Barcelona, Sagrada Familia, La Rambla, Cruise Ship stop
Feb 14, 2016, 7:33 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Singapore
Posts: 977
Barcelona, Sagrada Familia, La Rambla, Cruise Ship stop
I've posted this in trip reports as part of my overall MSC Cruise review, but I think I shall post a copy of the Barcelona day here, to facilitate easy search.
We sailed on the MSC Preziosa, a cruise ship, and spent a day in Barcelona which was one of the ports we visited for that cruise. This was in December 2015. Here is the review of what we did.
Today, the ship will dock in Barcelona and we will spend some time to view the Sagrada Familia and La Rambla. As I was going through my videos and pictures for the trip report, I came across this video footage which I had forgotten about. This was taken as we walked along La Rambla, in the direction of the cruise port. Suddenly, these illegal hawkers packed up their wares and disappeared into the side alleys. Why? I figured that a police patrol or some law enforcement was approach. They obviously had a good early warning system. Which makes you wonder - in this day and age, shouldn't there be video cameras along such a busy and touristy street to assist law enforcement? Anyway, here is the short clip.
This morning, we had breakfast in the Yacht Club, as per our usual practice.
This was a video I made of the breakfast. As the ship docked only at 0900hrs, there was plenty of time for time for breakfast.
After breakfast, there was time to walk around the ship, as she was in the process of docking and seeking clearance. Some photos from the Garden pool area (which is located at aft of the ship). You can see the coaches.
A bridge linking the cruise terminals to the main land.
A clearer view of the bridge.
And here is a video I made while standing near the Garden pool. Saw many new cars being driven on a Ro-Ro ship too.
We got off the ship and walked to the cruise port taxi stand which was very near. There was a long line of taxis. They all went by the meter. We asked how much it would cost to get to Sagrada Familia and the driver said 25 Euros. True enough, the meter read 25 Euros thereabouts by the time we got to the Sagrada. This is the route from the cruise port to the Sagrada Familia, from Google Maps.Distance about 8.5km.
Here is a video of the taxi ride. The driver was a chatty guy who could speak English well. He told us that he also doubled up as a tour guide and showed us some brochures on his day packages for cruise ship passengers. He tried his best to convince us to book him for the day, but we decided against it since we didn't have plans to see so many places. Just wanted to do the Sagrada and the La Rambla.
The sight that greeted us when we arrived. Impressive.
.
The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (Catalan pronunciation: [səˈɣɾaðə fəˈmiɫiə]; English: Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family) is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica, as distinct from a cathedral, which must be the seat of a bishop. (From wiki - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia)
The construction was ongoing, at a fairly rapid pace. Later, within the cathedral, we could hear all the construction noises. We were told that all the ticket entrance money was used to fund the continued building of this Cathedral.
Here is a video while touring the Sagrada Familia, and subsequently went up the tower. We bought our tickets in advance, and brought the print-outs. No problems using them. It was a good idea to buy tickets in advance. See 3:52 of the video for the long ticket line. I have been to a good number of Cathedrals in Europe and I must say that this one is very different. (Granted it is a minor basilica and not technically a cathedra) The design is very different. Gaudi, inspired by nature and the forest, designed the columns to look like a forest, so we were told.
Some pictures from our visit. Inside the Sagrada Familia.
Even though the plaec was crowded with people and the din from the construction was clearly audible, the entire place felt very peaceful.
This place would be magnificent when it is finally completed.
Outside, I spotted this turtle holding up the column. Tough job. I hope its shell doesn't crack.
This was a big poster covering a door that they would ultimately construct. Notice the words. It was the same verse from the Bible in many different languages. What was this famous verse? Easily spotted, just read a language that you know.
Another view.
There was a small museum in the basement that gives you a run through of the history of the Sagrada Familia. This place is always associated with Gaudi.
The most interesting artefact in the museum was this. What was this? An inverted model designed by Gaudi for structural calculations of the Cathedral. We are talking about 19th Century technology here.
After the guided tour in English, we went up the tower. (We had bought our tickets online, earlier). There were lifts bringing you up. We didn't spend too long up there, just took some photos and came back down.
This completes our visit to the Sagrada. We decided to grab a quick bit at a McDonald's opposite before heading to La Rambla. Earlier in the morning, we had scouted around the area a bit. Here is a video of the McDonalds from the oustide. It is right beside a Costa Coffee. The McDonalds had complimentary Wi-Fi, which was useful!
And here is what we ate for the light lunch. Total cost of 12.10Euros!
Here is a photo of the receipt.
After lunch, it was time to head to La Rambla. The plan was to take a taxi there, explore the street and then head back to the ship. There were taxis waiting at a taxi stand outside Sagrada, so getting a cab was very easy. Again, it was by meter and the cost to La Rambla was about 10 Euros. Here is the video of the taxi ride.
The taxi driver dropped us off at the northern end of La Rambla, which was good, since we would want to walk southwards towards the cruise port. The weather was gorgeous, even though this was in the winter. Wonderful to walk around. The center of the street was pedestrainized, making it easy to walk.
