Another Day, Another Port Missed!

 I guess with that title, I need to start with today's news before I return to Barcelona.  We were supposed to arrive back in Alicante at 8:00 am this morning.  As we were waking at about 7:30, we could feel the ship shake as if it was maneuvering and we knew something was up.  I looked out the window and saw a view like this:

Turned on the TV navigation channel and saw that we were sailing away from Alicante.  It wasn't long before the Captain made the announcement that, in consultation with the port pilot, it was too dangerous to attempt to dock there.  From our visit last week we remembered that it was a bit of a tricky port to get into and the winds today were at 35 knots.  So, the pilot got off the ship and we began to head for the next port, Malaga.  Really not a big deal for us.  After checking the weather forecast for Alicante last night we had decided that we might not even get off the ship since it called for rain all day.  After our visit last week with good weather and a great climb up to the castle we didn't have a real strong need to.  Later in the day, the Captain announced that a cargo ship in port in Alicante had torn away from its mooring due to the winds!

Now, back to Barcelona yesterday.  The morning started out overcast and cool - no surprise there.  So, we took our time, allowed the disembarking guests to clear out, and headed for the city.  If you've ever cruised into Barcelona, you know that the cruise terminal is a bit of a distance from the main, that is, the touristy part of town.  But, it is walk-able and that's what we did.

After reaching town, we stopped for coffee near La Rambla, the main tourist street of Barcelona.

We started walking up La Rambla figuring we'd head for the famous market, but the street was quite crowded and the market even more so.  We made the decision to veer off to side streets and just wander.  It wasn't long before it was, of course, time for lunch.  We then headed for Placa Reial, a square with many restaurants where we have eaten before.  Here is where it became evident just how much our diet has evolved.  In the past we would have loaded up on ham and who knows what else.  Instead, we ate at an organic, healthy restaurant and it was good!

It turned into a very nice day in Barcelona. 

After dinner last night, we found a real surprise in our cabin:

As you can see, it was a beautiful plate of cheeses and meats. There was no note indicating who it was from and our butler said it came from "management".  It's nice to have status and to be liked!  We ate the cheeses for lunch today and gave the meats to the butlers for them to enjoy.

While we have had some good weather so far on this cruise, we have also had some lousy weather - more so than usual for us.  The weather has remained crappy all day as we are making our way to Malaga.  The current forecast calls for partly sunny skies in the afternoon - fingers crossed!

Today we spent some time at sea reading, leading to this Rule of Civility: Rule #18. Read no letters, books, or papers in company but when there is a necessity for the doing of it you must ask leave: come not near the books or writings of another so as to read them unless desired or give your opinion of them unasked also look not nigh when another is writing a letter.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

One Cruise Ends and Another Begins

 Today we are in Barcelona where a sunrise greeted us.

It's a turnaround day and all but about 40 of us are leaving.  There will only be about 600 aboard for the next leg so a half full ship.  That may be a good thing in another way - there have been some cases of Covid on board so, hopefully, the infected ones have departed and everyone coming on had to have a negative test.  It's sort of reset.  And, due to Spain's requirements, we will have to wear masks on board unless eating or drinking.

Yesterday, we were in Marseille.  It was a cold morning with temps in the 30's so we waited until things warmed up and then headed for the old port for lunch.  By then the sun was shining and the temps made it to the 50's.  My original intent was to have a bouillabaisse at one of the restaurants along the port but then someone mentioned mussels and the plan changed.  We found a restaurant crowded with locals a street off the port and had a great lunch.

 
 

                                                    

                                                    

Back at the ship it was a farewell dinner with our new friends, Kim and Walter as we set sail for Barcelona.

As usual, we've seen some incidents, sometimes rude and sometimes humorous, involving the guests on board.  I will try to compile them for a future post.  In the meantime, here is today's Rule of Civility that seems appropriate:

Rule #24. Do not laugh too loud or too much at any public spectacle.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

What a Day at Sea!

Just a quick blog entry from our unplanned day at sea.  After a bit of shaking and rolling overnight, we woke to surprisingly smooth sailing.  We've had a busy day with massages this morning, bingo at noon, and a wine tasting after that.  But the amazing thing is the winds we are cruising through.  The ship's navigation channel shows that the wind speed varies between 50 and 60 knots!  And it's almost head on.  All the credit has to go to the Captain as he is hugging as close to the coast as possible as we make our way to Marseille. The result is remarkably smooth sailing given the conditions.  Linda even had no problem at the wine tasting up on deck 14!  Life is good.

And here's a Rule of Civility that could apply to trying to walk outside on the deck today as we did to go to lunch: Rule #53: Run not in the streets, neither go too slowly nor with mouth open go not shaking your arms kick not the earth with r feet, go not upon the toes, nor in a dancing fashion.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

The Rain in Spain Was Not a Pain!

We have been blessed with 2 great days in Spain - Malaga on Wednesday; Alicante on Thursday.  The weather was mostly good with some clouds burning off leading to sunshine.  And temperatures in the 60's.  Then, today, it's been a windy and cool day in Palma de Mallorca.  The weather was predicted to change and it has, so it was nice to take advantage of it (and more on the weather change later).

The visit to Malaga was our first in 18 years, though the last time we were there we really just passed through on the way to a timeshare on the Costa del Sol.  It was time to explore the city, so the first thing we did was to hop on the Hop On, Hop Off bus.  It was about a 90 minute tour of the city.  

In the afternoon, we visited the 2 historical sites of Malaga - the Castillo de Gibralfaro and the Alcazaba.  First we took the HOHO most of the way up to the castle.

Then we walked down to the Alcazaba which had some very Moorish elements.

On the way back to the ship we passed the beautiful city hall of Malaga.

As we were having dinner we sailed through a rain storm.  Great timing!

The visit to Alicante was our first.  We started with a walk up to the Santa Barbara Castle.  It was a good climb, gaining about 500 feet in elevation.  It was worth the effort.

                                                

We then made our way down to the beachfront for a tapas lunch, followed by a walk along the waterfront.  Another fabulous day.

And, of course, as we had dinner the rain came again.

Today was a stop in Palma de Mallorca, probably the 4th time we've been here.  We had originally planned on taking an Oceania excursion to hike in a national park, but, after looking at the weather forecast which called for rain and cold, we decided to put it off until we're here again later this month.  The morning turned out to be mostly sunny but windy and cold with temps in the low 50's.  We decided to "make hay while the sun shone" and took the ship's shuttle bus into town.  Our real goal was to repeat something we had done on our first visit here, probably in 2008.  They do not have pastel de nata here, but they do have their own pastry, the ensaimadas.  I even remembered the bakery at which we got our first one those 14 years ago.  When we got off the bus, I originally set Google Maps to take us directly there but as we walked we found some side streets and alleys to wander through.  That had the advantage of taking us out of the wind, which as you can see here was quite brisk and Linda was quite cold!

Walking along we found some interesting art galleries.

Then it was time to find the ensaimada.

After returning to the ship it was time for my first jog on land since leaving Miami.

Now, for the story on the weather.  A couple of nights ago, as we were sailing out of Malaga, the captain made an announcement that, due to anticipated bad weather and rough seas in the area, we would be skipping our call in Monte Carlo.  We would stay in Palma longer than planned and then have a day at sea as we tried to avoid the bad weather.  It's all part of the joy of cruising.  Of course, I had to jokingly complain that the cancellation would mean that we would only be stopping in Monte Carlo two times on this cruise instead of the original three!  Next port - Marseille on Sunday.

That's it for now - except for the much anticipated Rule of Civility.  Today's is very succinct but insightful:

Rule #109. Let your recreations be manful not sinful. 

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry