Welcome To Barcelona, Spain
Tuesday, April 19, 2010
We now have had over 30,000 visitors to this site. This includes first timers and those who have visited the site more than once.
Once again, we enjoyed another wonderful time on the ship last evening.
We had a formal night, which always is very special with everyone dressed up in formal attire. We find that on the longer voyages you will see the dress even more formal.
Before dinner, complimentary drinks were available in the lounges. We dined in the Main Dining Room and this is one of Anne Marie’s favorite meals because she “loves” fresh lobster. The menu was the Gala Welcome Dinner and featured many delicious items. We each began our meal with a nice salad. Keith had a salad that we refer to as the Keith salad when we order it as it has the items that Keith enjoys and Anne Marie had the Captain’s Salad which was not only delicious but is presented as nice as it tastes. We each had the Broiled Fresh Lobster from Maine for our entrée. We ordered extra steamed vegetables and fresh asparagus and we had mixed berries for dessert. Everything was wonderful and we enjoyed another memorable dinner. We had sent down a special wine to the dining room and we enjoyed that as well. We spoke to our sommelier, headwaiter, senior waiter and waiter and enjoyed nice conversations with each of them. With the exception of the headwaiter, we have had the same senior waiter, waiter and sommelier since the start of the World Cruise. When we had the children on board for the seven-day cruise we sat in a different area of the dining room so we had a different wait staff. It’s been very nice to share the World Cruise experience with many of the same staff throughout our journey.
After dinner, we attended the Captain’s Formal Welcome Reception. This was our eighth and final welcome reception since we first boarded the ship on January 4 in Miami and like all of the other receptions we had a wonderful time. We sat with friends Bob and Glo and with the PGA Golf Pro and his lovely wife. We also spoke with other friends and we managed to dance for one nice song.
As usual, the Captain gave a wonderful talk to welcome everyone including those on just embarking the ship along with those who have been on the ship for one or more previous voyages.
Afterwards, we attended the Production Show which feature music of Rodgers & Hammerstein. The name of the show was My Favorite Things. This show has been featured for many years and is always a wonderful show to see and the performance was outstanding.
We slept very well last evening as we cruised to Barcelona, Spain. The seas continued to be very calm and the slight movement of the ship rocks us to sleep very well.
Once again we began our day by working out in the Fitness Center. Keith was up early and enjoyed another workout on the Elliptical Machine and Anne Marie worked out on the Treadmill. We each brought coffee back to the room from the Lido Café.
We enjoyed a very nice breakfast in our room and then we got ready to arrive in Barcelona.
We arrived in Barcelona on schedule today and we will have an overnight in Barcelona. We have visited Barcelona three other times in the past; twice previously on the Crystal Serenity.
The city population for Barcelona is approximately 1,700,000 residents. It has several major attractions. This include La Sagrada Famillia which is the life’s work of Antoni Gaudi. There is Parc Guell, which was commissioned by Eusebi Guell. Another key attraction is The Museu Picasso, which is Barcelona’s most visited museum. Las Ramblas is a tree-lined pedestrian boulevard that is busy day and night.
We did not select any shore excursions since we have taken many of them over the years. During our first visit to Barcelona in the 1990’s we also enjoyed a pre-cruise stay in this lovely city, which provided ample time to take in many of the popular sites.
We took the shuttle from the pier over to the World Trade Center. For those of you familiar with Barcelona the drop off point was near the Christopher Columbus Statue. We then walked over to Las Ramblas and walked from end to the other and took in all that was around us. We then proceeded out of that area and walked for quite a while. After a very nice long walk we headed back on Las Ramblas and then went over to the Market. The market is enormous and sells fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, seafood, cheeses, candy, nuts, and a variety of other items. As we walked around we were reminded of something that was in contrast to similar markets in Italy. In Italy it was the men behind the counter selling all of these items. At this market, the majority of people behind the counters were women, with some men selling some of the items such as the seafood.
The weather was delightful and as we walked around we truly enjoyed the beautiful architecture of the buildings. When we got off the bus the local representative reminded us to be aware of our surroundings because of those who pickpocket. We were well aware of this from previous visits and we know that this city has the highest rate of this type of crime of any city in the world. The good news is that we didn’t run into any problems.
After we returned to the ship we had a nice lunch at the Lido Café where we both enjoyed a wonderful salad entrée.
In the afternoon, we did some additional packing and we also spoke with some of our fellow passengers. Keith was hoping to play paddle tennis but those who normally play were not available in the afternoon.
The weather seemed cooler in the afternoon and it has turned somewhat foggy.
We were asked if there has been talk around the ship about the situation with the volcano and its impact on flights. The good news is that most passengers who were embarking for this final leg have now arrived to the ship. Yes, passengers like us who are getting off in London are starting to wonder how things will turn out with respect to the flight situation and certainly there has been some talk about this. At the same time we do not get off the ship for another nine days and we are hoping that by then that all will be back to normal.
This evening we will dine at Silk Road and will post more about this tomorrow.
TODAY’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY….
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”
Keith and Anne Marie
1 comment:
Good Morning from San Francisco. Another set of great photos. Thank you! Barcelona looks wonderful and we really enjoy the shots of the market place. The chocolates on display were incredible. How would you even choose just a few. I would end up getting one of everything! Aren't the street actors amazing on Las Ramblas. I recall one young gentleman who kept this crystal globe in constant motion as it rolled all over his body. The grace in which he moved and performed was incredible. Looks like you two are really enjoying this final sector.
Continue to travel safe.
Ashley.
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