BARCELONA:  The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

THE GOOD:  Getting from Antigonish to Barcelona took two days and we arrived tired, but without any serious issues.  After an Air Canada Economy flight to Montreal we were taken over by Oceania Cruises who flew us on Air France Business Class to Paris and ultimately Barcelona.  Oceania does not recognize Halifax as a real place and will only start a journey for Canadians in Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver.

This was our first flight on Air France, and the airline lived up to its reputation.  We started our flight with a 6-course dinner (featuring lobster as the main course).  I accompanied my meal with two glasses of Champagne and then four glasses of Cigalus (ordered because it was new to me).  I later learned that it can be purchased for a princely sum at the Port in Halifax, but my French wine loving kids will not be able to get it at LCBO.  The only complaint I had is that the plane flew too fast and there was not enough time for sleeping post dinner.

We checked in to our boutique hotel overlooking La Ramblas and took a taxi to a presumably famous pizza place where we met our good friends Teresa, Josep and Pol.  The pizza was tasty but somewhat different than what I usually get at The Wheel in Antigonish.  My pizza, for example was topped with smoked pork belly, roasted potatoes and slices of giant capers.

The next day Josep and Pol returned to the Pyrenees but Teresa stayed behind for an evening with us that started with tapas, before going to the spectacularly beautiful Palais Di Musica for a performance with the Tokyo Symphony.  In addition to a Stravinsky Symphony we were treated to a Tchaikovsky Concerto with guest violinist Maxim Vengerov (considered by many to be the world's best living string player.)

THE BAD:  After arriving in Barcelona we had almost an hour wait for a "golf cart" to take us a very great distance to luggage pickup.  By the time we got there only Betty's suitcase was on the carousel, and not her walker.  Eventually I found my way to "lost luggage" and the woman there determined that the walker had arrived in Barcelona but she had no idea where is was.  Betty's wheelchair pusher and I searched for almost an hour before discovering it at carousel 14C, despite the fact that the luggage from our flight arrived at carousel 7.

Before going to the Palais di Musica on Thursday I wanted a shave and a shower.  No hot water in our room so I went out with a scruffy face and a body lathered in deodorant.  This was not before discovering that the elevator was not working.  Fortunately two large, strong hotel guests assisted Betty down the 89 steps to street level.

THE UGLY:  Just before the non-shower I got an e-mail from Home Trust saying there were fraudulent charges on my Visa.  Turns out that Betty was missing her credit cards and bank card from her purse.  We don't know when she was "pick pocketed" as we were never in any crowds.  The card got cancelled, but we didn't know if our other Visa account was compromised.  I didn't want to cancel that card as we needed a credit card to board the ship.  I found this experience quite stressful.  By morning I had become very familiar with each line and nook in our room's ceiling.

However, when we got to the ship they didn't need a card as they had been a credit card number from an earlier questionnaire.  I didn't inform them that that card is now cancelled.

We boarded the Marina just before lunch to begin our 26th cruise.  A couple of glasses of California Merlot at lunch and we are now ready to sail but without Betty's cane and glasses, presumably both at the hotel.