Barcelona Spain was the stop today. It is a very large city, and we were not in port as long as other stops. It is also probably the largest port we have seen, there were at least 10 cruise ships in the port for the day.
We got off the ship at 9:30 as soon as the ramp was in place. Shuttle busses took us to the center area at the location of the Columbus Monument. From there, we walked up Las Ramblas, a street which is famous for its various street vendors.
From there, we walked to the famous, but still under construction, La Sagrada Familia Church. This was designed by Gaudi. It is very large and Gothic in nature, as can be seen from the photo, and has been under construction since the late 1800’s. It is estimated that it will take another 30 or more years to complete.
We then took a Metro (subway) to an area called Montjuic, and rode the Funicular up to the top of the mountain to the old castle.
From there, we again took the Metro to the old section of town called Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) to see the Barcelona Cathedral. Unfortunately, the cathedral was under major repair, and covered with scaffolding, a much too familiar sight in Europe at this time of year, so we did not go in. We walked back down to the port and returned to the ship