Barcelona, Spain

April 13, 2023

I was feeling better today and Brian and I were going to be heading out on a Princess sponsored shore excursion to see the highlights of Barcelona which included a walk in the Gothic Quarter, the center of old Barcelona.

Once we all were loaded on the the bus, we took a drive up to Montjuic Mountain Park, a large green space overlooking all of Barcelona. The views were exceptional as seen in the photo above. The large building in the center is La Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s amazing masterpiece. We would see it in more depth later in the day. Here are a few more photos of the park.

We continued our sightseeing tour with a drive through the city. Most of these pictures were taken through the tinted window on the bus.

This is Barcelona’s old bullfighting arena. Since bullfights are outlawed in Barcelona and the whole Catalonian region of Spain, it is now a shopping mall.

There are wild parrots here.

Our destination was to the site of La Sagrada Familia. This church was designed by the architect Gaudi (as well as one of the building pictured above), and has been under construction since 1882. It’s scheduled to be finished in 2026. No one knows the exact cost of the construction because all the construction early documentation was lost during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

La Sagrada Familia (the Sacred Family) has to be one of the most fantastical places I’ve ever seen. I loved it! Our tour did not include a visit inside and it would be worth another trip to Barcelona just to do that. One side of the church depicts the Nativity of Christ and the opposite side show the death of Christ.

Our bus was meeting us a few blocks away right next to a dog park. We also walked past a building that had a most interesting mural painted on one side.

Now we were headed to the Gothic Quarter to see the Cathedral of Saint Eulalia. The streets, once again, were narrow and winding. We walked past medieval buildings and saw the ruins of a old Roman wall.

Our visit to the cathedral was not long. Our guide explained its historical significance and was excited to show us the baptismal fount where three indigenous people from the Americas were baptized when they were brought to Spain by explorers. They were the first people from America to be baptized because, in Spain, everyone had to be Catholic. I, personally, found this to be disturbing. It reminded me of the forced assimilation of the indigenous people in America and the loss of so much of there culture, all in the name of God and westward expansion. That said, the cathedral was, of course, beautiful.

We exited the church by way of the cloisters. This garden area was where priests and nuns would come to pray and meditate. Today there is a flock of geese that live there. Today, workers were doing some repairs on their pond and they were herded into a corner. There was a lot of noise from the workers and the geese didn’t seem to know what to do. They were very quiet which was unusual for them.

There were also old graves under the walkway. Inscriptions in the stone tell about the people underneath. Graves with a skull and crossbones were victims of the plague.

Back to the bus we went with a few of our tour members staying behind to take a walk down Las Ramblas, the main shopping promenade in Barcelona, where they would meet the shuttle bus to take them back to port. We were heading back to the ship for some much needed rest. This tour also had a few people who didn’t want to do any walking. They were not allowed to stay on the bus, so they were asked to wait in a bar or cafe until we got back. Sometimes it took a little time to round them up. That said, while annoying at times, it didn’t affect our enjoyment of the day at all.