Mediterranean Cruise Series Episode 5 France, Spain & Ireland

The Final Three Countries: France, Spain, Ireland

This will be the last episode in the Mediterranean Cruise Series. I hope you have enjoyed journeying with us so far and learned something new. I hope you have found some inspiration to travel to new places when the time is right!

Toulon France

Day 11 included a stop in Toulon, France. There is not much to tell about this particular stop. It was very short, and did not leave time for shore excursions. I really wanted to visit a lavender farm, but there just was not enough time. This port is an alternative to Marseille, and is more geared toward naval purposes. There was not much to do here. Our plan was to ride Le Petit Tren past Fort Saint-Louis to a beach. The miniature “train” on wheels took us on a short tour of the town and played a recorded commentary about the town, the military base, and the Fort.

The history of the town of Toulon is more interesting. Toulon has been an important port city from its beginnings. It started as a Roman colony (and port) as early as the 2nd century BC, and was invaded multiple times after the collapse of Rome. Toulon became part of France in the 15th century. During WWI, it was the central port for the Allied naval forces. During WWII, the town suffered significant damage from bombings. The French navy scuttled most of their fleet here during WWII in order to keep out of German hands.

After passing the Fort, we did not get off at the first beach, because it was really crowded. The next beach was not as crowded, and so we got off the train and walked down to find a spot in the sand. It turns out that tops were optional here, so there was that brief moment of surprise and awkwardness – keep in mind I was there with my daughter. Then I was like well we are in France, and we went about our day enjoying the sun for a bit. 

We got back on the train to head back toward the ship when we got bored. We got off at the farmer’s market, but most were already closing shop for the day. We walked back to the ship, and ended up at the pool the rest of the afternoon. Fun fact about Toulon beaches, apparently the farther from the port you go the less clothing is required. We were told by fellow passengers the beach further down was a nude beach. I have nothing against this, but being with my daughter, I was glad we missed it! Haha! 

Barcelona Spain

Day 12 was our day to disembark in Barcelona. I had booked the Artistic Barcelona the Best of Gaudi afternoon tour for us through Viator. It was easy enough getting a cab from the port to our hotel for the night. We stayed at the Hotel Indigo in Plaza Catalunya. This was the perfect location for several reasons. It was a short cab fare from the ship, it was near where we were to meet up with our tour and also for wandering and shopping Las Ramblas, there were plenty of food options within walking distance, and the bus stop for the airport bus was just a few blocks away as well. 

Our tour took us to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We started in Las Ramblas and a bus took us to La Sagrada Familia, the infamous Catholic basilica designed by Gaudi. Construction began before his death, and he even lived in the structure for twelve years. It has been a work in progress for over 100 years! Construction began in 1882! It is currently slated for completion in 2026 the centennial of Gaudi’s death! After Gaudi’s death, one of his students took over the work, followed by several others. I always thought that the building was scary looking, however, the newer parts are not as rugged. Even though I think it is scary, I like the older part better – it looks (and is) more historic. 

Gaudi’s unique style was very much influenced by nature and can definitely be observed in La Sagrada Familia. Each detail, it seems, in the design of the building has a specific purpose. For example, there is a 4×4 square with numbers in each box, and however you add the numbers, they add up to 33 – the age of Jesus when he was crucified. (You can see this below with the sculpture of Judas). Our guide did an excellent job explaining each facade. One side of the building is called “The Nativity” and reflects sculpted scenes from Jesus’s life. The other side is “The Passion” and depicts scenes from the last three days of the life of Jesus. You could spend hours looking at all of the details in the facades!  

Next on the itinerary was Parc Guell. It has a very interesting history. The Parc was originally designed by Gaudi to be a neighborhood for the affluent. Each residence would have its own elevated private drive (although only two houses were ever built). The neighborhood would have its own laundry, church, theater and market. At the time of the construction, 1900, however, the Parc was 4 kilometers outside the city center of Barcelona, and none of the wealthy were interested in moving out of the city center.

Gaudi lived there for a while with his father in one of the residences, but when his father died, he moved into La Sagrada Familia. After this point it was turned into a park! We entered the Parc through a side entrance, and followed a road designed to represent a giant rosary with large concrete spheres lining the side of the road – the same number as in a rosary.

We arrived first at the theater, which sits directly above the market, and was originally designed so that people could watch from their homes. The short scalloped wall/bench around the theater is covered in beautiful mosaics, and from here you have some amazing views of the city! The theater drains water through the columns in the market to a reservoir beneath the market that flows out of a series of fountains when it gets full. The market was never opened. 

Nearby the market is the Wash House Portico. This area was indeed designed as a place for residence to do their washing. The corridor is shaped like a wave, and one of the columns has a “washwoman” sculpted into it. From the laundry we passed down a large staircase with a lizard fountain in the middle. The lizard was also covered in mosaics. This is one of the fountains that drains the reservoir when it is full.

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At the bottom of the stairs is the guardhouse on the left. If you look closely there are teacups on the top of the roof! In the building on the right – the one that looks like it could be a church with the cross on top is where you can purchase souvenirs. These buildings make me think of Hansel & Gretel – I don’t really know why, and I also know they are not from Spain haha! Maybe they remind me of gingerbread. 

