Another day without specific plans. Our only goal today is to find white asparagus, so I’ve mapped out all the grocery stores in the general area we will wander. We get the first shuttle bus out of the port, and get into a lengthy conversation with a lovely couple sitting behind us. We can give them a basic idea of al the places to go and how to get there because, well, we were just here in April and we’re getting pretty good wandering around this city.
At the bus stop, we walk with them into town, then leave them on their own as we hit the first Carrefour store on the list, and success! They have the asparagus. The store is right on our way back to the shuttle, which makes it super simple to stop by, grab our supplies and go. So now, we have nothing on the agenda – where to? We start with Plaza de la Virgen, stopping at the basilica next to the cathedral. Talk about ornate! The gold, the glass, the ceiling friezes. Incredible.
Outside, we examine the carving and decorations at the side of the cathedral as we make our way around to the front, hoping to go into the cathedral
But when we get there, they are just putting the ropes up and closing off the general parishioner entrance. So we continue on, stopping for cappuccino at McDonalds (yeah, well, sometimes you just have to do it!), then heading deeper into the city heading toward the market, which of course is always a happy way for us to waste an hour or so. It is surprisingly not too busy, maybe because it is fairly early, but that is fine with us, it makes it much easier to walk around and look at all the produce, meats and cheeses on display. We end up buying some sausages that are pressure wrapped so we feel confident we can bring them home, then decide we will go wander through the clothes market outside for awhile. After 10 minutes of aimless meandering, we decide to go to the ceramic museum again. What the heck? We really liked it on our first visit and it will give us something to do.
On our way, we find a gorgeous church, Iglesia San Martin, and go in to sit for a little rest while admiring the gold and porcelain adorned walls.
Back out on the street, we enjoy navigating the tiny little roads lined with Renaissance (maybe?) style buildings, and this cute little balloon dog statue (made of some material much stronger and long lasting than balloons.
Just around the corner is the museum, and blast! It’s Monday. They are closed. Never even considered that. Oh well, dump that plan. At least we can take pictures of the exterior.
What’s next? We don’t necessarily want to go back to the ship, but we also don’t want to just wander around aimlessly for hours doing nothing. It is too early for lunch or drinks, so that’s sort of out. The only option left really, is for us to head back toward the shuttle and see what develops.
We walk past the cathedral again, and it is now open for visits, but it costs 8 Euros, and we’re just being cheap now. (Which I think we’ve done in the past here too!) So we continue on, snapping photos here and there of interesting architecture.
The skies are looking a little dark at this point, so we decide to take our cheese breads and head back to the shuttle stop. Just as we are turning the corner onto the street a virtually empty shuttle goes by. Darn. Hopefully another will be right behind. So, instead of snacking on the bus (which would probably be rude anyway), we hang out on the street and dive in. The plain one is phenomenal on its own, but the meat ones are made even better with the addition of goat cheese in the middle. Damn the carbs, these are worth the weight!
While we are thoroughly enjoying our lunch, though, there are no shuttles arriving. The other ship in port, the Maremma, has a ton of shuttles coming and going, but no Azamara. It’s not a big deal unless the skies open up, then we will be kicking ourselves even more for not flagging down that last shuttle. Finally a bus arrives and lets passengers off, but doesn’t allow any on (well, if you exclude the 4 people who just blindly get on the bus without paying attention to the fact that it does not say shuttle on the front and the driver is trying to stop people from boarding. I try to ask when the next shuttle will be, but he speaks no English whatsoever, and my Spanish will never match his rapid fire delivery. I get something about asiento (which is seat, or seating) and no puerto, so at least I understand he’s not going back to the port. There is nothing else to do but wait with the growing crowd of other Azamara passengers. Maremma buses keep rolling in and out, and after about 20 minutes, finally, one of the coordinators for our buses shows up – which we’re taking as a good sign.
When our bus finally does come around the corner, there is no room for him to park. Sigh. Shuffling and bus driver instructions ensue, and after this bus moves here, our bus goes there, we all follow it as it backs up, then goes forward, finally opening the doors for us to hop on – thankfully before the rains come!
And back to the port we go – for the rest of our afternoon on the ship and tomorrow, our final port on this first leg – Barcelona.
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