The plan
Spend 3 days exploring the city and getting over jetlag! Details not finalized (gasp!) but accommodation booked at a lovely 3 bedroom apartment over looking the Placa Reial near Las Ramblas. At a bargain price of 690 Euro for 3 nights, I am sure the kitchen and laundry facilities will come in handy for a family travelling with 3 young children.
http://www.habitatapartments.com/en/barcelona/apartment/view/art.htm
The apartment thankfully turned out to be as advertised! A picture is worth a thousand words so here are some of the apartment.
The apartment building
Some more thoughts on the apartment now that we've been here for some days. The apartment itself and the location are definitely BIG pros. We have found the kitchen and laundry facilities priceless. The face that it had 2 complete bathrooms is also great. The free wifi is an added bonus. It is SO easy to get around from the apartment and everything you need is only a short walk away. Having said that location can also be one of the cons. Because it is near the busy part of the city, nightlife is well and truly bustling. Noise can be an issue until the early hours of the morning. DH and I haven't really noticed it but we've been jetlagged and I'm a good sleeper! My parents on the other hand have already acclimatised to the time difference and are light sleepers. They've found the noise has woken them up. Another small con is that the street the apartment is on is small and so has no car access. The walk to access is very short but nevertheless still a walk with luggage.
21 April
The flight from Singapore to Barcelona was LONG. We were fortunate enough to be grouped together at the last minute in a pair and triple 3 rows apart. The flight was absolutely full. It arrived in Barcelona eariler than planned and by 730 we were at the carousel picking up our luggage. We bumped into a fellow DISboarder at the airport and hopefully we'll get to meet the rest of the group come the 24th.
It was only a surprisingly short drive to our apartment. The driver made us nervous when he said that the street was too small for the minivan and that we'd have to walk in the rest of the way. He dropped us off on Las Ramblas and off we went shuttled into a small alleyway. We were rewarded with a spectacular view of Placa Reial and turned into a quaint and charming little street where the apartment building was. It was as good as, if not more than what I expected
My parents flight thankfully went ahead with the reopening of Schiphol Airport just only yesterday. So as we waited for their arrival to the apartment, we wandered downstairs to find some lunch for the children. Our first meal in Spain turned our to be an organic-microwave yourself variety. For only 6.95 Euro we got ourselves 2 meals, a dessert, a drink and a bread roll which was enough to feed all five of us. Best of all, it was only literally at the bottom of our apartment building.
When my parents came, we wondered down Las Ramblas enjoying the buzz and the street performers whilst clutching our belongings with paranoia. Malcolm and I decided to hit the sightseeing hard today to try to re-adjust our bodyclock as soon as possible. We stopped at the La Boqueria markets for an afternoon snack before continueing past Placa Catalunya to Passeig De Gracia. We then hopped on a metro to take in the sights of La Sagrada Familia. This was followed by another metro ride to Park Guell. The walk up the hill was punishing. I really wished I was Jonah being pushed up the hill in a stroller! Park Guell itself was surprisingly relaxing. It was nice to sit and watch the children run around with the sights of Barcelona city in the background and beautiful mosaics all around you.
By this stage though, everyone was tired and so we took a taxi home. Thank goodness for parents. Mine stopped to get drinks and dinner (we had to have 2 taxis). The children were then quickly bathed and are now sound asleep. They have coped surprisingly well and it bodes well for many happy travels in the future! If we/they can handle this, then the world is our oyster! I'm going to bed in preparation for another busy day tomorrow. I still can't believe I'm here!!!
22 April
A 2:30am start to the day was not on the agenda. However, that was the time Jonah chose to wake up and refused to go back to sleep. He was followed shortly by Lara and then Elliot. We acknowledged a lost battle and by 430am the whole family had finished breakfast.
So on to Montserrat we went as planned, trying to catch the 736 am train from Placa Espanya. Although the instructions to get there obtained from the DISboards and cruisecritic was nearly 2 pages long and was explicit with details, we still managed to get it wrong. We somehow missed the underground link from the metro at Placa Espanya to the FGC section and so had to figure it out above ground. Travelling with a stroller didn't help. We had planned to get the funicular (rack rail) up as it opened earlier and then catch the aeri (cable car) down if we felt like it at the end of the day. In the chaos and confusion of the moment, we bought the wrong tickets. But we did make the train! The doors closed just as we entered.
As we got to Montserrat-Aeri station, we unfortunately had to wait an hour in the cold for the cable car to open. Malcolm and Elliot set off on a walking track and the rest of us waited it out in front of the station. Thankfully the attendant didn't take too much longer to open it up. We trooped in to escape the chill and treated ourselves to hot drinks from the vending machine. Before long we were up, up and away!
The view once we got to the top was spectacular. We certainly didn't regret making an effort to come here early. There were relatively few people about and we were able to go straight to the Basilica and see the Black Madonna without having to line up. We spent the rest of the morning exploring, taking the Sant Joan funicular to the very top. Again, I can't believe how steep the rail is! By the time we had lunch, we were exhausted and started to make our way back home.
On the train, the whole family decided that we'd forgo Poble Espanyol and go shopping instead! So we stopped at Placa Catalunya and shopped from 3pm to 6pm, slowly making our way back to our apartment. We had a brief stop for afternoon tea at the cafeteria atop Cortes Ingles which boasted a lovely view of the city. I was excited to find my Zara store and promptly purchased myself a new top and coat. We had a dinner of tapas at Placa Reial. The Sangria tasted so much better than the ones we've had at home. And I don't what they put it in, but the Spanish version of aioli is amazing. Potato chips have never tasted better!
