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Live from Silver Spirit, November 19-28, Barcelona to Lisbon


jpalbny
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2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

Lois, we are! And we passed your greetings on to Yessie who was very happy to hear from you! We talked to her and her fiancé in Panorama last night, while we were up too late dancing. Early night tonight though. No dancing until midnight tonight...

Thanks so much. I really do appreciate it🙂

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8 hours ago, mchell810 said:

 

It is definitely a gem and true I have never heard of it.  I just added it to my list of things to do in Barcelona.  Thanks @jpalbny for the lovely pictures.


Definitely worth seeing this gem for repeat BCN visitors!   It was offered as an excursion on Hapag Lloyd MS Europa 3 years ago when I was on, otherwise I would never have discovered it.

 

JP,  I also envy your and Chris's ability to eat so much so often  and remain so svelte.  I know your ferocious uphill walking patterns help burn a few kcal, but still!
 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise before you slog back to the VA's stress and craziness.

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Saturday, November 20th. Palamós. 

 

We dragged ourselves out of bed around 7:30, after the late night. Today's temperature was 36.1°C. Just to be clear, that's our daily temperature as checked by our butler, not the outside temperature! 

 

Now to find breakfast. We never eat a full breakfast on cruises. Between the massive caloric intake for lunch and dinner, something has to go. And breakfast food tends to be the least interesting. 

 

Our usual MO on the small ships is to grab a coffee and a small pastry in Panorama, but on the big ships I guess we need to visit the Arts Café. Slowly figuring out this huge ship. 😉

 

An impressive selection awaited us! Now fueled up for our excursion today. I have to admit, the selections are much nicer here than on Cloud or Wind.

 

Our excursion today was to two medieval villages. After about a 40 minute drive on a very lightly loaded bus, we arrived at Peratallada.

 

A Romanesque church, outside the city walls.

 

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Beautiful, picturesque narrow cobblestone streets awaited as soon as we entered the city gate.

 

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It really was this empty. We saw one other person in the streets.

 

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Some passageways had arches and were covered.

 

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In the center of the village is a castle. Apparently it's not possible to climb. After all of the dancing last night, I guess it was better that way.

 

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Instead we headed back to the TI office for a snack. An espresso with milk (Cortado) and a croissant, filled with semi melted chocolate. All part of the tour. Yum!

 

Now we walked back to the bus. A very fine specimen here.

 

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Off to our next stop! 

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59 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Today's temperature was 36.1°C. Just to be clear, that's our daily temperature as checked by our butler, not the outside temperature! 

😆😆😆

 

Wow!  Seeing these pics of empty streets and stunning skies confirms in my mind I need to put our gastronomy tour of Basque and Provence back together next fall and then sail on the Venetian Society reunion voyage from Barcelona to Lisbon.

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Saturday November 20th, Palamós. Tour of medieval villages, continued.

 

A short ride from Peratallada to Pals. Similar appearance, but bigger than the first village. And more restored. More tour groups too.

 

We hiked uphill to a church.

 

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Inside, nice windows but little else in the way of interior decoration. Still, a ray of light from the window was dramatic. 

 

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Outside the church, a defensive tower.

 

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And a round castle tower rose up over all.

 

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The tower is all that remains of the original castle. The stones were used to build a gorgeous house, in the 1970s. It looks amazing! 

 

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A replica of a medieval streetlight. Looks dangerous, if you're walking underneath and a hot ember falls on your head!

 

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As we walked by the tower, it looked like there was a guy selling tickets. We kept that in mind. And during our half hour of free time, we ran back up the hill and paid the €3 to climb the tower.

 

Nice view of the church from here.

 

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And the house, built from the stones of the castle. 

 

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And you could see all the way down to the coast. Worth the short climb.

 

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Back to the bus, for a 25 minute ride to the ship. We got back a little after 1:00 and were ready for lunch. Choices, choices...

 

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Saturday November 20th, Palamós. Finishing up.

 

Back at the ship. We decided to try Spaccanapoli for lunch. One with prosciutto and arugula. 

 

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One with cheese and basil.

 

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Yes we ate both of them. It needed to be done. They were delicious.

 

We decided to take a walk after lunch. Outside the port, there was a coastal pathway with nice views of Silver Spirit. 

 

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Further on, it got a bit more rugged. We pushed on.

 

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A bit further, there was a rocky beach. Enough exercise for now. Back to the ship.

 

We took the high road back. An unusual sculpture along the way.

