Showing posts with label cruise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cruise. Show all posts
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Small update
Now that we're home and the internet isn't $0.50 a minute I've uploaded higher resolution images to the Picasa web albums. You know, just in case you want to print and frame my beautiful photography to hang on your wall.
Venice
Sorry this has taken so long to put up but we've been really jet-lagged.
The cruise into Venice was pretty cool since we got to go right alongside the city. A bunch of the first pictures were shot right from the balcony of our room. After disembarking we took the slowest shuttle on the water down to St Mark's. We took it pretty easy looking around since we'd have a full day on Monday for more sightseeing with hopefully less crowds.
While trying to get back to the ship we got kind of lost. The problem would be that you could see where you wanted to go but as soon as you rounded the corner you'd run into a canal without a bridge in site! On the trek back we wandered through one of the residential sections of the city. It was pretty interesting to see how much quieter it was there vs the touristy areas around St Marks. Katie had a great observation though for why it was so quiet... no cars!
Dinner was on the ship and final packing so we could disembark the next morning.
Disembarking was no big deal and after stowing our gear at the hotel we headed out into the city again. Of course being in a foreign city where we knew about 20-30 people max from the cruise we ran into a bunch of them over the course of the day. Highlights from what we saw were finally getting into St Mark's and also going up in the bell tower, the Venice academy gallery, and an exhibit featuring recreations of DaVinci's engineering projects from his notebooks. We also tried what our guidebook claimed was the best gelato spot in Venice. It really was good and I think my new favorite combination is now the green apple and caramel that I had there!
The flight back home was fairly uneventful but long since we had an extra stop in SLC that wasn't on our original itinerary. It kinda sucked that we didn't have the individual touch screens in the seat back on the Venice->JFK leg like we did coming over.
And that was it. Definitely an awesome trip all around.
The cruise into Venice was pretty cool since we got to go right alongside the city. A bunch of the first pictures were shot right from the balcony of our room. After disembarking we took the slowest shuttle on the water down to St Mark's. We took it pretty easy looking around since we'd have a full day on Monday for more sightseeing with hopefully less crowds.
While trying to get back to the ship we got kind of lost. The problem would be that you could see where you wanted to go but as soon as you rounded the corner you'd run into a canal without a bridge in site! On the trek back we wandered through one of the residential sections of the city. It was pretty interesting to see how much quieter it was there vs the touristy areas around St Marks. Katie had a great observation though for why it was so quiet... no cars!
Dinner was on the ship and final packing so we could disembark the next morning.
Disembarking was no big deal and after stowing our gear at the hotel we headed out into the city again. Of course being in a foreign city where we knew about 20-30 people max from the cruise we ran into a bunch of them over the course of the day. Highlights from what we saw were finally getting into St Mark's and also going up in the bell tower, the Venice academy gallery, and an exhibit featuring recreations of DaVinci's engineering projects from his notebooks. We also tried what our guidebook claimed was the best gelato spot in Venice. It really was good and I think my new favorite combination is now the green apple and caramel that I had there!
The flight back home was fairly uneventful but long since we had an extra stop in SLC that wasn't on our original itinerary. It kinda sucked that we didn't have the individual touch screens in the seat back on the Venice->JFK leg like we did coming over.
And that was it. Definitely an awesome trip all around.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Athens
Very fast post for today while we accept the hospitality of the port of Piraeus' free internet service! It only works while we're out on our balcony. Finally the starboard side room pays off!
Today was easily my favorite of the whole trip. We got a great sense of the ancient city climbing the Acropolis and seeing the Parthenon and a feel for modern Athens as well. We went to the Acropolis first on our tour. What I didn't know before was that Acropolis really is just the highest point in the city. We got to see the Parthenon where they were replacing the iron used during the previous reconstruction efforts with titanium to prevent rusting. We also had a great view of the city from up there and I uploaded a nice shot of the ruins of the temple of Zeus from up above.
After climbing down we went to the temple of Zeus, saw Hadrian's arch (he gave the money to finish the temple). Next we went to the metro station where they had a big display of the ancient ruins they found while excavating for the station. Finally before lunch we saw the parliament building and the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Lunch was excellent with dolmades, pastitsio, and souvlaki. Unfortunately the honey puff places were about a 20 min walk from where we had lunch so we didn't get to go. Some quick shopping in the Plaka and a scenic drive to the top of Likavitos to see the city.
That's all for now, we'll be at sea tomorrow and then in Venice. I don't know if we'll post again before we get home or not.
