Spain / Iberian Voyages 6

Monday April 8

We slept very good and had to hurry when we woke up. We had not set an alarm which we probably should have. The ship was docked in the Barcelona Port. 

We get an itinerary every day. After breakfast we were punctually at 8:30 am at the Welcome Briefing of the Red Group with our Trip Leader Joana. We are 4 small groups of 21 or so on this ship.

At 9:30 our group was leaving for departure for the panoramic tour of Barcelona. 

A local guide Stephanie joint us and she was very good too and very easy to understand through the whispers. James and I had been on this spot on the mountain with the Hop-on bus but had not stopped. This time we had the opportunity to take some photos. The view of the city was really nice. 

It looks like that we had bad weather but that was not really so. The gray sky is not rainy clouds but the result of a sand storm coming from Africa. 

Our next stop was the Sant Pau Hospital. In the Blog “Spain 2” we had walked to it (by chance) and had taken a nice photo of the front. 

This time we visited it and learned a lot about it. It is not a hospital any longer but was incredible at its time. 

At the entrance are 4 statues on top of the 4 pillars framing the doors. From left to right Hope, Love, Care and __? When it was built the idea had been that insured and sick should come to a place where they found hope and should get better soon. 

The lay-out was such that there were different buildings so that every patient had nature and sunshine. 

I wished I could write down everything Stephanie told us. It was pretty amazing for it’s time. 

There were so many details. For example: this bush smelled amazing when we walked passed. It was a Bitter Orange with flowers and fruit on it at the same time. It is supposed to have healing properties just like the lavender bush underneath. All of the buildings and plantings had been done very carefully. 

So many details. Again, I had to leave a lot of photos out. 

Then the bus took us to La Sagrada Familia. We had visited by ourselves several days ago but learned more about it from Stephanie. There are so many details. I might even have an idea for a very unusual design of a new Chrismon. Can’t wait to try it out. Gaudì had become a very religious person at the end. 

Joana had a surprise for us at this spot. What is in this box?

Churros and hot chocolate. She called it “romantic” because each got one of the churros but 2 shared the hot chocolate for dipping. 

We have seen churros offered everywhere for breakfast when we were walking in the Camino but Joana said that people would like it when having a hangover from a party. 

Then Stephanie and Joana assembled us for a group photo in front of Sagrada Família. Here is Joana taking the photo. It was so cute how she tried. We will see it at the end I guess. 

Back into the bus. Stephanie pointed several remarkable buildings out. I did not have a good look of Gaudi’s “Bones” but a screen shot googling will do. 

The Pedrera was on my side of the bus. 

Lunch! We had some cava to taste and “cling” to toast. First we got a bowl of Patatas Bravas with spicy drippings on it. 

After that came meatballs which were very nice. 

And, of course, Crema Catalana.

Time to go back to the bus and the ship. 

A bit more organizing in our cabin. 

And there was time for a game in the lobby. Susan joined us. They both could not believe how lucky I was today. 

At 6:15 pm we went to the Captain’s Welcome Cocktails with crew introduction. Forgot to take a photo inside. 

The captain explained about weather/sailing and what he planned to do for it to be as smooth as possible. I didn’t understand a thing but it sounded good. 

The Captain’s Welcome Dinner was also quite fancy:

Roasted Duck Salad with Mango and Raspberry Vinaigrette 

Sautéed Prawns with mashed and crispy Potatoes served on Leek Julienne and Lobster Sauce

Sherbet …

Then it was highly suggested to me to have the “Whole Pink grilled Veal Loin … accompanied by Potato William and Madeira Glacé

Ha-ha, the Crew is very friendly and sometimes funny. Our waiter said that the duck salad was only made from the right legs of the ducks. Gary (?) at our table answered that he suspected we would get more next week from the left legs. 

I must say that the main course was very special even though I had eyed the fish course. The meat was done to perfection and the pear-looking potatoes were a surprise and very delicious. 

Another Créme Brûlée for the day. Even though it was excellent I should have skipped it. 

We decided though to have a “digestive” in the lounge and listen to some live music. 

Not that many steps today. Slow walking which is kind of hard. But nevertheless a great day! Night night.