May 5, 2013 - Today I want to focus on our two days in Barcelona, Spain though Prinsendam is docked in Cadiz. The monetary concerns are barely seen in Barcelona as construction carries on and stores are full of people. Visitors continue to pour into this city and buy beautiful leather and porcelain items. Lots of work is being done on restoring many old churches and museums. The first day there I needed to take a tour of the city. The tour started by taking us to Vilana Hill which held many venues for the 1992 Olympics. A funicular runs up the hill to the Collserola Tower which was designed by an English architect named Norman Foster. The tower is the tallest in the city at 1,000 feet and allows a view on a clear day of the Pyrennees Mountains which make a natural boundary between Spain and France. There are 70 museums, 3 universities and 16 parks serving 3 million people who call Barcelona and the surrounding area their home. Interestingly Barcelona has an el bicing network which is seen along main streets. It maintains 100 bicycle stations throughout the metropolitan area. Rental is free for the first 30 minutes and then a few euros per hour after that with a small registration fee. We saw many Hop On and Hop Off buses around the town and one route stopped right outside the port terminal. Barcelona is probably the most avant garde city in the world. The vibrant, colorful districts draw all kinds of artisans to it. Some famous artists are Picasso, Milo, Dali, and Casals but the favorite of the residents is Antonio Gaudi. Not knowing a lot about hiI found many of his projects almost overdone. Casa Mila was Gaudi's home but his obsession was the Holy Family Cathedral. Gaudi did not plan for it to be a church when it started construction in 1882. He designed it and knew all the intricacies of the plan while no one else knew exactly what it was to look like in the end. Well in 1926 he was hit by a bus and died so construction came to a halt. It wasn't until the 1980s that the plans were found among his posessions. Today the inside of the church is finished with stone, iron and ceramics allowing the natural light from above to reflect. The entrance fee is 14.8 euros and up to 25,000 people per day have passed through it. Outside it has 12 spires representing the 12 apostles and then there are 4 smaller ones representing the 4 gospels. The fee is used on the construction and the maintanence of the church. Two years ago bull fighting was outlawed by Barcelona so the arena is now used as a large shopping area with restaurants and coffee bars. Another famous store in Barcelona is Stella McCartney clothing store whose highend stores are found all over Europe. Navarios Flower Shop opened in 1937 and has never been closed. It is open 24 hours 365/366 days a year and is in the old section of town. Barcelona is a vibrant and colorful town with great restaurants and the Catalunyan culture. You can almost see the people as they dance down the street. Barcelonian women seem to be very classy dressers when leaving home. Barcelona gets about 3.8 million visitors a year. Barcelona has its nature that is beautiful with sub tropical plants. We saw dolphins and a brides whale and migrating birds that hitch rides on cruise and cargo ships across the Mediterranean. No rain and what nice temperature we had.
Cadiz is located on the southwest coast of Spain on the Atlantic Ocean. It is so much smaller than Barcelona but very beautiful. The area was first known to be inhabited in 1100 BC. It was a trade and commercial port for north south ships. In 1596 Francis Drake totally destroyed the city and those that escaped wondered if they should return or not. They did and built a wall around the new city in 1598. The city stayed within the walls until the 1960s when development came in the form of new hotel complexes. Today one can see the colonial influence on the city. Cadiz has 40% unemployment compared to the federal amount of 26-27%. There are 180,000 residents and another 20,000 in the surrounding area. Our guide spoke a lot about how the EU has affected their lives. Her husband was laid off from a metal working job and got hired as a bus driver and today was to be his last day doing that. I felt for her and her husband. The city has a number of unfinished projects due to the downturn in the economy. There are buildings left unfinished and a bridge is partway erected. One happy thing she said was that the mayor is a very strong, opinionated woman who has no problem with telling it like it is. You graffiti a building and you are up at 6 am on a weekend cleaning. There are no graffitti pictures on any building. The beaches are cleaned daily in winter and twice daily in the summer. The streets are cleaned nightly with a wash. It is Sunday today and I saon herbs and combinations and what they do for you..w no less than a dozen people sweeping sidewalks and gutters and picking up litter on the beach. We took a tour of Cadiz and continued to Jerez where we visited a sherry making establishment. Years ago the property had been a religious establishment and some of the rooms are still intact but additions have been added to create the sherry plant. I have been impressed with the Spanish and their concern for the environment and the pride they take in looking after their city and making visitors welcome. Mez spent the day in Seville and saw Our Lady of the Holy See. He spoke of the elaborate angels and an old robe of some king which hung in the entrance of the church. The brocade design on this 1000 year old robe was impressive. Many of the buildings here in Spain have structures that mix Gothic, Moorish and Baroque art and for those who are well-versed in architectural design one can almost see the eras that they were built. Jerez is home to the Andalusian horse fair which is due to open tomorrow and so we drove by the area where the fair takes place.
May 6 and 7 have been days at sea and though they give us some relaxing time there is always activities to keep you busy. We have just started a program Dancing With the Stars at Sea and today was a foxtrot competition. It was fun to watch. We have also had very interesting speakers. Danny Catt from BCIT has been on board teaching us about photography and how to use our cameras and take interesting pictures. He also gave a lecture on whales and dolphins. Peter Watson is a retired professor from Carlton University and was in the Department of Physics. He continues to teach and do research and is giving us a group of lectures on astronomy. He is doing a historical synopsis of astronomy through the ages. There are health seminars that I have attended- one on herbs and their affect on the body. Jane A Gorden is on board teaching pearl stringing and I have been having fun watching fellow passengers design necklaces with pearls and beads. One couple had bought a necklace for 6 dollars in Morroco and decided to restring it by adding pearls making it astoundingly gorgeous. It was fun to watch them redo it and make it their own. Then there was the night of karaoke and I actually have a fan base here on ship, not a lot but what fun we all had. The casino is a big item for some but I just walk through and watch. One movie is shown 3 times per day in the theater and then the following day on the TV. Then I decided to see what Skydrive can do as there is no compatability issue with it. It was given in the Microsoft workshop. Tomorrow we will be in Ponta Delgada in the Azores. Currently we have plans to dock at 8 AM and we will leave tomorrow night at just before midnight. Cruising is an adventure and we have a ship mechanical problem that hopefully will be fixed by tomorrow night but our midnight departure will allow us to see more of Sao Migual which is the largest of the nine islands of the Azores. I will be heading up to see Sete Cidades Crater Lake in the morning and if time allows I will head off on my own in the afternoon. After Ponta Delgada our plans carry us to Horta, Portugal and after a few days to Bermuda. I will probably send my last post of the last three ports when I arrive in Fort Lauderdale on May 17.
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