Royal Princess Spanish Passage Transatlantic Trip Report

[arctickitty]

Tuesday, May 3rd

 

Today's schedule was also altered because of the high winds in the region. Our original schedule was to be in Gibraltar 7am to 5:30pm but this was change to 12pm to 11:30pm. We were excited about the opportunity to have some non-sunny time in Gibraltar. We were initially bummed because we had a goal of getting some Gibraltaran food (yes there is such a thing) however our info said that it could only be found in one place, and only before lunch time). This was ok because instead we got a Gibraltaran cookbook at Morrison's and we can make our own Gibraltaran food whenever we want now (if we can find the ingredients but that is a different story).

 

My husband and I had been to Gibraltar before on a non-cruise trip. In between Spain and Morocco we took about 24 hours to walk across the border, explore the rock & town, and the night, and then back across the border in the morning. We came away from that trip absolutely enchanted with this little enclave and didn't see why so many cruisers didn't love it as much as we did.

 

This second visit brought us to a new sense of understanding: Gibraltar is not as nice when a cruise ship is in port! Our individual trip had been in February, the low season on the Mediterranean, and we had the place to ourselves. This time, Main Street was packed, overwhelming and stifling.

 

Despite the opportunity to sleep in, we woke up at 6:15am and were at the MDR by 7am:

 

Ripe papaya

Cinnamon apple compote

Veggie omelet

Hashbrowns

Banana-nut pancakes

 

We picked up a latte and a second loose-leaf tea from the IC: Ceylon from Sri Lanka. The staff were once again a bit confused about receiving a loose leaf tea order but we got it figured out. The tea turned out well. We worked on laundry and watching the recorded port lectures. The captain announced that they had clocked 70 knot winds on the Bridge.

 

Side note here: I had read people comment on liking/not liking a captain and I wondered how one would have enough interactions with a captain to know whether or not they were likeable. Well, with this captain, Nick Nash, it was clear. He made lovely, appropriate announcements that made him immediately likeable in my opinion! We enjoyed and appreciated the information he provided. Resume day:

 

We went up to deck 16 to watch Tangier, Morocco. We then switched sides and saw Tarifa, Spain from the parents' balcony. Next we saw Algeciras, Spain, and then the Rock of Gibraltar. It was cool to see these places we had previously visited. Embarkation was a little delayed again and we got off around 1pm. Along with the parents, we did the "standard four stop taxi tour" with 4 strangers. My husband and I are not tour group people; the parents are. The parents liked it a lot; we would have rather been on our own. But we made the parents happy because we did a tour together. We had previously walked up the Rock so it was a little different riding up. We appreciated St. Michael's Cave and the Great Siege Tunnels but felt so very rushed. We would have spent a lot more time walking in them if we'd had the time. We never saw an ATM while we were on the tour, so we paid in euros, with a rather hefty rate. When we were plopped out on Main Street, we got out of the packed area as fast as we could, with a goal of exploring around the other side of the Rock. We had noticed a cemetery and headed there.

 

The cemetery turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the day. We are not really avid cemetery visitors (not the kind of people who go to one every place they visit) but this one had some unique features. First of all, the surnames were dozens of different ethnicity, and just about every family was clearly all mixed up. This illustrated a bit of the mish-mash that is the population of Gibraltar and how different groups of people have come there at different times. Many grave sites features imagery of books. Books, books, books were everywhere. Almost all graves had poems carved on books or the names carved on books. The poetry got quite complicated, too. Another thing was that people had named their stillbirths and buried them in their own grave sites. Perhaps this is common in other cemeteries but if so, we had never noticed it before. This was a far more poetic cemetery than most. We had heard that there was a Jewish section, and kept looking for it but did not find it. We found an interpretive sign at one of the entrances. This sign explained, among many other things, that when the airport runway was expanded, much of the cemetery was relocated. The Christians opted to dig up their dead and just move them to new graves. But this could not be done in the Jewish section because disinterment is against Jewish tradition/law. So part of the Jewish section is now underneath part of the airport, specifically the area where the aircraft park. I read this aloud to my husband and he did not believe me. We each read the sign several times until we quite grasped it. Later, my inlaws thought this was one of the most incredible things they had ever heard: that there is a cemetery underneath the airport.

 

From there, we passed through a small industrial zone, and then got stuck between a high rise apartment building and a lot of construction. We kept hitting dead ends and fenced off paths, and were about to give up, when we tried one more time and got through. As we walked, the noise abated and we encountered Catalan Bay. We learned that some folks live their year round (we saw school children get off the bus). We walked on the beach a little and did a loop through the community and then walked back to the ship. On the way, we saw the madness that is the Gibraltar-Spain border at rush hour with cars piled up for as far as the eye could see. We had previously had fish & chips & mushy peas in Gibraltar, and didn't really want it again, so we headed to the MDR, where we were so hungry I did not write down what we ate.

 

After dinner, we headed back out and made a bee line for Morrison's, the massive British grocery store. Our goal was to get a tin of biscuits (cookies) which was easily accomplished. I love food, cooking, markets, and grocery stores (can't you tell?) and seriously tested my husband's patience as I went up and down every single aisle. We got some beer for my father in law, fresh flowers for my mother in law, and a Scotch Egg for me. It was a snack I didn't really need, but I wanted to try one on UK soil. It was yummy. We wandered around the walking paths of some high rises near the water looking at the boats and then made our way back to the ship around 9pm. The second walk was so very nice because the sun had gone down and it was much cooler, so much more to our liking.

[arctickitty]

Wednesday, May 4th

 

Today's accomplishments: jamon iberico, El Corte Ingles

 

Finally, Spain!

