Vacation Paradise - Barcelona Day 3

Hola!

Barcelona Day 3 July 27, 2013

It's the end of Day 3 and I'm tired. I stayed up late last night working on both blog posts and went to sleep around 4am and was awake by 7am..then fell back to sleep. Breakfast at the hotel this morning very late (after we all woke up late).. Right before the buffet ended at 11am.

We went back to the room to change.. Only for me to fall asleep... Till 3pm..and it's not like they do siestas here..we finally got it together and took our scheduled bus hop on/off tour around the northern and western parts of Barcelona.

I'm so annoyed I can't get my pics up so ill be reporting again later with pics added.. In the meantime enjoy my narrative ..

The tour was fantastic! I took so many great pics that i'll load to my FB and IG pages for now ..hopefully I can get them in the blog soon. If you've never taken a double decker tour and sat up top - I suggest you do. It's a great way to see a city and hop on and off wherever you want. The cost was 24 euros ... There are several lines red , blue , orange and they all run through various parts of the city. I was never of fan of them at home and they seem so corny while you sit and everyone else in the street waives .. Or in the case of them passing in Brooklyn folks just ignore them. Lol But now I can appreciate the tour bus and its function.

Barcelona has both old and new cities and the architecture is simply amazing. I am in love with this city! We saw the Olympic Stadium, the Olympic village there is a World Trade Center here as well, the seafront, various villages such as Gracia, Sants-Montjuic,and the highlight for me was Segrada Familia . For those that don't know, I'm a history buff and this Basilica sits unfinished by Antoni Gaudi. It is the oldest it Spain. It's amazing to see that after a century the work is still being completed and donations are actually how the work progresses on this masterpiece!

We hopped on the red line and switched to blue and the churches, beaches, homes, were simply breathtaking. After ending our tour in Las Ramblas we decided to eat there and found a nice restaurant where I made friends with the local waiter.. Seems Roberto was smitten.. LOL

I finally had my gelato and it was pure heaven. The food in Barcelona is fantastic!

Some things I learned today.."cerrado" doesn't mean close in Catalan. As the story goes, Barcelona is the capital city of Catalunya or Catalonia , and has its own language, customs, culture and history. Hence at some point bestie, my sis and I have said a word or phrase that they look at us and go "huh" ? LOL You live and learn .

Did I mention that water isn't free here? We spent a pretty penny and you would think the water here is like in Mexico in that you can't drink it. Not so - some of the best filtration systems in the world are here in Barcelona yet there is no tap water brought out in restaurants.

Can be talk about the number of ice cubes you get in a drink? The standard number must be 2 'cause that's all we ever get. What's amazing is it takes forever to melt.. Who knows why ....of course it could simply be to lesson the water down effect of your drinks.. Which are oh so strong.. :)

And then there are the napkins, paper towels..We don't see them much. Perhaps it's our hotel..I think then are extremely green here .

I've eaten more great seafood here than ever. A word of caution some of to seafood looks different probably because the waters of the Mediterranean have different species. But I've have clams , mussels, lobster , shrimp, calamari, sardines, and anchovies all in some type of prepared food.

Oh I forgot to mention in search of "el bano" which in one lace was simply "aseos toilettes" we wound up in the department store "El Corte Ingles" which is our version on Macy's. It has many designer brands and was definitely the place for shopping . Too bad the value of the dollar isn't making me want to send money.

To end the night we found a great gelato spot and enjoyed Las Ramblas in the evening before heading back to our hotel.

Tomorrow Day 4 begins the second part of my dream vacation boarding Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas. Not sure about wi-if connectivity on the ship and it's typically not free and service is often spotty. Will try and keep up .. First stop in 2 days is Toulon France where we will embark on the Best of Toulon excursion!

I will miss Barcelona but it's on to new things and I'll be back here in a week!

Here's to hoping you are enjoying my story as much as I am ! Till the next port!

Ciao !

Vacation Paradise -Barcelona Day 2

Hola!

