The Summer I Went to Europe - Day 1

Now that I've been back in reality for several days, I finally have a little time to update my blog about my trip.  Because this trip was AH-MAZING, I want to make sure I capture every moment and therefore, I am going to devote a post to each day of the vacation.  So...without further ado:

The trip began on Sunday, May 22, when our plane left Nashville at 1:00 pm.  I was soooooo glad to have a fairly late flight because we had all been up pretty late the night before because of the wedding shower...this proved to be a bit of a curse, but I'll get to that later.  Because I woke up that morning with a bit of a head cold, I loaded up on medicine and proceeded to get on the plane:

I love taking plane pictures...Patrick humors me and smiles.  =)

For those who don't know me, you don't realize what a worrier/control freak I can be.  It's gotten better as I have gotten older, but I have a seriously hard time just letting go of many different situations.  Patrick, on the other hand, is one of the most calm, cool, and collected people I know.  This will be a common theme throughout the entire trip, but it first became relevant on this first leg of our flight. 

Because we only had an hour layover, these are the thoughts going through my head during the flight from Nashville to JFK: 

• What if our first flight leaves late?
• What if we miss our flight because we can't get through the airport in enough time?
• What if our luggage doesn't make it on the second flight because they don't have enough time to transport it?
• What if I don't have time to go to the bathroom and I am stuck using only an airplane bathroom for the next 7 hours?
• I really want to grab a soda for the flight...what if I don't have time to grab anything to drink?

Needless to say, Patrick was convinced that everything would be okay, and sure enough it was...we got to the plane in plenty of time, and I was even able to grab a soda, too.  =)  Once I was finally on the plane to Barcelona, I was finally able to relax:

A much calmer, happier Melissa!

One thing I realized, though, is that even though I could relax, I definitely could not sleep!  Maybe it was my excitement, maybe it was the fact that we were traveling between 5pm and midnight "Nashville" time, but by the time we landed in Barcelona, I was one miserable lady!  Patrick (who was able to sleep a good 4 hours during the flight) was very patient with me, and did everything he could to make sure we got to the ship as soon as possible!

After getting on the ship, we ate a quick lunch and then headed to take a wonderful, glorious nap!  It was amazing and exactly what I needed to go on about my day and actually enjoy the ship.  That evening, we went to our first dinner and met the other people seated at our table.  One couple was in their mid-forties and lived in Boston and the other 2 were sisters-in-law, one of which lived in Connecticut and the other lived in Ireland.  After talking to her, Patrick and I both decided that Ireland was definitely going to the top of our "Must Visit" list!

After dinner, we explored the ship a little bit and took a few pictures:

Doesn't he look handsome?

Trying to capture the beautiful sunset behind us!

This picture makes me look tanned...it's all an illusion!

Finally, after a little gambling, it was time to head to the Royal Promenade for the DreamWorks Parade.  It was a great way to kick off the trip with some of the characters from DreamWorks movies.

This area is like "Main Street" on the ship!

Kung Fu Panda was definitely our favorite!

I think this is Donkey from Shrek?

And of course, no parade is complete without Shrek and Fiona!

Because we were heading into Cannes bright and early the next day, it was finally time to head to bed...all-in-all, it was a great day!