Another trip.
2018 I sailed on Mariner of the Seas from Singapore to Barcelona. The trip was amazing with so many good places. I spent the last few days saying that it was so good I could do it again straight away.
About two weeks after that trip they announced that the newest ship Spectrum of the Seas would be doing a similar trip.
New ship. Awesome itinerary. I was booked!!
Fast forward to April
Early April 2019
Well that was a week.
All smart people buy and sell a house within days of going on a five week trip to the other side of the world don’t they?
I had sold my Duffy house and had to have to empty and clean before I headed off on this trip as settlement is to be right in the middle of the trip -DUBAI day.
I did a bit of packing for the trip before packing up the house. Electrical essentials etc.
Then there has been delays on settlement of the new house in Stirling.
A week of angst “will I get in in time?” “Will I have to pay for storage and double the moving fees”.
I eventually got to move in under license.
I moved in on Wednesday. Hit water Thursday. (Yep – that was a shock). Washing machine Monday morning!
And flew out on Monday – after finally doing some washing.
My flight was a 6 am depart from Sydney so not many options. Go up the night before and pay for a hotel – or the midnight horror bus!
I flew up. I was going to go up early morning and have a day of touristing, but changed that to the last flight as I needed more time to unpack boxes, pack and a few important things like that.
Monday 15th April
Departure day was busy.
7.30 am plumber to put on taps for the washing machine. He didn’t think to do them when he did the plumbing of a new house. Cause I mean, who knows if the new owners will even want a washing machine. What???
Then a trip to Bunnings to get bits for the temporary sprinkler system I have to set up for all my newly moved pot plants. I got batteries too, but when I got home I realized they must still be on the counter.
Back to Bunnings – since it was a giant box!
More washing!
More packing. Two part packing is horrid. Who knows what I will have and more importantly what I will NOT have on this trip. I guess all will be revealed.
I had to move plants and set up sprinklers.
Go to the planning department to dispute the ruling over the kind of fence my new house has to have. That’s another story!
More boxes to the recycling.
Few more needed items from the shops.
Better clean the house as it looks like a bomb went off and the floors were filthy from movers, plumbers and pot plants, including giant tree ferns and lemon trees, coming in through the house as the back access it too tight.
Yep. Big day.
I got to my Sydney hotel by 8.10 and was showered and in bed by 8.30. A tad tired.
But at least I might get some sleep on the long flights.
Tuesday 16th April
2018, I sailed on Mariner of the Seas from Singapore to Barcelona. The trip was amazing with so many good stops. I spent the last few days of the trip saying that it was so good I could do it again straight away. About two weeks after that trip they announced that the newest ship, Spectrum of the Seas, would be doing a similar trip. New ship. Awesome itinerary. I booked!!
Fast forward to April 2019.
Well that was a week…….
All smart people buy and sell a house within days of going on a five week trip to the other side of the world don’t they?
I had sold my Duffy house and had to have to empty and clean before I headed off on this trip as settlement is to be right in the middle of the trip – DUBAI day.
I did a bit of packing for the trip before packing up the house. Electrical essentials etc as I knew I’d never find them once I moved. Then did the house packing and moving.
But there had been delays on settlement of the new house in Stirling.
A week of angst. “Will I get in in time?” “Will I have to pay for storage off site, and pay double the moving fees”.
I eventually got to move in under license. Moved the gear on the Saturday – but couldn’t live there as the water wasn’t on. So after work each day I would go and clean Duffy, then sleep at Sarah’s. I got to sleep at the new house on the Thursday night. Unpacked enough to be able to come home from this trip and find my bed.
Monday 15th April – Canberra. Departure day was busy.
7.30 am was the plumber to put on taps for the washing machine. He didn’t think to do them when he did the plumbing of a new house. “Who knows if the new owners will even want a washing machine”, was the plumbers reply. “There was no washing machine here when I put the pipes in”. What?
Then a trip to Bunnings to get bits for the temporary sprinkler system I have to set up for all my newly moved pot plants. I got batteries too, but when I got home I realized I left them on the counter. Back to Bunnings – since it was a giant box! I had to move plants and set up sprinklers.
I got to do some much needed washing! And more packing. Two-part packing is horrid. Who knows what I will have and more importantly what I will NOT have on this trip. I guess all will be revealed.
