NOOB LEGEND (wait for it) -ary Trans Atlantic Review

[JohnTRN]

I wish I could remember the name and history of this building. Once again, the architectural detail is amazing!

 



 

Even the police drive small cars in Europe



 

Horchateria El Siglo. According to Jamie, this was a must try for churros and horchata. Horchata is a drink (served hot or cold) made from tiger nut or chufa. A 'superfood'. We enjoyed it cold and found it to be very refreshing.



 

Street Seamstress/Embroidery



 

This is the 'narrowest building in Europe' and I wish I could remember the history of it. It's 105cm (41.3386") wide. At one time, the bottom level had a doorway, with stairs leading to the upper levels. I think remodeling may have incorporated it into one of the other buildings and the doorway is no longer in use; other than to hold a vending machine. To the picture left, you see a lot of netting, green or otherwise, on the faces of buildings that are undergoing renovation, repairs or restoration.

[JohnTRN]

'Narrowest Building in Europe'

 



 

Cover the children's eyes, for these gargoyles, in both 'his' and 'hers' are anatomically correct. There's a story to them . . . something else you're going to have to go to Valencia and hear from Jamie. They were on the corners of two opposing buildings, with a narrow lane between them.



 



 

These gargoyles are downspouts



 

OK. So it's not something you would have in your own house

Edited October 19, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

 



 

Every once in a while, you would catch some interesting street art - graffiti to anyone else. This piece really appealed to me

 

Jamie gave lunch recommendations to anyone in the group, for whatever type of food they were interested in. Paella is apparently a dish that is best in Valencia; seems like I read an article that suggested it originated in this area. We got a recommendation for a nearby restaurant and I can’t make the name out in the photo. Another man in our group, not from the Legend, expressed interest in Paella, so we invited him to join us for lunch. He was a software engineer, living in Orange City, from Viet Nam. Nice lunch companion. We shared a huge bowl of Paella with chicken, rabbit and vegetables. Very good!

 

 



 

[JohnTRN]

Talk about your 'Peaches and Cream' complexion. Wonder if she's Dutch?

 

They would carve meat directly from these haunches, which were mounted right out in front of the restaurant. A server saw me taking pictures and kindly uncovered one for me. "Iberico Puro", Pure Iberian pork or ham.

 

We wandered our way back through the old city and caught a taxi back to the ship in plenty of time to depart. Ended up in line with a couple of the ship’s dancers and got to talk to him about shows and the new group coming on board tomorrow. Departure was amazing, with a massive three-point turn in the harbor to head the ship out. Unfortunately, it’s time to get most of our belongings packed up, to be ready to depart the ship in the morning. Why did Barcelona have to come so quickly?! Relaxed for a bit and went to dinner.

 

Another enjoyable port day come to an end. Didn't really find a great place to get a Legend picture here.

 

Similar to the first picture this morning, but now we're pulling out.



 



 

You can see The City of Arts and Sciences in the background

Edited October 19, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

The 'Guardia Civil' made sure we left and didn't come back

 

Team Waiter, I Kadek; Chief Head Waiter, Rodrigues; Assistant Team Waiter, I Komang. We thought they were the best!

 

Oh, remember that Crème Brule that was only offered once on the menu? Remember how good it was? No, because some of you weren’t there and some of you who were didn’t try it! Remember I said you could make special requests? Tonight is my Crème Brule night! Yummmm! After dinner we wandered around the ship making our good-byes and then sat on the Lido Deck with a bunch of CC Friends to visit awhile. Nice folks.

 

 

Our last Towel Thing

 

Just as we were turning in for bed, we got a call from the two cousins. One of them came by the room with a ‘SOAS’ and we gave her our bottle of champagne. Along with the brass Legend Christmas Tree Ornament, this will be our ship souvenier.

 

OK. Now I can go make cappuccino and enjoy a pastry!

Edited October 19, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

Day 15 – 22 April 2013

Barcelona Spain and Debarkation

 

 

 

We had Group 6 debarkation tickets, but decided to self-unload and had kept our luggage in the cabin last night. We wandered up to the Lido for breakfast at the buffet, returned to the cabin for the last roundup and headed out the door. Debarkation was fast and easy. Oh, remember our ‘complimentary items’ in the safe? After some of our possessions had spent over a week in the safe getting saturated with scent, what do we see as we are leaving the port area? Officers with dogs sniffing luggage! Now I’m sweating! There’s nothing in our luggage or on our persons to be of concern, but dogs have very sensitive noses and I’m sure they could catch some trace. Luckily, they were busy with other passengers and we breezed on by and out of the terminal.

