England, A New Phase of the Journey Begins

We left the ship at about 8:30 am on Sunday morning and made our way to the rental car place at the airport. Now the fun began...Jim driving and me navigating. Fortunately, I had the help of GPS. We survived what seemed like thousands of roundabouts. Our destination was Winchester, which is about 30 miles from

Southampton. The city is ancient and our hotel is a pub right in the heart with a view of the cathedral and university out our attic room window. This place is everything an English pub should be. The structure has been a pub since before our Revolutionary War.

Love Winchester. It reminded us of how much we have enjoy this country and the countryside. Yesterday was the 60th Anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. We were able to tour the cathedral while they were setting up for a special service. Heard the incredible organ and saw the ladies and gentlemen lining up dressed in their finest hats and the men wearing their army medals.

Jane Austin's House

Today was another day to remember. I am a HUGE Jane Austin fan. We visited the village of Chawton and her home where she wrote so many of her novels. We also drove to Highclere Castle where they film Downton Abbey. We made it through the gate and got a glimpse of the towers of the castle before a guard turned us away. Oh we'll, we tried.

Highclere Castle

Tomorrow we move to Horsted Place, a country house hotel in East Sussex.

Normandy...A Moving Experience

Our last day was a nine hour tour to the beaches of Normandy. We were weary, but it was so worth it.  The Normandy countryside is beautiful. We visited Gold Beach, the British Beach where the pontoon bridges and docks were put in place to download Allied troops, tanks, supplies to support the taking of France. The American Cemetery was the highlight. To see this beautiful serene place where our heroes rest is almost a religious experience. To cap the visit, we were there for the lowering of the flag with taps lingering in the air. Omaha Beach seems so ordinary. We saw families with children playing on the beach. To think on June 6, 69 years ago, the invasion took place and the beach was the scene of such carnage. A truly memorable day.

Bordeaux

The sail in was unusual. We traveled up the Gironde/Garonne Rivers to moor right in the heart of the city. It felt like river cruising. We had two full days and nights in this incredible area. The major wine producing area of the world, Bordeaux takes its wine very seriously. We were surprised at the price of wine, quite cheap.

The first day was spent wandering the city. There has been a lot money spent here in reclaiming the riverfront area and cleaning the beautiful buildings. Our second day, we had a car and driver to take us into the Bordeaux countryside. Wine tasting is by appt. only in the major wineries, but they have cooperatives featuring many producers that are open to the public and free. We enjoyed our lessons in  Bordeaux wine. The land on the left bank of the river is very gravelly and produces a very different wine from the right bank, which has much better soil. We had a very good lunch, three courses beautifully presented. The French really know how to eat and drink.

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao

A beautiful structure with the outside walls made of Titanium. The primary exhibition was called France at War. It showed art that was produced during WW II in France, as well as art  produced in the concentration camps.This was particularly moving. We had also seen some concentration camp art in the Holocaust Museum in Israel.

There was also a Picasso room, but sadly we don't like his art so I can't really say if was good or not.

Bilbao

An unexpected turn of events. The captain announced yesterday morning that the weather in the port  to follow Bilbao was too bad for us to  venture into and that we would stay over night  in Bilbao and tour here for two days.

The port is 9 miles from town, so it requires a shuttle. We were on an early bus and walked the city for about two hours. It is quite prosperous, clean and modern. The old city is also very well taken care of. They have cleaned their buildings of many years of pollution and grime and the stonework inside the churches has been cleaned so you can really se what the original creation is like.

Today we go to the Guggenheim Museum. Tomorrow we visit Bordeaux.

More of Spain

We are in northwestern Spain. We crossed the Straits of Gibraltar in the dead of night several days ago. Jim got up at one AM to see if he could see the Rock or all the naval vessels that patrol the waters, but all he could see was the black of night.

Yesterday we were in a small town called La Coruna. It had a lovely old city center, which we walked for about two hours with a guide. Of course, every town has many churches, so we got our quota of  old churches and old rocks in for the day. As we have traveled west, the rocks have gotten younger, as we are now dealing with the 10th & 11th centuries, A.D.

One of the highlights of this stop was eating tapas in two different restaurants. One served an egg/potato omelet, calamari, cheese croquettes and a pork dish. While the other was obviously a purveyor of  smoked meats and cheeses. The entire ceiling was hung with huge hams,

We visit Bilbao today. This is a major center of the Basque region of Spain and home to a famous Guggenheim Museum. We plan to walk the city without a tour. We have toured out. The last stop in Spain and the day and a half in Bordeaux will be spent on our on. The last tour is Normandy, which will be one day and a brief snapshot.

Portugal in Two Stops

We have spent the last two days in Portugal. We got very different impressions in the two cities we visited. From the water as you sail in, Lisbon looks beautiful and promises to be a great stop. They compare it to San Francisco because it is built on hills and has an orange expansion bridge. But we couldn't see the resemblance.

