Our Dream "Full of Firsts" 13-Night EB Transatlantic (Portugal & Spain) Cruise + WDW ~ w/pics ~ May 2023 ~ Completed!

[Love Ft Wilderness]

Thank you for your TA ship reports. I'm sure I would love it. I don't think my DH would be too thrilled. He's a restless soul and we're teetotalers. I enjoyed following along.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I was there in 2002, so it's amazing how much it has changed in 20 years. I'm looking forward to seeing it again some day.

I can't even imagine the changes over 20 years. The changes over the last 5 years were mostly to the towers.

 

[Calantha]

I can't even imagine the changes over 20 years. The changes over the last 5 years were mostly to the towers.

I'll have to see if I can find some pictures. I spent a semester in Spain, living in Cordoba, and we visited Barcelona for about 3 days.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Thank you for your TA ship reports. I'm sure I would love it. I don't think my DH would be too thrilled. He's a restless soul and we're teetotalers. I enjoyed following along.

Thank you! Don't let the drinking discourage you. There are so many more things to do on the ship that we didn't do like cooking classes, drawing classes, other games. They have really good mocktails too. But, what really gets us cruising again is the ports.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I'll have to see if I can find some pictures. I spent a semester in Spain, living in Cordoba, and we visited Barcelona for about 3 days.

I think the entire Passion facade is the newest major construction which might have been completed over the last 20 years, other than the towers.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

I DISagree you are DIS influencers!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I DISagree you are DIS influencers!

Awww, thank you! I'm not sure if influencer is the right word. I just like to share my experiences and hope it helps others in planning their trips.

 

[bcwife76]

Can't believe the cruise is over! What a trip it was! But yay for bonus time in Barcelona, what a gorgeous city!

 

[ukintheus]

It must have been a tiring day with that early start, but kudos to you for making the most of your time that day. It does make it a little less painful getting off the ship if you have something more interesting to do that an airport shuffle.

 

[jillinastoria]

Just wanted to thank you for your great trip report! We are traveling on the Dream for the first time this summer (Norwegian fjords) and I found your posts so informative and fun!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Just wanted to thank you for your great trip report! We are traveling on the Dream for the first time this summer (Norwegian fjords) and I found your posts so informative and fun!

Thank you! We loved the fjords and Norway on our cruise several years ago. I hope you have a great cruise!

 

[Flossbolna]

Trying to catch up!

I think we would have totally missed that last port with the midday departure. What an odd choice... My husband is very much a night owl, so we would have just gotten off the ship when it was time to get on again.

When we got off in Barcelona after our cruise it was even easier, no passport checks for us since we never left the Schengen area.

Loved your pictures of Sagrada Familia. I wasn't that interested as I had seen it in 1989 and wasn't that taken with it then. 34 years do make a difference though! But I think I can wait a bit longer and then look at it when it's going to be finished.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Trying to catch up!

I think we would have totally missed that last port with the midday departure. What an odd choice... My husband is very much a night owl, so we would have just gotten off the ship when it was time to get on again.

When we got off in Barcelona after our cruise it was even easier, no passport checks for us since we never left the Schengen area.

Loved your pictures of Sagrada Familia. I wasn't that interested as I had seen it in 1989 and wasn't that taken with it then. 34 years do make a difference though! But I think I can wait a bit longer and then look at it when it's going to be finished.

Personally, I think DCL could have passed Cartagena all together, but I guess they would have gotten to Barcelona too early.

Our guide told us 2035 is the best guess as to when the La Sagrada Familia will be completed. Don't hold me to it. They were shooting for 2026 and the 100th Anniversary of Gaudi's death, but Covid messed that idea up.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 17
Sunday, May 21, 2023
Girona and Costa de Brava, Spain

Today we have a daylong tour to Girona & Costa Brava at 9:00 AM.

We were up and down to breakfast to make our appointed time. Marc was going to pick us up in front of the hotel on Avenida de Diagonal. Little did we know that today was the Cursa DIR Diagonal 5K & 10K runs happening directly in front of our hotel as the run literally goes the entire avenue to the ocean.





As time went on, more and more runners would come down the street. While we waited for Marc to find someplace to park, we enjoyed watching bike riders, walkers, mothers with strollers, and people with dogs try to cross the street between runners. Well, we thought it was funny until Marc pulled up across the street and we had to play “Dodge the runners”.

We drove out to the Tossa del Mar and found a parking place next to the beach. It was turning into an overcast day with occasional light rain showers. When we got there, there was another 10K, the Run Festival Tossa del Mar. Fortunately, we didn’t have to dodge any runners but there was a festival atmosphere as the announcer was announcing finishers.

Our goal was to explore the old walled village on the hill.



The town was a lovely beach town with narrow streets and outside seating for the cafes and restaurants.





We started our climb up towards the top of the village.











The higher we got, the more stunning the view got.







We got to the top of the hill. People still live up here and there were a few businesses.







In 1950, Ava Gardner came to Tossa del Mar to film “Pandora and the Flying Dutchman.” The town erected a statue. When the movie was released, it sparked the tourism boom at Tossa del Mar, so they erected a statue to honor her.









The plaza offered a nice overlook into the more modern village and the beach.





We started walking down through the walled village.











To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 17 continued.

We then walked up to another overlook with these stunning views. They reminded me of Big Sur in California.











We walked up towards the old church. They still do occasional services from here.



Around to another overlook.










We spotted a seagull with her chicks.





We eventually made it up to the light house.









We headed back down and I stopped at the church ruins. We saw several runners walking up the hill on our way down.