 

We got up a 6am. It was a buffet morning:

 

green beans

bok choy

mini burritos

hasbrowns

potatoes

fruit

 

We hovered near the gangway and got off around 8:15am. We walked into town, passing some interesting art, and made a very long, very slow climb up to the top of the hill where Gibralfaro is. We had a jolly time exploring the walkways and view points. There were groups from Holland America there, and many people complained that the museum exhibits were only in Spanish. They weren't too detailed and we found them fairly obvious eg "this is a soldier's gun" "this is a soldier's uniform" etc. After we spent a lot of time exploring, we walked down into town. We spent a lot of time trying to find Valor, the name-brand maker of Spanish hot chocolate. We went around in circles with our maps but never found it. We did, fortunately, find the market, and we wandered the aisles of produce, spices, candy, fish, and shellfish. There were tapas bars near the front of the market, and we kept circling, thinking about trying one. When we are traveling we will often find ourselves wandering/looping while I am searching for what it "the perfect place." Granted, I don't know what "the perfect place" is going to be, but I have to soak up the atmosphere enough to get a sense of which place among so many is going to be the best for us. Often when I am doing this, we both get hungry/impatient and begin to question my methods. We were at this point, when we rounded a corner far in the back of the market. We passed yet another ham stand when I noticed a sign that said, in Spanish, "menu for eating here" and something intangible about the place made me know that it was "the perfect place."

 

First we ordered un medio de jamon iberico de bellota (a half plate of acorn-fed ham). The ham man brought out a printed menu, pointed to the price, and in Spanish, asked me if I was ok with the price (eu 9.50). I said I was, and he asked if we were eating there, and if we wanted crackers or anything to drink, etc. My husband was marveling at me that I was understanding him and answering him in Spanish. My husband said the ham man's eyes really lit up and he could tell that I knew what appreciated how special what I ordered is. We could tell he really liked his job and the ham and the cheese and he was happy we liked it, too.

 

On our previous trip to Spain, we hadn't been brave enough to actually try this real-deal ham, so we were determined to make this a priority. Eating ham with the ham man in the back of the market in Malaga turned out to be perfect. The ham was like no other ham we had ever had before. It was complex in both flavor and texture, and inspired savoring. The crackers we were given in a little tray were a mix of shapes, some short and fat sticks, some flat, some rings, all very dry. They were a good match for the rich ham. We decided to keep things rolling with a medio of cheese, which was also delicious. We said bye to the ham man and chose a bakery stall. We got some ridiculously huge pastries that were ridiculously cheap and made ourselves sugar crazy with them.

 

Next we visited the Alcazar, where we also wound around staircases and rock pathways, and I unfortunately started to get castle fatigue. I tried to be a good sport for my husband, who would probably never get castle fatigue but he could tell. We left in search of Mallorquina, a local grocery store. We found it, but found we had miscalculated our timing: it was now siesta time. We debated our options, and wound up trying to find the local branch of El Corte Ingles, a department store chain. It was a long walk, and we had to rush in their grocery store, but we picked up some treasures, including a sampler set of miniatures of different Malaga wines. My husband was skeptical of buying miniatures, but we didn't know enough about the region to want to buy full bottles, and we had seen and purchased sets of miniatures in Portugal, so we gambled on the idea that perhaps this is just a regional thing: to sell miniature wine samplers. We are very slow, very moderate drinkers who view it as a food if imbibing at all and the benefit of this review coming several months later is that I can report to you this: if you see minatures of wine in Portugal or Malaga, go ahead and give them a try. Each of the several bottles we have tried so far has had a very unique flavor.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your review thus far. Your zest for the experience and balanced statements about the things you enjoyed vs those you didn't are interesting to read. Please keep up the excellent work, and THANK YOU :D

[arctickitty]

Thursday, May 5th

 

Today's accomplishments: churros, Italian night

 

Our favorite night in the dining room on our previous Princess cruise had been Italian night so when we got onboard this time, we started asking when it would be. We thus had advance warning and knew to plan for an MDR night after visiting Cartagena.

 

We got off the ship right after docking and walked right into town shortly after 8am. It was still pretty quiet and the cafe keepers were just starting to set out their chairs and whatnot. Right in the middle of the main square was a Valor cafe, exactly what we'd been searching for in Malaga. It wasn't open yet so we picked a side street off the main square and wandered. We retraced our steps and the perused the menu. Chocolate con churros (Spanish hot chocolate with thin fried pastries) was a given. One of the things I am known for is reading a menu cover to cover, and looking for the most unique or special item to try. Much of the menu was a bit absurd, with giant sundaes and all sorts of things we weren't interested in, but upon the second reading, I noticed that they had a chocolate flight. Akin to a wine flight, this arrived as a tray with 4 small glasses of drinking chocolate. The chocolates were from 4 different parts of the world, were 4 different colors, and were even 4 different temperatures. One was white, one was icy milk, one was milk and one was very deeply dark. The smallest portion of chocolate con churros came as a full size cup with 4 giant churros. They were greasier than we expected, and greasier than we'd had in Madrid. (I am not an expert on churros but my understanding is they are a Madrid specialty that spread to other parts of the country). I noted that the locals who all sat inside exclusively ate their chocolate with a spoon. We were glad we were almost done when the outdoor seating area got mobbed with Holland America groups on "free time."

 

By this time, it was almost time for the historic sites to open, and we headed to Barrio del Foro Romano, an area with thermal baths, forum, and homes. On the way, we passed through an alley with a massive amount of cats. We stopped and were enchanted with them (their secret was a local hotel that was feeding them). Although we had a list of target sites, mostly Roman ruins, when we were presented options at the first site, we opted to purchase a pass to visit 4 sites. The city of Cartagena has a dizzying array of combo passes from which to choose. We timed our just right in that we had enough time to see everything we wanted at each site without rushing. Concurrently, we saw enough to feel like we'd had a very full day.

 

The Barrio, like the other sites of the day, had very good interpretive materials to help explain what we were looking at. One could get glimpses of the art that had adorned the walls. We again got distracted by a cat who fell in love with my husband, and spent some time taking pictures of it instead of looking at the ruins. Fortunately, I don't get ruin fatigue like I get castle fatigue, so I can easily keep my husband happy. He could look at ruins every day for days on end.

 

Next we visited the Casa de la Fortuna, which was a merchant's home. This was probably my favorite, as you really got a sense of the home since you were inside it. Between the sugar crash, and the go-go-go of the ports, I was exhausted. I found a quiet corner and closed my eyes. I literally slept for a few minutes right in the middle of the ancient home, sitting straight up on a bench. Then I was ready to continue.

