On to Barcelona

 

IMG_3289

Today we were traveling to Barcelona to begin our two week Rick Steves Spain and Morocco Tour. They say it is 16 days, but since it doesn’t begin until 5 PM the first day and ends immediately after breakfast on the 16th day, it is really a two week tour. Enough of that, what is interesting was our train trip.

 

IMG_9657

For one thing, we were taking three different trains. For another it was raining cats and dogs all day long, with the occasional lions and tigers thrown in for good measure. We had about a half an hour for our two connections, but when our first train was 20 minutes late, it sure didn’t start off so good.

 

IMG_9658  With the lousy weather there sure wasn’t much to see out the window. Then we ran into some luck, our next connecting train was also delayed 20 minutes, so we had no trouble with that connection. That was at Narbonne, France, and there it was actually raining hippos and elephants, plus the wind was blowing the rain nearly horizontally at times. The inside of the station was so crowed you could barely move.

 

IMG_9660

Linda surprised me by reading a French newspaper on the leg from Narbonne to Figures, Spain.

 

IMG_9664

The last segment was on the AVE from Figures to Barcelona, where we had to take the metro to be closer to our hotel. The Barcelona Sants station is one of those where when you finally get done walking from the train station to the the right metro platform, you think it would have been easier to just walk to the hotel directly.

 

IMG_3292

After our initial meeting in the hotel, we took to the streets for a get acquainted walking tour. Two things were apparent right off, it wasn’t going to stop raining, and a little rain wasn’t going to interfere with our tour. The rain didn’t seem to bother the people of Barcelona either, as the streets were positively crowed with people walking under umbrellas.

 

IMG_3296  Our tour guide, Nygil, in action. We had read that he was in the top handful of guides, and if first impressions mean anything, he very well could be the top Rick Steves tour guide. Not bad for someone from Chico, California who came to visit Spain years ago and never returned to the States. It promises to be a great two weeks.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Around the World in 128 Days - Arrival at Ft. Lauderdale and back home again

Image
  The Cruise is Over - May 11, 2024 - 5,904 Steps It was over months ago we walked out to this same spot shortly after we boarded the ship. Then it was a glorious and joyous afternoon, today it was a glorious but sad morning.  Instead of watching to see if could recognize our luggage being loaded aboard the Zuiderdam, it was watching to see if we could spot it being off loaded. The lineup of trucks bringing provisions for the next sailing that would be leaving a few hours. Trucks were lined up in the far distance awaiting their turn to unload. Port Everglades is a very busy cruise ship terminal. There was a staggering amount of food to be loaded onto the ship. A pallet of apples. A last look at the old home place that served us so well for the past mounts. Literally shutting the door on one of the most awesome adventures we have ever been on. But the fall of next year we will be opening the door on an another one. We patiently waited for our group, Gray 1, to be called. The luggage for
Read more

Around the world in 128 Days - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Image
  Travel Day 126 - May 8, 2024 - 7,666 Steps Joe and Patrick our room stewards who have gone way beyond and above to not only keep our room in perfect conditions, but also have a great sense of humor. If it looks familiar it's because it the same one I recently read. I mentioned to Linda I thought she would enjoy reading it, and she did. You never know how things like this are going to turn out. It proved to be great from original songs, standup comedians, dancing, musical instruments. There's talent hidden amongst the ship's passengers. It took a while after Jose And Grace were transferred  from the Lido, but in the opposite corner of the Lido we found Lisna, who was every bit as awesome as they were. David's history presentation, proving once again that only a tiny bit of history is about names and dates like we were taught in high school. A cartoon from several centuries ago portraying the effects of consuming too much sugar on the King of England. And it is a slight
Read more

Around the World in 128 Days - A Big Celebration on the Last Day at Sea

Image
  Travel Day 128 - May 10, 2024 - 6,604 Steps Today is luggage day, so the elevators were busy all day. A good many boxes were also going back. After 127 days it was time to say goodbye and celebrate the end of the around the world adventure. It was also a day for the last presentations. Ted used his to talk about the woman who discovered the method used to determine the age and size of the universe. Of the 9 brightest stars in the sky, 7 of them are further away from us than Sirius, the brightest one. To answer the question, it's no different than Russia has been for centuries. The communists are no different than the Czars of the past. Only the most ruthless get the top job. Ivan the Terrible would say, Well done Vlad. Our last Happy Hour in the Crow's Nest Life is more than good, it is fantastic. Going out in style tonight. I wonder how many dozen macadamia nut cookies I devoured during the cruise? It's one of those mysteries of the universe that will never be answered.
Read more