Sailing Away From Barcelona

Thursday noon here in Barcelona. We’ve walked our legs off, and seen the city from top to bottom, east to west, mountains to the sea. Yesterday we went to the beach and waded in the Mediterranean, ate fabulous seafood, drank cava (it´s a light, sparkling white wine much like champagne), watched the full moon over the beach, etc. We had memorable meals, one at Cal Pep where we simply sat at a counter and the food just kept arriving. We ordered nothing, but ate dish after dish of exquisite food – mixed fried seafood (with whole, tiny, crunchy fishes) was my favorite! It is sad to leave this sparkling city behind, but we have squeezed as much juice out of it as is humanly possible in a few short days! This afternoon we load onto the ship (Celebrity Millenium) and cruise on up to France tonight.

GAUDI AND OTHER BARCELONA THRILLS

We’re safely in Barcelona, and today enjoyed a day stuffed with Gaudi buildings, Parc Guell, Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, and more. It is an elegant city, much like Paris, with beautiful architecture, a lively street life, young and fashionable people everywhere, and a hugely international mixture of people. Our hotel, Medium Monegal, is near Las Ramblas, the vibrant pedestrian center of the action in Barcelona. There is a huge food market nearby, with some of the most beautiful food displays ever, and a great place to buy supplies for breakfast or picnics. The Ramblas is notable for having dozens of mimes performing, in a huge variety of costumes and skits. We are ecstatic to be here. Just had dinner with 10 people from our cruise, a tapas buffet with champagne, sangria and all the trimmings. We have walked many miles and climbed the equivalent of hours of ‘stairmasters’, so we are tired but at least we can justify the occasional french bread or gelato!!