Barcelona

2009 Hutzley Family Vacation

Our Two week Journey and 12-day NCL Cruise Mediterranean Cruise to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa

Barcelona, Spain
We walked all around the city and took a bus tour.
We arrived at the airport in Barcelona after traveling on Turkish Airlines through Istanbul. In Istanbul we had gotten an airport hotel because we had a long layover of about 7 hours. The Airport in Istanbul was fine and we took turns taking naps and entertaining Daniel. Daniel liked riding the elevator just outside the airport hotel and he got both Mom and Dad to buy him an ice cream cone.

Our flight into Barcelona arrived in the evening around 5pm. We got a taxi and traveled to our Hotel. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Barcelona. The hotel check-in was a floor up off the main street and we had to juggle our suitcases to get up to the check-in desk. The hotel was fine. The front desk gave us information about the city and a map as well as telling us about a bus tour of the city which we ended up taking over the next couple of days. A block from the hotel was a charming boulevard. It was a wide brick sidewalk that ran the length of the street down to the park near the ocean. It had a lot of local shops, banks, a grocery market, pharmacies, and many other interesting stores. We bought some clothes for Daniel there. There were families out during the day and evening and we really enjoyed the atmosphere. It was very European. At the markets people brought a small trolley cart to put their groceries in. They did not use plastic bags very much although they were available at the checkout, most people just walked to the grocery store. We found a nice restaurant the first night near the hotel among the various shops. Then we also got some ice cream at another nearby store. It was a very nice evening.

The next day we had breakfast at the hotel. They had ham which we ate as this is not in Kuwait. The fresh croissants were a standout. They were very good. After eating we walked from our hotel to the nearest stop of the bus tour. We walked down the street past the park near the sea and then got on the bus. We stopped near the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona and walked through the narrow medieval streets. We walked inside a couple of very large and old cathedrals. We got on the bus again and rode the bus to a main plaza in the city and lunch at the Hard Rock Café in Barcelona which was in the plaza. Then we walked down Las Rambles’ which is probably the most famous street in Barcelona. It is a very wide street running through the heart of the city. It is full of street performers, flower vendors, artists, little tourist shops, pet stores. It also passes by the fruit and vegetable market of the city and ends near the port that has a large statue of Columbus.

We walked past the port buildings and then got on the bus and traveled back to the hotel. We went out that night for Pizza as Danny wanted that and Rachel was worn out from the day. Then we crashed at the hotel for the night. The next day we walked back to the bus tour stop. It was a bit colder the second day but it was still pleasant. Daniel wore a new jacket we had bought the day before. This day we rode the bus around the city and saw much of the architecture of the city, which is pretty amazing. The highlight of the tour was the Sangria Familia a large Cathedral of Gaudi’s. Gaudi was a famous planner and architect who left a big stamp on the city. We ended the day with another stroll down Las Rambles’ and then rushed to get a taxi back to the hotel to collect our luggage and get onto the Norwegian Jade cruise ship. The embarkation process on the ship was smooth and we got on with less than an hour left until all aboard. It worked out well as there we virtually no lines at that point and we got right onto the boat.

The first night on the boat we had to complete the mandatory muster station / life jacket drill. Rachel took some pictures of this as she needed some for her photography class. We then had dinner on the boat and by the time we got back to our room we could start unpacking our suitcases.