I had to go the planning department to dispute the ruling over the kind of fence my new house had to have. That’s another story! But I won. And got to have a solid boundary fence not a pool fence.
More boxes to the recycling. Few more needed items from the shops.
Better clean the house as it looked like a bomb went off and the floors were filthy from movers, plumbers and pot plants, including giant tree ferns and lemon trees, coming in through the house as the back access was too tight.
Yep. Big day.
I got to my Sydney hotel by 8.10 and was showered and in bed by 8.30. A tad tired. But at least I might get some sleep on the long flights.
Tuesday 16th April – Sydney
I was picked up by my Emirates chauffeur at 2.15 AM! Got to the airport and checked in 3 hrs ahead like a good girl. Pity Immigration didn’t open until 4am! Oh well. We boarded at 5.30 and sat on the tarmac for 90 min while they fixed a door that wouldn’t seal – lucky! 15 hours later I was in Dubai running for the connection to Barcelona. I made it. 8 hrs later I was in Barcelona. Cathy and Geoff were on the same flight. We arrived, and had our Emirates chauffeurs to our hotels. This was the last time that points flights got the free chauffeur. Shower and bed!
I was picked up by my Emirates chaffer at 2.15 AM!
Got to the airport and checked in 3 hrs ahead like a good girl. Pity Immigration didn’t ope until 4am! Oh well.
We boarded at 5.30 and sat on the tarmac for 90 min while they fixed a door that wouldn’t seal – lucky!
15 hours later I was in Dubai running for the connection to Barcelona. I made it.
8 hrs later I was in Barcelona. Shower and bed!
Wednesday 17th April
Kathy, Geoff and I spend the day adventuring. Of course a visit to my favourite markets, then tapas for lunch.
We travelled on the trains to Cathédral De La Sagrada Familia. The Gaudi masterpiece. His most famous work. The ‘Cathedral of the Holy Family’ is a Roman Catholic church. Construction started in 1882 and still going. They think it will be finished by 2026.
OK. I was wrong. Very wrong. I had been to La Familia Sagradia (only to the outside) before and will admit to being underwhelmed. It was an amazing building from the outside but I didn’t think it was worth the hype. Then we went inside. Now I get it! It was pretty damn amazing. Gaudi has been described as “A man of faith, observer of nature and genius architect”, and this work sure reflected that. The Basilica was amazing. Gaudi was very obsessed with nature and his work showed this. The inside was forest like with giant pillars, branching out and supporting the spires. Different stones were used to give colour. The giant stained glass windows on the east were cool colours and make use of the soft morning light. The western side were all the hot colours and were amazing as the afternoon sun hit them. After a while the light splashed across the floor and then lit up the columns. The use of jagged and uneven surfaces helped to bounce the light around.
We climber the towers. And they were amazing. So intricate and detailed. And twisty and steep. But so worth the effort. A great view from up there but the close stuff was even better. The detail of his work was amazing. There sure was a lot going on in that mind of his. Truly beautiful. I now get why people rave about it so much.
After going to a supermarket and wandering the streets, we met up with Suzie and Georgia and had a fun dinner in THE square – Rialto Plaza. Amazing place. Great day.
18th April. Ship day
Started off with a wonder up to the markets to get breakfast then back to do a final pack and get ready for out tour.
Suzie, Georgia and I headed off on our day adventure. A bus trip and then a drip off at the ship.
The tour started with another visit to La Familiar Sagradia. We were picked up at our hotel with all of our luggage in a taxi and driven to the bus meeting point. Only small vehicles can get into the La Rambles area. Onto the bus and off for a great adventure.
First stop La Sagrada Familiar. The Church of the Holy Family. Antoni Gaudi’s greatest achievement and monument.
It was great to do the outside with a guide explaining it all. The eastern side is all about the Nativity with images of the three wise men et al. The sun rise hits these windows and symbolising the start of the day, the life of Jesus.
18th April. Barcelona – Parc Güell was the next stop. An amazing park also designed and developed by Anton Gaudí.
He wanted to establish an exclusive settlement for rich people, just out of Barcelona. He bought a plot of land and divided it into 60 housing plots. But his plan failed.
He was setting it up as a ‘gated community’ with strict design rules. Things like only 20% if the land could be built on. The rest had to be private open spaces. Gaudí also was to supervise each design, and he just made it too difficult.
