Our ship sailed without us. Literally. We were rudely kicked out of our stateroom at 7:30 this morning. Well, nicely, not rudely, but we weren’t ready to go. We had a great time on the Norwegian Epic. The ship and company were excellent, with top notch service that always tried to please. We met some great passengers, including Lisa, who’s father spent the whole cruise in his stateroom ordering room service, to Jan and Judy from Atlanta, GA, when they sat next to us at Cagney’s Steakhouse on the last night. Fun people from all over with great stories to tell.
I can’t say enough about the crew as well. The staff was from all over. Lito, our cabin steward, went above and beyond, and at the watch counter, we chatted for a long time with a young woman from South Africia. She talked about the limitations about being from a country with restricted travel. For example, she couldn’t spend the night off the ship as she was a restricted national, or the ship would incur a large fine. Neither Sharon nor I had ever thought about travel being restricted by nationality. We are lucky to be from the US where we have very little travel limitations.
So, the Epic sailed about an hour ago, and we wouldn’t figure out a way to still be on it, so we are back to plan A, and are in Barcelona, part 3 of our trip. Our cab took us from the Port to our hotel, the Denit, near Place de Catalunya, a center square. Our hotel is down a narrow alley about a block of the square, and about 2 blocks from the start of Las Rambles. We dumped the luggage, and headed out to explore.
Nothing was moving really, as we were so early. We grabbed a quick croissant, and wandered down Las Rambles. Absolutely nothing was stirring, as it was both early, and Sunday morning. We went all the way to the port and explored a bit on the waterfront. Then we got a two day ticket for the Hop On/Hop Off double decker bus, and decided to tour the city.
(Pictures below are of the Columbus monument. It’s HUGE!)
The city is fascinating. The people here are very proud of their heritage, and it shows in their care of the city. There is the typical grafetti, but the city has maintained the old buildings along with the new. They don’t knock down something to build something else. Which is why you will see tall ‘sky scrapers’, but there are dotted throughout the city, and not in just one district.
The city is sinuous. That is the only way I can describe it. The style is a mix of Art Nouveau, typical European, and Modernist. The lines are curving, elegant, and reflect nature. Yet the traditional European style of 4-5 storied buildings that almost appear Georgian is there. Just looking like cupcakes that have been over-frosted. From Paris being over the top compared to London, so is Barcelona to Paris. It’s a fascinating place.
Our bus took us by Place d’Espanya, the home of 1929 World’s Fair grounds. From there you could see all the way up to the Catalyan Art Museum, way up on the hill of the Montjuic park. Our route then took us up to the museum, where we got off. The views were magnificent, and were were able to see some of the museum. It turns out that the first weekend of the month was free! (Pictures below are from the top of the hill, looking down on Place d’Espanya).
We toured the Renaissance and Gothic periods wing. The art was magnificently restored, and was all the more mesmerizing for it. (A couple of pictures follow. 1) lap dogs at the foot of an effigy, and 2) St George and the dragon).
We got back onto the bus and went to Olympic Park. We saw the stadium for the 
1992 Olympic Games, and the Olympic Caldron, where the flame was lit by an archer. I still have the newspaper picture of the archer shooting the arrow to light the flame up on my bulletin board at home, and have for 25 years. It’s always fascinated me! It’s so much fun to see it in person. The Olympic museum had just closed, but I was able to get a picture of the 2018 medals.
The 1992 Olympic Games was instrumental in reviving Barcelona. The city did a wholescale renovation, with the wholehearted backing of the citizens. The improvements were staggering, and very well done, benefiting the city in many ways. For example, Barcelona has always been known as a city ‘with it’s back to the sea’. The further from the sea, the higher the standard of living. With the arrival of the Olympics, the city planners took the waterfront area which was full of abandoned factories, and razed it, putting in the Olympic Athlete’s Village. They built the Village as apartments, and sold them after the Games. They sold out almost fully before the games. Now that area is a vibrant, popular district.
There are stories like this all over the city. A main thoroughfare had to be built through the heart of the city. Some of buildings were torn down, and some, including churchs, were rebuilt, stone by stone in another part of the city. This is a city who’s citizens are proud of both the physical place and the heritage, and do their best to keep it intact. The pictures below are a great case in point. The old Port building as been gutted, and is being renovated into a port museum. What a great way to keep the beautiful old building, and give it a new purpose.
The Montjuic park is one place that was designed for the citizens, and it is amazing. It’s huge, and the locals use it a lot. In one valley, from our bus window, we saw a riding ring with some small jumps, and a busy stable. There are lots of trails in the area as well. The main soccer stadium is up there, as well as lots of green space.
From there we rode the bus back down, and got off at Catalunya Square, and checked into our hotel. Our hotel is convient, and the customer service is great. But it looks like it was decorated in early IKEA. Sharon says no, IKEA is better quality. But it’s quirky, has free WiFi, breakfast and generally suits our needs.
We went out again after dark for dinner, (Italian, go figuere!), and wandered down Las Rambles, which had now come fully to life. The handcrafts are amazing, the the stalls of ice cream and candy are busy. I’m really looking forward to a week exploring this fascinating city.
More pictures of the city.
Above: Details of the Art Museum interior. It’s a feast for the eyes, just like the art!
Suzanne’s Travels 