Europe – 2010 – Day 10

The pictures are:
1. Olives at the market
2. Break time
3. Lunch
4. The beach


We arrived at Toulon, France at 8:00 am and we were off the ship by 8:30. What a delightful town of 160,000.

This town was founded by the Phoenicians in 600 BC!! What an amazing history. We were told that Toulon is located on the most beautiful and well-protected natural harbor in Europe and has been, and continues to be, a center for the French Navy. This is the French Riviera and the tempteture is perfect here. 80 degrees with a light breeze.

Because the harbor holds so many military ships, we had to dock quite a ways from the main center and then take a shuttle bus 20 minutes. Then we hopped on a tourist tram for a brief tour of the area and stopped at the town’s center.

We headed first for the”Porvencal Market” the city’s giant outdoor food and produce market. In addition, there was a lot of “stuff” in open air stalls for us to see. The market probable took the equivalent of 10 – 12 city blocks.

Along the way we stopped into see their main church, the Saint-Louis Church. This and many of the city’s landmarks were bombed during World War II but have been re-built.

It was then lunch time so we ate at a wonderful sea-side restaurant overlooking the harbor and all the huge yachts. We had a local version of a pizza, served with French fries – it was really good.

Then it was back on the tram for a trip to one of their beaches and a couple of hours in the sun. The beach was wonderful, except the only problem was the tram to take us back to the ship’s bus was late. We arrived at the shuttle bus back to the ship with only 5 minutes to spare! We then arrived at the ship 15 minutes before it was to sail – we cut it much, much too close.

Tonight was formal night so it was time to put on a tuxedo and long dress and enjoy the evening’s company. This ship is wonderful in that probably 99% of the people dress for dinner – everyone is very elegant and we really enjoy people watching before dinner.

We had a wonderful dinner, saw a show that was just ok and then went to the casino. Ed lost and Barb won but the night was still fun and we are both ahead for the cruise and hoping to stay that way.

Europe – 2010 – Day 9

The pictures are:
1. Meeting Marta and the driver for the day’s tour
2. The city’s market
3. The Gaudi Church
4. Part of lunch, vegetables and sardines ( and we ate them)

Barcelona, Spain. So far, this is our favorite city on the cruise. It is the second largest city in Spain and while we have been here before, this is the first time we really saw the town. Settlement in Barcelona can be traced as far back as the 4th century B.C. The Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Romans and the Moors all controlled Barcelona at one time.

We were picked up by our guide, Marta and driver in a beautiful new Mercedes and off we went. Our first stop was the huge central market and it had just opened up for the day. It is one of the biggest markets we have ever seen and it was fun walking around it.

Then we walked thru the Gothic Quarter the oldest part of the City and it is mainly a pedestrian area made up of little street and alleys.

Then it was on to the La Sagrada Familia Cathedral, or locally called the Gaudi Church. The Cathedral was begun in 1882 and is still under construction. While the Pope is going to be here in November to consecrate it, final construction will not be completed for another 30 to 40 year. This is a church unlike any you have ever seen.

Lastly we went to the main part of town were Gaudi had built some other important properties and then to eat at a local Tappas restaurant. Tappas is what is called the small portions that they will serve for lunch. I am not totally sure what we ate, but it was good!!

Marta left us after lunch and she was one of the best guides we have ever had.  Her full name is Marta Laurent and her web site is http://www.foreverbarcelona.com/.  What a delight to have her show us Barcelona.

After lunch we walked back to the edge of the port stopping at dozens and dozens of shops along a tree-lined boulevard, which is the center of activity in the port area.

After dancing and listening to music, we joined some new friends that we met in the casino at on of the specialty restaurants called Murano, which costs extra and served contemporary French food. What an outstanding meal and we had a lot of fun talking about trips we each have taken.

Our meal was three hours so we didn't make it to the last show and also skipped the casino to get to bed by midnight to be ready for Toulon France in the morning.

Night

Europe – 2010 – Day 8

The pictures are:

1. Going out during the afternoon

2. Our afternoon "snack"

After a good nights sleep, we were out on the deck by 9:00am and relaxing in the beautiful Mediterranean sun. The tempteture was about 82 degrees, a light wind and no clouds. WOW, what a perfect day to work on our tan.

We ate lunch on the deck and then went in at 1:30pm to clean up and go down to the casino for the slot tournament qualifier and the blackjack tournament qualifier. Unlike previous cruises, they only have one tournament for slots and one for blackjack and there are qualifier tournaments throughout the cruise.

