Day 14: At Sea and Arrival in Barcelona
Today was a bit strange and different. We would not be reaching Barcelona until around 2PM and we had to at least start packing our bags so they could be left outside our room no later than 11PM. Steve took about 90 minutes to pack… I think it took me three hours J.
We had gotten in the habit over the course of the last week of having breakfast delivered to our room between 8:00 and 8:30. We both thought this a most civilized practice and enjoyed it mightily.
The air outside at sea was very humid and warm. It was a bit foggy all the way into Barcelona. The first thing we saw were several container ships waiting for berth space in the harbor, then we saw what looked like a refinery and finally the city itself.
It was very hazy and/or foggy as we came in to the pier, so there was no point in trying to take many pictures. We headed upstairs for a quick bite (along with almost everyone else on board) and waited for the notice on the ship’s public address system that we were cleared to leave the ship (for the day).
We left the ship as a group of eight but had to take two different cabs into town. Our driver was a very animated (and furry) man who spoke very fast and almost gave Steve a nervous breakdown when trying to understand the fellow. He let us out at the statue of Christopher Columbus at what is sort of the “bottom” of the city center or core area. From here it was a short walk to Las Ramblas: a wide and spacious pedestrian promenade stretching for at least a mile heading north into the city. There were many street vendors with booths set up, along with the most amazing assortment of “living statues”. These people were always alone, always dressed up as some interesting character (Gunman, Courtesan, Reaper, Devil) and usually heavily painted from head to toe in a single color to enhance the effect.
Once we made our way to the end of Las Ramblas we turned left and just sort of wandered for awhile. It was quite warm and getting warmer and we were all happy to duck into a shop here and snap a photo there. We did hook up with “the girls” about the time we started our walk so we all moved together – after a fashion. We decided to stop for some tapas in a restaurant and Tim and Rick declined and continued rambling on their own. The food was pretty good – not inspired, but we needed the rest and the nibbles.
After food we were refreshed and decided to go check out our upcoming accommodations: The Axel Hotel (http://www.axelhotels.com/en/ ). A very nice place… if a bit reminiscent of an upscale bath house ;-). Lots of white tile in the lobby, a loft area with two computer terminals for guest use, lovely rooftop deck with a pool and a bar. Quite nice. We confirmed our reservations and headed back to the ship for a little nap before our last dinner together on the ship.
I decided to go “loud” for dinner as it was a casual night, wearing my new orange jeans from Rome and my royal purple dress shirt with my new green paisley tie and green and brown boat shoes! Michael Brooks took several shots of me before dinner so I should get them soon and be able to post them.
BTW, if you haven’t seen them yet check out the photos we’ve uploaded to Flickr. It’s a great site where you can view other’s pics in a slideshow or just view as a list – and post comments too! Check it out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79042299@N00/sets/ .
We all met in the Cova Café (the coffee bar) on the fifth deck for drinks before dinner and some last minute group photos (which I’ll post as soon as I get them).
I don’t remember what we had for dinner that last night – probably shrimp cocktail for me and escargots for Steve for appetizers. That’s what we had almost every night. It is kind of difficult to screw up shrimp cocktail… Dejan our waiter was very sweet and took some great group photos of us on the grand staircase that flows into the main dining room from the floor above. We even managed to get him, his assistant, and the maitre d as well in some shots. I was really going to miss Dejan. He was such a very sweet young man. He told us the night before that he was finally going to get to go home after being on the boat for eight months with no break. He missed his newborn daughter’s first words and her first steps. That was very sad. I was very happy for him and I know we all wished him all the best.
After dinner I took the laptop out to the Martini bar for some last minute blogging and to use up some of the internet time that was going to waste… at 50 cents a minute, and then toddled back to the room to put out our bags for the staff to pick up.
We had gotten in the habit over the course of the last week of having breakfast delivered to our room between 8:00 and 8:30. We both thought this a most civilized practice and enjoyed it mightily.
The air outside at sea was very humid and warm. It was a bit foggy all the way into Barcelona. The first thing we saw were several container ships waiting for berth space in the harbor, then we saw what looked like a refinery and finally the city itself.
It was very hazy and/or foggy as we came in to the pier, so there was no point in trying to take many pictures. We headed upstairs for a quick bite (along with almost everyone else on board) and waited for the notice on the ship’s public address system that we were cleared to leave the ship (for the day).
We left the ship as a group of eight but had to take two different cabs into town. Our driver was a very animated (and furry) man who spoke very fast and almost gave Steve a nervous breakdown when trying to understand the fellow. He let us out at the statue of Christopher Columbus at what is sort of the “bottom” of the city center or core area. From here it was a short walk to Las Ramblas: a wide and spacious pedestrian promenade stretching for at least a mile heading north into the city. There were many street vendors with booths set up, along with the most amazing assortment of “living statues”. These people were always alone, always dressed up as some interesting character (Gunman, Courtesan, Reaper, Devil) and usually heavily painted from head to toe in a single color to enhance the effect.
Once we made our way to the end of Las Ramblas we turned left and just sort of wandered for awhile. It was quite warm and getting warmer and we were all happy to duck into a shop here and snap a photo there. We did hook up with “the girls” about the time we started our walk so we all moved together – after a fashion. We decided to stop for some tapas in a restaurant and Tim and Rick declined and continued rambling on their own. The food was pretty good – not inspired, but we needed the rest and the nibbles.
After food we were refreshed and decided to go check out our upcoming accommodations: The Axel Hotel (http://www.axelhotels.com/en/ ). A very nice place… if a bit reminiscent of an upscale bath house ;-). Lots of white tile in the lobby, a loft area with two computer terminals for guest use, lovely rooftop deck with a pool and a bar. Quite nice. We confirmed our reservations and headed back to the ship for a little nap before our last
I decided to go “loud” for dinner as it was a casual night, wearing my new orange jeans from Rome and my royal purple dress shirt with my new green paisley tie and green and brown boat shoes! Michael Brooks took several shots of me before dinner so I should get them soon and be able to post them.
BTW, if you haven’t seen them yet check out the photos we’ve uploaded to Flickr. It’s a great site where you can view other’s pics in a slideshow or just view as a list – and post comments too! Check it out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79042299@N00/sets/ .
We all met in the Cova Café (the coffee bar) on the fifth deck for drinks before dinner and some last minute group photos (which I’ll post as soon as I get them).
I don’t remember what we had for dinner that last night – probably shrimp cocktail for me and escargots for Steve for appetizers. That’s what we had almost every night. It is kind of difficult to screw up shrimp cocktail… Dejan our waiter was very sweet and took some great group photos of us on the grand staircase that flows into the main dining room from the floor above. We even managed to get him, his assistant, and the maitre d as well in some shots. I was really going to miss Dejan. He was such a very sweet young man. He told us the night before that he was finally going to get to go home after being on the boat for eight months with no break. He missed his newborn daughter’s first words and her first steps. That was very sad. I was very happy for him and I know we all wished him all the best.
After dinner I took the laptop out to the Martini bar for some last minute blogging and to use up some of the internet time that was going to waste… at 50 cents a minute, and then toddled back to the room to put out our bags for the staff to pick up.
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