Barthelona, Barthelona, Barthelona

With only the day to spend in Barthelona, we made our way quickly from the ship to the hotel.  Thankfully it had quit raining and careful planning along with Expedia enabled us to find a reasonably prithed hotel within easy walking distance to the port and next door to the exthellent metro system that services Barthelona.

The Spanish Lisp

If you are not a language teacher then you may want to jump ahead a few paragraphs and avoid putting yourself to sleep. The “Spanish Lisp” is the Canadian equivalent of Newfie patois.  

The legend of the “Lisp” goes back to the reign of the Castilian King Ferdinand who it is said; spoke with a lisp and when was heard by others and as he was king, his pronunciation must be perfect, they copied it. Sounds believable, but alas, just another urban legend. As pronunciation varies between English speaking countries and even provinces so do variations exist between Spain and other Spanish speaking countries.  In some areas of Spain, people pronounce the letter “z” the same as English speakers pronounce the soft sound of “th”.  While in other areas of Spain, the letters “s” or “c” are pronounced with the soft “th” sound. Not a lisp but a geographic variation.

Grathias for your patience, you may wake up and resume regularly scheduled reading.

 

First on our “to do” was to head to the train station and pick up tickets for our outward bound trip to Fuengirola.  Mission accomplished, we had the rest of the day to explore.

 

 

As they always say “Any fort in a storm” and no city is really complete without a fort. Barcelona did not disappoint although its fort was not as flashy as some we have seen. 

 

 

 

 

 

It had cannons and really, isn’t that what a fort is all about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Besides cannons, the fort came with magnificent views of Barcelona.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and its uber-famous architecture.

 

 

 

Barcelona is home to the revered 19^th century architect Antoni Gaudi and is littered with his buildings which even at today’s standards, are of seemingly modern design. The Sagrada Familia and the Casa Batllo are two of his most iconic designs. I do not believe that LSD had been invented yet but I get a definite 70’s flashback from his architecture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our day was spent wandering around and wondering at the marvelous architecture that spanned 1700 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Legend has it, that Barcelona has been inhabited since 300 BC, first by the Romans, who called it Barcin. 

 

 

 

Traces of Roman architecture still exist in the city.

At the left is an early Roman wall. 

 

Tomorrow it is onward to our home for the next month, Fuengirola, (pronounced Fwenheerola) Andalusia, Spain.   

Can Self Indulgence be a Bad Thing?

We woke up on day 16 to heavy black clouds and rain pissing down. It seemed like an appropriate kind of day to end our cruise experience.

Barcelona is the last stop on our Trans-Atlantic journey and we have only a short time for one more breakfast before they eject us off this boat and back into reality.

 

Not sure pampered has a strong enough definition to describe the care and attention that we received:

1.       to lavish attention on somebody, indulging his or her taste for luxury
2.       to indulge or gratify a desire or need

If I could capture the entire cruise in one word, it would be “consumption”. Everything about the cruise was geared toward our consumption of: food, drink..........

 

 

 

 

 

money, time and most of all, our energy.  Cruising is hard work and not for the faint of heart.  Our thoughts at the beginning of the trip were that we would leave the ship well rested and ready to tackle our next adventure. 

 

 

Not so, everyday was filled, with very little time to relax.

 

  

 

 

 

 We were constantly bombarded with and enticed into trying everything the ship had to offer.  

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

We filled our plates every day, figuratively and literally.

 

 

 

 

 

We had vowed to eat moderately and healthily and I was successful for the first few days. But like Adam in the Garden of Eden, I succumbed to the temptations that were laid out before me each day, doubling down on deserts and at least once, on a main course.

  

 

Seduced not by Eve,  but Mr. Priyu, our hospitable table steward, who had a way of making you feel okay with yourself while you slurped down a third dessert.  

 

 

The ship has 15 stories so we vowed not to ride any elevators.  We met this goal but I am not sure it was actually a good one.   All those stairs became my excuse to over indulge.  The idea only works if it is calorie” in”, calorie “out”. Calorie “in” won out as I think I gained a few. My running tights seem a little tighter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So it was with mixed feelings we left our womb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And were reborn into the beautiful city of Barcelona and the start of another adventure.

 

 Stay tuned.

