We flew to Barcelona via Munich on Saturday, October 24th. The excitement level was at an all time high. "When do we get on the boat?" was what we heard every few hours. And the answer was, "Tomorrow!" So we spent some time exploring this vibrant city. We stayed at a very nice place, called the W Hotel, seen here in the picture behind the kids. It was a pretty impressive hotel and it stood out along the shoreline, visible even from the airplane. It is in a newer part of the city that was created when the Olympics were held. The beach it rests on is a manmade one, but that didn't take away from it's charms. (The naked, hairy Spaniards did that!)
This is the view from the 25th floor of the hotel. The tallest structure you can see is the start of a funicular ride that takes people over the port and up to a nearby mountain.
Seeing as we had some free time on Sunday before we were expected at the boat, we decided to try out one of the Hop On-Hop Off busses touring the city. It gave us a good overview of what there is too see in Barcelona, and whetted our appetites to come back again sometime to explore it in detail. We didn't get to see the Sagrada Familia, but we did see another of Gaudi's buildings, the Casa Mila. The details in the balconys were amazing.
Not a moment too soon, we were boarding our ship, the Voyager of the Seas from the Royal Carribbean line, enroute to stops along the Western Mediterranean.
We had booked two adjoining rooms and the room steward performed magic each night while we were at dinner, transforming the couch into Graeme's bed. The rest of Sunday and all of Monday we were at sea. We saw land when we passed between Corsica and Sardegna. When we woke up Monday morning, we had landed in port at Naples.