Today was easily my favorite of the whole trip. We got a great sense of the ancient city climbing the Acropolis and seeing the Parthenon and a feel for modern Athens as well. We went to the Acropolis first on our tour. What I didn't know before was that Acropolis really is just the highest point in the city. We got to see the Parthenon where they were replacing the iron used during the previous reconstruction efforts with titanium to prevent rusting. We also had a great view of the city from up there and I uploaded a nice shot of the ruins of the temple of Zeus from up above.
After climbing down we went to the temple of Zeus, saw Hadrian's arch (he gave the money to finish the temple). Next we went to the metro station where they had a big display of the ancient ruins they found while excavating for the station. Finally before lunch we saw the parliament building and the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Lunch was excellent with dolmades, pastitsio, and souvlaki. Unfortunately the honey puff places were about a 20 min walk from where we had lunch so we didn't get to go. Some quick shopping in the Plaka and a scenic drive to the top of Likavitos to see the city.
That's all for now, we'll be at sea tomorrow and then in Venice. I don't know if we'll post again before we get home or not.
Ephesus
Today we went to Ephesus ancient city after drive from Kusadasi port. We arrived late around noon and were only in port until 5. Ephesus was really impressive because unlike so many of the other places that we visited, nothing was built on top of it over the years. There were three main areas to the ruins: the political area, the commercial area and the residential area. The excavation of the terrace houses is the residential area. There are pictures of it all as usual.
After Ephesus we saw what was left of the temple of Artemis (1 pillar), and the ruins of St John's Basilica. Once again we were invited to see rugs being made (we passed). The grand bazaar didn't impress any more here than in Istanbul.
One unique thing though was today was the only rain we've seen the whole trip. Not a lot just a few sprinkles at Ephesus and about 10 min in Kusadasi at the bazaar.
I won't miss Turkey. Tomorrow is Athens!
After Ephesus we saw what was left of the temple of Artemis (1 pillar), and the ruins of St John's Basilica. Once again we were invited to see rugs being made (we passed). The grand bazaar didn't impress any more here than in Istanbul.
One unique thing though was today was the only rain we've seen the whole trip. Not a lot just a few sprinkles at Ephesus and about 10 min in Kusadasi at the bazaar.
I won't miss Turkey. Tomorrow is Athens!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Istanbul
This morning we arrived in Istanbul. We docked about a half hour late, maybe because there were several other cruise ships in port. It's been a cloudy day, and the high was only 60. But it's not as windy as it was yesterday.
We met our guide, Hela, outside the terminal and we were off. Istanbul has two sides: one in Europe, and one in Asia. They're connected by several huge suspension bridges. We stayed on the European side today because apparently the Asian side is mainly residential. It would have been nice to say that we were in Asia, but tomorrow Ephesus is in Asia, so we can still say we were there.
First we went to the site of the Hippodrome. This was used for horse races in the time of the Romans, and is now a public square with several ancient columns and obelisks. Our next stop was the Blue Mosque. I think it's official name is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque after the ruler who built it, but because it is decorated inside with tile coveredin blue designs, it is called the Blue Mosque. This is the second biggest mosque in the city. Inside it is really beautiful. The tiles are very pretty, and apparently they are quite famous because of how and where they were made (the Nicea area).
Next we went to Hagia Sophia, which is actually right across the street. The current building is actually the third Hagia Sophia, but it was built in the 500s. After the city was captured from the Byzantines, it was converted to a mosque and the mosaics inside were plastered over. Then when Turkey became a republic in the 1920s it became a museum and the mosaics were uncovered, so you can see both Christian and Islamic decorations inside which is quite interesting. It's a very impressive building, and until St. Peter's in Rome was built it was the largest dome in the world.
Our next stop was the Byzantine cistern. This was also built in the 500s, and was only discovered about 20 years ago by accident. There was a water shortage in the city, but some citizens found the water in it and were using that. By chance some archaeologists saw this, and when they checked out the hole they found this place completely intact. The columns used in it were scavenged from other buildings, so they're mismatched, and several are even supported by Medusa heads that were from an ancient temple.
After that we checked out the Topkapi palace where the Ottoman sultans lived. It has an impressive collection of items, including the world's second largest diamond, and pretty much gold- and silver-plated everything.
We spent an hour in the grand bazaar, but it was extremely crowded and full of pushy salesmen. And it's very smoky because everyone here seems to smoke. So we weren't impressed. Our last stop was the Spice Bazaar, and we liked that a lot better. Less crowded, cheaper prices, no haggling, much better. Zach & I loved seeing the huge piles of spices for sale (anyone need a giant barrel of tea?).