The bus took us back into the city center of Barcelona and dropped us off to walk back to our original meeting point so that we could pass by Casa Mila and Casa Batllo, two other buildings designed by Gaudi. Casa Mila is also known as La Pedrera or “The Stone Quarry.” Casa Mila was commissioned by the wealthy Pere Mila in the early 1900s. It was designed for the Milas to live on the main floor and to rent out the other apartments. Keep in mind, Gaudi’s work was influenced by nature, and the design of Casa Mila was meant to resemble the ocean. 

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The second home we stopped to see was Casa Batllo. Gaudi was contracted to renovate Casa Batllo in the early 20th century. This building has a fascinating facade and roof. There are two main interpretations of the design. One is that it represents the legend of Saint George who slayed a dragon to save a princess. This interprets the cross as the hilt of a sword that has been plunged into the dragon’s back (the scales on the roof). Sorry, I did not get a photo of this. The “bones” on the front facade play into this interpretation as well. The other interpretation is that it is reflective of a water lily landscape. I am not sure how the balcony “mask” railings fit into either. This building is super cool, though. I always think of skulls when I see it. 

It made for a busy day to see Parc Guell and La Sagrada Familia on the same day. This also meant that unfortunately, we would not be able to go into any of the structures. In the future if I am able to return, I would like to actually go inside each of these to see the interior, and also go inside the museum at Parc Guell. Be sure to have plenty of water – Barcelona is hot in the summer! Also don’t forget your sunscreen. After nearly two weeks on a Mediterranean Cruise successfully avoiding a major sunburn, I forgot to bring my sunscreen to reapply, and got an excellent sunburn. At least it was near the end of our trip and not the beginning. Haha!  After the tour we had some tapas for dinner and called it a night.

Dublin, Ireland

Day 13 began our travels home. We had a 23 hour layover in Dublin (yes I did this on purpose). Any time that I can possibly fly international on Aer Lingus, I ALWAYS do. They are great to fly with. Great customer service, good food (for airplane food), and it is a comfortable flight! PLUS, it gets me into Dublin where I try to make sure and have an extra long layover with time to goof off in the city! Dublin is my favorite big city. 

We walked the three and a half blocks to the Aerobus bus stop in Placa Catalunya to take to the airport. It was easy to navigate, but sort of a wild ride. My daughter got bounced out of the seat and into the floor. She was okay, and it was pretty funny!  

We of course had a few more airport antics – her bag got searched – we aren’t sure why, and I had to go through twice because I forgot to put my mini limoncello in my checked bag. Oops! We were able to check our bags all the way through to Chicago even with the long layover, which is always nice because then we don’t have to mess with our big bags. However, with all of the security issues we were running behind schedule. During our bathroom stop on the way to the gate, we thought we heard our boarding announcement. Then, while walking to the gate, we heard our names called. We ran the rest of the way thinking we were going to miss the flight, and no, they just wanted to verify that we did not need our checked luggage in Dublin!

When we arrived in Dublin, we took the Airlink bus to Temple Bar. We walked a few blocks in the rain – the weather is always “mixed” in Ireland so dress appropriately. We got to our hotel, Blooms, just in time for our 3:00 check in. It wasn’t fancy, but it served our purpose, and the location was perfect. We took a short rest, and then headed to Trinity College to walk around.

We ate dinner at my favorite place in Temple Bar, Boxty. It used to be called Gallagher’s Boxty House, then The Boxty House, and now it is just Boxty. If you ever make it to Dublin, you HAVE to eat here. The food is amazing! Boxty is a traditional Irish dish made from a potato pancake. It tastes WAY better than it sound I promise! The corned beef and cabbage boxty is fantastic, and an Irish Coffee for desert finishes the meal off nicely! We finished the evening wandering around the Temple Bar area and just enjoying the city.

Headed home

Day 14, we got up early to catch the Airlink bus back to the airport. This is the easiest way to and from Dublin and the airport, and the stop in Temple Bar was super convenient to the Blooms Hotel.

As always we had some airport antics. My liquids ziplock (that I had literally used on EVERY other flight) was suddenly too large. So I threw away my toothpaste and deodorant to satisfy security. Then, my bag got searched – why? That stupid hole punch – you know the one the cruise terminal security in Venice didn’t like. It had been in my checked bag flying into Venice. I told the agent to just throw it away. He didn’t. He put it back in my bag. Oh well. Never a dull moment. 

From here we went to the US Customs Preclearance area. This is another bonus of flying out of Dublin, you can clear customs in Dublin instead of having to wait in the crazy long lines in the US! Security at this checkpoint is pretty much just like the airport security: shoes off, laptops out, liquids out, jackets/hoodies off. I got pulled aside to have my bag searched – again with the freaking hole punch! I insisted the agent throw it away this time so that I wouldn’t have this issue in Chicago. She did. At some point, I will clear airport security without incident. I am tired of being “that person” haha! I have it down to a science now, but it took a few more trips!  

Eightish hours later, we made it to Chicago uneventfully. That was as long as it lasted. We collected our luggage, nearly got run over by a family with SIX luggage carts – yes you read that right – SIX – when we tried to get on the train to get from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. The train was full but people kept packing in. One lady tried to crowd in and her purse got stuck in the door – haha! We made it to the domestic terminal, rechecked our bags (different airline I had booked separately), grabbed some food, and settled in until our uneventful flight to Kansas City. It is always bittersweet to be home. Thank you for joining us on this journey! I hope you enjoyed it!

If you missed any of the previous episodes, you can check them out here:

• Episode 1 Airport Antics & Venice
• Episode 2 Greece & Turkey
• Episode 3 Naples & Rome
• Episode 4 Pisa & Florence