Days 21 & 22 - last sea days

Pretty uneventful couple of days to report. We mostly lounged around and read. The weather was nice so we were able to get up on the deck for some sun and swimming - almost like one of our tropical holidays! We also made it to the gym both days, and even had a body composition analysis done today by our friend Andrei, the spinning sadist. Andrew is pleased to tell you that he is practically perfect, according to the machine. I have almost 6 pounds of water to lose. The only thing surprising to me about that is that it isn't 10! Also positive to report is that we both carry about 10 pounds more muscle than the average person our gender/size.

We've just finished packing up so that we can have our luggage taken tonight. We'll pick it up just before customs tomorrow morning on our way out. We then take a shuttle bus from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, where we'll board a 1 pm flight home. All that is left to do tonight is our last dinner in the dining room, and to say goodbye and thank you to some of our favorite crew members - particularly Ramon (our cabin steward) and Kulthawat (our assistant waiter).

We've had a wonderful time and seen some amazing things on this trip. When we think back to our arrival in Venice, it seems like it was another trip completely, rather than just a few weeks ago! We're looking forward to seeing Harley - we've missed him very much, though he's been very well taken care of by Michelle, Ed, Mike & Stacy. I'm also always excited to get back to our very comfortable bed after so many nights. Andrew goes back to work on Monday, and I'm back on Tuesday. Then it will only be a few weeks until Thanksgiving and Christmas are here!

Our next trip is a 2-week land vacation in Belize in February. We've rented a house on one of the small cayes (Caye Caulker), and are looking forward to many hours on the amazing great barrier reef! See you then!

Days 19 & 20 - sea days

Second and third of our lazy sea days. On Tuesday morning, we started out with a spin class taught by a Romanian instructor named Andrei Dragoni. Neither of us had ever done a spin class before and we should have known we were in for it by the instructor's name. I am pretty sure he learned how to teach this class in some sort of Romanian prison, because it was torture. Despite that, we'll probably go back for more on Thursday or Friday, if our butts can stand the bike seat by then!

After being beaten to a pulp by the stationary bikes, we had breakfast and then spent most of the day reading. We tried to lay out for about an hour up on the main deck, but the weather was not at all cooperative so we had to admit defeat and head back inside. We dined in the main dining room and opted out of the show, a comedic juggler, based on the lack of appeal of the comedic magician a few nights back.

Wednesday (today) we were awake by 5 am and hit the gym early. According to all posted information, the gym opens at 7 am. However, we have been suspicious of this from the beginning as, even if we would arrive at 6:45 am, it was always full. We have slowly started going earlier and earlier to see if we can determine the actual opening time. This morning we were there by 6 am and others were already working out. It has crossed our minds that it is open all the time, just not advertised. The seas were rough this morning and our 5K runs also had some excellent incline training components as an added bonus.

After the gym we had breakfast delivered in our cabin, which is always delightful. Before 9 am we were out of the cabin, picked up iced cappuccinos, and headed up to the reading lounge. By lunchtime, the seas had calmed considerably and the sky was blue and clear. We took the opportunity to secure a couple of lounge chairs by the pool for the afternoon to swim and soak in some sun. One definite bonus of Princess ships is that they have fresh-water pools, whereas Carnival has salt-water. It's always much nicer to swim in lovely fresh water!

We had to leave the pool about 2 pm to shower and get to our next wine tasting. This one was less expensive wines - which is nice since that is what we are more likely to buy at home. It's always fun to swirl your wine around and make comments such as, "Oh, you can't taste the pear? Tsk - I definitely do!" Even though I can barely taste the difference between the red wine and the white wine. Good thing it comes with the handy color coding!

Finally in our activity-packed day, we had the past-guest party to attend. All of the cruise ships have these as a "thank you" to their passengers who have sailed with them before, providing free cocktails and appetizers for an hour or so. This is our first time attending one on Princess (as this is only our second cruise with this line), and we found it to be nicer than the one that Carnival offers. Carnival shows a pre-taped video that highlights all their ships in their fleet, both current and retired. It's fun to see but, needless to say, we've seen that one several times! Princess had the captain present, and he spoke off-the-cuff for about 15 minutes about the ports we have stopped in on this voyage, the weather we've had and, more notably, the weather we have missed. We were aware of the terrible rains in Italy starting the day after we left, but we were not aware that we nearly missed stopping in the Azores due to high winds. In fact, the captain was advised not to stop, but thought he'd give it a try. Lucky for us,as the Azores was one of our favorites! He said that if we would have been one day later to that port, we definitely would not have docked due to winds over 40 mph. Another standard feature at the past-guest parties is that they introduced you to the most-traveled passengers on board. The gentleman who had the most days sailed with Princess tonight had over 1500 days! Can you imagine? That's about 5 years on a cruise ship! Andrew now has a goal to shoot for!

