Post-Cruise: Braving Barcelona (Part II)

We had reservations for Sagrada Familia on our last full day in Barcelona. We had a sneak peak the day before, and we were very excited to see the interior of the basilica. We had one day left on the hop-on-hop-off bus, so we decided to take advantage of it. We walked to the Placa de Catalunya stop to see if everything in the centre of Barcelona was closed on Sunday, sure enough, everything was closed except for a few souvenir stands. It was still busy though, with lots of tourists wandering around. NB, everything really is closed on Sundays in Barcelona, with the exception most restaurants (I say this because La Boqueria is closed on Sundays), and Maremagnum, a mall at Port Vell, which is opened year round.

Our tickets had a time window for entry, so we wanted to get there early to check out the area. We arrived at Sagrada Familia an hour before our entrance time, so we had time to shop around. There are many street vendors in the area, and many of them were better priced than the actual souvenir shops in the area. I highly recommend purchasing tickets prior to arrival. We purchased our tickets about 6 days in advance, and there were still plenty of time slots to choose from. If you purchase them on the day of at the basilica, you may have to wait a minimum of two hours for your entry window. There are several types of tickets, you can choose from a basic ticket that just gets you inside, or you can choose to have a tour guide or there is the panoramic package that includes a walk up to the towers. I had purchased tickets for the self-guided tour (€24) so we can move at our own pace. On our way in, we picked up our headsets. The employees are very helpful, and they make sure you don't forget to pick up your headset when they scan your tickets on your way in. It was quite crowded but we managed to see everything mentioned on the tour, and get in a few good pictures as well. I don't want to give everything away, because Sagrada Familia is not to be missed. It's a marvellous work in progress with the completion date of 2026, but the basilica is stunningly beautiful. We will be back!

We ended up spending two hours marvelling at the basilica before we needed to get going for our next booking at Parc Guell. Our Sagrada Familia tickets included a tour of Gaudi House Museum at Parc Guell. We hopped back on the bus and made our way there. Unfortunately, the bus stop is nowhere near Parc Guell. After getting very sketchy directions from a few people, another tourist couple told my in-laws they knew where they were going, so we ended up following them. It was the longest and steepest hill I had ever climb in my life (well, maybe the second steepest). Halfway through, the couple decided it was not worth climbing and turned around! We kept on and after a very exhausting trek, we finally made it to the entrance of the park.

Everyone took a quick five minute break while I tried to figure out where the Gaudi House Museum was. We arrived just in time for our entry time. The museum had great air conditioning, which cooled us down from our sweaty trek, but the house was only two levels, and it did not have more than 50 pieces of Gaudi's work. It was interesting, but it wasn't worth it for us. I personally felt that we could have skipped this tour. We were in there for about fifteen minutes, and then we left to explore the park.

There are public areas in the park, as well as "monumental zones," which require an entrance fee of €8. We didn't know about this and due to time constraints and exhaustion, we didn't end up paying to go inside. Just so you know, the monumental zones include the Dragon Stairway, the famous Greek Theatre or Nature Square, the Austria Gardens and the Pavilions. I would have really liked to visit the famous Nature Square (second, right), but nobody else was really interested. However, it was also quite busy, so it would have been difficult to get a seat in the Square, so that made me feel a bit better about missing it.

On our way back down the hill to our bus stop, we took a much easier route. We noticed direction signs along the way down.. I guess we should have just been more aware of our surroundings!

From Parc Guell, we took the bus to our next stop: the Magic Fountain. By the time we arrived at Plaza de Espana, it was around 7:30 PM. We grabbed a snack inside Las Arenas Shopping Mall, which was down the street. Only the food court was opened. The mall also had a sky deck, which offered a 360 view of Montjuic, for the price of €1. We skipped it because it was getting dark. The light show started after 9 PM. The show was beautiful, but you have to stand by the fountain to hear the music, and that meant being in the wet zone. We crossed the busy road to watched and listen for a few minutes, but the winds were strong and we were getting pretty wet. Eventually, we ran back to the other side of the road. I must say, it is hard to enjoy the show, because there are hundreds of people watching it with you, so there is little room to move around. In other words, don't get comfortable! There is a lot of pushing and blocking. While it is a very magical feeling watching this beautiful light/water show, I like to call this to the poor man's version of the World of Colour in California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort. The Magic Fountain show runs for two hours on a loop, so after 45 minutes, we decided to get going. It was way past our dinnertime, and we were hungry... Note that the Magic Fountain performance is usually on weekends with varying hours throughout the year. Check the hours before going!

Hailing a taxi was a nightmare. There were hundreds of people leaving the area at the same time, and everyone was fighting for a taxi. We managed to get one after fifteen minutes, and we headed back towards our hotel. The taxi ride from Montjuic to Eixample was about €10. There was a restaurant, Cerveceria Catalana, we'd been walking past everyday that we wanted to try. It was especially busy at night when we walked back to the hotel at midnight so we figured the food must be good. I guess we should have anticipated for the wait! We ended up waiting for an hour for a table, but it was worth it. The food was delicious. I loved the fried green Padron peppers (second, right). Most are mild and sweet, but there can be a few hot and spicy ones! It was like playing Russian roulette, but with peppers! Perfect ending to our last night in Barcelona.

