To sum things up, it was a whirlwind, exhausting, sight-filled trip. I wrote a bit each day in a travel journal and here are some excerpts and general thoughts on the day:
22 April
~ Waiting at SeaTac gate for adventure to begin! It seems Eyjafjallajokull has stopped erupting long enough or bad enough to keep planes on the ground. Should be a nice and uneventful hop across the pond!
~ Bejeweled on the pland & Top Gear - Sweet! I remember the trips being worse. Didn't really seem to bad. Let's hope this continues with age.
23 April
~ Forgot about my money belt and set off the security scanner in Amsterdam airport. My frisk search was extremely thorough. Was a bit shocked, but I guess since the underwear bomber came through Amsterdam they are a bit careful in that area. (Nothing too terrible, but was more of a squeegee down than a pat down.)
~ Arrived in Barcelona! Today is St. Jordi Day, a day for lovers. Guys are supposed to give their ladies a flower and the ladies are supposed to give their guys a book. Crazy amount of people in the streets. Tapas and sangria for dinner. Mmm! Kelly's first time to boot:
Gaudi architecture - amazing:
Purchased my Spanish souvenir, a lightweight pink and mauve scarf.
24 April
Slept in and then started the day off with bellinis:
You may also notice my favorite Spanish treat, magdalenas, accompanied by multi-vitamins and a banana. Breakfast of champions! Terrace of our fabulous room at the Praktik - highly recommended if you can get one of these rooms.
Next off to Gaudi park to see all the big sculptures including the wavy bench I've been wanting to go to since I learned about it studying abroad in 2000. You can see the Sagrada Familia (perpetually under construction) in the background:
Paella for dinner and then off to the fountain show at the Fira. With twilight coming on and colors for the fountain changing it was really neat.
25 April
~ Went to La Rambla / Las Ramblas and didn't get pick-pocketed! And found our first Spanish cache in a telephone booth. Lots of pet bunnies and birds for sale for some reason along the pedestrian walkway. A few hours of wandering the gothic neighborhood of the city and then off to the cruise ship! It is large, to be sure, but I had expected more the way everyone talks them up. There is definitely a little bit of everything but think it is the issue of the quality goes down proportionately as the number of guests increase. Still, a nice way to have someone drive you to another town while you sleep.
26 April
Hello Monaco. I can see why Grace Kelly was swept away. Beautiful! Money from casinos really help with city beautification. Walked into town from port and enjoyed the Jardins St. Martin. Like the arboretum back in Seattle but with a tropical theme. Walked all over town taking pictures of the gorgeous, ornate buildings, posh cars and general splendor. Found one cache and Kelly managed to win a few Euro at the slots inside the Monte Carlo Casino. Cameras had to be checked so no pics inside.
Walked to France. :)
Monte Carlo Grand Prix being set up so there were bleachers everywhere. Kinda weird to see the city streets turned into a race track. Ate DIVINE dark chocolate gelato here.
27 April
Port at Levorno so from port shuttle to city bus to train to Pisa and Florence. Few!
Craziness.
Never knew Erika went to Pisa, much less broke Luca's heart by marrying Rick!
Lines were crazy long (and our time short) so we were not able to see Michelangelo's David. But here is a pic of the sign of where he lives:
and the duomo was pretty impressive:
peek-a-boo!
It's too ginormous to fit into one picture (at least for my camera) so you'd be better off google-ing it.
Bought my Italian souvenir here, a leather coin purse like the one in the link. Originally saw them in Germany ten years ago and fell in love with their utility and craftsmanship. Paid a little too much for it but I love it anyway and I did attempt to haggle. So I consider it a success.
Crazy thunder storm on the train back to the boat. Train stopped for at least half an hour and I'm still not sure why it was necessary. Reminded me of a scene in a HP movie, actually. I was half expecting a dementor to show up.
28 April
Rome. Egads, there is stuff everywhere. Sistine Chapel first and foremost. Amazing. So much cool stuff. Then we circumnavigated Vatican City and found two caches in the walls. Saw the Pope in St. Peter's square. Trevi Fountain (tossed a coin as directed, to ensure a return trip to Rome), Spanish Steps, Colosseum, Circo Massimo.
Pantheon. Wow.
Outside, big but blech.
Inside - yowza!
29 April
Naples. Ugly, sad city. Don't bother visiting unless you are using it as a through point between other cities. Got lost in train station. Took two wrong trains. FINALLY made it to Pompeii. Sweet. Uber hot and we should have opted for the tour. Got some good pics despite ourselves.
