September 4, 2012 - Monaco & the Cote D'Azur

Third time is a charm again!  The last 2 times we’d been to this part of the world we had miserable weather.  Last October we had rains of biblical proportions and winds to match.  Not so today!

We docked at Monte Carlo this morning with a spectacular view of the Casino to our starboard side. The ship was cleared quickly and we were off shortly thereafter.  

View of the Opera House and Casino of Monte Carlo from our balcony

With our fellow cruisers we linked up with our guide, Sylvie DiCristo, and  were on our way to St. Paul de Vence.  St. Paul is a medieval walled city dating back to the 13^th century.  The city and walls are largely intact .  In the early 20^th century it became a favorite place for artists.  One of them, Marc Chagall, lived there for many years and is buried in the cemetery.  The cobbled streets are lined with art galleries and stores selling interesting jewelry, olive oils and perfumes from the local area.   We wandered for awhile and then had a Salade Nicoise and some very nice Rose wine from the area at a restaurant with a terrace overlooking the surrounding countryside.  Before we left we stopped and bought a painting done by an artist  from whom we’d bought a painting the first time we went to St. Paul.  It’s being shipped home and may get there before we do.

A lovely square off the main street in St. Paul de Vence

Our next stop was Les Hauts de Cagnes,  another medieval town perched atop a hill closer to the sea.  This was the site of a castle belonging to the Grimaldi family (the current rulers of Monaco).  It was built in about 1306 as a defense against the Grimaldis’ western enemies.  The houses inside the walls were originally built for the Prince’s soldiers.  Today many foreign retirees have come to live in the old houses because the climate is good and there are not many tourists.  The oldest house has a plaque indicating it was built in 1315.  Unfortunately the museum in the castle was closed today so after having a nice walk through the town we headed to our next stop, Eze.

The oldest house in Les Hauts de Cagnes - 1315

Another medieval city  atop a hill overlooking the sea, Eze was built of the native stone and so, for marauders coming from the sea, it was difficult to see.  There are only 31 residents in the town which has twisting, steep streets (no cars here!).  There are two  hotels in the little village which are ranked among the best in the world.  Al found a new walking stick made of olive wood for his collection.  There are many olive trees in the area.  In fact some families who have olive trees on their property take their olives to a coop press to get olive oil for their personal use.  The stick will come in handy on some of our upcoming tours as we travel through ruins in Athens and Ephesus.

A View of Eze and the Cap Ferrat from the Moyenne Corniche

After a nice visit in Eze, we headed back to Monte Carlo on the Moyenne Corniche ( Middle coast road) .  Along the way we passed through the town of La Turbie where there is a spectacular restored Roman monument commemorating Rome’s conquest of the area.  Sylvie  also had a couple of marvelous viewpoints where we stopped to take photos.  From the first we were able to see Eze and a place called Cap Ferrat, which has some of the most expensive real estate in Europe.  From the other we looked down on Monte Carlo, all one square mile of it, with views of the Old City, the harbor and the Casino.

The Roman monument commemorating Rome's conquest and greatness. It once stood 150 high with 24 columns and topped with a staue of Octavius Augustus Caesar

Us on the Moyenne Corniche overlooking the sea

The weather held out with only a couple of sprinkles.  Now we’re headed across the Ligurian Sea at a very slow pace for our next port of call, Livorno.

September 3 - Hasta la vista Barcelona!

Another beautiful day in Barcelona. After another great breakfast we took a little walk to get some stamps for postcards and a couple of other things.  Our car and driver picked us up around 1:30 and we were off to the port.  There were only three cruise ships in today, the Queen Elizabeth, the Costa Deliziosa and us.  I must say the Queen is a very beautiful ship.  She left first, followed by the Costa ship and finally the Ruby.

The Queen Elizabeth (left) sailing away alongsige the Costa Deliziosa

The Costa ship had something we’d never seen on a ship before. Held in place on her foredeck near the bow were four massive propeller blades.  We wondered if they were from the Concordia and were being moved someplace.  Who knows. 

Propeller Blades on the Costa ship's bow

A closer view of one of these massive blades

Our cabin feels like home; we’ve been  in the same one so many times.  Captain Yeomans is in charge and Guenther is the Food and Beverage Director.  Aside from that the lead staff are new to us.  We miss Marius in Sabatinis and , of, course, Godwin and Generoso aren’t here.

Embarkation was quick and painless and our luggage came at once.  We sailed away at 7 PM and had a lovely sunset.  After we left Barcelona we met two couples we’ll be touring with tomorrow from Monte Carlo.  They seem like delightful people.  Now it’s late and the seas are calm with just enough vibration to rock us to sleep.

So until tomorrow, bon soir!

September 1 and 2 - Barcelona

After a great flight (just an hour and 35 minutes – we had a huge tail wind) we arrived in Barcelona.   Our driver was waiting for us and whisked us to our hotel, the Hotel 1898. It’s a wonderful place right on La Rambla, the main street, yet very quiet.  After checking in we set out on a walk. La Rambla was packed with people taking an afternoon stroll.  Surprisingly, we saw not a single street mime, nor did we today. We stopped at La Boqueria Market, of course, to take in the sights, sounds and smells. This was the first time we’ve been there at the end of summer, and, if anything, there seemed to be more produce than we’ve seen in the past.

After a nice walk we went back to the hotel which has a great rooftop terrace with pool. We had been sent a bottle of champagne by the hotel so we took it up to the terrace with us and they served it with strawberries. What a nice way to start our visit here and our cruise on Monday!

