James, Gigi and many others had told us we’d love Barcelona. They were right. A perfect combination of weather, things to see and do, and shopping!!!

We walked for 12 hours (with a few short breaks of course) and didn’t even scratch the surface …

We docked close to Columbus. Pointing at Italy(??), not the New World.

A tiny elevator takes you to the top, so we took advantage of our early start and enjoyed superb views of the city … here, the tree lined La Rambla.

It was very quiet at this time, but Jan managed to find a shop open before 9:30am!

We wandered up La Rambla, and off into big squares (Placa Reial), small squares and alleys to the side …

Then (slowly?) along Calle Ferran (a main shopping street) full of delivery trucks at this time …

… to the main civic square, Placa St Jaume.

From here we taxied through endless, enticing wide streets and boulevades to the Sagrada Familia … still under construction after more than 100 years!!!

What can I say? Impressive in grandiosty, tick. Extraordinary, tick. Unique, tick. Ugly, tick (in my opinion).

Even this early in the day (around 11:30) it had attracted a boisterous crowd, worthy of a Barcelona v Real Madrid game. We joined the queue for timed tickets (about $25 each) to go in. What? … next entry 2pm!?! And, the ticket office queue was at least 45 minutes long. So after a short discusion we pulled the pin and taxied back to where we had come from. We’ll maybe check the photos of the inside on-line one day.

We walked lots more …

… and the city was starting to liven up.

We stopped for lunch beside this church. (Sadly, an unfortunate choice of cafe! … greasy food, undrinkable wine)

We went into the church, mainly for a look at this window …

Then, following obscure paths and through a door … this …

2000 year old Roman columns from the Forum once here.

The 15th century watchtower …

Beautiful courtyards and quadrangles …

Then to one of the highlights … the real Barcelona Cathedral … now THIS is a church! A gothic marvel with amazing history.

The crypt is gorgeous …

And the beautiful cloister a wonderful quiet sanctuary …

And so back to La Rambla (very slow process – because of the number of shops to visit!) … the main Boulevade was very busy now …

On one side the spectacular Mercat de la Boqueria … bustling, beautiful food markets.

Exhausted, we sat for a celebratory Sangria (one bucket each!) …

… and walked back to be last on board the ship …

Muchos gratias, Barcelona!