According to our port information, there are two fables about the birth of Barcelona. One says that it was founded by Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal the 3^rd century conqueror. The second says Hercules built the city 400 years before the birth of Rome.

The plan for today was to get on one of the cities hop on hop off buses and see the sights from the comfort of an open deck . After catching the ships shuttle bus into town we headed to the nearest bus stop and hopped on a tourist bus and begun the 'orange route' that took in the western part of the city. Due to a Harley Davidson parade that was happening in town, we had to miss a couple of stops that sat on top of Montjuic. While it would have been good to see the castle, surrounding gardens and the Olympic stadium that sit atop the hill from up close, we were still able to get a good idea of what it was like from the bus.

We spent the remainder of the morning travelling along the orange route where we went past other highlights like the Placa Espanya and Camp Nou (home to FC Barcelona). In the centre of town, our bus changed from an orange line one to a green line one.

The green line begun its loop along the beaches of Barcelona. When we got to Port Olimpic, we hopped off the bus to get some lunch. Our cabin neighbour is leaving the ship in Lisbon, so we were invited to a lunch he was having at a local restaurant.

Lunch consisted of traditional Spanish fare - Pa amb tomaquet (bread with tomato, garlic and olive oil), chicken coquettes, mussels and a big batch of seafood paella (including king prawns, scampi, mussels, pippi’s and chunks of calamari). Being very seafood focussed, Mum really enjoyed the paella, I found it nice and could see how good it would be if it was a chicken one.

After eating too much and sampling the establishment’s sangria, we hopped back on the bus and continued our green loop. The green loop went past highlights like the Torre Agbar (a building that is lit up at night by a thousand of LED lights), the Sagrada Familia (an iconic church that was regarded as Antoni Gaudi’s masterpiece and had been under construction since 1882).

After completing the green loop we hopped off the bus and after a quick visit to the Barcelona Hard Rock Café to get a t-shirt for Mum, we began our walk down La Rambla, Barcelona’s famed shopping promenade located in the old part of the city and surround by Barri Gothic buildings.

Towards the end of the promenade, we stopped for some last minute tapas and a refreshing beverage. Then it was time to catch the shuttle bus back to the ship.

Once we got back to ship, it was time to get ready to retire for the evening. Mum went out of deck to watch the city disappear in the distance.

Fun fact:
Urban parks account for 10% of the cities acreage.