Barely A Live from Escape May16-26 2024 Trieste (Venice) to Barcelona/10-Day Mediterranean: Italy Croatia Greece France Spain

Sugar Magnolia · May 27

As I expected I went back to the same tapas restaurant for dinner tonight. Since I am now a regular, when I arrived the host slapped me on the back and led me to my usual stool.

I ordered grilled cuttlefish, grilled vegetables with romesco sauce and Iberian ham montadito. No dessert because I ate half a box of chocolate covered biscuits before dinner.

The delicious meal with a small bottle of Perrier was €20. I treated myself to a slightly more expensive meal tonight because I deserve it.

Then after dinner I took a walk around the Plaça de Catalunya area and noticed many women and some men take an interest in this J.S. Bach piece...

Hey, at least I knew it was a J.S. Bach concerto...I'm not that shallow.

Edited May 27 by Sugar Magnolia

Sugar Magnolia · May 27

For my next vacation I plan to stay right here at La Boqueria, Barcelona's famous market on La Rambla where all of my senses were on overload.

Pollo Kentucky...😂

ontheweb · May 28

While in Barcelona, please gift us all with some pictures of Gaudi architecture.

Our first cruise embarked from Barcelona. It was in 2002 and the travel industry was still recovering from 9/11. We had ship transfers, but were early. The cruise line (RCCL) gave a free tour of Barcelona to everyone with transfers. (Actually everyone on our plane seemed to be either going on the same cruise as us or another cruise (Princess) that was also embarking in Barcelona.

Sugar Magnolia · May 28

Well, I have not yet tired of tapas, so today I ordered grilled octopus for lunch before my visit to the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres...

While chatting with someone I met on the way to the museum, I found out that the tapas restaurant I have been going to for dinner has a sister restaurant called Vinitus, which has a similar menu, so off I went tonight and it didn't disappoint.

Foie gras with candied apple and oporto sauce

Lobster paella

Tonight's meal with sparkling water was €15.60. If I weren't so exhausted, I might have ordered a third dish. There's always tomorrow.

Sugar Magnolia · May 28

Shades of Gaudi

ontheweb · May 29

11 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Shades of Gaudi

Thank you for the pictures of the Gaudi architecture that I had requested. 😊😊😊😊

graphicguy · May 29

On 5/27/2024 at 5:52 PM, Sugar Magnolia said:

For my next vacation I plan to stay right here at La Boqueria, Barcelona's famous market on La Rambla where all of my senses were on overload.

Pollo Kentucky...😂

La Ramblas is amazing. Barcelona is so full of vibrant and exciting things to do.

ontheweb · May 29

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

La Ramblas is amazing. Barcelona is so full of vibrant and exciting things to do.

We actually found a museum dedicated to Gaudi's architecture the last time we were in Barcelona (after a cruise).

mking8288 · May 29

17 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Shades of Gaudi ...

Excellent pictures, thanks for sharing ... and, what was your secret to avoid & missing the crowds - got there very, very early with prepaid admission tickets with the QR/bar codes ??

Whenever are are you flying back across ... safe & happy travel 😎

Sugar Magnolia · May 29

2 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

what was your secret to avoid & missing the crowds - got there very, very early with prepaid admission tickets with the QR/bar codes ??

I just had my people clear the area as I approached.

JIMESOPUS · May 29

14 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

I just had my people clear the area as I approached.

Is that the same group from Tiano Bay? or the one you started on the Prima TA? Seriously we are now thinking about the Escape TA this November out of Barcelona, excellent pictures and restaurant ideas, how is the Hotel so far?

ontheweb · May 29

2 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

I just had my people clear the area as I approached.

WOW, could you refer those people to my favorite football team, the NY Giants? They have a tremendous need for offensive linemen who can clear the way.

Seriously, your pictures were tremendous. I shared them with DW who does not normally go on this site.

Sugar Magnolia · May 29

4 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Is that the same group from Tiano Bay? or the one you started on the Prima TA?

Neither...my people work in the shadows similar to the Faceless Men of Braavos. Speaking of which, for those of you who are Game of Thrones geeks, I visited Girona yesterday where parts of Braavos and the Great Sept were filmed. My guide was more knowledgeable about the Dali Theatre-Museum than GoT, but he did correctly identified the Girona Cathedral as the Great Sept of Baelor, which Cersei Lannister blew up along with all the townsfolk in it in an act of ultimate revenge.

Sugar Magnolia · May 29

4 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Seriously we are now thinking about the Escape TA this November out of Barcelona, excellent pictures and restaurant ideas, how is the Hotel so far?

Stay tuned for hotel details. I am also considering the Escape TA.

JIMESOPUS · May 29

58 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Stay tuned for hotel details. I am also considering the Escape TA.

The Escape TA is over Thanksgiving so it's a tough sell to Carol since we missed it last year on the Viva but never say never.

We canceled our Alaska cruise and have a B2B on the Gem out of Boston this August.

Safe travels home,

Jim

Sugar Magnolia · May 29

You have experienced Gaudi...now meet Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the architect of Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, one of the most beautiful concert halls I have ever seen. Notice the use of mosaics, ceramics and stained glass windows to bring light and color into the venue.

