September 21, 2016

After a restful sleep, we were up at 5:30 a.m. and climbed the stairs from our stateroom on deck 3 up to the walking track on deck 14. The temperature was a pleasant 19 C with very little wind.  After walking two miles, we stopped for coffee and returned to the stateroom to get ready for breakfast when the dining room opened at 7:30.

We met the group, which now has 22 people in total, at 9 a.m. for our tour to La Sagrada Família in central Barcelona.

Barcelona is the capital of the Catalonia region of Spain.  Many citizens speak the local Catalonian language as well as Spanish.  Peblo Picasso spent his teen years living with his family here. The artist, Saldvador Dali, called Barcelona home during part of his career.  We passed the Christopher Columbus Monument at the harbor end of the 1.2 km long shopping pedestrian street, “Las Ramblas”, and later saw the Catalonia Square, with the Canaletes fountain, at the other end.  The bus also passed the old bull fighting stadium which is no longer used, since bull fighting was abolished in 2011 in Catalonia.  A version of champagne is made, using the Chardonay grape, as well as grapes grown in the Catalonian region. 

There were crowds of people at La Sagrada Família, which has been under construction for more than 130 years.  During the 2010 papal visit, La Sagrada Família was dedicated and consecrated as a basilica.  Construction of the church began in 1882 with the laying of the foundation stone. But in 1883 the architect, Antoni Gaudi, took over the design and construction of the building. Its site is close to where part of the old city wall once stood. La Sagrada Família can hold 8,000 people. La Sagrada Família is hoped to be over 90% finished by 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death.  It is a very uniquely designed building.  The east “Nativity” fascade is where visitors enter and the most famous side used in photographs.  The exterior walls and statues interpret the birth of Jesus Christ, while the west “Passion” facade depicts the crucifixion.  The southern wall is the main entrance which is surrounded by scaffolding and is called the “Glory” fascade.  The 5 meter high doors will are made of bronze and have the Lord’s Prayer written in the Catalonian language. Interior columns support the roof and are meant to suggest the trunks of trees in a forest.  The columns are made of different kinds and colours of granite, red granite being the strongest stone supporting the roof.  The stained glass windows are Gaudi’s design with the eastern windows mainly green or blue refracting morning sunlight and the eastern windows are made of yellow, red and orange stained glass to emphasize the colours of the setting sun. 

On the way back to the ship, we passed the 600-year-old Gothic-style Cathedral of St. Eulalia which used some of the stone from the old Roman walls in its construction. As the bus drove along Passeig de Gracia, we saw more Antoni Gaudi buildings, houses he designed in the early 20th century including Casa Batlló,  Casa Amatller and Casa Lleo-Morera which were commissioned by wealthy Barcelona citizens.  The street facing walls of these structures curve and bend like waves, due to the techniques of using plaster and then covering it with a mosaic of colored glass and ceramic fragments.  The streets in the older section of Barcelona are quite narrow and only allow pedestrians.

We returned to the ship for a buffet lunch in the Oceanview Café.  After lunch we walked on the upper decks in the lovely 24 C weather under partly sunny skies. There were people enjoying the pools and hot tubs or just sunbathing.  The afternoon was relaxing and we stopped at the Café al Bacio for our daily frappé. At 4 before the ship sailed, a mandatory lifeboat drill was held and took the usual 30 minutes, 15 minutes of which was due to people stolling to their muster stations.  The ship started to leave the harbour about 5 for tomorrow’s destination the city Palma on the island of Mallorca. It took about 30 minutes to exit the harbor into the Mediterranean Sea.

We were joined by our hosts, Christine and Jarred at dinner.  We both order appetizers of Chickpea and Tomato soup, Chicken Waldorf salad and Roasted Trout with steamed vegetables and a nice Carménère wine. We ordered either Crème Brule or Pecan pie a la mode for dessert.

After dinner, the house band, Front Row, was playing danceable music which we danced to with anywhere from 2 to 8 couples for about 45 minutes.  The entertainment at 9 in the theater was songs and dance routines with a Soul music theme.  We met Ursula and Reinhard in the Café al Bacio and ordered frappes.  We returned to the statement to write up the blog.

Today we logged 6.7 miles.