Continuing down the harborside, we reach the history museum without incident and begin our exploration of Catalunya history. Here again, this museum has some of the best displays, both interactive and creatively static. Everything looks so real. There is a section on the Moors and the expansion to, then retreat from, Europe. One interesting note: the name Andalusia apparently is named as such from the 9th C al-Andalus Calphate established a strong hold in that region. Another section had realistic statues – life-size – of knights in their armor and their steeds. There was even one horse you could mount to get a feel for the sheer girth of the thing. You know I’m not resisting that! And that horse was huge, I could barely get my legs around it.
Onto the 15th C, an entire room is devoted to the peasant revolts and countryside uprisings against Feudal oppression (we’re thinking we might need a little bit of that in our country pretty soon). Another section on the Reapers’ War in the 17th C (portrayed through an excellent clay statue of the “reapers”) when the peasants revolted against their harsh conditions while 10,000 soldiers were billeted in their towns and given a much better life. Then an excellent representation of the Civil War public revolts.
After the violence, the next parts of the museum focus more on early homelife and education from the 30’s onward. Then there is the economic growth of the 60s, including a real Seat 600 in the middle of the exhibit.
The last floor we visit is a temporary exhibit called En Fugida, or Refugees. A really bold and intriguing look at the current refugee crisis – and how it has really been going on for decades, if not centuries, but it has been politicized and become so much worse today. We definitely won’t bore you with all those details – we downloaded the English guide to the exhibits which is pages long – and will read it all later. Suffice it to say, it’s a problem here, and as far as we can tell, it is very different from the problem in North America.
The whole museum was really interesting and informative, and if it weren’t for our short port call, probably deserves more time. But we don’t have that luxury today, so we are off to grab lunch at our pre-researched Tapas restaurant called Tapeo. The one absolute today is that we must have Canelones – the traditional Catalan kind that I absolutely adore. We had found a few places close by, but man, they were pricey, so when we saw this little Tapas bar, we figured it was worth the 15 minute walk up through the Gothic area. Tapeo was also one of the few places that opened at noon – which we needed to get back to the ship on time. So, Tapeo it was. The walk was nice, but as we got back into the old town from Barceloneta, you could see how much more crowded everything was getting. Saturday afternoon in Barcelona – it’s what we expected. Arriving at the restaurant, there is a line a mile long across the alley, but when we walk into the restaurant, while packed (with Asians we might add), there are some seats. The waiter asks us if we have reservations. Shit. No. Didn’t really think we’d need them for a Tapas bar…but we get lucky and he allows us to sit at 2 of the last 4 remaining seats at the bar but we have to be done by 2 pm. Not a problem!
Perusing the menu, which we had already done, we knew what we wanted, but then they had a special seafood menu which looked good so we eneded up with 2 excellent croquetas de Jamon, Butifarra e Ceps Canelones and Calamares de dia, plus of course our beer and wine. An excellent rather light snack for our lunch. As we ate, the teeny place kept filling up with more and more Asians. It’s crazy over here for some reason. By the time we were done and left, there wasn’t a seat in the house, and we’d say over half of the seats filled were Asian.
Then, out on the streets, more and more Asians. It was seriously weirdly nuts. We have also seen the Asian travelers, but not like this. It was almost like they came directly this this one particular part of the city. As we traversed our way back toward the blue bus pick up – and our pit stop at the Lidl over near there – we saw many more Asians, but many looked like they knew exactly where they were going, not staring at their phones or looking lost. We’re clueless. It was just noticeable, thus the comments!
Crossing over Las Ramblas, we headed into the Universidad area, passing by the sadly closed Kiosko – they don’t open until 2:30, so no drink for us there today – as well as some other really cute street art, until we reached Lidl. At this point, I’m just like those Asians – might as well live here, I know exactly where we’re going without the need of the phone maps!
Snack shopping complete, we hoof it back to World Trade only to just miss a bus and find a line starting to form for the next buses. As we stand there, we start chatting with some crew behind us who are the entertainment cast on Celebrity Equinox. They are so cute and sweet. We end up spending the 20 minute wait for the next bus having a blast with them – comparing Celebrity ships, experiences on the crossing, you name it. Great way to spend the time.
Finally stuffed on the bus, we make it back to the terminal with plenty of time to spare, and immediately make a run for the cabin to avoid the typical first day chaos. Our balcony overlooks the terminal so we can watch all the goings ons: The late crew members, the even later passengers – 8 in total, 2 guys that sort of hurried through the gangway looking more like crew than passengers, 2 others who literally ran the entire way down the long winding port gangway just as the Captain was explaining the emergency signals, and then 4 who got here at almost 4pm (our original sailing time), being walked in on the pier level, escorted by 4 ship staff carrying their bags and showing them where to go. Same day flight, ay? Yeah, not the way you want to arrive at a ship! They got very lucky indeed.
Then, sadly, Captain comes back on to tell us our sailing will be delayed due to a passenger’s serious medical emergency that needs attention on land. That is always so distressing to hear. The Captain says they anticipate the ambulance will be here in 15 minutes. It’s more like 30 – hopefully this person isn’t in too much distress! But when they finally do arrive, the passenger is wheeled out in a chair, and then she can get up on her own and get into the ambulance – with help and a huge oxygen tank – so hopefully it isn’t all that awful. We of course have cat bird seats and are taking pictures of the luggage to see if they are just arriving passengers – and they are. They have fresh Oosterdam bag tags and still have the little airline stickers on their bags. Such a shame and a disappointment for them. We can only hope all turns out well.
Then it is up to the gym busier, which isn’t all that bad, except whatever presentation Brandon is giving – which has drawn quite a few folks. A quick lounge stop, then back to the cabin in time for Tjalling’s afternoon update where he reiterates Paul’s comedy show tonight is exactly the same as what we saw the other night – which is very nice to reinforce that so we know we don’t have to bother.
Down to the dining room early to try to avoid the first night dinner craziness, we get a table right away but also get Putu as our waiter who gets in the weeds easily. This means our dinner took a while – not that we cared though, because we had nothing to do! Unfortunately, though, we were at one of the icky 2-top tables that are so close to other 2-top tables it is too easy for the others to try to talk to you. And the couples on either side of us so very much wanted to talk. It was hysterical. Every time one of them started to try to say something to us, Ed would just start randomly talking about something to me to cut them off. Plus, they could not figure out how we knew everyone and called people by name and were so friendly. Entertainment value!
And that was our night out. Balcony drinks and TV for the remainder of the night – let the 2nd leg begin.
Andiamo 