Barcelona: Viking Cruise Pre-Extension, Day 2

We took a taxi to Park Guell from Hotel Nobu. Initially, we’d planned a walking route from Nobu to Guell, but the Viking host disabused us of that plan. Though it didn’t sound far — a little more than a mile — I hadn’t considered the topography. As in, all uphill! The taxi got us there in 30 minutes — had to detour around a half dozen garbage trucks on their early morning routes — and cost 10€. Well worth the money. We had timed-entry tickets (10€ per senior over aged 60) purchased two months prior to our visit and arrived just in time to enter during our 30-minute window. (Walk-up tickets were still available for the early entry hours, nothing after 1200.)

While at Park Guell, we took the opportunity to visit Gaudi’s Home (5€ per adult). I loved the view, the details, and especially his private oratorium (prayer room). I never pass an opportunity to visit artists’ homes and I was not disappointed in the house Gaudi designed and built for himself and two family members.

The reward for all that walking and stair climbing? Chocolate croissants in a little bakery on our walk from Guell to Sagrada Familia church. We had ticketed access to the church’s interior beginning at 1515 so we walked around the exterior. I bought a woven palm cross for 2€ from one of the many women selling their homemade creations; it was Palm Sunday and there were all sorts of weavings from the palm leaves offered for sale — and waited.

Finally! Time to enter Sagrada Familia. Security was required for entrance — xray detectors like those found in airport security — and we were required to store our small backpack in a locker. From the end of the line to our entrance into the church took about 20 minutes. Then, finally, we were inside.

We then took the Tower Tour at Sagrada Familia scheduled for 1645. First, we rode an elevator halfway up the Passion Tower, then we climbed several flights of stairs toward the top and took in the views. Then came the fun part. Descending around and round and round, the steps are deep but there is a sturdy steel handrail for most of the descent. Loved the experience, but my legs weren’t happy the day after. If you are not claustrophobic and you can handle perhaps 100 uneven ascending steps followed by 400+ descending steps, this additional tour is well worth your time and money.

Sitting in the midst of ALL the light, I spent lots of time just sitting and watching the light and color shift in the interior of La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi’s masterpiece. The exterior was breathtaking in its grandeur. Still under construction, it’s due to be finished in 2027. But the inside is all organic form and stained glass and color and light.

We chose to not take a guided tour as I wanted to explore/take photos on my own timetable. I did order the self-guided audio tour and we used our Bluetooth headphones to listen to descriptions of the various areas. (We abandoned this halfway through. I’d done my research before going and the guide became a distraction. However, I do think many folks would appreciate the guide.)

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Our Sagrada tickets — entrance, audio tour, and Tower tour for two seniors — were 56€. I purchased them online about 10 weeks prior to our visit. A note: morning sunlight lights up the cool blue and green windows on the east side of the church: afternoon/evening light illuminates the warmer colors — oranges and yellows. If this matters to you, choose tickets accordingly. Next time we go, I’ll try and do a cool colors morning visit.

We took public transit back to the hotel. (Train station is across the street from Sagrada, then across the street from Hotel Nobu.) Super convenient, but a bit confusing. If you enjoy exploring that way, I recommend the experience.

There was an optional Viking walking tour offered in the late afternoon. $59 per person. We didn’t go since we’d planned an independent visit including Park Guell and Sagrada Familia reservations, but there was enough interest that Viking organized several tour groups. (If you want to see specific major highlights, plan on getting advanced tickets and going on your own. Folks were disappointed to find out that main attractions such as Sagrada and the Gaudi Houses were at full capacity. Research prior to your trip unless you’re satisfied with Viking planning and providing their Barcelona experience package.)

One of the Viking hosts recommended a nearby restaurant, Asador de Bierzo, for our second dinner in Barcelona. Not as quaint or cozy as our first dining adventure, but the food was fine. Snails. Catalan tomato bread. Iberian ham. Codfish and lamb for our main courses. A local bottle of wine. More expensive than Brases and I wasn’t a fan of the big screen TVs playing nonstop in a nicely appointed dining room. The staff did their jobs, though perfunctorily. If we could get a do-over, we’d choose differently and find a more intimate local place.

Barcelona: Viking Cruise Pre-extension, Day 1

We did take advantage of Viking’s Barcelona pre-extension because we were using a free airfare promotion and it made sense in this instance. Not always the case. We usually book our own flights, but we always consider our options. $599 per person for the pre-extension at the Barcelona Hotel Nobu was still pricier than if we’d done it on our own, but not by much. For our money, we got transfers from the airport to the hotel, a decent hotel very convenient to transportation, breakfast (which we ate only once in 3 days though many folks took advantage of the “free” buffet), and an included bus tour of the city on our way to the ship for embarkation. Viking hosts were available for questions from early morning to late evening. There were 331 passengers from both the Star and Jupiter at the hotel and Viking had all moving parts coordinated nicely.

Barcelona, while large and urban, is relatively easy to negotiate. Taxis were readily available at the hotel, though not as easy to hail from the streets. (We took a cab three times and only one driver spoke enough conversational English to answer our questions. Prepare ahead with written notes or be willing to use hand signs!) The train station was across the street and provided easy access to not only Barcelona but the surrounding region. We walked from the hotel to restaurants, coffee shops, the pharmacy, and a grocery store — all within a few blocks of Nobu.

We dropped our carry-on baggage in our room, took a quick shower, then headed out to do some sightseeing. I ordered online tickets to the Miro Fundacio though tickets were available at the entrance. Senior admission was half price, 7€ per person. It was a 20-minute taxi ride on a Saturday afternoon. 10€. I highly recommend this museum if you enjoy Miro. Designed by the artist himself, the Foundation has the most extensive Miro collection in the world. 200+ paintings, over a hundred sculptures, plus pencil sketches and more.

The museum is situated high above the city in the Montjuïc area and offers incredible views of the Barcelona skyline with a tiny Sagrada Familia rising from the horizon, plus the Mediterranean Sea glimmering in the sunlight. We ate at the museum’s outside garden cafe — one beer, one juice, and two sandwiches for 30€. Convenient and a lovely setting, decent food. Popular on a Saturday mid-afternoon, we waited about 40 minutes to order and get our food. But after the overnight flight, we were happy enough to sit and linger.

After our Miro visit, we walked through Mediterranean gardens on our way to the National Gallery of Art. It was a free community day so the museum was packed. Security screening was required for all belongings, a minor inconvenience. We walked through a few exhibits before admitting that we were too fatigued to negotiate the crowds, so we returned to the outside gardens. We enjoyed the folks, the music, the views. (Don’t bother with the gelato — awful and expensive.) Then we walked down, down, down, plus escalators, and eventually returned to our hotel.

A late afternoon nap revived us, and we went looking for dinner around 7 pm. (Early for Europe, but jet lag.) Found Brassos Bier. Friendly servers, excellent drinks, local food, English, and a convenient 3-block walk from the Nobu. Recommended. 60€ for one very large gin and tonic, a decent bottle of red wine, a shared bread and tomato appetizer, three tapas, one dessert, two coffees, and two after-dinner liqueurs. The liqueur was a yellow fruity ‘Herbs of the gods” per the server and was on the house.