I Am A Celebrity!: 2015 - Return to the Mediterranean

Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015

FINALLY. OUR (triumphant?) return to the Mediterranean! In 2013 we had excitedly booked, planned and departed for our first ever visit outside the continental U.S. It was the dream trip of a lifetime for me. And even though it didn't work out the way we planned it, looking back, it was still a dream trip. With planned visits to Venice, Turkey, Greece, Rome, and Italy's Amalfi Coast, we fulfilled the majority of those destinations. With a voucher for the cruise that didn't complete, we were now - in 2015 - getting ready to embark on the one that would cover those places we missed out on. Our "makeup" cruise.

Port of Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

THIS CRUISE added a fun spin. For some time, we had been talking to our friends, Paul and Linda, about joining us on a cruise. This time, they decided it was time! At first, we were planning to do something we hadn't ever done (and still haven't) - a back to back (B2B in "cruise talk"). They didn't think they could take that much time, so we were going to do the first leg (being 10 years ago, I don't even remember what it entailed - probably some of the Italian or French Riviera), and then they would join up with us for the 2nd cruise. A funny thing happened on the way to the cruise, though. My son decided to get married. In Tokyo. I was still working full time at that point, and I just didn't think I could do 20 or so days in the Mediterranean and a week in Japan, having already take a week in the Caribbean earlier in the year. It is one of two times I made that call and have "kicked myself" since. I think I could have taken the time and it would have been just fine. But ultimately, we dropped one of the B2B legs.

WE FLEW from Michigan to Barcelona, Spain where we would board The Emerald Princess.

We fell in love with Barcelona!

OUR CRUISE would go from Barcelona to Provence, France; Livorno, Italy (for Pisa and Florence); Civitavechia (for Rome); Montenegro, and finally finish in Athens. But as we now pretty much routinely do, we planned 3 days in Barcelona before departing. Barcelona had been the terminal stop on our "aborted" Royal Princess Cruise back in 2013. But we had not planned any real time there, flying out the same day we were to dock and disembark the ship. So this was a bonus to our "makeup" cruise.

The Catalonian National Museum of Art - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015

WE HAD no idea. We fell in love with Barcelona! By now, my wife had become expert in finding and booking tours - covering all the important details. This time, she arranged for a pickup at the airport and a 1/2 day tour of the city before dropping us at our hotel. There were two "rain events" on this cruise. Otherwise, we really had great weather, especially as we headed east and then south. The first event was the day we arrived. We had showery conditions most of that day. I was sporting a new "travel" camera (I had carried it for our week in Japan earlier that summer, too). It was a very small, compact Sony RX100 and I was having fun with it. I took the shot of the windshield of our van as kind of a "fun" photo, but it shows the weather we started with. Fortunately, it didn't last. We saw the Olympic Village, a drive-by of the La Sagrada Familia, the Catalonian National Art Museum, a view from high above the city, and another drive-by of Parc Guell (where we had tickets for later).

The influence of Gaudi can be seen everywhere in the City - this scene was about a block or two from our own hotel - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

FOR OUR stay in Barcelona, we chose Hotel Diagonal; fittingly, on Avenue Diagonal, which runs diagonally through the city center. It was modest, but clean and had a really nice - small rooftop bar area that we were able to use a couple of the nights. It was also very centrally located for most of what we planned to do while in the city. We had a full schedule. Following our drive-around introduction to the city, we had a walking tour scheduled for later that afternoon - early evening. Part of our tour was spent in the Gothic Quarter, where we saw the wonderful old Gothic Architecture of The Cathedral of Barcelona (one of few places in the city where Gaudi's influence isn't the central feature - because it was built long before his time).

Cathedral of Barcelona - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

THE NEXT morning, we had a Gaudi walking tour of the main parts of the city where much of Antoni Gaudi's architectural influence can be seen. Later that afternoon, we were booked for Parc Guell (a proposed luxury housing complex by wealthy industrialist Eusebi Güell, who commissioned Gaudi to design it).

