Our fifth port in five days and yet another country, making 4 countries in three days. I had taken just one 5mg pill, but woke up at 3am and needed to take another! Expecting to be more dopey than usual, at getting up time, I was fine. We were due at Barcelona at 10am but I think we were at a standstill about 8am. Barcelona is a very popular cruise port so there are effectively 4 ‘parking bays, and we were on terminal C. This was the first port where they had their own gangway (like an airport air bridge) system and a modern terminal. The cruise ship on B was obviously at the end of a cruise as the queue for taxis was rather long, but there was a steady stream of taxis so at least the line was moving. Also berthed was the massive NCL ship – the Norwegian Epic.
As our Princess tour wasn’t until 10.30, there was time for breakfast and a quick trip to the library to pick up the ‘puzzle of the day’. This alternates between 3 or 4 Sudokus on one sheet, or a basic crossword. Whilst in the library I found out the location of the passenger who has been writing in to complain about Robert and Barbara’s accents. All I need to do now is eyeball the complainant... The ship has a wonderfully diverse crew and their accents are part of the charm of a World Cruise, so we think it is very mean spirited to write in and complain about the accents of two very popular crew members. Watch this space...
The city tour headed for the hills for a photo stop looking down on the city. There is a cable car for those wanting to do their own thing but as always, long queues. But the main stop was at the amazing, unfinished Basilica “La Sagrada Familia”. I had caught a glimpse of this project on the Discovery channel some time ago, but hadn’t connected it with our tour. It is totally pointless me trying to describe it, but unlike most cathedrals/basilicas and often fusty historic buildings, the interior is more akin to the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral, whilst the exterior is so far beyond ‘normal’ with no straight lines, that it is more Hogwarts castle than Winchester Cathedral. I loved it! The number of tourists made it a crowded experience (dratted cruise ships...) but nothing could detract from its impact. There is a museum attached showing the history of its development complete with plaster models and affair bit of the city’s favourite artist – Gaudie. The absence of straight lines is his signature and there are other buildings on the tour attributed to him. Barcelona’s Bull Ring is now a shopping centre.
Unlike the other European Cities, Barcelona was indeed planned, with each block 400m long, many wide tree lined streets and a traffic system that certainly seemed to work well enough – on a Sunday anyway. There was a Harley Davidson meet in town, so wherever we went, there were hundreds of them around. The regular locals on their scooters looked somewhat out of place at times. Some of the older streets are narrow especially on the fringe of the city.
We were just about back on the ship by the time the locals had seen their hero (Alonso) win the British GP on local TV, but a couple of passengers were in local bars as it was televised live. Not for us on the ship unfortunately.
A late lunch at 3pm board, before the trivia quiz. I got one tricky one right – “In which City is de Montfort University”.... I’m not even sure if the winners, who got 19/20, got that one. (Leicester...)
The “Beatles Celebration” played on deck though not in their Beatles gear this time, after the 8pm sailaway, for a popular deck party. I think these deck parties are as much for the cruise staff as for the passengers!
Just one 5mg pill tonight then a determination to not have any the night after...
Day 48 at Sea
Awake 6:20am and snuck into the bathroom and worked on a Sudoku so as to not disturb Paula, before an early shower. Back to a proper poached egg breakfast plus a doughnut with peach jam in it (I think). Whatever it was, it was delicious. Knocked out of carpet bowls in the first round, when the opposition, with the last bowl, knocked Paula’s great shot out of the way. Ah well, it gave us time for a coffee before the chef’s cooking demo – Gnocchi. (Reminded me of brother Dave’s name for it many, many years ago – “gromiks”... That only goes to show that some Brits were aware of foreign food over 55 years ago.)
Alana’s 11:30am dance class was a revision of the Latin. We love the Merengue - Alana style. At 1pm, Barbara (pronounced as it is written, not Barbra) gave us a short lesson in Portuguese which might be useful, as my grandson’s lovely Brazilian mother, speaks to young Noah in Portuguese. However, missing off our list was the translation for “please change your baby’s nappy”.
Quiz was no better (or worse!) without Ros and Arnold, but Randy and Carole joined us for dinner, as they will be permanently on our table after Dover, when Colin & Judy leave and we take a 2 week break.
At Alan & Alana’s evening session, we sat next to a couple from Oxton (Nottinghamshire), just a matter of a couple of miles from where Mum was born and bred. Terry is ex-knitwear and used to work on the same road as me. Small world. We did have a couple of dances (with Paula, not Terry...) and bed at midnight – but NO pills.
In port again tomorrow, but this was not on the original schedule. Gibraltar replaced Casablanca when the engine problem forced a revision. Arrival time is 7am.
My internet usage has worked out quite well. Before this is actually posted, I think that out of the 500 minutes purchased, I’ll have about 50 left with just a few days to go, so if Paris isn’t loaded immediately, (we’ll be too late getting back anyway), I’ll just have to add it whilst in the UK. Meanwhile, after Gibraltar, we have Lisbon.
Hard to accept that we are almost in England, yet May 24th seems like yesterday. At the time, we really did wonder how we would cope with so long at sea and more than once, we debated whether or not we would cope. Our fellow cruisers, on the table particularly, the Crazy Cruisers from the Cruise Critic message board, our fellow dance class companions, casual meal companions, quizzers and many more have been fantastic yet we have heard that some other bloggers have been less than happy, but we haven’t linked to them and nor have we seen them, so much of it comes down to your own attitude so those who are not enjoying it, probably need to look at themselves first.
No comments:
Post a Comment