TravelBluebird

Ugh they served you that horrible pink packaged dessert! Might be one of the worse things I’ve ever tasted.

That’s what we get for not planning our meals in advance! Well, no harm in calling tomorrow and seeing if they can fit us in.

@IntrepidFromDC Rao looks amazing, and its 2 minutes from our hotel. We may eat there tomorrow night! Does it require reservations?

And a Five Guys and a McDonalds and a KFC and 2 Starbucks in the area as well! @#55worktoplay could definitely find something!

Just got back to the hotel; its about 10pm. I walked nearly 20,000 steps today, or 8.6ish miles. This is not uncommon for me when I’m traveling. And for those of you who followed the saga of my broken ankle last year on the Carnival Spirit, I want to let you all know that my broken ankle has healed so well that it didn’t hurt at all today! I think my left ankle actually was more sore! Had a great day again today! I’ve already shared my morning. For our afternoon, we started out at the Apple Store for my husband tl have a connector from his ear buds to his phone. $10; would have been $8 in the US but VAT. We also shopped in a big soccer store with licensed merch for our grandsons who are soccer fanatics (two really nice soccer jerseys—we would have personalized them with their names but they were out of several letters we needed! We’ll do that at home. Then we stood in the longest line of any place we’ve visited in Barcelona. Can you guess what the attraction was? Nope, nope,nope—guess agsin— Yep. the LEGO Store. I’m a huge LEGO fan, and I found out from Tony from La Ldio Loco that you can get free LEGO passports and get them stamped at each LEGO store you visit. So I had to have 1 for me, and 2 for the grandchildren, with our first stamp for Barceolona. Was really glad we waited in line—there were inedible LEGO sculptures of the Sagrada Familia and some Gaudi landmarks. We then grabbed the Metro to go to Sagrada Familia. Metro was super easy to use; very well marked maps. The Sagrada Familia was awe-inspiring. A true modern Gothic church, and there is nothing lifke it anywhere in the world. My husband had visited prior in the 1980s and did not enjoy his.visit, so I sort of dragged him there. Well they’ve done so much more work now, and there is a great museum, and he liked it so much he even bought a book about the church in the gift shop. One caveat—do NOT buy your Sagrada Familia ticket and “audio guided tour” from “Get Your Guide”. It was impossible to get it to download after TWO different apps and then to get it to Russ as well; we gave up in frustration, and just guided ourselves around. We didn’t get back to our “neighborhood” in Barcelona till pat 9pm, and we had no lunch, so we probably made a bad choice for dinner. It was a little Tapas place in the French Quarter—a bit overpriced, and the tapas were just OK. But it had a nice atmoshere and it was quiet. Back to our hotel to drop off everything but a bit of money and our room key, then we walked La Rambla to look at all the street life—the street performers, the crowds, the ice cream stalls. I sometimes will go out no cameras in tow just to spend time with Russ, so no photo. Early morning tomorrow—we are heading to Cas Milla (have tickets).

I am curious about this too! We shall have answers very shortly—just 1 more day in Barcelona and then we all board the Venezia!

I promised a hotel review! We are staying at the Royal Ramblas Hotel, right on Las Rambla. As mentioned, its incredibly its well located—easy walking distance to the Gothic Quarter, Cathedral, cafes, restaurants, 20 minutes walk straight down Las Rambla to the coast. We didn’t book this cruise until January due to the Jubilee cancellation; my mother was ill when that happened (she passed in January) so we didn’t even feel like booking anything till late January. We were happy there was still space on the Venezia, and booked it. However, the hotels were already booked up pretty well (or ridiculously expensive) and the first 3 hotels we wanted (charming, rooftop bars//views) were totally booked. So we went for location and picked this hotel. It is overall OK with 1 or 2 exceptional qualities. It was expensive at $360 a night including all taxes, but not Barcelona expensive which was running a couple hundred higher a night for many hotels. We could have brought the cost down further and stayed in a room with no view, or a smaller room, but we splurged a bit. PROS —location!! —great double-paned windows. We are RIGHT on La Rambla, but no noise at all; room very quiet to sleep in —great shower water temperature//shower heads//water pressure —large room —great raised area to put 2 suitcases —gorgeous views from big windows —good lighting in room —good, friendly help at main desk —excellent A/C —modern bathroom CONS —hotel is a bit shabby. Very very basic furniture. —Other than a small, busy lobby, no public spaces in hotel —Zero charm —expensive —hard bed (but decent pillows and blanket) —bathroom is small; size of Carnival Mardi Gras bathroom We did not pre-buy the breakfast at 16EU each additional; could get it for 18EU each here if we wanted but we are coffee shop//market breakfast sorts. Let me know if you have any question! C2E8B390-2D6E-4FC6-A59D-D8EE1085A050.MOV 29FDD638-4E87-49E7-89F3-459F269074E0.MOV 599433D7-60E1-4F86-A73A-398E1D1837C2.MOV

Yes, I am lucky he is in a cooperative mood…after 3 or 4 days he may start to grumble a bit! And thanks re the pics—I am actually only using my iPhone for my trip photos, now that I have the latest one with a wide angle lens. I also use a small 360 camera for additional videos. Very compact, easy to carry around when you are walking a ton!

