BARCELONA DAY 2

click to enlarge any of Bob's excellent photos

Here are the rest of the photos I have selected to show you of Saturday evening and Sunday morning. When I look at these pictures I realize that they are random, but it makes me happy to remember these places. Nothing makes me happier than to just ramble about and see whatever I see. Sometimes you look up and find marvelous architecture overhead or peer down an alley and spot street musicians or beautiful orange trees and flowers. I didn't get any shots of the waterfront other than the craft fair, but the waterfront is vibrant with lots of restaurants and museums. Apparently Barcelona lived with its back to the sea until the 1992 Olympics. At that time they tore down a lot of the seedy warehouses and built part of the Olympic Village and rehabbed the whole waterfront district. You could spend a day just wandering this area and I believe that there are sights to be seen on the beaches, lol.

To answer the questions from yesterday...yes the beds were comfy, but we had been up 33 hours by then and a rock would have been comfy. We had heard that noise could be a factor and that trash is picked up at4AM. We had metal louvered shutters to shut out the noise and light and I believe I did hear the trash trucks, but they certainly didn't keep me awake. The food was good, I had chicken for dinner and I can't even remember what it came with, some vegetables I seem to recall. The wine was good and I had flan for dessert, but for some reason it had chocolate sauce on top. Perhaps the waiter thought Americans like chocolate sauce on things. I would have preferred it plain. Oh yeah, it was not really crowded, maybe because it was early May. There were lots of people about, but it never seemed congested like London or Rome.

After our long morning jaunt we went back to the hotel to get a cab to the port. The ride was short and the embarkation process was the smoothest we have ever had. We were on the boat within a half hour of leaving the hotel. Sorry that we didn't take a picture of the cabin before we unpacked, but once our cabin was ready and the luggage was there we just started to get everything put away and then thought of a picture. Please note the balcony!! We have never had a balcony before and this cabin was an upgrade after prices started to fall. It was on the 10th deck and was squeezed between the romance suites on the back of the ship. No wind whatsoever, just perfect. Now we are spoiled and will never cruise without a balcony again although we may not have such a nice placement again.

Apparently lots of people own boats

Great crafts fair down by the waterfront. Really nice jewelry and leather goods, some scarves. Excellent quality.

Statue of Columbus which also helps with orientation. You can see it from pretty far.

As you can see by the size of the humans, it is a large statue

Close up of just one of the many carvings

These next few pictures are inside the courtyard of the cathedral, don't the oranges look tasty?

Aaaaaflac

Click to enlarge and see the funky things sprouting from the side walls!

The Norwegian Gem Cabin #10168. The balcony was big enough for two lounge chairs and two regular chairs and two small tables.

We relaxed for the rest of Sunday and Monday was a cruise day. Beautiful weather and we sat on our balcony and read most of the day. Of course we ate several times and walked around the decks for exercise, but mostly enjoyed the balcony. We are not ones to use the pools or the hot tubs so the private balcony suited us just fine. Malta post in a day or two. Hope you are enjoying this little travelogue.

Later,
Janet