Barcelona, Spain

 I didn't have this before, but here is the photo from our dinner with Food and Beverage Manager Nino Libassi.

From left:  Lois and Patrick Farley, Carl Alexander, Michael, me, Nino Libassi

And also, here's a photo of the losingest team in Trivia:

From left: Sarah Haverstick, Michael, Patrick (in back) and Lois Farley, me, Carl Alexander

Today's tour was a long 7-1/2 hours and left at 10:00 am.  We drove around the city (seemed that all the good stuff was on the other side of the bus) for a while.  Then we parked way far away from the Sagrada Familia as is required and we hoofed it over to see it from the outside.  This is the most amazing Basilica.  It was designed by Gaudi and was begun in 1882.  It still isn't finished for various reasons:  money (it is entirely paid for by private funds), politics, the complication of the design, and most recently Covid.  There is no estimated date of completion at this point.

We weren't able to go inside, which is too bad.  I had to buy a book to see what it looks like inside.  Next, we did a bit more driving around the city before stopping in the Gothic area for a walk around.  The architecture of Barcelona is really amazing, but it is so crowded and close, that it's hard to see unless you look up all the time.  Almost all of the residents live in apartments and the streets aren't the cleanest I've ever seen.  There are 1.6 million within the city limits and 5.6 million in the surrounding area.

Government building

Barcelona Cathedral.  It is being worked on and since Samsung is paying for it, they get to put up this hideous ad in front.

These Roman columns are authentic and have always been in this spot.  They built the apartments around them.

Next, we went to the Spanish Village which was built for the Exposition of 1929.  They built authentic buildings from all the regions of Spain using the materials from the area.  After the Exposition, it was slated to be destroyed but it was so popular, that they decided to keep it and make it a tourist attraction with shops, restaurants and an entertainment venue.  We had a lovely 4 course meal here and then had free time to wander around for a while.

Lastly, we did a bit of a drive around the Art Nouveau section and the exclusive shopping districts.  Traffic here is a nightmare.  It seemed there was a traffic light at every corner and we hit the red every time.  And then you add in the pedestrians, bikes and scooters and it's a real zoo. 

This building, built by a very wealthy banker and market trader, is supposed to simulate the Mediterranean Sea.  There are no straight lines outside.  Presumably, there are inside.

And then there was this building: The Agbar Tower

It is eye-catching, but I'm not sure in a good way.  It doesn't tilt; that's just my picture taking from a moving bus and I forgot to fix it before uploading it.

We were more than ready to get back to the ship as we were hot and tired, although not hungry after that lunch.  No Trivia today, so we had a couple of hours before dinner to nap or play on the computer. 

We have lots of new faces again.  Nino said there will be 416 passengers on this last bit and they loaded 150 pallets of food and supplies today.

We had dinner at Compass Rose and Sarah joined us again.  We all compared our tours and talked about what we're doing on the upcoming (and last!) segment.  We had all booked them so long ago that we'd forgotten.  Too tired for the 9:30 show tonight so back to the cabin afterwards.  Tomorrow is a welcome sea day.