 

Next we visited the Punic Wall, which is from the 3rd century BC. It is neat to think of something being that old, but the really cool part of the site is the basement, were there is a crypt with the bones of dead monks. It's a great answer when your in-laws ask you what you did today, "looked at the bones of dead monks."

 

Finally we visited the Museo del Teatro Romano. The museum precedes the entryway to Cartagena's Roman Theater. It was an excellent museum and initially, we were enjoying it, except that partway through it got gummed up with tour groups. The groups kept stopping and blocking entire areas, so that one could not get through. We thus spent the second half of the museum sandwiched between two groups with no means for escape. We emerged into the theater and explored it, climbing up and down the steps, imagining orating on the stage, etc, until we felt like it was time to go back to the ship.

 

It was time for Italian night!

 

Eggplant Parmesan

Cold Bellini soup

Pasta

Stuffed zucchini

Salmon and vegetables

2 types of ice cream

 

I was too exhausted to go into anymore detail. We were also spending a lot of our free time with my in-laws who were starting to get a little sad about our upcoming separation.

 

Thanks to all of the readers for your encouragement to keep writing.

[arctickitty]

Friday, May 6th

 

Today was a different day in that we would be taking our first and only official Princess excursion. We convinced the parents to try the MDR for breakfast with us so we picked them up at 7:50am and walked down together. My husband and I ordered identical breakfasts:

 

Fruit cocktail

Oatmeal with banana

Half bagel & lox

 

I thought I was a genius for figuring out you could request a serving of banana at the same time of the oatmeal and mix it together!

 

The parents insisted on going to our tour meeting spot early, so we got our tour dots at 8:40am for our 9:15am meeting time and 9:30am tour. Apparently everyone goes very early? Our guide was Vivian and of the guides on the different buses for our tour "A Taste of the Past" she was the star and we felt lucky. She had lived in Mallorca for a long time and was very knowledgeable about the island. Another bus joined our group whenever we were off the bus and Vivian talked to both buses; the other tour guide seemed like a substitute as she was brand new to the island and didn't say much. We drove through some beautiful countryside and viewed the Bellver Castle from the outside (and had a pit stop). My husband and I always enjoy looking at the countryside just about anywhere. One of our favorite things we saw were the distinctive type of windmills they had everywhere. Vivian talked non-stop and most of what she had to say was interesting. The main attraction of our tour was a place called Els Calderers. In pitching the tour to my in-laws I described it as a "mini Williamsburg" and that was a pretty accurate description. The main site was a manor house that was jam-packed with in-place artifacts and details. Because the tour was food-themed, we got several tastings as we toured through the house:

 

Sweet Wine

Bread spread with Sobrasada

Cacahuetes (peanuts)

 

. I could have stayed in the dining room and kitchen much longer, just looking at all the plates, china, silverware, crystal, kitchen utensils, and fake food. We were very impressed with the site. We were not rushed too much, but it reminded us of our experience at Monticello, where you have to stay with your group and go at the guide's pace. We had some free time to explore the grounds, so we had a look at their poultry and goats and did some loops around a short trail.

 

We found a small gift shop with food items and selected a couple of treats to bring home. The next main event was for us to all be herded into a large hall to be taught how to prepare a typical Mallorcan snack. The majority of attendees were unhappy that we would be standing Spanish-style. They did have a limited number of seats available for people who truly needed them, and our guide exercised her right to sort out people who actually fit into the category "truly needed them." Tables of about 10 spots were set up with family-style ingredients. Each table had a bottle of wine, a bowl of tomatos, olive oil, salt, jamon, and cheese. There was Galician bottled water at each plate. Vivian then demonstrated how you cut the tomato in half, rub it on the bread, and then season it with olive oil and salt, and put some ham or tomato on top and eat it open face. Our table mates dove into the shared ingredients and took far more than their shares, leaving us more polite folks with little sips of wine, but no worry. A little sip is enough to taste it anyway. We finished eating and went walking until the time our guide had said to return to the bus. We returned to our bus at the time we had been told, but we the last ones. Apparently this was some sort of major faux pas as we got nasty looks and some comments from our bus mates, who wanted to go back to the ship faster. Our tour was scheduled to stop and view the Cathedral from the outside, and some of our busmates protested this, but Vivian insisted that she could not deviate from her instructions. We were glad of this, as we planned to get off there and spend more time in town. We were the only people on our bus to get off. Vivian seemed surprised when we gave her a tip, but the parents had said to always tip a Princess tour guide. Anyway, we appreciated her commentary and how she took charge of situations and policed everyone's behavior (eg told people to stop pushing, made sure limited chairs went to people who needed it the most severely) so we were happy to tip her. We are not bus tour people but the overall postive was that we spent pretty much the whole day with the parents and they were very happy for that, which helped to counteract how sad they were that we'd be leaving each other soon.

 

We had thought we'd go in the cathedral but even the outside area was so crowded we thought we didn't have enough time to give it justice, so we just briefly explored Palma. It was very crowded with tourists from all over Europe. We found an artisan food shop where I got a cookbook, some fuet (Catalan sausage), and apple mayonnaise, all from the island. I was glad we had gotten into the countryside and away from the crowds, but the downside was how the bus ride made us sleepy, so we didn't have much energy left. There was a food & beer festival going on and I enjoyed looking at the food booths, but it all pretty much looked like miniature versions of the open-faced sandwiches we'd just had.

 

My husband marveled at the rows and rows of boats and yachts--far more private sailing vessels abounded than in any of our other ports.

 

We used our tour tickets to get on the Princess shuttle back to the ship.

