Spain

4/30/2023 – Barcelona
From Monaco, we sailed west through overnight through the Balearic Sea. How exciting to be back in Spain and to finally be visiting Barcelona. It was another 10-mile day as we set out early, around 8 am, before most of Barcelona was awake. First stop was the Columbus Monument, and then we made our first walk of the day up Las Ramblas, the beautiful wide main boulevard with an ultra-wide pedestrian walkway in the middle. It was nice and quiet during our first walk, and was jammed with tourists, locals out on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and vendors galore when we walked back down it several hours later. We found our way to the Cathedral, but it wasn’t open to visitors yet, so we figured out the Metro system and rode that for a few stops to take us up to La Sagrada Familia, the Basilica designed by architect Antoni Gaudí beginning in 1883. At his death in 1926, it was 20% finished, and today it is very close to being finished – 2026 is the estimated date. Gaudí’s foundations were classics, nature, and religion – themes recognizable as we wandered slowly all the way around the outside. Gaudí had envisioned a

Gothic-style church with his own Art Nouveau/Modernista touches – and the City of Barcelona plans to have its iconic landmark ready for the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death. The inside of the Cathedral was closed for a private event, which is probably a good thing, as we would have stayed all day. Instead, we set out first to find “dos café con leche” (por favor) and then took the Rick Steves Eixample Walk – the part of the city that was expanded in the 19th century beyond the old narrow Barri Gòttic walled city. City planners created an open grid plan of broad straight boulevards and the great Modernista architects designed some interesting facades. Civil engineer, Ildefons Cerdà, designed the area and “snipped” off the corners of buildings to create light and spacious octagonal squares at each intersection. Two of the most interesting sites are La Pedrera (Casa Milà) and the three buildings referred to as Illa de la Discordia, the Block of Discord. After completing that walk, we ended up at the top of Las Ramblas in the

Placa de Catalunya, a pigeon’s paradise, and then moved with the swarms down Las Ramblas. Next up was a metro ride and funicular ride up to Montjuïc Park where we saw some beautiful views of Barcelona and the incoming storm; visited the swimming pools used in the 1992 Summer Olympics; walked through the gardens – seeing some beautiful green Monk Parakeets buildings nests in the palm trees; and ultimately made our way back down to the city, where we found the perfect little place for some tapas and a glass of local Moritz beer. We thought the day couldn’t get any better, and then we saw an amazing sunset as we cruised on to our next port.

5/1/2023 – Cartagena
Continuing along the east coast of Spain and the end of the Balearic Sea, today’s stop was a brief six-hour visit in Cartagena. Founded in 227 BC, its heyday was during the Roman Empire, and it has the

second largest Roman theater on the Iberian Peninsula, and today is a major Navy and cruise port. Like many of our fellow travelers, we are weary, and no longer want to look at ancient ruins or learn anything new. So, we just walked along the waterfront; watched May Day festivities in one of the plazas; and wandered along the pedestrian-only streets enjoying the beautiful weather, music, food, shopping (we bought a magnet), and public art. And then there was our Estrella beer. A nice walk and a glass of beer makes us happy.