Barcelona – Such a beautiful horizon! Barcelona – Like a Jewel in the sun..... yes, well I’ll stop spouting Queen lyrics now and get on with the tale.
So the final full day of our holiday dawned clear and bright, our usual routine of getting up ran like clockwork. Heading up to breakfast we wished Alex a good morning before we took our seats.
Upon our return from the buffet with plates we were interrupted by the captain’s announcement. Due to so many nights of severe storms the ships engine had taken some damage and we were running about an hour late into port – but not to worry. Not to worry? The ships engine was faulty and we weren’t to worry?
Trying not to think about it too much we made our way slowly back to the cabin cradling our second mugs of tea and decided that it was time we could put to use packing so as to minimise the time required later that night. We began to sort out the suitcases – contemplating exactly how to get two bottles of wine back in one piece and ensure that the dresses still remained uncrushed by our return to Birmingham.
Whilst the temptation to explore Barcelona on our own had been great we decided that on this occasion a highlights tour would give us a great overview of the city and an idea of things we would want to come back to see. We started with the old palaces and cathedrals in the heart of the city.
The Viscount's Palace
The Cloisters
The Cathedral Walks - Love this vaulting
Now thats what I call a grave marker
Inside the cathedral - they don't show the sheer amount of gold very well
We followed on with a quick bus tour around the streets – highlighting the work of Gaudi before finishing with a very short stop at the unfinished Cathedral.
An example of the railings he designed
Just one of his many strange buildings
Still working on it!
Some of the sculptures on the main entrance
After the La Sagrada Familia we went to a relatively unknown place called the Spanish village – which is a collection of all the major building types and styles from around Spain. It was a fantastic little place and somewhere I wish we had longer to explore. After spending some time watching the glassblowers we wandered around to see some of the other artisans practicing their trade.
Just a small sample of some of the buildings they've rescued and brought to the village to be rebuilt
We left the Spanish village to go to our final stop of the tour, the plaza which gives the best views back over the city. It was at this point in the trip we had the choice of being dropped off in the centre to spend some time at Las Ramblas – well, you can’t go to Barcelona and not go up Las Ramblas and so Claire and I hopped off the coach for a quick trip up the high street. Sadly- as with much of this holiday, we really didn’t have enough time to do the place justice but we managed to make it to the food hall and have the most amazing ice cream! before we had to head back to the ship.
View back over the city
View down to the harbour - guess which is the Destiny
Best Ice-cream ever!
It's the umbrella house
Back on board we had just enough time to get a cup of tea before we had to head downstairs and get ready for the night. On our return we found the bill and labels waiting for us. In the same fashion as the year before, our luggage had to be outside our cabin by 3am and so other than what we intended to wear the next day and our PJ’s everything went in the cases, leaving just the dresses and shoes from the night to be placed on top before we set them outside.
Making our way up for our final dinner onboard we were lamenting that the week had gone by so fast and we were wishing that we could have stayed for another week. But sadly, it wasn’t to be the case and instead of wallowing in pity that it was soon all to be over we intended to make it the best night we could. Dinner was, as always stunning and the evening finished with appears to be a tradition on the Thomson ships – the Baked Alaska Parade – where the chefs get a chance to receive the compliments of the passengers and the wait staff all dance around with flaming Alaska puddings before culminating with a couple of songs. It was all lovely and as we bid Raymond and Elvis goodbye for the final time it was not without some sadness.
Making our way to the show lounge for that night’s magic – West End Wiz, we claimed seats at the bar. It was a fabulous medley of songs from all the greatest shows ever and it was great until the 5 lads performed ‘ain’t nothing like a dame’ when Claire and I just dissolved into hysterics! With only Andy being straight, there’s something so very wrong in seeing this song being performed by a group of men who all bat for the other team. Getting ourselves under control we were fine for the rest of the show and when it finally came to an end we were sorry that this really did mark the beginning of the end of the holiday.
We moved into the Oklahoma lounge in order to hunt down Neil. Finding him in his usual spot at the bar and with his usual shadows – Kane and Nick we made our way over. He gave us a cheeky smile before presenting us with 2 glasses of Champagne. Taking them from him with thanks we asked him what we’d done to earn them. He said that he felt we should finish the holiday in style and it was his way of saying thanks for giving him sensible and stimulating conversation all week.
Claire, Neil 'Buster' Brimson & Me
Settling into our usual routine we left our bags behind the bar and enjoyed another evening of joking with the staff. Not long after the second show had finished for the evening the Oklahoma Lounge was flooded with members of the show team as the girls took to the stage for a final show of the greatest hits of the generation by leading female artists. We were quickly dragged onto the floor to dance and as it turned out I ended up spending quite a lot of time with Andy discussing what he was planning on doing after his contract had finished. As it turned out he was heading to America in the new year with his own show in Vagas! Wow!
Show over and most of the passengers heading off to their cabins to pack, Claire and I were – once again- one of the last standing. Ordering a round in for all the staff still with us we talked away the hours until 2am and got to mess around with the lighting system when there were no more passenger’s left. It was a little after 2 when we bid them goodnight – they’d already all missed curfew again – thankfully Kane was with us so they weren’t in any trouble – only saying goodnight to 14 members of staff took a while and we really had difficulty leaving – but the cases had to be put out and we had one of the earliest flights back to the UK so we really did have to go.
Me, Kane & Claire
As we settled in to sleep we reflected on the holiday – bad weather, a terrible day of illness on Monday and delays into port were countered with amazing sights, incredible staff and more fun than I’ve probably managed to convey. Was it the perfect holiday? No! Was it an awful holiday? No! Would I do it all over again? Oh yeah!
Our last towel animal of the holiday