The beach has no pier, so this tour boat would beach on the beach and put out a walkway to get down.



Somebody out for a sail.



Walking back down.







We walked back through the town back to the van in the rain.





To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 17 continued.

We then made our way to Girona. Another old walled village. We found out earlier that because Spain is having a drought, all the fountains have been turned off.



We parked the van and crossed the river to Girona. You can see how low the water is.



Girona was celebrating their Temps de Flors Festival. Basically, the town would have floral displays all over the walled village. They provided maps to all the displays. We were able to enjoy several of them.



This was the cathedral.







This one reminded us of home.



This was pretty.



As we were walking through the village learning the history from Marc, we saw several of the displays.



The streets were narrow and cobblestoned. The rain made them slick.



Marc told us this story:

“During a French siege in 1286, soldiers ransacked the entire city, including the churches. According to legends, the attacking forces tore open the tomb of Saint Narcís in the Church of St. Felix. It's said a swarm of flies flew out from the tomb and attacked every French soldier in the city causing them to retreat.” – Google

They erected a statue and placed sculptured flies on this wall. It is said that if you rub one of the flies, you will get good luck. So, of course, we did!









Marc then took us to a sandwich place for lunch called Konig. We were able to get a table inside out of the rain.



I had Pepperoni, mozzarella and basil focacia bread.



It was very nice. We enjoyed a sandwich and a local white wine.

We then continued our exploration of the Jewish section of Old Town .











Some of the old buildings have been refurbished into multi room housing.



Continuing on.















To be continued. . .

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 17 continued.

We stopped at one particularly large flower display.











This one reminded me of the Haunted Mansion.



We were getting near the end of our tour.







We got some gelato before heading home.



We arrived back to our hotel at about 6:00 PM. We got a recommendation from the front desk for a good place for dinner. We walked down the Rambla del Poblenou looking for the restaurant and enjoying all the street vendors who had booth along the pedestrian path. Looking down one of the side streets.


Unfortunately, we never found the restaurant and later found out it was closed on Sundays anyway.

We found this place instead.







The place was empty when we got there. The staff was so inviting and nice, especially with accommodating DNM. The server spoke English very well and also had a young daughter.

We ordered tapas that were delicious, including.

Fried Eggplant with Honey (soon became our favorite)
Shrimp scampi
Iberian Ham
Octopus (nope, I didn't try)
Tempura asparagus

We also ordered tomato bread and Manchego cheese.



We also shared a wonderful bottle of local white wine.



After that delicious meal, we walked back to our hotel at about 9:00 PM. It was time to call it a night. We had one last adventure in Barcelona the next day.

Steps: 14,686
Miles: 6.58

Tossa del Mar was such a nice surprise. It was a beautiful coastal town and I can understand why people flock there during the summer. Girona was also a surprise. It was interesting walking around the old town, but we really enjoyed the floral displays.

Next: Barcelona on foot!

 

[Flossbolna]

The flowers look amazing. Some displays were a bit strange. But some were absolutely stunning.

Your dinner sounded delicious. The eggplants would have been my favorite, too. I love them.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Beautiful photos!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Day 18
Monday, May 22, 2023
Barcelona, Spain

Our original plan today was to go on a Tapa tour. After some discussion with Marc, he decided that it might be better to pick one nice tapas restaurant and have one big meal rather than hop from one to another. That worked for us. We would also walk around the Gothic neighborhood.

We woke up and had breakfast down in the hotel. It was included in our stay. It was a very nice buffet. We didn’t have to meet Marc until 11:30 AM, so there was no rush this morning. We repacked some of our stuff for the flight back to Florida.

At about 11:15 AM we went down to the taxi stop behind the hotel. We were able to find 2 taxis to take us to the Hard Rock Café near the Plaza de Catalunya where we would meet Marc. It was lightly raining this morning.

We arrived and Marc met up with us shortly thereafter. We started walking down the Ramblas. I liked the pattern of the walkway, meant to look like sand.



Our first stop was the Fountain of Canaletes.





Legend has it if you drink from the fountain you will fall in love with Barcelona and come back someday. What they don’t tell you is that the water pressure is quite high so it is very hard to drink from. We did not attempt, but watched others.

The Betlem Church.



An old palace which is now the home of the Culture Institute.





The topiary looks like a sail boat and there's a bee in the upper left corner.





These are puppets used in parades.



Our next stop was the La Boqueria Market. This is a sprawling marketplace where you can find meats, seafood, flowers, cheeses, wines, pastries, just about anything. We now know that in order to be called Iberian ham, it has to come from Iberian pigs. All other ham is called serrano.







We wound our way through the narrow streets of the Jewish Quarter.







We made our way to the Plaza Sant Jaume, in the middle of the Gothic Quarter. We saw Barcelona City Hall or Casa de la Cuitat.



The Palau de la Generalitat, the seat of the Catalan government. It sits directly across from City Hall.



We went through more of the Gothic Quarter until we made it to our restaurant for our tapas meal.







I loved the flowers.



And here we are! Marc asked us if we wanted or not wanted anything specific and ordered for us.



Here is what we ate:

Tapas

Iberian ham croquettes
Fried eggplant with honey



Iberian ham



Sheep cheese
Chorizo



Spanish omelet with potatoes and onion
Padron peppers



Garlic shrimp



Veal and potatoes
Creme de Catalonia (Creme broulet)



We also had a very nice Chirel white wine.



We were serenaded by both a singer and an accordionist, separately. It was a delicious meal, Muy bien!!!

To be continued.

Day 18 continued.