 

Remember that I read menus cover to cover? Well, I had read the room service menu here on CC and again in the room. I had a mental list of all the things I had wanted to try, and the only thing I'd had so far was the Croque Monsiuer. We were hungry when we got back and I wanted to order something. I was having such a hard time choosing one thing off my list that while my husband was out of the cabin for a minute, I called room service and ordered:

 

Lasagne

Moroccan Vegetables with Pita

Vegetable Sandwich

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Chocolate Cake with Chantilly Cream

Chamomile Tea

 

I expected him to be horrified by what I'd done but he was delighted. The lasagne was rich and sinful. The Moroccan veggies were well-seasoned and the pita was soft. The veggie sandwich was a fine specimen. The PB&J was fantastic. I ordered it because I was curious what Princess would do with a PB&J. (Given the theory that they appear to be able to do many very simple things well, such as oatmeal...). Well, here is what they did: they toasted the bread, and then cooled it. So the bread was crisp and not soggy, but was not warm so it did not melt the peanut butter. Anyway, it was one of the best PB&Js I have ever had. So if I ever post to a board about "Princess cruise secrets" I will have to add: order the PB&J from room service. The chocolate cake was chocolate cake and chantilly cream was whipped cream. The chamomile tea was because I was starting to get sick and was trying to deny it.

 

The eating should have stopped there, but the parents were going to the buffet, and I gave up trying to be reasonable. I had done so well the entire trip, eating what I wanted and not eating anything I didn't want. With my level of activity, I lost weight over the whole trip. But this last night, we went to the buffet for second dinner.

 

We sampled:

 

basil pasta

veggie korma

pancit

Norman Love Chocolate Journeys Banana Nutella Cake

 

The cake was worth it.

 

Thanks for reading, everyone. Tomorrow starts my work week again so we shall see what happens with disembarkation day, waking up in Barcelona, our days in Barcelona, our train ride to Madrid, and our many flights home.

Edited July 10, 2016 by arctickitty

[arctickitty]

Saturday, May 7th

 

We again convinced the parents to join us in the MDR for breakfast. My husband and I had separate breakfasts, his:

 

Cinnamon Apples

Museli

Aspragus Scambled Eggs

Gratinated Potatoes

Cappuccino

 

Me:

Papaya

Oatmeal with Banana

Vegetable Omelet

Black tea with milk

 

The parents were in the last Princess airport transfer group. We were in an independent group. When we initially got our luggage tags we were scheduled in different meeting rooms; Passenger Services was kind enough to move us to the same meeting room and time as our parents. Disembarkation was about an hour behind schedule due to immigration delays. My husband had planned to squeeze in second breakfast in the IC so we had some pastries:

 

Norman Love Chocolate Journeys Chocolate-Cinnamon Danish

Beignet

 

We explored the back corners of the dining room while we were waiting to be called. We wound up going first, went through immigration, picked up our luggage, and went to the shuttle bus stop. We could see the parents waiting for their transfer bus, and we could see my mother in law crying.

 

The shuttle took us to Colon, the Columbus statue, where we got a map exactly where Julio Delgado, the port lecturer, had said we would find one. We walked up Las Ramblas to the Drassanes metro station where we bought a 10 trip 2 zone ticket. A man tried helping us and we never decided whether he was an employee stationed there or an unemployed person "helping" for tips. In other stations we saw employees in dress clothes stationed next to ticket kiosks to help press buttons and ask questions. We took the metro a couple of stops and transferred to a train, which had power outlets at the seats and was not crowded at all. We had a reservation at the Holiday Inn Express Sant Cugat so we naturally got off the train at Sant Cugat. We were immediately impressed with this picturesque town. There was a town map right outside the station and we started comparing it to the printout we had. We could not find a single matching street name on the two maps. Hmm. In fact, the shapes of the streets didn't even look alike. We were baffled. We were standing around looking at the maps wondering what we should do when I had a thought bubble that said "we have verbal directions printed out somewhere!" I found the directions, and realized that like many areas, the Sant Cugat area has several train stations, so we had blindly gotten off at the wrong stop.

 

We went back into the train station, got on the next train, and went out a couple more stops. This time we were deposited in an area of 5-8 story office buildings. We started following our directions, and came to a roundabout. We figured we were doing good because we could see the AC Hotel/Marriott. It made sense to us that the Holiday Inn Express would be located near an AC, being similar levels of hotels. We were trying to figure out which arm of the roundabout to head down for our hotel when I realized we'd made yet another mistake: we'd printed out directions to the AC Hotel Sant Cugat, not the Holiday Inn Express Sant Cugat. So now we were in this business park neighborhood with no pedestrian traffic on a Saturday, with no working phone or internet (our Alaska phones are locked and we have not yet learned how to make them work abroad) with no idea where our hotel was. Thing is, early on in our trip planning, we had planned to stay at the AC Hotel Sant Cugat, but then my husband unexpectedly found himself staying in a Holiday Inn Express for one of his jobs for weeks on end. This catapulted him to their second-top frequent guest tier and yielded him a gazillion IHG points. So we had booked the Holiday Inn Express Sant Cugat instead. Anyway, we were wondering what to do when we saw a billboard advertising our hotel, and it had a picture of some vague directions. We started following these, when a security guard came out from behind a gate at one of the office parks and asked us what we were doing. He turned us around and sent us on our way. We eventually found our hotel, about 10 minutes later, right on the edge of this developed area. We passed through the gates of the parking lot, along the walkway, and into the lobby.

 

Saturday, May 7th, to be continued...find out how much we loved the suburb of Sant Cugat.

[tright]

I have enjoyed reading your review! We will be doing the fall TA on Royal this fall.

[Murphey]

I am loving this report. I have to share that my brother in law was stationed there, so we feel a small kindred spirit. He told us all sorts of stories.....like; the wind would blow so hard, when he leaned into it and the wind shifted he fell over! Lot's more stories that you already know and live!:)

[arctickitty]

I am loving this report. I have to share that my brother in law was stationed there, so we feel a small kindred spirit. He told us all sorts of stories.....like; the wind would blow so hard, when he leaned into it and the wind shifted he fell over! Lot's more stories that you already know and live!:)

 

I would believe your brother in law's story about the wind! We had winds over 100mph for over eight hours one day in December.

[arctickitty]

I have enjoyed reading your review! We will be doing the fall TA on Royal this fall.

 

One of the reasons I was determined to keep notes and write a trip report (besides want to give back to CC in thanks for all the of the things I have read/learned here) was because that TAs only happen a few times a year, there are fewer TA-specific trip reports and trip reviews. I felt like I didn't come across many narratives that really told a story as to what a TA was like. Have fun this fall!