 

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Safely back on board, we readied ourselves for formal night. We really did fit these fancy clothes in our carry ons.

 

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Dinner at Atlantide. We were so happy to see Monteza there! She was the first wine steward we met on SS, back in 2009 on board Explorer.

 

Food was great. A foie gras appetizer hit the spot. I will need to get about 50,000 steps tomorrow to metabolize this.

 

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Grass-fed Argentine beef for my main. Very flavorful. Glad I ordered it rare. It would have been tough, if cooked any more.

 

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Poached pear with blueberry crumble. A nice finish. 

 

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Off to bed right after dinner. We were tired after the late night on Friday. Tomorrow, an independent day in Palma.

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23 minutes ago, les37b said:

JP.... You're on a huge ship,! What happened! lol 

 

Glad it seems to be going well. Are you enjoying the Spirit? The big question..... Will you be a fan of Indochine?

 

 

Have fun..

 

 

 

 

Having a great time despite being on such a huge ship! Though we get lost from time to time...

 

The Indochine menu looks great. Almost went there yesterday but Atlantide had  more choices. We will get there soon.

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Thanks for your Spirit posts with snaps JP And Chris!

 

JP, please give Tez, Ida and my warm regards.

 

Loving your posts.  Almost wish we stuck with the Spirit crossing instead of the Cloud Holiday Antarctica voyage (considering all the Chile Covid hoops we have to jump through) but we can't wait to step on land in Antarctica.

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Thanks for the wonderful photos and reports from the Spirit.We have not yet matched your bravery in resuming our SS cruising yet .How does the experience now compare with the good old days on the four small ships in the fleet we enjoyed restriction free for 20+ years prior to the Pandemic interruption Can’t wait for those days to return. Enjoy the rest of your cruise     and we look forward to following your reports and photos.

 

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10 hours ago, Lauren82 said:

Absolutely stunning pictures... quick question..I heard  the Silver Spirit experienced a blackout on the evening of Sunday 21st November 2021 while cruising to Valencia, is this correct???

 

Hm. If it happened, we didn't notice anything. We were up in Panorama until 11:30, dancing. No issues with power that we noticed. 

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Loving your reports & photos and missing Spirit; I was on her 2nd cruise after the return which was Hamburg etc but switched to round Britain in some stormy weather! Indochine ended up being my favourite dinner venue; their hot and sour soup was the best I've ever tasted! Spaccanopoli was great too, though I struggled to finish the huge pizzas.

She does seem big after Whisper and Shadow doesn't she; I'm back on Whisper next summer.

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Sunday November 21st. Palma de Mallorca. 

 

Our second visit here. We were here in 2006 on our very first European cruise, with Oceania. I don't remember much but we'll see if any memories are jogged. 

 

We are docked out in the hinterlands, to the west of town. The castle is somewhat nearby so we figure that we'll walk there in the morning, and catch the SS shuttle to town later for a wander.

 

So we slept in until almost 8, had our temperature check, then a bite at the Arts Café. We headed out around 9:25.

 

The port complex is massive and the way out is very circuitous. It took nearly 20 minutes to escape to a street! We walked along the coast before finding a staircase which led up to the castle. 

 

Partway up, there were some nice vistas. 

 

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And a little chapel. The Capella de Sant Alonso Rodríguez. 

 

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We kept climbing. Even after the rest last night, Friday night's dancing was still making us feel slow.

 

But we made it to the castle, which was free on Sunday. Does this look familiar? I am not sure.

 

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Some archeological exhibits. Love these amphorae! 

 

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This looks familiar though. Have we been here? It reminded me of a similar structure in the Alhambra.

 

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But we were here in 2006! I recognize this statue! I recreated my pose from then. Here is 2021, with a mask of course.

 

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And here I am in the same place, in 2006!

 

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We climbed to the roof for the views. Lots of ships in port.

 

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From here you can appreciate the structure. 

 

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The town is far away. Wish the ports were situated closer to town.

 

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It was fun to revisit the castle and to rediscover the statue from 15 years ago!

 

We started back down towards the port.

 

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Then a slog through town. Forty minutes later, a look back at where we'd been.

 

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Time for lunch! We grabbed a table at LT. 

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JP those pictures strongly suggest you have improved with age.

Loving the TR as our next cruise is out of Barcelona and early 2023 we are doing the reverse Lisbon to Barcelona but staying on the Moon for 54 days.Our longest cruise yet.

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Sunday, November 21st. Palma de Mallorca. 

