Kevin and Jessie's World Travel's: Barcelona, Spain

On Sunday, June 19 we flew non-stop from Malaga, Spain to Barcelona, Spain. We arrived around 1:30pm, relaxed at the hotel for a few hours and then went into the Gothic Quarter for some dinner and shopping! I went into one of my favorite shops and bought 2 new pairs of pants and then we went over to our favorite little Irish Pub and had some pub grub – don’t worry, we ate some authentic Spanish food later in the trip! We got back to the hotel around 10pm and relaxed.

This seemed to be the trip or protests! We experienced the protests in Athens first, and then there was a protest in Barcelona as well! Too bad we didn't understand what the protests were about.

So many passionate people!

On Monday, we went to the ship. This particular ship was not in Barcelona as an Embarkation/Debarkation port, so the wall was open to climbers until 11am. We worked until about 12:30 and then got off the ship with the Sports Supervisor (Rich), his girlfriend (Lucy), and a girl that works in the Adventure Ocean Club (Michelle). We went back to the Irish Pub for lunch and drinks (it was a cheaper option than eating somewhere else) and then they had to get back to the ship so Kevin and I went back to the hotel and changed to go to the beach. We spent a few hours at the beach and then went to the local grocery store and bought some Salami, bread and cheese for dinner. We enjoyed a nice little picnic dinner and evening in our room.

The beach was so nice!

This was a wedding gift we received. It is called a platy-preserve and you can carry a whole bottle of wine in a plastic container, making it more transportable! Thanks Karla!

Our dinner of champions!

We left the hotel around 11am on Tuesday and enjoyed our last day of sight-seeing during this trip. Our first stop was Parc de la Ciutadella. It was a beautiful park with an even more incredible fountain! I would say this fountain rivals the Trevi Fountain in Rome! The fountain is called the Cascada and was designed in 1875. It was exquisite! We walked through the park to the Arc de Triomf which was designed as the entrance to the 1888 World Expo. It was much smaller than the Paris version, but still a neat piece of architecture! Our next stop was the Picasso museum. Picasso was actually born in Malaga, Spain but lived in Barcelona for part of his child hood and young adult life. The museum featured all of his different stages of art work and it was awesome to see how talented he was. I am a huge fan of his cubism period and there were some neat pieces from that time, but it was interesting to see his sketches, portraits, and sculptures as well! After the museum, it was time for lunch! We went to a restaurant on Las Ramblas and enjoyed a traditional Spanish meal (croquettes and paella). Then it was time for me to do some more shopping! While we were in the Barcelona airport during a layover earlier in the week, I was handed a 5 Euro off coupon at Desigual, a very popular Spanish clothing store. I have always wanted to buy something there, but they are a little out of my price range. With this coupon, I decided it doesn’t hurt to look. So I went in and found not one, but two bags that I loved, one for my laptop and one as a purse. The gal gave me a total of 10 Euros off my bags and I basically got 2 bags for less than the price of one normal bag at Desigual! I was psyched! After a long, but great day we went back to the hotel and packed our bags for our early morning flight home. I always forget how much I enjoy Barcelona!