On that Thursday morning, our wake-up call did not work, nor did we receive our breakfast in our stateroom, as we'd ordered it the night before. We quickly learned not to bother with the wake-up call, and instead relied on the sunshine streaming through our balcony windows to rouse us. As for breakfast, when we wanted it in our room, we just made sure to put the card out early in the evening so it wouldn't be missed. That was annoying, though.
We had signed up for the Barcelona Sights and Flamenco Show excursion for that morning, so we quickly showered and dressed before going down to the Vista Lounge to meet up with the rest of our group at the proper time. We had no idea what to expect, but the tours were so well organized that we quickly caught on to the program. We just had to stay together to make sure we would be on the same bus, because many buses sometimes went to the the same places - but that was no problem. We rarely left each other's sides during the trip.
We soon went out to our bus and met our wonderful, amazing font of information of a tour guide, Eva. She was absolutely incredible, the best tour guide we had on this trip. And away we went! This lobster was created by Javier Marsical for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, welcoming you to the port.
Here is the Lichtenstein Statue; I can't remember if it was also created for the Olympics or just what. Sorry about the big parking sign in front, I just had a quick view of it from our coach.
A downtown Barcelona street, on our way to the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. See all the scooters? They were everywhere in Europe, and they don't seem to be restricted to the same driving rules as cars, because they could zip in and out of traffic at will, riding even on the wrong side of the street.
Eva, our wonderful tour guide, who had an incredible memory for names, dates, places and facts. After we drove past the Columbus Monument, saw the Olympic art shown above, the Picasso museum and residence and Via Haietana - the most important street in Barcelona - we got off our bus and followed her into the Gothic Quarter, with its ancient cathedral and its Roman walls.
The spires of the ancient cathedral, now under renovation
The cathedral undergoing renovation, in the Gothic Quarter
Eva stopped in Cathedral Square to give us more information about St. George's Day, and how it coincides with the Fair of the Book and is the day of Love. This day falls on April 23rd for the people of Barcelona, instead of St. Valentine's Day.
Peering into the courtyard of the cathedral, where visitors were not permitted
Looking up the moldy, musty walls of the cathedral
We were warned about the pickpockets being everywhere in Barcelona, but we were not quite prepared when Eva walked right up to the suspects and pointed them out, shouting for all the world to hear, "Pickpocket, pickpocket, pickpocket!" as they scurried away. We all murmured in wonder. Fortunately, we escaped Europe without incident, but others on our ship were not so lucky.
The neighboring apartments of the cathedral. We saw the bishop driving out of his apartment, in the cathedral.
Another inner courtyard of the cathedral
Another tour from HAL coming through the courtyard
I'll be darned if I can remember what's so special about this doorway!!
Right inside the cathedral's courtyard, this professor was teaching his class on the steps. Nearby, yet another street musician played his beautiful music. They were everywhere, but unlike what you might find in NYC, they played more classical-type music. We loved it and tipped the ones we most enjoyed, a half-Euro or so (about $1US).
Across the way, in St. James' Square - it's just amazing how Europeans live amongst all the old buildings like it's nothing, isn't it?
The buildings in much of Europe are so close to each other, you can practically touch each other from across the street. And yes, cars actually drove through these narrow passageways!
More of St James' Square
A beautifully ornate doorway in the Square
Another view into another lovely courtyard, off St. James' Square
The mailbox at, I believe, the Bishop's residence. The animals signify something to the effect of - the mail is supposed to fly swift as a sparrow but really moves as slow as a turtle!
We made it back out onto Cathedral Square. Here, Eva gave us about 15-20 minutes to use the WC (Water Closet = bathrooms), shop for souvenirs, or do whatever we wanted with our free time. I made the most of it and bought postcards, Spanish fans, t-shirts for the kids, and a few other small items, while Rob visited the WC (is that really bloggable? Apparently it is). I used my Spanish again, for the first time since arriving at the Barcelona airport, to find out how much it all cost, where I could purchase stamps (on the ship, turns out), etc. Rob was proud of me, and I have to say, given how shy I am about using my Spanish with native speakers, I was too!
