Tag Archives: Barcelona

2018, A to Z Challenge, Cruises, Europe, Misc, Spain, Travel Notes

B = Barcelona

April 2, 2018 Cat Starr Astral Traveller 2 Comments

A to Z Ports: Barcelona

Barcelona is one of the busiest cruise ports in the Mediterranean with many cruises starting or ending there and some spending an extra night or two because there is so much to see. There are several cruise ports in Barcelona, however most larger ships dock at Adossat Quay Terminals. There is no direct way to get there, except by taxi. If you are docked for the day — or longer — there is usually a shuttle bus that will take you to in front of the World Trade Centre, which is a stopping point for the two hop-on hop-off bus services. It is also a quick walk to Las Ramblas and and Port Vell.

Smaller ships may dock at the World Trade Centre Terminals. This is a special treat because you don’t have to take a shuttle or taxi — you get stuck in traffic when the bridge is “open” to allow for ships to sail through it. I’ve docked in Barcelona several times and only once did my ship dock at the World Trade Centre Terminal.

I’ve written a lot about Barcelona. Here are some of my posts:

#atozchallenge

2017, A to Z Challenge, Cruises, Denmark, Europe, Germany, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Travel Notes

Mystery Cruises #AtoZChallenge

April 15, 2017 Cat Starr Astral Traveller Leave a comment

So, why would someone pay to go on a mystery cruise; get on a ship and head to ports unknown? Since I love to cruise, this sounded like an interesting opportunity to sail into, well, mystery! I’ve now done two of these cruises and both on the Braemar. I really like this ship. It is a smaller one and feels like family. It is very easy to sail solo and meet lots of friends on this ship.

On the first cruise, we sort of knew where we were going. The passengers were given a choice and we voted for one port or another — but we did not know where we were going until we got there! Here are the ports we visited:

Porto, Malaga, Barcelona, Valencia, Cartegna, Cadiz, La Coruna

The second mystery cruise was truly a mystery — one that would include only maiden ports (ports where our ship had never visited). It was very strange not to be able to plan or research the ports we were going to, nor to be able to know exactly what to pack — for warm or cold! The cruise was early May, so it was hard to plan for everything. It started in Dover and we waited to see if we would turn to go north … or south (or if we could even trust that, in the night, the ship would change directions!). As it turned out, we continued North and thus we began a cruise that went to Norway, Denmark, Germany and Sweden.

The ports included:

Larvik, Hundested, Nyborg, Fredercia, Wismar, Lyskil

Would I go on another one? It would be hard to keep me away!

2016, A to Z Challenge, Argentina, Cuba, Europe, Portugal, South America, Spain, Travel Notes

Y is for Y más: a review of my top five places

April 29, 2016 Cat Starr Astral Traveller Leave a comment

Y más or “and more …” is my review of my top favorite places to visit — as least at of today! Here is my countdown…

Number Five: Cadiz, Spain! I was so surprised at the beauty and walk-ability of Cadiz. At to that a Fortress named after my patron saint that is constructed in a star shape, beautiful beaches and great seafood — what more could I want!

Number Four: Lisbon has beautiful architecture, twisting streets, great museums, amazing music and, of course, good food and wine!

Gate to downtown Lisbon

View of the opera house and Plaza from the Santa Justa Elevator

View of the castle from the Santa Justa Elevator

View from the Castelo de Sao Jorge

Number Three: Buenos Aires with it different neighborhoods, tango all night, and friendly people — I think I lost part of my heart there!

Recoleta Cemetary

Me at the Piazolla New Year’s Eve show

Number Two: Cuba! I am still dreaming about Cuba and all it has to offer. I love Cuba and her people. Viva Cuba!

And number one should not be a shock to anyone who has read my blog … BARCELONA! If I could, this is where I would like to live. Architecture, people, beaches, food, night life, museums, concerts — it has everything I love (and did I mention football and Camp Nou?).

