9/12/04 - Marseille / Le Baux

The first port of call was Marseille, France. We were anxious to get to the shore and check this port out. The bus ride from the port took about 15 minutes. We got off in the center of Marseille not far from the port.

Pretty soon it became clear that Marseille was one of the worst places we have ever seen. It was dirty, smelly and the same everywhere we looked. More disturbingly the locals were missing shampoo and teeth. We literally struggled to find anything appealing in that town and after two hours gave up and went back to the ship.

To be fair, actually, there were 2 things about our visit to Marseille that were soothing. First was a little fruit stand were we loaded on fruits and cheap French wine that we bought in the local supermarket for about 5 euros per bottle. We had a devious plan to sneak this alcohol on board and drink it during dinner, while encountering 12$ per bottle cork charge (sigh).

In the afternoon we took a tour through the French country side to the medieval town of Le Baux. The bus was 1h and 15 minutes one way, but the ride was worth it. We drove through a beautiful little town of Arles were Van Gogh painted his most famous paintings. Too bad we could not get off and walk around, because the town looked really interesting.

Le Baux is situated on a gorgeous rocky hills. During medieval times, this small town used be a home of powerful lords that rule the region. When the town later became the protestant stronghold Louis XIII send over troops and put an end to Le Baux's glory. Today this tiny town is covered with shops and restaurants where local craftsman and artists sell artifacts and paintings.



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9/11/04, Barcelona - RCC Splendor of the Seas

We woke up around 8 am and had a pretty good buffet breakfast in the hotel. After the breakfast we followed tips of our friends who've been to Barcelona bought tickets for the City tour Bus. Warning, this is a rip off! The bus is 16 euros per person per day. An average cab ride is 5 euros. If you have a two people you can have 6 cab rides for the price of the tour bus. We had 4 people :)

In any case, we took the Blue line back to La Pedrera via Plaza Catalonia. We bought a tour, which included the walk though one of the apartments and the access to the roof. To be fair, if you do buy the tour bus ticket, you get a booklet of discounts for all major venues, including La Pedrera. In any case, the tour inside magnificent La Pedrera starts with a decorated apartment from Gaudi's time. Personally, I found the architecture beautiful, but the space rather non functional. Gaudi's designed are aimed to astonish and impress, but they have not become widespread for a reason, they are neither economical nor ergonomic.

Probably the most worthy part of the tour is the visit to the roof. Strange sculptures of fantastic forms and shapes look particularly bizarre as a foreground of the city. The sculptures reminds visitors of endless interplay between order and chaos. All sculptures are symmetric and consist of repeating elements, yet on the whole each structure is unique.



After taking many pictures on the roof of La Pedrera, we caught the Red Line and headed to another Gaudi's creation, called Parc Guell. The Parc is situated on the steep hills above the Eixample district. Inside the Parc there is a mixture of different structures spread around a few acres of greens. In the center of the Parc there is a large elevated terrace that has spectacular views of the entrance to the Parc and city of Barcelona. The borders of this terrace are covered by broken colored stone - a technique used often by Gaudi. The main stairs to the terrace are adorned with a fountain with a statue of a frog, also decorated with the colored stones.



In the early afternoon we had back to the hotel to get our luggage and to get to the Royal Caribbean Splendor of the Seas. The taxi to the port was about 20 euros. The catch was that we ordered it via hotel clerk and had to pay for the trip that it made to the hotel. If we would have hailed one on the street we would pay 1/2 as much.

The boarding went rather quickly, we were even surprised with how casual security was. The stateroom turned out to be pretty spacious, much bigger than we had in our previous adventures on Princess Cruises. Except size, however, it was rather unexciting. It had this sort of worn look and feel.

After we unpacked we went for a tour of the ship. Like the stateroom it had a slightly warned look and feel. The lunch buffet was rather unimpressive, and even disappointing. In general the food on the cruise was one of the bigger disappointments. The buffet had the same limited tasteless selection every day and the dining room was trying to sell unsophisticated and sloppy food for a gourmet meal.

But who cares about the food when you have such great destinations?

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9/10/04, New York - Barcelona

We flew from JFK on Aer Lingus to Dublin and then to Barcelona. All I can say is that my butt is not a typical Irish butt, so I had problems fitting into the seat. And, yes, the food was bad too.

We did not have much time in Dublin, but everywhere we looked we saw Guinness. Apparently Irish are really proud of this one. Well, they should be, this one is a keeper.

We also learned that anti-smoking campaign in Europe has, literally, gone big. On all cigarette cartons we saw enormous slogans like: Smoking kills, or Smoking may cause impotence, etc. Since we were submerged in smoke and surrounded by people with buts, we figured the ads do not really work.

The seats on the flight to Barcelona were much wider, so we started to cheer up. Apparently too early, because Aer Lingus has another trick up its sleeve. We landed on terminal A, but our bags were taken to terminal B. So we spent good hour chasing them, running between the terminals and re-entering security and pissing people off by speaking English.

Finally, we were on our way. The taxi took about 20 minutes and cost 30 euros. It took us to the hotel H10 Montcada on via Laietana that we reserved for $170 a night. The room was small, but clean, but the bathroom was lavish. The hotel is centrally located in the Downtown of Barcelona near the Picasso museum, close to the waterfront and La Rambla.

We checked in and asked the hotel clerk for a good place to eat. Boy, did we make a mistake! She sent us on a 35 minute walk to a restaurant in Barcelonetta. The restaurant was one of those disgusting tourist places with 90-degree-uncomfortable chairs, sticky menus and terrible food. The only good thing about that dinner was a second bottle of wine that we ordered, a Spanish Rioja.



After dinner we were feeling a bit drunk, but manage to catch a cab to Casa Mila (La Pedrera). La Pedrera is one of the Art Novue masterpieces by Antoni Gauidi. This corner building in Quadrat d'Or consists of unusual, sea-like forms that are representative of unique Gaudi's style. Unfortunately, we arrived 5 minutes late to get in for a tour. Instead we strolled down Passage de Gracia and to see another amazing building designed by Gaudi called Casa Batllo.



The buildings around Quadrat d'Or, and in most of Barcelona that we saw, were simply beautiful. Each building was different, yet together the buildings created the sense of flow and harmony.



We wrapped around the corner and ended up on Rambla de Catalonia, a milder version of La Rambla. This street had expensive shops and street restaurant along its entire length. On Rambla de Catalonia paused for an essential Haagen Daz ice scream. The ice cream completely erased the final memories of the dinner mishap.

After the ice cream we felt pretty brave and took Carrer de Provenca to Sagrada Familia. This unfinished church was suppose to be Gaudi's most magnificent masterpiece. Unfortunately, the genius died before finishing it. Many architects have contributed to the church since then and so all sides of the church look different. All of the sides except the side designed by Gaudi, are rather dull and distasteful. The construction has not been finished due to the lack of funds, and the entire site looks messy and pitiful.



Jet leg has finally caught up with us and we had to cab back to the hotel.

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