Azamara Quest - Mediterranean Cities, October 28-November 4 2021

[LT Hambone]

My wife called Sagrada Família the "platypus of cathedrals" - different parts and different styles coming together to form something that shouldn't exist. But it does exist, and it's spectacular!

[CoatRackOfDoom]

On 11/22/2021 at 4:55 PM, Bimmer09 said:

Ed!! I thought you were going to miss this one so am relieved you are here. Welcome!

Which ship are you sailing on?

Yes, despite the many hassles being back on a beautiful ship was "heap good medicine kimosabe" as Tonto would have said. There was something missing in our lives and we found it up a gangway.

Bon Voyage and have a great cruise!

Norris

 

Super glad to be here! Your journal is setting me up for a future Azamara cruise, I just know it.

We sail the Celebrity Reflection to the Eastern Caribbean, this Saturday. Our first time on a Solstice class ship, and our first time in Puerto Rico. Should be just what the sawbones ordered after so long land-locked. Also planning to propose to Leticia on this trip, so wish me luck. 🙂

(Our next Celebrity adventure will be aboard the Solstice herself in September '22. 15 night trans-pacific to Tokyo! Lots of sea days, a reputation for weather drama which will be interesting.)

 

On Saturday, I'll tip back a Guinness to ya. Cheers,
Ed
 

[Bimmer09]

1 hour ago, CoatRackOfDoom said:

 

Super glad to be here! Your journal is setting me up for a future Azamara cruise, I just know it.

We sail the Celebrity Reflection to the Eastern Caribbean, this Saturday. Our first time on a Solstice class ship, and our first time in Puerto Rico. Should be just what the sawbones ordered after so long land-locked. Also planning to propose to Leticia on this trip, so wish me luck. 🙂

(Our next Celebrity adventure will be aboard the Solstice herself in September '22. 15 night trans-pacific to Tokyo! Lots of sea days, a reputation for weather drama which will be interesting.)

 

On Saturday, I'll tip back a Guinness to ya. Cheers,
Ed
 

Ed, I've been on the Reflection and if it's warm at night you must dine at the Lawn Club Grill (see my Reflection review). San Juan PR should be on every Caribbean itinerary. Had a great time there on Silhouette in 2016 (again see review) The LCGrill makes me chose those two every time.

 

Good luck with the proposal! 

The Guinness is the finest toast you could give me so thanks in advance!

 

A Japanese cruise is on my bucket list.

Norris

[Walt fan]

I have been following along; every time you and Carol leave a ship I get sad; but then your tour in Barcelona - not enough words - wow. 

 

I really liked the picture of you and Carol at Prime C - the food looked so good.

 

I know this is hard work - thank you again - hope you and Carol have a beautiful Thanksgiving if I don't have time to pop in tomorrow. 

[Bimmer09]

1 hour ago, Walt fan said:

I have been following along; every time you and Carol leave a ship I get sad; but then your tour in Barcelona - not enough words - wow. 

 

I really liked the picture of you and Carol at Prime C - the food looked so good.

 

I know this is hard work - thank you again - hope you and Carol have a beautiful Thanksgiving if I don't have time to pop in tomorrow. 

We could never and never will leave a ship and head to the airport. That would be too sad for us so we always have at least one day, preferably two, in our final port to come down from the high of cruising.

Barcelona is a good place to end up in!

 

We are having a quiet catered (from a fancy steak house in Chicago) TG dinner tomorrow but I am always up early at the computer. Hope you have a nice relaxing day!

Norris

[Bimmer09]

INSIDE THE PLAIN JANE SAGRADA FAMILIA

Antoni Gaudi is a man you have to look UP to

 

 

 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

Gaudi spent 42 years working on the Sagrada Familia-1884 to 1926 when he was run over and killed by a tram while crossing the street, but he was also working on many other unique projects at the same time. Since 1926 the  work has been carried on by many other architects and sculptors using the original for inspiration. You can only see this magnificent thing in Barcelona. It's not often you can stand in one place and turn slowly on your heel and see beauty on every one of the 360 degrees you turn. You'll say wow! into yourself or out loud. Everybody's doing it while you are.

 

 

 

 

It can hold 9,000 people and the choir loft can hold 1,000 singers who are not afraid of heights.

[Bimmer09]

 

The choir sit behind that railing you see

 

[Bimmer09]

 

 

 

and finally

[Sheal]

I can't wait to go back and spend more time wandering around.  We were a bit rushed last time around and we probably wasted 30 minutes trying to find out how to find out if we really had tickets (computer froze up).  A kind attendant listened to my tale of woe and allowed me to talk to clerk at the ticket window and lo and behold, she found our tickets stuck in payment limbo.  I quickly whisked the cc out of my not so hidden pocket and minutes later we were entering the incredible beauty of the Sagrada Familia. 

