Turnover day – we are staying on Dawn until the last minute since we are just literally walking down 2 piers to get to the Oosterdam.  Of course, last minute for us is nothing compared to the other people on this ship! It is crazy how they have to announce over and over it is time to get off the ship.  Then they even have to go so far as to announce names and cabin numbers telling passengers to leave, now.

We’re one of the last groups to be called, and even then as we walk past Guest Relations there is a line of at least 30 people trying to pay their bill.  And about 100 sitting in the atrium with their bags. What are they doing?  It is crazy.  We just don’t get it at all.

We leave when we are supposed to leave, walk through the terminal (which, btw, has no signage and no personnel at this point directing you to the luggage), find our bags at the last conveyer belt and make the 10-minute trek down to Terminal D for the Oosterdam. Of course, even waiting as long as we did, we are still too early to drop the bags. We’ve got nothing but time today, our check in isn’t until 2:40, our only plans are to possibly go to Gaudi’s Casa Batllo, which if possible, we will buy timed entry tickets online when we know we can make it there, so we don’t really care.

First in line for the bag drop, we just hang out, chat with another couple who is early, as well as one of the families aboard Dawn with the cute (if not hyper) 4-year-old who is transferring to Oosterdam as well.  Hmmm.  Very interesting.  We didn’t think there would be any kids aboard at all.  We’ll see what the passenger demographics are after we board and get to know the ship.

The baggage folks arrive at 10, take our 2 stufffed suitcases and we are off. Free to wander the city until our check in time later in the afternoon.  Grabbing the Blue bus, we arrive at World Trade Center a little after 10, decide to stop for a cappuccino there (really for a bathroom stop) which turns out to be a huge waste of time – they are slammed busy and then they never deliver our cappuccino.  I had to go back inside to get them – where the barrista tells me they lost us.  Sigh. 

Ok, we’re set now.  A quick walk to the Drassanes Metro stop, tickets purchased, 4 stops on the metro and we are deposited right outside Casa Battlo.  We push the purchase tickets for 11:15 entry and after a little panic where our credit card won’t process (Chase had to double check for fraud for some reason, but we easily handled that with a reply text and email to them) we are inside Gaudi’s first large remodeling project – and one of my favorite Gaudi creations.  We’ve not been inside the house for years – maybe 15 or so – its been ages and I’m excited to tour the wonderland of Gaudi’s imagination again.

Sadly, the visit was not as idyllic as we would have liked.  The house was jam packed, uncomfortably so.  They’ve also gone electronic with different visit levels that provide a tablet with AI recreation of the actual house.  They are sort of cool in a way, you get a tablet and then stand in a room filled with people, but as you move the tablet around, it displays the room as it was designed originally, devoid of any people.  In theory it is a great addition, in practice?  Not so much.  What happens is the technology creates these bottle necks of people holding pads up in front of their face and turning slowing around all the areas of the house.  We didn’t opt for that level of tour and were very glad we didn’t as it was more of a pain in the neck than actually interesting to us. 

Trying to make the best of it, we do manage to find some sweet spots where there aren’t many people around.  And while the crowds make it hard to really bask in Gaudi’s wildly imaginative creation, the architecture still enthralls me.  The wallpaper that is meant to look undulating light on water, the wood accents everywhere, the amazing fireplace and that totally awesome air shaft that runs up through the inside of the entire structure, now converted into an underwater wonderland. He was just an amazingly talented (and yes, weird) man.

We make it to the outside terrace at the back of the house, managing some decent shots of the stained glass windows on our way and the mosaic designs on the courtyard.

Then we traverse the wooden spiral steps up to the landing where we can walk all the way up the next 4 levels in the air shaft.  I mean, seriously, this is all just an airshaft for ventilation, nothing else, but it is so richly decorated, it looks like it should be a more public, usable space.

Reaching the attic level where the servants worked and lived, we pass the ironing room (with a maid doing the ironing there), the wash tub room and finally the rooftop where – horrors of all horrors – there is now a bar/café up there with tables and more people than you can imagine sitting there drinking and eating!  Commercialism at its best – or worst depending upon your point of view.

We manage to snap a few shots of the incredible mosaic sculptures adorning the rooftop and then skedaddle down the back stairs, through the weirdly modern sheets of metal curtains hung all through the staircase.  The audio guide – which btw was WAY too long and detailed, so much so we stopped listening early on in our visit – thank heavens we choose the shorter version! –  tells us this is a new installation by a Japanese artist (or something like that, remember, we stopped listening after a while!). 

And poof! Visit done.  Such a cool place.  Such a shame it was so overly crowded and not enjoyable.  Oh well – live and learn.  And it did give us something to do while we wait to board our ride home.

More photo opps on the street level, I mean, come on, how can you not be intrigued by that house?  And we start our trek back to the port, snapping pictures of all the great architecture on the way.  This city is such a fascinating mix of all sorts of styles of architecture you can just walk around staring at buildings all day long.

It’s getting on around lunch time as we hit Placa Catalunya  where we veer off into the Gothic quarter in search of a restaurant.  All the little café type places across from the Cathedral are packed, but we manage to find a corner table at Taverna del Bisbe where we tuck into some good croquettas, an incredible delicious mini-burger and a great jamon and queso torte.  Perfect lunch and perfect people watching spot next to the Cathedral entrance.

Back on the streets, we snap more photos of the cool architecture as we make our way down to the harbor.  We also get some perfectly lit shots of Roy Lichtenstein’s Cap de Barcelona – the huge “face of the city” that is part of a series of “Brushstroke” sculptures across the city.

From here it is an easy walk down the marina to the World Trade Center and our Blue Bus ride back to the port.

Arriving at Terminal D, check in is super easy.  We’d already filled out all paperwork and set up our Verifly account, so all we needed to do was show our vaccination cards and walk right aboard.  Sweet!  Now……a whole new world for us to explore!

And explore we do.  The Oosterdam is a beautiful ship with lots of different entertainment areas, bars, an aft pool and a solarium.  The artwork is fabulous and the statues and carved benches in the elevator hallways are beautifully ornate.  Our cabin is lovely – it is a tad smaller than the mini-suite on Dawn, but not by much.  Our bags are already in our room when we arrive and we are unpacked and wandering around pretty quickly.   Let the last leg of our journey begin!  Can’t believe we’ll be home in 2 weeks.