10/1/13 (Wednesday) Pisa and Florence

 

 

Let me start by saying that the weather continues to be perfect.  Today was another sunny day with a high in the mid-70’s.  We woke up early - too early for a vacation - at 6:00 a.m.  We had breakfast delivered to the room again.  I think I’ll eat upstairs tomorrow morning.  I’m really getting tired of the same old breakfast from room service.  Anyway, we met our traveling party (including Richard, Lauren and her parents) in the theater at 7:30 a.m. and then boarded the bus for Pisa and Florence.  It took about an hour to get to Pisa.  The scenery was incredible.  We saw what appeared to be snow on the mountain tops, which turned out to be marble.  It was amazing to see all the marble factories along the side of the road.  I guess this is where most of the Italian marble comes from.  One type of marble in particular from this area is called Carada marble (I think).  It was really quite impressive.

 

We arrived in Pisa around 9:15 a.m.  Our tour guide, Daniel, allowed us 50 minutes to take pics and explore the Field of Miracles, including the Baptistery, the Duomo and, of course, the Leaning Tower.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to use the tickets that I had purchased online since our reserved time slot was at 11:30 a.m. and we had to leave at 10:15 a.m., but overall Pisa was underwhelming.  Been there, done that, bought a magnet, took pictures, checked that box.  Now on to Florence…

 

Getting to Florence took another hour-and-a-half, but it was a nice drive through beautiful Tuscany and home of the Chianti grape.  Our driver dropped us off at Santa Croce at noon where we enjoyed a delicioso lunch - tomato and basil pizza (Sonya) and calzone (Jeff).  Afterward we spent time strolling through Florence.  We shopped along Ponte Vocchio (a medieval bridge built in 1335), took pics of the Duomo and enjoyed gelato at a local café while catching up on our emails and social media.  After buying a few souvenirs, we met back up with our group around 3:45 p.m. and started on our two-hour journey back to the ship.

 

We arrived back at port just in time for dinner.  The crowd was scarce tonight.  I think it was a long day for everyone.  Dinner was not as enjoyable tonight.  Sonya had a very good Italian style salad (tomato, parmesan cheese and pesto) and Jeff had an appetizer of fried rice and mushroom balls with tomato paste.  The main courses were tiger shrimp (Sonya) and pork loin wrapped in pruchietto (Jeff).  My favorite part of the meal was the tiramisu that I had for dessert.  The best thing about dinner though was when Sonya was showing Tiffany a picture of a door on the Duomo and she asked if we believed in Jesus.  Sonya told her that we do.  Tiffany mentioned that she has a hard time understanding the Bible.  Sonya suggested that she start in the New Testament instead of the Old Testament, maybe the book of Matthew.  God is so cool!

 

After dinner, we caught another show - Saturday Night Fever the Musical.  It was a lot better than I expected.  The acting, dancing and singing were outstanding.  Now it’s off to bed for a good night’s sleep.  We have another full day tomorrow - this time in Rome.  So ciao’ for now!

 

 

10/1/13 (Tuesday) Nice and Monaco

 

Day three on the ship - tendered at Villefranche-sur-Mer.  We decided to visit Nice, Monaco and Monte Carlo on our own today.  We left for Villefranche via tender boat around 9:00 a.m.  After a long walk up the hill to the bus stop, we caught bus #100 for Nice and were at the beach (Promenade Des Anglais) by 10:00 a.m. or so.  The water was absolutely gorgeous - crashing against huge boulders along the shore at the base of the city wall then cascading gently across smooth stones about the size of your hand along the beach area.  We enjoyed a leisurely walk along the beach, although it’s not easy walking on stones.  We much prefer the sandy white beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.  And yes, there were a few women without their tops on, but unfortunately most were middle-aged or older.  Sonya did not join them.  Oh, and we met a cute interracial couple on the beach from San Jose, California.  It turns out they were from our ship as well.  We took turns taking each other’s pictures along the beach.  We didn’t catch their names.

 

We stopped by McDonalds to take advantage of their wifi before hoping a train to Monaco.  It was quite a hike up to the train station, but good exercise.  We left Nice around 12:25 p.m. and arrived in Monaco 25 minutes later.  It didn’t take us long to realize that Monaco and Monte Carlo were definitely hot spots for the rich and famous.  Ferraris and large yachts were everywhere, along with many other high-priced cars and beautiful homes.  We heard that Bill Gates has one of the most beautiful homes in the area, but weren’t sure which one it was.

