Europe 2011 - Day 7

Lunch

Instead of Naples and Capri we stopped at Marseilles, France and we know that it is not Carnival’s fault, but it was not a very good trade. Marseilles is the second largest city in France and also a very, very industrialized city. The port is not made for the tourist trade as we had to take a shuttle bus 25 minutes from the port to the center of the old city.

The city was pretty, but really not very much to see. They also do not have any real beaches.



The Prison

We did hop on one of the little trains like we did in Monaco and took a tour of the city and it did also take us to the top of the mountain to see Notre Dame De La Garde Cathedral, which was impressive and the view was wonderful of the entire port.

We then had lunch at a little sidewalk restaurant in the center of the town and took the shuttle back to the ship.

By then it was time to get some more sun, which we did for about an hour and a half.

The Salmon - 6th course

As we left Marseilles, the ship passed very close to the tiny island that was a prison in olden times and where the Count of Monte Crisco was held capture. It was also where they filmed The Man in the Iron Mask.

Then it was time to clean up and go look at pictures that had been taken last night. We picked out, as usual, one picture to keep.

We had signed up for the Chef’s Table Experience and we met the head chef at 6:30pm in the Piano Bar to meet the head chef. We found out from him that Carnival has 30 head chefs for 23 ships. They basically work 9 months and then have 3 off. He was very impressive and we enjoyed his presentations.

Desert

We started out with campaign and to different canapés. Then it was down to the kitchen for the actual meal. We had a long table for 12 actually set up in the kitchen. The dinner was an 8 course dinner and had been prepared by 20 chefs during the day and evening. It was a wonderful meal.

The 6th course was Salmon with herb pesto, cured tomatoes, carrots, fava, mushroom earth and condensed beets. The 7th course was “Wagyu” consisting of slow stewed short ribs, potato pebbles, pumpkin fudge and tomato dust. No I am not making this up and yes Ed ate it all!!

The Chef's Table

The dinner was truly spectacular, just like it was on our last Carnival cruise.

We also met a couple from South Africa and it looks like we will join them at their table starting tomorrow evening. We sat with them at dinner tonight (they are on the end) and they are really nice. Our current table has not been that much fun and this couple, Ian and Sam seem to be very enjoyable.

The show tonight was “Destination: Unknown!” and they called it a night of extraordinary illusions and the magician was really good.

On to the casino, where we did well and then to bed.

Tomorrow - Rome

Europe 2011 - Day 6

Our first port – Monaco and Monte Carlo.

Part of the harbor

The first picture is what we awoke to, the harbor.

We are docked right next to the mega-yacht, Atlantis II which was built in 1981 and is the 17 largest moor yachts by length in the world! It is 380’ long – wow.

Then next to it was the Lady Moura. When it was launched in 1990 it was the 9th largest yacht in the world and now it is just the 25th. It is owned by a Saudi businessman and is 344 feet long. The lettering on the sides and the back are 24 caret gold. Yes, yes, the rich are different.

When we left the ship, we walked into the old city and then took a ½ hour tram ride around the country of Monaco and the city of Monte Carlo. It was fun little ride and it shows you just how small and rich this country is. There are only 32,000 inhabited in the entire country and there sure are a lot of yachts.


Two mega-yachts next to us

 We then walked around the city, ate at a little café on the street and then walked back to the ship.

After changing, we walked to the local bus stop and took a bus to the only beach area in the country. It was interesting in that the beach had no sand but small pebbles. There were several sections of the beach, some owned by private companies and some owed by the country.

We stayed till late in the afternoon and then took a bus back to the waterfront and walked along the docks looking at all the yachts. It was amazing to us that you could walk right up to these yachts and no one would stop you. Of course I am sure you would have a problem boarding any of the big ones.  (Astrid and Maurice - no one even notice Barb here!!!)

The tram

When we got back to the ship we got a couple of pieces of pizza for a snack and then went and took a jacuzzi.

Dinner was fine and we were short one couple and last night she had been sick so we hope she is still not sick.

After dinner, we skipped the welcome aboard show because we have seen it many times before and it is just a bunch of introductions with just a little bit of entertainment.
 

The beach

So the next thing to do is to go to the casino and play for our first night. We had fun and also spent most of the time meeting the staff. Our host offered to send us to the extra charge steakhouse, so we will do that at a later date in the cruise.

Tomorrow is Marseilles, France and we were able to do a little research on it tonight so it should be fun to see this new city.


Pebbles on the beach - no sand



Night for now.

