We ended our cruise today by disembarking in Barcelona, Spain. After getting off the ship we took a taxi to our hotel, called the Andante Hotel. It was too early in the day to get into our room, so we put our luggage in locked lockers and headed into town. Barcelona is a huge city. It has a population of 1.6 million within city limits, and its urban area extends to numerous neighboring municipalities within the Province of Barcelona and is home to around 4.8 million people. We figured the best way to see a huge city is to ride a "hop on/hop off" bus. There is both a red line and a green line that winds throughout the city. We rode both lines and it took almost the entire day. The only time we got off the bus was for lunch. I didn't take too many pictures today since we were in a moving bus, but I plan on taking more tomorrow.
Picture of Barcelona from the rooftop of our hotel
A monument of Columbus
We did see a wedding in front of a church, complete with a Mariachi band.
I asked the front desk clerk who she would recommend for dinner. We wanted something close so that we could walk. She recommended a restaurant called Elche. They specialized in Paella, a rice dish originally from Valencia. It is one of the best-known dishes in Spanish cuisine. The dish takes its name from the wide, shallow traditional pan used to cook the dish on an open fire. Paella being the word for a frying pan in Valencian/Catalan language. We ordered Chicken and Seafood Paella and it was delicious.
The Paolino's had Cervezas (beer) for dinner. It was less expensive than the bottled water I ordered.
We are starting our trip by boarding the Holland-America cruise ship Nieuw Statendam on Saturday, April 8, 2023. The ship was docked in Lauderdale, FL and we left the dock at 4:00 pm. Fourteen days later on April 22nd we will disembark in Barcelona, Spain. We are traveling with our friends Carmine and Holly Paolino. After spending some time in Spain, we will be flying to Scotland. We'll be driving around Scotland for a few weeks, then traveling by train to London. In London we will catch a plane back to Tampa Florida. We expect to be back in Dunedin Florida by May 10th. The Holland-America cruise ship Nieuw Statendam is not one of the larger cruise ships. It houses 2666 guests; is 975 ft in length and is 114.8 ft wide. There is an abundance of food and entertainment on the ship. I had mahi/mahi for dinner tonight, then played an exciting game of music trivia. There is something to entertain almost everyone. Everyth...
Well, we rented a car today and drove 90 miles from Glasgow to Oban. Oban is northwest of Glasgow and basically sits next to water from the North Atlantic Ocean. It was a very scenic drive as we drove next to Loch Lomond and through the Trossach National Park. RoxAnne volunteered to drive the car, which was quite a challenge. The driver sits on the right hand side of the car, they shift with their left arm (all cars have manual clutches), and they drive in the left lane of the road. Roundabouts are everywhere and you drive clockwise thru them, instead of counterclockwise as we do in the USA. We are staying at the Oyster Inn which is located right next to Loch Linnhe. We saw seals swimming in the water. The internet is not very good here at the inn, so not many pictures today.
St. Andrews has a lot of history, but many know it for its golf. We drove to St. Andrews today and hung out at "the Old Course". The Old Course at St Andrews is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews. Originally known as the "golfing grounds" of St Andrews, it was not until the New Course was opened in 1895 that it became known as the Old Course. St Andrews Links are public golf courses and must share the tee times with members, residents and visitors alike. "The Old Course" The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews Shopping at The Old Course shop The following is a video of Robin Williams discussing the origin of golf (warning: contains strong language) Tonight we are staying at a Bed and Breakfast near Stirling, Scotland. It is an old farm house and the farm has horses and 3 dogs.
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