We got back to the ship a little early, which was fine because we had already walked 6.5 miles! Tomorrow we don't arrive in Ephesus until noon, so it will be nice to sleep in for a change.
We met our guide, Hela, outside the terminal and we were off. Istanbul has two sides: one in Europe, and one in Asia. They're connected by several huge suspension bridges. We stayed on the European side today because apparently the Asian side is mainly residential. It would have been nice to say that we were in Asia, but tomorrow Ephesus is in Asia, so we can still say we were there.
First we went to the site of the Hippodrome. This was used for horse races in the time of the Romans, and is now a public square with several ancient columns and obelisks. Our next stop was the Blue Mosque. I think it's official name is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque after the ruler who built it, but because it is decorated inside with tile coveredin blue designs, it is called the Blue Mosque. This is the second biggest mosque in the city. Inside it is really beautiful. The tiles are very pretty, and apparently they are quite famous because of how and where they were made (the Nicea area).
Next we went to Hagia Sophia, which is actually right across the street. The current building is actually the third Hagia Sophia, but it was built in the 500s. After the city was captured from the Byzantines, it was converted to a mosque and the mosaics inside were plastered over. Then when Turkey became a republic in the 1920s it became a museum and the mosaics were uncovered, so you can see both Christian and Islamic decorations inside which is quite interesting. It's a very impressive building, and until St. Peter's in Rome was built it was the largest dome in the world.
Our next stop was the Byzantine cistern. This was also built in the 500s, and was only discovered about 20 years ago by accident. There was a water shortage in the city, but some citizens found the water in it and were using that. By chance some archaeologists saw this, and when they checked out the hole they found this place completely intact. The columns used in it were scavenged from other buildings, so they're mismatched, and several are even supported by Medusa heads that were from an ancient temple.
After that we checked out the Topkapi palace where the Ottoman sultans lived. It has an impressive collection of items, including the world's second largest diamond, and pretty much gold- and silver-plated everything.
We spent an hour in the grand bazaar, but it was extremely crowded and full of pushy salesmen. And it's very smoky because everyone here seems to smoke. So we weren't impressed. Our last stop was the Spice Bazaar, and we liked that a lot better. Less crowded, cheaper prices, no haggling, much better. Zach & I loved seeing the huge piles of spices for sale (anyone need a giant barrel of tea?).
We got back to the ship a little early, which was fine because we had already walked 6.5 miles! Tomorrow we don't arrive in Ephesus until noon, so it will be nice to sleep in for a change.
Monday, May 5, 2008
At Sea
Today was a chance to relax and see more of the ship. Our first activity after getting up was the final cruisecritic.com meet & greet. It was a nice chance to relax and talk through what we've all done each day. A quick bite to eat and we were off to the pool which seemed warm enough until you got your head wet and the cold air (about 65 today) got to you. The hot tub offered a much better alternative to the cold pool.
In the afternoon we assembled team "Critical Mass" consisting of Melissa and Ashley, Dennis and Kim and Katie and I (plus Carolyn and Stan as cheerleaders) to dominate in the cruise's version of Family Feud. After dispatching our first round opponents handily (157-0) we waited to see if we'd make the finals (we did). Our opponents were the team that won 200-0 in the last round. However they proved no match for us after we capitalized on the fact they missed that "a show" (worth only 6 points) was not the same as a movie (the question was "where would you go on a first date"). Critical Mass also tried their hand at trivia where we narrowly missed a second title, losing only after missing the final tiebreaker.
That's it so far, sorry no pictures for today. We meant to but just didn't get to it . Let us know if you want to know anything more before we get back.
In the afternoon we assembled team "Critical Mass" consisting of Melissa and Ashley, Dennis and Kim and Katie and I (plus Carolyn and Stan as cheerleaders) to dominate in the cruise's version of Family Feud. After dispatching our first round opponents handily (157-0) we waited to see if we'd make the finals (we did). Our opponents were the team that won 200-0 in the last round. However they proved no match for us after we capitalized on the fact they missed that "a show" (worth only 6 points) was not the same as a movie (the question was "where would you go on a first date"). Critical Mass also tried their hand at trivia where we narrowly missed a second title, losing only after missing the final tiebreaker.
That's it so far, sorry no pictures for today. We meant to but just didn't get to it . Let us know if you want to know anything more before we get back.