 

We hiked up a steep zig-zagged trail to Monaco-Ville - home of the famous Cathedral were Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III were married.  We managed to take a quick tour of the inside of the church which was quite beautiful.  We also visited the outside of the Prince’s Palace.  We were not invited inside for some reason, so we found a local restaurant and enjoyed a Crepe (with Raspberry and Grand Marnier).  After our delicious snack we hiked back down the hill to catch bus #100 back to Nice.  Wow!  What a stunning drive around the coast line of the French Riviera!  We were back on the ship by 4:00 or so, just enough time get ready for a “meet and mingle” with other folks from Cruise Critics Online.  Sonya won a decent door prize - a bag full of Royal Caribbean crap -  and we enjoyed a visit with a couple from Scotland, John and Susan.  They looked to both be around retirement age and had recently moved to Marbelle, Spain.  They have been on a lot of cruises and we really enjoyed hearing about their travels over the years.

 

Dinner was amazing again.  We each enjoyed an appetizer of shrimp and scallops mixed with lettuce, onions, tomatoes and lime juice.  For our main courses, Sonya had grilled sol and I had shrimp dumplings (Asian style).  I honestly don’t remember what I had for dessert.  It must not have been worth remembering.  Haha. 

 

After dinner we attended the Ice Show.  It was very impressive.  I think the best part was meeting new friends, Richard and Lauren.  They’re a young couple (31 or so), both originally from Columbus, Ohio, but had recently moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan.  After the Ice Show, we went to the Love and Marriage Game where we auditioned along with Richard and Lauren to be contestants.  However, neither couple was successful.  After watching the show though, I’m glad we didn’t make it.  I think I would’ve blushed!

Off the bed by midnight for an early start on Wednesday…

 

 

 

 

9/30/13 (Monday) France at Toulon

 

 

This morning Sonya woke up with a stabbing earache caused from sinus/allergy issues.  We thought it might ruin her day, but after some great medicine and another hour or two of rest, she was able to function well enough to enjoy our first port of call in the Provence region of France at Toulon.  Actually we docked at La Seyne-sur-Mer, which is across the bay from Toulon, and took the Harbor Ferry across the bay to Toulon.  Rick Steve’s book recommended this method of transportation.  It was easy and only cost 2 Euros each.  We only spent about an hour in Toulon - shopping at Place Louis Blanc and strolling the boardwalk by the bay.  We couldn’t resist a few tarts and pastries from a local bakery.  For some reason we only made it bake to the ship with one of the three that we bought.

 

After lunch in the Windjammer Café again, we spent the afternoon relaxing by the pool.  And I must say, the weather has been perfect so far.  Mid-70’s each day with absolutely no rain.  Dinner was incredible again.  This time we started with crab bisque (Jeff) and scallops (Sonya) and both had a main course of beef tenderloin medallions with mushroom gravy.  Dessert included double-strawberry cheesecake and sugar-free chocolate mousse.  Oh yeah, and the crew surprised us with a double-chocolate cake to celebrate our anniversary (even it was a few months early).  We enjoyed conversation with our Chinese friends again and traded email addresses.  They were very interested in our adoption of Katie Lin as we were in their backgrounds and culture.

 

After dinner we attended a show called, “In the Air”.  It was a weird mixture of rock opera, dancing and acrobatics.  Very impressive, but the kind of stuff that causes bad dreams.  Haha.  Annette attended the show with us while John got John -Paul to sleep.  We had more conversations about adoption.  Good stuff!

 

Finished off the night checking emails and watching Obama shut down the government.  By the way, the internet is very expensive on board the ship - $0.75/minute.  Needless to say, we are making great use of internet cafés while on shore.

 

One last thing… We learned tonight that there are over 3900 passengers on board (900+ are Americans) with 1300+ crew members.  That’s a lot of peeps.

