Barcelona

Our first destination for our 12 night Mediterranean cruise was Barcelona.  This city has many things to entertain the eyes and we saw sights of old and new.  Our hotel was a stones throw away from La Rambla Street.  We walked to Playa de Catalunya and little did I know there was an active protest going on inside the square.  People had been camping out there for what seemed to be many days. I am not sure what the protest was for, but it looked more like a night after a concert than a tourist attraction.  The boys didn’t even seem to notice since there was a line of rental bikes that they wanted to get on and off of.  We normally would not be thrilled with this, but we try to take advantage of opportunities that entertain the boys (especially free ones).  After seeing the plaza we walked down La Rambla to take in all the tourist sights of pedlers, street performers, animals stands, flowers shops, etc.  We tried to go to the Boqueria Market, but is was too crowed for our taste.  By this time we were all getting hungry so we started to look for a place to eat.  Everything seemed to be the same tapas food and not much for the kids.  After looking at over ten restaurants we found one worth a try and even go a spot by the window to look out onto La Rambla.  We people watched for a bit and then as we were eating some people came by on their bicycles totally nude.  They must have been protesting something, but we couldn’t tell what.  Cameron told us he could see their buts.  I thought it must be hard for a man or woman to ride a bicycle nude.  Interesting views of Barcelona so far. That evening we all went to Hard Rock.  The boys liked it because they play loud music and have cool guitars on the walls.  We liked it . because the food was good.  With our bellies full we were ready to board our cruise.  Carnival Magic here come the Offners