We have left Spain for another year although we will be back next year when we have a group cruise set up for with eight couples who will be joining us on a cruise from Barcelona to Venice.  The cruise we are taking now will be very similar to that cruise next year and we will be scouting out some places where we plan to take this group. 
​
Sete, France was our first stop after Barcelona and it was another new port for us.  It was a small town that was fun to walk around but not a lot to do or see there.  It has just been added to some cruise ship itineraries and the town’s tourist department has done an excellent job in making this a pleasant stop.  It appears the most interesting thing to see in Sete is the water jousting but this doesn’t occur until their festival in August.  They have an official jousting tournament that occurs in August where the jouster stands out on a platform of a boat and tries to knock the jouster on the other boat off his platform.  The jousters have wooden shields and 8 foot steel tipped poles, and it looks like the old days when knights used to joust.  We think that if this town wants to be a major cruise line stop they need to put on jousting demonstrations for the tourists.  People would definitely come to see that.  We did have a pleasant walk up the hill above the city and there were some great panoramic views from the top (Mount Saint Clair).  We walked down the side where there was a nice lighthouse and a very interesting cemetery where all the flowers on the tombstones were made out of ceramic.  They call this city a little Venice for all the canals they have but it really didn’t seem too much like Venice to us.  All in all though we thought this was a nice port stop.

Our next stop was Cannes where we had an overnight stop because of the International Film Festival having its annual presentations in the city.  The first day we decided to take a train trip to Nice but when we got off the ship we were told the trains weren’t running.  This has happened to us before in France where they seem to strike all the time.  We ended up finding another couple with their son who wanted to go to Nice also and we shared a taxi driver with them for the day.  The driver took us to Nice and Eze along with a few photo stops along the way.  When we walked by the beaches they were packed with people.  The weather was nice and sunny and the temperature was a very comfortable 80.  The beaches in Nice are not that nice.  They are made up of rocks and not sand.  People walk the beach in their water shoes or sandals.  There are many beach clubs or restaurants on the water that rent out beach chairs and umbrellas.  In one area there were quite a few boys that were jumping off the rocks and some of the jumps were around 20 feet over the little rock cliffs.  We left Nice and headed towards Eze but along the way we stopped at an observation area to look down at Villefranche.  This is a beautiful cove where cruise ships come in.  There are restaurants and little beaches around the cove.  We had stopped here once on a previous cruise but didn’t spend too much time around the cove area.  When we arrived at Eze we were very impressed with this well kept up medieval city.  The city history goes back to 2000 BC and the control of the city has gone back and forth between the rule of Greeks, Romans, Moors, Spain and France.  In 1860 the people of Eze unanimously decided to be part of France and it has stayed that way ever since.  The city itself has been called the “Eagles Nest” because of how it sits high up o Eze and there are numerous shops and restaurants which line its little streets.  It was a very nice stop on our short day tour.  That night we walked into Cannes to see film festival activities.  It was a zoo downtown with everyone trying to get a little glimpse of the movie stars as they were chauffeured into the festival.  We were not there to look for any stars but we certainly got caught up in the traffic of thousands of onlookers, some of who were decked out in their best fashionable clothing.  It was certainly different to see this city when the festival was in full gear.
Our second day in Cannes was just a little walk around the city.  We went up to the old city and took a few pictures from the overlook areas above the city.  As we walked down the hill we were impressed with some of the little cobblestone roads with shops and restaurants that we hadn’t seen on our previous trip to this city.  As we walked further, we came across a really nice fresh market place where there were vendors selling fish, meats, vegetables and even some were cooking little lunch delicacies that looked really good.  We then walked to the boardwalk on the beach and once again people were out taking advantage of the sun and ocean.  There were many crews working in the beach area to remove many of the structures on the beach that had been erected for the film festival.  As we walked by the film festival building there was one final event going on.  People were selling tickets on the street for some of the film premiers that were going on inside.  Once again many people were decked out in their finest gowns and tuxes to go to this final event.  We took a leisurely stroll back to the ship and stopped along the marina for a little beer and wine before boarding the ship.

Next year we have a group taking a 15 day river cruise with us out of Paris that goes up north on the Seine River to Rouen where the river goes into the English Channel.  From there we are taking an excursion to see the famous World War II Normandy beaches before our cruise ship goes back down the Seine to Paris.  From Paris we transfer down to Lyon France and get to see the southern side of France before ending up in Nice where we are doing a 3 night stay on the beach there.  After getting a chance to see some of this area again on this cruise we have mapped out many nice places to come back and see when we visit the French Riviera again next year.  We are excited to spend some time here to see other areas we didn’t get to see this time.  We are also doing a 3 night stay in Paris prior to this cruise and will be there during Frances Bastille Day (Independence Day) celebration.  The fireworks display at the Eifel Tower is supposed to be spectacular for this celebration.  We have six other couples coming with us and still have room for one more couple if anyone is interested!