Our trip has finally come to an end. Needless to say, Barcelona was by far my favourite port. Catalan cuisine won me over.

Thank you so much for reading along. I will have one last entry with my final overall thoughts regarding this cruise (and the Vista!) at the end of the week. Stay tuned!

Post-Cruise: Braving Barcelona (Part I)

We were so excited to see more of Barcelona and we woke up as early as we could the next day. Our first task was to find a hop-on-hop-off bus to take us around the city. Our hotel sold slightly discounted tickets for Barcelona Bus Turistic, so we decided to purchase the tickets directly from them. Barcelona Bus Turistic has three lines, red, blue and green. We were only interested in the red and blue lines, as the green line was a route along the beaches, and we didn't have enough time for it. While this bus stopped running earlier than the other tour bus, we noticed it had more stops, and the stops were closer to the destinations, which is another reason why we chose this bus.

To start our day, we grabbed a baguette from the cafe on the corner and walk to our bus stop, which was four blocks away. The closest stop in to the Best Western in Eixample is La Pedrera on Passeig de Gracia (on the red line). La Pedrera, also known as Casa Mila (below right), is the last civil work of Antonio Gaudi, the famous Spanish architect. The building was initially built for a married couple, but eventually, the widow sold the property, and today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site open to the public for viewing. We never got a chance to visit Casa Mila, but it is a very unique and artistic building, one of many Gaudi designed and built himself. The upper level is covered in white tiles, reminiscent of a snowy mountain.

We got on the red line, and stayed on for a few stops. We got off at MNAC, the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, which offered an incredible view of the city (almost every European city we had visited had an easily accessible site for an amazing panoramic view of the city). MNAC is a museum of visual art and it has the an outstanding collection of Romanesque paintings. General admission is €12 for two days, which is not bad at all. While we didn't have time for the museum this time around, it is definitely on our list for when we return to Barcelona one day. Below the museum is the famous Magic Fountain of Montjuic, which can be seen behind the four pillars in the photo on the right. The fountain is known for its light show during the night.

We hopped back onto the bus to our second stop, Maremagnum at Port Vell. We took a short shopping break at the mall, but came up empty. Almost everything is closed in Barcelona on Sundays but Maremagnum remains open and it stays opened for 365 days of the year. We walked around the waterfront harbour afterwards, and stopped for a snack. While Port Vell is busy, it is filled with illegal street vendors selling fake purses and shoes.

Our third stop was Barri Gotic, the Gothic Quarter, which is known as the old city. Just like Las Ramblas, the Gothic Quarter is a maze. The first attraction we saw in the area was the Barcelona Cathedral. With the entrance fee being €7 per person, we decided against going inside. We wandered around the area, and took pictures of the buildings.

Turns out the Gothic Quarter is connected to Las Ramblas through a few side streets. A few turns here and there, we ended up on Las Ramblas! Since we were there already, and feeling a little hungry,   we decided to head over to La Boqueria for another late lunch. We ate at Ramblero again, because we felt more comfortable with this bar, and we knew what we were doing, but it seemed busier today, with actual lineups by each bar. We ordered much more food this time...

As I mentioned in my last post, there are many fruit stands in La Boqueria, and many of them sell fresh fruit juice and fruit salad cups for €1. Perfect snack on a hot Barcelona day. Also, this is not an advertised fact (no signage to let tourists know), but if you keep your receipt from any purchase made in La Boqueria, you can use the restroom without paying. Otherwise, it is €0.50.

After our meal, we hopped back on the bus on the blue line. Our first stop was Sagrada Familia. We had tickets for the next day, and I wanted to familiarize myself with the entrance. The basilica is just amazing on the outside. Construction has progressed slowly since Gaudi overtook the project in 1883. As you can see in our photos below, it became an overcast kind of day. (More photos to come in the next post!)

Our stop was a quick one, and we got back on the bus for our next stop: FC Barcelona, a must-see for any soccer fan! The boyfriend is a soccer fan and he was excited to visit the massive team store. We decided against doing a stadium tour because we didn't have time, and it was expensive at around €35. The team store is like a department store as it has three levels full of FC Barcelona merchandise. We walk around Camp Nou and took some photos.

We caught the last bus back to Placa de Catalunya, and we walked around Las Ramblas. We had dessert (ice cream!), and it was almost midnight before we were hungry again. We decided to grab a quick bite before heading back to the hotel, but we wanted something quick and inexpensive. We spotted a restaurant called Txapela, and decided to give it a try. Their menu is extensive with over fifty different pintxos (similar to tapas, but these were bite-sized) to choose from.

When we left, the night life was still going strong in Barcelona. All the stores were closed on Las Ramblas, but the restaurants were all buzzing full of people. We didn't get back to the hotel until well after midnight, and we were exhausted from our long day.

