Barcelona, Spain

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Geo: 41.3879, 2.16992

September 30, 2009 ~ Barcelona Spain

Today was Barcelona, Spain. After a late night drinking champagne and a very busy boat full of people partying until the wee hours, we finally fell asleep. We didn't dock in Barcelona until 10am this morning so everyone, including us, stayed-up super late last night. We went to breakfast at 9:30am and you could barley get a seat ~ everyone was up late and apparently, hungry.

Barcelona's port is not "pretty" like the previous ports because it is a very busy shipping port with lots of action everywhere. I had no idea Barcelona would be like a Spanish New York City ~ I had pictured a quaint, laid-back town that had old dogs sleeping and everyone taking siestas but this was not to be the case ~ it is a very busy place with a very sophisticated docking system for our ship.

So, around 10:30 am, we went to the money exchange desk and got some Euros ~ we are getting completely ripped on the exchange here because it is 1.5447 Euros for every dollar ~ which means we are paying 1.5 times the amount listed on everything we see ~ but, we have to pay with Euros because no one takes dollars, even though we are allowed to tip in dollars, if we tip at all. So, with our Euros in tow, we took the Royal Caribbean shuttle bus out of the port ~ everyone did ~ you can't walk out here, it would be madness to find the actual city. We soon were dropped-off near the famous “La Rambla” street here in Barcelona. Did the scenery ever change!! It was beautiful! La Rambla is a long street that is flanked by restaurants and bars and shops on each side and the middle is a huge walkway half-covered with beautiful trees on each side, filled with tourists looking at the architecture, watching street performers, and sitting at small cafes drinking Sangria. It is difficult to describe in words such a nice atmosphere. It was about 68 degrees, there was a slight mist in the air, and a small wind ~ perfect, cool weather. It stayed this way all day.

Hubby and I took some pictures at the Christopher Columbus statue and walked up and down the port a bit before taking-on La Rambla. We then walked down the entire street of LaRambla, pausing to see the street performers and occasional checking-out the souvenir stands. Walking La Rambla was indeed an experience I wish everyone could have at least once in life.

Today we saw Tim Robbins! That's the only thing Hubby wants anyone to know about our long, interesting day which is quite hilarious to me. So, we were walking down a side area of LaRambla in beautiful Barcelona

and Hubby says “Hey! Tim Robbins!” and I look-up and there is Mr. Shawshank Redemption himself. He sorta sha~grins ~ half smiles out of amusement to see two Americans, one loudly pronouncing who he is. He walked right past us. He was very tall, very handsome, very “crisp” looking ~ white shirt, dark blue jeans with a pale fade through the front, totally handsome as hell. I don't know if they don't know who he is over here or if Hubby was the only person willing to yell “Hey! Tim Robbins!” but it was amusing to him (and to me) that Hubby did that. We just smiled and kept walking. He was in a conversation with two people he was walking with so we didn't ask for a picture or anything but it was neat. Famous people are just like us but when you see them walking down a crowded street, it is amusing ~ and apparently, he was amused by Hubby, too. Ha

So, we began taking side streets off LaRambla which were filled with more shops and more tourists and we found a small supermarket and noticed the liquor prices here are unbelievably cheap here. Cava, champagne that Spain is famous for, is sold for under 3 Euro. I bought a bottle to bring home. Absinthe, a very expensive purchase normally in the states and in Italy (we saw some earlier on this trip), was unbelievably cheap ~ Hubby could not believe it. So, we bought a small bottle of Absinthe for Hubby to bring home to share with Mr. Best Man. The bottle Hubby bought would normally be about $40 in Italy and $70 in the states ~ and he got it for under $10. There were rows of name-brand liquors super cheap like this ~ even the original Bailey's was 6 Euro. Crazy.

So, with my backpack full of liquor and champagne and quite heavy and a good two or three miles on our legs, we decided to sit on La Rambla and have an outside lunch and I wanted to try Sangria. We were going to have paella (pronounced pie-a-yuh) however, neither of us wanted a big pan of rice with muscles and shrimp ~ and even though Spain is famous for it, we went for a deal ~ 2 tapas, a pizza, and Sangria for 10.75 Euro. The tapas, which are basically just appetizers, however, were simply potatoes and/or meat potatoes and we didn't like the meat potatoes at all. The pizza was good ~ mushrooms, olives, & cheese. We got a small Sangria with our order for free and I loved it! Hubby had tried Sangria here in Barcelona with his sister years ago and did not like it. She said they had simply gotten a bad pitcher and she was disappointed because she really wanted Hubby to enjoy his Sangria experience in Barcelona. Well, I enjoyed my Sangria experience and Hubby loved it too! It was so good, in fact, that we drank our little free Sangria and ordered a great big one to drink-up rather quickly, too! We want to get the recipe and make some for Mr. Best Man & his wife (A Bridesmaid) sometime next summer as we were given a great big pitcher from a neighbor as a wedding gift and we think Sangria would go great in it!!Sangria is a mixture of red wine, brandy, orange juice, lemon? ~ who knows what all but the stuff is good and now I know why these people drink it and then take a siesta. I was full and tired.

We decided to see how much a taxi to see LaGrada Familia would be ~ the huge church Gaudi began building years ago and it will take approximately another 108 years to finish. It was only 8 Euro but it would have been 6 Euro had the guy not pushed the button from 5.75 to 7.75 the minute we drove-up. Rip-off. Regardless, it was worth it! This cathedral is unbelievable. It is a huge masterpiece/work of art in the making. It is so tall that it is almost impossible to get a picture of it all together ~ actually, I don't think I was able too. I haven't reviewed my pics from today yet but I'm pretty sure I just got bits and pieces here and there. We walked all the way around the cathedral, took pictures, went across the entrance to a big park where lots of people were hanging-out, and sat and enjoyed the view for a bit. We then walked around this neighborhood for a bit and finally took a taxi back to our port drop-off station to meet the Royal Caribbean bus. We had been out and about walking for nearly 8 hours and we were beat.

So, we were on the ship at 6:35pm ~ 10 minutes until our dinnertime. We were exhausted and hungry. We threw-on semi-nice clothes and ran to dinner. Our British tablemates didn't make it but the four from Atlanta

did and they were wonderful tonight. Hubby got to talking with “Johnny” ~ who is retired from the business of counseling juvenile offenders. Since Hubby is in the same line of work, they were all best buddies after that. We had beef and veal tortellini for an appetizer, shoulder of beef with garlic mashed potatoes and mushrooms for the main menu, and a Bailey's and Banana desert ~ along with several glasses of iced tea, lots of water, one glass of wine, and some very good conversations. At around 8pm, Hubby and I were tired, full, and happy ~ we slowly walked back to our room ~ I was so exhausted that I could barely walk up the two flights of stairs ~ every muscle ached. We changed into our nightclothes and said we'd take a nap. I am writing this blog at 5:15am the next morning, when we finally woke-up. What a lovely and exhausting day in Barcelona, Spain it 'twas! Today, we return to Spain again, this time to the island of Mallorca!

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Photos

A street performer
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