 

Lunch at the buffet in LT. There is an automatic hand washing system as you enter the buffet area. Then you are handed a plate. Staff serves you whatever you ask for. Not too bad but might be very slow at full capacity. 

 

There was a shuttle to town every 30 minutes so we took the 1:00 and were in town 10 minutes later. Parc de la Mar was the first place we saw.

 

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A short climb to the Old Town. Some impressive structures here. The Palau Reial de l'Almudaina, a Moorish castle.

 

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It's right across from the Cathedral. And the reason why it's so difficult to get a full picture without massive keystone distortion. 

 

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From here, a bit of wandering through narrow streets until we got to the Arab Baths (Banys Àrabs). Well over 1000 years old, and many of the stones were from even older structures. 

 

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Love the ancient brickwork.

 

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Further on, we came to Plaça Major. Beyond was a tree-lined street called Las Ramblas. The resemblance was striking. But a smaller scale for sure. Good for a stroll.

 

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Now we turned back towards the ocean and walked through a newer part of town. Passeig del Born looks very similar to Las Ramblas. 

 

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Except for the sphinxes. And the naked people watching us from the balcony! 

 

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A nice fountain was at the southern end of Passeig del Born. 

 

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Another detour, to the Llotja. A former Guild Hall from the 1400s.

 

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We parked on a bench here for a few minutes. We were waiting for 3:00, because the Moorish Palace was supposed to be free entry after 3PM on Sunday. 

 

Now a quick detour through a garden. 

 

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And a monument to Miró.

 

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So, off to the Castle. Turns out it was only free for EU citizens. Oh well. We didn't bother.

 

Instead we wandered Parc de la Mar for some more views, while awaiting the 3:30 shuttle. 

 

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Back on board before 4:00. We got ready for a busy evening. First, a destination lecture for Valencia, tomorrow. Then a reception put together by our TA, at 6:30.

 

Then, dinner at Silver Note. A nice small venue with a pleasant atmosphere. The food was tasty too.

 

I had marinated sea bass, 

 

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And lamb.

 

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There was a tiny dance floor and we had a chance to stretch our legs before dessert. 

 

Another late night tonight. We went to the Panorama and danced until about 11:30. Luckily we are on our own timetable tomorrow. Just an independent wander through Valencia, whenever we decide to get there.

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I am not sure if you are in Valencia today or tomorrow?  You will have/be having a great time;  a super city, with the City of Arts and Sciences, and a great indoor market and lots more.   Enough to keep you two energetic people going all day long.  Looking forward to your report and photos.

 

Thanks so much for reminding all of us who are currently cruiseless of the good times.

 

Lola

 

 

 

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Monday, November 22nd. Valencia. 

 

After the late night, we didn't get moving until almost 9:00. The daily temperature check was fine and we had a small breakfast in the Arts Café, as usual. 

 

We had a lot of trouble planning Valencia. First off, the Old Town is very far from the port. There was a shuttle to Old Town, great. But it didn't go anywhere near the City of Arts and Sciences, or the aquarium. Seems like this is not the easiest city to visit by cruise ship.

 

Anyway, we caught the 10:00 shuttle. The ride in was just about 30 minutes. And the port is huge. It was almost 3K from the ship to the gate of the port! 

 

We are arrived at the bus stop, near Torres de Serranos. We crossed over a pedestrian bridge to enter the Old Town.

 

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The weather was somewhat unpleasant. Overcast, wet, and an occasional sprinkle. We figured that we'd just walk around and knock a few items off Chris's list.

 

So off to the next set of towers. Torres de Quart.

 

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We went back into town and passed the Central Market. 

 

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We didn't go in just yet. The Lonja was nearby. Another medieval guild exchange building. So a quick detour for a photo as it wasn't open on Monday. 

 

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Now we went into the Central Market 

 

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Quite the array of food items on display. Too bad that SS stuffs us to the gills every day!

 

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And a very nice building as well. Wish we were hungry. 

 

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We pushed on further to the south. To see the North Railroad Station. Who named it that way?

 

On the way we passed through Plaça de l'Ajutament. Another fountain. 

 

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On one side, the Old Post Office.

 

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City Hall on the other side. 

 

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And finally, we made it to the North Station. 

 

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Now we had to work our way back towards the bus stop. There was plenty more to see. And maybe a little break in the clouds.

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I hope the sun came out, and you managed to get to the Arts and Sciences area.  Valencia is a city really worthy of two or three days stay - and blue skies help.  Cruise shuttles never seem to go  the roundabout route which would include the Arts and Sciences.

 

Lola

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