Here is a video showing footage of our walk on La Rambla.
Pretty good crowds too. Not sure if they were locals or tourists.
We were in La Rambla, Barcelona.
Hotel Le Meridien was here. Centrally located.
The flowers were gorgeous! Bear in mind that this was in December. I didn't expect to see any flowers.
It was warm enough for people to be eating al fresco. There were many of such eateries, and the prices were in this ballpark.
As we walked along La Rambla, we spotted this market, which looked very interesting from the outside. Not know what this place was all about, we decided to walk in to take a look.
It was awesome! The colours, the smells, the vibrancy of the place. Check out the video I made.
So pretty and colourful!
Within the market, there were a good number of such eateries where people sat at the bar counter and had fresh seafood with wine. The smells were really good!
Staff were naturally very busy. Business was very good!
As we continued our walk along La Rambla, spotted these apartments.
We stopped at some gift shops to buy a couple of magnets (Kids wanted).
We walked all the way to this junction roundabout. We would hail a taxi shortly thereafter to bring us back to the cruise ship.
This video footage was taken as we rode in a taxi back to the cruise ship. We have to cross the same bridge and you can see from the footage a good number of passengers walking, both walking back towards and ship as well as coming out from the ship.
We are getting back on the ship. Smooth and easy. No crowds as we were relatively early.
Once on board, we headed to the One Pool buffet area to grab some food.
Also a good time to catch up on the papers!
Headed back into air-conditioned comfort in the Top Sail Lounge.
After that, we went to walk around the ship. This was at the aft of the ship.
They have an F1 simulator on Deck 16. The cost was 8 Euros for a 6 minute race.
Here is a video I made of the video arcade on Deck 16. I didn't come to this part of the ship very often, so I do not know if the machines are well used. But since they are right on top of the teen club, there is probably some business.
Walking outside, this was the water slide that I rode on some days back. This was supposedly the longest single-body waterslide on a cruise ship.
In case you have forgotten, this was the ride experience on video!
The sun was setting now. On the left of this photo, you can see another cruise ship docked at a terminal ahead of us. I think it was a Costa ship. She arrived later than us.
Oh, before I reach dinner, I made another video on whether you can walk from the cruise terminal to La Rambla. This video gives you an idea how far the walk would be. We didn't walk, we took a taxi. That said, I saw a good number of people doing the walk. Maybe my threshold of waking distance is lower than theirs.
We sailed on the MSC Preziosa, a cruise ship, and spent a day in Barcelona which was one of the ports we visited for that cruise. This was in December 2015. Here is the review of what we did.
Today, the ship will dock in Barcelona and we will spend some time to view the Sagrada Familia and La Rambla. As I was going through my videos and pictures for the trip report, I came across this video footage which I had forgotten about. This was taken as we walked along La Rambla, in the direction of the cruise port. Suddenly, these illegal hawkers packed up their wares and disappeared into the side alleys. Why? I figured that a police patrol or some law enforcement was approach. They obviously had a good early warning system. Which makes you wonder - in this day and age, shouldn't there be video cameras along such a busy and touristy street to assist law enforcement? Anyway, here is the short clip.
This morning, we had breakfast in the Yacht Club, as per our usual practice.
This was a video I made of the breakfast. As the ship docked only at 0900hrs, there was plenty of time for time for breakfast.
After breakfast, there was time to walk around the ship, as she was in the process of docking and seeking clearance. Some photos from the Garden pool area (which is located at aft of the ship). You can see the coaches.
A bridge linking the cruise terminals to the main land.
A clearer view of the bridge.
And here is a video I made while standing near the Garden pool. Saw many new cars being driven on a Ro-Ro ship too.
We got off the ship and walked to the cruise port taxi stand which was very near. There was a long line of taxis. They all went by the meter. We asked how much it would cost to get to Sagrada Familia and the driver said 25 Euros. True enough, the meter read 25 Euros thereabouts by the time we got to the Sagrada. This is the route from the cruise port to the Sagrada Familia, from Google Maps.Distance about 8.5km.
Here is a video of the taxi ride. The driver was a chatty guy who could speak English well. He told us that he also doubled up as a tour guide and showed us some brochures on his day packages for cruise ship passengers. He tried his best to convince us to book him for the day, but we decided against it since we didn't have plans to see so many places. Just wanted to do the Sagrada and the La Rambla.
The sight that greeted us when we arrived. Impressive.
. The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (Catalan pronunciation: [səˈɣɾaðə fəˈmiɫiə]; English: Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family) is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica, as distinct from a cathedral, which must be the seat of a bishop. (From wiki - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia)
The construction was ongoing, at a fairly rapid pace. Later, within the cathedral, we could hear all the construction noises. We were told that all the ticket entrance money was used to fund the continued building of this Cathedral.
Here is a video while touring the Sagrada Familia, and subsequently went up the tower. We bought our tickets in advance, and brought the print-outs. No problems using them. It was a good idea to buy tickets in advance. See 3:52 of the video for the long ticket line. I have been to a good number of Cathedrals in Europe and I must say that this one is very different. (Granted it is a minor basilica and not technically a cathedra) The design is very different. Gaudi, inspired by nature and the forest, designed the columns to look like a forest, so we were told.
Some pictures from our visit. Inside the Sagrada Familia.
Even though the plaec was crowded with people and the din from the construction was clearly audible, the entire place felt very peaceful.
This place would be magnificent when it is finally completed.
Outside, I spotted this turtle holding up the column. Tough job. I hope its shell doesn't crack.
This was a big poster covering a door that they would ultimately construct. Notice the words. It was the same verse from the Bible in many different languages. What was this famous verse? Easily spotted, just read a language that you know.
Another view.
There was a small museum in the basement that gives you a run through of the history of the Sagrada Familia. This place is always associated with Gaudi.
The most interesting artefact in the museum was this. What was this? An inverted model designed by Gaudi for structural calculations of the Cathedral. We are talking about 19th Century technology here.
After the guided tour in English, we went up the tower. (We had bought our tickets online, earlier). There were lifts bringing you up. We didn't spend too long up there, just took some photos and came back down.
This completes our visit to the Sagrada. We decided to grab a quick bit at a McDonald's opposite before heading to La Rambla. Earlier in the morning, we had scouted around the area a bit. Here is a video of the McDonalds from the oustide. It is right beside a Costa Coffee. The McDonalds had complimentary Wi-Fi, which was useful!
And here is what we ate for the light lunch. Total cost of 12.10Euros!
Here is a photo of the receipt.
After lunch, it was time to head to La Rambla. The plan was to take a taxi there, explore the street and then head back to the ship. There were taxis waiting at a taxi stand outside Sagrada, so getting a cab was very easy. Again, it was by meter and the cost to La Rambla was about 10 Euros. Here is the video of the taxi ride.
The taxi driver dropped us off at the northern end of La Rambla, which was good, since we would want to walk southwards towards the cruise port. The weather was gorgeous, even though this was in the winter. Wonderful to walk around. The center of the street was pedestrainized, making it easy to walk.
Here is a video showing footage of our walk on La Rambla.
Pretty good crowds too. Not sure if they were locals or tourists.
We were in La Rambla, Barcelona.
Hotel Le Meridien was here. Centrally located.
The flowers were gorgeous! Bear in mind that this was in December. I didn't expect to see any flowers.
It was warm enough for people to be eating al fresco. There were many of such eateries, and the prices were in this ballpark.
As we walked along La Rambla, we spotted this market, which looked very interesting from the outside. Not know what this place was all about, we decided to walk in to take a look.
It was awesome! The colours, the smells, the vibrancy of the place. Check out the video I made.
So pretty and colourful!
Within the market, there were a good number of such eateries where people sat at the bar counter and had fresh seafood with wine. The smells were really good!
Staff were naturally very busy. Business was very good!
As we continued our walk along La Rambla, spotted these apartments.
We stopped at some gift shops to buy a couple of magnets (Kids wanted).
We walked all the way to this junction roundabout. We would hail a taxi shortly thereafter to bring us back to the cruise ship.
This video footage was taken as we rode in a taxi back to the cruise ship. We have to cross the same bridge and you can see from the footage a good number of passengers walking, both walking back towards and ship as well as coming out from the ship.
We are getting back on the ship. Smooth and easy. No crowds as we were relatively early.
Once on board, we headed to the One Pool buffet area to grab some food.
Also a good time to catch up on the papers!
Headed back into air-conditioned comfort in the Top Sail Lounge.
After that, we went to walk around the ship. This was at the aft of the ship.
They have an F1 simulator on Deck 16. The cost was 8 Euros for a 6 minute race.
Here is a video I made of the video arcade on Deck 16. I didn't come to this part of the ship very often, so I do not know if the machines are well used. But since they are right on top of the teen club, there is probably some business.
Walking outside, this was the water slide that I rode on some days back. This was supposedly the longest single-body waterslide on a cruise ship.
In case you have forgotten, this was the ride experience on video!
The sun was setting now. On the left of this photo, you can see another cruise ship docked at a terminal ahead of us. I think it was a Costa ship. She arrived later than us.
Oh, before I reach dinner, I made another video on whether you can walk from the cruise terminal to La Rambla. This video gives you an idea how far the walk would be. We didn't walk, we took a taxi. That said, I saw a good number of people doing the walk. Maybe my threshold of waking distance is lower than theirs.
Feb 14, 2016, 7:35 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Singapore
Posts: 977
Here is the link to the entire review on the Trip Reports section of flyertalk.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...r-flights.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...r-flights.html
Feb 14, 2016, 7:40 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Singapore
Posts: 977
)
Feb 17, 2016, 9:57 am
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: About 45 miles NW of MCO
Programs: Acapulco - Gold, Panama - Red, Timothy Leary 8 Mile High Club
Posts: 29,243
Thanks for the review and pictures. We will be in Barcelona to embark and disembark from the Norwegian Epic in May. We also plan to spend another 6 days there after the end of the cruise.
Last edited by BamaVol; Feb 20, 2016 at 5:43 pm