I think these have covered all of the places we visited; this one wraps up our last day in Barcelona.
Keeping in mind that the place we stayed at when we first got here was OK, if somewhat Spartan, and that the staterooms on the ship were fine, if somewhat on the small-ish side, it’s easy to imagine how it felt when we pulled up to a nice, big, modern Hilton hotel. Yeah, it’s totally American and yeah, it’s outside what anyone would call part of a “real” European experience – but we don’t care. It’s NICE to have big room, with a king-sized bed, and all like that. And, yes, there is a Starbucks right across the street in a big American-style shopping mall!
We’re just sitting back a bit now, enjoying the room and watching the sun try to break through the morning fog. The hotel is a bit out of the downtown area, but there’s a subway station close at hand so I imagine we’ll head out after a bit and do one last afternoon of sightseeing. We’re also going to find a Chinese (or Asian of some variety) restaurant for dinner, keeping with a small tradition regarding last meals in Europe before heading home.
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Well, hi there. We’re back on dry land (and not just for a shore excursion) at last. Can’t figure out why the buildings all seem to be rocking back and forth, but it’s good to be within easy walking distance of a Starbucks again.
The departure process was remarkable easy. We packed and put our bags out for pick up last night, as part of the normal “getting ready to leave” routine. Up this morning at 6:30, but only because we wanted to have a light breakfast before we left the ship. A short wait in a small dining room with coffee and pastries, then we were given the “leave when you’re ready” signal. It was very well organized, and we just walked off the boat and into the luggage claim area. Our bags came around on the carousel in less than 5 minutes, then it was just a short walk to the taxi line: no customs or immigration procedures at all. The biggest delay in the process was waiting for a taxi that took credit cards (we’d been told that “almost all” the cabs did so, and had no problems with that when we first got here). For whatever reason, the policeman that was coordinating traffic couldn’t find us one until after 10 cabs or so shook him off. Oh, bother. In any event, we finally found a 21st century cab and took off for the hotel.
The departure process was remarkable easy. We packed and put our bags out for pick up last night, as part of the normal “getting ready to leave” routine. Up this morning at 6:30, but only because we wanted to have a light breakfast before we left the ship. A short wait in a small dining room with coffee and pastries, then we were given the “leave when you’re ready” signal. It was very well organized, and we just walked off the boat and into the luggage claim area. Our bags came around on the carousel in less than 5 minutes, then it was just a short walk to the taxi line: no customs or immigration procedures at all. The biggest delay in the process was waiting for a taxi that took credit cards (we’d been told that “almost all” the cabs did so, and had no problems with that when we first got here). For whatever reason, the policeman that was coordinating traffic couldn’t find us one until after 10 cabs or so shook him off. Oh, bother. In any event, we finally found a 21st century cab and took off for the hotel.
Keeping in mind that the place we stayed at when we first got here was OK, if somewhat Spartan, and that the staterooms on the ship were fine, if somewhat on the small-ish side, it’s easy to imagine how it felt when we pulled up to a nice, big, modern Hilton hotel. Yeah, it’s totally American and yeah, it’s outside what anyone would call part of a “real” European experience – but we don’t care. It’s NICE to have big room, with a king-sized bed, and all like that. And, yes, there is a Starbucks right across the street in a big American-style shopping mall!
We’re just sitting back a bit now, enjoying the room and watching the sun try to break through the morning fog. The hotel is a bit out of the downtown area, but there’s a subway station close at hand so I imagine we’ll head out after a bit and do one last afternoon of sightseeing. We’re also going to find a Chinese (or Asian of some variety) restaurant for dinner, keeping with a small tradition regarding last meals in Europe before heading home.
We head for the airport bright and early tomorrow for a 9-something flight to Frankfurt, and then the airplane ordeal begins. The weather reports look pretty good now all the way through Calgary and into San Francisco, but we’re ready for whatever happens: an extra set of clean undies in our carry on bags, along with other essentials, and no pressing business needs to get back since all of our clients are occupied with the holidays.
(Meg's addendum: We saw quite a bit of Barcelona on this last day, doing a lot of walking and a liberal use of the easy, efficient, and clean Metro system. Oh, and we didn't find a Chinese restaurant for our last European dinner. A number of people told us where one or two were, but they couldn't/wouldn't recommend any. Guess it's not an ethnic food the Spaniards like to eat. The photo of the McDonald's breakfast was acknowledgement of our transition back home - that, and Mickey D's was the only place we could find that served protein with/for breakfast... all the 'normal' Spanish-style breakfasts that were being sold in the airport were just pastries!)
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