[Bimmer09]

On 11/20/2021 at 3:10 AM, Mrs Miggins said:

Thank you for this wonderful review.  Loving it but also realising a cruise ship excursion misses so much.  

Also loving the photos of Avignon etc -  we are back in that region on a Scenic river cruise next July hopefully.  The opportunities to just walk off a river cruise boat into town will be great and one of the evening excursions is a concert in the Palais des Papes.

Just like to add that the Port of Call section of CC is fantastic.  There is a guy called Hlitner who knows everything about France and his recommendations are detailed and easy to follow.

Sometimes I wonder why the Port of Call section is not used more often by those who are unfamiliar with the region they are visiting.  A little time spent there could answer so many questions.

Thank you again - as your memories have encouraged me to think  again about my many wonderful trips.

Aren't we lucky.

Hi Mrs Miggins- I wanted to reply to this much earlier and thank you for the post.

I am familiar with Hlitner (Hank) and agree with you on the Ports of Call boards.

I am familiar also with Scenic cruises and their fine reputation so envy you a cruise on the Rhone with that brand. I am on the AMA Waterways mailing list as I love the look of their ships.Carol is itching to cruise in Europe whereas I am fond of driving and staying in towns along the river (Rhine or Danube) and finding our own excursions and places to eat. I love driving in Germany and we have enjoyed that freedom a car brings many times.

I have to do a driving tour in France. Follow the Rhone?

Never a  truer thing said than "Aren't we lucky" to enjoy a cruising lifestyle for a couple of weeks a year.

Cruising has taken us places we would not otherwise have been and opened our eyes to how others live.

And I, the chatty one, have enjoyed meeting new temporary friends with the sea air perfuming our conversation .

Nice to talk to you again!

Norris

[yoshi]

Gt

 

 

Your Sagrada Familia pictures are so wonderful. We were there on a Viking Ocean cruise in December 2018. What a great experience, we spent the day before our cruise there. I'm  going to try to post a wide shot that my son took at the bottom. We are looking at doing our first AZ cruise next year, maybe Bordeaux to Barcelona.

 

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

Gaudi spent 42 years working on the Sagrada Familia-1884 to 1926 when he was run over and killed by a tram while crossing the street, but he was also working on many other unique projects at the same time. Since 1926 the  work has been carried on by many other architects and sculptors using the original for inspiration. You can only see this magnificent thing in Barcelona. It's not often you can stand in one place and turn slowly on your heel and see beauty on every one of the 360 degrees you turn. You'll say wow! into yourself or out loud. Everybody's doing it while you are.

 

 

 

 

 

It can hold 9,000 people and the choir loft can hold 1,000 singers who are not afraid of heights.

[Sheal]

@yoshiWhat an incredible picture your son took.  I like how you get a real feel of the church in whole vs. my single window pictures.

 

Norris, funny you mention the river cruises vs driving.  I got hooked on the idea of a river cruise but as I researched it more and more I felt driving rather than cruising would allow us to get a better feel.  We were planning to go in 2017 but then when we found out that my husband's cousin was to marry his Irish girlfriend in Sligo, Germany was pushed right off the stove. 

[milogurd]

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

"Aren't we lucky"

 

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

Hi Mrs Miggins- I wanted to reply to this much earlier and thank you for the post.

I am familiar with Hlitner (Hank) and agree with you on the Ports of Call boards.

I am familiar also with Scenic cruises and their fine reputation so envy you a cruise on the Rhone with that brand. I am on the AMA Waterways mailing list as I love the look of their ships.Carol is itching to cruise in Europe whereas I am fond of driving and staying in towns along the river (Rhine or Danube) and finding our own excursions and places to eat. I love driving in Germany and we have enjoyed that freedom a car brings many times.

I have to do a driving tour in France. Follow the Rhone?

Never a  truer thing said than "Aren't we lucky" to enjoy a cruising lifestyle for a couple of weeks a year.

Cruising has taken us places we would not otherwise have been and opened our eyes to how others live.

And I, the chatty one, have enjoyed meeting new temporary friends with the sea air perfuming our conversation .

Nice to talk to you again!

Norris

From the US TV Show "Good Times" with Jimmie "J.J." Walker ??

 

...Temporary lay-offs (good times)
Easy credit rip-offs (good times)
Scratching and surviving (good times)
Hanging in a chow line (good time-imes)
Aren't we lucky we have them? (yeah)
Good times...
 

[Bimmer09]

Back outside Sagrada there is a ramp down to the Museum (and restrooms)

 

 

an early inverted model which was hung over a mirror so Gaudi could study the shapes when the  light weights were moved

 

Modeling workshop

 

 

 

Time to move on to our next stop-Gaudi's Parc Guell. We have two major Gaudi houses, each two blocks from our hotel- Casa Batllo and Casa Mila (La Pedrera) but Guell is out of the way (that was it's problem for house buyers in the gated community) so Paul will drive us there.

