Touring Barcelona

Let me start by saying there is one thing I really like about the business center at this hotel… they provide disinfectant wet wipes to clean the key board and mouse prior to using the computer equipment. How smart is that. Now, if I could only get the question mark punctuation to work, it would be even better.

Our day… in summary, rain. Lots and lots of rain. We barely got a break all day. The day was fantastic overall, despite the rain, but it was a very, very wet day. We started early. I started at 4 a.m. That is when I woke up. I rested off and on until it was finally 7 a.m. Amazingly, the kids slept the entire night and woke up in good spirits. We walked down Las Ramblas, the main drag, and intended to get breakfast at La Boccaria, the outdoor market. The fruit, meat, and flowers were beautiful. When we hit the open air seafood market section, Josh, Max and I had to turn back. Scott was not very impressed with our lack of adventure, but there was raw seafood everywhere and it really turned my stomach. I feel a little bad that we could not be more adventurous, but that is really not my thing. We found a little café for breakfast, had café con leche, orange juice, scrambled eggs for the kids, and tortilla Espanola for Scott and I. We sat at the tapas bar area and admired all of the interesting foods, like small octopus with tentacles and salami with garbanzo beans sitting out in bowls.

At 10 a.m. the hop on hop off buses opened. There are three routes. You can follow one route all the way around or transfer from route to route. Red route is the newer part of the city and covers the port side and Montjuic. Blue is the older, more gothic part of town with La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. Green is beaches and Parc Diagonal Mar. When boarding the bus at the Plaza de Catalunya, which is a block from the hotel, you receive headphones. You are able to listen to a narrated tour in the language of your choice as you ride the bus. Unfortunately, with the rain, we were not able to sit in the upper deck of the bus. Hopefully, tomorrow. We purchased two day passes and decided on the red route. We were able to see a few Gaudi homes and architecturally interesting designs. While driving from location to location, the headphones play elevator music, which quickly led to Josh dozing off into a nap. We decided on three main locations we wanted to see today. One location for each part of the family. For Scott, we got off at the Olympic Stadium. We were able to see the swimming, diving, and track arena. For me, the Juan Miro art museum. I loved it. The first section of the museum was a temporary exhibit with wall murals from different artists. Very cool. I took a few photos and got in trouble. The kids liked a mural which was 30 feet high and about 20 feet wide, wall to wall dart boards floor to ceiling. There were two big boxes of darts for visitors to throw against the boards. It was a quick walk through the Miro exhibit, but enough to satisfy. For the boys, we went on to the cable car ride to the top of Montjuic. Awesome view of Barcelona and the burbs. There is a castle at the top. I can”t express how much the kids really enjoyed this ride. There are a few other cable car rides in the city and we are going to try one more tomorrow. After these three stops off the bus, we were soaked to the bone. We rode the bus back to the Plaza, bought pita sandwiches, and went back to the room for siesta.

After three hours sleep the kids were off the wall hyper. We had to quickly mobilize to save our sanity and get out of the hotel room. Back to the rain. I had to do some emergency towel and hair drying on the kids” shoes before we left. We walked through the main shopping store in Spain, El Corte Ingles. This completely reminded me of my time studying abroad in Spain. The store was beautiful, but we could not shop. There are so many nice stores along Las Ramblas and the red route. The rain and having the kids has prohibited shopping. I guess it is for the best. Even in the rain, Las Ramblas had vendors and a few street performers. The kids posed with one man on a stationary bike covered in a green metallic paint. I am not sure if they noticed, but when he moved, there was a skeleton that would also peddle a bike attached to him. Kind of creepy in that strange Euro way. There are also so many bird vendors on Las Ramblas. When we walked to the market this morning, a rooster crowed from behind a locked storefront. There are lots of parakeets and small, furry animals for sale. I don”t see any buyers and I am not sure if that is really the type of thing that tourists or locals buy on impulse. We went to the tourist center under the plaza to see how late the cable cars stay open. Bad news was that they only stay open until 7 p.m. and it was already 8 p.m. We tried to get back on the hop on hop off bus to try for an evening view of the red line, but missed the last bus. They advertise that they stay open until 10 p.m., but really appear to shut down at 8 p.m. sharp.

Dinner was paella, one seafood and one veggie, and another liter of sangria. The paella warmed our bellies and we went off to find Spanish style hot chocolate for the kids and me. Scott got a small tiramisu gelato. The hot chocolate, which is like drinking a melted Hershey bar, is very thick and rich and the kids did not like it. Everyone wanted Scott”s gelato. Waiting for our meals is a bit challenging. European style service is casual and unrushed, which is a great change of pace for us. But, this is hard with little ones. We are doing some family bonding during these meals. We play rock, paper, scissors and charades. We have not broken any glasses or knocked drinks over yet.

The other popular form of entertainment has been laughing at the bidet in the bathroom at the hotel. Of course, they discovered it right away when we checked in. Yes, they tried it out before we could even explain what it was. Water everywhere. Not sure I really understand how it works and we were peppered with questions. It is the source of major entertainment for Josh and Max. Scott and I cannot even go into the bathroom without the kids making jokes and asking if we are going to try it out. So silly.

Disney Cruise Lines did set up their booth today in the hotel lobby. Although we booked the hotel reservation on our own, this is also one of the hotels Disney works with for accommodations. We chose not to book through Disney because the identical room was several hundred more each night. That is what you call the Disney way. Such a premium. Still, we are hoping to be able to check our bags in the lobby tomorrow with Disney to send directly to the ship. Since we did not book the hotel through them, we are not sure if they will accept the bags. It would be great to ditch the bags, tour the blue line, take a cable car ride, and head right to the ship. Maybe. We have time. The ship leaves at 9 p.m. We do not intend to get on too late, but would like to see more of Barcelona, especially if the rain lets up.

FYI, it was a great decision to come early and experience Barcelona before the cruise. I have a feeling that the ship is going to be very American and of course, so commercial. This was a great way to have a mini, non US adventure before the next phase of the journey. They are both special in their own way, but very different.

Some of you have sent me emails that you are not able to post messages to us on the blogs. I am not sure why. You may need to have a sign in or be a blog follower. I hate creating new log ins, so no worries. Thanks for the messages. Next posting will be from the ship.