Gotta Getaway - Semi Live From NCL Getaway - June 16th-25th

[stellarose33]

following

[Spinelli1107]

16 minutes ago, stellarose33 said:

following

Happy to have you join!

[PelicanBill]

All packed and waiting to leave... better than scrambling!  Happy travels, safe travels. Must be a redeye. yawn.

[Spinelli1107]

Absolutely better to be ready than scrambling. Typical though, my husband was still packing last night and hoping he didn't forget anything, where as I had packed unpacked and repacked at least 5 times over the last week. 

 

Yes, it is a redeye, I'm hoping I can just sleep the entire time, but we'll see. We're flying standard economy so it'll be a less than ideal 8 hours sleep, but when we land it's go-go-go!

[PelicanBill]

You can rest in 2 weeks.

I am already packing for my November Getaway sailing.

I am flying to New Orleans on Friday morning early for a Sunday sailing, but will still be nervous about getting there. Years ago I had a Thursday evening flight to make a Saturday sailing. Storms in Atlanta canceled the flight. "No problem," she said, "We can get you there.... Tuesday."

We were polite and asked for our luggage back so we could start driving. But she slipped us on to the last flight of the day that had been delayed from 4 hours earlier and we got there, somehow with out luggage!

[Spinelli1107]

After a very stressful past 2 hours and meetings and appointments running late and over time, we are finally airport bound. Thank goodness for TSA Pre ✔️JFK here we come!!!

[Spinelli1107]

6 hours ago, PelicanBill said:

You can rest in 2 weeks.

Literally my motto for this entire trip! 

[Spinelli1107]

Through security and waiting to board our flight. 

[TN Roz]

Following! Love your writing style! Safe travels.

[Spinelli1107]

 

Look at all that extra leg room. Even my 6’6” husband is happy!

What a thought, falling asleep in NewYork and waking up in Barcelona. Goodnight

See ya on the flip side.

[Spinelli1107]

14 minutes ago, TN Roz said:

Following! Love your writing style! Safe travels.

Thank you! And thanks for joining us 

[Spinelli1107]

Safely arrived in Barcelona and made it through immigrations.

The line was LONG took over an hour but all the travel stresses are behind us and now it’s time to let loose in Barcelona.

First up, Hotel Astoria. This is where we’ll be staying pre-cruise for 2 nights. It’s about 20 minutes walk from Segrada Familia, but the price was very good and it has a rooftop pool. Not that we’ll have time to use it, but it’s there. Now sit back and relax for the 30 minute drive to our hotel. I doubt our rooms will be ready but at least we can drop off our luggage and use the facilities to freshen up. 
 

Random in flight thoughts:

Wow I love clouds, I wonder what they taste like 

OMG look!!! It’s the Segrada

Eekkkk I see cruise ships!

 

Be back soon enough to let you know my thoughts on the hotel and my flight experience 

[tcmagnum]

13 hours ago, Spinelli1107 said:

Through security and waiting to board our flight. 

Once I'm through security, that's when I relax!!

Have a great trip and can't wait to read all about it!!

[PelicanBill]

¡Bienvenida a Barcelona!

[Spinelli1107]

Wow ok so it’s been a while since I’ve checked in! I’m so sorry for abandoning you all but so much to provide details on.

 

So first, the flight. Let me start by saying, our seats were fine and the extra leg room was nice. But that’s about where the niceties end. It should be illegal to keep your window shade open on an eastbound red eye especially when the pilot makes 2 separate announcements about this. Well needless to say some people just don’t listen and about 2.5-3 hours into the flight it went from a nice darkness to brighter than the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. The entire cabin was lit up and it was nearly impossible to catch some zzzz’s but according to my Fitbit I did steal about 3 hours of shuteye on this over 8 hour flight. That said, I was quite exhausted. Dinner was nice enough. We had a choice between butter chicken or mozzarella pasta. Both DH and I opted for the butter chicken. It was nicely flavored but nothing overly exciting. The morning offerings were an omelette calzone or a Nutella stuffed calzone. Again hubs and I chose similarly and selected the Nutella. It was ok.
 

But anywho I’m on vacation so I remain in good spirits.

 

Upon arrival to BCN as previously mentioned the immigrations line was long. Jokingly almost as long as the flight. The waiting hall had no moving air and with seemingly 3 agents working it was a very slow moving line. 
 

Once through, we quickly collected our bags and made our way to catch our Uber to the hotel. Luckily our rooms were available upon arrival and we were able to drop or luggage and freshen up.

