Barcelona, Spain

While most of yesterday we had pretty smooth sailing, occasionally we had some bumps in the night last night. It wasn’t enough to make things uncomfortable, but enough to know something was happening out there. Then when I tried to get out of bed in the night to go to the bathroom and got tossed back onto the bed I figured we weren’t going to make it into Barcelona. I checked the TV and it said 48 knot winds were hitting the port side of the ship. So I gave up trying to get back to sleep and headed up to Horizon Court to get some work done. I planned on walking the Promenade deck (starboard side) to get there so I could get some fresh air but it was closed off because of the weather.

But we did make it into Barcelona. Had beautiful sunny skies, even. It was a bit windy and chilly to be riding the top level of the hop-on, hop-off bus. (Well, it is November.) But I needed to take one for the team.

The bus couldn’t have been any easier to find. Right before leaving the cruise terminal there is a stand selling shuttle tickets to the city.

Such a beautiful terminal.

Operating from 9 am to 9 pm the shuttle was 5 euro for the roundtrip ride. Large coaches, like tour buses, were used. It dropped off at the World Trade Center which is near the Columbus Monument. But if you were taking the hop-on, hop-off bus it was maybe 50 steps away from the shuttle drop off. The hop on bus route was number five on the orange route, but you could also use it to connect to the green route. We paid 30 euro for me and 25 for hubby as disabled and over 65 receive a discount. Each route takes about two hours and we did both. Me, upstairs, freezing my everything off and hubby downstairs nice and toasty. While our tickets allowed us unlimited ons and offs for the day, we just rode the loops.

We saw so much! There is no way I can get all the pictures posted, so I’ve chosen just a few. Barcelona is a beautiful city and a place we would want to visit again if given the chance.

The city

Barcelona beaches

Sagrada Familia

Look at the top

We were out after dark

It was a great day. Tomorrow is a sea day, the first of three in a row, and formal night.

Fidget Activity Mat Ideas - Tutorial Tuesday

It’s tutorial Tuesday and today’s tutorial is a bit different. If you’ve been a long time reader you know sewing projects for charity has been a big part of how I’ve spent my days over the last several years. This past year I’ve veered away from my sewing-for-good projects. And I realized I missed it.

So when my husband mentioned our neighbor was looking for something for his wife who just recently went into a care center, I knew just what to do.

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Today we are going to make a fidget mat. These mats help soothe the anxiousness that comes from patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s. They also are helpful for kids with autism.

Usually when I do these tutorials I give you directions on how to complete every single step. Today I’ve got a couple of specific measurements for you, but otherwise I’m mostly going to walk you through my process.

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You can find the video directions for the homemade fidget activity mat right here: