Barcelona and Mallorca

After a very rough evening and day at sea we landed at Barcelona and were there for 2 days.

I absolutely loved Barcelona. On this side of the Med, we did not have as many organized ship excursions as we had on the Eastern side. So the four of us ventured out and toured around Barcelona on our own.

Of course we went and saw the Church designed by Gaudi. Oh my goodness it takes gaudiness to a new level. He started this church in the 1800's and never finished it.

We visited a museum which helped us to understand the Castellian side of Spain and all of their history.

Then we walked around the city and one of the main streets, vendors, mimes, people and such vibrancy. Can't say enough.

A couple of days later we then went over to Mallorca, Spain. Another great city and place to visit.

Cannes-Rough Seas

After leaving Livorna, we were suppose to head over to Monte Carlo, however, a good size storm was coming in and the captain told us the port over at Cannes was better protected. We encountered some rough seas on the way over. Additionally, some type of cold bug was going around the ship and it finally got to me.

With our day in port at Cannes, Dennis and Cathy took the tenders out and visited the city, while I rested on ship.

That night we left Cannes and boy oh boy, we hit some very rough seas.

Thank goodness I had some antibiotics as it sure help me to kick the cold and all.

Livorna, Luca and Pisa--Meeting up with an old Friend

Our next port of call was Livorna, Italy. A friend from high school who has lived in Italy for the last 30 years drove down and picked Ron and I up. Ambra and I hung around with the same group of people and it was so great seeing her after all of these years.

Ambra and her hubby Renato picked us up in Livorna and we headed up to Pisa and Lucca. We got to the see the leaning tower and she gave us a little history lesson on one of the churches by the Tower.

We then headed up to Lucca and visited the old town. We so like Lucca. Not crowded like some of the other older fortified cities we had been too and there were more locals walking around and all. It is so weird to be in a walled city and not even hear what is going on outside of these walls. Again, Ambra was a great tour guide and we had a great lunch. It was so great being with someone who knew the area, the roads and had so much history and information to share with us.

Renato shared with us how the Italians eat this sweet desert cookie with a sweet glass of wine.

It was also so nice to meet up with an old friend from high school. I keep saying there is something about that connection that continues for years and years.

Cruise Part 2 Rome

Well we came back into Rome to pick up new passengers who were only doing a 10 day Western Med and letting off those who had completed their 10 and/or 20 Day portion. With a day in Rome we decided to do the Vatican, St. Peter's and overview of Rome.

The one great thing about doing a cruise excursion is you get to avoid the lines and all, however the negative side is that you don't get to spend a lot of time visiting something.

We got to spent about 4 hours at the Vatican and St. Peter's Basicilia. We had a great tour guide and have to say it was well worth the visit and all. I know we did not get to see everything in the Vatican and all but we saw quite a bit and as I said earlier our tour guide was quite knowlegeable on the various pieces of Art and History.

The Sistine Chapel was another WOW factor for me. But it is definetly a little smaller than what you imagine from the movies and all. Your neck gets a little tired from looking up and all.

We then moved on to St. Peter's and OMG that was another church that I was just so overwhelmed with. You just cannot describe how beautiful it is.

While we were there, the French President was visiting the Pople so as we were already in the Vatican they had closed it off to others entering and we also were lucky to be able to visit St. Peter's Basicilia as that had been closed off as well. We think we got some pictures of him and his entourage but not sure.

Our guide told us that 16k people visit the Vatican each day. As we were there in the early AM it wasn't too bad but by the time we left the crowds had deftinely increased.

Well we had our first experience with a tour guide who did not keep track of time. Our bus guide (who was different from the Vatican tour guide), didn't realize the time on the bus listed on like an hour off and so she lost track of time. We were suppose to be back on the boat at 4:15 p.m. and we were still touring around Rome at 4:30 p.m., and it is a 45 minute ride from downtown Rome out to our ship's port. She kept having our bus driver show us around Rome and then realized what was going on and have to tell you, our bus driver made it back to our cruise ship in about 40 minutes and because there were 38 of us, Holland held the cruise for us. We were about 90 minutes late and all of us had a good laugh on our experience.

Cruise Part 1

OMG, we went to so many ports and saw so many things. On the Eastern Med, would have to say that Ephesus and Sorentini were my favorites. Croatia was 2nd. What a WOW factor with Ephesus and the ruins. Defintely feel like Ephesus surpassed Athens as to the Wow factor. Athens was crazy and crowded.

Sorentini was another great port and we spent about a day and 1/2 there. I even went up on the tram, which was a great feat for me.

We had about 150 Aussies and about 80 New Zealanders on this portion of our trip and what a fun time we had with them on ship. Big party animals those Aussie's and Kiwi's. Met quite a few American's and made some new friends.

Have taken so many pictures, now need to work on them and get them posted.

We had great weather on this portion of our cruise. I'll add more information about Cruise 2 in the next blog.