Cruising The Seven Seas: The Home Land!!

The Home Land

26^th July 2011

That’s right! I’m finally back in my Home Land.

The Mariner of the Seas has docked in Barcelona. We are finally in Spain. Even though I'm from Malaga, in the south of Spain, I was still over the moon about being back in my home land! I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to get out and about.

This morning I was on tour with Fabio and we had absolutely no idea where we were going.

Fede went outside to check if the gangway was ready. It wasn’t, in fact we weren’t due to arrive in Barcelona for another hour so the gangway wouldn’t be ready for at least 1 hour and 30 minutes. Nice one Jomar!

Hernan came out of his cabin with a massive smile on his face. He was desperate to wear the Matador (bull fighter) costume on gangway and he was perfect for the job. A little later David came into the corridor laughing that he must be the one and only black bull fighter ever! David needed help pinning his pants together, they were absolutely enormous on him!! They’d fit Jomar better than anyone else! One thing’s for sure the “Tour Escort” badges really do come in handy!

Fabio and I headed up to the Savoy theatre. Hernan was already up there with Fede. I quickly had my photo taken with Hernan. Sometimes, getting your photo taken with the character or on the rail, helps the photographers by encouraging guests to follow suit. It starts the ball rolling and before you know it, you have people queuing to have their picture taken.

Fabio and I were going on the same tour and each had a bus of 44 people. Neither of us were put on a Spanish speaking tour bus which would have been better as we’d have come back with more photos.

Our tour was “Barcelona and Guadi”. Taking the guests outside to the tour bus, our tour guide Eva was shocked but delighted to have someone who spoke Spanish as the escort. As soon as you left the port you are surrounded by things to see, from monuments to enormous historical buildings.

Barcelona was alive with people and in a way reminded me of a sunny London. Everywhere you turned there was something to see. The guests were going potty and taking photos in every direction. They were even leaning over people to get a photo out the window.

Our first stop was Parc Güell which consisted of numerous different architectural sites by three main architects, the main one being Antonio Guadi. All had a fairy tale look to them. One of the buildings that is now used as a gift shop resembled a ginger bread house. Through the park were cave like constructions, colourful mosaic features such as the lizard “climbing” down the wall. As much as I tried to get pictures for myself the place was jam packed and almost impossible. Getting photos of the guests was hard enough as I kept losing sight of them.

To be fair, I did spend half my time in the queue waiting to use the little girl’s room! I honestly thought my bladder was about to burst! Not to self: don’t drink a litre of water and can of coke before going on tour!

Hopping back on the bus and we were off to the next stop, the main attraction: La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia translates to The Sacred/Holy Family which is Antonio Guadi’s most iconic piece of work and due to finish around 2023. That though is a real guestimate according to our tour guide.

Arriving at La Sagarada Familia and the place is enormous! Standing outside you can see the huge amount of effort and detail that has gone into designing and constructing the building. Antonio Guadi is even buried in a part of the church. Each wall has a different story to tell and it’s something no one would have noticed unless the tour guide had shown us where to look and which way to read the stone cravings. It's designed to tell religious stories to those you are illiterate.

Just before the 30 minutes free time I bumped into Fabio. We were both starving. Opposite La Sagrada Famila was a tiny sandwich shop where we stopped off for a typical "bocadillo". One thing is for sure, I really do miss the Spanish food: Jamón Serrano, paella… everything! By the time we’d rammed our food down our throats and necked our beers (San Miguel, of course!) it was time to go back to the bus. I was astonished at how quickly Fabio could down a litre of beer. 15 minutes! By the time I’d finished my can, he’d knocked back a litre jug!

Once back on the ship I dropped my memory cards off to the lab, got changed and headed back out. I wanted to see more of Barcelona.

On the bus I bumped into Whitney, Ashleigh and Sophie from Spa. Sophie had literally just joined the ship. The girls were looking for a shopping centre. I was on the hunt for something to eat and internet. I hadn’t heard from Becks in a long time and really wanted a proper chat with her.

Finally I managed to find a post office!! The building was massive… but if I didn’t know Spanish I would never have noticed it was a post office! The only thing that gave it away was “Correos” engraved in the stone building. It was more of a monumental building you’d find in London.

Finally my parents' parcel is in the post and on its way to Uruguay. I later found out that they were leaving for Florida the next day and would be spending 7 weeks there! Great! I just hope they receive the parcel!

Stopping off at a bar, Ashleigh and Whitney went off to the shopping centre. Sophie was starving too so she stayed with me. The paella that we ordered was a real treat. It makes a welcoming change from the crap we’ve been eating in the Staff Mess. This was proper food and I intended to make the most of it.

Hearing from Becks again was great. She didn’t take long to find another job which is a real bonus. It's sometimes quite hard talking to Becks knowing that we both applied for the same job, met at the job interview, speaking constantly online, being almost joined at the hip in Miami etc. and now I’m still working on the ship while she’s at home. It didn’t seem fair or right. She should still be working on the ships, talking to me from one of the numerous ports we visit, not sat at home in England.

After eating, I headed back to the ship for a well-deserved nap. Nowadays we are getting up at ridiculous times like 06.00-06.30 until 11.00-12.00, getting almost the entire day off and then working again from 19.00-20.00 until 01.00-02.00. The days are great, don’t get me wrong but we are all feeling completely drained by only getting 3-4 hours sleep a night.

We are sailing away from Barcelona now and heading towards Palma de Mallorca. To end the cruise on a bang… it’ll be the night us photographers love to hate… formal night!