Hello everyone,
I hope you didn't have trouble opening this email. There is a lot of pictures in it, I had a very busy day. As usual it started with breakfast at my hotel, the NH Calderon. Princess usually picks the best hotels in town, but they let me down on this one. It has a great location very near the La Rambla, but that is the only good thing I can say about it. The staff is rude and unattentive. The lobby is small and always packed with screaming people. The room is drab and outdated. I had one bar of soap the size of a peanut. Don't stay here if you come to Barcelona. Below is a picture of the hotel.
The morning started with a walk through the narrow medieval streets of the Gothic Quarter.
The first stop in the Gothic Quarter was the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia, otherwise known as the Barcelona Cathedral. Bad sun position and hard to get far enough away from it to take a picture. But I tried below.
I walked through the cathedral, those pictures came out a little dark. The next stop was Saint James Square. This is the administrative heart of both the city and surrounding Catalonia. This is because the Palace of the Generalitat of Catalonia (pictured below) and the City Hall (second picture below) are located here across from one another.
The next stop was beautiful Montjuic Mountain. Here I road the cable car up to the castle with spectacular views of Barcelona on the way.
Castell de Montjuic, is at the top of the mountain.
The park surrounding the castle is beautiful as well.
Also from the park, I got a nice view of the cruise ship terminal that I will be sailing out of late tomorrow afternoon. I sailed through this port in 2008 on the Sea Princess. It can hold a dozen cruise ships. On a busy day over 30,000 cruisers invade the city. Tomorrow I will set sail on the brand new Royal Princess, which was launched just two months ago.
Next I visited the Spanish Village. This Mini-Spain was built from real houses and buildings each of them being a replica of an existing house or building from a certain city or region of Spain.
I took a couple hour break in the middle of the afternoon and ate my lunch sitting on the La Rambla watching the people go by. Vacation is hard work, there were more things that had to be seen before the sun set. My next stop was La Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) Cathedral, Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece and Barcelona's most famous landmark.
You see the cranes in the picture. They are completing the cathedral to Gaudi's original plan. Due to be completed in 2026. My next stop was Gaudi's bizarre Park Guell, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Below is the house where Gaudi lived for twenty years, which is located in the park.
Park Guell is a garden complex with architectural elements situated on the hill of El Carmel. It was built in the years 1900 to 1914.
Next there was a quick drive-by at Barcelona's Arc de Triomf.
My last stop of the day was the Cathedral Sta Maria del Mar, the only completed Gothic church in Catalonia.
I was able to accomplish a lot today. My feet aren't any better, but I didn't come all this way to sit in my hotel, so I just deal with the pain and rest when I can. I will be sailing the Mediterranean for the next 12 days. So I probably won't be able to send this many pictures for a while. The Internet connection on the ship is usually quite slow, unless this new ship has improved the connection. I write again tomorrow night after I set sail.
Tim
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