Blog 4 - FOGGING 

On Saturday, Nov. 23 we docked in Barcelona.  As this was the end of a cruise (Marseilles to Barcelona) and the beginning of a new cruise (Barcelona to Rio) most of the passengers disembarked and new passengers got on.  However, 49 of us were booked for both cruise segments.   

Our plan had been to sleep-in and then meet Josep, Teresa and Pol (our Spanish/Catalonian friends) for lunch.  However, the stop in Barcelona was an opportunity for the ship to do a complete cleaning following the norovirus outbreak.  The 49 continuing passengers were told to leave the ship for the day, but we were offered a free 7-hour tour of the city. 

We had to pack up all our clothes and other belongings, as each room had to be “fogged”, including every drawer, closet, etc. Every brochure or other bit of paper was destroyed.  Cans of soft drinks inside the fridge were removed and discarded.  Cushions from the couch, pads from the deck chairs, and even the hair dryer were all removed and destroyed.  Presumably this was because Betty had been one of the sick passengers. 

We joined the free tour for most of the morning, but left in time to meet up with our friends.  The part of the tour in which we participated was through the old city to the Familia Sagrada, Gaudi’s still uncompleted Basilicata.  Even in late November there were lots of tourists around.  It is interesting that in the only church of this size built in the 20th century religious services are not held.  The reason for this is that they are making so much money selling tour tickets to tourists that they do not want to stop the tours in order to hold mass.  I think Gaudi is rolling over in his grave.   

We met up with our friends for coffee at the new W Hotel on the waterfront and then later had lunch in Barceloneta, an area of the city built in the 18th century by Spanish military engineers after they had defeated the Catalonians and took control of the city. 

The staff on the ship had a very long day doing all the cleaning/disinfecting.  Our room attendants started work at 5:30 a.m. and didn’t finish until 10 p.m. 

SEA DAYS:  We had two sea days on the sail from Barcelona to Tenerife.  There are two “enrichment” lecturers on board so we are learned a lot about Macaronesa, the part of the Atlantic that we will be visiting for several days. 

CANARY ISLANDS:  The Canary Islands are not named for the songbird, but rather for wild dogs (canines) that roamed the islands in past centuries.  These dogs were the most important source of protein for the indigenous people.  Incidentally canary birds are named for the islands, although the native birds are actually goldfinches. 

TENERIFE:  The largest of the Canary islands is Tenerife and the island has been a major producer of wine for centuries.  Shakespeare mentioned Canary wine 46 times in his writings.  In Twelth Night he refers to having “a cup of Canary.” 

The wine on this island is quite different than the wine with which we are familiar.  When the phylloxera epidemic wiped out almost all the grapevines in mainland Europe in the 1860’s the trade winds protected the Canaries.  Thus, the vines on the island are ancient vines and the varietals are traditional.  Listan Blanc and Listan Black are the two most common grapes.  Six of us did a wine tour of Tenerife.  Although we all liked the white wines that we tried, the red wines had a distinct flavour that we enjoyed less.  

We spent 7 hours on our tour of Tenerife (not all of the time drinking wine).  Tenerife is a beautiful island with a population of nearly a mllion.  In addition, there are about 200,000 tourists on the island at any point in time.