[arctickitty]

Saturday, May 7th (Part 2)

 

So I had left us in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express Sant Cugat. Prior to arriving, we had gotten off at the wrong train station and then followed directions to the wrong hotel. What could go right?

 

Everything!

 

The front desk was happy to check us in immediately even though it was well before the official check in time. She thanked my husband for his whatever ridiculously high status he has with IHG (thanks to the months of pain and suffering we both endured when he got sent to training away from home this past winter...I am not being sarcastic...it was awful to be seperated from each other for so long and it was awful for him to live in a hotel room for so long) and provided us with two coupons for drinks at their bar. She also informed us, correctly, that our points booking included free breakfast buffet for two. She then handed us the password for internet, one per device, totally free.

 

How we wound up out in this office park area called Sant Cugat was that we have a strategy that has worked well for us in several other large European cities: to stay in a business district or suburb. This goes against the advice of our travel guru Rick Steves, who strongly advocates for staying in the city/historic center, but it has worked for us, partially because we are, quite frankly, odd people.

 

Because we had gotten off at the wrong train station initially, we had had a glimpse of the town where the people working in the office parks live. We were so enamored of what we saw from that little glimpse that we hemmed and hawed and decided to spend the day in Sant Cugat instead of riding the train back into Barcelona proper. While my husband looked at online maps and plotted our walking route, I looked at eating options on Yelp. I noted that there was an indoor market/eating gallery with a couple of positive reviews in Spanish. Our room possessed a little coupon booklet for the town area of Sant Cugat and provided some more explanation of "El Mercat Vell" which they called a "gastronomic market." We were sold.

 

We walked along sidewalks, pathways, and bike lanes zigzagging our way to the center of the town. A couple highway roundabouts close to the hotel were not as pedestrian-friendly but since it was the weekend, it was easy enough. As we got closer to the residential core, we enjoyed watching families playing soccer or out walking, saw some of the most complex curbside recycling bins we had ever seen (you name it, they recycled it), and easily found the market. As is my custom, we circled and circled, looking at everything. One thing that was different than we expected was that the stalls of all-prepared food features global cuisines, eg Peruvian, French, Japanese, but all with a Spanish twist. I chose the place that looked most like a tapas bar, where locals were picking at plates of tiny fried things. It turned out to be a combination tapas-sushi bar, with a full-color sushi menu and a list printed like a receipt with the day's list of 100 tapas. There were no explanations, no translations (of course) and we had no resources with us, so I picked two of the most common items. My husband asked me what they were and I said I'm not sure but we'll find out. In this case, it worked out, and we tried two classics:

 

Patatas Bravas (potato chunks fried in olive oil served with an orangey-rose colors aioli sauce)

 

Boquerones (fried fresh sardines)

 

We enjoyed both dishes, and crunched up the little fishes, tiny bones an all. We have come a long way in our eating abilities since our first trip to Spain when we were too afraid to try even the ham! People around us think we are adventurous eaters but this has not always been the case: it is something we have steadfastly worked on, and has improved gradually over time.

 

Fully greased up, we wandered into an outdoor market soon after. We bought a paper cone full of cherries for 2 euros and a bag of chewy fruit candies for 3eu (that we mostly took home). We admired the cheese and sausages and baked goods. We visited a 9th century monastery (free) and some museums connected to it, including an exhibit about Neanderthals printed entirely in the Catalan language. We wandered in and out of several gourmet food shops, including the most beautiful bulk foods shop we have every seen. We retraced our steps back to our hotel where we settled in for the night after planning our transit/walking route for the following day.

[arctickitty]

Sunday, May 8th

 

In trip planning, we have learned that we can generally "do" up to one big "thing" per day. We tend to prefer to spend more time on fewer sites, mixed in with lots of wandering, walking, and eating. Barcelona is a big city with a massive list of heavy-hitting sites. Everyone's advice is to add one more thing to one's must-see list. We looked at these lists very critically and mercilessly winnowed them down. We felt that Barcelona deserved more days that we had, but we had purchased the only mileage tickets home that were available on any airline that our miles were redeemable on, and those seats were only available on one day, period. So our time was what it was. It was a big decision to spontaneously decide to spend our first day in Sant Cugat, but that turned out to be a hidden gem. For Barcelona, we decided the Picasso Museum and La Sagrada Familia were our only requirements. After that, we had some goals, but we would let happen what would happen.

 

This morning we woke up at 6am and were at breakfast around 7am. We were tired, still raggedy from the back to back ports. The breakfast buffet was busy when we arrived and packed by the time we left; the guests were from all over the world, eating the wide variety of foods in all sorts of different ways. The Holiday Inn Express Sant Cugat received some angry complaints online for their breakfast-and I can't see it. It was more extensive than one could generally expect from mainland Europe: coffee, teas, juices, cold cuts, cheeses, spreads, breads, pastries, fruit, and even tortilla Espanola (a sliced-potato egg dish). The instant coffee machines made anything from espresso to latte and everything in between.

 

We left at 7:35 and walked to the train station, where we found the next train wouldn't be coming until 8:20am. We had a 9:10 museum reservation, so we were a little worried about the time. We got extremely wet and a little bit lost between the train and the museum, and arrived a little bit late but apparently close enough that we were admitted. We later heard from locals that many tourists mob the museums when it rains. It was crowded, but manageable. We knew to expect chronological displays with no backtracking and had done some reading about Picasso, and of course knew some things here and there, but overall our visit was highly enhanced by the materials we had from Rick Steves. It was interesting to compare the museum-provided printed commentary which was more idealized and cleaned up to Rick Steves' which was much more colorful. They often told the same story in two very different ways.

 

The skill of Picasso's realistic paintings in adolescence was remarkable. We observed his gradual slide from realism to more modern creations over time. One portrait was realist in the center of the canvas and became more abstract as it spiraled outwards. Another portrait was done entirely in pointillism, but we agreed with Rick Steves' comment that it "had the grace of a classical statue." We enjoyed his very playful pigeon paintings from the south of France in which you could see the influence of Henri Matisse. We did not care for his pottery, of which the museum has a large collection, which to our eyes looked like smeared messes akin to the sorts of things children make in elementary school. Our visit lasted about 2 hours, twice what many sources suggested. It was a worthwhile experience to go in-depth on a single artist.

