Bergen to Barcelona

10/21 Ira as tour guide Ira had read a Rick Steve’s walking itinerary that he thought we should try so after breakfast we headed out with Ira as our guide on a walk though

10/20 On our own in Barcelona We had to vacate our stateroom by 8 AM and be off the ship by 9:30   AM. Our luggage was picked up the night before after leaving it outside the cabin so we took our carry ons and went to breakfast then sat in one of the lounges until time to disembark. We told Barry and Sharon good bye as we all left to get taxis....theirs to the airport, ours to our hotel in Barcelona in the Barri Gotic neighborhood.   As expected, we couldn’t check in so early but they stored our luggage so we could explore the area around the hotel. We went back to the cathedral area where the market was still going on but there were no lines for the cathedral and we spent a lot of time enjoying the art and sculptures.  It's a beautiful cathedral that was begun in the 13th century. A copy of the black madonna of Montserrat is in the cathedral. There is also a cloister where a group of very vocal white geese are kept. The cathedral took up a lot of time and we wer...

10/19 Barcelona We arrived in Barcelona around 1PM after a bouncy night at sea. We had a tour of Barcelona after arrival beginning as a brief bus tour then getting out and walking to the area of the cathedral in the Barri Gotic neighborhood of Barcelona where we had some free time.  First view of Barcelona from ship A large weekend market was in the cathedral square and a ridiculous line waiting to go into the cathedral.  We opted for wandering the market and walking in the neighborhood since we would have another opportunity to visit the cathedral while we were there. Back at the ship we packed and had our last dinner aboard ship. 

Murcia and Cartagena 10/18 We awoke in Cartagena this AM to another beautiful, sunny day. We took a bus tour into the region of  Murcia, the rival city to Cartagena. It was quite a long drive though desert appearing countryside that is actually a well irrigated and very important source of agricultural products for all of Spain. We stopped near an area along the Mediterranean that is a popular resort area. Our stop was at a picturesque lighthouse.           Then we went through an area of Murcia that historically was important for mines of zinc, lead and silver. The mines are now inactive but their effluents have damaged the bay below and there is a government project to try and repair the damage.  After winding through the mining area we arrived back in the town of Cartagena for a walking tour and a visit to the archaeology museum that leads to a large Roman theater. The inventor of the submarine is from Cartagena and a mod...