So, that's it for now. We have 3 sea days left, with little planned. Will likely post something in a day or two, unless we win big in the casino or something else thrilling happens! Until then, imagine us doing nothing much at all.

Day 17 - Halloween at sea

Happy Halloween everyone! Today was the first of our six-day Atlantic crossing and we did pathetically little. We were up early, but didn't ever quite muster the energy to hit the gym. Also, the seas are quite rough again today, so I had to resort to another Gravol and a nap before lunch.

After lunch I was feeling much better so we headed up to the deck to try and enjoy the sea air. It was fairly warm today, about 20C/72F, but very windy. We were able to make it about an hour before we had to come back inside. The rest of the afternoon we read; ok, I read, Andrew slept. Before heading for an early dinner we stopped to check out the results of the pumpkin carving contest they had earlier today - pretty amazing, don't you agree!


At dinner, it was fun to see that a few dozen passengers had planned ahead and were dressed in costumes. The couple next to us were dressed as a witch and the devil and we were impressed that they had dedicated that much luggage space to one outfit!

When dinner was finished, the waiter brought us a lovely little cake with a candle and several of the crew sang "Happy Anniversary" to us, with many of the passengers also joining in. Andrew had tipped the staff off that we were celebrating our 10th anniversary on this trip - very sweet!

After dinner, we decided to go and see the show which featured a magician. He was moderately entertaining, and it was pretty exciting for us to stay up past 8:30! Despite the fact that we are among the youngest passengers on the ship (by a good 20 years), we are probably among the first to hit the hay at night. We just can't quite break out of our home routine to go to bed and then get up early!

We have booked a spinning class tomorrow morning, so are looking forward to that. Otherwise, our day will probably look very much the same as today. More R&R.

Day 16 - The Azores

Last port day today. Sad for me, as the ports are my favorite part, and happy for Andrew as the sea days are his favorite. We were up early this morning (went to bed too early last night PLUS we gained an hour in the middle of it) and were at the gym about 6:30 am. Spent an hour there, then showered and went in search of breakfast. Not a difficult feat, really.

The ship docked in Ponta Delgada just before 10 am and we met our guide, Paolo, right outside of the terminal. We had booked a car and guide for a 5-hour tour of the largest island, Sao Miguel. Wow - if this is not the most beautiful place on earth, it is certainly very near to the top. Although the day was overcast, with a low and heavy cloud cover, the island was impressive. 3,000 foot volcanic "hills" make up the center of the island (which is about 30 km long and about 15 km wide), sloping down in lush green fields towards the ocean. We were quite surprised to see hundreds of cows dotting the pastures. Paolo told us that dairy production is one of the leading industries on this island, and that it is especially known for cheese.

The other thing this island is famous for is geothermal activity. One of our first stops was an area that had several little springs boiling away. It is tempting to put your hand in, so Paolo was quick to remind us that the bubbles meant that the water was, in fact, boiling!


We then drove up to the top of the volcano where there is a lake nestled in to the crater. It's aptly named Fire Lake. Note how low the clouds are!



Just before lunch Paolo took us to the Furnas area, where the ground is warm enough to cook a regional specialty - cozida. Families or restaurants put a variety of meats (beef, pork and chicken), sausage (blood sausage and chorizo), and vegetables (greens, carrots, potatoes, turnips, squash) in to a large covered pot and sink it in to concrete pits early in the morning. They then cover the hole with a wooden cover, and then rake the sand over that. The pot then simmers away for about 6 hours, when it's unearthed and eaten for lunch. Here you see one of the pots being removed from the ground.


We then went to a local restaurant that served us cozida - delicious! Sadly, we had to leave a lot of it there. The portions were huge! We were also served three different types of the locally-made cheeses at lunch.