 

We had a list of options for the surrounding area and decided to visit the Cathedral. Mass was in progress so our access beyond the front entry was limited. A Catalan tradition known as the Sardana dances was supposed to occur in front of the Cathedral when we were in the area but apparently never occurred because of the rain.

 

Nearby we found El Call, the historic Jewish quarter. We visited Synagogue Major, which has parts of its building from the 3rd and 4th centuries.

 

We happened to also be near the Roman Temple of Augustus, where a few pillars are still standing.

 

After looking for a market, and finding it closed (Sunday!) we wound up at El Corte Ingles, the department store that has too big of a spot in our imaginations. The menu in their 9th story cafe looked blank and expensive so we went to the basement. In addition to the typical grocery store located in every El Corte Ingles basement, we found a veritable mini-mall of gastronomic store fronts. While each section was really just part of El Corte Ingles, they were set up with different themes, cash registers, and receipts. We circled around looking at the different options. We kept leaning towards a very fancy-looking tapas bar when we switched gears and got in line at a hot-foods take out area. This would be the Spanish equivalent of where you get fried chicken, potato salad, and Chinese food in an American grocery store. Kudos to my husband for observing that one needs a ticket in addition to standing in line. We picked out some vegetables and I managed to tell the clerk (who spoke Spanish to us), in Spanish, what we wanted, for 1 or 2 services, and answered her question, to eat here and yes to please warm it up. We sure gobbled up our plates of thick juicy vegetables:

 

Verdures a la planche (eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, red bell peppers, and asparagus grilled with olive oil)

Catalan spinach (spinach sauteed with ham and raisins)

 

We bought a small paper cone of ham bits and cheese cubes from another stand. People shared tables, squeezing where they could. A Spanish bodybuilder sat down with us and worked his way through 3 enormous & frilly desserts.

 

We happily explored the gastronomic shops, picking up treasures like a sample of turron & pastries made by nuns. We then went upstairs to look at housewares. We have dreams of opening some sort of food-based hospitality business on our island (it goes through iterations of bed & breakfast, boutique hotel, tea room, bakery, & coffee shop) that we wanted to get some things for the future on this trip. We fell head over heels in love with a silverware set. We stood there looking at them, touching them, pretending to eat with them, for a very long time. We looked at other things, then went back and looked at them. We ultimately decided to wait and do some research before dropping a huge load of cash on them, but we were smitten.

 

We walked a long way back to the main train station, so we wouldn't have to change from metro to train (we often prefer to walk longer) pausing in Placa Catalunya where hundreds of pigeons inspired dozens of people of all ages to break out into broad uncontrollable smiles. We rode the train to our hotel in Sant Cugat and ate a tapas picnic on our couch:

 

Jamon & queso salad with gazpacho dressing (from a container)

Cockle-flavored potato chips

White asparagus (that turned out to be from China because I suggested my husband buy the cheaper brand)

 

We plotted our route for the next day and fell into bed, exhausted.

[arctickitty]

Monday, May 9th

 

By this point we were both fighting colds that had started at the tail end of our time on the ship. We had a more leisurely breakfast including samples of different drinks from their automated machines:

 

cafe corto (espresso)

cafe longo (double espresso)

chocolate caliente (hot chocolate)

cafe con leche (coffee with milk)

 

We sampled our way through the buffet: croissants, mini croissants, salami, cheeses, rolls, mayonesa, motarda, ketchup, tomato spread, olive oil, peaches, kiwi, and tortilla espanola.

 

We worked on our packing a little bit before we left for the walk to the train station. Now that it was a weekday, the surrounding area was utterly transformed by cars parked on every single imaginable (and unimaginable) spot. What we thought were dirt paths were now parking lots. Gobs of workers streamed in every which direction streaming towards their workplaces. The train station was quiet until we heard "ahhhh!" and suddenly hundreds of schoolboys in matching navy & maroon uniforms came running off the train. The filled the whole platform in a matter of seconds.

 

We made it to La Sagrada Familia at the time of our reservation, but it took awhile and lots of questions before we found the correct entrance for our type of tickets. We entered near the Nativity facade and spent a lot of time dissecting the images, using information from Rick Steves and the posted placards to guide us. We entered and very slowly admired the inside. We enjoyed all of the colors in the stained glass. We alternated between walking around looking at everything and sitting on a side bench and just soaking it in. For people who didn't feel their best, this was a decent activity, but we didn't have as much in us as we would have preferred. We went outside and had a look at the Passion facade, again picking it apart with help from the signs and Rick Steves. We spent a lot of time in the museum in the basement where graphics about the geometry helped us to see the many different shapes within one column and that things were not just willy-nilly. Later we found a special exhibit of the shapes of nature that further enhanced our appreciation and enjoyment of the architecture. Gaudi was not only a mathematician but a naturalist as well. We went back inside for a second look but the crowds were starting to get to us. We walked a long leisurely way back to the main train station, and went back to our hotel. We had a picnic of cherries, apples, walnuts, crackers, and chips and fell asleep.

 

We rode the train back into the city center to attend "Live Tapas Dinner" hosted by Cristina and Guillermo, who lead small group cooking meals in their home and area markets, as promoted through EatWith and SlowTravelBCN. A family of four (parents and 2 adult daughters) and another couple joined us; our hosts stated it was unusual that their guests were all Americans. We started by sampling some of the best olives and garlic cloves we have ever had. Guillermo and Cristina are incredibly passionate about food and spend a lot of time pursuing it. They gave each of us a vegetable chopping job and we leisurely prepared about 8 different small plates. We started with bread rubbed with tomato, and we learned that the tomatoes which are a special variety, have their vines sewn in a particular pattern so that the fruits do not touch each other. Once cut in bunches, they can keep fresh for up to 6 months in the winter. We sampled many different olive oils and sea salts with our bread and tomato. We had some cheeses and a little sausage as well. The recipes were generally from Cristina's Catalan heritage, blended with the Spanish tapas concept. Some of the dishes we made/ate included:

 

Zucchini with Romesco Sauce

Eggs with Asparagus and Spring Garlic

Butternut Squash Soup

Marinated Mushrooms

Cod Paste on Potatoes

 

We made strawberry sorbet with mint grown right on their terrace for our dessert. We learned a lot from Guillermo and Cristina. They freely poured different wines through the evening; we asked for sips only, and enjoyed tasting them.

