What an exciting but exhausting trip! We are glad to have a sea day. We started in Rome at the Parco de Principi hotel which was very nice. It was a bit out of the center of activity but didn’t really make any difference for what we were doing. We went on a private tour with Francesca who spoke excellent English. We told her to take us to the places she thought were the best and by the end of the day, we were so happy we had our original trip rerouted and ended up in Rome instead of Barcelona. Rome is historical and we wished we had more time. Of particular interest was a door with a key hole that we could look in. We were in Rome, looking though the Knights of Malta independent state which was very green with foliage to the end which was the Basilica at the Vatican, also a separate state. This little keyhole was such a surprise. Still the ruins were very interesting. Francesca had a book which showed how the area had looked (supposedly) and then you could pull off the transparent page and see how it looked now. For visual learners, this made such an impression as it was clear what we were looking at.

The next day Tim (Ajax) and Penny showed up and we had Francesca take us to the Vatican. She gave us a clear advantage as we got to bypass the lines. She explained things and we didn’t need to read anything so we moved right along. Even though the Vatican is a sight to see, it didn’t seem to be better than the day before which was educational, exciting and interesting.

Don’t worry about the driving in Rome as long as you are not the driver. They don’t seem to have any rules or at least rules we could understand. Cars are everywhere. Yet, we didn’t see wrecks. Everyone seems to be a very defensive driver.

We then hit the ship and headed to Monaco. We went to Eze, France which is a small town on the mountain. Living there will keep you in good shape as people have to walk quite a ways to get to the houses – all up steps. The concerning thing is that the brochures clearly point out which trips have extensive walking and could be difficult. Yet, people with compromised walking are on the trips. It is so difficult for them. We have seen that this whole cruise. It seems like there should be better oversight. When people have canes or can barely walk up the bus steps, how can they walk up the 500 or so steps on a mountain?

All we have is good things to say about Monaco and Barcelona. Valencia was such a good stop as we didn’t really know much about it. They have a science and art center with an opera house, aquarium (blue watery style building), I-Max (that looks like an eye – sort of if you have an imagination), and others. Although the economy is troubled, building of churches and arts seems to continue. We stopped at a giant market which had products we had never seen. We went to the Museum of Fallas. It took us a few minutes to catch on as everything was in Spanish. Each year neighborshoods make huge (several stories high) plastic statues – more like Macy’s floats. There is a big contest and over a million people visit the area. Once there is a winner, the statues / floats are all burned except for one very small character which is put in the museum. Our tour was shocked at the toxic fumes that would be put off by the fires but the tour guide just ignored the comments. We couldn’t take pictures so we can’t show the incredible display which was quite intriguing. I don’t think we would have ever gone to this museum on our own so am glad they added it to the tour. It was easy to see and very quick.

Malaga was a surprise and again way more than we expected. There is old town like Barcelona has and suddenly we walked onto Main Street which had marble streets and decorations and upscale stores. It was like an indoor mall but was outdoors. Their unemployment is 30% which is 10% higher than the average in Spain yet it didn’t feel that way.

Spain is so clean and people are so nice. We would have no problem coming back.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. The Mariner Thanksgiving Day Parade just started the day off with a smile. I think Ken is going to post some pictures. It was so funny and festive. For dinner, we had a very good traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner. Then we were disappointed that we would pass the Rock of Gibraltar around 10:30pm and so we figured we wouldn’t be able to see it. However, we checked it out with a small crowd in the Observation Lounge and there is was! It was so close and easy to see. Once we figured that out, we went to our balcony where there was less light and a better view and sat there for at least an hour. So – overall Thanksgiving Day was a day to be thankful for and so is this wonderful trip.
Jim and Jan