Barcelona, Spain
We woke up extra early this morning so that we would have as much time as possible in this fantastic city. Brooke and Jessica had been here about 4 years ago, and were talking it up as much as I do Rome. And they were right. I immediately fell in love with the city. It’s such a beautiful place with amazing architecture and a very rich history and culture. Since the city is quite large and we had a very limited time, we decided to do one of those hop on – hop off bus tours. I didn’t really pay attention to the commentary because the buildings and the people were far more interesting to me. The buildings were all different colors and all different styles. We got off around Las Ramblas, the main shopping area in the Gothic Quarter. We grabbed some Starbucks (yeah, I know, I have a problem, but you should see Jessica) and did some shopping. Maybe too much shopping, considering we already had overweight luggage on the way over.
We switched bus lines and headed towards the Sagrada Familia, a landmark of Barcelona. It was designed by Antoni Guadi, a very gifted architect who was not well known or liked during his lifetime. He began working on it in 1883, and worked on it until his untimely death in 1926, when he was hit by a car. The Sagrada Familia remains unfinished; however, work continues very true to Guadi’s plans and should be complete by 2030. And let me tell you, it is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I was in complete awe when we first arrived to when we boarded the bus again an hour later. The inside, even though it is not complete (but should be by the end of this year) is just as wonderful as the three faŅ«ades of the outside. I could only imagine what it will look like when all of the richly colored stained-glass windows are installed and the two cranes are out of the nave. Every intricate detail of the place has meaning behind it that I will learn about when I get home and have money to buy more books. I spent half of my time spent at the church in the gift shop debating whether or not to buy a book, and then which one I should buy. It reminded me of the way my dad shops, and so I just put everything back and walked out.
By this time, we had about 2 hours to get back to the ship, but had so much more to see. We got back on the bus and headed toward Park Guell, another unfinished project of Guadi. We wandered around, saw Hansel and Gretel houses, which he apparently designed because his friend supposedly wrote it, but we have no idea if that is true, so I apologize in advance if I truly offend anyone. Anyways, we walked around there for a bit before racing back to the bus. We boarded and rode a ways out of our way before we realized we literally had no time and that we could possibly miss this ship…
We left the bus around the soccer stadium and watched as Jessica hailed a taxi. We hopped in and told him where we needed to go. And I will preface this story with the fact that this was the second best foreign taxi ride I’ve ever taken. The driver was insane. Literally. He talked to himself, got overly angry at bad drivers, and listened to the strangest remixes of Queen I have ever heard. When we got in, a rap remix of “Another One Bites the Dust” was playing very loudly, followed by an even stranger version of “Under Pressure.” Then, trying to make us feel more at home and at ease (we had about 20 minutes to get to the ship and his route had changed due to unforeseen road blockage), he put on some American oldies that we sang along to with him, before he changed it to the strangest song any of us had ever heard. The only word we could make out in the whole thing was “Barcelona.” It was operatic and dramatic, and we could hardly hold in the laughter. It was as if he had timed the ride perfectly, because as the song reached its climactic ending, we reached the pier and arrived to the entrance right on time. Some of our dinner friends laughed as we dizzily got out of the taxi that had just done a spin stop right at the door. It was outrageous.
We ate dinner with horrible people tonight, and we feel as though our friends in charge of the seating did that on purpose, so we are going to try the other dining room very soon. They like to play jokes on us, but they usually make our day. The staff that is – Zanina, Johann, and Paul. They are just wonderful. We watched Martin for a bit, and then headed up to Skywalkers, just in time for the “Cupid Shuffle.” We danced to a few songs and called it a night. We have a day at sea tomorrow, but we’re still very exhausted.
We switched bus lines and headed towards the Sagrada Familia, a landmark of Barcelona. It was designed by Antoni Guadi, a very gifted architect who was not well known or liked during his lifetime. He began working on it in 1883, and worked on it until his untimely death in 1926, when he was hit by a car. The Sagrada Familia remains unfinished; however, work continues very true to Guadi’s plans and should be complete by 2030. And let me tell you, it is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I was in complete awe when we first arrived to when we boarded the bus again an hour later. The inside, even though it is not complete (but should be by the end of this year) is just as wonderful as the three faŅ«ades of the outside. I could only imagine what it will look like when all of the richly colored stained-glass windows are installed and the two cranes are out of the nave. Every intricate detail of the place has meaning behind it that I will learn about when I get home and have money to buy more books. I spent half of my time spent at the church in the gift shop debating whether or not to buy a book, and then which one I should buy. It reminded me of the way my dad shops, and so I just put everything back and walked out.
By this time, we had about 2 hours to get back to the ship, but had so much more to see. We got back on the bus and headed toward Park Guell, another unfinished project of Guadi. We wandered around, saw Hansel and Gretel houses, which he apparently designed because his friend supposedly wrote it, but we have no idea if that is true, so I apologize in advance if I truly offend anyone. Anyways, we walked around there for a bit before racing back to the bus. We boarded and rode a ways out of our way before we realized we literally had no time and that we could possibly miss this ship…
We left the bus around the soccer stadium and watched as Jessica hailed a taxi. We hopped in and told him where we needed to go. And I will preface this story with the fact that this was the second best foreign taxi ride I’ve ever taken. The driver was insane. Literally. He talked to himself, got overly angry at bad drivers, and listened to the strangest remixes of Queen I have ever heard. When we got in, a rap remix of “Another One Bites the Dust” was playing very loudly, followed by an even stranger version of “Under Pressure.” Then, trying to make us feel more at home and at ease (we had about 20 minutes to get to the ship and his route had changed due to unforeseen road blockage), he put on some American oldies that we sang along to with him, before he changed it to the strangest song any of us had ever heard. The only word we could make out in the whole thing was “Barcelona.” It was operatic and dramatic, and we could hardly hold in the laughter. It was as if he had timed the ride perfectly, because as the song reached its climactic ending, we reached the pier and arrived to the entrance right on time. Some of our dinner friends laughed as we dizzily got out of the taxi that had just done a spin stop right at the door. It was outrageous.
We ate dinner with horrible people tonight, and we feel as though our friends in charge of the seating did that on purpose, so we are going to try the other dining room very soon. They like to play jokes on us, but they usually make our day. The staff that is – Zanina, Johann, and Paul. They are just wonderful. We watched Martin for a bit, and then headed up to Skywalkers, just in time for the “Cupid Shuffle.” We danced to a few songs and called it a night. We have a day at sea tomorrow, but we’re still very exhausted.
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