 

The Barcelona Cruise Terminal

 

Our last look at our home of the last two weeks, the Carnival Legend

 

Catching a taxi was very easy, it’s all plainly marked, just had to wait in line for an available car. I had a print-out of our B&B name and address to show the taxi driver and we made it with little trouble. Looking at the map, we had briefly considered walking from the port to the B&B, but quickly decided to take a taxi. Even though we would end walking back to the port in our explorations this afternoon, it the taxi was a good idea.

 

Well cruisers, getting to the end of this review was almost as sad as getting to the end of our cruise. We really enjoyed the trip and would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

If you just wanted to read about the Legend, or the Ports of Call on this trip, you've reached your final destination. Thanks for reading and sticking with it this long. You will receive your consolation prize in four to six weeks.

 

However . . .

 

We did stay in Barcelona for three days. If you would like to see a little bit of Barcelona, especially on 'La diada de Sant Jordi', feel free to continue on and read about that bit of our trip. After all, we wouldn't have been in Barcelona, if we hadn't been on this wonderful cruise!

 

John and Jody

Edited October 19, 2013 by JohnTRN

[boaterette]

Thanks so much. Sure seems like you had a wonderful cruise. I am looking forward to the rest of your review in Barcelona.

[JohnTRN]

Ana's Guest House Barcelona B&B (B&B Website)

 

Avinguda Diagonal, 345, 08037 Barcelona, Spain (Google Map)

 

Built in 1901

 

Anna is a wonderful hostess. Even though we arrived before the usual check-in time, she served us coffee and orange juice, gave us the keys, a map of Barcelona, talked about the transit system and gave us some suggestions for the day.

 



 



 



 



 

Edited October 20, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

The view from our balcony

 

It's time to go Walk-About

 



 

Casa Terrades,

A large Gothic castle built in the middle of Avenida Diagonal. The "House of thorns" is actually an apartment building in the shape of a medieval castle that is of the most recognizable of Barcelona modernism.



 



 



 

[JohnTRN]

Just like the public bicycle transportation program in Valencia, Bicing is a public bicycle rental for tourist or recreational use, with 420 Bicing Stations. We were told, incorrectly, that it was just for residents.

 

The Ho-Ho, Hop On-Hop Off Bus. A great way to see Barcelona



 

Casa Milà - a building designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí and built during the years 1906–1912.



 



 

And, you can even 'Have It Your Way' in Barcelona!

[JohnTRN]

Casa Batlló - The local name for the building is Casa dels ossos (House of Bones)

 



 



 



 

Lleó Morera House - Casa Lleó Morera is one of Barcelona's premier Modernisme buildings; designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner



 

Edited October 20, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

Water fountain near Plaça de Catalunya

 

Plaça de Catalunya - "Catalonia Square" a large square in central Barcelona that is generally considered to be both its city centre and the place where the old city and the 19th century-built meet



 



 

Kids love those pigeons!



 



 

Edited October 20, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

'South' side of Plaça de Catalunya

 



 

From Place de Catalunya we entered the ‘La Rambla’. Compare today’s picture with the one I’ll have for tomorrow, La diada de Sant Jordi.

Entering the famous 'Las Rambla' from the North

[JohnTRN]

We wandered through The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, often simply referred to as La Boqueria, which is a large public market in the Ciutat Vella district. It’s crowded today; I can’t imagine what it will be like tomorrow!

 

Main entrance, off Las Rambla



 

Meat Counter



 

Fruit



 

Fruit Drinks



 

Eggs

Edited October 20, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

More of The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria

 

Another meat market. That's tripe to the right of the picture

 

Cheeses



 

Candy Shop



 

Fish Counter

 

This was just a sampling of the stalls that could be found in the market

Edited October 20, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

Flower Vendor on Las Rambla

 

A mix of the 'Old' and the 'New'



 

Edited October 20, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

Anna recommended that we not eat ON La Rambla, rather, we should find something on one of the side streets. We found a ‘Forn Boix’ on Carrer de l'Hospital, just past Mercat de Sant Josep and west of La Rambla. Now, this may be the equivalent of McDonalds . . . but it was great. The staff put up with our lack of Spanish and was very friendly. We bought a couple of freshly made Avacado, Brie and Chicken sandwiches, a couple of chocolate filled croissants hot out of the oven and a couple bottles of water. We went a little further down Carrer de l'Hospital and found a plaza, where we sat down to eat. Good eats!

