Travel Live: The best sandwich in the world

The ham sandwich at Cafe Viena has been described as the best sandwich in the world by the New York Times. Photo / Patricia Greig

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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.

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Ahoy! And so it begins... Cruising from Barcelona to London on the incredible Viking Sea. Within 5 minutes of boarding I found the burgers, the champagne and the pool. Classic Pat. - Patricia #Barcelona #port #cruising #travel #nzhtravel

A post shared by Herald Travel (@nzhtravel) on Apr 24, 2016 at 3:16am PDT

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.

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Known as Casa dels Ossos (House of Bones) because of its skeletal properties, Gaudí's Casa Batlló is a favourite of mine. The roof is said to represent the dragon killed by St George (his lance is the turret at the top), the patron saint of Gaudí's home, Catalonia. - Patricia #travel #Barcelona #nzhtravel #cruising #Gaudí #architecture #modernist

A post shared by Herald Travel (@nzhtravel) on Apr 25, 2016 at 1:26am PDT

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.

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I like to think I know my ham sandwiches but this one has just knocked me clean out with its beauty. Someone from the New York Times said it was the best sandwich ever... Someone from the NZ Herald would be inclined to agree. - Patricia #jabugo #snacks #barcelona #nzhtravel #travel

A post shared by Herald Travel (@nzhtravel) on Apr 25, 2016 at 12:22pm PDT

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