We asked the children what the highlight of their day was, and we were humbled by their answer. Elliot's was finding a sparrow's nest whilst on the walk with Malcolm and Lara's was simply being allowed to buy a hot chocolate from the vending machine. It just reminded us that often its the simplest thing that children appreciate and that it needn't be expensive.
I go to bed exhausted yet again but very happy and satisfied. I'm looking forward to the sight of the Magic tomorrow as we plan to visit the Harbour front, and sincerely hoping that the children will wake up later!
23 April
My first mission today was to have myself some churros and hot chocolate. Thankfully the children woke up at a decent time today! We set out to the little cafe which we knew opened early. The churros and hot chocolate certainly didn't disappoint. I was in heaven! The whole plate was demolished in minutes and before long we were on our way down to Port Vell at the Harbour front.
The walk to the Telefericos de Barcelona was a little longer than expected...but we soon found the San Sebastia station of the cable car which would take us across the Harbour and up to Montjuic Park. And as I hoped, we saw the Magic docked down below!
Upon arrival at Montjuic, we decided to go to Poble Espanol as we didn't make it there yesterday. It turned out to be a fantastic decision. There was something for everyone there and we had a fantastic time! The highlight had to be the "treasure hunt" they had for children/families. We were loaned a kit complete with tools and a book with clues. Using that we had to find landmarks to keep moving around the complex. It fun, and not too easy or too hard. Most importantly, it had a cheat sheet so parents can help! Elliot was in his element. My parents really enjoyed their shopping time in the various craft shops. The setting was beautiful. We also got to see real life glass blowing in action which was a treat. Before we knew it, we had spent 3.5 hours there!
We decided to head home for some rest and enjoy the sights of all the books and roses aplenty for Saint Jordi Day. The jetlag and 3 big days in a row must have caught up with me because I fell asleep after putting the kids to bed and slept past the Magic Fountain meet! I am writing now at 230am in the morning too excited to go back to sleep at the thought of boarding the Magic later on today. I just realised that in the chaos leading up to our trip, I never did complete my FE, nor have I finished printing my door magnets or putting together the FE gifts. Will just have to cobble something together tomorrow.
24 April
The day did not start off magically at all. The transfer that we had organised for 10am did not turn up. The ground contact staff was already driving a minivan full of passengers to the port. At 11am he finally turned up and hailed 2 taxis for us and paid on our behalf. By the time we arrived at the port, we were behind a few bus loads of people. I was not impressed. But I was very excited to see the ship! Having never been on
Disney cruise lines, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Initial impressions were not so good. The hall was stuffy and chaotic, the lines were long and check-in took a long time. The whole process compared to other cruise lines seemed disorganised. One of the pros of arriving late was that by the time check-in was completed, we could board straight away and have some lunch. We were herded to Parrot Cay for a buffet. The food wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. The theming though was lovely. Jonah enjoyed looking at the parrots on the ceiling lights and Lara was delighted to see Sebastien from The Little Mermaid on the wall light. Elliot was simply excited to be allowed to get his own food.
Things fortunately continued to improve throughout the day. We had just enough time to register all three children for their respective kids clubs. It was nice to see their faces light up at the sight of the facilities, and I must say, we were impressed. We had to drag them out of the doors to go our rooms which were ready by this stage. The staterooms were nice and spacious compared to other lines.
I trotted off the Promenade Lounge for our DISmeet. It was nice to be able to put faces to names which have become so familiar, especially over the recent volcano kerfuffle. I had to hurry back to the room as Malcolm was being fitted for a jacket. Once again, it was nice for things to just fall in place. He had visited Guest Services to organise a tux hire. We had only entered our rooms for seconds before we heard a knock on our door with someone helping measure Malcolm for his suit. Our luggage came soon after and we were able to unpack and settle in. Before long, it was time for the emergency drill when we had to drag the children away from the Disney movies playing on the TV. And this is when we had our moment of the day...Jonah was not impressed with his life romper.
After the drill, we hurried to the lobby for a photo op with Pluto and just had enough time to explore the ship before dinner started at Lumiere’s. And here’s when the Disney difference really showed through. Crayons and the kids menu were all ready at the table. The kids menu had activities on them which occupied the children while we waited for our meals. We didn’t have to wait very long at all before our meals turned up. The children were given their drinks in cute cups which were practical. Jonah unfortunately, fell asleep at the table. It was nice to be able to wheel a stroller in freely so he can sleep in the dining room while we finished our dinner. The staff were very perceptive and noticed that my hands were full and kindly offered to help Elliot cut up his food . All these things made for very happy parents! The waiters were friendly and the food delicious. A big step up from lunch.
Elliot spotted Donald Duck and desperately wanted a photo so we dashed out and managed to beat the lines. He then excitedly took his Oma and Opa up to Shutters where our embarkation photo was displayed. He returned to the room delighted to see a swan towelgami complete with chocolates. With barely enough time to go to the loo, he dashed off again to watch the show. He is also seemingly determined to stay up for the sail away party.
Meanwhile, I am here in the room with Lara and Jonah who are both dead to the world. I am exhausted from yet another busy day but content as I managed to sneak in a quick shopping expedition on the way back to the room! I couldn’t resist buying the Mediterranean
DCL pin as well as the Mickey star wars pin. I have my eyes set on the Dooney & Burke bag but that will have to wait for another day. How could any say that they get bored on a cruise?!?! All we planned for today was to go for a swim and we never got there...
Click for more photos from Barcelona
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Click
here for more photos on the Magic
Ah! Another thing we have in common, I worked in pharmaceutical sales for almost 10 years! Loved it! 
