R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 60

Barcelona — Modern Statues and Architectural Details

If that photo above doesn’t remind you of Venice, then nothing will. But today we’re not concentrating on Plaça d’Espanya. We covered that in detail in last Monday’s Barcelona — A Bullring to Venice to the National Palace. Instead, we’re going to just sit back and enjoy the sights offered along the southeastern portion of City Sightseeing’s Red Line route, much of which runs along the port.

Winged Lions standing guard

As an example, let’s head along Passeig de Colom near Plaça de l’Ict...

Fun Photo Friday — Barcelona Favorites 2

Street Café scene

Here is Part 2 of my three-part Fun Photo Friday favorites of Barcelona:

Barcelona — A Bullring to Venice to the National Palace

Today we’re back on the Red Line. In this case we’re going to look specifically at the area (see image below) that centers on the cluster of sights depicted along the far western edge of the Red Line route map. Here there is a lot to see, and all these sights come within moments of each other, so get your camera ready. The pictures today start at 2:17 p.m. and end a mere twelve minutes later, at 2:29.

We’ll begin with a piece of statuary from famed Catalan painter and sculptor Joan Mi...

Barcelona — More Sightseeing aboard the Blue Line

Last week began a four-week series on Barcelona. During this series I will concentrate on what you’ll see when taking City Sightseeing’s Red and Blue Line double-decker tour buses, as they provide a wonderful way to see the city and take in the sights. And, if you sit on the upper deck during nice weather, you’ll get some great photos as well.

A building with eyelids

And last Wednesday I highlighted the sights along City Sightseeing‘s Blue Line, as well as a trek into the Gothic “Old T...

Fun Photo Friday — Barcelona Favorites 1

Time for the first of three Barcelona Fun Photo Fridays. What would normally be a fourth will instead be a Fun Food Friday review of a great little tapas eating establishment, one so good that we went back all three evenings.

Barcelona — City Sightseeing and walking Old Town

Basílica de la Sagrada Família

I‘ve given you an in-depth look before at Antoni Gaudi’s incredible Basílica de la Sagrada Família. For some reason I was thinking it would finally be complete this trip, but Sagrada Família is still a work in progress. It has been ever since ground was broken on this immense project way back in March 1892. That right; this basilica has been under construction now for almost 139 years, and apparently it has at least four more years to go before completion. As fo...

Barcelona — Arrival; Day 1

Last week I reviewed Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class ship Harmony of the Seas. You may recall that I mentioned we took Harmony on a transatlantic cruise out of Barcelona starting at the end of October 2021. What I didn’t mention is that we spent three nights in Barcelona before boarding Harmony. So, over the next four weeks I’ll be presenting to you images of that trip to Barcelona, culminating with a Fun Food Friday restaurant review on February 11 of a tapas place so impressive that we retur...

Fun Photo Friday — Harmony of the Seas Favorites

A Creepy Halloween aboard Harmony of the Seas

Today I present my favorite photos of Harmony of the Seas. I’ve not yet decided what next week will bring. I have several choices. It might be Barcelona, from before we boarded Harmony, then a series continuation of the transatlantic crossing. It could be the 10-day Mexico cruise from which returned just last week. I might even start a series on a two-week cruise around the islands of Indonesia. Whatever next week brings, here’s today’s Harmony fa...

Harmony of the Seas Review — From Play to Dining

Harmony of the Seas Perfect Storm water slides start on Deck 18 and empty onto Deck 15

Make no mistake about it: While every cruise ship is billed as an ocean-going resort, Harmony of the Seas is truly a floating resort. There is just too much to see and do, with fun distractions for almost all age groups. Indeed, I’m going to go so far as to say that I would not sail the Harmony for anything less than 10 days, and even then only if the itinerary were port intensive. Doing so will leave one f...

Harmony of the Seas Review — A Mega Ship Behemoth

Ursula and I recently returned from Barcelona, Spain. But we didn’t fly back to the U.S. As you would probably expect from my many travel articles, we cruised back. And what a cruise it was. We were aboard Royal Caribbean‘s ship Harmony of the Seas on its repositioning voyage this past November. This massive ship, with seven separate “neighborhood,” would take us from Barcelona to Port Canaveral, with stops in Málaga, Spain and Nassau, The Bahamas. As Harmony is by far the most impressive sh...