Tuesday, September 19.  We really enjoyed Cannes.  Pretty place.  Managed to find a stationary shop to buy a Birthday card for Yoriko.  I did my “let’s take the road less traveled” and we had a great lunch down some narrow back alley.  We both ordered wine which we thought would be glasses but were actually half bottles.  Yoriko had a large bowl of mussels.  Heaven!  An English speaking server appeared (after we’d ordered the wine) and directed us to the nearby farmers market.  Excellent time. I think we saw enough though, at least until I win the lottery.

 

Monday, September 18.  The number of photos disagrees with our assessment of the city.  Pretty bland.  It drizzled though.  The Notre-Dame de la Garde Basilica at the top was a climb, but really impressive.  It’s far and away the most visited attraction in the city, with good reason.  It’s a destination for sailors who survived shipwrecks.

In hindsight it wasn’t a bad place to visit.

 

Sunday, September 17.   One picture says it all.

Friday and Saturday, September 15/16.  Disco dancing, I guess.  We slept.  Toured the town a little.  Forgettable.

Thursday, September 14.  As we were boarding, the ship was emptying out of a special gay cruise.  The taxi stand line ran for several hundred yards, all guys.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it was unusual.

They didn’t have a card for Yoriko, which delayed our boarding and caused minor problems for the first few days because the newly minted card wasn’t programmed right.  Our room was on the stern, a luxury I’d wanted to try out and won’t repeat.  Not that special.  We were also anticipating hor d’oeuvres each day, which turned out to be a few olives and some cheese.  Overall, the ship left me disappointed, though I can’t put my finger on any one annoyance.  It just felt off.

Wednesday, 13 September. Cooking class, including the shopping for ingredients.  It was a full class, full of many very interesting people.  I hung back.  Full course meal.  Lots of conversation in an echo chamber of a kitchen.  I couldn’t hear much.  But Yoriko loved it.

We took a long leisurely walk through too much of Barcelona to reach our second tour of the day, a flamenco dance show.  It was essentially what you’d expect.

In all we had a marvelous time in Barcelona.  It’s a beautiful city.

Tuesday, September 12.  Visited the Gaudi designed park.  The Gaudi House inside had a 2 hour line, so we skipped it.  It’s an extensive park with street venders present.  Nice place, but overcrowded even though they limit access.  You have to buy a timed entry ticket.

The rest of the day was dedicated to the Familia Sagrada church.  Still incredible even though we’d spent hours there two year ago.  We could tell what had been added.  Truly a wonder of the world.  I hope to return when it’s finished.

After returning to our apartment I researched the mystery of the buses, discovering that we’re just a short distance from the first building Gaudi designed.  Unsurprisingly odd looking.  It was undergoing some renovations in anticipation of becoming a museum in a few months.

Monday, September 11. Today was a holiday for the Catalonia region.  Traffic jams and people everywhere.  Happy madness.  Everyone was buying and wearing green shirts for a special photo shoot.

We began our four days in the city with the ubiquitous Hop-On, Hop-Off bus to give us an overview of where things were.  There had been a few instances of anti-tourist demonstrations against tour organizations, so we were watchful.  After the ride we just soaked up the crowds.  Everyone was having a good time.  We ate too much while sitting at cafes that had signs banning “just sitting”.

Amazingly, t-shirts with the traditional emblem for Catalonian independence were not available in stores.  I can only assume the country bans them.  In four days I only found one store that had them.

 

Sunday, September 10. Air France to Barcelona.  Very nice.  Taxi ride smooth.  I’d not only printed the address, but also a map.  (We used many taxis in Barcelona.  None were difficult.  None were expensive.)

Airbnb was excellent.  (Tour buses were parked in front, posing a mystery: Why?)  Hot tub and sauna!   We found a little snack bar nearby, after scouting out a host of bakeries.  It was literally a snack bar.  Small snacks.  Finger food.  Good, but expensive for the portions.

No photos today.