Naples
Naples was another day where we didn't stay in the city where we disembarked. This was our largest tour so far with 16 people in total heading out to Pompeii and to drive the Amalfi coast. Our guide was Fabrizio who was great as usual. Our first stop in the morning was to Pompeii and we actually arrived before the site was open. In the meantime we got to see a demonstration of the art of cameo carving which was impressive.
Once inside Pompeii we had about 2 hours to go through the ruins, but we could have easily spent two days. Fabrizio described how the city wasn't buried by lava, but by the dust and ash that Vesuvius spewed into the air when it blew off the top. Once in the atmosphere, the cloud blew in the direction of the city and covered it completely. We saw quite a variety of buildings from the city including the theater, the forum, bakeries, houses, storefronts and even a whorehouse. One of the more recent techniques introduced to the excavation is the injection of plaster into the spaces where organic material was originally buried. A few of the casts that have turned up include that of animals and people. A picture of one of those casts is up on Picasa. The rest we'll share when we get back. After the tour of Pompeii we got to sample Limoncello, a local specialty liquor made from the gigantic lemons that grow in the fertile soil of the region.
The drive up the Sorrento and Amalfi coasts split the tour into three camps. The entire road while it was outside of towns was very narrow and perilously close to the edge. The first group were the people too afraid to even look out the window or open their eyes. The second were those with the cameras that must have taken at least a thousand pictures between them trying for perfect shots of the coastline between people and battling against the glare of the windows (I was one of those). The last were the people that had to compete for "window time" with the second group or get trampled as they worked elbows and cameras in the way.
The towns were gorgeous and the clear waters were remarkable. The pictures that I managed to capture don't do the scenery justice. We stopped in Sorrento for lunch and for the first time ever got to have gnocchi that was as good as Totero's, thanks to Melissa sharing (I had actually ordered canneloni since it was the first time I'd seen it in Italy). The stop in Amalfi was unfortunately brief since we had run late at our earlier stops and the roadway back was expected to be very busy with traffic returning home after the long holiday weekend. The last memorable thing from the stop in Amalfi was Katie and I getting our feet in the water just as everyone else was boarding the bus and running back without our shoes on to be the last ones on.
Katie managed to snag quite a few good pictures of the sunset as we were leaving. After dinner with more of our cruisecritic.com friends we called it a night looking forward to finally being able to sleep in on tomorrow's at sea day.
Once inside Pompeii we had about 2 hours to go through the ruins, but we could have easily spent two days. Fabrizio described how the city wasn't buried by lava, but by the dust and ash that Vesuvius spewed into the air when it blew off the top. Once in the atmosphere, the cloud blew in the direction of the city and covered it completely. We saw quite a variety of buildings from the city including the theater, the forum, bakeries, houses, storefronts and even a whorehouse. One of the more recent techniques introduced to the excavation is the injection of plaster into the spaces where organic material was originally buried. A few of the casts that have turned up include that of animals and people. A picture of one of those casts is up on Picasa. The rest we'll share when we get back. After the tour of Pompeii we got to sample Limoncello, a local specialty liquor made from the gigantic lemons that grow in the fertile soil of the region.
The drive up the Sorrento and Amalfi coasts split the tour into three camps. The entire road while it was outside of towns was very narrow and perilously close to the edge. The first group were the people too afraid to even look out the window or open their eyes. The second were those with the cameras that must have taken at least a thousand pictures between them trying for perfect shots of the coastline between people and battling against the glare of the windows (I was one of those). The last were the people that had to compete for "window time" with the second group or get trampled as they worked elbows and cameras in the way.
The towns were gorgeous and the clear waters were remarkable. The pictures that I managed to capture don't do the scenery justice. We stopped in Sorrento for lunch and for the first time ever got to have gnocchi that was as good as Totero's, thanks to Melissa sharing (I had actually ordered canneloni since it was the first time I'd seen it in Italy). The stop in Amalfi was unfortunately brief since we had run late at our earlier stops and the roadway back was expected to be very busy with traffic returning home after the long holiday weekend. The last memorable thing from the stop in Amalfi was Katie and I getting our feet in the water just as everyone else was boarding the bus and running back without our shoes on to be the last ones on.
Katie managed to snag quite a few good pictures of the sunset as we were leaving. After dinner with more of our cruisecritic.com friends we called it a night looking forward to finally being able to sleep in on tomorrow's at sea day.
Rome
From the desk of Katie:
We were really exhausted the last few days, which is why these posts are after the fact. Sorry.
