Barcelona Day #3 (Check in on the ship) Sun 4/17

Today is the day we move to the Viking Star where we will stay one additional day in Barcelona before setting sail for Gibraltar tomorrow evening. We needed to have our luggage packed and placed inside our hotel room door by 8 am and then we needed to wait until 10:30 am for bus transfer to the ship.

After another great breakfast at the Renaissance Hotel, we decided to take another walk around a different area near the hotel to observe the architecture and locale. We walked down Consell de Cent, turned right on Posseig de Saint Joan and again another right turn down Casp until we met Pau Claris that took us back to the hotel.


Within that small square, you see many interesting classic architectural styles. Notice on the map that the blocks are more octagonal in shape than rectangular. This was planned in this manner during early planning of the city. The rounded corners (chamfered) were a way of bringing more light into the areas for health purposes. It also allows more parking of cars and motorcycles on the corners. The crosswalks are never straight across the corners. The original buildings were only four stories high starting above the ground level that was not counted as living space. That was more for horses, etc. Later, there were higher buildings but generally not more than 7 stories high until the development of scattered high rise buildings.

City Planning of Barcelona

As a guide to the way the streets run, you need to know that the Avenguda Parallel runs North to South and is parallel to the earth meridian line. Another large street called Avenguda Diagonal also runs roughly North to South. The remainder of the city streets run from the mountains to the sea in a latticed pattern.

Once we boarded the bus that was supposed to take 1/2 hour to get to the ship, we found ourselves on a journey to the unknown. We left the port and went up a mountain towards the Olympic stadium and passed the soccer stadium that holds about 110,000 people. It is the largest soccer stadium in Europe. There was a soccer game scheduled and people were already lining up 5 hours early to get in.  Almost every seat is occupied for every game.

Camp Nou

Just as we were wondering where the ship was docked, they announced that the bus was supposed to delay as there were too many guests in the embarkation area. Instead of making us wait in line, they gave us a city tour by bus. It was pretty nice.

Once we arrived at the Viking dock, we only had a short wait while they checked our cruise documents and passports and gave us our identification card they we are to use when entering or leaving the ship or purchasing things that are extra. Our room was ready and after dropping off what we were carrying, we were ready for a meal in the buffet. After all, it was probably three hours since breakfast. :)

Earl and Bonnie left to explore the soccer stadium while Earline and I stayed for a rest. I didn't want to walk a great deal on my foot ulcer.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the ship, eating a wonderful dinner and seeing a show in the theater before crashing for the evening. So far, Viking has exceeded our expectations.