After today’s tournaments, Barb was in 5th place in the slot tournament and Ed was in 2nd place. Ed was also in 7th place for the blackjack tournament.

We went dancing at about 7 and then onto dinner.

We have great dinner partners. Both couples are from England and both live close to London. They are both retired, one from business and one from the army where is held a very high ranking and they have traveled all over the world. Both couple are very enjoyable.

After dinner was the show and then onto the casino where for the first and hopefully the last night we both lost.

Anyway - tomorrow it is Barcelona and the day should be fun.

Night for today

Europe – 2010 – Day 7

The pictures are:
1. Glass blowing on the upper deck
2. Our ship from the Rock with Spain in the background, the airport in the middle and then Gibraltar up close.
3. A baby ape with our driver and guide
4. Another baby ape with Barb

Gibraltar, United Kingdom –

We awoke at 10:00 am and the sleep was wonderful. After breakfast, we watched the arrival from our balcony and seeing the Rock of Gibraltar approaching was really neat to see.

We docked exactly at 1:00pm and met our guide Paul at 1:30 for a tour of his country.

The Rock of Gibraltar is a sight to behold, towering 1,400 feet above the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea.

We started out our tour by driving across the runway at the airport to the Spanish border. When a plan arrives, they simply stop the traffic and a plan lands. We turned around at the border and went back across the runway to start out tour of the Rock.

On our way to the top of the Rock, we saw the Great Siege Tunnels, which were used a long time ago to defend Gibraltar from French and Spanish invaders. There are 370 feet of tunnels in the Rock. We walked for a while and then walked back out when the tunnels turned very steep.

We then went into St. Michaels Cave which is a spectacular natural grotto featuring some very impressive stalagmites and stalactites. During World Way II this was set up as a hospital inside the Rock.

Besides going to the top of the Rock, one of the highlights were the Barbary Apes. The apes of Gibraltar are actually tailless Macaque Monkeys, who have been on the Rock for a lone time. There are 300 of then and they are amazing animals. We were told to watch our things because they snatch anything and we saw them to just that.

From the top of the Rock, you can see Spain and then very close, you can see Africa - what a sight.

We then concluded our day with shopping; however, didn’t really buy anything. The ship then sailed at 6:00 pm.

Dinner was fun as usual, the show was a comedian who we have seen before and he was really, really funny.

Then it was on to the casino where we came out ahead.

Tomorrow it is a day at sea with blackjack and slot tourmanent qualifying sessions so we will enjoy the weather, play and just relax.

Europe – 2010 – Day 6

The pictures are:
1. Being picked up by our guide
2. The horse parade for the President of Luxembourg
3. Lunch at a street side café
4. We went shopping along this street.

We awoke to warm weather – it was up to 82 degrees during the day so we are finally in warm weather. It did rain for about 5 minutes at 2:00 pm while we were walking but this time we were prepared.

The ship docked and we were off the ship at 8:30am to meet our guide. He was a really nice guide, a little quite at the start, but warmed up to us as we went from place to place. He has lived in Lisbon all his life and has not traveled anywhere, but he did just fine with his English

Lisbon is Portugal’s largest city and the capital. The Lisbon region is the wealthiest region in Portugal. The history of Lisbon dates back 300,000 years and it was a nation state in the early 12th century and therefore is one of the world’s oldest cities. It was under Roman rule from 205BC. It is a mixture of the really, really old and the new.

It was a beautiful city to visit and we spent 4 hours with our guide driving and walking around the city. The wonderful thing about an individual guide is that the car can go where a tour bus cannot, so we can get right up next to a place to visit and the guide will wait with the car or go in with us to explain something. Some of these streets are so narrow that a bus cannot go on them at all. And there are not parking lots for busses in cities like this in the old part.

The last stop on the tour was an old church and a monastery. When we arrived we found out that we could not get in because the President of Luxembourg was visiting. We waiting about 5 minutes to see him come out and watch the horse parade in his honor. While we were waiting, one of the guardsmen on a horse fell off his horse because of the heat – he made quite a sound but they helped him up and away they wert.

At the end of the tour, he left us out in the main square in the old city center. We then had lunch at a local restaurant and split a sandwich. They did not speak English in the restaurant and I thought they told me the sandwich was chicken, but Barb thought that it was goat!! Anyway, it was great.