There was a couple at the table next to us during lunch that we chatted with a bit. The woman said that they now lived in Toronto, but that she was born and had spent most of her life on Sao Miguel. They were back for an extended visit. The woman was very friendly and told us a lot about the cozida, and also gave us some helpful information on tipping (basically, don't worry about leaving much). When we were leaving we told the couple that we would see them the next time we came back to the Azores! Imagine our shock when we returned to the harbor about 4 hours later (and about 25 km away from the restaurant) and saw the same couple sitting on a bench in the marina area watching the boats and swimmers! We all laughed and said how we couldn't believe we had run each other again. The woman and I posed for a picture and I told her that I was now sure we would see each other again one day!



In our 5 and 1/2 hours with Paolo we were able to see most of the island. Each area was more beautiful than the rest! We visited a tea plantation, more geothermal springs, the rocky coastline, and many amazing scenic views. I especially loved the hydrangeas that lined the sides of the road. Paolo told me that they can get out of control here, and are often treated as weeds. I wish I had weeds like that in my yard! Andrew got to feed some ducks - definitely a highlight for him! We will definitely come back here!!


Now we have 6 days at sea crossing the Atlantic. Keep your fingers crossed that something interesting enough to post on happens!

Day 14 & 15 - Lisbon and a sea day

Day 14 - Lisbon

Ahhh - beautiful Portugal! We only had a few short hours here today (from noon - 5:30 pm) so we had to hustle to get everything in. We started our day in the gym at 7 am. Unfortunately, the seas were very rough this particular morning, so I could only make it 15-minutes on the elliptical before I had to dash back to the cabin. I put on my motion-sickness watch that Andrew bought me years ago and, between that and a little nap, I was feeling better in about an hour. Luckily, the seas calmed as we approached Portugal, so I was able to finish my workout later that morning.

The first thing you see when the ship heads up the river in to Lisbon, are copies of two landmarks made famous in other cities - Rio & San Francisco. Both of these photos were actually taken on our way OUT of Lisbon, thus the dusky light, but you get the idea.




The next thing we saw was a beautiful little city nestled in to the side of a hill. Hundreds of years ago, the city was built only along the sea but an earthquake initiated a tsunami that decimated the city. After that, they moved the buildings up much higher to avoid a reoccurred, so the older buildings are found at the top of the hill, with newer building closer to the ocean.


First on our list of "must-dos" today is a stop at a famous pasty shop "Pasteis de Belem". We jumped on the bus and headed off almost immediately after getting off the ship. Opened in 1837, this shop specializes in little custard tarts. The tart shells are made of layers of flaky pasty (similar to phyllo) brushed in butter, which gives them a slightly salty taste. They are filled with a thick eggy custard, that browns on top when it bakes. The crisp, buttery, salty crust combined with the soft, rich custard filling is amazing!

The shop. The crowd out front is a line of folks waiting to get inside to order.

The product!

Successful in our quest to find the perfect custard tart, we moved on to item number two on our list: ride one of the "elevators" or funiculars. Because Lisbon is built on a steep hill, they have public modes of transportation that take people from the bottom to the top. They are part of the very efficient bus/trolley/metro system that they have here in the city, and were included in our daily-pass.

Andrew next to the elevator

The hill we rode up. The picture doesn't do justice to how steep it is. Take our word for it, though, it's a good thing it doesn't freeze here or no one would ever get up or down!

Finally, we ended our all-too-brief time in Lisbon with a trip through the central square in to the "shopping" district. Through the arch in the photo below are numerous streets that are dedicated to pedestrian traffic and are lined with shops, cafes, bars & restaurants. This area, as with similar areas in other European cities we've visited on this trip, are congested and a haven for the pick-pockets. However, if you're mindful of your belongings and don't expect to move too quickly, can be a people-watching paradise.



Day 15 - Sea day

A lazy day at sea today. These days can be long, but it's nice to have a break between ports. We were up early this morning at at the gym a little before 7 am. The captain told us yesterday that the waves are expected to increase throughout the day, reaching as high as 17 feet by evening. This morning, however, the water is relatively calm so I was able to make it through our whole 90-minutes at the gym. :)

After the gym and a shower, we had some breakfast up on the Lido deck, and then headed to one of the lounges to read. During the day, they dedicate the lounges on the ship to varied activities such as games, reading, or lectures. The one dedicated to reading is at the aft of the ship with a spectacular view of the ocean. We even spotted a pod of dolphins playing alongside the ship! Unfortunately, we didn't have our camera with us.