It's the end of Day 2 and we spent the day at the famed Las Ramblas. We realize today that our hotel while fab is not where we thought it was .. Perhaps it's closer to the cruise terminal... Did I mention this dream vacation includes a week in the Mediterranean ? Anywho , today was taxi's , euros and shopping . I'm a trooper but our first trip to the bank, my sister and my bestie are able to get cash out the ATM ... But I am not .. I called Citibank befor I left home advised I'd be traveling .. Thank goodness my crew came through for me. I was able exchange my cash later on during the day.



Will call Citibank to find out what the issue is. We spent the day in and out of stores .. Picked up some items and just looked like tourists taking pictures all along Las Ramblas . Yes this is the land of pick pockets .. And everyone was holding their bags tight. Scams are everywhere .. Living in NY. Brooklyn .. Makes one especially cautious anyway.

We stopped and had Tapas .. A must for anyone traveling to Barcelona ..and skipped the beer .. Partly because I really didn't want to ask " pro Favor , donde esta el bano?" We met a couple from wales yesterdwy , who we again ran into today , and a mother and daughter from Austriala and enjoyed the brief chatting that ensued at Starbucks. Of all things they like Oprah so we had a whole conversation about that. Made new twitter friends :) Of course you know I'd find the Starbucks!

Some things I noticed while here.. This is the land of bread and meat.. Lots of pig.. Swine.. Call it what you want but here they call it Jamon. I've had enough if it already. As for the bread.. The Mediterranean custom is olive oil with bread. So you'll find no butter here. I also notice they don't put ketchup out - you must ask for it. Funny the things we take for granted in the states . Bread and water cost here. You must ask before they put in on the table as they do charge for it. Castilian Spanish is not what we speak in ethic neighborhoods back in NYC.. This is a unique dialect sounds like a little French mixed in ..and the taxi driver looked at me crazy when I said the word "mucho." LOL


After a day spent out, we come back to the hotel make our phone calls to the states .. (We are 6 hours ahead of EST and its 2:48am but I'm wide awake) and head to the pool bar which has the most awesome view! Still trying to load pictures from my iPad ...

I also notice there are no duplicate receipts so you have a copy from the hotel so after asking for a copy today, and checking the current bill totals, why was my bill 60,000 euros??? WTH?? I was ready for bed 2 hours ago, but after
Taking my concerns to the font desk, the issue has been resolved and the charges removed. Thankfully. Funny one of the front staff looked scared when we came to question the bill .. Wondering why that is??? Hmmm..

I'm tired ... Tomorrow (or later today as I am behind in writing this) is another day.. Still in Barcelona.

The plan right now is to take a city bus hop on/off tour. Keep reading...


Ciao!

Vacation Paradise: Barcelona! Day 1

Hola !

I'm deviating from my spa updates because one of my other passions is traveling and I've got the opportunity to
take of my dream vacations and check it off my bucket list! I haven't been inspired to write but, I think I've found it again! Pampering is whatever makes you feel reinvigorated and whole. However you accomplish that - it's very personal . Here's my day-to-day updates of some of my favorite places : Spain, Italy , and France! I'm trying to get the pictures posted but having some issues - as soon as I Can add them I will. For now ..Enjoy!

Day 1 July 25, 2013

There's nothing like a vacation to rejuvenate your soul! I'll be blogging about my excursions for the next 2.5 weeks as long as I can stay connected! After a very long but uneventful Flight we left NYC at 5:30pm ..we arrive in Barcelona at 7:15am to a beautiful sunny day that was much cooler than NYC has been lately.. Our driver Marc was promptly there to greet us..yes this was extra but I had no desire to wait and deal with taxis so early in the morning.

We have yet to get Euros .. Nothing like the US dollar ..We arrived at the hotel at 8am and kudos to the
Staff for checking us in ! Once inside the stark white rooms we went straight to breakfast in the hotel. Trying
to add the pics but having difficulty at the moment. Will try again later.

After breakfast , jet lag and full stomachs took over and we went back to our rooms. My intent was to
put on my bathing suit and head to the pool to relax. I never made it . Passed out across the bed and woke up
In time to finally make it pool side... And relax with Sangeria .. Boy did we relax….

Some pics of our hotel and room ….

Several rounds of Sangeria later, (read..way too much..) we went to dinner at the hotel.. Partly because we were still exhausted. All in all, the first day is done and relaxation has begun!