Barcelona : Blog # 11

 

                                                            Blog # 11: Barcelona 

Our Port Terminal Is Minutes Away From An Old Custom House

     There's A Majestic, Old World "Feel" To This Building

           The Tour Started With A Look At Barcelona From A Mountain Top.

At This Point, There Was an "Ah Ha" Moment. We Were On The Wrong Tour.

       Left The Bus - Got a Taxi And Headed To The Town Center

Found A Large, Upscale Store. Looks Like Barcelona Has The Same Theft Problem As We do At Home. (Interesting Purse!)

                     Motorcycles and Scooters Are Everywhere!

Arlene Celebrates With An Aperol Spritz. She Made It Through The Cruise !!

 Elaborate Entertainment And Fantastic Costumes  - Argentina theme

                             Highly Technical Routines 

         Wonderful Tango Dancing - Almost As Good As "Dancing With The Stars!"

                                                    Is This Las Vegas, Or What?

                Once The Dancers And Singers Are Selected...

They Have To Practice For Six Months Before They Perform On A Ship

   6:00 AM Room Service - We Leave For Paris In Two Hours

                Very Efficient Luggage Handling At The Port

                                            Lounge Snack

Jerry Has A New Friend (Sol-Luna) - They Shared A Tram On The Way To The Gate

Jerry Tries Out His New Phone. This Is A Normal Picture From About 15,000 Feet

This Is Using The Phone's Telephoto Lens. Given The Plane Was Moving, Shaking A Bit From Turbulence And The Photo Was Through The Window, Still It Is A Remarkable Shot!

American Carriers Barely Give Passengers A Bag Of Peanuts Or Pretzels. Foreign Airlines Typically Offer A Meal Even On A Short Flight. We Were On A 90 Minute Flight. Meal Came With A Choice Of Red Or White Wine Along With The Perfectly Prepared Salmon! Yum!

We've Stayed At Most Of The High End Paris Hotels. However, Perhaps One Of Our Favorite Places To Stay Is Francois I -- A Small Boutique Hotel Steps Away From The Champs-Elysees

                            What Do I Want For Breakfast?

YSL Always Has Fantastic Store Windows. Yes, It Was A Bit Chilly. The Day Started In The High 40's!

Snacking On Sandwiches  - Having Fun Watching The People Go By

   Our Traditional Photo - We Started Taking Pictures In Front Of 

   The Arc D' Triomphe Since The early 1980's. It Hasn't Changed          Over The Years. However, We have...Just A Little!!

It Was A Struggle. Yet, Jerry Finally Decided... He'll Take The Red One

                When In France...Had To Have A Chocolate Crepe!

Fun Local Bistro - Lots Of Energy - Tables Were Close Together - Met People Next To Us From Serbia, Canada And The United States. The Serbians Were Two Girls Celebrating Their University Graduation As Environmental Engineers. Two Girls Were From Santa Monica And The South Bay Area. Got Invited By A Grandmother For A Long Weekend. Then, There Was A Mother From Montreal. Her Eight-Year-Old Son Just Won A National Math Contest. As An Award, He Had a Choice of Places To Visit. He Selected Paris. Yes, He Confirmed One Of The Math Questions Was, "If A Train Is Going 45 MPH In One Direction And Another Train Is Heading Toward That Train At 25 MPH, At What Point Will They Meet? 

Typical Board Menu. We Had A Bottle Of Table Wine Which Was Delicious And Inexpensive.

                                    Onion Soup? Of Course
            OMG!!! The French Fries Were Fantastic! Ooh La-La
                    People Behind Us Celebrating A Birthday

Spent Time With Sophie In Her Apartment. She's A Good Friend Of Our Daughter, Heather. By A Fluke, Met Sophie's Parents Years Ago - Did An Exchange With Our Two Oldest Children - They Went To Paris; Sophie Stayed With Us. Celebrated Many Happy Occasions - Sophie's Bat Mitzvah, Wedding, Birthdays, etc.

    Popular Restaurant Near Our Hotel Had This Display In Front

                        On Plane From London To LAX

                        Looking Down At Greenland

     We Were Surprised. British Airways Meals Were Quite Good!

Some Of Our Friends Know We Present Our Company Frisbee To People That Are Special, Have Done Something Nice To Us Or To The Sweet, Young Child That (Out Of The Blue) Never Expected Anything. The Smiles, Tears And Appreciation Are Always Worth More Than The Trip. This Time, We Gave A Frisbee To A Young Man From South Africa Who Helps Coordinate Ship Tours For The Guests. He Was Always Trying To Help Us Find The Best Tour, Make Changes Or Even Exchange Thoughts About The World Around Us. When Handed The Frisbee With Our Thanks, He Was So Touched. No One Had Ever Thanked Him For His Work. He Never Had A Toy Like This Frisbee. He Mentioned, Rather Than Playing With It, He Will Treasure It With The Other Items He Collected Over The World.

This Was A Great Way To Finish A Wonderful Trip And Thankfully There Were No Medical Issues During Our Travels. Thanks To Everyone For Their Comments.

Our Bags Are Packed Is The Name Of Our Blog. Once The Clothes Are Washed And We Get Caught Up With All Of Our Typical "Things To Do," Hopefully We Will Re-pack Our Bags And Off We Will Go To Meet People And Further Explore The World!