[Bimmer09]

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Güell

 

It's a vast open air space and you don't have to wear a mask. It was a lovely morning in Barcelona and despite some of the dark clouds you'll see in my upcoming photos there was not a drop of rain.

[vagporto]

I remember visiting Sagrada Familia in 1985 (never returned, btw...) on a long road trip to Rome (first of several visits over the years). As far as I remember there was no ceiling and there were only 2 facades up. What I remember really well was that there were no lines whatsoever (maybe even no entrance fee...) and that the museum downstairs was a huge open space with walls of exposed stone (more in the style of the "modelling workshop" that you have in a couple of photographs) and that the inverted model with the small sandbags (that Gaudi photographed and turned downside up to calculate weights and tensions) was already an highlight... Time flies... In 1985, construction was advancing at snail pace and the overall feeling was that the project was NEVER going to be finished. 

Edited November 26, 2021 by vagporto

[Bimmer09]

13 hours ago, vagporto said:

I remember visiting Sagrada Familia in 1985 (never returned, btw...) on a long road trip to Rome (first of several visits over the years). As far as I remember there was no ceiling and there were only 2 facades up. What I remember really well was that there were no lines whatsoever (maybe even no entrance fee...) and that the museum downstairs was a huge open space with walls of exposed stone (more in the style of the "modelling workshop" that you have in a couple of photographs) and that the inverted model with the small sandbags (that Gaudi photographed and turned downside up to calculate weights and tensions) was already an highlight... Time flies... In 1985, construction was advancing at snail pace and the overall feeling was that the project was NEVER going to be finished. 

Thanks vagporto for these insights. I gathered from Jose that Barcelona didn't come alive until after the Olympics in 1992 as a tourist destination- the visitors number has certainly escalated since the 1990s. I think the snail's pace has been greatly improved due to the advance in computers. Even the stone, from a  quarry in England now, is cut using  computer guidance and not laboriously by hand as would have been the case in the 1980s.

I have enjoyed looking at your blog and encourage others to click your link.

Cheers,

Norris

 

[Bimmer09]

We have been off the ship for over two hours already and apart from taking some photos of the Quest from Montjuic haven't given the end of our cruise another thought. Had we been at the airport we would be feeling regret. 

We arrive at Parc Guell and enter via a side entrance we didn't know existed. No crowds there, lining up to buy tickets. Jose had already paid for those and we reimbursed him in Euros.

 

 

 

This vast open space for strolling is ringed by a bench featuring Gaudi mosaics- we love benches!

 

the stunning mosaics

 

[Bimmer09]

A house near the rear border of the park

 

and the front of the park where the main entrance gate and ticket office is

 

that vast strolling area you saw has steps leading to a lower level where you see all those people. There is also a covered stone walkway which this statue is helping to support

 

here are the supports holding the front portion of the vast strolling area

 

 

some Gaudi ironwork

[LT Hambone]

23 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

We have two major Gaudi houses, each two blocks from our hotel- Casa Batllo and Casa Mila (La Pedrera)

 

Didn't realize it until I took a second look at our pictures, but we passed both of these on our tour -

[Bimmer09]

 

We're coming down the stairs heading for the exit. There's a photo opportunity midway that everybody takes-a mosaic lizard /iguana/thing I'd hate to find in my bathtub

 

 

[Bimmer09]

We're leaving. Jose has a Gaudi designed hospital he wants us to see before dropping us off at our hotel.

Another pleasant visit to Parc Guell. 

 

 

 

Paul has parked some distance away and is summoned

[Bimmer09]

There was no place to park once we got to the hospital so we had a drive-by and I opened my window and took a shot without reflections

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_de_Sant_Pau

 

Then a couple of random shots as we are driven to our hotel on Passeig de Gracia

 

 

At the Hotel Majestic a bellman called Raphael came out for our luggage and we said goodbye and gracias to Paul (L) and Jose (R) for a fantastic, fun tour!

[Bimmer09]

HOTEL MAJESTIC

This is probably our favorite hotel anywhere. Period.

 

 

 

We check in.Our room is ready. We have the munchies. I ask if the rooftop pool bar is serving food at the moment. "I'm sorry sir, the rooftop closed for the winter on October 31". My favorite place is Barcelona is closed! Another slap in the face for Sir Norris. Oh well.

 

Why is that a big deal? This is why..

 

at night

 

More hotel

Good pianist plays here

 

 

Elevator lobby

(all these photos from October 2015)

Our room is ready. Hooray! Raphael loads up the bags