Cruising from Venice to Buenos Aires....

On the wharf in Venice, four bags, two backpacks and a new adventure in front of us.  South America!

We lined up our bags in the proper line and put the tags we were given on them.  For the first time we were traveling in an inside cabin … because it was inexpensive of course and our bags weren’t going to receive any priority.  We were prepared for this.

Check in was done efficiently and only took about 40 minutes.  We boarded and decided to have a drink in one of the bars before heading up for lunch.  Our first shock was the price of the drinks.  We’d cruised before but hadn’t seen prices like this.  Our second shock occurred at lunch.  The food was awful at the buffet and there was no lemonade or iced tea with which to hydrate yourself.  Searching for something to drink, like say …..  juice, we discovered what had happened to the world’s supply of Tang.  MSC Cruise Line had bought all of it!  No matter what flavor you asked for it was yellow.  Oh boy!

Our next disappointment was that the ship had no observation bar.  What?  We always sip some exotic, stupidly sweet drink while we watch the ship sail out of the port.  Apple vodka martinis have been my choice.  This particular ship couldn’t even make one.  A quick and efficient lifeboat drill and we were off.

About six hours after boarding and four hours after sailing, two of our four bags showed up (they were left haphazardly outside our cabin door).  We wandered down to dinner where our waiter fouled our order (there were only three choices) and the food was, well, less than ordinary.  We were astonished, this was an Italian cruise line!

We returned from dinner …. still missing two bags in the cabin.  Where were the damned things?  We found ourselves on the observation deck, leaning against the rail in the cold windy weather watching the spectacular trip from the port in Venice, through the islands to the open sea.  Thought I would catch pneumonia.  Returning to our small but adequate room, we found our bags in front of our cabin door.  Only ten hours after checking them in.  We went to sleep sure that tomorrow would bring a fresh outlook.

Breakfast at the buffet was, well, terrible.  We won’t do that again.  What to do today?  First task, sign up for internet service.  It cost what??????  Minimum 50 euro plan was for 120 minutes of internet access.  No wireless in the cabins - you could rent a cable if you did not bring one for only another 10 euros.  There were two or three areas in the ship that had wireless access but you still had to buy one of the expensive plans in order to use it.  We went a head and got a minimum plan because we knew we would need access at some point.  

After that trauma it was off to a bar for a late morning pick me up.  We find that they don’t have half of the things listed on the drinks menu …. and won’t have  during this cruise.  The prices of the drinks were worrying as well but, salvation is at hand.  The ship offers drink packages and we bought three packages of twelve; one for bottled water, one for juice (they had three or four flavors to choose from) and one for beer (two or three choices as well).  This would save us some money!

Wandering around the ship we discovered that most of the bars were actually show lounges.  Not our thing but we were told the entertainment was pretty good.  This was going to be boring for us in a hurry.  Definitely geared for the sedentary crowd.  We checked out the gym.  The limited number of machines were filthy and crowded.  An exercise ball?  What’s that?

Our television worked but the remote had no batteries in it.  Our lamps had no shades and we thought that was normal until a week into the cruise they suddenly appeared.  Hmmm.  The blanket on our bed was a little threadbare and was replaced several days into the cruise as were the batteries for the remote.  Well, we were going to be in Malta the next day so we’ll just make the best of it.

We thought we’d take a shore excursion in Malta and booked one without really knowing what it was.  The shore excursion booth was generally unoccupied and when it was manned, the person manning it really didn’t know anything about the excursions, they just took the orders.  There seemed to be a trend here.  We dressed for dinner and met our table mates for the first time.  Turns out we were the only Americans on this ship of 3,000 passengers and we sat with an expat Englishman who lived in Switzerland with his Belgian wife who was very unsure of her English language.  Lovely couple and we enjoyed several evenings with them although we sampled the wine list up and down finding nothing but mediocrity to our mutual frustration.

Malta was wonderful although the shore excursion in Mdina moved a little slowly and we found ourselves wandering off to find a local café for some coffee and pastries Malta style.

  Returning to Valetta the shore excursion picked up a bit and allowed us a little more free time, in fact, we were able to leave them and walk back to the ship on our own schedule. 