We slept like the dead till 9am this morning. Wanting to get to the market early to get some images before the crowds we threw on clothing and were away. Photos accomplished, we went to a coffee shop (which is what I usually do first thing; gosh I was a bit grumpy according to Russ…) then back to the market for some shopping. Rushing to get there early (market opens at 8am) is a good idea; by 9:30 it was much more crowded. We purchased some nougat (a local specialty), Russ got a prociutto and cheese cup for breakfast and I got a fruit salad (3.5EU). Then we walked to the beautiful Cathedral of Barcelona. We had one of those moments of complete travel serendipity—there was a large band playing, and people folk dancing in front of the cathedral, with the cathedral as a backdrop! I’ve traveled enough to know that its the band and dancing in front of the cathedral that I’ll remember and not the history and saints of all the little chapels in the Cathedral, so I had Russ go ahead while I enjoyed the outside scene for a little longer. After the cathedral (another gorgeous Gothic one!) and more coffee in the Museum of the Diocese coffee shop (they have a lovely coffee shop overlooking the square) we took a taxi to Park Guell. Sigh. Don’t be us. We had tickets for the park last night, but were so exhausted we decided not to go. We were under the mistaken impression that you could get in to the parts of the park that were not the Gaudi monuments. Well, evidently that USED to be true, but not any more. We hauled ourselves up the giant hill to the park, only to be able to NOT get in. All entrances, including the forest part of the part, now require a ticket. SO..the question is, can I add the park to the Unesco World Heritage site list? I mean, I saw the monuments from the entrance to the park? 😂 We then walked around the hilly area outside the park; cool neighborhoods. Barcelona, as it turns out, is FULL of graffiti. It is just everywhere. I had wanted to take photos of some of it, and there was some graffitti and interesting (and highly political) street art as well which I was happy to photograph. We are back at the hotel now for a bit and then off for some shopping and the Sagrada Familia which, yes, we have tickets for!

I think others have posted these additional emails we’ve been sent, but in case you haven’t seen them, this is what else I received:

Got this in my email last night regradint Terrazza Stateroom benefits!:

No, please ask away! It’s a long cruise; I’ll answer as much as I can, and trust me you’ll be sick of pictures; I’ll take a bunch! 😀

Welcome! Glad you have arrived, and seemed to have an OK flight over. We are over our jet lag (slept like rocks after no sleep on the flight over) and have been out and about quite a bit already. Love your cat pics! We have 2 right now, a rescued 2 year old, Nyla, and the new kitten, Loki. We are very lucky our son can care for them when we are gone. We’ve had as many as 4 cats when we’ve lived in the country.

When I last left you, I was closing my eyes to take nap…. Russ who had just woke up grabbed me and said NO, you’ll never get over your jet lag, we are going OUT. A tired as I was, I knew he was right. So bleery eyed, we first explored the wonderful main food market. Then we walked all the way down to the waterfront on Las Ramblas, about a 20 minute walk. We enjoyed the waterfront for awhile, then walked back and had a very nice Paella dinner in CentOnze in Le Meredian hotel. I tried the local Catalonian wine Xarel-Lo which was perfect for a seafood Paella. Then we headed back to the hotel, and I was going to post and instead fell asleep at 7:30 pm….until this morning. Jet lag solved! Woke up to see we also have Saint Greg aboard the Venezia. I’d love to meet him, but rumour has it no one knows what he looks like…. I’ve thrown in one photo of the lovely view from the window of our hotel; more window views of Las Ramblas in my hotel review to follow Market and more churches and Sagrada Familia today; I’m off! C500AE68-EA87-4E87-8C4E-D29B98F6D835.MOV

Yay! We are waiting for her!

We are in Barcelona; it’s nearly 2:30pm and I’m still awake! Russ crashed out about an hour ago; hope he sleeps tonight! Barcelona airport was a breeze—for us. At least 3 planes came in at the same time. We were towards the front of regular economy, so that helped, and our plane was the 2nd one in, The line for passport control for non-EU was LONG. We stood in it for awhile, and looked back and the line went on forever down the hall before passport control. We got super lucky; one of the customs employees opened up a section of the line right near us to let some people go over to the EU line for processing—like, just 10 couples, and we were one of them! Our bags weren’t ready when we came out but didn’t take too long. From plane to taxi was about 1 hour. Taxi cost 35 euros; we were too tired to try a shuttle or train. Room was not ready but was estimated for 12pm. We left our bags, and the Bell Man at our hotel gave us a warning about pick pockets (which we were already well aware of, but still appreciated), and we found a small local cafe for espresso. We left our bags and walked around the Gothic Quater, and visited the Basilica de Santa Maria del Pi, a gorgeous 15th century Gothic church. You can go up to the bell tower, but we just missed that as its timed; evidently the views from the tower are incredible, but there are 270 steps to get there! We walked around some more, looking at different restaurant menus, and just enjoying the old, narrow streets. We visited a hat shop; my husband loves hats, and when I shoot video from above, he particularly likes to be wearing one! He got a great hat and mad the French shop clerk’s day—it was his first sale at the shop, as today was his first one at the store! After that lunch at a local tapas bar (the Calamari were meh, the Gambon a la Plancha (Grilled shrimp) were SO good, our room was ready so we headed back to the hotel. The hotel is right on La Ramblas, It’s pretty basic but incredible view and a great shower, and easy location to get to so many things! OK, I’m going to just close my eyes a tiny bit….

