Today we start our Epic Adventures in Barcelona, Spain. What is great about this stop is that the ship does not leave until 8:00pm tomorrow. That gives us two full days to explore this city. We were first here back in 2016 during my 50th Birthday Mediterranean Cruise. The time change is still recking havoc and I was awake around 5:15am so I just stayed up and worked on stuff.
Once Nana and I got moving, we headed down to the Garden Cafe to enjoy the great selection of breakfast items in the buffet. We ran into Teresa and Jon and then found Darlene outside by the pool. After getting fuelled up, it was back to the cabins to pick up our stuff before heading out for the day.
Rick Steves recommends pre-booking any attractions to avoid being disappointed. Therefore we took that advice and did booked many of places we wanted to see during this trip. For today, we had booked Sagrada Familia for 1:15pm and Park Guell for 3:30pm.
We met up with Paul and Jen outside the ship and then we got into a somewhat long line for the Cruise Port Shuttle Bus. The bus (single ticket 3.00 Euros, return ticket 4.50 Euros) which is provided by the port takes you from your ship to a stop at the World Trade Center Barcelona. It is then about a five minute walk to the Columbus Monument which is the start of La Rambla.
La Rambla is a 1.2km tree-lined pedestrian street that houses many shops, restaurants and markets. Actually it can be broken down into smaller streets. For example Rambla de Sant Josep is the part of the street where there are open air flower markets. I just love how the trees cover the street. It took us about twenty minutes to make our way to Placa de Catalunya which is considered to be the city centre. This is where we picked up the hop on hop off bus through Barcelona Bus Turistic. We decided this would be the best way to get around the city and the 48 hour pass (39.60 Euros for adults, 35.10 Euros for seniors) would allow us to see more.
We boarded the Blue Route bus and three stops later we were at Sagrada Familia. Our guided tour (30.00 Euros for adults, 23.00 Euros for seniors) was scheduled for 1:15pm but you are allowed to enter forty-five minutes earlier so that you can explore the basilica. Since it was only 12:00pm, we grabbed a quick bite and lots of water because it was another hot day.
Sagrada Familia is the largest unfinished Catholic Church in the world. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi and construction started in 1882. In 1926 when Gaudi died, the project was only 25% complete.
After doing our own little mini tour, we met up with our guide Alexandria. The next hour was spent walking around learning all about this church. I can not remember even ten percent of what Alexandria told us but there were a couple of points that stuck with me. The outside of the church is made up of three facades which chronicle Christ’s life … Nativity, Passion and Glory.
The morning light shines through the cool toned stained glass while the evening light shines through the warm toned stained glass. This is a place that needs to be experienced in person. When Karen and I were here in 2016, they had hoped that the church would be completed in 2024. Alexandria told us that now 2030 is the new target date. We have subsequently learned that the church will never be completed. Because once it is finished, taxes will have to be paid.
We did the mandatory stop in the gift shop before getting back on the bus for the short ride to the Park Guell stop. Just was we got off of the bus and started walking for the park, the Paisley Maloneys joined us. I had read that it was about a fifteen minute walk straight up hill and Nana did pretty good until we got to the entrance. By this point, Nana was pretty tired and hot and so we decided that she would stay there and we would pick her up on the way back.
Park Guell was originally conceived by Eusebi Guell to be an upscale housing development. The designer was Antoni Guadi. The project began in 1900 and with the outbreak of World War I, construction was stalled and never resumed. By 1922, it became a public park for all to enjoy.
Our tickets (10.00 Euros for adults, 7.00 Euros for seniors) were for 3:30pm and the climb to get to the actual entrance was brutal. Karen and I did not realize there was so much more to the park than what we experienced when we were here seven years ago. There was a lot of walking but finally we made our way to Nature Square which is surrounded by a mosaic tiled bench. The panoramic views of Barcelona from here are stunning.
We slowly made our way down to the exit and then realized that it was nowhere near where we left Nana. We ended up walking back to where the bus dropped us off and Dave and Michael retraced our steps and headed back and got Nana. It was now two hours after we left her. We learned that she had quite the adventure. I do not want to give out too many details but it did involve undercover police officers and her being a translator for a Polish couple who almost got robbed. We had quite a good laugh on the bus ride back to Placa de Catalunya.
The walk back to the Cruise Port Shuttle Bus stop took much longer than this morning. I think the heat did everyone in. By the time we got back to the ship, it was around to 7:30pm. We were thinking of having dinner in the buffet but Karen had the great idea of going to one of the main dining rooms. We hit up Taste and had a really good meal while firming up our plans for tomorrow. It was after 9:00pm when we finished dinner so it was off to bed.
18060 steps, 13.47 kms
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