We arrived in Civitavecchia about 7AM and had an 8AM start for our tour, so it was another early morning. We met our driver, Stefano, right away and were off to Rome, which is about an hour away from the port. There are lots and lots of vineyards and olive groves along the way. It was a really warm and sunny day, about 75 degrees.
When we arrived in Rome, our first stop was the Forum. It's really odd, because you're driving through the middle of the city, and then there are ancient ruins right in the middle. After that we went to the Colosseum. We had to wait in line longer than expected, but finally we got in. It's really big, and used to seat 50,000+ people. It was pretty cool. Next we went to the Pantheon, which is really gorgeous inside. It doesn't look like much on the outside because like all the other ancient buildings, the marble and such have been re-used in other buildings. The original bronze roof is now the bronze altar in the basilica. The murals inside are really amazing. After that we had some lunch, and tried some great Roman pizza, which we really liked because Roman pizza has really thin crust. Next we visited (and climbed) the Spanish Steps, and threw a coin in the Trevi fountain. Then we were off to the Vatican.
We met our guide for the museum, Rafaella, just outside the walls and went in. We couldn't believe how much art is inside! Each room is just full of ancient statues, mosaics, paintings, etc. Our guide told us all sorts of interesting information about the things we saw. After that we went into the Sistine Chapel. Most people know Michaelangelo best for painting the chapel, but he actually didn't really like doing it because he only liked to sculpt, not paint. Another interesting thing is that the face of the devil in the Last Judgment painting is the face of a Vatican official at the time who had made Michaelangelo angry. After that, we went into St. Peter's basilica. It was really beautiful, and huge! There were 20 foot tall statues that looked tiny. The inscription along the ceiling looks small, but the letters are actually 10 feet high! It was a really awe-inspiring place.
After that we had some time to walk around on our own, but it was cut short. The Pope was going somewhere, so they were starting to block off the streets. So we had to leave earlier than we would have liked since we didn't want to get back late and miss the ship. Luckily we got on the road in time and didn't have any problems. Once we got back to the ship we were really exhausted so we got the pictures off the camera and that was about all we had the energy for.
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/Alandovos/Rome
We were really exhausted the last few days, which is why these posts are after the fact. Sorry.
We arrived in Civitavecchia about 7AM and had an 8AM start for our tour, so it was another early morning. We met our driver, Stefano, right away and were off to Rome, which is about an hour away from the port. There are lots and lots of vineyards and olive groves along the way. It was a really warm and sunny day, about 75 degrees.
When we arrived in Rome, our first stop was the Forum. It's really odd, because you're driving through the middle of the city, and then there are ancient ruins right in the middle. After that we went to the Colosseum. We had to wait in line longer than expected, but finally we got in. It's really big, and used to seat 50,000+ people. It was pretty cool. Next we went to the Pantheon, which is really gorgeous inside. It doesn't look like much on the outside because like all the other ancient buildings, the marble and such have been re-used in other buildings. The original bronze roof is now the bronze altar in the basilica. The murals inside are really amazing. After that we had some lunch, and tried some great Roman pizza, which we really liked because Roman pizza has really thin crust. Next we visited (and climbed) the Spanish Steps, and threw a coin in the Trevi fountain. Then we were off to the Vatican.
We met our guide for the museum, Rafaella, just outside the walls and went in. We couldn't believe how much art is inside! Each room is just full of ancient statues, mosaics, paintings, etc. Our guide told us all sorts of interesting information about the things we saw. After that we went into the Sistine Chapel. Most people know Michaelangelo best for painting the chapel, but he actually didn't really like doing it because he only liked to sculpt, not paint. Another interesting thing is that the face of the devil in the Last Judgment painting is the face of a Vatican official at the time who had made Michaelangelo angry. After that, we went into St. Peter's basilica. It was really beautiful, and huge! There were 20 foot tall statues that looked tiny. The inscription along the ceiling looks small, but the letters are actually 10 feet high! It was a really awe-inspiring place.
After that we had some time to walk around on our own, but it was cut short. The Pope was going somewhere, so they were starting to block off the streets. So we had to leave earlier than we would have liked since we didn't want to get back late and miss the ship. Luckily we got on the road in time and didn't have any problems. Once we got back to the ship we were really exhausted so we got the pictures off the camera and that was about all we had the energy for.
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/Alandovos/Rome
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Marseilles
Today we arrived in Marseilles the 2nd largest city in France and the busiest port on the Mediterranean. However our tour took us out into the countryside of Provincial France to see Avignon and Les Baus-de-Provence. Our guide Catherine found the 8 of us that were on the tour (Katie and I, Dick and Lucille, Herb and Janet, and Linda and John) right away and we were off.
