Zombie sushi and turtle sex

So, we have departed the cruise and are safely back on dry land.

First things first - we needed to celebrate my birthday. We managed to find a tapas restaurant in Barcelona that was 'created' by the same chef that brought the world El Bulli. We had no idea what to order, and thankfully our waiter came to our rescue, asked us how hungry we were, and told us he would just 'bring things'. The first course was very reminiscent of El Bulli. They looked live olives, but both the texture and the flavour were something altogether different. 

After this the food just kept on coming. We ended up with something like 17 different dishes. That included the best smoked salmon I have ever eaten...

The worlds cutest calamari hot dog...

Smoked fish...

And the worlds tastiest tomatoes (with a side of ham croquet)...

We ended up leaving with very full bellies and very light wallets a few hours later.

Saturday morning we were armed with reservations to check out some of the Gaudi sites we missed last weekend. We finally made it into the cathedral.

This church is nuts. So far they have been building it for 130 years. They estimate in modern terms they have spent about $1.1 billion dollars. One woman has spent the last 20 years doing nothing but the stained glass windows. If you ever aspired to be an evil genius or a cult leader I suspect Gaudi is someone to study. How he managed to convince so many people in Barcelona to actually invest such vast amounts of money into his crazy schemes is to be admired. 

One idea of his that didn't quite get the same level of enthusiasm was Park Guell.

Whilst the centerpiece was built, it never quite became the housing estate he envisaged, with only the display home ever being completed. Of course the 'dragon' is what everyone comes to see.

For dinner that night we decided to hit up the Japanese/Brazilian fusion restaurant near the hotel. One of the best dishes we got we decided to call zombie sushi, because the salmon looks an awful lot like a brain...

On Sunday Riin was off to see something artsy (I mad a micro sleep somewhere around the word gallery) so I decided to hit up the aquarium and zoo.

Turns out the fish of the Mediterranean are very grey and brown. Hence the hoards of European tourists around the one teeny tiny coral reef tank. The place featured some awesome octopuses.

And you could jump on a moving walkway through a massive shark tank which had a lot of tiger sharks.

There were also some great exhibits of fish eggs (little fishy babies on a clothesline).

After the aquarium I went to hit up the zoo. The animals at the zoo seemed very bored with the tourists.

Those that did not look bored were sleeping.

Or hiding. I couldn't find any of the lions, tigers, cheetahs or Jaguars supposedly in the enclosures. It was almost the great Snow Leopard incident of 2000 all over again...

Despite it being Sunday one of the elephants was still able to get an appointment with a podiatrist.

If you grew tired of walking you could hire a car to drive around.

Among the animals the birds were the most interested in showing off.

There was even the incredibly rare Chilean flamingo....which only has 2 legs...

The turtles were the other end of the spectrum. I'd go as far as calling them exhibitionists. Had to laugh whilst one poor parent tried to explain what was going on in the enclosure.

I think I spied a candidate for parent of the year at the zoo. Toddler was screaming and crying and wanting Mum's ice cream. Mum didn't want to share, so they placated the kid by giving her Dad's beer. Stopped the tears at least.

I was a little worried about the welfare of some of the animals. Are bears supposed to form at the mouth? (Can't find an answer on Google...).

There were so many different coloured birds.

My new fav bird though is the vulture. I don't think I'd ever quite appreciated how big they were.

And I think I found the smartest statue in Europe. Finally, the solution to the bird poo problem.

Vienna tomorrow!

A late arrival and an early departure

Modes of transportation have (so far this trip) come with a little more excitement (drama?) than is really needed.

There was a sign I should have paid attention to when the guy sitting next to me tried to pick a fight with the guy sitting in front of us on the Air Niugini flight Wednesday afternoon. I am still very confused as to what that was about (apparently the guy in front "looked at" the guy next me...). I am wondering if Qantas/Air Niugini would let me put "not to be seated next to drunken Aussie expats" on my frequent flyer profile?

Also, a short note to Emirates. If you are going to serve croissant in flight, please, please, please, please, please warm them up. Refrigerated ones taste like old shoe leather. If you can warm the strawberry garnish on my breakfast (which was gross by the way, they should not be heated) surely you have the technology to warm the croissant? End rant.