We found Malta to be as lovely as we remembered from our previous trip there and were delighted to absorb the stunning amount of history this little island nation can boast.

The next day we discovered that during breakfast the other passengers, consisting mostly of Italians, Brazilians and Argentinians, did not inhabit the gym.  In fact they proceeded directly from breakfast to the pool area.  Now we knew when we were going to work some of the softness we’d acquired during our lazy summer in Spain but, although we were feeling a little out of shape we sure did see plenty of “that person is old enough to know better” swimwear on this particular voyage.

On our fourth day after another “at sea” day the shipped docked at Barcelona.  We liked having the gym almost to ourselves and the pool deck was a little less crowded when we were in a port. Interestingly, many of the passengers never did not get off the ship.  We were starting to understand that this cruise line operated for passengers that like to shop, sunbathe and watch lounge entertainment.

We did finally realize that paying several hundred euros for an unlimited drink package was actually the best way to go if one intended to drink a little bit and didn’t want to go bankrupt.  These packages included beer, wine, cocktails, juice, specialty coffee, and ice cream so we purchased two.  For the rest of the cruise we tried our best to beer, espresso, juice and ice cream the ship to death (we needed to get our money’s worth).

There was one haven on the ship though.  Surprisingly it was the cigar bar.  This bar was open around the clock and while fully half of the pool deck was open to smokers this room was the only indoor smoking area on the ship.  The bar had a powerful but quiet air exhaust system that really kept the place from being too smoky and many people liked being there.  The furniture was comfortable and the conversations engaging.

Here we met Augie and Marcus from Salzburg, Austria.  We also met Narush from Serbia and Marie, also from Austria.  The usual attendant was Neer from Nepal and he provided some of the best service on the ship.  It quickly became the place to meet for a drink before dinner and of course, a place to enjoy a drink and a cigar after.

We didn’t have any interest in Casablanca, Morocco having been there before and seen the sites, and we  decided that the nearly 12 hour round trip for an hour with our friend Wahdi in Marrakesh was just not worth the travel time so we didn’t get off the ship again until Tenerife.  Sitting in a café enjoying a tapa and a drink with Marcus and Augie we realized that the previous Thursday, when the ship was docked in Barcelona, had been Thanksgiving.  Wow!  It had completely passed us by and turkey was definitely something we missed!

We left Tenerife, in the Canary Islands in the late afternoon and began the long, six day Atlantic crossing with nothing but the ship to entertain us.

On to Barcelona

Barcelona.  Nice large, modern airport.  We don’t care.  It’s four o’clock in the afternoon and after 22 hours of traveling we are tired, dirty and sore.  Not brave enough to try the bus, we garnered a taxi to our hotel.

The first thing we did absolutely right was our choice of hotel location.  We stayed in the hotel H10 PlazaCatalunya at the time it was less than 100euros a night and in Barcelona that was very reasonable.  Plaza Catalunya is at the top the La Rambla and is surrounded by bus stops and metro stations.  While our room was small by our standards, it was clean and comfortable, and once we walked around outside we confirmed that we were in the middle of everything.  We took showers and a nap.

Waking up around nine in evening we thought we had lost half a day in Barcelona.  Not necessarily true.  Walking outside the streets were jam packed and everything was open.  There was a restaurant next door to our hotel that had sidewalk tables and we found one, ordered beer, wine and seafood paella; a perfect introduction to Spain.  Expensive but perfect.

Not dealing with our jet-lag very well we returned to our hotel about 1am and tossed and turned until nearly 6am when we fell soundly asleep.  Awake at noon we once again thought we had wasted half a day in Barcelona.  Again, not true.

Restaurants were serving breakfast.  The Spanish version of breakfast turns out to be very different than the American version.  Coffee as Americans know it doesn’t exist in Spain although some restaurants provide a “Café Americano”; don’t do it.  Café is some form of espresso; single, double, with milk or cream etcetera.  Tostadas are the mainstay however and can be ordered with butter, jam, ham, cheese, tomato or any combination of these.  A tostada is a small (what we in the states would call a “French bread”) toasted on a grill.  So breakfast at noon is normal in Spain; weird for us.