After leaving France we made two stops in Italy.  The first stop was in Livorno where we were going to go into Florence again but the weather didn’t look good so we stayed around the area to get some things done.  When we got to the port for Rome we rushed to the train station where we are sure we were the only couple from our ship that made the 7:44 AM train to Rome.  The weather didn’t look too good for the afternoon and we wanted to get an early start.  We were standing in the St Peters Square in the Vatican at 8:30 AM ready to go!  There were very few people there and we just spent some time walking around and taking some pictures.  We then headed to the Spanish Steps and stopped along the way for some pictures of Castel Sant’Angelo.  We arrived at the Spanish Steps which was not too crowded yet either, and took several pictures.  After that we headed to the Trevi Fountain and there were certainly a lot more people there.  The last time we were at the fountain, it was being restored and you really could not see it well.  This time it looked great!  From there we took a walk to the Colosseum but stopped at the many of the ancient Roman ruins along the way.  One of the items we saw was a sculpture of Romulus and Remus with a she-wolf.  This is from Roman mythology which tells the story of how Romulus founded Rome after killing his twin brother.  This picture of the brothers and the wolf has become a symbol of the city throughout Rome.  There is so much history in this city! 

​When we arrived at the Colosseum it looked much better than last time we were here also.  Much of the restoration that was underway a few years ago is no longer being done and you can get some great pictures if you are willing to do some hiking to get some good vantage points of this spectacular structure.  We had managed to see the four most famous sights in Rome before noon.  That is quite a feat.  We then decided it was time to have lunch at one of our favorite places – a little salami sandwich shop off of Campo di Fiorre.  We found it and the sandwich tasted as good as last time we were there.  Sharon had to have a piece of pizza at her favorite place just around the corner so we indulged ourselves once more with a little local food from Rome.  It is amazing how good some of this food tastes from these little vendors on the streets that don’t even have a place to sit down.  Grab it and go (carry out).  After our lunch we took a leisurely stroll through the Trastevere area.  There are so many winding little roads with vines and bougainvillea everywhere you look in this area.  Small shops and restaurants are scattered everywhere.  We are told this is where the locals eat.  Another enjoyable day in Rome!

We are now on our final leg of our last cruise.  We are heading off to Montenegro and Croatia where we have never been before.  We are looking forward to these stops.  

Sharon & Greg

We just completed our three visits to Spain and are now on our final cruise of our trip! Our visit to Palma de Majorca was memorable primarily because we got to have a nice relaxing lunch eating some extremely tasty Paella and drinking some Sangria.  It was great!  Before we ate though we walked at least 5 miles or so to make sure we earned our meal.  We saw the very large and beautiful cathedral in this city and spent some time walking the back streets where there were really several nice shopping areas.  There was even a street in this city called La Rambla like the famous Barcelona Street and it also had many flower shops along the center median of the road.  This is a city that we had previously visited and really didn’t take a lot of photos.  There is a very large harbor in this city with literally a thousand boats.   It is amazing to think of how much money is floating in this harbor.  It is a pretty city and always enjoyable to walk around it.  We hadn’t enjoyed Paella here before but I am sure we will look for it again next time we come back!  If you go to Spain you MUST have Paella!

Our next stop was Cartagena, Spain where we had been to before and really couldn’t find anything else we really wanted to do but just stroll around the city.  There is an old Roman fort here along with a Roman theater and other ruins but we had seen them before and elected not to see them again this time.  The most amazing thing about this visit was seeing a very unusual boat in the harbor.  It looked like a huge steel sail boat.  We eventually heard that it was a very unusual yacht built by a Russian billionaire creatively named Sailing Yacht A.  It was built a year ago at a cost of 500 million dollars!  The ship is 450 feet long and the masts are over 300 feet tall (taller than Big Ben in London!).  It is a very strange looking yacht.  This billionaire also has a more traditional yacht (also valued at $500 million) but the courts ruled last month that it will go to his wife in a divorce fight they are having.  Don’t upset your wife if you want to keep your toys! 

We walked around the streets of Cartagena where they have many very nice pedestrian only streets with stores and restaurants.  Unfortunately it was a Sunday and many shops were closed.  It was a nice relaxing port stop.