We were disappointed in the city. Lots of graffiti, but everywhere we have throughout the trip has been loaded with grafitti. We did have the tour guide from hell here. A guide that either was new to the business or was just not good. Probably our least favorite port.

On to Porto, which we really enjoyed. We ditched our tour today because we were afraid of a repeat experience. We took the shuttle into the city and loved it. Jim drank port wine in the city that gives the wine its name. We walked the old city and found it charming.

Tomorrow we are back in Spain. More cathedrals, castles and old rocks. Every Eurpopean city that we have visited seems to have their fair share of these. Still enjoying every minute of the cruise.

Cadiz, Spain

When your expectations are low, sometimes you get the biggest reward. The sun was shining, not hot not cold, temps just right. The town is lovely. Very walkable.

We left the ship early as the neighborhoods were stirring. By neighborhoods, I mean small narrow pedestrian streets with apartments in very old buildings. Women were doing their daily marketing at corner stalls, dogs were being walked, the postman delivering mail. The central market was incredible. Wonderful produce and meat, but most of the stalls were devoted to fish. Fresh fish and seafood of every kind in stall after stall.

Had a tapas lunch. Wanted to buy hot churros in the market, but didn't want to stand in line. After visiting a couple of beautiful old churches and 5 hours of walking, we returned to the ship.

Today is Lisbon, Portugal.

Loved Barcelona

What a wonderful surprise. We had heard that this is lovely city, but we were overwhelmed with the beauty of the architecture. It reminded us a bit of Buenos Aires and a bit of Paris. Something to see everywhere you looked. Wish we could post pictures. Jim took some great ones.

Hard to believe that we are three weeks into the journey. Cruising is an incredible way to see the world in tiny snapshots. It seems like yesterday that we were breathing the sand of the Sahara and wiping soot from the Mt. Etna volcano in Sicily. Barcelona was one of those cities that we would like to return to. We just have to have tapas and paella in Spain on the next two stops. We will keep you posted.

Villefranche

Today is just what a late spring day in the south of France should be. Blue skies and deep blue sea. We were supposed to dock in Monte Carlo, but the captain changed the plan last minute and we docked in the small seaside village of Villefranche. We had visited here in 1999, so it was nice to revisit. It hadn't changed much, but we found more English spoken in the shops. We had lunch in a small restaurant (always a treat to dine locally). Really good scallop risotto and fresh sea bass. But what would you expect, this is France!

Eternal Roma

Changeover day for the ship. Many of the passengers left us in Rome, but a full ship sailed that evening. The port is about an hour from Rome and we took a coach tour of the city. It was like you see in the movies...Rome from the window of the bus.

We got just a small glimpse of this wonderful city, enough to know it will take days to really see it. We were left in the Spanish Square, so I got to sit on the steps. We walked down the Via Di Conti, the famous shopping street of Rome. Gucci, Ferragamo, Armani to name drop a few, just looked. Had gelato. I was determined not to leave Italy without it.

Off to France.

Amalfi Coast...So B-U-T-ful

Docked in Sorrento and boarded a small 16 man coach for a drive up the Amalfi Coast to Positano. Wonderful scenery. I can see why the travel world raves about this area. A couple of hours to wander the small narrow streets. The pottery in this part of the world makes me want to ship a crateful home.

A long two hour lunch in a restaurant in Nerano. Incredible pasta and fish fresh from the Med. Tomorrow the cruise segment ends and most of the passengers leave the ship. We have a day trip to Rome, which is more travel time to get there than seeing Rome. Our big stop is the Vatican. While we are out, our butler will move us to a new room. Couldn't keep this one, as we booked the two legs separately.

More from Rome.

Sicily...Home of the Godfather

Great stop today. Taormina is a lovely town on the top of a hill about 250 meters above sea level. The cobble stone Main Street is a walking street with wonderful shops, cafes and churches. Today's photos were all about the artfully displayed shop windows with pottery, gelato, and Italian high fashion.

Jim had only one old pile of rocks to visit today and he had to pay 20 Euro to do it. There is a Greco-Roman theatre that is still in use. Seas were pretty rough and we tendered into port. We were one of the last boats back to the ship before the captain ceased the tender service. We left about 200 passengers and crew behind and sailed to the bigger port of Messina to pick them up. They had an hour bus ride to catch the ship. Glad it wasn't us.

Tomorrow we visit Positano, Italy.

Athens, One More Ancient Marvel

We hadn't planned to take the Athens tour. Back in the 1970s, Jim worked out of Athens for four years. So he had been there, done that. We were going to Corinth & Mycenae. But we just couldn't do another 9-12 hour bus tour. So off to the Acropolis we went. Again, rain and wet shoes, and throngs of tourists. We didn't get many good shots, as the Acropolis is covered in scafeling, as they are restoring the crumbling structure.