Europe 2011 - Day 5

Time to go to the ship

After a wonderful several days in Barcelona, we awoke realizing it was our last day there until we finish the cruise and we really had a wonderful time. Barb and I got to spend some quality time together just enjoying.

We packed and were out of our room at 10:30am and into our cabin on the ship at 11:30am and were eating by noon.

Then it was time to change and work on our tan. We are up front on the spa deck, deck 12 and there is an adults only deck on 15 with a direct elevator only steps away from our room so we went up there and relaxed for a couple of hours.

Barb's Flowers

After getting back to our cabin we found out that the itinerary for the first few days has changed due to a potential general strike in Italy that could affect the scheduled itinerary. Major demonstrations are also planned in the center of Rome on Tuesday, so they switched our Rome arrival day to Wednesday. They also cancelled the port of Naples and substituted Marseilles, France in its place.

We have been to Naples and Capri several times and have never been to Marseilles so that change will be good. We had a tour of the gardens at the Vatican scheduled for Rome so the ship is working on getting that changed for us – what great service.

The schedule for the next four days is therefore as follows:
Monday – Monaco
Tuesday – Marseilles, France
Wednesday – Rome
Thursday – Livorno, (Florence/Pisa)



No room for anymore shoes!!

So if you read about any problems with strikes in Italy, hopefully we will be in a different port.
Then we went for a walk around the ship and stopped for Pizza. And later we stopped for some snacks – so by 6:00pm we had eaten three times since Noon!!

The ship left the dock at 5:00pm and we were on our way for 12 fun days sailing on this brand new ship, the Carnival Magic.

The shops opened at 7 pm and of course we went and bought our normal souvenirs and then it was to the Comedy Club to hear a comedian do a very funny show.

Dinner was at 8:15pm and for the first time we actually had the table location that we wanted without having to ask for it once we arrived on the ship. Our table is in the forward dining room, downstairs on the main floor and in the center. It is a round table for 8 and should be perfect.

Our Room

Our table mates are going to be just fine. Two couples are related, Mom and Dan and Son and his girlfriend and the other couple are from Indianapolis. It should be an enjoyable table.

After the show, we went to the Casino and introduced ourselves to the Manager, Troy and our new Casino Host, Carlos. As far as we call tell we don’t know anyone in the Casino, but of course we will. We never play on the first night so we then went to the 10:30pm adult comedy show which was really funny.

Then it was time to crash and be ready for Monaco and Monte Carlo tomorrow – docking at 9:00am.

Europe – 2011 – Barcelona – In Barb’s Own Words

What a beginning to a fabulous time…I am sold on Barcelona!!!!!!!the people are kind, fun & the beaches unbelievable…like 3 miles of beauty & NO prudes just natural & no one cares…The history is wonderful including folk dances in the street, not for tourist but young & old sharing their heritage!!!!

Our hotel was well unbelievable, I was NOT born to be pampered, don’t handle it well and they were everywhere making sure I am happy,,,very good at what they do!!! So I am happy now leave me alone I can manage!!!!! Seriously the other half live VERY differently, VERY!!!!!

We are now on to the ship wow in less than an hour from leaving the hotel we were in our room , changed & laying in the sun, not bad….everyone happy & even unpacked.. I really miss everyone, but not wishing I was there more wishing you were here!!!!

Love you all, mom

PS I am a very, very lucky person!!!!!

Europe 2011 - Day 4

Lots of street sweepers are out every morning

Thanks goodness we didn’t have to get up early this morning as we had been up late the last two nights and also walked a lot each day.

Today we started out at 10:00am with a 1 ½ hour walking tour of Barcelona’s seafront. Then we took a 1 ½ hour boat tour of the harbor and along the entire city coast line, about 3 hours.

After the tours we got a cab and ate lunch at an outside restaurant close to the hotel.

The entrance to Mar Bella Beach

Then it was up to the Mar Bella Beach for an afternoon of sitting out and walking on the beach. What a wonderful beach it has been and we will hate to leave it. This has been the most relaxed, family friendly nude beach that we have ever been to – and it is right in the middle of the city, not hidden and /or a long walk to get to like a lot are. The United States should be so free and neither words nor pictures could describe this environment.

Back to the hotel then to change for the evening.

The most famous opera house in Barcelona and maybe in all so Spain is the Palau de la Musica Catalana. It opened in 1908 The site was named a World Heritage Site in 1997. We were lucky enough to get tickets to tour the building in the early evening. The building and inside was amazing. It was the first structure built in Barcelona of steal and then they encased it with beautiful glass and mosaic columns.



