Part II
Arriving in Barcelona
Our cruise was to depart on Thursday, Oct 10th. Monday (Oct 7th) morning we loaded
the car and embarked on our vacation. We
planned to drive the 100 miles to Spokane, WA, which is the nearest airport and
spend the night at the Ramada right next door. We stopped at the Verizon store
and had them insert the proper SIM card into my phone so we could have a short
upgrade to Global Roaming. (I'll discuss
whether or not the upgrade was worth it at the end of the trip.) Anyway, our plan for that day was to eat a
very early supper at around 3 or 4 that afternoon, and then go to our hotel and
take a Benadryl and go to sleep between 6 or 7.
We had two reasons for attempting that idea. First, our flight from Spokane left at 6 AM,
and we were going to get there 2 hours early, which meant we had to wake up at
3 AM. The other part of our idea was
that it would help us to acclimate to European time. We were going to take another Benadryl when
we left JFK in New York and force ourselves to sleep on the plane and
"Presto!" when we arrived at Barcelona, we would be refreshed and
ready for the day. So, we took our
sleeping pills and went to bed. It ended
up being 8 PM when we actually got into bed.
The bed was hard, and my broken ribs were screaming at me, even through
the pain pills I took, so I woke up around midnight. Sarah woke up around 2 AM. The kids got up at 3, and our vacation was
officially launched.
Caitie and Me on our first flight out.
Seth and Sarah. Seth's first selfie!
Mom needed one that was less blurry!
We had two domestic flights from Spokane to Salt Lake City,
and then to New York. Our flight was
supposed to leave JFK at 7:45, but there were delays with Delta, so we left an
hour late. By the time they served us
our in-flight dinner, which was chicken with mashed potatoes, it was 10 PM. We took our sleeping pills and waited for the
magical sleep. But it never came. We tried and tried to sleep, but it just
wouldn't happen. The kids finally
dropped off at about five hours into our 7 hour flight. But Sarah and I didn't even nod off. So, by the time we actually landed, we were
already 24 hours awake.
We had planned to be picked up at the airport by Barcelona
City Tours to enjoy a 4-hour tour of the Barcelona Highlights. We hoped that this would help us to stay
awake and begin to acclimate to the time change.
A couple of random thoughts on flying into Barcelona. Once you land at the airport, it is a LONG
walk to baggage claims. The signs do
have English on them and there are enough arrows to point you the right
way. Customs and Immigration were very
simple. The officer hardly inspected our
passports and then actually stamped them.
Most cruisers don't get to have stamps in their passports, and if you're
into stamps, you can collect one there.
We never actually went through a customs inspection. Just a guy with a stamp. When we finally got our bags we had spent
about an hour at the airport. We left
baggage claims and followed the arrows into the customs inspection area (just
two lines, one for those with nothing to declare, one for those with things to
declare but there seemed to be no one doing any inspecting) which opened immediately into the unsecured part of
the airport. A very long line of tour
guides stood with white pieces of paper with people's names on them. We found Jordi near the end of the line, and
he greeted us with a smile. It was a
good start!
Once we initiated our tour, Jordi asked when we were going
to board the ship, and Sarah responded "Thursday", to which he said, "Oh, tomorrow." We said, "No, not tomorrow,
Thursday." He looked at us queerly
and said, "That is tomorrow."
Somehow we lost an entire day on our journey, and failed to recognize
that we lost an entire half day due to the time changes. In our minds, we had an entire day in
Barcelona on the day we flew in. In
reality, we landed around 10 AM and by the time we went through customs, which,
by the way, was as easy as buying tickets to see a movie, and retrieved our
luggage, it was already 11:00.
Gates to the Olympic Stadium
Proof we were actually there!
Our guide, Jordi, took us from the airport and went straight
to the Olympic complex, which was built in order to accommodate the 1992 games.
Barcelona should be, and is, proud of what they built. It is awe inspiring. The sculptures are nothing short of art, and
the entire complex was charming. Do you
remember in 1992 when the archer shot a flaming arrow into the Olympic torch
and ignited the flame?
It was a
magnificent moment in sporting history, but when you stand in the stadium and
see what that archer actually accomplished, you have to stand it awe of his
skill and audacity to think he could pull that off! Brilliant!
We were sufficiently impressed!
This is the rest of the torch. It's shaped like a whale.
We left the complex and immediately drove to the Montjuic Castle, which offers a
commanding view of Barcelona, the Mediterranean,
and the mountains beyond.
I highly
recommend touring the castle if for no other reason than to see the grandeur
that is Barcelona. It was built in the
17th century and is a fun stop, especially if you have children with you. 