This evening is another formal night. Since we each only brought one formal outfit (to minimize luggage), just go back and look at the picture we took on the last formal night. We will look exactly the same tonight. Tomorrow morning we dock in Ponta Delgada in the Azores. We have a private guide booked to show us around the island, which is famous for geothermal activity such as a volcano and hot springs. That will be our last port before our 6-day crossing of the Atlantic ocean to Miami.

Day 13- Sea day

A lazy sea day today, so there is not much of great excitement to report, I’m afraid. We were able to sleep until just after 7 am, and then lounged around the cabin watching the news until 8:30. We then had a little breakfast and then spent about 90 minutes at the gym. It was pouring rain all morning, so we were happy to be inside the ship, rather than trying to get around a port!

At 11:30 am the “Port Expert” on the ship gave a 1-hour talk on the history and sights of the two Portugal ports we will hit, Lisbon and Ponta Delgada. She uses slides from her previous trips to the ports to show you landmarks, etc. We find this useful for orientating ourselves in cities that we’ve never been to. Also, I find that I have to take every opportunity to find activities to amuse yourself on sea days, or they can get quite long. Andrew could nap the day away but I have a much shorter attention span.

After the port talk, we went to the British pub for lunch. Andrew had battered shrimp and chips, I had a Scotch egg and chips drowned in malt vinegar – yum! We followed that up with nice warm peanut butter cookies from the International Café – which serves café-type foods such as pannini, soups and salads, along with pastries, 24-hours a day!

We then hung out in the cabin until 3 pm, when we had tickets to a wine tasting class. The class offered 6 premium wines from various regions in Europe and the US. We like wine, but don’t know very much about it, so it was fun to learn from the sommelier and figure out why we liked certain wines better than others. As is typical for us, I prefer red and Andrew prefers white (we tend to be opposite in our tastes), but he did like the Cabernet they offered, so we’ll count that as a success! We are signed up for another class later on in the cruise, which will feature less expensive wines. I’m looking forward to that one as I am a firm believer that I can enjoy a $10 bottle of just as much as a $50 bottle!

Us at the wine tasting

Now, we’re back in the cabin. I’m typing this blog and Andrew is out on the balcony. It’s finally sunny this afternoon, but windy as hell! We tried to walk up on the upper decks earlier and were nearly blown overboard; no small feat as we have both gained about 20 pounds on this trip, so far!

Andrew on the balcony

We’ll eat dinner late tonight, because they fed us canapés at the wine tasting so that we could also learn about food pairings. I learned that I like cheese with everything! J I would be happy to skip dinner altogether (I feel like we have been eating non-stop today), but it’s lobster night so Andrew is insistent that we go. I suspect that, by the time 8 pm rolls around, I’ll be perfectly happy to eat again!

Tomorrow we dock in Lisbon, Portugal from 12-6 pm. It’s a very short amount of time to be on shore, but the late start means that we will get to sleep in a little AND hit the gym before we go in to town. Our plan is to walk around on our own and see the sights. On our list of “must sees” are riding the funiculars (look for photos tomorrow) and finding a pastry shop that specializes in a Portuguese specialty – egg custard tarts. Again, and not surprisingly, food is near the top of my list!

Day 12 - Barcelona

It's a beautiful, sunny day in Barcelona! We docked about 8 am and were met by our tour guide at 9, as promised. Here's our means of transportation for the day...




Barcelona is a lovely city, which we're told was revitalized for the 1992 Olympics. It's famous for artists such as Picasso, and the architect Gaudi. Gaudi is known for his whimsical style, which reminds me of a Dr. Seuss story, and tile mosaics. There are several buildings here that he designed, including the cathedral that was never finished. Here are photos of some of what we saw...



View of the city...


Now we're having lunch in a cute little restaurant just near La Boqueria (the market) where we'll head next before returning to the ship.

A great day in Barcelona - can't wait to come back!

Day 11- A very soggy Cannes

It was a dark and stormy day in Cannes. We have been sleeping with our patio door open at night and, about 4:30 am, we had to get up and close it. The seas were so rough in the wind that the door was rolling open and closed on its tracks as the ship pitched from side to side. Happily, I have not yet been seasick, despite the fact that you have to walk "uphill" if you go from one side of the ship to the other. Along with the wind was a heavy rain, and temperatures in the low 50F/10C range. Not the best day we've had thus far.