 

 

 

9/29/13 (Sunday) Boarding Liberty of the Seas

Love the breakfast!  A mixture of western style (eggs and bacon), plus air-dried meats, cheeses, fruits and pastries.  We left the hotel around 11:00 a.m., grabbed a taxi and were on the boat by 11:30 a.m.  We ate lunch at the Windjammer Café (Deck 11) and explored the ship a bit before checking into our stateroom at 1:00 p.m.  After a quick tour of the spa, Sonya made a 5:00 p.m. appointment for a manicure.  I went for a 5K run (treadmill of course) and then barely made it to the muster drill.  While Sonya was getting her nails done, I met a Puerto Rican couple, John and Annette, from Miami.  John is a TSA customs agent and Annette is an Industrial Engineer who works for American Express.  They have a three-year-old son, John-Paul, and are considering adoption.  I love it when God causes our paths to cross with peeps like John and Annette.

 

Dinner was great!  We had the early seating (6:30 p.m.) and enjoyed our table-for-two next to a young Chinese couple who are celebrating their first anniversary.  Their names were Tiffany and Fango.  I had an amazing appetizer of smoked fish spread and garlic bread.  Wow!  Sonya had a shrimp cocktail.  Our main courses were grilled Salmon (Sonya) and Mojo style grilled pork chop with sweet potatoes (Jeff).  And of course, Crème Brule for dessert (Jeff) and sugar-free strawberry shortcake (Sonya). 

 

After dinner, we enjoyed a classic rock band at the Olive & Twist Lounge - if you want to call a bass player with a thick German accent trying to sing, “I Swear”, classic rock.  It sounded like Scorpions gone country.

 

 

 

 

9/28/13 (Saturday) Barcelonean, Spain

 

 

After an absolutely incredible breakfast buffet (European style), we spent most of our second day in Barcelona touring the beautiful, old city atop a double-decker bus.  We made a few stops, one being the Sagrada Familia - an unfinished cathedral designed by Antoni Gaudi.  Gaudi is a famous Barcelonean architect who designed many eccentric buildings around the city.  After seeing many of his designs throughout the day, I think it’s apparent that we adopted our English word, gawdy, from this man.  After the bus tour we visited the local, modern shopping mall by the marina via Rambla de Mar and then headed back to Placa Reial (an artistic square just off La Ramblas with several local cafés and a water fountain as is centerpiece).  We enjoyed a fine dinner at another Rick Steve’s recommendation - Les Quinze Nits.  After dinner it was back to the hotel for another full night of sleep.

 

 

9/27/13 (Friday) Arrived in Barcelonean, Spain

 

 

After a night of very little, if any, sleep, we arrived in Barcelona at 9:00 a.m.  It took an hour for our luggage to arrive at the claim, but after we retrieved it we hailed a taxi and were at the hotel within 30 minutes (25 Euros).  Of course the room wasn’t ready, so we changed into something more comfortable, left our luggage at the hotel and headed for La Ramblas - one of the more well-known pedestrian streets in Europe.  We enjoyed lunch at a local outdoor café.  We tried some local cuisine - ham and cheese sandwich with tomato paste spread and a tortilla espanola, a Spanish omelet (egg and potato quiche).  We also enjoyed a cup of coffee (always good in Europe) and Coke Lite (yuck).

 

After lunch we strolled up and down La Ramblas for a few hours,  we visited La Boqueria (the local market) and the Picasso Museum and ate dinner at what turned out to be our favorite café in Barcelona - Taverna Basca Irati.  This place was recommended by Rick Steve’s, who has never let us down.  They serve tapas called pintxos (small open-faced sandwiches like sushi on bread) from a standup bar for 2 Eruos each.  You are charged by the number of toothpicks left on your plate at the end of the meal.  Yummy!

 

We turned in sometime around 7:30 p.m. after being up for over 30 hours.  Sleep was heavenly.  We stayed in bed for 12 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

9/26/13 (Thursday) Flight from Nashville to Spain

 

Left Decatur at 6:30 a.m. and made it to the Nashville Airport by 9:30 after dealing with heavy traffic.  Flight to Miami was on time and without incident.  We left Miami a tad late because the man in front of me didn’t have a seat cushion or seat belt.  Duh!  Didn’t anyone from American Airlines see that before we boarded?  Flight attendants were extremely rude the entire flight.  Could’ve been all the senior citizens onboard (80% of them cruising).  To say they were grouchy would be an understatement.