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| Spanish architecture |
We were up and going
by 7am in preparation for disembarkation.
We had breakfast at Raffles and then had to spend some time trying to
straighten out some issues with our on-board account, which were definitely not
resolved to our satisfaction. We have
been on many cruises and discovered that Norwegian does a few things very
differently than the rest of the industry and it cost us some extra money and
some frustration. After that, we went
back to our cabin to collect our luggage and took advantage of the walk-off
disembarkation where you could leave by the gangway, with your luggage,
whenever you chose to do so.
We caught the metro to
Sants Train Station and found the luggage lockers where we could store our luggage
for the day. We rented a large locker
for €5,20 which stored three smaller suitcases and a couple of backpacks as well as a couple of other lockers that fit the rest of the luggage.
Our Dad was having issues with his knees and
did not want to do much walking so we got him settled in a quieter area of the
station and then the rest of us headed back downstairs to catch the metro to
the Diagonal stop, near La Pedrera. La
Pedrera is a building designed by Antoni Gaudi and is a very unique sight to
see. We did not want to pay the €16,50pp
entrance fee but paid €3pp to access the exhibition in the gallery on the
second floor that we accessed through the atrium of the building, which is a
work of art unto itself! We really
enjoyed the exhibition and found out all about Gaudi’s
influences and saw many of his other creations.
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| The atrium |
Next we decided to walk to La Sagrada
Familia, the famous ornate church designed by Gaudi. It took about 15-20 minutes of leisurely
walking to get to the lovely park near to the church. It really was the craziest church I had ever
seen. At first it just looked like
something that came out of someone’s crazy dream but the more we looked at the
details, the more it grew on us.
Construction of the church began in 1882 and is still ongoing to this
day. Cranes are an ever present sight
around the tall spires of the church. Word
is that they plan to be finished within five years in time for some particular
anniversary but time will tell if this happens.
We did not go inside the church proper but did climb up the inside of
one of the spires and crossed over and descended from another.
It was Fiesta Nacional de Espana, a
national holiday, so the streets were quite full of people with their faces
painted yellow and red and waving flags.
We heard that there was a big football (ie: soccer) game going on as
well.
We caught the metro back to the train
station to pick up Dad and then took the metro to Plaza Catalunya (a central
hub in Barcelona) with a goal to find a place to eat. My sister and our friend went to a tapas
restaurant while Mom, Dad, Dave and I kept looking for a restaurant that served
something that was within the restrictions of Dave’s diet. It was almost mid-afternoon and we found a small
restaurant on a side street off Las Ramblas (main boulevard) and got refueled, as
we were all quite hungry by that time.
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| The Metro |
After lunch, we wandered down Las Ramblas
and got some sorbet for dessert at Amorino Gelato el Naturale. They made artisanal gelato and sorbet and the
flavors were bold and refreshing, as it was a warm day. We savored our tasty treats as we strolled
down the boulevard taking in all of the people and goings on. We walked until we came to a metro stop near
to the end of Las Ramblas and caught the metro back to the train station to
pick up our luggage.
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| Delicious gelato treats |
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| Strolling along Las Ramblas |
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| La Boqueria Market |
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| Gorgeous architecture |
We needed to take the train to El Prat
airport, instead of the metro. We waited
about a half hour for the train and it took another 20-25 minutes to get to the
airport where we then began a long saga of trying to catch the hotel shuttle to
Frontair Congress Aeropuerto. Suffice it
to say that it took several phone calls and close to an hour before the shuttle
arrived and then it only had space for two of our six people and they would not
agree to come right back to get the other four, so they had to pay for a cab to
the hotel (€40).
The hotel itself was basic and clean but
on the worn side. The front desk staff were
rather surly and unfriendly, but mercifully efficient. Eventually, we got checked into our rooms
which were a great deal at €69 each. The
hotel was very conveniently located next to a shopping plaza that also included
a very large grocery store where we had fun exploring all of the foreign foods
and picking up the makings of a picnic supper along with some snacks for our
flight the following day. I would
recommend the hotel based on the price and convenience but with full knowledge
that the free airport shuttle may not be a real selling feature. We were able to book spots on an early
shuttle to the airport the next morning and had no issues with that trip.
Thus ended our incredible Mediterranean
adventure! We were already talking about
a return trip to Europe before we were even finished this trip. The cruise allowed us to experience five
countries and ten different stops which gave us a small taste of each place so
we could determine which places we wanted to return to someday. I hope you have enjoyed your virtual trip
along with us and that you have gained some knowledge so if you are travelling
to these same spots, you will not feel so unprepared for what you will
encounter. Bon voyage!!
