Day 139: Barcelona, Spain

Thursday, 25 May 2017
At Sea — Mediterranean Sea … En Route to Alicante

Stats @ Ship’s Time 8:10p (CEST) … UTC 6:10p (25 May)
Temp: 69.6F (20.9C)
Position: 40.52.90N / 1.55.76E

And the day came when the wish to remain tight in a bud
was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
~ Anais Nin ~

We had a great day in Barcelona, Spain.  This was our third time here, but the first time arriving by ship … the past two times this great city was an embarkation port for us.  Since we’d been here before — and also because Barcelona is one of the few ports ahead of us that we’re already familiar with — we took the day easy.  Sort of.  There was lots of walking involved, but we did it at a leisurely pace and didn’t try to squeeze too much into the day.  We’ll be back here in November on another port call, so of course, that helped us to keep things light as well.

A Blood-orange red Sunrise on our way to Barcelona.

It was shortly before 7:00a when the port came into view.  I dallied to take a few pictures from the veranda before going up to the Terrace Café to join Mui for breakfast.  It was nice to watch the city unfold before our eyes as Insignia made its way to the primo berth it had been assigned to at the World Trade Center … just a stone’s throw away from some of the city’s attractions … no shuttle needed … just walk off and go.  That’s the beauty of being on a small ship.  We’re going to miss this convenience when we return to cruise in Europe later this year.

Around 7:45a, Ray announced that the ship was cleared.  We were going to dally a bit since nothing opens in Barcelona before 10:00a, but we were all set to leave … might as well get going.  Even though Mui had a screenshot of the walking route he’d googled yesterday, we made a detour to deck 4 first to pick up a city map from the tourist rep who had come aboard to dole out information.

Our destination was the castle that sits atop Montjuïc [Jewish Mount].  We’d glimpsed the ramparts and the tower on past occasions but had not made it up there as yet.  To get to the top, one can take what’s called the transbordador to the Montjuïc Teleferique [cable car].  This is an aerial tram that starts from the Trade Center and carries people over the port and the city to the cable car station.  We initially thought about doing this, but decided that we would walk up to the station instead.

This is our destination today.

Using Mui’s screenshot of the route, we found our way easily enough to Les Escales de Forestier — the stairs that take people up into the hills by way of beautifully landscaped gardens.  We opted to go through the Jardins de Miramar, which had colorful flowers and some amazing trees to distract us and give us a chance to catch our breath.  The sun was bright — quickly warming up the day to the forecasted high of 85F (29C) — and the sky was blue.  From this vantage point, the city was spread out below us as far as the eye could see … the scenery marred by the heat haze.

It’s impossible to make out, but Gaudi’s La Sagrada Famiglia is to the
immediate left of the left-most of the three chimneys in the middle.

Continuing to walk uphill — steep but steady — we arrived at the teleferique at 9:30a.  Seeing the gondolas moving, we got excited for a moment.  Could it be that the cable car was already in operation?  No, it wasn’t.  Turns out the gondolas were just going around in a loop while the maintenance crew wiped down the windows and swept out the cabins.  We got in line anyway … behind the only other early bird there.  We’d heard that the lines grew quickly.  That was certainly true this morning.  Before long the line behind us was extending around the building.

This is the bottom station of the Montjuïc Teleferique.

Mui had bought online tickets for the teleferique yesterday — 10% discount for doing so … roundtrip €11.20/person.  Promptly at 10:00a the doors opened.  Minutes later, after exchanging our voucher for tickets, we were on a gondola heading up.  There were just three of us in the eight-passenger gondola, so we had no problems moving around to take photos as the cable car took us up 558 feet (170 m).  The ascent was accomplished in two stages, with the gondolas slowing down at a middle station for people to board.  But at that early hour, no one was waiting at the station.

We arrive at and depart the Middle Station without taking on passengers.

When we reached the top station, we were just steps away from Castell de Montjuïc [Montjuïc Castle].  We bought tickets — €5/person — and went inside to leisurely explore the grounds.  The castle we visited today stands on the site of an old one that was demolished in 1751.  It served in multiple military engagements, and also played a role in the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s.  It was the site of the execution of Lluís Companys, who was President of Catalonia during that war.  The municipality took over the castle in 2007.  A museum previously housed here has since been closed and plans are underway to turn the property into a venue for cultural activities.

I like the contrasting green foliage on the castle walls.

We started our self-guided tour on the lower terrace and walked all the way around, stopping frequently to take photographs.  From our vantage point, not only was the city spread out below us, but also the commercial and cruise ports as well … the former is impressively big.  Next, we went inside the castle, which stands in the middle of the lower terrace.  Most of the salas [halls] were closed to the public, but in the ones that were open, we found an exhibit about the history of the castle … nicely done.  Finally, we took the stairs up to the top terrace, where we did another circumnavigation.  At least three groups of school kids were sitting in various corners, listening to teachers lecturing on Catalan history … we didn’t want to distract them, so we didn’t dally.  The view was the same as what we’d seen from the lower terrace anyway.

Around noon, we decided to head back down.  Since we had round-trip tickets, we took the teleferique.  Otherwise, we might have walked all the way back to the city.  In any event, once we reached the bottom station, we walked down from there to the tapas place Mui had mapped out yesterday, so we did get plenty more steps in.

La Tasqueta de Blai is a popular place — there were a few tourists, but the clientele was mostly locals.  Tray after tray after tray of tapas sat on a double-tiered counter inside.  The proprietor explained how to serve ourselves … fill your plate with whatever tapas you want, eat the food, and keep the long toothpicks to be counted to determine the bill.  Simple enough.  We  picked up a variety of tapas, ordered a pitcher of sangria, took a seat at one of the tables on the sidewalk, and had a most enjoyable meal … which also included tapas-style desserts … profiteroles, chocolate pudding, and crema Catalan (like crème brûlée).

Hmmmm, good!

After lunch, we walked to La Rambla, Barcelona’s famous promenade.  We’ve walked the length of the promenade twice before, so this time we just wanted an excuse to stretch our legs a bit more by taking a roundabout route back to the ship.  With three ships in port, La Rambla was crowded, so we didn’t really dally long.

We were on the ship by 3:00p.  With Insignia not due to sail for another three hours, I made myself comfortable on the veranda, which was in partial shade, and read for a while.  Then I downloaded and reviewed the photos from today.  Before I knew it, sailaway was at hand.  Promptly at 6:00p Insignia’s lines were cast off and we were moving away from our berth.

The two towers in the distance are part of the transbordador cableway.

Dinner was again at the Terrace Café with our friends.  The wind was ‘fresh’ but there was enough sunshine to keep us comfortable until we were almost finished.  We had all done something different in port today, so there was a lot of chatter as we each described our day.  Now we have plenty more ideas of things to do when we return to Barcelona in November.  Montserrat anyone?  Or maybe we can check out some of the Gaudi attractions?  It’s a decision that can wait until later.

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