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Moving on to the main square.

The house of a famous Valencia family. The Borgias. There were 2 popes. The second elected in 1492 and put in place the Spanish Inquisition. No oter Spanish Pope since then. And of course Lucretia Borgia. Views from around the Borgia's palace.

Now we commenced our walk through the old town. This square had examples of the 17th,18th,19th and 20th century styles on the 4 sides. Pictures in that order. More Spanish wiring.

Impressive.

We alighted from the bus at one of the 2 surviving gates to the city.

Lots of old chimneys dating from the Industrial past. The old riverbed makes a wonderful parkland oasis.

Woke to the arrival into Valencia. Arriving just before us the MSC Seashore. Looks bigger than the Grandiosa but has less passengers. Still nearly 5000. And off on our excursion.

Sunset.

Dinner again in Atlantide. Rojaan had the day's asparagus starter and I the tuna. Sticking to the day's menu Rojaan had the duck and I the Malabar chicken. Rojaan really liked the duck but I found the chicken not really spicy. Rojaan stuck to the day's menu and had the raspberries and I went with a cheese plate. Another pleasant evening.

Leaving Barcelona.

It was a feature pre covid. Since cruising resumed we have only been on the Moon and Dawn and it doesn't happen.

Unlikely as it is a health and safety issue. A risk of burns if the bottle or plug fails. However my wife who also needs a warm bed finds that the heavy doona that they have causes her to awake in a hot sweat and has to throw it off for a while to cool down.

Back on board and up to the Pool deck for lunch. We found out that if you want a sun lounge that is free to be assured you need to book a B2B cruise and go to the pool on transit day. But I decided to drink rather than swim. Rojaan accompanied her wine with a chicken caesar salad whilst I went for the sizzling steak with Jalapenos.

A couple of last shots as we walk back to the bus after a very interesting excursion. Now on the bus. Also in port an Aida and a Costa ship.

Across the road they have a model of the Basilica as it should look when finished.

We are now amongst the crowds at the Basilica.

The Sagrada Familia. The largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Construction began on the 19th March 1882. Cobtrary to belief Gaudi was not the initial architect. It was Francisco del Paula de Villar. Gaudi took over a year later. The church was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI on 10th November 2010 as a minor basilica. It was intended to finish construction in 2026 the centenerary of Gaudi's death but Covid put a stop to that. We visited in 2004. The hop on bus stopped right outside. We wandered up to the ticket office and there was no queue and plenty of space inside. Now of course there are literally hordes of visitors, you must book online and obviously space is at a premium. Now continuing our walk to the Basilica.

First though a refreshment stop. Churros and dipping chocolate. Yum. It looked a pretty good spot for tapas especially if you are like me and love anchovies. Plenty of beer on tap.

The last of this incredible hospital. But we now had a short walk to a more recognisable feature of Barcelona.

And naturally the management get the best views.

And now to the Admin block. decoration is a little more flamboyant.

Sterilising. The doctors with 8 out of 18 women in 1984.

The kitchen.