Still Day 1- After seeing the Sagrada Familia, we hopped across the street for some churros and chocolate, finally. Unfortunately, we overpaid because we were right next to a major tourist spot. We should have gotten them in one of the more off the beaten path places earlier and probably would have gotten a larger portion for cheaper. Oh, and the way they eat churros and chocolate in Spain is a little different than you might imagine. They get these thick cups of hot chocolate and dip the deep fried sugar donut sticks into them. Yum!
The rest of the evening ended up being a not that interesting mess. So here is the short version- walked the Ramblas in the rain, couldn't find anything decent to eat, went to a boring mall, got soaked getting back to the hotel, capped the evening off with chocolate cake.
And now, we finally make it to DAY 2! We get up, super excited about getting on the cruise, but still very early due to jetlag. So, we decide to hold off on checking out and head back to the Santa Maria del Mar to see it before going to the ship. It was enormous, and just beautiful in its stark simplicity. I was just thrilled to see it after reading the book about it. I think in our entire trip that we didn't see a church that felt older.
After getting back to the hotel to check out, we load up our backpacks on our backs and take the subway down to the waterfront, planning to take a bus to the terminal. The sun is coming out for the first time since we have been in Barcelona, and we wander around by the Christopher Columbus monument for a bit looking for the bus stop, and a bus had just pulled away. The info I had read before the trip claimed that there were at least 3 more bus stops along the way before our terminal, so we decide to walk until we get to the next one. It is a nice day, after all.
After about a quarter of a mile, we see another bus stop, but there is no bus. So we decide to keep walking. It can't be THAT far. We see another bus pass after a bit, but no more bus stops. So we keep walking. And walking. We wonder if we didn't turn when we were supposed to, but we see the Disney ship way up ahead, so we keep going. And are then confronted by where we are supposed to turn: the bridge. Now, this is a huge bridge that is arched so that some ships can go under it. And it is very steep and long. And we still have our backpacks. But, there are no more bus stops, so we have no choice but to hike the bridge. We must have looked so crazy hiking that bridge with our backpacks! Later, when talking to our dining partners, Eliza and Maynard, we find out that they saw us and wondered what in the world would inspire someone to climb that bridge, nevertheless with backpacks They laughed like crazy when they realized it was us. So, hot and sweaty, we finally get to the terminal after a good hour of walking. We are thrilled to dump our bags with the Disney folk and get into line.
The wait wasn't bad, and I kept trying to recognize people from the DisBoards. The atmosphere was festive, and they even had a flamenco dancer in the terminal. We had a bit of a wait which we thought would be much longer, considering how slowly they were calling the numbers at first, but soon it was our turn to board the ship.
The rest of the evening ended up being a not that interesting mess. So here is the short version- walked the Ramblas in the rain, couldn't find anything decent to eat, went to a boring mall, got soaked getting back to the hotel, capped the evening off with chocolate cake.
And now, we finally make it to DAY 2! We get up, super excited about getting on the cruise, but still very early due to jetlag. So, we decide to hold off on checking out and head back to the Santa Maria del Mar to see it before going to the ship. It was enormous, and just beautiful in its stark simplicity. I was just thrilled to see it after reading the book about it. I think in our entire trip that we didn't see a church that felt older.
After getting back to the hotel to check out, we load up our backpacks on our backs and take the subway down to the waterfront, planning to take a bus to the terminal. The sun is coming out for the first time since we have been in Barcelona, and we wander around by the Christopher Columbus monument for a bit looking for the bus stop, and a bus had just pulled away. The info I had read before the trip claimed that there were at least 3 more bus stops along the way before our terminal, so we decide to walk until we get to the next one. It is a nice day, after all.
After about a quarter of a mile, we see another bus stop, but there is no bus. So we decide to keep walking. It can't be THAT far. We see another bus pass after a bit, but no more bus stops. So we keep walking. And walking. We wonder if we didn't turn when we were supposed to, but we see the Disney ship way up ahead, so we keep going. And are then confronted by where we are supposed to turn: the bridge. Now, this is a huge bridge that is arched so that some ships can go under it. And it is very steep and long. And we still have our backpacks. But, there are no more bus stops, so we have no choice but to hike the bridge. We must have looked so crazy hiking that bridge with our backpacks! Later, when talking to our dining partners, Eliza and Maynard, we find out that they saw us and wondered what in the world would inspire someone to climb that bridge, nevertheless with backpacks They laughed like crazy when they realized it was us. So, hot and sweaty, we finally get to the terminal after a good hour of walking. We are thrilled to dump our bags with the Disney folk and get into line.
The wait wasn't bad, and I kept trying to recognize people from the DisBoards. The atmosphere was festive, and they even had a flamenco dancer in the terminal. We had a bit of a wait which we thought would be much longer, considering how slowly they were calling the numbers at first, but soon it was our turn to board the ship.
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