A Mediterranean Love Story

When I left you last, we had arrived in Barcelona, after a sleepless night of travel.  As I told you, we waited to go to bed until nightfall in Barcelona.  Since that was several hours away, we decided to take a little walk to see the sites that we could.  That little walk turned into a five mile traipse around town. 
After relaxing for a few minutes in our room at the Hotel Continental Palacete, we headed down La Rambla Market Street.  This famous street is in the middle of old Barcelona, and the hotel, which has been in existence since 1826, was located on La Rambla.
There is a tree lined walkway between the two lanes of the road, and all sorts of vendors sell their wares.  Many outdoor cafes are located along the way, and a few statues. 
There are many Human Statues/Performers along the way that can take you by surprise.  They are as still as statues until someone drops a coin into the container in front of them.  When that happens, the chosen one will burst into animation.  It is incredible how frozen they can remain.  It’s a little shocking the first time this happens, if like me, you don’t know they are live people.  :)  I liked the golden statue the most (could it be because of the feathers?)
I’m having trouble posting so will try to divide this into two parts.

La Rambla terminates at the Port of Barcelona if you walk far enough, and we did.  :)

In 1892, this statue commemorating Columbus’ discovery of America was erected at the edge of the bay.  Columbus looks out across the Mediterranean, and points his finger in the wrong direction toward America.  :)

One of the first things that Pam and I noticed about this city is the tiny old streets, and the lack of street signs.  I guess everyone knows where they are going here.  We, however, did not.
As we tried to find a certain cathedral, the streets got skinnier and skinnier.  We ran into several dead ends, and it seemed like we were going around in circles for quite some time.  Some people might say we were lost, but we choose to think of it as being on a slightly stressful adventure.  The first thing we were told about by the guide on our way to the hotel was to watch out for pickpockets, so that was on my mind as our path became more convoluted and dark.  :(  We were able to eventually find our way out of the maze, and after four hours, made it back to the hotel.

As we stopped for lunch yesterday, at an outside cafe, you just had to look around to notice that love was in the air on the shores of the Mediterranean.
Couples all over were kissing and nuzzling each other.  :)
                       But only one couple had the audacity to “go all the way!” in public.

Today, we made it to the Voyager of the Seas, and have embarked from Barcelona and are on our way to Cartagena, Spain.  It will take me a few posts to catch up with where we are now, so please stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy