We started by taking a taxi to Parq Guell. Unfortunately, no tickets were available for the day (despite arriving at 9am!). Oh well. From there we walked to Sagrada Familia. Guess what? No tickets available there either. Oh well. We’ve visited that before too.

We then walked to the Eixample where we viewed a number of the Modernista masterpieces.

We then spent the remainder of the morning and early afternoon exploring this area and the Gothic Quarter, which is quite evocative with its narrow alleys and warren-like feel.

We then crossed Las Ramblas to have lunch at Guell Tapas in El Raval. Here’s Libby enjoying a delicious cava (sparkling wine) sangria:

Lunch was equally good.

I think we could eat tapas every day for a month and remain happy perfectly happy.

We returned to the ship by 3:00 and had dinner in the ship’s Pan-Asian restaurant by Roy Yamaguchi. I had sushi, which was great. Emerson and Mom also seemed to enjoy their dinner, but Libby didn’t love her dishes (having tried them, I tended to agree they were kind of “meh” at best).

We returned to the cabin to find that they has delivered two chocolate ships models to us (another–slightly bizarre–perk of our status).

We docked in Mallorca and departed the ship around 1:30pm. It’s a bit of a walk along the waterfront from the cruise terminal to the historical city center, but it was a pleasant enough stroll. I especially enjoyed looking at the various boats and yachts, which always puts in the mood to buy one (not that that’s a good or wise thing).

Mallorca is surprisingly lovely. I say that for no particular reason. I mostly just thought of it as a holiday spot for Brits. Thus, we came with no real preconceived notions or expectations, which is usually a good setup to like a spot.

We visited Palma’s cathedral, the Royal Palace della Almundaina, the Palau March (which was something of an eclectic art museum with an especially alluring and elaborate nativity scene on display), and the Museu Fundación Juan March (which housed modern and contemporary paintings).

We then enjoyed a lovely dinner of Spanish tapas at one of the local restaurants, called Tast, in town. The food was excellent!

After dinner, we walked around Palma a little more to soak up the atmosphere and then took a taxi back to the ship (which cost only 6€ one way for all of us vs. 12€ per person round trip with the ship’s shuttle bus!).

Today’s box score: +1 country — Mallorca (Spain)

Unfortunately, my guidebooks had limited or no information about Valencia. So, we started at a bit of disadvantage. As a result, I just arranged for a $12/pp. shuttle offered by Norwegian to take us into the historic district of town (some distance from the pier). This seemed like perhaps a dumb move (as the shuttle schedule was fairly limited and $48 would be a lot of cab fare), but it turned out to be accidentally brilliant (as the cabs drivers had a strike / protest in the middle of the day)!

While logistics made out planned visit to the science museum and planetarium impractical, we enjoyed strolling around the historic center of Valencia. We visited a number of churches, including the cathedral, which Emerson always seems to particularly enjoy. We also visited the Mercado, which I think rivals Barcelona’s La Boqueria. We bought citrus, strawberries (and then more strawberries at Emerson’s request), and orange juice — all of which was delicious.

I was also especially enamored with the public citrus trees that perfumed the city. I picked a tangerine and ate it (not sure if that’s allowed or not) much to Libby’s chagrin. But, it seemed like the thing to do.

Libby’s parents took a bus tour of Valencia from the ship, which allowed them to visit the Cathedral as well.

For dinner, we all had an excellent meal at Cagney’s, the ship’s steakhouse.

To make the most of our day, we hightailed it off the ship as soon as possible and grabbed a taxi for Park Guell. Given the excellent weather, we thought it a good day to see Gaudi’s fanciful park for the first time (it’s one of the few major sights in Barcelona we’ve missed on prior visits). It did not disappoint any of us.

We then hoped in a taxi to La Sagrada Familia, which Mom had never seen. While I showed Mom the church, Libby and Emerson played in the park across the street.

From there we walked: into and through the Eixample to view the Modernista architecture and upscale shopping, down into the Barri Gotic for more Modernista architecture and a visit to Barcelona’s cathedral, over to Las Ramblas for some shopping and lunch (tapas!) at La Boqueria market, further down Las Ramblas to the waterfront, into the docklands, over a bridge, and back to our ship about an hour before “all aboard.”

Here’s a view from atop Barcelona’s cathedral:

Aside from Parc Guell, most of this was familiar to us. But, we had a great day — like visiting an old and cherished friend.

While we were out galavanting on foot, Libby’s parents took the ho-ho bus around town for a motorized tour. They’d been to Spain before but not to Barcelona. So, this gave them a good overview of the city.

In the evening, we all met up for dinner at Jasmine Garden.

I have many fond pork-related memories of Spain (and one unfortunate story involving US Customs, a rather large chorizo, and confiscation).

Oh well. Yum, I say.