With the November flight from Auckland to Sydney to Dallas still somewhat fresh in my little brain it's amazing how short Dallas to Madrid to Barcelona seemed.
We made it unscathed although sleeping on a plane is something neither Beth or I are very competent at doing for more than about fifteen minutes.
We took the aerobus from the airport to Playa Catalunya which was just a few blocks from our hotel (Hotel Bagues). Our hotel is located on La Ramblas which is in the very center of the gothic old town area . We dropped off the backpacks in the room and headed out for what we thought would be a couple of hours.
Before we knew it we were caught up in the festivities surrounding the Festival of the Three Kings celebration. This festival included a huge parade through town where the streets were lined 10-15 people deep with families and kids of all ages.
The Christmas lights throughout the city especially on the restaurant and shop lined alleyways were amazing. The Cathedral de Barcelona which is huge still had their nativity scene complete with live animals on display in their inner garden.
As is often the case, our two hour game plan turned into about six hours of roaming. Even though we had stayed in this area a couple of times we explored so many new areas and are looking forward to getting out a bit this morning before heading to the ship. We're also looking forward to being back here for five days between the two cruises.
Our cruise itineraries are posted a few blogs back and we're on the Norwegian Spirit if you want to follow along on seascanner.com
The Three Kings celebration marks the end of the Christmas season in Spain. The kings bring the children who have been nice a gift and those who have been naughty coal.....here's hoping to a coal free year for everyone!
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| Cathedral de Barcelona |