 

We called another Uber to take us to Park Guell, about 20 minutes or so from the hotel. However I noticed the timing would get us there later than our time slot (1:30-2) so I was really anxious. When we got to the gate however at 2:11, we scanned our tickets with no issue at all.
We spent a little over an hour on walking through the Park and taking in all it has to offer. The work and ideas of Anthony Guadi are truly remarkable and we oohed and aahed our way around. As my phone was nearing battery death I was unable to take many pictures because I wanted to save it for the Segrada. 
 

At 3:15 we left the park to grab a cold water and fresh fruit bars before hailing another Uber to take us to La Segrada. However we hit a snafu and were unable to locate a driver so we set off on foot. 
 

Thank goodness we left when we did because the walk was about 40 minutes. 
Granted it’s primarily flat, not before long did my knees start acting up. I was not in the ideal attire or footwear for this walk and having already had knee issues I know this will impact me for the duration of our trip because it’s a very active itinerary.

 

But again, I’m on vacation so in good spirits I shall remain.

 

We literally arrived at La Segrada Familia at 3:59 for our 4:00 tour. Talk about impressive timing. This will be the theme for the next few days. 
 

La Segrada, another impressive work of art and architecture by Guadi is a sight to behold. The inside and outside both are amazing and truly worth the visit. After exploring the exterior facade and taking in the interior full of stained glass, that when hit just right provides a unique lighting, we had the opportunity to visit the passions tower. The waiting for the elevator was a bit lengthy and it was at about this time that I started crashing. On no sleep, coffee or food I was definitely cranky. But after taking the elevator rode up and being graced with the views of the city from such a vantage point I had a wee bit of energy restored. That was until we took the 400 step steep spiral staircase allllll the way back down. I turned to the hubs and said I’m ready to go, I need food he agreed and shared his similar need for coffee.

 

After walking out of Sagrada, we walked into the first place we saw “coffee time” and sat down for a sangria, beer and double shot to go. So I know you’re probably wondering why no food when I just said I needed food, well our jam packed day was far from over. At 7pm we had a walking tapas tour scheduled and I didn’t want to snack before snacking so it was just a sangria for me. 
 

Well after some difficulty with Uber, yet again, we walked 2 blocks and stumbled upon a taxi stand where several taxis were available for service. We hopped in the first one and made our way to the gothic quarter to meet up with our tour. I was sooo excited for food that when the cab dropped us off 4 blocks from where we needed to be, I didn’t even mind the walk. But it was 6:58 and I felt lost….

[cruiseny4life]

What a jam packed day in Barcelona! The Gothic Quarter was such a wonderful experience to walk through for us. Those narrow streets and quaint (and quiet) shops were mesmerizing to this country boy. I just wandered the maze of streets looking up, down, and all around. I hope your time in Gothic Quarter was a delightful as mine!

[Spinelli1107]

It absolutely was a jam packed day and it wasn’t even over after the food tour!!!!! Idk what I was thinking when I booked all these tours. But I got exhausted just from writing that so had a to take a break. Yes, the gothic quarter was very quaint and we appreciated all the small “hole in the wall” eateries with the variety of tapas it was absolutely lovely and wished we had more time to explore the maze but we had to run! Almost literally. 

[Spinelli1107]

After our Uber driver dropped us off 4 blocks from our meeting place “Placa de Ramon” I kept trying to pull up the exact meeting spot on my phone which was right in front of the statue but my phone died right on time so we struggled to meet our tour but luckily some gentleman who saw us looking very lost and confused asked if we were meeting the tour and I started to say yes the “gothic quarter walking food tour” and he announced we were in the right place! Well thank goodness for that as he was our guide and he found us rather than us finding him. 
 

And as par for the course, it was about 1 minute to tour start time when we connected.

 

Almost immediately after, we took off on our tour. 
 

we stopped at our first of three places and enjoyed some delicious tapas including Papas Bravas, potatoes with a tomato sauce and aioli, Tomato Bread, toasted bread with warmed tomatoes sliced and rubbed on to the bread with a drizzle of olive oil and salt, Aubergine, a delicious fried eggplant with sugar and cinnamon, Pimientos Padron, a blistered shishito pepper, Jamon, Iberico Ham, Beef Cheek, almost like a short rib on a bed of mashed potatoes that cut with a spoon and melted like butter in my mouth, Churrasca, Argentinian Barbecued steak and a glass of vermouth.

 

Next up, our second stop served a Lamb dish, fresh grilled Calamri, croquettes, potato omelette and onion omelette with cheese and honey on top and vinegar potato chips with a glass of white wine.

