Barcelona, Spain - Our City Tour

Friday May 30th, continued.

Well we managed to find an english speaking tour of Barcelona & headed off in a coach with about 35 other Aussies about 10.45am. The weather was looking a bit dodgy, heavy cloud & a few showers.

The tour began with a drive through La Rambla & Cataluna to a Gothic Cathedral designed by the famous architect, Antoni Gaudi. We walked around the outside but it was almost impossible to get a photo of the entire church as it was huge. 

Once inside we were unable to use the flash on our cameras, so decent photos were rare.

Next we drove through the old part of town, passing the old wall & dozens of beautiful buildings, all different, with amazing architecture.

After this we parked the coach (or the driver did) & walked to the beautiful unfinished "Sand Cathedral", the original architect failed to complete the project & Gaudi took over, however he was killed before it was completed. It is still incomplete and it is anticipated it will be completed in 2026. My detail is sketchy but won't bore you all too much. Here are some photos.

We then moved on to the Olympic site, but it was just a drive through so not any photos of note. The views of Barcelona from the Olympic site were great though:

We stopped for approx 45mins at a nice little village where we skipped the tour spiel & found a cute little cafe where we ordered some tapas & a glass of wine.

We have heaps more  photos but they would never download in time.

Our thoughts on Barcelona ....... much much better than we anticipated. A beautiful, well maintained city that is very clean (unlike Naples, Tunisia & Messina). The architecture is stunning and worthy of much more time spent in the city. Half a day just didn't skim the surface. Surprisingly this was the coolest day we have had all trip and we had several showers of rain which dampened the tour a little as there are very few area with cover.  I guess we will just have to come back here one day & spend more time :)

We enjoyed another nice dinner with our new friends & tablemates. I will post some photos tomorrow or Sunday. Just one full day left of this, our final ocean cruise as we spend it in Marseille, France tomorrow, Saturday.

Goodnight :)

Betty & Mike

Barcelona, Spain

Friday May 30th 2014

Weather - Overcast/Sunny 14-20C

After a nice day yesterday on board (I even indulged in a foot/leg massage), we had a great dinner with our 5 other regular companions, then a nightcap or two in the nice wine bar on deck 6. Back to our cabin around 10.30pm to discover yet another letter from the tour office advising us that our booked tour of Barcelona had been cancelled due to lack of number again! Not happy at all, but by then the tour office had closed so not much could be done.

This morning we went to breakfast at 7.30, then straight to tour office as it opened at 8am. I voiced our displeasure at this 2nd cancellation in 3 days to be told that this is a common occurance due to the small number of english speaking passengers on board. I asked if anything else was available & was informed we must go to the tour metting place and check with the guides as they meet at 10am. So will wait & see what happens.

If all else fails we will take the ships shuttle bus into Barcelona, then get a HOHO bus around the city. The man we had breakfast with has been to Barcelona several times & recommended we do this.

At least we should find some free WiWi in Barcelona, as I am running low on the minutes I have left on the ships plan. Will be enough for one more blog upload, then I may wait until we arrive in Monte Carlo on Sunday before posting again. From then on there should be plenty.

Docked early again in Barcelona, on a grey cool morning. Here are a few photos taken during the sail-in/docking process. There are 2 other cruise ships in port & we had to park between the two. An interesting process to watch.

Costa Serena:

Here are a few photos taken around the ship yesterday, firstly many of the designer label handbags:

My new necklace:

My first choice was what looked like a very plain little silver one with a small round pendant. Well I made the mistake of asking the price as it wasn't displayed .... turned out it was a Bvlgari & priced at 4,000 euros (around $6,000). This one is more my price range, a Swarovoski & very nice.

Just some of the gelato flavours:

I will leave it there for this morning & try to upload when we go ashore. Then do another post of our day in Barcelona tonight.

Fingers crossed we find something to do :)

We actually went on a tour in Barcelona, however, WiFi was rare so no time to upload this. Will try now before we leave port & write about our day in beautiful Barcelona, tonight or tomorrow.

Until next time.

Betty & Mike

At Sea - Enroute to Barcelona, Spain

Thursday 29th May 2014

Weather - Fine 16-22C

Today is our one & only full sea day for the entire 14 days of ocean cruising. A good time to relax, recharge the old batteries & enjoy the free time :)

The views from our balcony today, with very calm seas:

We just checked out the numerous photos we have had taken since coming on board & selected just a couple to purchase. This one was on embarkation day in Genoa:

No .... we are not getting ready to abandon ship (although we did see one man carrying his lifejacket around for a few hours one day), just attending mandatory emergency drill!

I was in a hurry to upload yesterdays blog entry on Tunisia because we were leaving the port and heading into open sea. The ships WiFi is not as fast or reliable then as when in port. We did look for free WiFi in Tunisia, but not a chance. So I will add a little more information today on information given by our tour guide as well as our own thoughts of Tunisia.

Tunisia is situated in Northern Africa & has a population of around 11 million, mostly of Arabic origin, however a French influence still exists. Unemployment rate is 16% & tttthe largest industry is tourism (not sure why). They grow a lot of dates & grapes, making their own wine. Apparently Muslims here are allowed to drink alcohol & most do so, sometimes copiously. 

Numerous coffee shops dot the streets and men (never women) sit & drink coffee & smoke funny looking pipes all day. The women work making carpets, jewelery etc. See photo below:

This was a truck full of garlic:

One of the many Mosque's

Perfume Oils in a shop we visited.

A few random photos taken on the streets

Police with rifles!

As you can see, this was an interesting, but not very scenic port. 

More from Barcelona where we have an all day tour :)

La Goulette, Tunisia - North Africa

Wednesday May 28th 2014

Weather - Overcast, possible showers 14-20C (we actually had a small shower of rain)

An overcast morning as we sailed into Tunisia at 8am today. Here are a few photos taken from our balcony:

The Splendida cruised into a very narrow harbour & reverse parked into a small space with the precision of an expert parking a mini minor :)

We heard drums & a band playing from the terminal, welcoming us ashore.

Then they paraded camels along the dock.

The dock area seemed very clean

We were booked on a tour so found our way to the coach around 8.45am & were taken on a tour first of La Goulette, which turned out to be very dirty with garbage thrown everywhere. Then our guide took us on a walking tour through little side streets & lanes with markets everywhere & vendors trying to sell whatever the had. We also saw lot's of ornate doors which indicated the wealth of the owners.

Next was the obligatory visit to a carpet/rug shop. They were very nice, but quite expensive. I made a huge mistake in showing a slight interest in some hand woven silk bedspreads & the men from the shop wouldn't leave us alone. They even reduced the price from 895 to 350 euros but I had to eventually be very rude before they let us go. I guess that is there way of life but we found it very uncomfortable when we were unable to browse without the men trying to force you to buy. Mike had a similar experience when he was looking at a pair of shoes. The seller tried to take him into a back room to deal. We had to run away & hide from him after that! This pressure selling just makes me more determined to refuse to purchase. 

Some ceramics & jewellery for sale:

A lady handmaking rugs:

Mosaic tiles on an old building

We agreed this was an interesting visit, however have no desire to go back. Traffic was terrible with vehicles in bad repair & dirty (including the many police cars). We saw a couple of accidents & many near misses. Police with guns everywhere you look. Our tour had 2 guides, one at the front & one behind to protect us. 

We are now back onboard & have just left the port now heading towards Barcelona, Spain arriving on Friday.

More soon.

Betty & Mike