Palm Sunday in Barcelona

Although we had prepared ourselves for yet another lackluster bus trip through the city, the included excursion provided by Viking turned out to be a real treat. We started with a drive-through of some of the more picturesque neighborhoods of Barcelona. Martha our guide eventually led us to the church of the Sagrada Familia, designed by the world-famous architect Antonio Gaudi. Despite the grotesque ugliness of the building, it is a treasure trove of Christian iconography. Martha gave us a fascinating detailed description of the exterior of the church. Next we went to the Gothic part of the city where we saw artifacts going back to the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus, the cathedral of Barcelona, and the royal palace of the kings of Spain used in the 15th century. It was this palace that Christopher Columbus visited when he petitioned the rulers of Spain for funds to finance his voyage. Narrow streets and ancient buildings exuded charm in this historic neighborhood. I was particularly impressed by worshipers coming out of the cathedral bearing elaborately woven palm fronds and doing the traditional dance of Barcelona to music provided by a live band. We viewed the four huge columns formerly located at the Roman forum, reminding me that the ancient fortress overlooking the harbor was built by the Romans. We returned to the ship around 1:30 PM where I ate pizza in the World Cafe onboard the Viking Sky. Glenda let me finish her salad for her. Afterwards I went down to guest services to see whether I might be able to arrange for the use of a piano for practice while we are on this voyage. We finished the evening with a musical presentation in the Star Theater featuring American music from the 1950s and 60s. The ship’s departure was delayed by about four hours. We won’t leave the Port of Barcelona until 10 PM. That means we’ll get a later start tomorrow morning.Read more