 

We took the train back to our hotel and packed before falling asleep.

[arctickitty]

Tuesday, May 10th

 

We woke up just prior to our alarm to a mix of sun and fog; we were foggy ourselves as our colds had securely rolled in. We finished packing and finalized our directions. We took our luggage down to the lobby and had breakfast, including bread with tomato, chocolate croissants, pineapple, mixed fruit juice, orange juice, chorizo, and manchego cheese. We noticed a tray of hot dogs sitting on top of the toaster and wondered what it was for. We wheeled our luggage back to the train, rode it in, transferred to the Metro, and rode to the Renfe station. In planning this aspect of our trip, we used the website Seat61 and Rick Steves to learn about train travel options. Our tickets home departed from Madrid, the only place in Europe we could find mileage tickets all the way home. We have flown on the low-cost European airlines several times, and it's not the easiest or cheapest thing to do when you are at the end of your trip and have extra stuff. When you started adding up the fees, such as baggage fees, metro supplement fees for getting to the airport, etc, the cheap airlines begin to look less cheap. We had heard about the AVE high speed trains but hadn't been on one and wanted to try it. We have had so much fun trying different forms of transportation in Europe that I wondered aloud what first class on a train got you. Seat61 described this for us enough to pique our interest, and my husband found that by fiddling with the ticket times, we could get first class tickets for the same price of regular tickets at other times. Renfe's website is notoriously tricky and my husband spent a lot of time just prior to the start of our trip working his booking magic.

 

When we arrived in the Renfe station, we headed to the Sala, or the train lounge. We had entrance to the lounge included in our tickets. We timed our arrival for the maximum visit time, so we'd have time to enjoy the space and amenities. The sala is small and simple compared to an airport lounge but shared an important characteristic: it was very quiet. For us foggy people from a very quiet island, this was a relief from the hubbub and din all around us. They also had a lot of complimentary beverages, and we drank a lot of juices and sparkling water. They had a small library we perused and free internet, that we used to finish planing our transportation routes for the rest of the day.

 

We spent much of the train ride as the only passengers in our car. We stopped in a few towns briefly. After Guadalajara, the attendants quickly served a meal with wine (we abstained), fresh rolls, and Catalan sparkling water served with lemon slices. The meal trays included couscous, veal, vegetables, fruit salad, and a green salad. We were offered little bottles of olive oil, vinegar, and little pots of tomato spread. It wasn't the finest dining, but it included fresh produce and a balance of food groups. It was healthier than anything we saw available in the train station on either end. The upgrade was very much worth it to us.

 

Our main goal in Madrid was to visit the flagship location of El Corte Ingles. The plan the entire time was to do a little shopping along the way and then do a lot at the very end. We knew we'd be in Madrid the night the Prado museum is free and I had my heart set on a second visit. As it got closer, we realized that wasn't realistic. Instead of dropping our luggage at our hotel as planned, we followed directions from Rick Steves to store it in lockers in the train station. From there we walked to the flagship store, at least an hour one way. It was so wonderful to be back in Madrid! We loved how regal, formal, and full of life it is--no wonder it had captured our imaginations previously. By the time we got to the store, we were both starting to realize our trek was foolhardy, but we were determined. Anyone remember the silverware set we had fallen in love with back in Barcelona? We figured we would get it in Madrid, along with more groceries for home and supplies for our future business. Reading every last word of a Rick Steves book, I had been reminded of the concept of VAT tax refund. We discussed it and decided to try applying for one for the first time. I had a vague many-years-old memory that El Corte Ingles had a visitor information desk; we found this section--at the flag ship you had your choice of English, Chinese, or Russian--and the clerk explained the process to us in great detail. She also signed us up for their visitor discount card and explained that as well. It was a rather involved game to play all of this.

 

We made a bee line for housewares, or more accurately, wandered lost for too long before finding the silverware. They had the same brand but not the same pattern. We eventually showed a clerk a picture of the set we'd seen in Barcelona and she investigated but explained they did not have that set in Madrid. We debated a set we liked but didn't love, before we got out the calculator and figured out that the silverware by the piece was a better way to get the small forks and spoons I wanted. We got a bit disenchanted when we found out that a lot of their items were made in China; the really nice dishes were leapyears beyond our budget. We really only wanted to buy things made in Euripe as we can buy junk from China on amazon anytime we want, and not have to drag it around through the streets, trains, and airports. We found some coffee creamers from Portugal and a couple other small items.

 

By this point we were both disintegrating quickly. My husband thought I would be upset if we didn't get groceries, and I internally didn't want to get groceries because I was barely able to even think, but didn't say so outloud, so we found ourselves lost in the grocery store. Cough drops and suckers was what seemed most important at the time. I grabbed a few things, but it was not the big experience we had planned on. At the same time, we were also realizing El Corte Ingles is not quite the grocery shopping place we had imagined; their products are more globalized now and since we have more travel experience we are more comfortable with local markets and independent shops. We nearly melted down before we got out of the store, but we got our VAT paperwork processed on their end, found a snack, and managed to find the exit. We took 2 metros instead of walking back to our luggage, then got on the Cercanias to our hotel. We got off at the right spot but made lots of wrong turns. We wandered the streets for an hour before finally finding a sidewalk under the train line and then a narrow walkway along a highway, that led us in the right direction into a heavy industrial zone. We were cursing our existences and choices and then it starting raining, really hard. We were soaked like wet cats when we arrived at the hotel. The lobby was crowded and noisy (a magnet for local businessmen who have no where else to go). We'd had a wonderful trip and have a wonderful home to look forward to, but in between this not-too-comfortable-moment and then, we had a lot of flying to do. My husband was at a point at which he said that if he still felt as poorly as he did, when we landed in Philadelphia, we'd stop and stay in a hotel. I was at a point at which I agreed, that if that's what we needed to do, then that's what we'd do. Somehow, when we think we've cut enough from our travel lists to make things manageable, we still always push too hard!