Rule Britania

 



There are only eight countries that still have colonies, with a total of 61 colonies shared between them.   The top three are France with 16, Britain with 15 and the USA with 14. The British colonies are no longer called Crown Colonies.  Since the British Overseas Territories Act of 2002; they are now known as British Overseas Territories, hence the name of the act.

 

 Gibraltar, a three hundred year old British Crown Colony was the fifth stop on our Trans-Atlantic cruise experience.

 

 

 

 

 

To quote Wikipedia, “An Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from the Kingdom of Castile in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession on behalf of the Habsburg pretender to the Spanish throne. The territory was subsequently ceded to Britain “in perpetuity” under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713” and continues to this day.

As a British Overseas Territory, the inhabitants of Gibraltar govern their own affairs except for defense and foreign affairs and have rejected any notion of becoming part of Spain. This state of affairs has been a bone of contention in Anglo-Spanish relations for the last 300 years and probably for the next 300.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gibraltar is 6.8 square kilometres in size. It shares a 1.2 kilometre land border with Spain. This land border also doubles as the runway for Gibraltar International Airport.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived around noon with a clear day and were rewarded with a nice unobstructed look at the “Rock”. 

 

 

The “Rock” as it is affectionately known reaches a height of 426 metres.

 

 

Tourism is a huge part of the Rocks economy along with finance and internet gaming.  Of course, British tourists make up a large part of visitors coming to the Rock. To be frank, if Gibraltar were part of Spain, their limited attractions would pale next to the many attractions available in Spain.  Cute monkey pictures are a dime a dozen. Although this one of a Barbary  Monkey is sooooooo cute. 

 

  

 

And Nonie has been ignored by better monkeys than this. But isn't he/she sooooo cute. These particular monkeys have been around for a few million years and roamed much of Southern Europe but are only found in Gibraltar now.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

St. Michaels Cave. Hohum. Nice acoustics but a little damp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Much of Gibraltar’s history is military and late in the 18^th century work begin on siege tunnels that now honeycomb the Rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tunnels were extended and enlarged during World War II. The deep tunnels could protect the cannon from any enemy fire. Highly doubtful they would stand up to todays fire power.

 

 

 

 

 

The cannons provided protection to the surrounding areas allowing the British uninterrupted use of the port for the last three hundred years.

  

 

 

 

  

The siege tunnels now provide protection to the airport located at the north end of the Rock. The access road from Spain crosses the runway and must be shut down several times a day to accommodate arriving and departing flights. 

 

 

 

The day ended with a pint in one of the dozens of English style pubs, watching Man U defeat Arsenal and embracing the free Wi-Fi. It was really a wonderful stop and as we are only an hour away in Spain, I suspect we may be back with a sister.

 

 

 

 

 

One more day at sea before our cruise ends in Barthelona, Barthelona, Barthelona. Lots of hill work today so I may double down on deserts tonight.

Putting the Port in Portugal

 

 

 

Lisbon was the fourth stop on our trans-Atlantic journey and armed with an i-pod loaded with history of the city, we journey out into it.  

 

 

 

 

Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, has been continuously inhabited since 1500 BC and remarkably, it has aged well, retaining much of her good looks.  

 

 

 

 

 

It is a small city given its long history, populated with quaint little white washed buildings.

 

 

 

 

 

All topped with brilliant red tiled roofs that glisten in the sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisbon was built on seven hills and has developed a rapid transit system that accommodates them. With three funiculars and one elevator, we managed to avoid climbing most of the seven.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Sunny little plaza’s are found around every corner, each one a little different and exquisite in their own way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, every city needs a fortress and the Castle de Sao Jorge (pronounced Horgay) did not disappoint. 

 

 

 

And of course every fortress needs cannon and again we were not disappointed.  Boys and their toys!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like champagne, port can only be called port if it comes from the Douro region of Portugal. So, sipping a glass of port after a long day in Lisbon seemed an appropriate way to end the day.  Port is created by adding grape spirits to the fermenting grapes. This acts to stop the fermentation process leaving the wine sweeter and boosting its nip lumbing qualities. 

 

It was time to head back to the ship and my first official siesta. My expectations were that it would feel much like my traditional Penticton nap and just as refreshing.

Well, as they say, “When in Portugal, do as the Portuguese do.”

Adeus meus amigos. Até nos encontrarmos novamente.