Locals Dancing



Then we walked to a Tappas restaurant we had seen the night before and along the way came across dozens of locals dancing in the square outside the Cathedral to a band. What fun they were having and the tourists were having watching them.

After dinner, we had box seats for a performance. – Wow was it special. The show was a performance by an international guitar master named Manuel Gonzalez who was brilliant on the guitar. I wish we had a video because you cannot describe his talent and how his fingers moved on the strings.

After the concert we walked for a little bit and then it started to rain so we came back to the hotel.

Dinner

A wonderful day – tomorrow it is the ship – the Carnival Magic.

Our seats for the concert

Outside of the conceert hall

Europe 2011 - Day 3

We headed for the church at the top of the mountain

We got up pretty early and headed for the subway for the first of four methods of transportation to get to the top of the Tibidabo Mountain and see the Temple de Segrat Cor., a Catholic Church. We got there in a subway, then a train, an electric street car and then a tram that went right up the side of the mountain.

Built in 1806 it is on the highest point around Barcelona. What a view we had from the top of the church after taking an elevator to the top of the steeple and then walking a little higher.



The Church at the top of the mountain

After visiting the church, we headed back down to the city, walked around also went in the oldest Jewish Synagogue in Europe. We almost missed it as you reach it through a little doorway that goes down into the basement of a building.
Then we hopped a cab back to the hotel to pick up Hawaiian Tropic and head for the beach. As it was yesterday, the beach was wonderful.

Back again to the hotel to change and then we went to the Spanish Village. To get there, we had to take 3 subways and a tram first stopping at the Castle of Montjuic, which while old, was not very impressive. Then we walked about 30 minutes only to find out that the Spanish Village was closing as we got there. We will just have to see that on our next trip!!



The oldest Jewish Synagogue



Then at 9:00pm we watched the Magic Fountain which is a spectacular fountain which is very popular because of its water arrangements sound and lighting. The fountain was built for the 1929 World Fair and it was fun to watch it come alive with a musical water show. It was about a 20 minute light, sound and water show attended by a really lot of people.

After a short subway ride, we were back to the main tourist part of town to watch people and do a little shopping, finding a really nice dish. A cab took us back to the hotel and in the main entry way was a whole line up of race cars that were parked there for the night. The lead car for the officials was a Maybach, a very, very expensive car.

Today we walked 10.72 miles, yesterday it was just short of 10 miles.  Good thing that we take the subway a lot.

The fountains

What a thing to do to a Ferrari!!

That’s it for tonight. 

Europe 2011 - Day 2

The Market

The day started with a trip to the Boqueria Market in downtown Barcelona. This is a huge market, one of the biggest in Europe that sells every kind of fresh food product that you can think of. The market has been in the same place since 1217! We wandered around the market as they were setting out their products, had a fresh fruit drink and then left to go to our next stop, FC Barcelona.



FC Barcelona Statium

FC Barcelona is the home of the Work Cup Football team (Soccer to us). The stadium is huge and very, very impressive. We took a 45 minute tour of the museum and then all parts of the stadium, from the visitor’s locker room to the press boxes high up in the stands. What a stadium. There are no home games being played while we are here, otherwise, we would go see a game.

Then we took a taxi back to the market for lunch and ate some kind of sausage and rice with peas. We had some really good fresh fruit and then left to go to the hotel and change for the beach.

The City of Barcelona has 2.8 miles of beach and all was built for the 1992 Olympics. There are 9 beaches all separated by large breakwaters with a common boardwalk running the length of all of the beaches. Some are for families and some are not. We went to a very adult beach called Mar Bella and sorry we couldn’t take pictures on this beach. We stayed there a couple of hours in a very hot 80+ degree sun and finally decided it was time to go back to the hotel.

Field Level

After changing in our hotel, it was back into the old city of Barcelona to see some sights we have missed. We started at the Cathedral of Barcelona which was built in the 9th century. Then we took a Trixi tour of the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. A Trixi is a bicycle that has a cab on the back where we sat and he peddled us on a wonderful 1 hour tour.

Our tour guide had recommended a restaurant in one of the main plazas so we had him drop us off there and we had a fun evening meal, eating and watching people in the square.

Back to the hotel and a walk along the docks and it was then time for bed.

That’s it for out second day – night.




Lunch at the market



The Ritz - we are on the 29th floor

The Trixi