London to Barcelona - 2018
August 28, 2018 - September 12, 2018
Linda and I left Columbus on Tuesday, August 28 about mid-day for JFK airport in New York. It's been many years since I have traveled through that busy airport. We connected with a late afternoon Virgin Atlantic flight from JFK to London. JFK was busy for sure, but everyone was very helpful and friendly. I was pleasantly surprised. Lucky for us flights were running on time. We arrived in London Heathrow airport about 6:30 the next morning. Baggage claim and customs were efficient and we were greeted by our driver (and morning rain) and whisked away to our hotel in the heart of London.
It had been equally as long since we last visited London. While we were in the city just a bit longer than 24 hours we had a marvelous time. On Thursday, we boarded a bus along with about 18 others for a 2 hour bus ride to Southampton. There we connected with our ship, the Azamara Pursuit, for an 11 day journey. Late the afternoon of the 30th we departed for Bordeaux. France. We spent 2 nights in Bordeaux. From there we went to Bilbao and Gijon, Spain. We then went to Porto and Lisbon, Portugal. Back to the United Kingdom - Gibraltar for one short day. Then we sailed to Almeria and Valencia, Spain before ending the trip in Barcelona. The only time we spent in Barcelona was the time it took us to travel from the seaport to the airport.
Being on the ship is like having a hotel with wheels. You only have to unpack once. They feed you well. They keep you well hydrated with your favorite beverages. In most ports the ship parks at the front door to the city. This is a smaller (600 passenger) ship and fits into many tight ports and docs. In a few places we were but a short shuttle ride to the heart of the city. We walked many miles. The weather was mostly good. The worst day was on day 2 when we were crossing the English Channel and heading into the Atlantic for Bordeaux. The rain was hitting the ship sideways.
Once we docked in Barcelona, we went directly to the airport and traveled home via Atlanta. This time all our bags made it on the same flights that we traveled on.
Always difficult to come home but always nice to be home. Hope you enjoy these selected images as much as I enjoyed making them.
Click here to go to my favorite gallery images
Go Back to The Recent Images Gallery