DAY 111 - DAY 105 CRYSTAL SERENITY

WELCOME TO BARCELONA

Last evening we enjoyed a pre-dinner  drink at  the Crystal Plaza.  The attire was Black Tie  (BTO) Optional.  

The Crystal  Plaza and Crystal Cove were both busy  between guests having a drink and listening to the Yamaha Piano Instructor perform and guests who will be disembarking in the next few days stopping by to speak with the Concierge and/or front desk personnel about final on-board details.

The regular dinner menus from  Waterside.

We enjoyed  dinner at  Waterside and it featured a special menu as the World Cruise is shortly coming to a close.  We were joined by Cruise Director Rick.

Keith had Caviar for his appetizer  and it was served with traditional condiments along with Melba Toast and Buckwheat Blinis while Anne Marie  enjoyed soup.  We  enjoyed salad for our next course.  

There were seven entrees to choose from including Charteaubriand, Coq Au Vin and Poached Canadian Lobster Tail.  We both went with the Lobster Tail.

We  also enjoyed poured by Sommelier Donovan.  

The evening entertainment featured two performances by the amazing Maestro Hector Olivera.  Hector has been playing  the organ starting at a very young age and we are very fortunate to have someone of his caliber performing on-board.  He performs exclusively on Serenity one  or two times a year as his organ is kept on board.  Unlike most other instruments it would not be practical to bring on board an organ each time he performs.  

We slept very well as  we sailed to Barcelona.  The seas were calm.  

We began the day as we always  do  with an early morning workout for Keith followed by coffee and breakfast  in our room.

We got ready to visit Barcelona a city we  have visited many times including last October.

Barcelona has  a population of 1.7  million  people.  

Highlights include:

La Sagrada Familia which is a large Roman Catholic Church designed by Saudi.   

Parc Guell which was commissioned by Eusebi Guell who  created stylish park.

Museu Picasso which is the most visited museum in all of Barcelona and displays Picasso's works of art.

Las Ramblas which is a tree-lined pedestrian  boulevard  which includes statues, cafes, stores, restaurants and other venues.

Ciutat Vellas which means old city and is the  oldest district of Barcelona.

Museu d'Art Contemporani which was opened to the public in 1995 and contains 5,000 works of art.

There  are two major passenger cruise ship facilities.  One is downtown near Las Rambles at the World Trade Center used by  the smaller cruise ships.  The one where Serenity is docked is located about one mile from the downtown centre and is used by the larger ships.  This facility is Moll Adossat.

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We took the complimentary shuttle over to the area near Las Rambles.  We last visited Barcelona last October and as we have done in the past toured the city.

This time around our mission was to look for another Paddle Tennis Racquet for Keith and to visit some specific sites.  Mission accomplished.LOL.  

​We returned to a a shop which  we visited  in 2015 called Decathlon Ciutat Vella.  Paddle Tennis is popular in this city and Spain which makes this city a good location to find a large assortment of Paddle Tennis Racquets.  We purchased  a racquet for  Keith and picked up  two items; one  each for two members of Team Serenity who  Keith plays Paddle Tennis with.

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We walked Las Rambles, visited  some sites and also  spent time at Mercado de  La Boqueria which is a large public market.  On our first visit to Barcelona with our  family in  2008 we visited this market and we were  very impressed with the variety and  volume  of items sold there.  Since that time we have visited the market on other occasions.  They sell salads and fruits.   The size and color of the strawberries were amazing. They have a large seafood section, several butchers, poultry, cheese, olives, spices and places where you can eat.  The aroma from the bread and pastries made us hungry.

The streets were fairly crowded.  Many school age children were escorted by adults and various venues including the theatre. Lots of tourists and locals were all out and about.  

Although on the cooler side this is a marvelous time of the year to visit to avoid the hot/humidity of the summer months.

We were not alone.  Several cruise ships are in port.  This includes one Regent ship docked at the downtown terminal along with ships docked with us include a Costa, MSC and one other cruise ship.

We had pre-ordered lunch for our room since we were not sure what time we would arrive back to the ship.

We are enjoying the rest of the afternoon on-board Crystal Serenity.

 is the daily  Reflections program from today.

Cheers,

Anne Marie & Keith

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