At any rate I made it to Dubai unscathed (only managing to lose Riin once in the whole process) and then jumped on board the next flight. 30 something hours after walking out of the office I landed in Barcelona airport. All I wanted in the world at that point was a shower and a change of clothes. Turns out my luggage had other ideas. It had stayed in Dubai. Thankfully though, this is where being a Platinum FF comes in handy. There was a nice man waiting for me the second I stepped through the aircraft doors. He apologizes profusely, gave me my bags revised itinerary (his words) and handed me off to a woman who escorted me the entire way through the airport and then pushed me to the front of the line at baggage services where she conducted the whole transaction, organising my bags delivery for me in Spanish. That was 2pm. I had the bag back just before 11 that night. 

Whilst my luggage decided to enjoy the hospitality of Dubai airport, I went out to enjoy Barcelona. 

It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day, making it perfect to just got for a walk. There is a motoring show in town (tied to the race this week I presume) which made getting around some key sights a little more of adventure, but we finally worked out how to get up to Palau Nacional.

The view from up there wasn't too shabby.

An observation though on the changing times. Remember the good old days, when you would go to tourist spots and there would be some guy hawking cheap rolls of Kodak 35mm film? Turns out these days the hawkers at tourist attractions have a new product. They want to sell you a selfie stick. If that isn't a sign of the impending apocalypse I don't know what is.

Given the long trip we wanted an early (7pm) dinner, which leaves only one option in Spain - Tapas.

We had squid and olives and cod fritters and ham and mini sausage and snails. Yes, snails.

Thursday morning, happy with my abundance of clean clothes thanks to the arrival of my luggage, we set out on another day of sightseeing. Breakfast was at a nearby cafe and I am going to crown this the greatest chocolate croissant I have ever eaten. Does anyone else look at the coffee and think Tim Burton?

First stop On today's sightseeing was the fresh food market.

There we found ham. Lots and lots and lots of yummy ham.

You know what goes well with ham? Eggs. 

Maybe you need some tomatoes on the side.

Or a really cool looking octopus.

I wanted to eat it all, and luckily you could. I opted for some of the regions best deep fried delights.

Whilst Riin opted for a cone full of ham.

Walking outside we found the ice cream sellers so had to taste test some of that as well. I still find it bizarre that it is okay to make ice cream out of smurfs in Europe. 

Next, we headed to Sagrada Familia.

The line to get in went around the block so we figured we'd come back to that next weekend. So we headed to Park Guell.

We got in line for a ticket there only to be told it was sold out til 5pm. Another on the list for next weekend (when the ticket will be pre-brought in the Internet). We are 0/2 at this point. Except the ham. Ham was a winner.

So instead it was off to the site of the 1992 Olympics.

Such a teeny tiny stadium by today's standards. Only holds about 30,000, which you could never get away with for an opening ceremony these days.

I then decided to hit up a funicular to head up to Castell de Montjuic.

When I got to the top the view was worth the trip. This was the view back over the city.

This was the view out over the Port.

There is even a garden up there with plants that look like giant asparagus.

Back down the hill I went (Which I walked after the wind picked up and created a scary swinging funicular on the way up) and headed to yet another 'early' tapas dinner. This time there was no snails, but there was ham. Because we hadn't really had our ham fix for the day...

So at this point it was time to head out to the cruise ship. We had double checked all our documents the night before. 23:00 departure, needing to check in three hours before. So at 19:30 we dutifully head to the port. When we get there it is all shut up, and the baggage guys are yelling in Spanish. The taxi driver says that we are late and they have been waiting for us (huh?). So the baggage guy grabs our bags and practically runs through security, through the terminal and up to the ship. Not another soul in sight. 

When we get to the entrance to the ship there is more yelling (in both Spanish and Italian) and lots of ushering us quickly on board. We check in and are told we are late (huh?). We are more than a little confused, but just go with it. Get to the cabin and realise we are moving already! But it is only 8pm??? 

So, as it turns out there were some 'unexpected tidal changes' and they decided to set sail earlier than expected. They just kinda forgot to tell the passengers embarking that day. 

At any rate, alls well that ends well, and we made it on the ship in just the nick of time. This ship in fact. The MSC Fantasia. Where the coffee shop was practically a nightclub at 11pm last night.

It was one of about 5 in port on Thursday. 

The good folks who live on The World were also in town.

 Today's stop (where we have arrived five hours early thanks to the early departure) is Marseille, France. Let's hope I remember to get back on the boat in time.