Highlights Cruise Departure-Barcelona
I worked out in the ship’s gym in the morning, modestly equipped and small (the gym, not me). It was suitable for my needs and better than I expected. My Iconic Barcelona shore excursion (included) consisted of a bus ride to La Sagrada Família, a guided walk around it (no entry, a pattern repeated in every port), a bus ride back to El Born neighborhood, and a walk that included the main sites through narrow streets. We saw remnants of the Roman wall (they kept wall and road builders busy), the Barcelona Cathedral, the royal palace, and the Monument to the Heroes of 1809 for resisting Napoleon’s forces (it didn’t go well for the heroes). The ship departed Barcelona for Marseilles at 6pm.
Don’t panic!
Stateroom
Notable Items
I came to the World Café for breakfast early enough to see a lovely sunrise. This wasn’t possible at my apartment in El Raval. The buffet is two-sided with the kitchen in the middle. Some observations:
Eating what looked good at a place like this was a bad idea. _Everything_ looked good.
The latte from the self-service machine was bad, but that’s what happens when I’m let loose at the controls. After one dismal experience, I resolved to let someone with more training prepare coffee.
My buffet attack strategy was to use the smaller dessert plates and not have second helpings. An even better strategy for the morning was: go to the smaller café forward, on the 8th deck, and consume small portions of more limited offerings.
Every morning, Arran the Cruise Director cheerfully announced port-specific information like where to exit the ship, time of first bus departure, weather, etc. Many days, he and members of the staff were on the pier to greet guests as they trekked to the buses.
I stayed on the ship until my afternoon Iconic Barcelona shore excursion. I had had four days to see what I wanted in Barcelona, but maybe I missed some icons. I sat in the Library at the forward end of the Atrium and observed the crew doing an abandon ship exercise. I asked a few of them about their responsibilities and posed some “what if?” questions. I wasn’t auditing them, just curious. An actual abandon ship event would be a soup sandwich. I’ve had lots of experience with both in the Navy.
I boarded my bus to see the icons of Barcelona and was promptly sent back to the terminal. I felt like an alien learning earth customs (What does it mean, ‘exact change?’).
I needed a ticket. Uh oh. I didn’t have one. I was supposed to have received tickets for all shore excursions when I checked aboard the previous day. I missed that on the checklist because I was trying to avoid the Duty-Free shop.
The woman at the terminal guiding people to buses couldn’t print a ticket (of course). She consulted her communicator (it probably informed her, this person has issues), then scribbled something on the back of a cocktail napkin (or similar), and sent me back to the bus. I felt like a minor in the airport with a boarding pass pinned to my jacket. I imagined everyone on the bus was staring. Look at that bozo. He got kicked off the bus and here he comes again!
I braced myself for another rejection (They’re not going to buy this!), but the Viking bus monitor waved me on. I was cleared to board after inadvertently running afoul of protocol (“ignorance of the law is no excuse”). I slunk aboard in shame. My first shore excursion was nearly a fail.
After personal audio device sound checks, our local guide, Lena, told us the plan: basilica walk and outside tour followed by an hour in El Born. In what I later learned was a pattern, Lena pointed out icons of Barcelona from the bus window as we drove past them (“Look kids, …”).
There was a Viking rep performing rear guard duty as we straggled the 3 blocks from the closest bus parking to the basilica. As our group of mobility-challenged oldsters hobbled around the outside of the basilica, Lena kept up a constant monologue. I spoke Spanish with her whenever I could. In El Born, I had previously visited or walked past most of the icons, but benefited from the additional background Lena provided. Example: the inscription at the Fossar de les Moreres reads: No traitor is buried in the Fossar de les Moreres: until we lose our flags it will be the urn of honor. Stirring stuff, except all the bodies were moved out of the city when the graveyard became more valuable as real estate. A classic clash between martyrdom and urban planning.
I ate supper in the buffet (“World Café”). I saw almost every Spanish dish I’ve ever heard of. I saw the Resident Historian, Susan, sitting alone in the World Café. I joined her to tell her what a great job she did covering all of French history in an hour (“from cave paintings to monetary union”). She had to be selective so she omitted the Maginot Line (great idea, poor execution). A couple from South Carolina at the table next to us joined the conversation. After I told Susan that I’m a sociologist, the man leaned over and said, “You’re a socialist?” I thought I was going to get slugged. They take politics seriously in South Carolina.