Fruits stands sell fresh squeezed juice. Thought a lemonade would be nice on a hot day but it was room temp, unsweetened lemon juice. Pucker, pucker. Should have gone for the orange. Ah well. Next time.
Creepy plaster cast of dead person. Felt really intrusive and odd to take pics even though it is just a mold.
Reminds me too much of Rainier...
30 April
A sea day, thank goodness. Totally exhausted from all the running around. It was nice to have a day off. We saw a show, one a trivia competition, watched a comedy spin-off of the Newlywed Game with cruise guests. Slept. Ate. Chocoholic Buffet in the main dining area. A good day.
01 May
Palma, Mallorca. Holiday so everything was closed. Good thing Groundspeak was celebrating geocaching's 10th birthday! Went to the event and was able to meet some fellow international cachers and take some bugs and coins home with us. One Mallorcan cacher had turned his vehicle into its own cache!
I asked him why his van was so girly and he said the word for this type of vehicle has a feminine article ("la" as opposed to "el") so it could and should be girly with no affect on him what-so-ever. Great sense of humor!
02 May
Very frustrating day. Glad to make it to the hotel in Paris (eventually) and get the last leg of our journey on the right foot. Problems at every step along the way from Barcelona to the steps of the hotel room door. Gah! Uninformative cruise ship employees leading to expensive taxi, creepy potential pick-pocket man, horrible airline ticketing agents, trapped inside a train station AND the metro, evil Parisian metro worker faking not understanding us, and I am incapable of passing through any doorway in Paris requiring a passkey. AAAAAAAH!
Our new neighborhood is right next door to the Moulin Rouge and various Amelie shoot locations. Sacre-Coeur is so very beautiful.
Ate at General Lafeyette and was very pleasantly surprised by the house wine. Better by far than 90% of expensive reds I've tried in the states. It's just not fair I tell you! So cheap and so delicious. The entrée (which, after I thought about it not so surprising, the appetizer and not the main course) was amazing. Really. My meal: 31Euro got me an amazing apertif, asparagus rissoto wrapped in prosciutto with gorgonzola cream sauce, veal in a gravy with rice pilaf, crème brûlée, the amazing house red wine and several demi-baguettes. I was bloated and oh so happy. Took a constitutional to see the Arc de Triomphe at night and the Tour Eiffel. At midnight the Eiffel Tower lit up with twinkle lights as opposed to it's regular, steady glow. Awesome.
03 May
Despite being late to bed it was early to rise for the Louvre. Able to get as close as possible to the Mona Lisa but that ended up being pretty far away, behind bullet proof glass, thirty feet and a velvet rope.
So many wonderful things to look at. Will have to go back and spend at least a week visiting the Louvre and other museums. Multiple days required for sure!
Notre Dame was next and after running around the city we put on our glad rags and headed out for our expensive night out at the Moulin Rouge.
It was over the top but quite a fun experience. Not just dancing girls and their high kicks and bare chests, but a magician, clowns, acrobats, ventriloquist, dancing girl swimming with snakes, miniature horses running around and lots of lip-syncing to the show tunes. Wow. A lot to adsorb. Food was pretty good too and the half bottle of champagne, each, made all the lights and sounds that much more interesting.
04 May
Woke up with a mission: find fabulous cheese, meat and a baguette for lunch. Took a bit longer than I anticipated (wanted quality for sure over easy tourist food) but I did it.
Kelly's lunch on top; I didn't eat everything you see. ;) And it was so divine. Was in heaven for quite a while. Only thing missing was that house wine from the General Lafeyette.
Musée d'Orsay allowed me to see one of my most favorite paintings by Renoir - Dance at the Moulin de la Galette. Some jerk made the actual location private for residents so this was the only pic I could grab:
but I did get to stare at the painting for a good long while and dream myself into it.
As an aside, I wrote in my journal, "Does everything taste better in Paris?". I think it does. Rhubarb tart, croissant, crème brûlée, baguette, all food.
Checked my Hungry in Paris book for a dinner suggestion and was not disappointed. If you are ever there go to Le Mesturet.
I had (in French cuz it sounds better but I will miss some of the special characters):
Le entrée: Aubergine grillée a la tomate et au chevre frais de la fromagerie Lethielleux
Le plat de Grand-mere: Pot au feu aux trois viandes, os a moelle et légumes, fleur de sel
Le Dessert: Gateau mi-cuit au chocolat, coulis de cacao et glace cardamome
Took a stroll down the Champs-Élysées and actually went in to Louis Vuitton. I couldn't afford the dust in that store, if it even has dust. Crazy!
So many fabulous things in Paris I don't know if I could ever be done. Definitely going back.
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