With only 37 miles to go to Barcelona, we had time to make a quick lunch stop at anchor for a swim. When we arrived in Barcelona, we were amazed at the huge city skyline and all the boating activity. We had reservations at Port Olimpico which was constructed for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Unfortunately the office had gotten our reservation mixed up and didn’t have a regular berth for us. So we had to spend the first two nights side tied at the end of the fuel dock next to the harbormaster office. It was a safe place however and close to the showers on shore. For our last two nights we finally had a regular Med moor space so Norma and Mike finally got to see how the passerelle works on the boat. This is the normal method of berthing in the Med, which is to back down onto the dock, secured by mooring lines at the front of the boat and our dock lines to the back. Then we extend a long ladder-type device called a passerelle from the back of the boat to the dock.
Our time in Barcelona was spent doing the usual tourist things, which we loved. We took a hop on/hop off bus tour to get an overview and then went back the next day for more time at some of the stops. The architecture of the city, with its mixture of old and new, was fascinating. We also managed to get the cell phone and wireless connection set up for Spain, which entailed no less than 5 stops to various stores throughout the city.
After 4 delightful days exploring a wonderful city, Mike and Norma took a taxi to the airport and flew back to Paris to head home to California. We stayed on Saturday night and enjoyed more Barcelona sights on Saturday until we left at 4:30 pm for our long last overnight passage the 97 nm to Sant Carles de la Rapita.