Spain and France on the Arvia

So...back to Barcelona. Last here 15 years ago and amongst our least favourite travelling stops. But, second chances, right?!
We got an early shuttle to the city from the port and walked to the Parlament of Catalunya to start the day, before heading to the Arc de Triomf and the Sagradi Família. The former was quite peaceful but, even early in the morning, the Sagradi Família was heaving with people. The hawkers had hilarious "quick escape" displays - all their goods laid out on a sheet with a rope attached to each of the fours corners whilst they held the ends, so they could pull the corners together and make a quick escape if necessary! Heading towards the Casa Batlló, another Gaudi creation, we happened upon the rooftop bar in the Hotel Majestic. Living up to its name, the views from the 10th floor were superb as the sun finally broke through the clouds, and for the majority of the time we had the terrace to ourselves. Wandering on through Las Rambla, we popped into the Mercat de la Boqueria and Ben grabbed some octopus, and then onto the Gothic Quarter, which was a much nicer side of Barcelona. Undecided on what to do with the last bit of the afternoon, we opted for Black Dog microbrewery over the aquarium, before heading our tired legs back to the ship. Barcelona was perhaps better than we remembered, but still not nowhere near one of the best places we've visited; very much our "Eight-dollarist bottle of wine" stop!Leia mais