 

Thirdly, our last stop was strictly dessert. Here we enjoyed some fig ice cream with fig jam, a chestnut cake with white and black chocolates that had the consistency of a cheesecake and a Crema Catalana which is similar to a crème brûlée and washed it all down with a glass of Cava. 
 

Between all 3 places, one thing was better than the next and we certainly ended the tour feeling contented hunger wise. As I mentioned, sadly my phone had died and I did not take any pictures, but trust me when I say a walking food tour in Barcelona is a MUST!

 

After our tour ended our guide so graciously pointed us in the direction of La Ramblas because we were walking to Casa Mila or La Pedrera for the nighttime experience. 
 

The walk was about 30 minutes but with 32 minutes until our tour started at 10:40pm we walked with haste. However after clocking nearly 20,000 steps at this point, my legs and feet were hurting! Needless to say though we made it and yup JUST IN TIME! 
 

But the walking didn’t quite end there, after entering Casa Mila and learning of its history we were to walk up 7 flights of stairs to the attic. After finally making it to the top I thought I was going to pass out. But we made it, and we enjoyed the light show projected onto the rooftop towers called Origins. I don’t want to spoil too much of it but the idea behind Guadi’s design is to go back to the beginning and utilize nature to form the structures. 
 

After the tour we were treated to yet another glass of Cava. What a wonderful nightcap.

 

As I already mapped out our day and tour to tour to tour to tour, I knew Casa Mila was about 6 blocks from our hotel so before my legs officially fell off, we decided to hoof it back to the hotel. Having been running all day a shower was very much needed and then having been running on fumes all day at 1:05am local Barcelona time we knocked out but not without setting our alarms for 6:30am

 

I’ll let you know how that worked out shortly! 

[Listergal]

I am so enjoying this review! You have an amazing writing style that makes us feel that we are right along with you. Enjoy your trip and your family and thank-you!

[Spinelli1107]

1 hour ago, Listergal said:

I am so enjoying this review! You have an amazing writing style that makes us feel that we are right along with you. Enjoy your trip and your family and thank-you!

Thank you so much!

I appreciate your kind words 🙃

[rwest898]

Thanks for taking us along. What was the exact name of your tapas tour and who did you book it through? Thanks again!

[Spinelli1107]

Posting from The Growler, a Barcelona Craft Beer bar. I’m sipping on a Mangocuya while hubs enjoys Hoch’s IPA.

I know I still owe an update from today but I’m going to leave you all hanging just a little bit longer. For now I’m gunna sit here and enjoy this beer.

 

[Spinelli1107]

10 minutes ago, rwest898 said:

Thanks for taking us along. What was the exact name of your tapas tour and who did you book it through? Thanks again!

Thank you so much for being here!

 

We booked through Viator and it was called “Gothic Quarter Evening Tapas Tour with the Barcelona Taste”

 

I imagine it can be booked directly through Barcelona Taste’s website as well but we preferred Viator’s reserve now pay later feature while we built out our schedule. Or rather while I built it out lol hubs just say back and relaxed. 
 

As they say in every relationship there’s the planner, the person that books the vacation, flights, excursions and hotels and the other doesn’t even know where we’re going. Well yeah LOL 

 

[rwest898]

1 hour ago, Spinelli1107 said:

Thank you so much for being here!

 

We booked through Viator and it was called “Gothic Quarter Evening Tapas Tour with the Barcelona Taste”

 

I imagine it can be booked directly through Barcelona Taste’s website as well but we preferred Viator’s reserve now pay later feature while we built out our schedule. Or rather while I built it out lol hubs just say back and relaxed. 
 

As they say in every relationship there’s the planner, the person that books the vacation, flights, excursions and hotels and the other doesn’t even know where we’re going. Well yeah LOL 

 

I know exactly what you mean.  My hubby just shows up at the appointed time, lol.

[schmoopie17]

1 hour ago, Spinelli1107 said:

Posting from The Growler, a Barcelona Craft Beer bar. I’m sipping on a Mangocuya while hubs enjoys Hoch’s IPA.

I know I still owe an update from today but I’m going to leave you all hanging just a little bit longer. For now I’m gunna sit here and enjoy this beer.

 

There's also a place called Craft Barcelona. Although, when we were there, it wasn't all that great. Minimal beer choices. I think you made a better choice.

 

Oh...how did you manage to get all that legroom in standard economy? Do you have connections at the airline...was the pilot your brother...or...??

 

Edited June 15 by schmoopie17