Barcelona

We are in Barcelona all day today (7 am to 6 pm).  We don't have any major plans except to get off with friends and walk around and enjoy a meal and catch up with each other.

We were here last year and I wrote extensively about the port and details a cruiser may find helpful.  Click here to learn more about last year's trip to Barcelona.

bus on the left is the public bus - bus on right is the shuttle

you can also buy shuttle tickets here

Princess does offer a shuttle service you can get for $11 US dollars. You can pre reserve your tickets thru the shorex dept. or buy them at the station just outside the port building.  But there is a local bus that will take you to the same spot as the shuttle (3E Round trip - see last year's blog for more info).

taxi stand at pier

We are heading off with friends Dylan and Ben and just want to relax so we grab a taxi right at the pier that took us to the top of Las Ramblas (Placa Catalunya) for 15E. 

We start at a little restaurant for tapas and Sangria just off the square. It was nice but nothing worth promoting here.

Walking down Las Ramblas we spot some friends at a bar/restaurant called Patagonia.

These friends invite us up and we are soon at a lovely table overlooking all the action below. 

Sylvain and Jua-Jacq

Great friends

Dylan and Ben are the two we are planning to head to Machu Picchu with in the new year if everything goes as planned. 

Dylan and Bernie goofing around

We sit and chat and enjoy sangria (just small ones) and they are amazing.  Also the bar keeps giving us these free shots too that are darn good.

Dylan, Marty, Sanja and Bernie

We also get some small appetizers.

Ben notices some other friends we all know down below and soon enough Sanja and Marty join us.

Marty makes the shots appear!

All I can say is what a great day. Lots of laughs, great fun reconnecting with everyone away from the ship. And I am feeling fine after a few of these sangrias.

Back to the pier we hop in a taxi to the ship which ended up being around 8E.  Note the pier is about 5 miles to the city center. 

Overall it was the best day and a great way to enjoy Barcelona. But we definately want to spend more time here some day. 

We return to the cabin and we nap for a bit and enjoy a lovely sail away.

We haven't been dining much in the dining room so tonight we make an effort to head to Concerto at 8 and we are sat at a lovely table. Theme is Mediterranean theme (again but different items).

I start with the Lebanese Lentil soup which was so yummy. Mushroom tartlet and then the spaghetti Carbonara which I found rather bland and heavy. But I think I am comparing it to all the great pastas we enjoyed in Italy.  Ancient Peaks is our wine of choice tonight.

Oh yes it is sad, but the Fettuccine Alfredo is no longer served in the parmesan basket. Even the description on the menu no longer states a basket.  Seems to be fleet wide now.  Oh well I think will survive but I do miss it.

We skip dessert (really don't care for any of the desserts in the dining room - we love the ones in the Pastry Shop). We opt to skip it and wander around the ship as there is lots going on.

Activities tonight are:  Rock n Roll Night; Multi Instrumental Joe West in Princess Theater; Who Sang What Dead or Alive; Place your Bet Game Show; Kory Simons in Crooners, Tyrone in Wheelhouse; Animal Planet Trivia and so much more.

I wanted to add that there is a foreign currency exchange machine mid ship on deck four that accepts all currency and changes it to Euros and Euros back to US currency. No coins accepted. I don't know the fee for this. Also the machine will be deactivated closer to Florida so watch patter for date and time.