This morning we decided to try the hotel breakfast before we checked out. The selection was very nice and the price wasn't bad.
I booked an excursion with Spain Day Tours to see a little of Barcelona and be dropped off at the ship. Armando picked us up at 8:50 for a four hour tour. First we stopped at another Gaudi designed home for some photos of the outside - Casa Mila.
From there we drove to Parc Guell for a short walk around. It was early Sunday morning so the huge crowds had not yet arrived. The park was built from 1900 to 1914 and was officially opened as a public park in 1926. In 1984, UNESCO declared the park a World Heritage Site under "Works of Antoni Gaudí.”
La Sagrada Familia is the most famous landmark in Barcelona. In 1883, Gaudí took over as chief architect, transforming the project with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted the remainder of his life to the project, and he is buried in the crypt. At the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Today we only had time to walk around the outside.
Relying solely on private donations, the Sagrada Família's construction progressed slowly and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War. Construction resumed to intermittent progress in the 1950s. Advancements in technologies such as computer aided design and computerised numerical control have since enabled faster progress and construction passed the midpoint in 2010. It was anticipated that the building would be completed by 2026, the centenary of Gaudí's death, but this has now been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We went to the Barcelona beach which was created for the 1992 Olympics.
Tommy and our guide, Armando.
We drove to the top of Montjuic to get a view of the city and our cruise ship.
Check in for our cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas was from 1-1:30. It took us less than ten minutes and was the easiest check in on any cruise I've ever been on. Our room was ready so we went straight there.
This is a huge ship, the largest one in the world. I will be taking photos during the week as we explore. And we are off!