[arctickitty]

Wednesday, May 11th

 

We woke up exhausted at the AC Hotel Cosladas Madrid Aeropuerto. We hadn't slept very much. I was freezing, we couldn't shake our wetness, my husband was worried about our flights home, etc. I had a premonition that we'd have a problem with our bags at the airport, so I shuffled some things so that one of our planned checked-luggages would be security-friendly and could be taken as a carry-on. Final packing was not too bad as we hadn't bought much in Madrid. We rode our hotel's shuttle to the airport; they dropped off various workers along the way. Driving the long winding way around to our terminal, we were reminded just how massive the airport it. We processed our paperwork at the VAT refund office (so easy!) checked in, and passed through security. We had the predicted problem with our luggage (the American Airlines agent was not familiar with their partnership with AlaskaAir that allowed me and my companion to travel with 2 free bags each) so we made things easy by taking bag the one bag that would be ok going through security. Even though our reservation was booked all as one ticket, the agent, his neighbor, and a supervisor could not get our bag tags figured out. We knew we'd have to pick them up in Philadelphia, our first stop in the US, anyway, so I'd figure it out there. We went through security easily and started turning our attention to food. We are spoiled in Alaska by having a membership, where we get all the food we want included, and we were spoiled on the ship by having whatever we wanted whenever we wanted, and we were spoiled at our hotel in Sant Cugat by having an included breakfast buffet so we could load up in the morning without having to think. Boy is everything in the Madrid airport expensive! I cobbled together our food groups by getting a kiwi-spinach-apple-mint smoothie, a cheese plate from the duty-free shop, and a dry squid sandwich for bread to go with the cheese. The cheeses were awesome! The espresso vending machine ate my money and I did not have patience for it, but my loving husband got me a new one. We couldn't find a water fountain, so we bought a new bottle of water. When we got close to our gate, we found that American Airlines had cordoned off the area, and you had to show your boarding pass to get into the area. Said area was too small so we sat on the floor. Others followed suit. Once in this area, one could not easily leave, so we were glad we'd already fed and watered ourselves. We boarded and fell into our bulkhead seats, a gamble that paid off as we had a ton of leg room. We both slept most of the time except for the carb-loaded meal services--spaetzle in cream sauce, roll with butter, crackers with cream cheese, cake, small salad for the main meal--and a goat cheese empanada and more cake for the snack. We landed in Philly, where we went through a fast, easy customs process. The office asked us questions entirely about Alaska! We went to an American Admirals club, where my Alaska membership got us entrance. We ate more food there, with better variety. We slept most of our flight to San Francisco, where we went to the Admiral's Club again, until they closed at 12:15. We stayed inside security, were we slept on some couches (yes the SFO airport has real couches). At 4am we re-entered the Admiral's Club where my husband spoke the magic password and was provided with a key and towel. He lives for his showers, I swear. We ate first breakfast, exited the club, exited security since the American and Alaska terminals are not internally connected, and went through security again. SFO had private contractors wearing TSA uniforms but if you look closely, they are not TSA! At our Alaska gate, we were summoned to the podium, and surprisingly upgraded to First Class. This generally does not happen when one is traveling on miles, but we were thrilled. We were so happy to be back in Alaska territory again. Second breakfast served on board: egg white ciabatta sandwich with spinach and tomato and fresh fruit plate with melon, strawberry, and grapes. They also gave us biscoff cookies. We landed in Seattle at the N gates and went in the new N gates board room. It was very busy, but we read some newspapers and had third breakfast: hard boiled eggs and muffins. When one is flying backwards through time, it seems to be breakfast time every time one lands! We boarded our flight to Anchorage, landed in Anchorage, where my husband picked up his things from his co-workers, I ran into a friend, and we hid out in the board room (and had lunch). We boarded our flight to Adak and flew three more hours, landing right on time and very happy to be home.

 

Never mind that none of our luggage appeared. We got it four days later.

 

The End

 

Questions are welcome.

[land lover]

What can I say, I loved your precruise report stopped reading on April 21st...enjoy ur life on your little island......

[arctickitty]

What can I say, I loved your precruise report stopped reading on April 21st...enjoy ur life on your little island......

 

Other half & I were joking about writing a cruise critic style report of one week of regular life

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Other half & I were joking about writing a cruise critic style report of one week of regular life

 

With your engaging writing style and unique geographic home locale that could make for a very interesting blog to read! :D

[mlmorrison]

Really really enjoyed your review and unique approach and outlook. I saved many of the hints and references you cited, including the local dining experience connections in Spain, and the contrary approach (to our Rick Steves' guidance) about staying in the outskirts of a city for its unique perspective!

[SusieKay]

I loved your review and writing style. It was like a breath of fresh air to read a different perspective on cruising and sightseeing.

We were booked on this cruise, but unfortunately found it necessary to cancel a few months prior to departure.

Thanks for taking the time to share your very interesting experiences.

[pris993]

Great review, fun trip, for sure!!

 

We have do a few TA's so have been in the ports before, we have enjoyed the TAs and ports we are booked again, leaving from Barcelona on Octeber 2017 to Ft Lauderdale, on the Royal.

 

We enjoyed Madrid many years ago on a land trip from Israel, to Madrid by air obviously, then back to San Francisco, our home port.

 

We had some of the best smoked salmon I have ever eaten, in Barcelona on our last trip, about a year ago. My dh is Jewish, so we don't typically eat ham but your enjoyment of the ham has peaked my desire to try some next trip, I am not Jewish.

 

I will reread your review, as it brought back many fond memories of time spent in Spain and Portugal... thanks again.

 

We like to shop and explore local markets like you, fun way to connect with the way of life in different cities.

Edited July 12, 2016 by pris993
typo

[Murphey]

How on earth you survived your trip home while being sick is beyond my comprehension! I would have had to be shipped to the closest emergency room!! I admire your fortitude! Bravo on a fine journey and journal!

[DavyJoneses]

Great report...thanks.

[Duffysmom]

Beautifully written. I'm about to google Adak. Would love for you to write a blog about life in Adak; your writing style makes for interesting reading.

Thank you.

[princess09]

Thank you for your report!