We definitely need a Cruise Critic get-together on the ship! I look forward to meeting you! Just look for the short redhead with the long selfie stick!

Yikes. That breakfast snack was sad—good thing I wasn’t hungry as it is 2am. And I asked for light cream for my coffee…this was not possible because the coffee was pre-creamed! So very light and not warm enough. I’ll get some decent coffee after we drop off our luggage at the hotel.

We have AT&T so it wasn’t an option. We had sandwiches, cheese, crackers at club; they also had chicken tacos fixings with chips, and deserts, which I wish I had grabbed. Trying to nap was unsuccessful. The seats are those weird ones that don’t really recline—they just sort of slide forward. Even my husband who can practically sleep standing up couldn’t sleep on this plane! Plus the seats don’t have enough padding; my behind is sore and lets just say i bring plenty of personal padding to the equation. Breakfast “snack” is on the way!

Love the market photos; we are excited about the market in Barcelona!

It’s gone well! On time, food was edible (well, except that weird packaged cookie//cake thing they served for desert—ugh) and Internet, although expensive ($18.99!) works. We have 3 hours left in the flight…I just can’t sleep in Economy; these seats are so uncomfortable—I’m in Economy Plus, and I have said prayers for everyone back in regular Economy, cause yikes so little leg room even here. I’ve been spoiled by Premium Economy my last few International trips, and that little extra width and the foot rests make all the difference. Oh, also good seat back movies and entertainment on the plane; no complaints there. Looking forward to meeting you on the cruise!

Ok, after the morning pre-travel stress, the rest has been smooth as silk! Got through checking in at the airport and TSA security in about. 10 minutes! Met a fellow content creator at the airport which was fun; they are big into Tik Tok (something I don’t do!) and they introduced me to their large following which was so nice! So we yakked away while husband read happily on his Kindle. No issues on the commuter jet to Washington; then we had the annoyingly long train//walk to our C gates from the commuter gates at IAD. IAD always makes me think ATL, where we usually fly out of, is the best airport in the world. We were able to get into the United Club due to a credit card, so we got some snacks (mini sandwiches, cheese and crackers, grapes, and espresso) and now have boarded. The plane boarding was hilarious; the entire plane was Group 2, I guess from credit cards! I didn’t care since my bag fits at my feet. OK doors closed! See you in Barcelona!

I didn’t want to make you or anyone feel bad about leaving their pets for a cruise//travel! Mine always seem to forgive me when I return. The rest of the day has gone very smoothly; we are boarded on our second flight; also looks on time!!

We leave the house within the hour! This morning was NOT the nice, peaceful, organized starting trip morning I’m used to. The birthday dinner last night threw off my routine, PLUS son from Chattanooga, he got here late and had to be brought up to speed on new kitten, garden irrigation, etc. So, I’m thinking—no problem! I have plenty of time in the morning to do all the stuff still on my to do list. HA. First, I wake up to find that my iPad did not charge overnight. This is bad; this is my main entertainment//social media tool and I was depending on it for the trip. It is charging; I think we are up to 40ish percent. We grabbed a power brick and are charging that also for the flight. Then, grandkids show up at our house this morning to say goodbye and get my OLD iPad that I promised to older Grandson (and a Kindle for younger one). This would not be a problem except I forgot to wipe said old iPad for grandson. Got that all sorted out and final goodbyes said. THEN, I left till this morning to cancel our old Gold American Express Card because we’ve moved on to a Delta Platinum Am Ex, and didn’t want to pay the $250 yearly fee on the Gold card. Well, we forgot about all the Reward Points we had on said Gold card. It’s all been worked out, and we had a very nice Am Ex agent to help us, BUT gosh, those scripts he had to read were long-winded, we kept telling him to speed it up, we had a plane to catch, but nope, had to read and read and read. Older cat sees the suitcases and is upset. Younger cat senses this and wants to stay on my lap. I feel like a terrible pet mom for abandoning the kitten. So of course all this gave me Nervous Traveler Stomach (TMI? probably). Anyone else get that? The Margaritas I had at dinner last night likely didn’t help. I’m OK as long as I don’t get stressed the morning I’m traveling, but I did get stressed this morning, so yep. That is it until the airport! I have a full 1/2 hour now to try and chill and get into vacation mode!

@luvs2beachit Glad to have you along! You’ll be on one of the first trips out of New York; I’m interested in how those go, too. I will definitely get you information on what there is to do for kids; of great interest to me now that we are starting to cruise with our GrandKids! And thanks re flight—we leave the house within the hour!