 Greece is flat broke and the guide was not shy about talking about it. No end construction date in sight, as they don't have the money for the work. We checked that box and went back to the ship for a restful day. You would know it, the sun came out in the afternoon and it was beautiful.

Today is a sea day, and I am up early ahead of the other 700 passengers with mobile devices who live on the Internet. We've had lots of trouble with this system being overloaded with users, as well as technical problems.

We will get to Rome on the last day of this leg of the voyage. The ship is doing a tour for the passengers who are staying on until Southampton.

More from Italy...

Ephesus...To Walk Where The Apostle Paul Walked

We've been trying to visit Ephesus for about 4 years. It was the first rainy day of the voyage, but that didn't stop us. We donned rain gear, umbrellas and met our private car and guide. It was a great way to see this incredible archaelogical site. Even with thousands of visitors, all with umbrellas, we saw the entire  site. Out of all the "old rocks", that is what Jim calls all the ancient archaeological wonders we've visited, Ephesus gives you a wonderful  insight into how the people lived in the early centuries after Christ.

We made our pilgrimage to Virgin Mary's house and then on to lunch in a Turkish restaurant for an authentic Turkish meal. We've had a lot of interesting food along the way, but this was one of our favorite meals, as we got to pick the fresh fish and other assorted side dishes from cases in the kitchen.  Really did love Ephesus.

Rhodes...A beautiful island

Even though, this was a third stop in Rhodes for me and a second time for Jim, we saw some of the island that we had never visited. We toured for about 2 hours and visited the medieval castle that had been entirely reconstructed by Mussolini as a summer home. Interesting to see what Fascism could achieve in about three years with slave Greek labor.

The remainder of our visit was to sit in a taverna in the busy marketplace and watch the crowds go by. Blue skies, blue sea, beautiful sunshine, just what a day in the Greek Isles should be.

One Week Aboard Ship

The time has flown like the wind. We boarded the ship in Safaga, Egypt after a world-wind 2 1/2 days in Cairo and Luxor. Loved the tombs. The long days continued with our first stop in Jordan at Petra. Part of the new Natural Wonders of the World, this place is truely magnificent. Had a day to catch our breath then on to three days in Isarael.

9-12 hour tour days left us with just enough time to sleep and shower. Israel ia an incredible country. Shows what  resilience, spirit and and hard work can produce. Tel Aviv is just like any western city, modern and vibrant. Jeruselem was fascinating with its multi-cultures and mixture of civilizations and religions. REALLY liked Israel.

Yesterday we left the desert dust, camels and Middle East behind and arrived in Cypus. If you'll recall the recent news, this is the country that tried to take over all bank accounts. You can see they are financially hurting. Lots of closed stores. But we found great shoe bargains. Mephisto and Ecco shoes were considerally less than the U.S.

This cruise is NPR at Sea. We have celebrities on board. Rode the elevator last night with Gwen Iffil of Washington Week (public television) and Victor Garber. He's an actor that you've seen in lots of films. His lastest was Argo, he played Ben Affleck's boss. He wa also in Titanic as the designer of the ship. The creator of the TV show Modern Family is also on board.

Tomorrow we tour Ephesus. We have a car and driver, which is a great reprieve from tour buses.

Our First Sight of Cairo

From the air, all you can see is sand. As we made our descent into Cairo, it became clear that we had arrived in the land of the Pharaohs. In some ways Cairo is an abandoned city...abandoned by the millions of tourists who used to come each year. The huge international terminal was not crowded and there were no buses loaded with tourists at the pyramids or the Sphinx.

The city is an interesting mix of wonderful old buildings, dirt and trash, the burned out shell of the Mubarick political party building right next door to the Egyptian Museum. We felt perfectly safe walking from our hotel to the revolution  square that we have all seen on television. People were friendly, so grateful we had come. The vendors were particularly aggressive..."just one dolla" was heard over and over.

Truly a dream come true to visit the Museum. I saw the King Tut exhibit in Chicago in the 1970s and became fascinated with Egyptology. So many stories to tell, but technical difficulties here.

My apologies about the blog. We have had no Internet connection for days. We thought we could blog from the iPad, but can't access photos. We have incredible shots of the tombs and temples in Luxor,as well as the natural wonders of Petra Jourdan.

We are still trying to improve on the map so that you can see the ports of call. This might be a bit better.

OOPS! Departing April 30.

What to pack? This is the overriding question as we spend our last few days in Sacramento.
 How do you plan for warm desert days/cool evenings,  a cold European spring, 30 days shipboard with dressy evenings and casual days? Add to this dilemma, one suitcase each and a split suitcase weighing no more than 40 lbs. that we will have in Cairo and Luxor.

We thought you might want to see the route that we will be taking, starting May 30.