We got to hear about the history of the region and made our way to Avignon to see the Palace of the Popes. The palace was home to 9 popes during the Great Schism during the 14th century. This was one of the few stops that I had pushed for on the trip and I'm glad that we got to visit. So far the theme from what we've seen both today and in Barcelona has been just how many things have been lost to time due to destruction, either accidental or intentional which is pretty sad. We walked around the city for a little while before stopping for lunch at St Remy, seeing quite a few vinyards and olive orchards along the way.
After lunch we headed out to Le Baux-de-Province a small hilltop village that was given to the Grimaldi family a long time ago (in a country far-far-away). The hillside is dominated by the ruins of a castle and prison that should be in the pictures from the area.
After the ride back we crashed again before the ship departed at 6:30.
We got to hear about the history of the region and made our way to Avignon to see the Palace of the Popes. The palace was home to 9 popes during the Great Schism during the 14th century. This was one of the few stops that I had pushed for on the trip and I'm glad that we got to visit. So far the theme from what we've seen both today and in Barcelona has been just how many things have been lost to time due to destruction, either accidental or intentional which is pretty sad. We walked around the city for a little while before stopping for lunch at St Remy, seeing quite a few vinyards and olive orchards along the way.
After lunch we headed out to Le Baux-de-Province a small hilltop village that was given to the Grimaldi family a long time ago (in a country far-far-away). The hillside is dominated by the ruins of a castle and prison that should be in the pictures from the area.
After the ride back we crashed again before the ship departed at 6:30.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Price Gouging
btw Internet access is $.5o/min so don't expect more than like 1 post a day while we're gone... Also you'll have to make due with the smaller resolution pictures until we get back :)
Getting to Europe & Barcelona
So far everything has gone well. No problems in the airports, or getting to our hotel in Barcelona. After crashing for a short nap we went to the "meet and greet" with some of the other people from the cruisecritic.com message boards. It was nice to finally be able to put faces to screen names since we'll be on excursions with a majority of the people we met.
Since we were all hungry about a dozen of us went out in search of a great tapas restaurant that we had heard of... only to find out that the restaurant would only hold about a dozen people total! So instead we went to another one along the way and tried quite a few things, though we'd be hard pressed to tell you what they actually were (one was green). As a bonus Ashley found 20e on the ground so the sangria was on her :) After barely making it back to our hotel room before we passed out we crashed for the night.
Today we took the hop-on/hop-off bus (not stair car) around the city, the high points of which are up on Picasa. Primarily we stopped at buildings by Gaudi. Katie was more impressed than I was by the residental buildings, at best I thought they were interesting, at worst hideous.
We had to cut the bus ride short so we could get onboard before dinner so we didn't get to see everything we would have liked to in the city. We got off just before the bus would have gone to the Futbol stadium (GGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
Our timing was pretty good getting on the ship, no lines at all. Plus we got to walk right in to dinner where our waitress was actually from Slovakia! Unfortunately all the Slovak I could remember was hello, which I'm not even going to try to spell (and rozky).
After the lifejacket drill we hung out with more cruisecritic.com people until we left port. Then we came back to our room and typed this up.
That's it for now. Tomorrow is Marseilles so we'll have to be up kind early for our 9:00 tour.
Since we were all hungry about a dozen of us went out in search of a great tapas restaurant that we had heard of... only to find out that the restaurant would only hold about a dozen people total! So instead we went to another one along the way and tried quite a few things, though we'd be hard pressed to tell you what they actually were (one was green). As a bonus Ashley found 20e on the ground so the sangria was on her :) After barely making it back to our hotel room before we passed out we crashed for the night.
Today we took the hop-on/hop-off bus (not stair car) around the city, the high points of which are up on Picasa. Primarily we stopped at buildings by Gaudi. Katie was more impressed than I was by the residental buildings, at best I thought they were interesting, at worst hideous.
We had to cut the bus ride short so we could get onboard before dinner so we didn't get to see everything we would have liked to in the city. We got off just before the bus would have gone to the Futbol stadium (GGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).
Our timing was pretty good getting on the ship, no lines at all. Plus we got to walk right in to dinner where our waitress was actually from Slovakia! Unfortunately all the Slovak I could remember was hello, which I'm not even going to try to spell (and rozky).
After the lifejacket drill we hung out with more cruisecritic.com people until we left port. Then we came back to our room and typed this up.
That's it for now. Tomorrow is Marseilles so we'll have to be up kind early for our 9:00 tour.
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