Hi, everyone!
I’ve been to Italy before, but this is my first time being in Spain! When I woke up on Monday, MS Marina was moored in the harbor at Barcelona, Spain! Barcelona is in the extreme northeastt corner of Spain. That’s the part of the country known as Catalonia. Even the language is a little different!
When I woke up, there was a work boat right below our balcony! Grandma and Grandpa took me on a bus tour to see the tourist attractions in Barcelona!
The most famous building in Barcelona is the Basilica Sagrada Familia! Sagrada Familia is a big church that has been under construction for over 100 years! The main architect for it, Antoni Gaudi, has been dead almost that long. The builders are still following his plans, and he liked a lot of decoration on his buildings. When it’s complete, the basilica will have eighteen towers. The tallest one, the Jesus tower, is being built now. I was happy to know that the tower for Mark, the evangelist, has a lion on it! There were lots of people from bus tours walking around Sagrada Familia! Grandma and Grandpa took me all the way around to see the old and new construction!
When we got on the bus again, we drove past the Arch of Triumph and the park that was part of the Barcelona world exposition. Now that land is used for the zoo and sports venues. We had some time to walk around the old part of Barcelona, called the Gothic Quarter. There are some pretty old buildings and little parks. The monument to war dead reminded me of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.
There were lots of little shops and openings in the streets. I made friends with a cow, some cupcakes, and some frosted doughnuts! While we were waiting for our bus to come get us, I found a monument to the first photograph taken in Spain! I wonder whether it was a daguerrotype?
Grandpa was particularly excited about being in Barcelona because the sailboats getting ready for the America’s cup challenge this summer are already practicing here! He was hoping to watch them from MS Marina while they practiced. They are designed to sail with only their hydrofoils in the water and their hulls completely out of the water, and they can go faster than the wind! When we got back from our tour and were eating lunch, Grandma spotted one! Then two of them came into the channel right below where we were eating! Grandpa found out later that the wind was too strong for them, so they stopped practicing early.
I had a pear tart for afternoon tea. It was yummy! After dinner, MS Marina left Barcelona harbor, headed for our next stop. I got another look at Basilica Sagrada Familia as we left. The sun set while we were still close to shore.
On Tuesday, we sailed all day! We were headed for the other side of Spain! Cadiz is the part of Spain that is farthest south and west. We were close enough to the shoreline as we sailed around Spain that I could watch for cities. Then Grandpa would help me identify them from the MS Marina GPS map. I went to afternoon tea and actually had a scone with clotted cream and jam! Grandma decided I needed a napkin bib to eat that!
On cruises, Grandma does some of the quiz challenges. I helped her hand in her daily Mensa quiz, then I held on to her Big O point reward. If she gets enough of them during the cruise, she can trade them in for nice shirts! The strait of Gibraltar marks the place where the Mediterranean sea ends and the Atlantic Ocean begins. There’s a big famous rock there! MS Marina passed it in the middle of the night. Grandma and Grandpa got up to look at the rock, but it was too dark to see anything. I was happy to stay asleep!
Cadiz is a very old city — maybe the oldest one in Europe. There’s evidence people lived there 3000 years ago! The site used to be an island, but now it’s connected to the mainland. This morning we took a bus trip around town to see the tourist spots briefly. We stopped first at the Cadiz photo op spot, complete with selfie-phone holder!
Our other stop was at the Plaza de San Juan de Dios. That’s where a big government building is. The Cadiz cathedral isn’t far away. We were also close to a site where a Roman theater had been discovered during excavation for building something else. We did a little walking around before we got back on the bus and finished the tour.
We had time before lunch to take a rest on our balcony. Then I helped Grandma with the other contest puzzle she does, the art scavenger hunt. We’ve already found more than 30 of the 40 pictures!
The weather was nice, so after lunch we took a walk back to Plaza San Juan de Dios. This time, we took the long way around, walking on the old city walls. I could see how the wall would protect the city from attacks! There were some pretty parks along the walls. Lots of restoration work was going on!
We walked past the beach. That used to be the harbor for the old city. Then we visited the Roman theater site and walked in the tunnel under the seating area.
We just had time to visit the Cathedral and get back to MS Marina for afternoon tea! The crypt has lots of echoes!
That was a very long walk for a little lion! I had to work hard climbing the stairs to get back on MS Marina! I’m glad my friends at afternoon tea understood how tired I was!
Love,
Lion-san
Obviously you are having a good trip. I understand there is a lot of Gaudi’s work to see. We never got to Spain at all but I’ve seen lots of pictures. Amazing that the cathedral is still being built.