Ciao Stranger,
Before I hear any complaints about how I'm not updating regularly enough, let me just say that I'm writing this while in Paris (Yes, I'm out travelling again, I know I know). Yeah, I've been so busy that I've had to resort to spending my evenings in Paris indoors, writing my blog. So without further ado, I present to you, the remaining days of my cruise adventures.
Day 4.
First time
in France, oh the excitement!!! The 6 of us got in a taxi and went to the Notre
Dame De La Garde first thing in the morning. Being the crown jewel of
Marseilles, the 10,000 kg golden Mary and baby Jesus can be seen from all over
the city. Who's up for some serious Italian Job action? We'll split the profit? Yeah?
The inside of the church is also plastered in gold as well. Can we steal that too? :) The ceiling really reminds me a lot of the church in Venice, but this one is quite festive, almost Christmasy. Look at me, making references to other basilicas, who would've thought I could do such a thing. The Michelle two months ago would be impressed, way to go.
View of the city of Marseilles from the Notre Dome, what a beauuuuty.
At first I thought France would be a whole new world, but honestly, Marseilles wasn't quite what I was expecting. It has a very dry landscape with lots of stone based buildings. There aren't that many touristy sights in the city to see, so we just strolled around and took our time taking pictures here and there: example shown below. How European are these buildings? I think they're extra refreshing because none of the buildings in Rome are as tall and chic looking.
Marseilles also has this all glass, super modern looking tram that just about made my day. Everytime it went by, I would point at it and exclaim in excitement. What can I say, I'm easily pleased.
Now in case you didn't know this already, let me just say that McDonalds is a traveller's best friend. They have free clean bathrooms (which is hard to come by in Europe), free wifi (jackpot!) and cheap food if you're hungry. In other words, a low budget traveller's pot of gold. You see that golden arch? You run towards it when you need to pee, just run! After an hour long wash...bathroom/wifi break, we shopped for some candy and soaps since most of the other stores were closed on Sunday. At lunch we decided to eat near the port and had crepes, because we are in France after all.
We went into some of the smaller alleyways and you could smell the scents of Donairs, rice, rotisserie chicken and other spices in the air. I didn't realize this but Marseilles is highly populated with North Africans due to its location. The majority of us got hungry in the afternoon so we headed back to the ship a bit early and went to the buffet to satisfy our stomachs.
Day 5.
It's an amazing feeling waking up each morning at a different port, going to the top deck to grab an unlimited amount of food and be surprised at the new scenery outside. Today, we arrived at Barcelona. Whenever I ask anyone what their top 3 European cities are, Barcelona always ends up on it somehow. Also, this was my first choice for exchange (it was gone by the time I signed up) so I had a very high expectation for this city. Guido hasn't had a good night's sleep since he's been on the cruise due to a non-memory foam bed and a "horn honking" snoring Min, so the two of them decided to sleep in while the rest of us got up bright and early and went into the city. Barcelona is no small city, with too many attraction spots to cover for a day, so we thought the best way to get a general idea of everything would be the stereotypical double decker touristy buses. It might look sunny but I was cowering in the corner of the seat trying to stay warm the whole time I was up there, quite the windy experience.
The second the bus started rolling, I couldn't stop my hand from taking pictures left and right. This city blew my mind away with its infrastructures. Unlike Rome, who's buildings look ancient with a layer of dust that seems to have been there since the Roman Empire ages, Barcelona is filled with intricately designed houses with a modern tough to it. Even the roads are widely spread out, and people follow the law! Why would anyone ever leave this place? Why? Building after building of this...if you study architecture, please do yourself a favour and come here.
If you like to shop, then you'll know that Zara is a Spanish brand, and is about 10-20 Euros cheaper in the country. Knowing this, Arlette and I had been holding ourselves back, but after seeing the 5th Zara in a span of 10 minutes, we could no longer resist ourselves and indulged in some intense 30 minute shopping. As we were walking, I had made a comment that "I can barely see anything because the sun is so strong" and a lovely Spanish chap walking the other way commented that "maybe it's because you're Asian". I was so stunned by his quick response that I couldn't even think of a comeback. Actually, who am I kidding, I still can't. Nicely played stranger, you won this time. At the end, we found the Barcelona Cathedral, a Gothic styled church. Yes there were gargoyles on it.
If you buy a postcard of Barcelona, you'll be damn certain that the Sagrada Familia will be on it. An amazing church that was started by Gaudi (who's masterpieces can be seen all over the city) over 100 years ago, and as you can see, it is still under construction and won't be done until the year 2080. Here's an idea to speed up the process, fly over 2-3 planes of Asians and get them to do it, it will probably be done in 2 years.
The other side. Wait, this is the same church? Since Gaudi died before he could finish the whole thing, another architect came in to do the other side of the church. It looks as if the church was made of wax and the sun was melting it down. Absolutely magnificent. Pictures do not do this building any justice. You must go see it in person.
Next stop: Parc Guell, a park designed by...who else but Gaudi. It has colourful mosaic made animals everywhere but we were on a tight schedule and budget so we didn't actually go inside the park, but rather right on top of it. A view of Barcelona. Don't worry, I'll come back for you soon!
Day 6.
Our last port stop, Palma de Mallorca, an island on the coast of Spain. Because the city was located right at the harbour with a stunning coastline, we thought it would be a great idea to rent some bikes and travel through the city like locals. Boy oh boy was it a good decision. The city was made for bikers! There's a bike lane on the board walk, so we biked along the coast, passing all the beaches and restaurants as we went. Here's us in front of the La Seu, a Gothic cathedral that looks like a castle from a Disney movie.
We spend hours biking around the old town, through tiny passageways, stairs, and bumpy roads. I absolutely loved it, and only wish this was possible in Rome as well. After my last biking incident in Rome, I've been slightly traumatized to do it again. However, in Mallorca, I feel like I could almost bike with my eyes closed. Here's a picture of the front of the church, because I didn't take that many pictures since I was too busy using both my hands to bike.
Day 7.
A day at sea as we head back to Rome. For the first time since we've been on the boat, we could finally sleep in. Yipeeeee!!! We chilled, played a LOT of cards, ate, napped, and had a relaxing day doing absolutely nothing. It was fantastic, and just what our bodies needed, especially after an exhausting week of seeing different cities everyday. Here's what a typical main course for us looked like. Keep in mind that there was an appetizer, and a plate of pasta before this. I loved sitting beside Sean or Min because they would order 90% of the stuff on the menu and I could just eat their stuff.
Sean: I'd like to order everything on the menu.
Waitress: I'm sorry?!
Sean: I want everything.
Waitress: Uh...that's not possible.
Of course Arlette and I only went crazy for dessert as we would order 2-3 every night. Don't judge, we're pigs. I'm missing the food on the cruise as I'm writing this right now...
The crew on formal night. A week of stories, laughter and food sharing, how could it be anything but amazing. Who's up for another one?
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