Hola from Barcelona...Can't believe this wonderful trip is coming to an end for us tomorrow.

We disembarked on the 14th and it was raining and a bit chaotic. We took a Regent package and left the ship about 9:30 and finally left about 10:30. By the time we finally reached our hotel at about 11:45, the rain had stopped, but it was still a bit chilly. We stood in line to find out our room wasn't ready and then quickly left for some touring. We bought a touristic ticket for the on/off bus and it also gave us discounts. We first went to Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia and had a wonderful hour long tour. Then we went to Gaudi's Parc Guell and walked around. Then we took a city tour and a tour of Gaudi's La Pedrera. These are all great tours and I will post some reactions to them under ports later on. However, including a short lunch, Doug and I toured non-stop from noon to 7:30 and barely dented what there was to see. We then had a delightful dinner with Suzanne at the 7 Portos and rolled back to the hotel at about midnight. This restaurant is located at the port and is located in the building where Picasso first lived with his family.

An interesting aside, that even Suzanne doesn't know...Suzanne was sitting next to the taxi driver and Doug and I were in the backseat. When Suzanne got out to go into her hotel, the taxi driver smiled broadly and said to us "what a beautiful woman!" So, Suzanne, you made some taxi driver in Barcelona very happy.

On the am of the 15th, we were surprised at breakfast with Tina and Prabha and then wandered off to do our touring separately. On our way to our walking tour who did we meet but Wendy and Frank. We made arrangements for dinner and then also went our separate ways. We took a Picasso walking tour, including the museum (about 2 hours and more walking than tour) and then followed it up with a lunch at Picasso's haunt, the 4Cats. We ran into more LCT folks at the restaurant. I highly recommend this restaurant for lunch. After a great lunch, we decided to finish the city tour and take in the Miro Foundation. I then followed this up (Doug went back to the hotel) witha visit to Gaudi's Casa Batillo (I guess you figued out by now that we like art and Gaudi) before freshening up for dinner at Los Caracoles. This restaurant is located off Las Ramblas. After a great meal with Wendy and Frank, we found our way back to the hotel and fondly recalled our wonderful vacation.

Barcelona is really a 5-7 day city and you need to decide what is important for you to see. It is vast and a walking city. There is a beach, a zoo, an aquarium, all sorts of museums, several different neighborhoods...gothic, modern, etc., which are fun to wander through, great shopping, wonderful markets, people watching...I could go on and on. Additionally, if you like Dali, there is a day trip (3 hours Round Trip travel time) to his museum where there is also a market and a day trip to Sitges and Montserrat. We really could have used at least one to two more days in Barcelona to really get to know the city and two more days for the two day trips.

After the initial rain,which stopped by the time we got to the hotel on the 14th, the weather has been blue skies all the way and comfortable weather.

The Hotel Majestic is rated a 5 star hotel, but it is a 3-4 star hotel as far as we are concerned due to service levels. Frank and Wendy are delighted with the Avenida Palace and I understand other boutique 4 star hotels are great. Perhaps it is just the come down from the Voyager that makes the hotel seem less than superior?

Both of the dinner restaurants were great and I can recommend them. They aren't expensive either and casual dress is appropriate. We heard of no horror stories regarding thefts and I felt safe in the city.

Our interesting event on day 2 involved a man (about 70+) walking along the seaport who created quite an uproar. We turned around and saw him from behind, a baseball cap on his head and dressed in a green bathing suit...we thought. Until, we got a look at him from the front and realized that the bathing suit was painted on...all his privates were clearly exposed and he was sauntering along the boulevard causing quite a scene...

What a vacation...sadly, we leave at 11AM tomorrow and we eagerly look forward to our next cruise and seeing Brad and Leslie this weekend and Ray and Penny in a couple of weeks.

We really miss you Tappers already and look forward to seeing you again.