The next day was spent in Gibraltar where we once again hiked up to the top of this mountain called the “Rock of Gibraltar”.  Whenever people on the ship hear we walked up it, they are always amazed but it is about the same as walking up the stairs of a 140 story building and walking back down.  The difference though is you get some amazing views as you walk up and down.  Along the way you get to see about fifty “apes” that wander the “rock”.  It is actually an enjoyable walk (after you get about a third of the way up).  We have been to Gibraltar about four times previously and have never had the clear blue skies we had when we climbed it this time.  We had barely been able to see Africa across the Mediterranean previously but this time it was crystal clear.  The famous “Prudential” rock cliff was also much better to see than we had ever seen it before.  We didn’t go through any of the caverns or tunnels during this trip but we spent plenty of time taking pictures of the monkeys (apes).  On our way down the mountain we stopped at “Roys” in the main square for our customary “fish and chips” that we share because the Cod fish is huge.  It was just another enjoyable day in Gibraltar.  We have fun every time we come here.

Our final stop of this 4th cruise was Barcelona where we had an overnight stay.  Since we had plenty of time on the first day we decided to go someplace different and took a train to Montserrat.  This is best known for the Monastery that sits at the top of some very unusual mountains.  This monastery was built by some hermit monks in 880 and then later rebuilt several other times by different orders of monks.   It is located over 2300 feet high in some very steep mountains and you can only get to it is by either taking a cable car or a funicular.  We elected to take the cable car.  We had another unbelievable day of clear skies and cool weather in the 60’s.  We decided to take one of the many hikes they have from the Monastery area.  We chose to take one of the easier 1 ½ hour hikes to see some of the area before we considered any of the longer hikes available.  Somewhere along the way we got off on another trail which turned out to be the 5 hour hike (the longest hike they had that went up an elevation of 1700 feet above the monastery from where we started).  This was even a higher height than the day before when we hiked up the Rock of Gibraltar!  Fortunately we were able to hike this in 3 hours and have plenty of time to check out the other Monastery sights before heading back on the train.  When we got to the final point in this hike we were on a peak with sheer cliffs going down 2000 feet.  We were so high up that Greg almost didn’t go up the last 200 feet (due to fear of heights) but eventually went up since he had walked so far to get there.  It was a great view in every direction and worth the walk to get there. 

​We should mention that these mountains are made up of a very unusual material.  It is a sedimentary rock and is made up of a pink conglomerate.  It looks like thousands of small rocks that are cemented together by a natural sedimentation caused by the rivers and oceans that had once flowed in this area.  These mountains literally look like piles of concrete (4000 foot high concrete!) with rocks thrown in that were poured from high above.  We have never seen mountains like this before and there are so many unique shapes formed in these mountains.  When we did finish our hike we took some time to go through the Basilica and look around the monastery a little.  After our train ride back to Barcelona we took a leisurely walk through the Gothic area and La Rambla before walking back to the ship.

On our second day in Barcelona we just roamed through the city.  We walked again down La Rambla and we visited Gaudi’s famous Casa Batllo.  This is a very uniquely designed building by one of the world’s most famous architects.  We then walked a couple of miles to see Gaudi’s most famous creation – Sagrada La Familia.  This is still a work in progress and they hope to complete it by 2026 on the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death.  When finished it will be one of the most impressive churches ever built.  Every time we go we can see more items completed that weren’t there the last time we had visited.  As we walked back to the Gothic area of Barcelona we stopped by the Arc de Triumph there.  In the Gothic area we went by the Gothic cathedral and visited several shops in the area.  It was a nice pleasant walking day around Barcelona before we headed back to the ship for our fifth and final cruise.

We are now on our final cruise, heading off to France, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro.  

