Friday, April 14, 2017

Report #104 Barcelona, Spain April 13, 2017 Thursday Sunny & 70 degrees Part #1 Of 3 80 Pictures

Good thing we got a very good night's sleep, because we started all over again today on day two in Barcelona.  Keeping breakfast light, we headed off of the ship mid-morning.  This city is slow to wake up, so there was little sense in running off too soon.  Once again, it was a beautiful, clear day with the sun out, and a cool breeze blowing.

Sometime during the early morning, the Rotterdam had arrived to the port, and actually docked nose-to-nose to us.  We did not even know this ship was there, until we walked up and over the bridge towards town.  And there was a huge surprise that we did not know until we got back to the ship at 4pm.  We had friends onboard that ship, four former tablemates, Bill and Marianne and Van and Carol.  OMG, it wasn't until we got back in the late afternoon, that we found a note on our door from them, trying to arrange a meeting point.  The bad news was that it came too late, and their ship left the pier by 4pm, just as we got back.  Sure would love to see them come back on another grand voyage, as they were so much fun.  So sorry we missed them today.

Yesterday while talking to Eddie and Lee at the Columbus Monument, he told us to go in the direction of the harbor front.  Lots to see, he said.  So that's what we did….follow the water front on Pg. de Colon past many historical buildings and plazas.  This morning there were groups of cyclists riding down this extra wide street, as well as segways, and skateboarders. As long as we stayed out of the bike lane, we were OK.  

The Gothic Quarter was to our left as we walked past the small boat harbor.  Many cafes and restaurants lined this street.  If nothing else, we discovered some nice places to eat pizza with real wood-fired ovens.  We passed by what we think was a Consolate complete with guard houses flanking the massive wooden doors. 

We came upon a beautiful historic building called Station Ma Mar with Telegrafico over the doorways.  Not sure what this building is, but many people were going into the revolving doors.    We were searching for the market that was on the map, and we eventually found it. Thinking it was a food and meat market, we discovered that it was the old site of the El Born Market.  And we mean old, like ancient.  A cast-iron and glass design was used to build a massive structure over the remains of a market from the 1700's.  In fact, the remains of about 50 homes were unearthed under the old fruit and vegetable market that was opened in 1876.  It operated until 1971, when it was closed for future digs.  What we saw today reminded us of going to the Terra Cotta Warriors in China.  A viewing balcony surrounded the entire complex with 21 information panels with brief explanations of the site's past. 

From here, we walked across the street to stroll through a nice garden called Park Ciuttadella.  At the upper end was an Arc de Triomf, and the opposite end was a small city zoo.  With so many families here on spring vacation, this place had a line to get inside.

It was getting close to noon, so we decided to head back.  On the way, we happened to come across the Estacio de Franca, the train station.  It was pretty cool inside, we are sure, dating back many years.  Come to think of it, we stopped here while on a tour many years ago.

Across the wide street, there was a whimsical lobster statue at the entrance to the Moll d'Espanya and the Maremagnum.  Coming across the bridge over the harbor, we located the restaurant we always go to called Gino's.  It was mighty fine to be able to find a nice table with a view of the harbor.  Within a ½ hour, the place was full to capacity.  We ordered what we always do……a wood-fired margarita pizza, with a side Caesar salad.  And two local draft beers.   Since we did not want to leave for a while, we had to order dessert.  They serve a thin cooked pizza topped with Nutella, chocolate sauce, nuts and vanilla or chocolate ice cream.  We shared one, and left happy campers.

Right before we left, a bunch of the street vendors passed by the window, carrying their treasures in a sheet.  Slung over their backs, they must have been rousted by the police.  We think it is illegal to sell knock-offs here.  We had already seen many of these fellows across the harbor, and even at the back end of this mall.  They simply move from one place to another it seems. 

Walking around the outside near the water, we avoided going through the stores and shops of the mall.  A bridge near the Columbus Monument tied us back to the water front road. We toyed with the idea of going back up La Rambla for a few souvenirs, but changed our minds.  So from here, we hiked back to the ship, discovering that our friends had already sailed away, although we did not know it.  Darn…..

