Mallorca was/is fabulous. Lots to see and do. We bought tickets for the hop on/hop off bus as well as for the castle and the cathedral (a massive edifice that reflects in the sea).
We headed straight for the castle. A perfect defense fortress - it's at the highest point on the island = you can see enemies coming from the hills, from the flat coast or from the sea.
Apparently when they built the fort, they dug up a shitload of Roman ruins. Hey, it's Europe, you can't plant a tomato without excavating a coliseum. Their museum and statuary was impressive.
It was a gorgeous day, and hopped back on the bus to get back down to town so we could eat...of course...it had only been a few hours since we last visited the trough.
We landed at a tapas restaurant and ordered chorizo, cheese, ensalada russo, patatas brava, cod-stuffed peppers, and beer. God I love Spain. We ate our fill and did a bit of shopping before heading to the cathedral.
DAMMIT! The cathedral closed at 2:15 (it was 2:30). My bad...I should have checked the information page they gave us at the visitors center. Shit. Oh well, lesson learned. Instead, we found a proper pub called the Tavern. I say proper, because 1) it was run by an old British guy, 2) it was dark and woody, 3) they had three rugby games on the tvs, 4) there were a bunch of old Brits in there, 5) there were some really good beers in the guy's beer fridge.
At 7:30 we boarded the shuttle back to the ship...somebody's gotta be last, right? Since we'd eaten so much, so late, we skipped dinner and went straight to the bar. We met up with our friends Bernice and Jacques. They disembarked in Barcelona, and we'll miss them on the last leg of this trip.
BARCELONA
This morning we arrived in Barcelona about 6am...I woke up feeling the warmth and love this city generates. We took a cab to the cable car, but our driver let us off at the wrong tower (we didn't know until after he'd driven away). No worries, we found a path to the right one and bought our tickets.
The view was/is spectacular!
We wandered around Montjuic (a small community on the hill just above Barcelona) for a bit and then headed back down to the city. We found a lunch spt and dug in for the paella.
Yum! We love Barcelona. We were here last year during our month-long vaca in Spain. Barcelona is a huge city, but it's sections/quarters/neighborhoods make it feel totally manageable. We love old town, but are beginning to spread out a bit and tackle more of the communities.
Old town - or the Gothic section - includes the Cathedral de Barcelona, and dozens of small streets zig-zagging away from the central plaza. Lovely plazas dot the space, and stores and restaurants beckon you to step inside. One such place? Craft Barcelona.
You know our love of craft beer...this is just the place for us. We tried several local beers and loved practicing our Spanish while our bartender was practicing his English.
Next time, we'll head for the Black Dog brewery, one we passed earlier in the day (but it was closed).
Time to head back to the ship. Sigh. Tomorrow we're in France (Cannes). Viva la France!
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