Despite the weather, we decided to get off the ship as planned and try to see a little of the city. We had initially wanted to go to Nice, which is the next city over from Cannes (about 35km/20 miles away). Unfortunately, this region has been having routine transit strikes, and we were cautioned not to take public transportation out of the port city should a strike happen during the day and leave us stranded. For this reason we decided to stick to the transportation we were born with.

Cannes is a tender port, so we were up early to get in to the first group of passengers to board the tender boats at 7:30 am. Initially, we were told that the tenders were open-topped, but when we boarded we found ours to be the lifeboat-style that we are used to, which have a roof and kept us nice and dry on the 15-minute, somewhat bouncy, ride to shore. The perk of being dry during the tender was promptly negated the instant we stepped foot on the French shore. The rain turned our umbrellas inside-out within seconds, so we turned up our collars and shouldered on. We ducked out of the rain under the portico of a nearby hotel to look at the map and get our bearings. Good thing the map we had was laminated!

Within a few minutes, we had located ourselves and our first destination, and were ready to set out again. As we were folding the map, a small group of passengers from the ship approached us and asked us if we spoke English. "Oui" - I said with a big grin. Sadly, my French humor was lost on them. They asked us for directions and then spent the next 5 minutes arguing with us about the area on the map that represented the location where we were standing. Really? Why ask us if you think we more lost than you are? Finally, we suggested that they head off in the direction they thought "town" was (which was wrong), and we set off in the right direction.

Within 10 minutes we had sloshed along our per-determined path directly to the Forville Market - my "must do" for Cannes. The Forville Market is a large, covered area that houses a daily "farmer's" market. Amongst the vast tables of some of the most beautiful produce I had ever seen were also flowers, cases of cheeses, fresh and cured meats, charcuteries (terrines, pates, etc.) in lovely aged crocks, eggs, fish so fresh they were still wiggling, shellfish, vats of olives and oily tapenades, sun-dried tomatoes and cloves of garlic bathed in olive oil, anchovies, loose teas, spices, and lavender honey. It was exactly what I picture heaven must look like. I assure you all that, if I lived in Cannes, I would only leave there to run home and cook before promptly returning. Here are some photos, but they will not do the display justice for you can't touch or smell the items through the blog...

Mushrooms - a dozen or more different types!

Flowers

Teas & spices

Charcuterie (inside the crocks and also inside the pig's head)

Cured sausages


Produce


Olives, tapenades and pastes (anchovie, garlic and tomato)

After purchasing the woefully small number of items that will endure the trip back home, we left the market. I may have cried a little when we stepped out the door. Fortunately, my spirits were quickly revived for, across the street from the Market, were numerous boulangeries, or bakeries. Hooray - heaven added on a wing! Large round crusty loaves of breads, baguettes, croissant, tarts, and other pastries were a feast for they eyes. AND for the tummy as we each enjoyed a treat. A buttery, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth croissant for me (because you can't come to France and not eat croissant), and a chocolate "twist" for Andrew, which was croissant dough wrapped around dark chocolate pieces. Totally worth the hours in the gym we'll suffer later!

Us with our pastries - note the rain gear!

Completely drenched and having fulfilled our primary missions for France (namely, find the Market and eat bread), we headed a back in the direction of the ship. On the way, we passed the marina, so decided to walk along the rows of yachts. There is some serious money in this town! Private yachts with 4 or 5 levels were the norm, all of them sleek and modern with gleaming teak decks. We did see one for sale, but couldn't find anyone to make an offer on it. Guess we'll have to save that purchase for another trip.

We slogged our way back to the tender area, and were back on the ship about 20 minutes later; drenched, but pleased with our short time on shore. Since we needed a second shower anyway, we opted to hit the gym first. It was good to get in a nice long run after several days without any exercise other than walking around ports. I think I managed to burn off about 1/2 of my croissant in my almost 6-mile run!

After the gym and showers, we did a load of laundry and then grabbed a bite of lunch. We then spent the afternoon relaxing in the cabin - me, reading; Andrew, napping. While wandering around the ship, we noticed a wine bar that does sampling flights, so we went there for a drink before dinner. We tried to have dinner in the dining room (French theme tonight, appropriately). Unfortunately, by the time we finished at the wine bar we had missed the first round of seating. We waited about an hour for a table, but finally had to go up to the buffet about 7:45 pm, so that we could make the 8:30 show.

Us at the wine bar. Don't tell Andrew his eyes are closed. He doesn't look at the blog so won't ever know!