Gaudi Architecture dominates the center city (with the exception of the Gothic Quarter)
Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

THAT BRIGHT red and yellow flag that prominently adorns so many of the Barcelona buildings in not the flag of Spain. While Barcelona is part of the nation of Spain, it identifies much more strongly with its history as Catalan. The dominant flag here, is the Catalonian flag. While Spanish is the official language, Catalonian is fluently and frequently spoken by Barcelona residents - and is taught in Barcelona schools as a co-primary language along with Spanish. Students of history and geography will know that Spain is more or less divided into 4 distict regions, whose history and culture are each somewhat unique. All were at one time separate kingdoms. There is strong sentiment for Catalonian independence and in the several times we have visited Barcelona, there have been huge, spirited (but always peaceful) marches and demonstrations for Catalonian separatism.

Catalonian Flag - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

ALONG WITH the prominent and unique architecture of Gaudi and his followers, the residents of Barcelona have some interesting, quirky, and often humorous touches to the city. I thought the museum below might be fun and interesting to visit, but before I could suggest it to my compatriots, I noticed the flashing orange street sign warning me not to cross over. Omen? Maybe. 😑

Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

OUR PARC Guell visit later that afternoon was our other "rain event." We had looked forward to a couple hours in the complex. I said "proposed" above, because the complex never really left the ground. Only two homes were ever built there. But before it stopped, there were several public buildings and spaces completed. The entire complex architecture was in Gaudi's signature style of no straight lines and a lot of natural shapes and forms - along with some - well - "gaudy" decorative touches.

Parc Guell - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

WE WAITED in a line for our time, and watched the skies as they grew darker and darker. Almost as if choreographed, just as we walked in, the skies opened up and dumped a deluge of rain on us. We were able to crowd up under the main pavillion of the complex as we watched literal rivers and waterfalls develop over and through the stairways and passages. It was forecast to continue, and we - regrettably - decided to abort the tour. I was able to make just a few photographs, mostly from where we stood under the pavillion.

A very rain-soaked Parc Guell - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

HEADING BACK to the motel to dry out, we had a "pub-crawl" style food and drink tour scheduled for that evening and kept our fingers crossed that it would stop raining. Fortune smiled upon us, and the rain stopped. It was the last serious rainfall we would see for the remainder of our trip. The evening was cool, but comfortable. We met our "leader" in a plaza about a block from our hotel, and he led us on a fun trip around the center city (I don't think we were ever more than about a half mile from our hotel). We were in Barcelona, on a sort of a pub-crawl. So what would you expect for the food portion? Of course. Tapas! It was a fun evening. So much fun for the 4 of us and our guide (we were in a larger group, but as the evening wore on, they fell off from us) that we kept going past our time and to a couple places we hadn't been to. He was a young gentleman (I would say college age), and when we began buying, he was more than glad to show a few more of his favorite spots. All good things, though, must come to and end, and it eventually did. When we asked him to help point us toward our motel, he pointed kiddy-corner across the street and said "its right there." 😁

Performance Hall - Palau de la Musica - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2015 - All Rights Reserved

WE WEREN'T done yet. I had a business associate who spent a month every January in Barcelona, and he gave me a few "must see" spots. He actually headed up one of the State Government agencies back in Michigan that I had frequent contact with. Rich and I had done a couple speaking engagements together, and hit it off. In his spare time, he sang in a barbershop quartet (and they were really good). So he was musical. I had played in the band and orchestra in high school, so we had another thing in common. He told me that we had to see Barcelona's crown jewel of the city's performance scene: Palau de la Musica. The performing center was not designed by Gaudi, but you would think it was. The designer of the performing center was an Catalonian architect from Barcelona: Lluís Domènech i Montaner, whose designs were from a similar school as Gaudi's unique spin on art nouveau architecture. With its copious art nouveau touches, and very colorful and grandiose decorative and design features, it is probably the most beautiful facilities of its kind that I have ever seen.