We then walked about the city for the next three hours. They had some great local stores and some good tourist shops also and the prices were very reasonable. Ed bought a couple of shirts and Barb bought a bowl and some “stuff” and then we took a taxi back to the ship for some much needed relaxation time before the ship sailed.

Dinner was great as usual and then we saw a very good show in the show room. It was a male singer who has performed all over and he was very good.

Next of course was the casino where we joined some friends at a great table. Ed did really well.

It is now 2:30am and we are going to bed. It is Gibraltar tomorrow (acutally today) but at least we don't dock until 1:00pm.

Night

Europe – 2010 – Day 5

The pictures are:

1. Barb and our guide Olalla Quiroga
2. Yes we got wet at the end of the tour
3. Oysters at a local restaurant

Vigo, Spain – our first port. We arrived at abut 7:30am and sunrise was at 8:06am so it was interesting docking and seeing the sun rise at the same time.

We had a guide to meet at 11:00am so we didn’t get up until 730 and we were off the ship at 9 to explore some of the city.

The town dates back to the 6th century BC, when the Celts occupied the region and constructed fortified defenses at the harbor. Because of it unique harbor, a number of countries have occupied this area since then.

The story is that when God finished the Heaven and the Earth, as he rested, he put his hand down at Vigo and in his palm print was the first bay on earth. Whatever the actual story, this is very major port and Vigo Bay is 20 miles lone and 3 miles wide with very deep water.

We had arranged for a guide to take us on a 100 minute walking tour of the old city and when we went to the Tourism Office we were surprised to find out at we were going to be the only ones on the tour – a great surprise. The young lady was actually from and lives in Vigo and spoke good English and as she led us around this very hilly city we had a wonderful time.

After the tour when we were looking for a place to eat, the rain came. Barb got so wet that we went back to a store where she had purchased some boots and bought a top and a jacket for her to wear.

As most of the eating places in the old city are outside, we decided to go back to the ship. We got there at 2:30pm and proceeded to eat in the main dining area.

Afterwards we went to the show and were in the casino by 11:15pm. For the second night in a row, Ed has had the same group of people that he has been playing with. They all know how to play the game and are a great group. We had another great night in the casino.

Last night we set the clocks forward an hour and tonight we set them back. Then tomorrow night we set them forward again. Wow - how to lose sleep.

In the morning we arrive in Lisbon, Portugal and the weather is supposed to be in the 80's and clear - finally hot weather.

Night

Europe – 2010 – Day 4

The pictures are:

1. Barb’s Jackpot
2. Going to Dinner

Well we awoke at 8:00am to 72 degrees outside and very cloudy. So, today there will be no deck time, but there is a lot to do on the ship. Barb started off the day by going to Acupuncture for her back by the onboard Acupuncture Physician.

After walking around shopping for a little while, it appears that acupuncture does not work for her back!

We took a galley tour after that. It is amazing the statistics they have for the kitchen. Over 4,000 total people on this ship for two weeks and we never stop eating!!

Just as an example, they use 4500 lbs of chicken, 2300 dozen eggs, 3800 pounds of butter, 3000 pounds of tenderloin, 12,300 pounds of potatoes and 75,000 pounds of fresh fruit!!!

Then at 11:00am, Barb went to the gym for a seminar which was just a big sales pitch for their products.

When Barb came back we went to eat inside as it is still too cold to be outside. Then it was onto the casino to register for the slot and blackjack tournaments later in the afternoon.

Ed went to check on our new dinner table and when he came back to the casino, he heard Barb yell “ED” and she had hit a triple diamond maximum jackpot of $2,500! In addition, she had been up over $200 right at the start. So for her first $20 that she put into a slot machine on this cruise, she won $2,700!! Not a bad way to start the cruise.

Later in the afternoon we both played in the slot tournament and Ed played in the blackjack tournament. We have both qualified for the finals; however, there will be more sessions for qualifiers before the finals on the last couple of days of the cruise.

Ed then played black jack and won also. A great start to the cruise.

Dinner was formal night and we met our new tablemates. What delightful couples we are with. Both couples are from England and very, very nice. More about them later.

We then saw the first big show in the show theater and it was great. Then it was onto the casino where we left ahead at 1:00am. We only have to get up at 7am and we arrive in Vigo, Spain. Looks like fun.

Night from the ocean!