BCN: 2,3,4...

I find it quite interesting...

I've been in Barcelona for less than 2 days, swum 3 practices, and they've been in 4 different pools.  I have yet to swim in the same pool twice.

The first pool was on the beach, which was absolutely beautiful.  It opened right up with no walls or glass between the pool and the sea, but there was a roof overhead.

The pool(s) that I went to this morning were the competition pool (stadium style) and the warm-up pool, which is on the complete other side of the building.  Then this afternoon we swam at an outdoor pool on the side of the mountain.  We took a long, winding road up the mountain to get there.  It was actually quite scary because there was a real chance that the bus was going to go over the edge.  I only wish I had known we were swimming outdoors so that I could've packed my 2-piece because I got a pancake tan after being in the water for only 30 minutes.

Anyway, we'll see what pool the bus takes me to tomorrow!  I can't imagine there's any more....

BCN: A Closer Look

So it seems as though uploading pictures is going to be a bit of an issue.  The internet is really slow so I'll only be able to upload so many.  Here is what I have so far...

My Hotel Room

This is the souvenir from the games.  I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it looks to me like a metal... minus the metal part.  Maybe it's meant to say "a medal for everyone and even if you don't win one, you can always remember that you didn't win one". ;)  No I'm only kidding, it will be something nice to remember the World Championships with.  I will definitely never forget it!

Inside, it says: BARCELONA 2013 15th FINA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

This is my accreditation card, but you don't need it even half as much as you did in London.  The security is much more relaxed (as was expected).

Scenic bus rides to the pools

We've been blessed with beautiful weather to accompany the scenery :)

These are all of the photos I have for now, but I'll take more tomorrow and upload them ass soon as I get a chance.

One thing I should mention is that dining hours at the hotel are not anything close to the times I eat at home.  Lunch is okay: 12:30-3:30 so can't complain too much about that, but dinner isn't available until 8pm... I get really hungry so I've started eating 2 lunches.  One at 12:30 and another at 2ish to tide me over during practice.

BCN: First Impressions

I have arrived!  Unfortunately, the hotel doesn't have the best internet service in the world so posts will come and go.  I have to sit in the lobby to access the internet, but sometimes it's a nice change of scenery.

I am staying in one of the hotels that were designated for the different teams.  So far I have also seen South Africa, Great Britain, Senegal, Kenya, Georgia, and Latvia at my hotel.  It's such a weird feeling getting into an elevator with someone and not knowing if they'll understand your friendly, "Hello! Where are you from?".

Since arrival, I have seen the training pool and the competition pool.  Both are great pools (pictures to come).  The training pool is right on the beach to the sea.  You can literally walk out of the pool and into the sea.  It's incredible.  The competition and warm-up pool are what one would expect, but I will try to remember to take a picture tomorrow anyway.

The bus ride to the pool is LONG.  There are different bus lines, but they all stop at multiple hotels so it takes a little while to get to the pool.  The good news is, there is an amazing view along the way!

I am going to take some pictures around the hotel and post them soon.  I will also take pictures of the pools and have those up later today or tomorrow.