We spent the afternoon wandering down La Rambla, wandering through the Boqueria (a huge indoor/outdoor fresh food market) and exploring the Gothic quarter.  There were crowds but since it was October they were not bad.  We absolutely stumbled upon the Picasso museum and were astounded at the sheer volume of sketches and “blue period” pieces that were on display.  We spent the better part of two hours there.  Of course now we needed to find the famous café where Picasso hung out as a teenager in Barcelona; 4 Cats or Quatre Gats.

On the way back to our hotel we passed a guitarist playing, and playing well, in a small courtyard surrounded by 3 and 4 story buildings.  The acoustics were simply incredible and we had to stay and listen for a bit.  We walked La Rambla back to our hotel and enjoyed the many street artists performing along the way.  That evening we slept well.

The next day we planned to take the metro to La SagradaFamilia.  This cathedral was designed by Gaudi and is very different type of gothic structure.  It has been under construction since 1882 and is still not finished.  At the risk of sounding irreverent or unappreciative of art or architecture, it looks from afar like several dripping candles.  Up close however, the detail is really incredible.

Even in October the lines at the Sagrada Familia were a block long but well worth the 45 minute wait.  We had a little trouble figuring out the Metro on the way there but, an apparently homeless person helped us by showing us how to work the ticket machine and we gave him a couple of euro for his assistance.  Another skill acquired.  Be careful though, this can be a common rip off scam so never give money in advance to an individual that approaches you like this.

That afternoon we went in search of “Quatre Gats”, in the El Barri Gotic or Gothic quarter and to explore El Raval.  We found Quatre Gats and were introduced to Barcelona’s version of tapas (a snack with your beverage).  It proved a very enjoyable rest and refreshment break in an incredible atmosphere.  There were pictures and posters on the walls by various famous artists, some of them quite old and I’m sure, quite valuable.  A significant number of tourists attempted to walk in and take pictures but were redirected by the staff.  Taking pictures is okay but you must be a paying customer.

The rest of our time in Barcelona passed quickly as we wandered this beautiful city.  The weather was perfect and the food delectable.  We had become brave enough to consider taking the bus to the airport.  We’d like to say that our day of departure came too quickly but for us, 4 days in Barcelona had been sufficient.

The morning of departure we walked across the plaza to the bus stop and got on the airport bus.  Arriving at the terminal we were absolutely unable to find our airline’s check in counter.  After 30 minutes of wandering around we realized that we were in the wrong terminal and needed to catch another bus to the correct terminal.  Tired and sweaty and out of time we arrived at our check-in counter (with very long lines) just in time to hear an announcement, in Spanish of course, concerning our flight.

Turns out, our 12:30pm flight had been delayed for at least one hour.  We checked our bags to Granada and proceeded to the gate.  By 2pm our flight had been cancelled along with the 1:30pm and 2:30pm flights.  It finally looked like we would be leaving by 3:30pm.  This fit the window we had arranged to meet the person who would check us into our accommodations.

For any of you that are irritated that messages in the United States (in airports or when calling a utility company for example) are repeated in Spanish or other languages I would invite you to an airport, bus station or train station in a country in which you do not speak the language, or don’t speak it very well.  If ever there is an announcement that concerns your travel, like a boarding announcement or a gate change, you will be grateful for that English repetition, trust me.

We finally boarded our aircraft at 4:30pm.  Four consecutive flights had been cancelled because, we think, the planes weren’t filled.  But now the flight was packed and we were unable to sit together during the 90 minute flight occupying instead, middle seats in different parts of the plane.  The captain then made an announcement that the flight had “missed its’ departure” slot due to the amount of time it took the passengers to board and would be delayed for 3 more hours. 

What ensued was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen on board an aircraft that had already left the gate.  Fully 80% of the passengers stood up and started pulling down their overhead luggage.  I cannot adequately describe the sound of over one hundred angry Spaniards all talking at once.  There was going to be a mutiny right there on the taxi way.  The captain had to come out of the cockpit to reassure the passengers and at first we thought they were going to string him up or at least throw him off the plane but eventually everybody calmed down and returned to their seats. 

Interestingly, we took off 15 minutes later.