April 30 - Barcelona and Starting our Mediterranean Cruie

Today was actually a bit more relaxing. After enjoying a somewhat later breakfast and checking out of our hotel, we were taken to Barcelona's most famous boulevard in the heart of the Old City, La Rambla. 

One View of Placa de Catalunya.

This is a colorful and very busy pedestrian-only and eclectic boulevard with many flower vendors, cafes, tourist shops, the opera house, and one of Barcelona's most famous markets, La Boqueria. We started at beautiful Placa de Catalunya. This plaza is considered the center of Barcelona, has many fountains and statues and is ringed by wonderful Art Deco buildings.  

A View down La Rambla from the Top

Fountain of Canaletes

It was from here that we began our walk, at the top of the Boulevard. We very quickly came to the century-old Fountain of Camaletes. It is said that if you drink the water from this fountain, you will come back to Barcelona one day. I hope this is true for me.






About half way down, after passing many flower stands and tourist kiosks, we reached the famous La Boqueria. We had some time to explore before getting back together to go to a viewpoint over the city and then to board our cruise ship, the Norwegian Epic. 

A Look Down La Rambla. 

Our Group Entering La Boqueria Market. 

You Can Buy a Whole Leg of Jamon Iberica For Only...250 Euros!

Wonderful Seafood

What Beautiful Berries!

Five Beautiful Ladies: Janice Garcia, Ann Christman,
MaryAnn Meeker, Peg Roach and Trudi Taylor

We all enjoyed seeing the wonderful produce and buying some overpriced candy. But it was soon time  to get back together with Maria on the bus and head to Montjuic, a large hill overlooking the city. We enjoyed seeing Barcelona from a different perspective, were able to take a nice group picture, and said good-bye to Maria, who would be leaving us as soon as we arrive at the port.

Our Group on Montjuic Hill, Overlooking Barcelona.

It was now time to head to the port to board the Norwegian Epic for a 3-night Mediterranean cruise to begin the next chapter of our wonderful pilgrimage....and hopefully a bit of time for R&R.

Eileen and Randy Scholl Looking Forward to Our Cruise

A Few of Our Ladies Getting Some Special Treatment
(Looks Like I Surprised Trudi!) 

Our first order of business after locating our rooms and luggage was to head  to Mass - at the Fat Cats Jazz and Blues Lounge! Quite a change from our previous more spiritual locations, but it ended up being quite satisfactory. We were glad to see that two other passengers joined us and told us how happy they were that a priest was now on board.

 

Father Paul Wicker with Frank Conte and
Helen Bagnate Before Mass

Suzanne Bauzys Doing the Reading

After Mass, we had a few minutes for reflection and then dinner. Les and I went to the main dining room and joined several others from our group. We were very impressed with the quality of the food - I had an excellent steak. Then a short time for exploring the ship and bed. 
Tomorrow we will be on the island of Mallorca and some of us will be going on a walking tour of Palma.