 

‘Forn Boix’



 



 

Plaça de Sant Agustí, just down the steet from ‘Forn Boix’



 

I had read about these 'Automated Water Closets' (bathrooms) to be found in public. Jody entered with an idea of using the facilities and said the interior was FOUL! Good thing there was a McDonalds down the street . . . where everybody else had the same idea!



 

After eating, we kept walking on La Rambla toward the port. Ran into a couple from the Legend that were having lunch at a sidewalk café and chatted with them for a few minutes.

 

As we had seen in Italy, motorcycles and scooters are a popular form of transportation



 

Edited October 20, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

More La Rambla

 

 

This was not really expected, so caught my eye



 

We ended up all the way back at the port area at the Monument to Columbus, in the Plaza Portal de la Pau.



 



 

 

From there we turned north on ‘Passeig de Colom’, heading for the Old City of Barcelona, known as “El Barri Gotic” We actually bypassed the turn for “El Barri Gotic” and turned on Via Laietana, which initially took us north of the old city. From there, we would wander and eventually end up back in the old city. At one point, we were almost back to La Rambla.

 



 

Some of the original wall around the 'Gothic' City

Edited October 20, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

Another view of the old wall

 

We found “El Barri Gotic”



 



 



 



 

The Palau Reial Major, ("Grand Royal Palace") a complex of historic buildings that were a residence of the counts of Barcelona and, later, of the Kings of Aragon.

[JohnTRN]

Small Private Garden

 

El taller de Gaudí, “Gaudí's workshop’, which is a museum containing some of Gaudi’s original artworks.



 

Adjacent to that was the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia Square, or Barcelona Cathedral.

 



 



 



 

We ended up back at Place de Catalunya, where we ate the second of our croissants. From there, we walked northeast on Ronda de Universitat to the Arc de Triomf de Barcelona, at the end of Passeig de Saint Joan.

[JohnTRN]

Beyond the Arc, the entire width of Passeig de Lluis Companys has been turned into a giant sidewalk and park. There is a huge park at the end of ‘Companys’, that was part of the Exposición Universal de Barcelona in 1888.

 



 



 

Popularly knows as the Castell dels Tres Dragons (Three Dragons Castle), this stunning building was designed by the famous architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner for the World’s Fair of 1888. It currently hosts the Zoology Museum of Barcelona.

 



 

Exposition Aviary

[JohnTRN]

 

Inside the Exposition Park was one of the most amazing, I guess water features, that I’ve ever seen.



 



 

We started wending our way back ‘home’ from here. Our feet were tired, we still had a long walk back and we’re getting hungry. Along the way we bought a wonderful loaf of crusty bread, salami, cheese and a bottle of wine. Silly us, not realizing how far we had to walk and how many little shops there would be selling these products along the way, we bought them at the first places we came across – then had to carry it all that way back! I played with Google Earth and figured we had walked somewhere around seven miles today.

 

As evening draws on, the stores close up and the streets get quiet



 

Another church we passed on the way back to the B&B

Edited October 20, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

A picture of the back/common balcony of the B&B

 

Outside old, crank down shutters over the stained glass windows

 

We had dinner in the balcony alcove of our room with the windows open and the sounds of traffic and passersby drifting up to us.

 

After dinner we visited with a couple other guests in the common area, then, you’ll never guess, went out and walked some more. Just a little less than a mile or so down Avinguda Diagonal and back. This part of Avinguda Diagonal is very quiet at night.

 

Tomorrow, on the other hand, is going to see a wild riot of people on La Rambla, with books and roses sold almost everywhere!

Edited October 20, 2013 by JohnTRN

[JohnTRN]

Thanks so much. Sure seems like you had a wonderful cruise. I am looking forward to the rest of your review in Barcelona.

 

You're welcome. I don't know when the Legend will do this particular trip again, or if another ship will be doing it, but whey they do . . . :p

 

John

[Gingee]

I enjoyed your pictures and review of the Legend. Now on those really windy days, I was wondering why they still had the dance shows on if the ship was rocking. I would think it would be dangerous for the dancers. Did the rocking affect your sleep and was it scary with high seas?