Freedom in the Mediterranean…The Story Begins!

Way back in the twilight of 2015, when I was on board the Freedom of the Seas Eastern Caribbean cruise, I purchased a “Future Cruise Certificate.” Basically it is a promise to cruise again, which I knew I was going to do anyway, so I took advantage of some perks that they were offering with the certificate and booked a cruise.  Then, in March of 2016 when the 2017 European sailings opened and I saw that my favorite ship, the Freedom, was going to Europe for the summer of 2017 I immediately called and transferred my reservation to the June 18, 2017 sailing out of Barcelona on the Freedom of the Seas.  Since it was the first day that reservations were open (yes…I had been checking every day!) I was able to get the cabins that I wanted, 3 adjacent promenade view cabins with one balcony cabin across the hall.

My next task was to find an apartment that would house 8 people for three nights and not break the bank…Not as easy as it sounds…actually, it doesn’t even sound easy!  Hotels are out, too expensive to get four rooms for three nights.  And you need four rooms…hotel rooms in Europe are hardly expansive living spaces.  So I headed over to AirBNB to look for a place for all of us.

After the apartment in Venice, that we all loved but had no elevator, I was told specifically to find one with an elevator…and I did.  But I did overlook one thing that would be somewhat important…but I didn’t realize that until we got there.

Our flight was crowded but uneventful.  Lines to get through border control were long and we were just barely on-time to meet our AirBNB host.  I rented a 4 bedroom 2 bath apartment in the Eixample neighborhood.  The location turned out to be fantastic, easy to get everywhere we needed to go.  It had a beautiful view:

It also had an amazing kitchen with all utensils, wifi all over the apartment, a fresh water dispenser, an elevator, and ceiling fans in all rooms…which was a good thing because the one thing I did not look for…air conditioning.  In the Mediterranean.  In Summer.  During a heat wave.  Okay, well that last part I couldn’t have known, but all I can say is thank goodness for the gigantic windows all over the apartment and the ceiling fans in every room.  They kept it bearable!

I had scheduled several tours for our three days in Barcelona.  The first was a tour of Barcelona via motor coach with a trip to Montserrat.  I used Barcelona Day Tours and they were fantastic!  Our guide picked us up right at our apartment and we toured some of the highlights of the city on our way to Park Guell where we had “skip the line” tickets. This park was designed by Antonio Gaudi originally as a housing development for the wealthy, but it never really took off even after Count Eusebi Guell moved there himself to try and add to the prestige.  Ultimately, only two houses were ever built and it was eventually converted into a municipal garden.

A bunch of the infrastructure was built in anticipation of all those upper crust folks moving in, so there is quite a bit to see there, and it is all VERY Gaudi.  It is the exact type of architecture you think of when you think of him.  Gaudi did not have a huge budget for this, so he improvised.  He used scraps from other construction sites to decorate his buildings and other creations.

Like this bench.  It has “butt bumps” on the seats meant to align your spine when you sit to make it more comfortable.  Surprisingly enough, they work really well, and that stone and ceramic bench is actually really comfortable!

Our next stop was a “drive-by” of La Sagrada Familia.  I say “drive-by” but we did actually get out and walk around the entire church with Marta, we just didn’t go inside!  I will give you a quick teaser picture here but a full review when I talk about my full guided tour later!

It is massive, and awesome, and truly a work of art.  I can’t wait to see it finished!!

But moving on, we next headed out of the city to the monastery Santa Maria de Montserrat.  This is about 28 miles west and 4000 feet above the city of Barcelona.  My hope was that maybe it would be a smidge cooler up there in the mountains, but really it was just closer to the sun!  But it is beautiful!

The basilica houses the Virgin of Montserrat, Catalonia’s saint and plenty of people make the pilgrimage here just to see her.  In addition, about 50 boys in the famous Montserrat L’Escolania boys choir live here while they are members.  They give a daily free concert in the basilica, but ironically enough, the boys were in New York while I was in Barcelona so I did not get to hear them.  Still, its pretty amazing inside:

With some pretty awesome sculptures:

And some absolutely incredible stained glass:

We decided to eat in the cafeteria style restaurant, in addition they have two sit-down style restaurants, a bar and a grab and go type store if you want a picnic.  The selling point for me was the buffet style and options for everyone.  I’m just kidding!!!  The cafeteria offers all you can drink wine and beer with your meal!!!  SOLD!!!  But, in all honesty, the food was decent, the wine was okay and the beer was warm.  But it was reasonably priced, filling, and most importantly air conditioned!

Outside the cafeteria there are some more amazing views and art work.

Another option would have been to take the funicular to the highest point.  I’ve heard that you can see all the way to Mallorca on a clear day.  However, some of us are not fond of cable cars, or funiculars, or heights so we didn’t go.  Really, after Santorini, how bad could it be??!!  Next time…I’m going up!

Back in our van and down the mountain to resume our guided tour of Barcelona.  Our next stop was Montjuic.  As Marta explained to us, some pretty amazing things are in that area, left over from the 1929 International Exposition (World Fair).  The Font Magica still does its light show every night and the Palau Nacional is still beautiful and imposing.  We stopped on the cliff overlooking the harbor for some breathtaking views of the harbor.

Learned about some cool trees that had been transplanted to Barcelona and how they adapted to their new, much drier, home.

Again…amazing artwork everywhere!!

And finally, caught a glimpse of where to catch our ride later on.

After this, we headed back to our apartment.  Tired and hot, but totally amazed at what we had seen.  While 8 hours is no where near enough time to see all that Barcelona has to offer, I felt like Barcelona Day Tours, and specifically Marta, had done a fantastic job.

Tomorrow we have a guided tour of the inside of Sagrada Familia as well as a Flamenco show!!  Stay tuned!!