Rob was really interested in these little scooter-bike thingies with a roof!
Back on the bus... are you bored yet??
Here's another street lined with those ubiquitous scooters!
Just a really pretty building at an intersection we passed...
Milàs' House
The stone quarry house, which can be rented out for 9 000 Euros per month!
The house of famed artist Antonio Gaudí - that's a dragon on the roof!
More of Gaudí's house, with its characteristic rounded façades and windows
Another Gaudí design - what a shame that there is graffiti on it!
Rob found this museum sign interesting and amusing
We came now to one of the most stunning things I have ever seen in my life, La Sagrada Familia, or the Holy Family Church, designed by Antonio Gaudí. There are three façades to the church: This one, the Christmas façade, which is the only one Gaudí ever actually saw himself; the Passion façade, which was built by a Japanese cubist; and the Glorification façade, which has yet to be built. They represent the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The three towers represent Hope, Faith, and Charity - which we also saw represented elsewhere in our travels. The church is so beautifully detailed, and each thing on it stands for something significant, like the apostles. There are 420 different animal species represented on this, the Christmas façade.
The Christmas facade - you can see the old structure right next to the new. The old is made of sandstone (I think?) and is falling down, so they are rebuilding it now.
And do you see the "Christmas tree" at the top, in the middle of the four towers? That's actually a Cypress tree, the Catalàn symbol for eternal life.
We found this sign, across the street from La Sagrada Familia, very entertaining.
Can you see the tops of the towers? SO... ornate. I don't know how many times I'm allowed to use that word, but it applies so well here. Seriously, this church was breathtakingly gorgeous.
A gaggle of nuns files by...
Depiction of the birth of Christ
Mary.... moving around to the Passion Facade now
The beautiful stained glass windows
The neighbors protesting something about the church. I can't remember what, but I think it was the cost of the renovations and/or the building of the third facade, the Glorification?
Just a small part of the Passion Facade, showing the crucifixion of Christ. This was built by the Japanese cubist, who is still there working on it today.
You can see the cubism in this work, especially the head of Jesus. There were protests about this style, which conflicts with Gaudí's, as well as the fact that this was a naked Jesus.
Depiction of The Last Supper
Judas' betrayal kiss
Peter's three denials of Jesus
The condemnation
The whole of the Passion facade
Back on the bus, we passed through Aragon Street in Echampla Quarter, the biggest and one of the most expensive in the city. Barcelona, apparently, is the 3rd most expensive city in Europe. Here, we passed the National Palace.
Here we are walking through a small, quaint village, on our way to Tablao de Carmen to see the flamenco show. The village was very quiet, and then...
... the clapping, singing, stomping, chanting of the flamenco show brought us back to life! It was amazing. I have a video of here.
While we watched the show, we alternately sipped on water and some very strong sangria. We were given a snack of crackers, olives and potato chips. I was expecting some tapas, but alas, we ate what we received and we were happy and kept quiet! We sat at a table with Patty and Elaine, two sisters from the Florida panhandle on vacation together.
Yeah. This guy was really sexy. I normally don't like sweaty guys, but I would have made an exception. Of course, Rob had all kinds of things to say about him, whispered in my ear!
There were fragrant orange trees in the courtyard when we exited the show.
Of course, I can't remember now the significance, but everyone was fascinated by these chains on the wall. Something to do with lovers... I think?
We passed by the Olympic Village from '92. Here is the stadium.
Rear view of the National Palace
The Joan Mirò Museum - I love his work.
Aside from this guy's fat head, we watched as the three most important botanical gardens in Barcelona flew by the windows, on the climb up Monjuïc Mountain for a breathtaking view of the city.
The city of Barcelona, spread out before us.
Far away, from atop Montjuïc Mountain in the Colcerolla range, you could see La Sagrada Familia poking its way into the sky.
