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The problem: due to the event (and I suspect also because it's a huge hassle for the drivers), no taxis would take us. We were turned down by about ten drivers or charged a ridiculous amount of money. Corb started looking into other options.

There really was only one. With our boarding time looming, we had no choice but to walk in the 90-degree weather toward the cruise port, which was a 40-minute trip, loaded down by four bags. Walking from Barcelona’s main cruise piers (Moll Adossat) from the city center is an intense two-mile journey that cuts through an active industrial area and a long causeway and is hot, loud, and not much fun, especially when you get to the bridge outside the port that is fairly steep.

We weren't the only ones, of course. In fact, there were literally hundreds of people carrying suitcases making their way to the cruise port. For most people, I didn't think it was a huge deal to walk all that way, and over the bridge, but I did get a bit concerned seeing all the older people in their seventies bogged down by luggage making this walk. Several had to stop and rest as they unsteadily made their way along the uneven streets. I am sure there have been health incidents in the past. 

By the time we arrived at the cruise port, every sweat gland in my body was pumping away and I was exhausted. I am just grateful we had uploaded our badge photos before we left for the cruise, because I am sure both of us looked like horrible, sweat drenched messes. We could not wait to board the boat and get into our cabin and start to feel normal again. 

But thankfully, we made it! And now we had an intense sequence of places to visit, ended with Rome and Pompeii. We were so excited to be off and running. 

One note that I am not sure I will be able to fit anywhere else: while we absolutely loved our dining staff, our cabin attendant did not get along with us. Things started badly because he knocked about a minute after we got into our suite and we were in no condition to talk with him, so asked him to please come back later. They grew worse when during the next knock, with Corb talking to his mom, I asked if we could have some of our clothing dry cleaned from our week in Paris. He grew really agitated by that, since it was before the mid-point in the cruise where they typically offer a cleaning deal. However, from all the walking we did in Paris during a heat wave, we really needed them cleaned. 

He promised they'd be done in a day (Corb needed underwear). They weren't done in a day. He grew angry and lost his temper with me when I called the day he had promised.

By the middle of the trip, we were only communicating with him through closed doors. Like, he would knock and we would say "we're leaving soon!" It wasn't optimal.