The last stop was on this cruise was the city of Barcelona, Spain. We have been on enough
Royal Caribbean cruises to get some perks, including priority disembarking, so we
disembarked quite easily and were at our hotel in Barcelona by 8:30. We stayed at a nice
hotel just off the middle of the big, long pedestrian walkway, La Rambla. We stored our
bags and headed off, first stopping at an outdoor café for my tea and John’s Coke Zero.
We walked all around the Gothic Quarter, exploring the nearby sites, mainly the Basillica
of Mary of Pi and the Cathedral, both quite beautiful. The former was built in the 14th
century and the Cathedral has its roots 1,700 years ago. The Basilica has several
very-larger-than-life figures that have been a feature for quite a number of years. At
the Cathedral, there is an unusual underground crypt directly from the nave. And we were
able to take a lift up to a series of catwalks on the roof for some spectacular views of
Barcelona and a close-up view of the higher towers. From there we could get a better
picture of the layout of the city and could see Sagrada Familia which we visited the next
day. The Cathedral also has a beautiful cloister area with a flock of geese and various
galleries around the cloister. It was a local holiday, and there was music and groups of
people dancing together in the plaza in front of the Cathedral. We tried to go to the Picasso
museum, but this turned out to be a closed day, so we bought tickets on-line for the
following day. By the way, we saw a lot of cannibis shops and a number of erotica shops.
We enjoyed great breakfasts and dinners at open air restaurants on La Rambla very near
to our hotel.
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