Sharon and Greg

We ended our third cruise at Civitavecchia where everyone typically goes to Rome.  We decided to take a "Tours By Locals" tour to Tuscany lead by an awesome experienced tour guide named Susanna.  What a great decision!  We found another couple (Sharon & John) to go with us who were eventually going into the city for a few days after the tour.  We had been to some of the main cities in the Tuscany Region such as Florence, Pisa and Luca but we wanted to see some of the country you see in the movies of the more peaceful countryside and history.  We started out from the port admiring the country scenery.  We first went through an area that contained the burial sites of the Etruscans (an ancient tribe before the Romans took control).  These burial sites were huge mounds of earth (small hills that you can see all around the country side) that were used to bury a tomb in which one to four people were buried.  The Etruscan tribes ruled the Romans in 600 BC prior to the Roman Empire coming into power.  We then went to Tuscania which is an old Etruscan/Roman town with many old walls, buildings and churches.  We had coffee in the town and visited one of the churches which still had frescos painted on the walls that were being restored.  Around the town you could see many of the old tombs that had been removed from the Etruscan burial sites.  They have opened so many of these burial sites; they don’t know where to put all of the tombs that they have exhumed!  We then went over to Lake Bolsena.  This was a beautifully calm volcano lake in the middle of Tuscany that has several ancient cities on its banks.  We started in Marta which looked more like a lazy fishing village and went on to Montefiascone which sat high up overlooking the lake and had occasionally been used by the pope as a summer residence.   We then went to Bolsena where we walked around the old town and ended up in a little wine shop that was operated by two (very old) sisters.  We bought a couple of bottles of the local wine and headed out to our final stop – Civita di Bagnoreggio.  Well as they say – leave the best until last!  This was beyond a picture post card of someplace you need to see (they filmed parts of the most recent film of Pinocchio here).  It is called the Dying City for a good reason.  Hundreds of years ago what is left of the city used to be on flat ground until over the last hundreds of years of erosion caused by two streams has left just a fraction of the city on a high pedestal that can only be accessed by a recently built pedestrian bridge.  This is truly an amazing sight and we suggest you see it soon, if you can, because it might not be there tomorrow!  We hiked across the pedestrian bridge and enjoyed a very nice wine and an Italian assortment of cheese and meats. This visit was certainly the highlight of our tour.  We plan to return next year with a cruise group and look forward to Susanna being our guide once again - we can’t wait!  

Our next stop was Naples where we had planned to go to Capri.  When we awoke and looked at the dark and gloomy skies outside, we decided to make it a “sea day at port".  We enjoyed walking around the city and on our way back to the ship we stopped at one of the local restaurants where we went inside for a coffee and pastry.

Sicily was our next stop where we went to the port of Catania.  Normally we stopped at Messina but it was nice to go someplace different.  We left the ship with the intent on taking a train to Taormina where we have been before but we met another couple (Dave and Mandy) who were looking at getting a taxi to Mount Etna (the local volcano).  We decided to share a taxi with this couple to go to Mount Etna first and then drive down to Taormina before going back to the port.  It looked like a nice day down by the port but by the time we got up to the “top” of Mount Etna (which was 7000 feet still 4000 feet below the summit) the weather was very overcast and cloudy.  We decided to take the cable car up which got us a 1000 feet further up and the skies were actually better when we made it through some of the clouds.  We hiked around for a couple of hours as the fog and clouds swirled around with the heavy breezes.  We eventually got up to around 8300 feet where we were able to get a good view of the summit.  We were dressed in shorts and short sleeved shirts when we left the port in 70 degree weather but were just a little surprised at the freezing temperatures (below 32 degrees) and snow when we ended up hiking.  Fortunately, they rented nice warm ski jacket for fools like us who didn’t expect that type of weather.  We then got back in our taxi and headed to Taormina which we had discovered on our last visit to Sicily.  When we arrived in the city our first stop was to have lunch at La Christina’s Cucina restaurant that was known for their “arancini” (baked rice balls stuffed with cheese and spinach) that we had the last time we visited.  We found the restaurant and enjoyed our meal with a little wine and beer.  We then took a leisurely stroll around the town admiring the flowers, shops, cliffs/beaches and unique style that this little village has to offer.  We had hoped to go to Caste Loma which was very close to Taormina, and has a special type of almond wine, but we found that it was not walkable and will have to try it out next time we are in the area.  We took the taxi back to the ship to board and head out to our next destination.

This was our first visit to Valletta, Malta.  We didn’t have any significant plans but took the Hop On/Hop Off bus to view the city highlights and to see the Blue Grotto.  Along the bus ride we marveled at the hundreds of stone walls around the island.  It turns out that in 5000 BC farmers inhabited these islands and built stone walls to terrace the fields.  When a farmer was dying he built several more stone walls to partition the land so his sons could have an equal portion of his land as his inheritance.  We are not sure where they got all of these rocks but there are literally hundreds if not thousands of rock walls around the island of Malta.  Our first stop of the bus was at Marsaxlokk which was a small fishing village on the west coast with very colorful fishing boats.  We then got back on the bus for our next stop at Blue Grotto.  There we boarded one of the many boats (for 8 Euros) which take you in and out of the several sea caves in the area, one of which is called the Blue Grotto.  It was a very nice place to visit and we saw many divers in this area.  After our enjoyable boating trip we stopped at one of the restaurants and enjoyed a little snack with some beer/wine before heading back to our ship.  Malta was a very nice port stop and if we go back again we will take a trip to Goza which has many beaches and coastal water features that look very interesting.