We had one job to do, and that was return our passports to the front desk, and also return our completed Morocco Immigration forms.  The actual location of the Casablanca inspection will not be disclosed until after the ship arrives on Sunday for security reasons.  We are advised that all passports will be retained on board, and we do not need to carry them while in this country.  With all of the warnings about safety or the lack of, we are not even sure we will leave the ship.  This will be the third time we have the chance to see some of Casablanca, since twice in the past this port was cancelled at the last minute, also due to security reasons.

All aboard was 5:30pm with another "hidden" sail away in the Crow's Nest.  With such nice weather, why on earth would we want to be inside a stuffy lounge?  Many other folks felt the same way, as they joined us at the aft pool.

Captain Jonathon came on with his pm talk, and mentioned we were leaving at 5:45pm. We saw the ropes being dropped, then the fellows stopped, jumped in their truck, and left.  Something was up.  Turned out that a ferry was entering the channel we needed to use to get out to sea.  Somehow, we had missed our chance to escape.  We were delayed for almost an hour. Once we did leave, we noticed that the ferry that delayed us was a car, bus, and truck carrier, and they were already unloading them as we passed by. 

We have a most welcomed day at sea tomorrow as we sail towards Cadiz, our final port in Spain.  Too bad we will be passing the Straits of Gibraltar when we will not be able to see it.  Sure wish we could have stopped there, but it only happened once for us.

Dinner time was shared with one of our travel agency's host Tom M.  We have known him since 2002, and have always been fortunate to have him host our group on every world cruise as well as some other trips during the year.  He gets along with absolutely everyone, and tonight was no exception.  Carol, or watercolor teacher, also joined us at the last minute.  We all scooted over to make room for her, as we consider her family.  And even better….we had mud pie for dessert.  It was disguised as frozen Jamaican Calypso torte.  Can't fool us……

No show tonight in the Queen's Lounge.  The movie, Hacksaw Ridge, was shown at one time only….8pm.  Guess our late seating dinner crowd is chopped liver once again.

Bill & Mary Ann



A classic boat

A working pier below the bridge

The Amsterdam at 62,735 gross tons, and the Rotterdam at 59,855 gross tons, smaller

Where are the rest of the ferries?

Back to the Olympic rings

Few cars and no people this morning

Port Building

Street faire with collectable aniques

Interesting items

Things people clear out of the attics

We have these Johnson Brothers dishes (each one was 28 euro, negotiable)

Impressive building not on the map

A government building

Rental bikes

Very wide avenue, Ronda del Litoral

Statuary everywhere you look

Good place for walking, biking, skating, and rollerboarding

These signs are a huge help

Going the right way

Palm-lined avenue

Good marker for La Rambla

Government building

Here comes the bikers

Grand doors with side guard houses

Labeled Capitana General

Looking for the market

Many cafes and restaurants line this street

Hostels above the shops

The lobster monument

Station Ma Mar (Telegrafico?)

A very busy place today

Just not sure what this building is

Another icon across the plaza

A plaza….one of many

Baroque architecture

Different tower

A Pig Restaurant – all pork items

Condos or hostels

A serious door knocker

Balcony gardens

Tree-lined avenue

Cafes and shops

The train station

Elaborate fountain

Early morning coffee drinkers

Cyclamen bloom nicely in Barcelona

No room for parking

Park Ciutadella in the distance

So many old sites

A city of motorbikes and small cars

An outdoor shopping mall

Finally found the Mercat del Born

El Born CCM, not exactly what we expected

Surrounding buildings

Finding the entrance to the Born Market

Massive flagpole

Memories of a market

A museum of ruins

Former remains of homes in La Ribera neighborhood

Dates back to the 1700's

A fort was built over these remains

A covered food market was re-built over these remains in 1876

Today this cast-iron and glass structure was built to protect the ruins

Viewed from a balcony surrounding the site

Side streets out of the museum

This is modern art?  A fountain, no less

Fountains and canals line the street

Entrance on the side street to the gardens

A much nicer place to stroll

This fountain attracted pigeons and even parrots

Trees hid a community of green parrots

Strutting pigeon – must be spring time

Local strollers

Spacious park

This path led to the Arc de Triomf of Barcelona

Horse and rider statue

Arc de Triomf, entrance to the park

Monuments in the park

The City Zoo

Unidentified rider