The guide told us to look at the reflection on the windows of the apartment buildings across from the Palau de la Música Catalana.

The café is opened to the public.

Edited May 29 by Sugar Magnolia

debenson0723 · May 29

20 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

You have experienced Gaudi...now meet Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the architect of Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, one of the most beautiful concert halls I have ever seen. Notice the use of mosaics, ceramics and stained glass windows to bring light and color into the venue.

The guide told us to look at the reflection on the windows of the apartment buildings across from the Palau de la Música Catalana.

The café is opened to the public.

I am so happy that you went here. I was going to suggest it but wasn't sure how much more time you had in Barcelona. It is truly one of the hidden gems and I loved every minute that I was there. You are seriously making me think I need to leave a few days earlier than planned for my Pearl cruise out of Venice and make a stop in Barcelona. Or scrap the Pearl altogether and do the Escape TA. Or maybe just quit my job and do both! Such bad influences on this board.

Sugar Magnolia · May 29

2 minutes ago, debenson0723 said:

Such bad influences on this board.

Agree 😂🤣

LincolnLegend · May 30

Oh my goodness, I only just discovered your fabulous report! I am booked on the exact same cruise but on the Breakaway in May 2025. It's a cruise/stay from Australia and includes 2 nights in Venice before and 2 nights in Barcelona afterwards. I'm thinking I may have to extend at least the Barcelona stay for a couple more nights, there is so much to see and eat lol!

Thankyou so, so much for all the info. and I'm super keen to hear of the good or bad of any excursions you did at any of the stops - being our first time to Europe, I'm leaning towards ship excursions for safety (yes I'm a chicken, the thought of being left behind in the event of a problem terrifies me!)

Sugar Magnolia · May 30

4 hours ago, LincolnLegend said:

Oh my goodness, I only just discovered your fabulous report! I am booked on the exact same cruise but on the Breakaway in May 2025. It's a cruise/stay from Australia and includes 2 nights in Venice before and 2 nights in Barcelona afterwards. I'm thinking I may have to extend at least the Barcelona stay for a couple more nights, there is so much to see and eat lol!

Thankyou so, so much for all the info. and I'm super keen to hear of the good or bad of any excursions you did at any of the stops - being our first time to Europe, I'm leaning towards ship excursions for safety (yes I'm a chicken, the thought of being left behind in the event of a problem terrifies me!)

Thank you for following. I will post more about my excursions soon. This was such a port intensive sailing with long port days that I hardly had a chance to gather my thoughts at the end of the day. I also have a habit of taking too many photos and then need time to go through them.

I definitely recommend spending more days in Barcelona. It is a beautiful city and so easy to get around. Since you will be traveling all that way from Australia, it makes sense to see as much as you can while you are in Europe.

graphicguy · May 30

@Sugar Magnolia...absolutely beautiful pics.

As long as I've been posting at CC, I never could figure out how to put spaces between my pics when I post. Can you help a poor, feeble fellow out? TIA!

Sugar Magnolia · May 30

40 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

@Sugar Magnolia...absolutely beautiful pics.

As long as I've been posting at CC, I never could figure out how to put spaces between my pics when I post. Can you help a poor, feeble fellow out? TIA!

Thank you.
I post one pic at a time; press ENTER to add line spaces after each pic; and make sure the cursor is exactly where I what the pic to be posted.

cruiseny4life · May 30

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

@Sugar Magnolia...absolutely beautiful pics.

As long as I've been posting at CC, I never could figure out how to put spaces between my pics when I post. Can you help a poor, feeble fellow out? TIA!

The space bar is your friend.

16 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

You have experienced Gaudi...now meet Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the architect of Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, one of the most beautiful concert halls I have ever seen. Notice the use of mosaics, ceramics and stained glass windows to bring light and color into the venue.

Now this! This is architecture, unlike some other nameless cr@p in Barcelona. Thank you for sharing! I'm sad I didn't explore this gorgeous concert hall when in Barcelona last year. Definitely on my list for future trips!

11 hours ago, LincolnLegend said:

I'm thinking I may have to extend at least the Barcelona stay for a couple more nights, there is so much to see and eat lol!

I agree with Sugar, @Sugar Magnolia! The more time in Barcelona, the better. There's so much to see!!

mking8288 · May 30

16 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

The space bar is your friend ... agree with Sugar, @Sugar Magnolia! The more time in Barcelona, the better. There's so much to see!!

Alternate when I'm supposed to be enjoying breakfast, lunch, dinner or afternoon coffee/tea - upload the batch of photos first (especially when satellite connection a/k/a "Starlink-like" is slow and sluggish at sea. Then edit (within that 18 to 19 minutes window) and insert a space ("Enter" key) to put a line between photos.

The mightly "power" with the relative strength of the US currency when doing foreign exchange, especially in Barcelona & Spain (and, Canada) where our purchasing power is highly leveraged being in an advantageous position vis-a-vis the standard of living & costs for goods and services abroad. Fewer Canadian crossing our northern borders to take vacations & cruise out of the US once the conversion rates are taking into considerations.

Sy ... awesome pictures, keep them going but do rest in between, it's a hard life 😁 😆 😂 as we know it, almost like an unconventional nomad, living out of a rollerboard and a carry-on backpack.