A very early start, with room service at 6.30 and straight down to the gangway. Well the best laid plans can sometimes go wrong - and today is one of those. Here we were sitting in the lounge waiting for the ship's clearance, but this did not come and time went by. By 7.45 we were contemplating that we'd done our dough on our pre-paid excursion and that we wouldn't be going anywhere.
7.50 and the announcement is made, so we are off like a couple of greyhounds. First off the ship, down the skybridge, through the terminal and to the taxi rank in 2 minutes flat. Despite Hutch's "advice", it only took 10 minutes and €25 to reach Explore Catalunya, which is beside the Music theatre of Barcelona (pretty well the middle of town). We found the place easily as there were over a hundred people milling around. The company organises over a dozen different excursions per day!
Check-in was a breeze and we are a group of 14 in a new 19 seater mini-van. Our guide had been to NZ and cycled Auckland to Queenstown 10 years ago. Our group comprised two Canadians, a couple from Egypt and the rest were American. The scenery once we were out of the city reminded me very much of English countryside, particularly as hay-making was in full swing. About an hour out of Barcelona we had our first stop at the historic town of Vic where once again there was a new part and an old part. Of course we visited the old part.
A couple of historic (yes very old) churches, one dating back to the early Romans and the other a more modern one which had been partially destroyed a number of times, more recently during the Spanish revolution. It is still a great building and even now some of the pillars remain smoke & fire damaged. Talking of revolutions, the further north we go in Catalonia, the greater the separatist movement. Vic and other towns are covered in the independence flag and yellow ribbons to commemorate the elected officials jailed or in exile. Our guide was clearly a pro-Catalonia independence advocate.
The good thing about this trip is that we have plenty of time to do our own thing (not too much though), so we found a great cafe on the far side of the village square and had coffee and magnificent ham & cheese brioche for just under €10. The locals have maintained the original village square and the Saturday market is apparently a highlight. The square itself is clay/sand based and imagine our surprise as we sat drinking coffee when a water truck arrives and roars around & around the square spraying water over the ground (& any cars silly enough to be there).
After Vic it was onwards to the Pyrenees for another hour and we climbed some 3,000 feet to Queralbs, a town of just a few hundred. This was then end of the road, so we caught the cog railway up to Nuria, which is a ski resort at 7,500 ft. Apparently it is just an easy 3 hour hike up the the summit to reach France. No, we didn't do that, but we were high enough to feel the chill in the air (there was still a little snow in the valley up a bit). The pass we travelled alongside has been used as an escape route from France to Spain by many over the years, including Jewish refugees and Allied pilots during WW2.
Looking towards Pyrenees
That's France below the cloud
Note the snow upper left
Down the valley
The resort
Downwards
The walking path
There was also a gondola to go up a little higher and this afforded spectacular views over the valley we'd travelled up. When we were in Vic, our guide was keen for us to buy food for lunch as food at Nuria was "very expensive". As mentioned, Nuria is a ski resort, with only the hotel for food of any sort and as we are currently in the off season, the cafe was not open. Ah ha, but the bar was and we were able to get a fresh sandwich and a couple of beers for less than we'd paid for in Vic- although the sandwich was not quite the same quality, but nice.
After lunch our 2 hour visit to Nuria was over and it was time for our downward journey. Only 2 trains go down - at 3.30 & 5.30. The latter is far too late for our group, so 3.30 it is. Forgot to mention that although it is the off season and the service is generally for local hotel workers, there was another large group going up when we did and some passengers had to stand. So going home it looked like the same issue may arise, but no, our guide had organised for an additional train, so we basically had a whole train to ourselves.
Back down in Queralbs, we walked from the train station up to the little town, which comprises traditional buildings dating back to the 15th century. It really felt like an historic town that hadn't changed (apart from the TV areials & garages!) and I tried to imagine what it would be like in the middle of winter. Our guide was able to get hold of the key to the little chapel and we viewed inside - unfortunately "strangers" tagged along too and the guide had a bit of a problem in ushering them out so he could lock up.
Last train going back up!
Back down to the station car park and into our van for the 2 hour trip back to Barcelona. By the time we got to the outskirts of town the traffic was really becoming congested, but use of the bus lane helped and we were dropped off back in the centre of Barcelona just after 7.00. Fortunately the drop-off was right beside the taxi rank, so we hopped in straight away, and off through the gridlocked traffic. But it was only 15 minutes back to the ship and this time the fare was just €10.60. Open seating for dinner and so we had a "quickie" meal and back to the cabin well before 9.30 and S L E E P. It has been a great (albeit long) day.
Port in the evening sun
Day 50 - 20 July - Barcelona
Late up, late to breakfast, do nothing all morning, sailaway at 2.00pm. That pretty well sums up the day 😁. We were flying our NZ flag this morning (to compete with the 2 Australian flags in adjacent cabins). It seems that we 3 are the only patriotic ones - we went to Machu Picchu in 2015 with the Darwin couple 2 doors down. Although we did not participate, I understand that there was almost a riot at the duty free in the terminal because security screening was done at the entrance to the terminal building and nothing on the ship. Apparently they even ran out of beer at one stage!
Day 51 - 21 July - at sea
Nothing of note to comment on apart from passing through the Gibraltar Strait around 4.00pm. Unfortunately it was a similar experience to the last time with the views hindered by mist or sea fog and the usual dust from the Moroccan side. There were certainly lots of ships about and the sea has turned a bit bumpy and it is quite cold. Ah well, that was the end of the Mediterran and we are now in the Atlantic, so who knows what weather we will experience here over the next few weeks?
Gibraltar as we sail past
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