Barcelona

We left the ship about 8:30, heading for the taxi stand right in front of the cruise port building. There was a long line, but it moved quickly, as the black and yellow taxis flowed in. We checked in at the Hotel Cuatro Naciones and left our luggage, but we couldn’t have our room until 3:00. The hotel is right on La Rambla, a wide tree-lined pedestrian walkway with souvenir shops and restaurants along the way. 

La Rambla, with op-art paving stones

We walked to the far end, Placa de Catalunya. There were two tourist bus companies there. The first said they had a strike so we should go on to the other. The second was the traditional Hop-On-Hop-Off bus. It had two routes around the city. We got tickets and climbed on. The first route we were on went to the eastern part of Barcelona, including the Sagrada Familia, the famous cathedral by Antoni Gaudi. There were mobs of people around it and the plaza across from it. It is indeed an amazing sight. When we arrived back at our starting place, there was an enormous line to get onto the second route. Fortunately, it moved quickly, as several buses arrived. This route went to the west and up on a mountain with wonderful views of the city. We also went by the Olympics stadiums from 1992. 

La Sagrada Familia

Front of Sagrada Familia

Dan enjoying the bus in comfort

Interesting decor on building

Another Gaudi building

Olympic Stadium

By the time we got back, it was after 2:00 and we were pretty tired. We found an Italian restaurant on the walk back to our hotel and had some lunch. At the hotel, they had moved our luggage from storage into our room, so we went right up. It is fairly basic, but comfortable once we opened the window to get some air and finally figured out how to operate the A/C.

Monday was a relaxing day. Breakfast at the hotel was good. We walked out around 10:00, back behind the hotel, where there is a large open square, then down several side streets. I found a place to get a ceramic shield on the front of my phone.

Lovely plaza

After some down time in the room, we headed out to find some lunch. We wanted Spanish tapas, and there were plenty of restaurants along the La Rambla pedestrian walkway. We settled on one and had a combination platter— dishes of potatoes brava, shrimp scampi, Spanish omelette, chicken croquettes, fried calamari and a salad. It was perfect and delicious. After lunch we walked back to a bakery we had seen earlier and got some curried chicken pasties for a light supper in our room. We’ve had more than enough to eat the past two weeks!

Calamari, Spanish omelet, potatoes brava, shrimp, olive salad, chicken fingers

Tuesday was our last day before heading home! Another relaxing day, out for several walks in the nearby Gothic neighborhood, another tapas lunch, packing up, arranging a taxi for the morning. Our flight to Madrid was at 9:00, with about an hour to transfer for our Chicago flight.

Chicken balls, peppers, spaghetti-wrapped shrimp, calamari, potatoes brava

I wish we had had the energy to see more of Barcelona. The overview on the bus was good, but we didn't get back to tour the Sagrada Familia or any of the other wonderful places in the city. Maybe next time!

View of La Rambla out our hotel window

Palma de Majorca

The day after La Spezia, we were at Toulon, France. After our long day on the ferry, we decided to just relax and stay on the ship. We enjoyed watching several boats being removed from the water for the winter. It was a slow and complicated process.

The next morning we didn’t dock at Palma until nearly 11:30. Dan needed more cough syrup and I was interested in seeing the cathedral, so we took a shuttle bus into town. It stopped fairly near the cathedral. There was an information kiosk so we stopped to ask about a farmacia. Yes, just a couple of blocks that way. After getting the cough syrup, we headed back to the cathedral. There was a lovely tree-covered patio-like promenade that we could walk on. 

There were mobs of people at the cathedral. The ticket booth was around the back. I was hot and tired by then, so sat on a wall in front while Dan went to get the tickets. Unfortunately, it was a very long line. He came to get me and we went back around to the entrance. It was worth the wait. The cathedral was built in the 13th century, very Gothic. Yet very Spanish in comparison to what we have seen in Italy. I took lots of pictures. The walk back to the bus stop was long and hot. Back on the ship we had some late lunch and packed up our suitcase. We leave it outside our stateroom tonight and it will be delivered to us at the pier tomorrow morning.

Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma called La Seu 

Plaza near the cathedral

A few of the many people

Interior

Ceiling - one of the highest in Europe

Side chapel

This was our last day on the ship. Sunday morning we arrived in Barcelona, where we spent three nights. More on that tomorrow.

La Spezia

La Spezia is the port for visiting Florence and other parts of Tuscany. It is also very near the Cinque Terre, a place I've been interested in for a long time, and we decided the local ferry would be the best way to visit the area. There is a train that goes through long tunnels and stops at the villages. (We saw at least three while we were in Monterosso.) There is also a trail for hiking between them, which is very popular. We caught the 9:15 ferry and got good seats on the starboard side, so we could see the scenery. And it was spectacular. The first stop was Porto Venere, a town on the tip of a peninsula. 

Promenade at Porto Venere

Porto Venere with castle/fort above

After some rugged mountainous coastline, we came to the five famous villages. They are indeed picturesque. The first two stops were Riomaggiore and Manarola. These places didn’t have real docks, just a cemented walkway area that the ship pulled up toward. 

Scenery along the way

The dock!

The third village, Corniglia, does not have water access, so there is no stop, but we could see the village up above. Then came Vernazza, and last, Monterosso. This is the end of the line and we got off. After walking around the village (which had many stalls selling souvenirs), having some water and a protein bar on a bench in a park, we lined up to get back on the return ferry, which left one hour after ours had arrived. Again we sat on the side of the coast and enjoyed seeing all the wonderful scenery again. This time we had to get off at Porto Venere, as the next ferry back to La Spezia was an hour later. We enjoyed a nice walk along the seaside promenade. The last ferry back was much larger than the others and had wooden benches. We realized we were happy that the others all had cushions! It was only a half-hour ride, then a walk back to the port terminal and our shuttle bus. A wonderful day.

Monterosso beach right beside ferry port

Another gorgeous sunset on our way

Cruise Days 5-6

On Tuesday we arrived at Naples. Our plan was to take the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour. We were here once before, but didn’t see anything of Naples; we visited the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii. In the morning, Dan had a severe nosebleed, plus he is suffering from a cold. So he decided not to go anywhere. I left the ship and caught the shuttle bus to the main port area. There were two other cruise ships in port, plus numerous ferries, so it was a bustling area. It was quite a long walk from there out to the main street. I was told the bus stop was at the castle. What I didn’t realize was that the castle is huge and the bus stop is in the front; the port is at the back. After wandering a bit and finding my way, I arrived at the HOHO stop just in time to buy a ticket and get the last seat available on the top level. I sat with a tourist from Vienna until some people hopped off and I was able to get a solo seat right by a window. The tour went along the coast and up into a residential area. The views of the water and the buildings (mostly apartment houses) were stunning. It was about an hour and a quarter until we returned to the original stop. (I did NOT hop off!) Another bus was waiting for a different route. When I saw the map, I realized it was just going around the city center. I’m sure there were many beautiful piazzas and buildings to see, but because of the amount of traffic and how tired I was, I decided against taking it. On my way back to the ship, I passed a pharmacy and was able to get a few things to help with Dan’s symptoms. 

The front of the castle

A view of Naples

View from the highest point of the ride

Civitavecchia is the port for visiting Rome. Many buses took tourists into the city for the day. We hoped to walk along the shoreline, where there are parks and cafes, but the transit buses took us into the city center, nowhere near the water. After a look around, we headed back for a quiet day on the ship.

At dinner in the cafe at the top of the ship, we watched two enormous Grimaldi line ferries come into port. Grimaldi ferries run from Spain to Greece, with many locations in between. There were already two other ferries and four cruise ships besides ours in port. After dinner, we watched two of the cruise ships leave; we were third. Just in front of us was a small Italian navy aircraft carrier. We saw three helicopters and one airplane.

One of the Grimaldi ferries

I got a kick out of this ferry covered with Superman art

One of many gorgeous sunsets