Barcelona is a cosmopolitan masterpiece. With a history rich in art and architecture, medieval, Gothic, and modern influences can be seen all over the city. Start at the waterfront and stroll up the shady, tree-lined Las Ramblas boulevard and discover some of the city's best shopping and bustling cafes.
2 November Photo Link
We arrive in mid-morning. We'll taxi to our hotel, Iberostar, in Paseo de Gracia which has a great location on a major square - Plaza de Catalunya. It is said to have a great rooftop pool and lounge, and wonderful views of the city. The well-known walking street Las Ramblas begins on the other side of the square. See Google map. See Barcelona Tourist Guide here.
The plane landed at 0810, nearly an hour early. We got through immigration & health quickly with our passports and QR device. We found some Euros and took a taxi through big-city traffic to this hotel. It has a classic exterior but is very modern internally.
Our room 605 has a veranda with excellent views of the plaza and the rest of the city.
After the nap we strolled across the square to the tour sale kiosk. We bought one-day tickets for the green route and boarded the bus, sitting in the mid upper level. The tour was interesting but as the day wore on, the sun went behind clouds. That made the upper level frigid for us floridians. The temperature was in the '60s but the wind chill when the bus started moving was fierce.
The strangest and most unique building we saw was Sagrada Familia, a huge pile of stone. Very unique shapes of biblical scenes. Extremely high spires, and many of them. Statues all over it.
We snuck off the bus early so we could walk the few blocks remaining on Paseo de Gracia and warm up. We got into the room and loafed while we warmed. The sun set, approximately 1800, which reminds us that winter is coming. Picture at left is the square "Plaza de Catalunya" in front of the hotel.
Later we walked down the street to Macchina Pasta Bar, a minimalist joint that serves pasta to order (specify your sauce, your additions to sauce, and the pasta type) and a decent red wine for low bucks. Turned out quite good.
But the food and a warm room makes us sleepy. So we're going to bed.
The picture is the upper end of the pedestrian street La Rambla. Our hotel is on the projected centerline across the square - the building with the small tower.
What to do? It turns out that our internal mechanisms want to take it easy as opposed to racing around. We slept a solid nine hours starting to adjust to Central European time (which just left savings time two days back).
We had a nice breakfast in the hotel breakfast room. Buffet for the early part - cereals, fruits, salmon pieces, juices. Then eggs to order and plenty of good coffee. We'll do this again tomorrow.
The forums advise us that our ship Azamara Quest has arrived in port. The passengers have a day in Barcelona prior to turnover day tomorrow.
Azamara contracted the firm doing the pier-side covid tests with a web site that absolutely does not work. It was supposed to schedule your appointment but why have a separate appointment for that when you have an appointment to board the ship? Stupid.
Finally we got active. We strolled across the Plaza de Catalunya and entered La Rambla. We walked down La Rambla, purchasing a couple of small items as we wandered. D stepped into a large church called Parish of the Mother of God of Bethlehem. She lit a couple of candles for Glenn Jackson in prayer for an easy passing.
We wandered through the large market Mercado de la Boqueria with its diverse selection of foods.
Back on La Rambla, we rambled along past the "Big Fun Museum", whatever that is, and turned off into tiny streets. We passed the seemingly abandoned Basilica de Santa Maria Pi, of the 14th century. We passed the Kathe Wohlfarht christmas store, with fantastic items for that season. We continued through Old Town, seeing one tourist stop info-post saying this street was on the inner line of the old Roman wall.
We came out of small streets into a large plaza, Sant Jaume. On the left, a historic palace with a Renaissance facade, the site dating back to medieval times, now Catalan. And on the right, Barcelona City Hall, a forbidding Gothic building. We decided to head back toward La Rambla. We saw another large plaza off to the side of Carrer Ferran and entered because people were applauding. That turned out to be for a tribe of excellent tumblers putting on an exhibition. We watched for a bit, then left to rejoin La Rambla. Now we headed NW toward the hotel. We looked around the south side of our plaza for a restaurant to attend later, didn't find any to our liking. So we went to the 7th floor pool-bar deck and had a glass. But the clouds rolled in and the breeze came up, so we went to our immediate goal - our room, to get warm and recover.
We warmed and recharged our iPhones and otherwise made ready to take on the world. Out the hotel door, left, left again at the corner onto Passeig de Gracia and 100 meters to the Lego store.
We were waved off by their security because the store was too crowded and told to get in line. Being us, we walked away continuing in the same direction to the next corner and left around H&M into Gran Via de les Corts. A few steps and into Vapiano, an upscale version of last night's Macchina.
Vapiano is new, sleek, and works. Entering, each person gets a card. You go to the bar or a food station, announce what you want, put your card on a reader & sit down where you want, including communal tables. Your cooked order is announced, you pick it up and take to table.
After dining you go to the exit, the cards are totaled, and you pay by credit card. No table busing. No cash is transacted.
I'll bet we could take out a few pizza places in JB with one of these stores.
So we walked back to the Lego store, where they let us in. D was quite impressed. Several big projects. And she purchased a few little items (surprise).
Back then to the room and relaxation. Tomorrow's the big day where we move to the ship for the next three+ weeks.