ONE OF my law partners later decided to spend some time in Barcelona during Michigan's coldest, grayest part of the winter. He and his wife went to Barcelona for a 3 - week winter getaway, and I put him in touch with Rich (with whom he was alread professionally acquainted) and he consulted Rich at length. My partner's wife is a very talented professional voice teacher and performer. And Dave (my partner) is a hobbyist organ player (who built his own synthesizer organ which allows him to download the "sounds" of different unique and famous organs). One of the highlights of the Palau de la Musica tour is a few minutes of its world-famous organ (it is played automatically somehow). Dave was fascinated with that and when they were in Barcelona, they attended a couple live performances there. But perpaps more germane - Dave found and acquired the application for the "sound" of that organ.

THE ARCHITECTURE is impressive, from the performance hall, to the lobby space (note the guilded stairway up to the balcony seats in the hall), to even the outdoor spaces. I couldn't get over the colorful columns lining one of the porches of the main lobby. It was a memorable morning. Over the years, I have had the privilege and pleasure to see the inside of some pretty remarkable buildings - I doubt I have ever been in one more beautiful and memorable than this one.

OUR TIME in Barcelona was rapidly coming to an end. The next morning, we would board the cruise ship, bound for the Mediterranean and more adventures. But before we did so, we had one more "must see" spot. If you are an admirer of history, art, or architecture, you cannot visit Barcelona without seeing the granddaddy of all churches: the famed "Sagrada Familia." The largest unfinished Catholic church in the world, construction in 1882 directed by architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. The original design and plan for for a Gothic Revival building. Shortly after contstruction began, Villar and the project commissioners came to significant diagreement on materials and costs, and i89n 1883, Villar resigned. Antoni Gaudí took over as chief architect, and completely changed the design, adding his Art Nouveau forms to the original Gothic design, and creating a mix of the two styles. Gaudí devoted the rest of his life to the curch, and is even buried in the church's crypt. At the time of his death in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Even today, in 2025, 100 years later, the church remains incomplete. The current plan is to have it substantially completed in 2026, by the anniversary of Gaudi's death. Time will tell.

WE HAD tickets for entry, which included a ride up one of the elevators that flank the main entrance, all the way to the top (for a presumably commanding view of the city). Unfortunately, when we arrived, we were informed that there had been an unscheduled closing of the elevators. We assumed maybe due to windy conditions, but we later learned that we were pre-empted by someone or group apparently more important an/or influential than us mere tourists.

STILL, THE remaining parts of the tour were pretty impressive. In addition to much of the Gaudi forms in the interior of the church, the stained glass - both in terms of color and grandeur and for their strategic placement, directing light at appropriate times of the day, was amazing. As you can see, it really is difficult to capture the massive structure, inside and out.

IT WAS a great few days in Barcelona, which became our absolute favorite European City. This brief account doesn't really cover the depth of our experience. In addition to learning so much about the art and architecture of the city (dominated, of course, by Antoni Gaudi), our hotel was just 2 blocks from Las Rambla, a boulevard that winds through the city, with outdoor seating restaurants, shops, entertainers and people watching! We enjoyed the tapas style food, and just doing some bar-hopping in some of the small bars around our hotel. We walked back down into the Gothic Quarter on our final night to find a recommended restaurant where we had a splendid seafood dinner (my wife and I would spend more time and learn much more about the Gothic Quarter and the history of the old city when we stopped again in 2019 for an overnight stay in the port). We capped off our last night - it had finally cleared and there were even stars in the sky - up on our rooftop bar. We had a leisurely time frame for boarding our cruise ship the next day - just minutes by taxi or uber from our hotel. And we were just getting started!

I Am A Celebrity!

Sunday, January 18, 2026

2015 - Return to the Mediterranean

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