Day One - Friday April 14 - Barcelona!

By Ellen Outten


 

We were out of the house and on the way to the airport by 5:45 a.m. Thursday April 13, 2023.   The flights, Phoenix to Philadelphia and Philadelphia to Barcelona were uneventful.  I love the word "uneventful when it comes to flying!  As I am writing this, I believe we have been awake, except for very small naps on the 2nd flight for about 30 hours straight.   We are going to crash and burn and sleep well tonight!  As an aside, Wayne was typing an email to his group of friends about today's experiences and actually fell asleep while typing with his finger on the back button and erased all he had typed!  What a hoot!   I had to introduce Wayne to the "Undo" button!

Today's "firsts":
I saw sunrise over Europe for the first time.  


Our home for the next 29 days:




American Airlines served dinner and breakfast on the Philly to Barcelona leg.   My advice, ORDER A KOSHER MEAL!   Excellent food!  Maybe my sister Lynore can translate this for me :)




We were checked in and on board the ship by about 10 a.m.  While our stateroom wasn't available until 2 p.m. we were able to explore the ship before leaving at noon for our privately booked (through Viator) of La Sagrada Familia.  It was a very interesting tour with a great deal of information about the architect, Antonio Gaudi.

The taxi cab driver we had on the way to the cathedral was a madman!  And, so was traffic.  Bumper to bumper and our driver cutting in and out of traffic, changing lanes.  WOW!   I'm told that Amsterdam (Netherlands) is all about bicycles. I'll see that in September.   Everyone rides a bicycle and cars are secondary to bicycles.  Well, Barcelona is all about small motorcycles.   Ten - fifteen parked on every corner sidewalk, legally!  It is the way to get around if you have a death wish.

Arriving unharmed, we took the tour of the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen!  Designed by Antonio Gaudi, it is all undulating curves, especially inside. Construction started in 1882 and it is still not finished.  It was slated to be finished in 2026 but Covid has lengthened that to possibly 2030?  The stained glass windows are to die for. The colors coming in and dancing in the sunlight!  Oh my!  My pictures don't do it justice but my memories will linger on.













We opted for the World Buffet for dinner on board tonight!   I couldn't even think about changing for dinner since we are exhausted.   Tonight's menu, Roast Duck, cold shrimp, marinated octopus, grilled sea bass and poached salmon.   I promised myself ONE small dessert ONLY each night!   Well, I stuck to it, if you don't count the peach gelato I had with the itsy bitsy teeny tiny cherry tart.

At 8:30 pm, about an hour from now, if I'm still awake, there is a Flamenco Dance ensemble and free sangria.  I'm going to try and attend.   I hope I can stay awake through the show!  






Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 15, 2023 at 5:10 AM

    Undo button 🤭👍🏼
    First sunrise over Europe 💕
    Truly beautiful cathedral 🥰
    Love the post, we are in for another fabulous adventure

    ReplyDelete

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