One of the benefits of the Horizon ship being so small was that it was able to park so close to town! Once we finished breakfast aboard, we waited our turn to disembark and exited the ship to find ourselves in a very familiar spot. At the very bottom of Las Ramblas right by the beach and marina. No need to catch a taxi at all since we were right where we intended to go. Since we'd donated our extra duffel bag and all my thriftstore/goodwill/cruise clothes and shoes to a gal who'd had her luggage stolen in the DR, all we had were our small backpacks. We walked up a few blocks enjoying the relative quiet of the walking street on a Saturday morning. Vendors setting up and cafés prepping for the crowds to come. One of Kim's favorite places in the world is the Cafe de l'Opera which is about halfway up towards the Plaça de Catalunya . So we spent a leisurely morning over an ensemada and his favorite Cafe con Leche. When we left the café the throngs of people had descended and it was slow walking up Las Ramblas. In the past when we have visited, there were many interesting street performers spaced regularly along the walk vying for the tourist coins however the only one I saw was a man posing in a bird costume and just as I looked, an officer ousted him. I'm guessing the regulations have changed and since the place seemed much cleaner than before I'm also figuring the city is trying to clean up and dispel it's former slightly seedy & pickpocket filled reputation.
We made our way easily to the train and for a mere 4 euros each ended in the airport for a hopper to London, Gatwick.
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