This morning we departed the Norwegian Jewel in Barcelona. After 50 consecutive days at sea, we headed to the Hilton Diagonal Mar hotel to used some Hilton points. What a hotel! It is about 3 miles east of the Ramblas and port area, in a new section of Barcelona filled with high rise offices, hotels and a convention center. Just across the street, is the Diagonal Mar, one of Barcelona’s largest shopping malls.
Since it is Sunday, all is fairly quite. We check in and are given a room on the 21st floor with a view of the ocean. The 15th floor lounge has views of downtown and the hills. And, the reason Janis wanted this hotel, a beautiful swimming pool on the second floor with an outdoor restaurant and bar.
While Janis soaks up the sun, Jeff explores the neighborhood. Later, we enjoy afternoon tea/happy hour in the lounge, and then go to the mall for dinner. It’s Barcelona, so no one thinks about dinner before 9-9:30 pm. At the mall, we enjoy one of the tapas restarants with outdoor seating.
More and more kids are throwing fireworks and we can’t understand why. Back at the hotel, we head to the lounge to view the city lights after dark. There is a major fireworks display in the distance. It turns out that today was a holiday in Barcelona, San Juan day, celebrating the beginning of summer.
Finally, we get to take advantage of the large bathtub, which after having only showers on the ships was a real treat.