July 12 - Day 3

We were both awake about 6 am but then fell back to sleep for a bit. Matt said he was awake a couple hours in the night but I slept quite well with only a little awake time. We got up and had an espresso in the room, provided by the AirBnB, showered, packed up and left our bags at reception. 

We headed out to explore downtown Barcelona. The streets were quiet on a Sunday morning and few shops are open yet. We walked over to Sagrada Familia and then on to Hospital de Sant Pau. The buildings are beautiful. We stopped for me to have a latte and Matt of course, bought nothing. I shared a little with him. This guy has such a need to never spend money. It is odd at times but I try and just let him be who he is. We continued to walk through the city, exploring and stopping at major landmarks. We saw the Torre Glories, the weirdest skyscraper, 38 stories tall and looks completely out of place in Barcelona. We also saw the Arc de Triomf, a beautiful brick arch built as the main access gate for the 1988 Barcelona World Fair. I’m getting so tired and need food! Matt never needs anything. We stopped and I got another latte and a yogurt with fruit. Matt got a coffee at least but nothing else. I shared again. Felt a bit better and we decided we better walk back, collect our luggage and head for the Port of Barcelona, where we will board the Holland America. We were going to get a taxi but decided to walk to the Cruise Bus Terminal. It was a couple of miles but the streets were mostly pretty smooth and walkable with suitcases and we had plenty of time. When we got to the Cruise Bus Terminal, we were very hot and tired. The line for the bus was very, very long and no buses in sight. Apparently, with five cruise ships setting out that day, there were 30,000 people trying to get to their boat. After asking some questions and trying to unsuccessfully get a taxi, Matt and I decided we better walk. It was another couple miles in the hot sun, pulling our suitcases. Matt’s suitcase has completely giving up rolling. Mine is doing ok but struggling some. It was not an easy walk but we did get there! Good thing we walked. The streets were gridlocked with traffic and taxis and buses could barely move. 

Finally checked in and on the boat! We headed up to the Lido deck and got a little something to eat and drink. Walked around and explored the boat some. It looks very similar to the boat we were on for the Alaska Cruise.

We rested a bit and enjoyed a very nice dinner in the dining room. Walked the promenade a bit after dinner. We settled in to bed a little after 10. We had done pretty well for a couple of jet lagged “older” people. We have about 27,000 steps on the day and many were not easy. Tomorrow, we are at sea.