We now have a sea day where we can get some rest before visiting Palma de Majorca, Cartagena and Gibraltar.  

Sharon & Greg

Our last stop in the Middle East was Aqaba, Jordan.  We went to Petra on this port stop because it is by far the most popular destination and we had not been there before.  We had a semi private excursion arranged with two other couples via Jordan Travels.  It was an excellent tour and got us to Petra before the crowds arrived from the ship.  Prior to entering this ancient city we purchased some Arab headscarves to look the part (one of the other cruise passengers took a picture of Sharon in her headscarf until he realized she wasn’t a local!).  Petra was a lost city that was not re-discovered until the mid-1800’s.  It is sometimes called the Rose City because of its pinkish color.  It was built by the Nabatean Tribe in 300 BC.  The city lies in a gorge which is very narrow with side walls that are over 100 feet tall.  The buildings are actually carved into the sandstone gorge walls.  Many of the buildings are actually tombs and are designated by an upside down pyramid carving above the tomb opening.  Water was carried into the city by two trenches built into the sandstone gorge walls and covered by stone.  The entrance of the city was through the Siq which is a very narrow portion of the gorge which allowed the city’s people to control (or stop) whoever entered the city.  The most notable building in the city is called the “The Treasury” which was actually a temple.  It was named the treasury because it was rumored that a great treasure was contained in one of the large urns that sat atop the Treasury.  It took us 3 hours to walk through Petra with a guide that told us about the many tombs and structures within the city.  We could have spent another 2 or 3 hours there exploring the many tombs that were available to walk into.  After our leisurely stroll through the city we walked back to the front of Petra in 45 minutes to meet our driver who was taking us to another stop – Wadi Rum.
​
Wadi Rum (Roman Valley) is a beautiful dessert valley surrounded by sandstone mountains on each side.  The sand is multicolored and goes from white all the way to a deep red.  Our guide took us to a few stops as we zipped around in our little 4x4 vehicle.  We took some pictures of the sunset as we drove back out of the valley.  We also took several pictures of a small family of camels with one baby camel feeding on her mother.  It was a nice visit.

One day after we left Aqaba we entered the Suez Canal.  This is a little different than the Panama Canal and does not have any locks.  The Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea that it connects are at the same height.  It was built by the French and took 10 years to build before it was opened in 1869.  When it was built they had a 99 year lease until it reverted back to Egyptian control.  After the French built this canal they decided to try and build the Panama Canal but that did not turn out to be successful for them due to the heat and mosquitoes that killed so many of their workers (Malaria).  We took several pictures of some of the towns along the shores and the ships in front and behind us.
​
After we left the Suez Canal we went to Athens where we elected not to visit the Acropolis again.  We have seen the Acropolis many other times and when the construction with all the scaffolding is eliminated, we will go back and see it again.  We took a Metro into the city along with 3 other couples who wanted some help getting into the city a little more economically.  Two of these couples went on to the Acropolis since they had never seen it before.  The other couple went with us to an area of the city beyond the Platka.  This area of the city was not crowded with tourists but had many of the local people doing their shopping.  We had a great time meandering down the winding roads looking into whatever shop that might interest us.  We eventually headed over to Syntagma Square to see the Greek Parliamentary Building which used to be their Royal Palace.  They have a tomb of the Unknown Soldier there with two uniquely dressed guards.  Every hour they have a changing of the guards.  These soldiers “goose step” back and forth and bang their oversized shoes against the stone floor.  It is very unique to watch them marching around.  After we watched the guards for a while we decided to head up to Mount Lycabettus to get a good view of the city and the Acropolis.  The walk was a little strenuous climbing up to the top of the hill and although it was a good view at the top, it was a little hazing.  We then went and found a restaurant for a quick drink before getting back on the metro to head back to the ship.

Our last stop of this cruise was in Katakolon.  This is a stop that most people will go to Olympia to see the ancient ruins but we have seen this previously and had no interest in seeing it again.  Instead we took a stroll around the small town with its shops and restaurants.  Eventually we decided to take a little walk above the city and ended up hiking for 10 miles seeing some of the rocky coast line behind the small town.  After our hike we found a quaint little café that sat above the town and harbor where we had a little sangria, beer and pizza.  Sangria was appropriate since it was Cinco de Mayo back in the US and our daughter, who works at a Mexican restaurant, wanted to make sure we had a frozen Margarita to celebrate.  Sangria was as close as we could find.  We had a very relaxing afternoon with a nice cool breeze while we sipped our drinks overlooking the town below.  Eventually we walked back to our ship.

This is the end of our third cruise and our fourth cruise begins in two days in Rome.

Sharon & Greg