It was up a huge hill looking over the city,
but a long way from the city (for the times). Very few plots sold.Nevertheless,
he went ahead with designing and building the public spaces. He designed some
amazing features. A huge public area was done for meetings, dancing etc. It was
surrounded by the famous curved benches. The benches are all done in mosaic.
Most of it broken plates etc. He asked the town of Barcelona to save anything china
they broke. The curves of the bench are all different sizes, making small and
large sitting areas for groups.
The area is huge, gravel and flat, and is built on layers of different sands and gravels. Water that falls on to it drains through and down into the columns below supporting the market place and then into water storage.
Everywhere were aqua duct type bridges and amazing tunnel like structures with intricate stone work and with the amazing use of arches. Towards the bottom were public building. Some amazing. Some like ginger bread houses.
We saw the famous lizard. A lizard statue designed by Gaudi. You don’t realise that you have seen it so many times. It is sold all over the world, not just Barcelona. I always thought it was just a Gecko. I have one.
He tried to represent so many things, and to incorporate so many different cultural things – Roman columns etc, but instead creating what appears to be the rambling of a crazy genius. Amazing but totally mad.
Only three houses were ever build there.
Fantastic…..but nuts.
Then into the bus for Montserrat. The huge serrated looking mountains well out of Barcelona and home to the famous monastery and cathedral. Benedict Monks built Santa Maria de Montserrat in the 11th century. It still functions today as an Abbey with 70 monks in residence. The area has been of religious significant since pre-christian times when the Romans had a temple to Venue up there. Last time I went up on the train. This time we drove up, so totally different. The place is amazing.
The backdrop of the sedimentary rock pillars reaching up is wonderful. Reds. Oranges and yellows.
The monastery is a beautiful building tucked into the rocks. Went and saw the boys choir. Poor little 8 to 12-year-old who live at the monetary for 6 days a week and sing. Their sound was amazing but so wrong. They were like zoo exhibits.
High up above the alter was an alcove with
the “Virgin of Montserrat” or the “Black Virgin” – a venerated statue of
Madonna and child. It’s a Romanesque statue made of wood. One belief is that
the statue was moved to Montserrat in 718 to protect it from the Saracen
invasion. Later the monks were unable to move the statue, so they built around
it. Over the years the statue has turned black! Either from hands or air born
pollution. People queued for hours for the chance to climb the stairs and go
and touch the “Black Madonna”.
Instead, we went up the massive funicular “Funicular de Sant Joan”.
Two carriages counterweight each other and run cars up the 65-degree slope.
Fun.
Stunning place up there. This is where the monks would go for their periods of solitude, living in caves. Not a bad place to live. Not so much the walk up.
It was then back down the mountain to Barcelona. After a drive around ‘Millionaire Row’ with its amazing houses, designed by the three main architects of Barcelona, including more Gaudi houses. His ready famous one is the curly building with curved balconies. And a drive around the Olympic sites. And the views from the top. Sensational day trip – that included ship drop off. Then off to board the ship. Spectrum of the Seas. Royals newest ship. As a bonus we arrived as they had started the muster drill so we missed out. Weird, we were not late. Muster was before all aboard. Oh how sad to miss it! But we were in time for lounge time.
Good Friday, 19th April. Sea day
Fun day exploring the ship and catching up with friends. The ship is Quantum class but designed specifically for the Chinese market. Heaps of specialty dinning, the normal casino plus a high rollers casino, a shopping enclave for the very rich. You paid (a lot) to have a private shopping session. And a private Casino enclave.
The lounges were amazing. The Gold Lounge was for the top suites. It was on top of the ship with a very large, forward facing private deck. Huge lounges and sun shelters. The restaurant was a Coastal Kitchen setup.
The Silver Lounge was down below that. When in China it will be for Silver suites. But for this trip it was for Diamond Plus. Amazing.
It was a giant area with the bar (of course), lounges and a huge dining area. It was so lovely having tables to sit around. The meals area was a buffet but very upmarket – great food. Good steak and so many seafood dishes. Giant Paella. Even Lobster. Three meals a day.
We had the suites brunch which was of course excellent. Tables with dry ice pouring off the edged. And I was able to take a cocktail down to trivia.
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