Barcelona 11/29/09

We set our alarm to wake up at 6:30am. We cleaned up a bit, then went to the dining car for our breakfast. It was included with the price of our ticket!
We arrived at the Barcelona Franca Station at 8:30am.
We took a taxi from the station to the port. The first glimpse of Barcelona and then of our ship at port was VERY exciting! We dropped our bags off at the terminal, and then got a cab back into Barcelona. We had the taxi driver let us out at the Christopher Columbus monument. There was a marathon in Barcelona that morning, and we got stuck for a while waiting for the runners to pass while we were trying to cross the street!
We had so much planned for Barcelona, but we were exhausted from hitting Paris so hard, that we only saw three things from our list. First, we took the metro to see Casa Mila.
I really wanted to see Casa Batllo, but we overshot it on the metro, and I was too tired to turn around and go back! Then, we walked to La Sagrada Familia. It was pretty incredible! It has been under construction for over 100 years, and still has a lot more work to be done.

Next, we took the metro over to Placa Espanyol. We walked up to Palau Nacional on Montjuic. The marathon was ending here, so it was packed with people and music. I was sad that the big "Magic Fountain" was not on, but the palace was pretty, and we could see Mount Tibidabo in the distance.

We were pretty much wiped by then, so made our way back to the ship via taxi. We stood in line to check in, and then we were on our way on board the Norwegian Gem!
We were given a celebratory glass of champagne as we got on board. Then, we had lunch in the Grand Pacific Dining Room.
After lunch, we were allowed to go to our stateroom. We had intentions of unpacking and getting settled in, but once we got into our room, we both fell asleep for about an hour!
We woke up at 4:00pm, walked around the ship a bit, went to the muster drill at 5:00pm, and then went to have dinner at the Garden Cafe. After dinner, we caught up with some of our new friends from Cruise Critic out on the patio. We stayed and chatted for a little bit, and then Suzanne and Barbara took everyone up to see their suite and the private courtyard that all the suites share. After a bit, we went back to our room to unpack and get organized, take hot showers, and hit the hay.

See more pictures from "Barcelona 11/29/09" HERE