Cruise Update

The cruise ended in Barcelona.  For us.  Which is a good thing.  Not that we didn’t enjoy it, we had a fine time.  The night after they left the ship ran into some serious seas.  A “rogue” wave hit the port bow deck three (where our cabin was), and knocked out the windows in five cabins.  The ship ordered everyone to stay in their cabins except for the injured and those with three inches of water.  Apparently there was quite a bit of blood on those injured by shattered glass.

Cruise Critic Story

New windows were flown in to Corsica, and passengers for whom no cabin was available had to leave the boat.  But not us.  We were enjoying a wonderful dinner with new friends from Norway, Germany, and Scotland.

Barcelona (Barca)

Barcelona is a great city.  We coined the term “boho elegance.”. There is an almost palpable energy in the air of this beautiful place.  It is crammed with sites, sounds, food, museums, amenities, architecture, tourists and hipsters.

Most important, however, is that this is where we met up with Ellen’s cousin Nancy.  She turned up at the Airbnb door on Monday, the day after we got there.

Gracia

We stayed in the barrio called Gracia.  Formerly a town, it was incorporated into the city over a hundred years ago.  Our Airbnb was on the Placa Vila de Gracia.  It had a huge clock tower in the middle.  There were cafes surrounding it.  The neighborhood was out in force on Sunday with families, kids, couples, musicians, puppets, and the best croissants we’d had in months.

Placa with students taking a class picture

Placa at night

The Modernista Style

One cannot visit Barcelona without feeling the impact of the Modernism style of architecture.  Antoni Gaudi is the grand master, and one sees his work all over the place.  We saw many of his works including the Sagrada Familia (which dominates the city), La Pedrera (where we had breakfast), Park Park Güell, and the Casa Batlló.  Other edifices, by a variety of architects bring innovative designs to the city.  (click on any picture for the slideshow mode)

The Picasso Museum – the Jewel in the Crown

The highpoint of our visit to Barca had to be the Picasso Museum.  Nancy worked the family network to connect with the executive director of the institution, Bernardo, who has spent the better part of the last decades with the Picasso Legacy.  He helped establish and was executive director of the Picasso Museum in Malaga prior to taking over the one in Barcelona.

We met Bernardo in the lobby and went to a nearby eatery.  We had a lovely lunch before heading back to the museum.  Bernardo was remarkably generous with his time, giving us a personalized guided tour through Picasso’s mid-thirties life before his other responsibilities required his time.

We had both visited this museum about 40 years ago.  Things have changed.  Instead of one building, there are now five.  Bernardo’s depth of knowledge was impressive, and we were privy to details that the general public is not.

We, of course, were not allowed to take photos, so here are a few from outside the collection.

The Rest

We got the hop-on hop-off bus tickets and went all over the place.  Could have stayed much longer.  We took the funicular up to the fort, explored the Gothic Quarter, walked up and down the avenues, and had some great food.

By the way, I went down to Casanova Photo and bought a replacement camera.  Fortunately, cameras are not like people, they are replaceable.

Columbus monument

Nancy and Steve at the fort overlooking the city.

We decided this company insures the risky, but lucrative, one-eyed people market

The Rambla with street artists

Interesting chairs

Basilica

Old city

Cathedral