groups of people in a cirle doing what looks like a greek dance. apparently this happens every Sunday starting around noon. It is called the Sardana dance. it was pretty exciting. after that we continue on to the Picasso museum which was awesome. it was so much cooler than i ever imagined it would be. me and april were both very happy with it. it was a good experience. then we grab a taxi and head to Sagrada familia cathedral which is GIGANTIC. its this huge cathedral that has been under construction since 1868. the architect is Gaudi. its amazing. we then went to a Park designed by the same architect. the park was so intriquite and detailed with mosaic benches and just spectacular in general. after which we come back and get some stuff from the room and then get some food from McDonalds. I had just been ripped off by a cab driver for about 15 bucks which i was not happy about. it make me realize i love Spain but i dont like Spaniards. they are snooty, aloof, ghetto, not nice, thieving, and swindling. Everyone talks about how the French(especially in Paris) are terrible. but all the french people we came in contact with were great. the spaniards are the problem. anyway, i was feeling very sick of spaniards and wanted something as american as possible, and what is more american than a big mac meal? nothing!! this big mac meal rivaled the one big mac meal i had in Peru. both, amazing. After dinner we head up to the fountains in front of the palace downtown which puts the bellagio fountains to shame in many ways. tons of water, tons of colors and awesome music. the fountains were so fun. definitely the most "fun" thing so far. it put us both in much better moods after the few pitfalls. then we came home and thats where we are now. i need to go to bed. sorry this post is so long. so just wanted to let everyone know that we are alive and well.