Patricia Greig is currently cruising from Barcelona to London on the Viking Sea's christening cruise. She will be posting updates throughout the trip.
Exploring Barcelona by bus today was a fantastic way to get a taste of the city. We boarded buses after a short stroll to the carpark and were shown the sights from the comfort of our seats.
The architecture in Barcelona is an absolute highlight, with cathedrals, Gaudi-designed casas and labyrinths of lanes stacked with apartments, washing lines threaded between terraces with laundry hanging out to dry in the morning sun.
A must-eat in Barcelona is the ham sandwich at Cafe Viena, on Rambla dels Estudis. This sandwich was named the best sandwich in the world by the New York Times and is made with jabugo, produced only in Jabugo near Seville, and the flauta has a crunch to die for.
If you get a taste for jabugo, a market about 100 metres down the road on Ramblas de Canaletes sells beautiful fruits and meats, but be warned, you could pay around 359 euro for a kg of the stuff.
After a spot of shopping we headed back on board to continue the struggle of not eating all of the meals on the room service menu before dinner.
Tonight we ate at the Captain's Table, enjoying a five-course degustation menu with an Oriental theme meaning we nibbled on lobster shumai and green tea cheese cake among other delicious things.
- nzherald.co.nz