Europe, Spain, Travel Notes

New adventures in Bacelona

November 16, 2015 Cat Starr Astral Traveller 5 Comments

It should come to no surprise that, when we had the choice to go to Barcelona, that is what we chose on the “Choose your Own” cruise on the Braemar. The really cool thing about being on a smaller ship, is that we got to use the dock near the World Trade Centre, not the normal Barcelona Cruise Port. We were docked next to one of the Port Cable Car towers and a quick walk to the Columbus Column at the foot of Las Ramblas! All I can say is once I left the ship, I felt like I was home. I love Barcelona!

I wanted to do something different this time, so I headed to the main tower of the port cable cars which is in the Barceloneta neighborhood and directly across from the beach and an aqua centre. They start running the cable cars at 11:00 AM, so being a little early, a took a walk along the beach, watching some surfers and drinking an espresso.

Then, I headed back and was in the first car that went across from the port to Torre de Miramar on Montjuïc mountain. Passengers alight from the cable cars in the Costa i Llobera Gardens. From here, all of Barcelona is at your feet.

This is how close the Braemar was docked!

Of course, I wanted to visited some of my old “haunts”, so here are more pictures of things I love in my walking through Barcelona.

Yes, I love Barcelona!

2015, Cruises, Europe, Portugal, Spain

Choose your own cruise highlights

October 31, 2015 Cat Starr Astral Traveller 1 Comment

I have lots of stories and photos to share about my latest cruising adventure. As I posted earlier, it was a cruise where the passengers choose which ports we would visit. So, where did we go? Here is an overview of the cruise:

From Southampton, we sailed 530 nautical miles to Leixoes, Portugal and a visit to Oporto.

Next, we sailed 521 nautical miles to Malaga, Spain

After another 530 nautical miles, we visited Barcelona!

Another 182 nautical miles latter found us in Valencia.

And another 182 nautical miles brought us to Cartagena, Spain.

After 366 nautical miles, we arrived in Cadiz, Spain.

We sailed back up the Iberian Peninsula for another 522 nautical miles to La Coruna, Spain.

Then, we headed back another 368 nautical miles to Southampton. More detailed stories are coming about each of the ports as well as a bit about sailing on the Braemar. It was an amazing trip!

2014, A to Z Challenge, Cruises, Europe, Travel Notes

A to Z Challenge: W = Weddings

April 26, 2014 Cat Starr Astral Traveller 4 Comments

W = Weddings, or more appropriately the weddings I’ve “crashed” while travelling

since I usually find myself visiting churches and other picturesque places, t would make sense that I might encounter a wedding … or two. Here are some of the weddings I’ve seen in my travels.

Probably the most unique was when I went to the Montserrat Basilica, which is outside of Barcelona. I got there a little before it opened and noticed that, among the tourists, there was a group of people who were very well dressed for a Saturday morning. Imagine my surprise when they opened the doors and the tourists lines up on the right-side aisle to see the Black Madonna and the rest went to sit in the church proper top attend a wedding!

Montserrat, Catalonia: A beautiful spot for a wedding

The line to see the Black Madonna at Montserrat

My other wedding pictures are from walking around a city and finding myself in the middle of the celebration.

Wedding in Amsterdam: The man in the blue sweater is in every photo!

Another beautiful church for a wedding in Helsinki

One thing they all had in common, the bride wore white.

2014, A to Z Challenge, Cruises, Europe, Spain, Travel Notes

A to Z Challenge: S = Spain

April 22, 2014 Cat Starr Astral Traveller 1 Comment

S = Spain

Spain has to be one of my favourite places in the world to visit. I see, to love everything about it – the food, the music, the architecture, the people. There is just so much to do and see and so much diversity. So much, in fact, that I am already planning for my next visit; which, unfortunately will not be until 2015. But I leave a piece of me heart there each time I go. Here are some of my highlights of four places: Malaga, Madrid, Toledo and, of course, Barcelona.

In Malaga, I spent a lot of time wandering through the fortress that overlooks the city and port, visiting the cathedral and wandering through the park that runs along the port.

Madrid is filled with people and music. I there were two impromptu drumming performances that I stumbled upon while wandering through the city. I was also there the night FC Barcelona was playing for the Euro Cup final – and I got the watch the game with a group of people sitting in the kitchen of a restaurant (before I headed back to Barcelona to celebrate the win in the streets!). I also spent a lovely Sunday in Retiro Park and meet more musicians. I do love Latin music!