The next day Marianne and I had another trip back to Barcelona. We decided this trip we would walk the streets of Barcelona and check out the shops.

To our surprise, when we came out of the train station we found ourselves smack in the middle of a Palestine protest. We were smart enough to know that we needed to avoid such gatherings, so we quickly walked away to find some Barcelona treasures.

It was a beautiful day for shopping and taking in the sites of Barcelona.

We stopped for lunch at an outdoor cafe.

Now that we had a wonderful lunch, we needed to get back to find some shopping treasures.

We found our favorite boutique shop, La Chinata. This store has all kinds of olive oils with diverse hand made soaps, lotions, and much more all made with olive oil.

It was a grand day shopping. We found lots of exquisite items.

It was time to head back to our hotel, our hands were full and our bags heavy. A very successful day of shopping.

When we got back to the hotel, we decided to go to a tapas restaurant in the neighborhood near our hotel and dine with all the locals.

It was a relaxing night, being part of the neighborhood.

HURLING

So you must be asking yourself why the word hurling. I’m about to tell you the meaning of hurling to me. Marianne and I had a good night sleep. We were feeling great, ready to work our trip back to New York. I was working business class. Marianne was working coach. The Purser ( our #1 Flight Attendant) came to me and said she wasn’t feeling well. Fortunately, we were able to finish our lunch service for the passengers. Two hours into the flight, we got word that the captain was really sick. He was throwing up and he needed to be put on oxygen. For an international flight, we were still in good hands, we always fly with 3 pilots. I was feeling great. Still maintaining service to all the passengers. It was time for my 2 hour break. However, after laying down in the crew bunk for 5 minutes, I started to not feel well. I got up and could not stop vomiting. It was horrific. I never felt so sick. Meanwhile, another flight attendant in coach was now sick and also the 1st Officer was throwing up. We are now down 2 pilots. Fortunately, we had an American Airlines pilot as a passenger coming home from her brother’s wedding in Barcelona that came to the cockpit to help. She was so nice. She said to me, we were in good hands. Furthermore, American decided to land the plane in Boston instead of New York. The passengers were not happy; they had no idea that the crew was so sick. The plane was met by the paramedics and the 5 of us that were sick were taken off. The captain and the 1st flight attendant went to Mass General Hospital to be checked out. I refused to go to the hospital because I just wanted to go to a hotel and lay down. I was wheeled out in a wheelchair and put in an Uber with Marianne to go to a Boston Hotel.

The next morning I was feeling better and managed to fly home to San Francisco. Thank God I had Marianne by my side. We still don’t know what we had. It definitely wasn’t food poisoning. We never ate the same food. I believe it was an aggressive virus that took us down quickly. Marianne was wearing a mask the entire flight. I believe the mask saved her from this horrific virus. One never knows what the next minute will bring. One minute I’m whirling through the streets of Barcelona, then the next I’m hurling !! Being healthy is the crown that only the sick can see. I will never take being healthy for granted. May you all be blessed with good health!