There is a small snack stand in the castle,
which sells sodas, coffees, wine, beer, and snack type items such as candy
bars, nuts, pastries, sandwiches and hot dogs.
This is the place we were instructed by Jordi to grab a snack and failed
to do so. I would like to encourage you
to follow his advice. We did stop and
buy some Cokes because I had to take a Hydrocodone for my pain management, and
we picked up a bottle of water as well.
(Note: we are from Texas and we are native born Texicans, which means
every type of soda ever made is a coke.
You go the Dairy Queen in Texas and order a Coke, and the kid behind the
counter will ask, "What kind?")
Caitie actually got a Coke, Seth got a Sprite, and I picked some kind of
local soda that turned out to be sparkling water.
We spent 20 minutes or so at the Castle, and that was enough time to visit it. I didn't see a museum or any other type of facility. But it did have a restroom! You can ride cable cars to the castle, but we had a tour guide who drove us to it. Other than that, the castle is an easy tour. When we left the castle, Jordi took us on a rather pleasant drive through the city where he pointed out fantastic fountains and monuments, spectacular architectural wonders, and the tranquility of the beach. Everyone was fully clothed on the beach (I wasn't sure what to expect), but it was also only 70 degrees. Pleasant, but not exactly sunbathing weather.
Some of the places he showed us include The Poble Espanyol,
which is a place we really want to take time for a return visit.
Sorry for the glare!
Sorry for the glare!
We left the Poble and saw the walls of the
Raval district, and then drove along
the beach to the Ribera and Barceloneta and then into the Barri Gotic
district. Somewhere along the way we
toured the area designed for the World Fair, which occurred back in the late
1920's. That area had the bull fighting
arena, which has been converted into a market when they outlawed bull fighting
in 2012.
The bull arena is behind the statue.
Another highlight was the Apple
of Discord, which is a remarkable place to see.
It is incredible. The Casa Batlo
was remodeled by Gaudi and resembles a dragon.
You have to see it to understand what I mean.
We stopped at the Sagrada Familia. I cannot summon the words to describe
it. If you're in Barcelona and you only
get to visit one place, make that your stop.
It is Gaudi's masterpiece, and is not describable. 
I will post better pictures of the Sagrada later in the review.
Jordi then took us to the Park Guell
(pronounced "well") which is another of Barcelona's architectural
marvels designed by Gaudi.
If you have not
slept in 30 hours, it scrambles your brain.
If you are fully alert and refreshed, it scrambles your brain. But my, what a place to see! And it was free! We spent about 15 minutes walking around it,
but that was woefully insufficient time.
If you go, plan at least an hour.
There are several buildings to tour, and vendors lined the sidewalks
selling jewelry and other trinkets such as magnets and dust collectors. One part of the Guell was a structure with
about a thousand or maybe a million or so columns. Of course I'm exaggerating, but there were a
bucket full of columns.
We were so tired that I forgot to take pictures of the inside!
The kids and I
decided it reminded us of the Mines of Moria, where Gandalf illuminated the
mines and allowed the Hobbits to see the columns in The Fellowship of the
Rings. Surprisingly very similar.
Park Guell
Park Guell
When we left Park Guell, Jordi drove us past
the Hospital de Sant Pau, which covers about 8 blocks. Again, it is an architectural wonder. But if you are ever significantly ill, go to
that hospital. Just being in it will
make you feel better. By that point, our 4 hours were spent and we went
straight to our hotel.
Now I haven't even discussed the painters Picasso, Dali, Joan
Miro all of whom had great influence on the city of Barcelona. We wanted to tour the art museums, but we ran
out of time. Barcelona is a city you can't rush through. To do it properly, plan 2 or 3 days, or a
week. Our 4 hour tour was a great way to
start, though. Jordi drove us past
places that we marked down as spots to return and explore. I highly recommend you follow the same
approach. Besides, it helps keep you
awake, and it is unlikely your hotel will let you check in at 10 AM, and if
they did, it's too tempting to crash
into a bed and sleep. But, if you have
the fortitude to push through until the evening, your Circadian Rhythm will
eventually thank you.
More to come... Barcelona continued... Please stand by...
Part I Getting there
Part II Barcelona
Part III Barcelona Continued
Part IV France
Part V Livorno, Pisa, and Florence, Italy
Part VI Rome
Part VII Sea Day
Part VIII Turkey
Part IX Athens
Part X Santorini
Part XI Sea Day
Part XII Italy: Positano, Sorento, Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii
Part XIII Sea Day
Part XIV Back to Barcelona
Part XV The Journey Home and Final Thoughts
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