We had one more day in Barcelona, and we had saved the best for last. Stay tuned for our trip to Sagrada Familia. I hope you're enjoying our post-cruise trip report in Barcelona. We are at the end now... Thank you for following along!

Disembarkation in Barcelona

Disembarkation Day

All good things come to an end, and on Friday morning, our cruise came to an end in Barcelona. Disembarkation day was, without a doubt, the saddest day of our vacation. You just gotta wake up so early to get off this magical floating resort you've called home for the last week or so. It's such a bittersweet feeling.

The morning of was hectic and rushed. Even though we chose a "relaxed debark," we were supposed to leave at 8 AM, which is not relaxing at all. We were running late as usual, so I sent the boyfriend upstairs to grab some snacks for breakfast as I tried to pack the rest of our belongings in our carry-ons. We lined up for the gangway, and we were off the ship in no time. There was no wait or no hold-ups - no customs. We went straight for the luggage area, and there they were! Our suitcases on the floor, waiting for us, by themselves. No need to search through a sea of suitcases! I guess we were the last ones to disembark in our number group... Oops!

We headed outside to the taxi line. It was a very long line, but it was moving steadily and it seemed very organized, so we felt quite optimistic... until it was our turn. We had waited for about 50 minutes before we got to the front of the line. We needed a van, because of our luggage (eight suitcases in total, we don't travel light!) so we had to wait even longer. At this point, the port workers became very disorganized and forgot about us (and another family), and began letting other people ahead of us. I don't know if it was just plain bad luck, but it's super frustrating watching people behind you in line get into the van that was meant for you. When we finally spoke up, and were assigned a car (not a van), the driver claimed not to know where our hotel was (we were staying at the Best Western Premier Hotel Dante in l'Eixample area, which is a pretty popular area), and so we had to wait for another van. Long story short, if you need a van, be aggressive (or assertive) or you may have to wait a while. Needless to say, our disembarkation experience with the Vista was a bit challenging.

Barcelona

Our hotel ended up being literally 12 minutes away from the port. We arrived at our hotel shortly before 10 AM. We were tired from the events in the morning, and we really wanted to take a nap. But unfortunately, our rooms were not ready until 1 PM. We grabbed a sandwich and cappuccino from the cafe around the corner, and visited the supermarket down the block to kill time. When we finally got into the room, we both passed out immediately.

We woke up a couple of hours later, ready to take on Barcelona. Barcelona was humid, but also breezy. There was a strong wind so I wanted to keep my hoodie on, but when we were in the sun, it was very hot. Our hotel was a ten minute, five blocks away walk from Las Ramblas. Once we reached Plaça de Catalunya, we really felt like we were in Barcelona. The busy square is where the old city and modern Eixample met. It was a true European metropolitan city feeling. We didn't have a plan, we just wanted to explore and see what Barcelona had to offer. Las Ramblas is the first attraction tourists think of in Barcelona. It is a lively street filled with shops and street vendors. We walked down Las Ramblas and stumbled upon La Boqueria. Barcelona's famous public market is known officially as Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria. There are fishmongers, butchers, and fresh fruit and vegetables, in addition to food bars (quick service restaurants with fine dining). It is a food lover's paradise. We were mesmerized by the sights and smells in the market, and we wandered through the stalls for hours. We wanted to sit down at a bar to eat, because we could see the delicious foods being served, but they were all packed. Finally, around 4:30 PM, we miraculously spotted two empty seats at Bar Ramblero.

Lemme tell ya, food is not cheap in Barcelona. We ordered two dishes, a grilled octopus and grilled razor clams. I've never had razor clams before, so I was pretty excited to try them. They were delicious! I'd been missing out all this time! The octopus was delicious as well, it was very tender and juicy. Our bill came to about €35. I highly recommend trying out one of the restaurants in La Boqueira, their seafood is so fresh and everything tastes delicious!

After our late lunch, we raced back to meet the boyfriend's parents. We were supposed to meet for dinner, but seeing that we had just eaten lunch, we decided to shopped around for a little bit. There are so many side streets branching off from Las Ramblas with hundreds of stores to shop in. It is very easy to get lost, and you may end up going around in circles (which is what we did). If you're planning to shop, you really do need a full day. We only ended up getting through one small area close to the beginning of Las Ramblas.

The boyfriend wanted paella for dinner, so we found a restaurant along Las Ramblas towards the direction of our hotel where it was less congested. The food was alright. Our tummies were content, but we later found out the restaurant was a tourist trap, and did not have very good reviews. On our way back to the hotel after dinner, we stopped by Haagen Dazs for ice cream.

As I mentioned previously, our hotel was located in l'Eixample area. It was "off the strip" and it was away from the busy tourist areas, but it was a very safe walk even at midnight. It's not eerily quiet during the day nor is it completely dead in the nighttime. There are a few restaurants between Las Ramblas and our hotel, so there are people out and about. We felt very safe walking in the neighbourhood at all times of the day.

Barcelona was absolutely rocking our world. There was so much to see, so much to do, and so much to eat! We have two more days in this amazing city, stay tuned...