It was a wonderful cruise, but all good things must come to an end. We got off the ship around 8:30am, stood in line for a taxi for 30 minutes then rode straight to our hotel, the Travelodge in the Poblenou section of Barcelona. We then stored our baggage and went out to get our bearings. The main goal was to find a money exchange as our cache of euros was very low. We were advised that the best location for money exchange was downtown Barcelona, on La Rambla – “The Ramble”, the main street of Barcelona.

I thought we should take the subway, both because it would be the fastest way to get there and because, as a transportation geek, I wanted to see the subway system. But Marlene wanted to walk. So we walked. It was a nice day. We made it to the Parc de la Ciutadella before we got distracted.

I did not get a single photo of La Rambla, but I am sure you can find many. It is a famous boulevard. I did get some of the old town, the “Gothic Quarter.” I also snapped one of the statue of Columbus that stands at the harbor end of La Rambla.

It was a long day of walking and we were feeling bloated from the cruise, so we went to bed without our supper.

The day in Valencia was a long one – we were off the ship before 10am and didn’t return until 6:30pm. Some of that was getting into the city and back again as we were about 45 minutes away by bus. But we didn’t take the bus all the way into town. Because the line for the shuttle bus to the port gate was long – we estimated that we would be waiting over 30 minutes – and because I thought I had heard the cruise director say that the port gate was 1.5 km from the ship. Well, we can walk 1.5 km (just a bit more than a mile) in under 15 minutes. So we walked. And discovered that the gate was more like 5 km away. Either Joey gave us a bum steer or I didn’t hear right. In any case we started our Valencia adventure with a VERY long walk. But we found a playground along the way and channeled our inner 7-year-olds for a few minutes.

Valencia is a large city that still retains an “old city” feel. There are a lot of buildings that have been around for more than a couple of centuries.

The main destination for our journey into town was the Valencia Cathedral, which was originally constructed in 1268 and has been extensively expanded and renovated several times since. It is HUGE and contains a large museum. It took us over 2 hours to complete the audio walking tour. The number of Renaissance artworks is staggering.

The main altar is not an altar at all, but six painted panels that swing open to reveal the altar. Or where the silver altar used to be – the silver was melted down to finance a war. But the value of the remaining art and artifacts – including what Valencians believe is the Holy Grail – is incalculable. The architecture is impressive, too.

I took over 70 photos inside the cathedral. Here are a few of the better ones.

The museum was interesting, too. It included a section of excavated catacombs under the cathedral, as well as many more works of art.

The chapel where the reputed Holy Grail is stored is worth a visit on its own. The architecture is stunning.

When we finally left the cathedral we wandered around downtown Valencia for a while, both window shopping and figuring out how to get back to the ship.

We made it back to the ship, though only with about 20 minutes to spare. We took a bus to the shuttle – no 5 km walk back! I got some nice photos of Marlene and she did a bit of dancing with the waitstaff.

We had a few moments with the captain and some friends before the evening show which was a soul revue. I broke even at the casino, but remain down.

After 8 days at sea we finally saw land again. We docked in Ponta Delgada in the Azores Islands. This is a modern and fairly large city so we didn’t find any ruins or ancient homes. But we did find a nice harbor and a shopping area where we could buy some trinkets. And a couple of dresses for Marlene.

It was a cool, mostly cloudy day so the photos are not postcard quality. We didn’t eat lunch on shore but did buy a couple of fresh-made pina coladas which were very tasty. And saw a very picturesque carriage. We also got some walking exercise, finally, as we walked into town from the pier, along the harbor and past the 16th-century fortress that guarded the harbor.

I watched A Man Called Otto under the stars at night. It was very chilly – around 60 degrees – but I wore my hoodie and didn’t freeze. Good movie.