Also in the distance, you could see this phallic building, which has many nicknames - some nice, some not so nice. I'll let you guess what they were.
More of the city of Barcelona spread out below
Another nice way one could tour the city
Of course, this nitwit had to ruin my picture of this cool monument!
Rob was fascinated by this sculpture near the Columbus Monument.
Back at the terminal, after goofball Rob posted with this crazy bull, we did a little duty-free shopping. Very little: I bought some flamenco dresses for the girls. I'm sure you'll see a picture of them together in those in the coming weeks sometime! Again, I had to speak in Spanish. You will have people tell you that everyone in Europe speaks English, but this is simply not true. We would not have gotten by in Spain - especially on the return trip - so easily without my speaking the language, and I had to use a halting Spanish/Italian combination in Italy much of the time, too. In Greece and Croatia, well, we were screwed and relied heavily on hand gestures!
All the sailboats in the Mediterranean - the view from our balcony as we finally set sail
Our chocolate-covered strawberries had arrived in our stateroom during our absence, so we partook of them when we got "home." It was a good thing only two of those were white chocolate, because we both absolutely detest it. Of course, we picked it off and ate the juicy berries anyway.
The bench where I sat many times in the elevator lobby, waiting for a lift
Up on the Lido Deck, Jenny and the HAL Cats sang us into the evening, for the Sail Away party. Personally, I hated her voice...!
We sipped sangrias during the party - oh, you know what? We were supposed to have those glasses as souvenirs, but they must have been taken from our room, because I don't ever remember seeing them again. Whoops! If you get glass souvies on your trip, be sure and pack them away so your room steward doesn't abscond with 'em!
Ah, here we go: Tapas were served on the Lido Deck during the Sail-Away Party. I'm not entirely sure what everything was, but we were starving, so we ate it. Again, Patty and Elaine joined us at our table. I tried to get them to let me take their picture, but they would have none of it. Of course, they immediately asked if they could take ours!
It was formal night, and we had early reservations for a table-for-two, so we left the party early and went to our cabin to dress for dinner. In the dining room, the server insisted on taking our picture. You can see how thrilled we were.
The beautiful Mediterranean water outside our window at the dining room table
It seemed impossibly blue, and I wanted nothing more than to go swimming in it. But that would have to wait. For now.
For dinner, I had crab legs, and Rob had seafood fettucine with shrimp and lobster sauce. He had the chocolate soufflé for dessert. I forget what I had, but I'm sure it was delicious.
After dinner, we went to the Vista Lounge and sipped champagne (booze cruise! I know!) during the Captain's Toast. After that was over, we watched the Zuiderdam singers and dancers perform. They were quite good. I'm always critical of singing and dancing shows like that, being trained in both, but I was mostly very impressed. The male dancers were especially talented.
The rotating seahorse chandelier in the atrium
After the show, we wandered around, doing this and that. We wanted to go swimming, but once up on the deck, it became clear that we were on an old folks' cruise: The pools closed at 8:30 PM every night!!! What?! So we came down, Rob jumped on the bed a little, and changed clothes again. We went back up to the Lido deck for a late-night snack, and then we read our books with some cocktails, by the pool.
Tomorrow, stay tuned for Monaco and France!
Fin.
OMG! All the pictures! Finally! LOL
I need one of those dog poo signs for my yard. And I looooove scooters. I soooo want one.
This post was well worth the time you spent on it. :-)
Posted by: Nadine | July 12, 2008 at 08:37 AM
Yay! I'm so glad to FINALLY hear the details! It sure looks like you had a great time! I'm so glad you could go.
That church is amazing.
Posted by: Stephanie | July 12, 2008 at 01:00 PM
fun, fun, fun! I can't wait for the pics of Greece!
Posted by: Ruby | July 12, 2008 at 02:16 PM
Wow, great photography and great places. I love the volcanic island and all the sunshine (even if it was hot). And thank goo'ness you got at least one shot of some fishies in there! ;)
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awesome picture in awesome Barcelona :)
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