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Mediterranean Cruise 2017 – Part 1 (March 30-April 5)


This really was a dream trip for us. It was the perfect itinerary with all places we’ve never been. Cruising isn’t for everyone but the beauty of it is that you just unpack once and you always have your own bed while moving on to the next port. We were on the Norwegian Spirit for a 11 day cruise starting in Barcelona. We met a lot of people on the various tours and it’s small enough that we ran into them on the ship. I usually prefer the bigger, newer ships but this worked well for the European ports.

Flights were a mixed bag for us. Going to Barcelona was fine with 1 stop at NY-JFK and we arrived at 7:15 AM their time (12:15 AM for us). Coming home went from being pretty good with a direct flight from Venice to Philly to very long when that flight was cancelled. We flew to London-Heathrow, had a 3 ½ hr layover, a 7 ½ hr flight to Philly, a 3 hr layover, and then home to DFW which basically was 24 hrs from start to finish. I will say that I enjoyed having personal screens to watch the movies of our choice. I watched LaLa Land, Lion, and Bridget Jones has a Baby.

Barcelona: I did my research and found a handy Airport express shuttle that had a stop very near our hotel for 8 Euros each (1 Eu = aprox $1.14). Of course we wheeled our bags in the wrong direction once we got off but soon found it. Hotel Jazz was in the perfect location and we were able to get around quite easily. We dropped our bags and decided to start walking with the map & directions they gave us. We loved the architecture there and I couldn’t stop taking pics. So cool and I finally saw some Gaudi buildings in person. We had lunch at La Flauta at the recommendation of the hotel clerk which was a tapas place. I ended up with fish and a salad which were good, as was the wine. We ended up coming back next door for dinner at Vigo Restaurant-Tapes and had chicken Paella for 2 which was wonderful (our tour guide the next day said there’s excellent seafood paella in restaurants near the port). We also walked to Sagrada Familia which was so interesting from the outside. My regret is that I didn’t do my research and book a timed entry because the lines were crazy and we passed on going inside. We had an early night and slept like a log.

I booked a ½ day excursion with Smart Cruise Tours where we were picked up from our hotel and dropped off at our ship. http://www.smartcruisetours.com/index.php/destinations

*** When I was doing research, the thing that kept popping up was about pickpockets in various areas, including Barcelona. We took some precautions like Al carrying a money belt and me using a travel purse (I rested my hand on the top zipper much of the time). The main thing to do is be aware of what’s going on around you and trying not to let someone distract you. We made it out with nary a problem but we also didn’t do public transportation other than in Crete which wasn’t a problem. I heard after we were in Rome that the Vatican, and especially the Sistine Chapel, is a hotspot for thieves. Not really a shock when they crowd you in there and everyone’s looking up.

Marseille: We decided to do a NCL excursion to the villages of Sanary and Les Castellet. There were 3 buses of us and we got a tour guide who spoke careful English but wasn’t the most interesting. I heard after that one of the other buses got a really good one. This was our worst weather of the whole trip with a little drizzle here and there and was quite cool. I cracked out the fleece vest under my trusty rain coat. Sanary was a pretty seaside village but the main thing I got out of it was a cute black leather wristlet purse to use on the ship (forgot an evening bag). We went to Les Castallet next and it was high up and had a beautiful view. It was a hilly village and the cobblestone roads seemed like they’d be slippery in the rain but surprising weren’t. Les Castellet was my favorite of the two but there are probably better choices. I thought we had a tour set up with someone on Cruise Critic but never heard back and decided to come up with something once we were on the ship.

Monaco: It was a sunny day for our NCL excursion to Eze and Monaco. Eze is actually in France but only about 9 Km from Monaco. The best view is on the road in where you can see the village sitting high up. We parked below and then walked up to what was a medieval fortified village. There are quaint old buildings and narrow cobblestone roads plus a lovely church and a great view of the coast. Lots of shops and I found a nice ring in one of them.

We drove back to Monaco and the guide talked quite a bit about Princess Grace. We walked by Princess Caroline’s house on our way to see the changing of the guard at the Palace. There was a little excitement when someone left their backpack sitting on the square. The police came and took it away – meanwhile our tour guide tried to get us as far away as possible while showing us the view. We also went to the cathedral where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier got married (& buried). Back to the ship for lunch and then we ventured out in Monte Carlo to hike up the the casino. It was very steep and hot but managed to get there. Our youngest wanted us to check out the fancy cars there so got some pics of Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Mazarati, and Bentleys in front of the casino. We went inside but decided to stay in the lobby and skipped going through security to get to the slots. Got some great pics outside across the park at least.

Pisa/Florence: We had booked another excursion with Smart Cruise Tours. We were picked up in a van that would hold 8 passengers. We headed off to Pisa first. I wasn’t sure if I cared all that much about seeing it but must admit it was pretty cool. It leaned way more than I expected and of course we had to do the pics of us “holding” it up. There are other buildings around it but not much to do unless you go up in the tower and we didn’t have time. Got the introduction to pay toilets there and also learned that it’s better to buy something and then use theirs. We went from there to Florence which was very nice. We started with the incredible view and then we all went to see “David” at the Accademia Gallery. Again, pictures don’t do it justice. We had free time to have lunch and took the guide’s recommendation to have lunch at Mama Mia’s. Our first time having pizza in Italy was very good, the wine also good, and we got our first “cover charge” for dining at a table. All in all a good day and a beautiful city.

Rome: I’m so happy I changed our excursion from Smart Cruise Tours to Italy Tours EU. http://italytours.eu/ They picked us up at the ship in 2 vans for 16 of us and it included skip the line entry & a guide at the Vatican which I highly recommend. We wouldn’t have gotten nearly as much out of it on our own and knew what we were looking at in the Sistine Chapel. I must say I didn’t like how they packed us in there but still wanted to absorb as much as I could. The Pope was there to do blessings so we weren’t able to go to St Peter’s Basilica. I wish they had switched the order so we'd have been their later. The Vatican really is beautiful and am glad we got to go.

We went from there to the Trevi Fountain and time for lunch & shop. It was crowded but impressive. I didn’t know what it looked like so was expecting a normal fountain. We found a type of cafeteria for an inexpensive lunch of pizza and drinks. It seemed to be locals there more than tourists. We had to have a gelato afterward. Yum. Then we were on to the Colosseum which was something like I’ve never been to. We had skip the line tickets which were extra but worth it. We listened to Rick Steve’s audio tape from his app there which helped us a lot with the history. We weren’t able to access the underground part unfortunately. I think you need a tour for that. Another time, I hope. Our driver was great and took us to see more places and get some great photos. I thought they did a great job and a special kudos to our guide at the Vatican, Paolo.

I’m going to stop now and will continue in the next post. I’m trying to get this written before I forget things. The photos for this half are in two albums: https://goo.gl/photos/WLfXgBkcYF76umbu7


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