As for the show, we have basically stopped going to the performances on the cruise ships because we find they are not to our taste. The primarily consist of musical Vegas-style shows, which we don't love. Tonight, however, they had a hypnotist on board so we went and found it to be entertaining. Now it's time to hit the hay. We have another port tomorrow, Barcelona. We have scheduled a 5-hour tour with a guide on a WWII German motorcycle with side car. Stay tuned for photos!

Day 10 - Florence/Pisa

Florence today - my favorite Italian city! I love Florence because it is small and easy to get around. The people there are friendly, and it’s the perfect city to just wander. Also, it’s in Tuscany…need I say more? The weather today was less than ideal (totally overcast, rain showers off and on, and about 60F/15C), but we bundled up and still had a lovely time.

The Ruby docks in Livorno, which is about 100 km from Florence, and about 25km from Pisa. We left the ship right when we docked & cleared immigration at 7 am. It was still dark, windy and cold and, like Civitavecchia, you cannot walk out of the port due to safety and security issues. The port does provide a shuttle to the bus stop at a small cost, but it does not start running until 8 am, and we were really hoping to be on the 8 am train to Florence. Because it was still very early and not many people were getting off the ship yet, we managed to convince one of the taxis waiting to take us to the train station for €25 ($35 US). Typically, the cabs are looking to take people on tours for the whole day, so they do not want short trips for small fares. We were also lucky to happen upon 2 other couples leaving the ship early who happily agreed to share the cab with us, reducing the cost/person significantly. About 15 minutes later we arrived at the train station, bought our tickets to Florence (we managed to make the 7:45 am train!), and were on our way. The trains here are very convenient and inexpensive, although not as fast as you might expect because they do stop rather frequently. The 100 km trip to Florence took 95 minutes, and cost €13 (about $18) each for a return trip. I had a book on my iPod and Andrew enjoyed the scenery. In what seemed like no time at all, we were at Santa Maria Novella station in the center of Florence.

From the train station, it was a only a short walk to the Duomo & Baptistry. As I mentioned previously, it was raining a little and quite cold so we ducked in to a little café along the way. We did not bring umbrellas today as the forecast was for sun, 67F/18C, and no chance of rain. Someone missed the mark on that one! Oh well, it was a great excuse to get in one last cappuccino. I will really miss those little cups of caffeinated delight now that we are leaving Italy! When the worst of the shower passed, we went over to the famous Duomo and Baptistry to take a few photos.

Duomo & Baptistry

The Accademia, which houses Michaelangelo’s David, and the Uffizi Gallery, which holds many works of art by the great Italian Renaissance Artists (Raphael, Titian, Michaelangelo & Botticelli) are both closed on Mondays, along with several other museums. We knew that in advance, however, so we were prepared to see other things and will just make sure our next trip is on a Tuesday!

Our next stop was the Santa Croche Church, the burial site of Galileo and Michelangelo, among other notable Italians. Andrew was particularly interested to see Galileo’s crypt and there were some wonderful works of art in the chapel. Check out the giant doors to get inside!

Galileo's crypt

In between our planned stops we meandered down the streets, wandering in to churches we encountered along the way and looking at the amazing paintings, sculpture and architecture.

Finally, we walked up the hill to the Piazzale Michelangelo, which boasts the best view of the city. Good thing it was a nice cool day, as it was quite a climb. The view, however, was obviously worthy of the effort!

Because of the dismal weather (too cold to eat gelato) and the fact that many sites were closed today, we finished up in Florence about 1 pm. Because we still had a few hours we got back on the train toward Livorno and got off in Pisa. We weren’t planning to get off in Pisa, so we did not have a map. Never mind - after about 15 minutes and a lot of charades, we figured out which city bus to get on to find the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. It’s obviously not called that in Italian, but if you lean yourself slightly to the side any local will roll their eyes and point you in the right direction (if only to be rid of you!). We found the Torre (we learned that was the name later) easily, took the requisite photo of Andrew holding it up, before it was time to head back to Livorno.

Back on the ship about 5:30 pm, we headed almost immediately to the dining room as we were starving! Andrew had grilled tiger shrimp and I had rack of veal. Now we’re back in the cabin for the evening relaxing after a string of busy days. We’ll certainly be ready for a sea day, but we’ll have to wait for that. Tomorrow is Cannes/Nice, and Wednesday is Barcelona. After that we have a day at sea to reach Portugal.