8 July (5 days left – someone break out the tissues)
Barcelona
Went in late to Barcelona this morning, around 11.00am. Took the opportunity to do laundry while most people were ashore. I actually walked into the laundry and there was a free machine. Also got to talk to the Captain's Circle person who confirmed that we are indeed "Elite" next cruise so FREE LAUNDRY. Great cruise terminal after having no cruise terminals at all in Italy. It is quite a way into town, about 2km. The ship's shuttle, the usual $7 each way and the port shuttle 3 Euros return drop you at almost the same place, at the Christopher Colombus monument at the bottom of the Ramblas although it is further to walk from the ship's shuttle. It's about then 2 minutes walk or so to the nearest Metro station, .We walked all the way up the Ramblas, diverging into little side streets here and there. We've both been to Barcelona before so didn't want to do a lot. We travelled to a few places on the Metro. It's cheap, clean and not overcrowded. It's 1.4 Euros a ticket or you can by a T10 for 10 Euros (I think). We didn't have any hassles despite the dire warnings issued by the Princess Tour Manager about pickpockets etc. As long as you're alert and carry your handbag etc in a safe way I don't think there should be any problems. He's issued dire warnings in a lot of ports and we haven't had any problems and we've used public transport in most places. I'm quite chuffed by the fact I've avoided paying a Princess shuttle for the whole trip, nor have I entered the ship's shops (except to buy cough lollies). Lots of people today did the Barcelona Hop on Hop Off Bus – a double decker bus which also has a ticket booth beside the Christopher Columbus monument. The price is 22 Euros for 12 hours. Friends who did this said it was excellent. They seemed to have lots of buses as we had lunch near Gaudi's church the Sagrada Famillia, and several buses went past while we were there. We had tapas today in Barcelona, French Pancackes (not crepes) yesterday in Monaco and couldn't go past spaghetti bolognese in the Cinque Terre, Italy the day before. We have a lovely day at sea tomorrow. Weather is still hot. I think we've only had about half a day of rain in the whole trip as opposed to about 7 days when we did our last cruise on the QE2.
Find it at CarPoint.com.au New, Used, Demo, Dealer or Private?
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