Champagne and strawberries on the terrace

We decided to have dinner at the tapas restaurant we like in the Gothic Quarter. It was packed and we found we didn’t enjoy it as much as we had the previous times we’d been there.  It was very rushed.  Added to that we were missing our cruise buds ( Gail & Tom and Cyndi & Ed).

La Rambla at 9 PM

Sunday we awoke to another gorgeous day.  After a delicious breakfast at the hotel buffet (we think the best we’ve ever seen), we set out to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral.  When we were in Barcelona two years ago, the Pope was here consecrating the place so now it’s a basilica not a church, despite the fact that it’s still under construction.

Our walk took us through the Placa de Catalunya and up the Passeig de Gracia. Along the way we passed  some of Gaudi’s houses and his apartment building.  They are always so interesting to see with their fantastical features.  Barcelona is a  such a lovely city to walk through. Many of the streets are tree-lined and many of the buildings have interesting ironwork balconies and intricate doorways.

Gaudi's Casa Batilo or House of Bones

The Sagrada Familia was mobbed. The line for tickets wrapped around the building.  We decided to pass, but we know now that next time we can get tickets online to avoid the crowd.  We could see that work has progressed in the last couple of years. It’s been under construction since 1882 and perhaps one day it will be completed.

Sagrada Familia Basilica

After stopping for a drink at a café and seeing a standard schnauzer who looked a lot like our Emma, we decided to head back to La Rambla.  Along the way we stopped for lunch at an outdoor restaurant. Watching the passing people was our entertainment as we ate.  We’re always amazed at the footwear.  We saw everything from 4 inch heels to flipflops.  As for hair color, we saw lavendar, green, blue and hot pink.  What more can you ask for?

We decided we hadn’t walked enough once we got back to the hotel so we did one more foray, this time to the lower end of La Rambla, the Columbus Column and then back.  A little over 8 miles today!  I think we’ll need some new trainers when we get home.

We finished our day with a couple of drinks at the rooftop terrace and a nice dinner.  Tomorrow the cruise begins.

August 31 - A Picture Postcard Day!

This morning we awoke to a glorious fall-like day.  The sun was shining brightly and the temperature was close to 70 °.  After breakfast we headed  out to see some more of London.  Our hotel is actually at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 (we don’t even have to go outside to get to and from the flights or to the underground).  It’s a lovely place and so quiet that you can’t hear the planes at all.

Our first stop today was the British Museum.  What a wonderful place it is!  We spent most of our time in the Egyptian, Assyrian and Greek galleries.  Some of the artifacts on display are as old as 5000 years and yet the carvings and workmanship are so exquisite.  Seeing the Rosetta Stone is a highlight, but unfortunately the photos didn’t turn out because of the glare from its case.  We spent a lot of time looking at the Elgin marbles that came from the Parthenon.  We’ll see that building when we go to Athens in 2 weeks.  Hopefully we’ll be able to visualize the things we saw today in their original location.

Marble Horse from the Parthenon

After visiting a few other galleries and a special exhibit it was time to move on.  We decided to try walking from the museum to Westminster Abbey (third times a charm!).  Along the way we found a pub for a pub lunch and, of course, a pint of beer.  The lovely weather had brought everyone outside and the streets  and restaurants we passed were full.

Our visit to a pub

As I said, third times a charm.  We got to the Abbey and were just in time to join a tour conducted by one of the Dean’s Vergers.  He was a wonderful guide who  gave us so much information about the history of both the Abbey and Britain. While I had been there before, I  didn’t until today have an appreciation of all there was to see.  In addition to  historic events, our guide was able to tell us about some more modern occurrences such as  William and Kate’s wedding last year.  Our guide was the clergyman who escorted Prince William and Prince Harry out from the side chapel where they were waiting to the main altar for the ceremony.  I shall have to find a video of the ceremony and see if I recognize him.

By the time we finished our tour, it was close to 5 PM so we decided to call it a day  We’ll be back for a couple of nights on our way home, so we’ll try to see some of what we missed this time around.  We decided that London is a place we could spend days in and just scratch the surface.  It has made it to our list of favorite cities.

And today we walked nearly 8 miles again.  Good thing we're flying tomorrow.  Our feet need a break!

August 29 to August 30 - First Stop London

We’ve just begun this year’s vacation and we’re behind already!  The change in time caught up with us and we just couldn’t post anything our first night in London.

Our flight from Dulles was uneventful and short (only 6 and a half hours).  Our captain was very entertaining as he made the little talk pilots give before you push away from the gate.  He told us we were embarking on this miracle of flight and waxed very poetic.  He concluded his remarks by saying “And now, let us away from Washington!”  Quite different from the usual “sit back and enjoy the flight, folks.”

Our hotel room was ready when we arrived and after getting cleaned up and taking a little nap, we were off for our trip on the underground to downtown London.  It was chilly, windy and looked like it would rain at any moment, but we set out nonetheless to Westminster Abbey.  Along the way we passed some kind of Paralympic event in Trafalgar Square.  On the opposite side of the street were demonstrators for an unknown cause.  Each time we’ve been to London there have been demonstrators of some kind.  It’s all very interesting to see.

Big Ben and the stormy sky

Last year when we were here it was a Sunday and Westminster Abbey was closed.  Well, today we got there at 3:45 and the last admissions were at 3:30. Missed it again!  At that point it was looking very threatening and we were very tired, so we walked along the Thames Embankment part of the way back to our train station.  Despite the weather there were lots of tourists strolling and boats cruising the river.  Just before we reached the station, the rain began.  Fortunately we didn’t have far to go because the umbrellas were back at the hotel. 

The London Eye just before the rain came

We ‘ll try to see more tomorrow.  For tonight,  we’re bushed.  Al has a pedometer in his pocket and since arriving at Dulles we walked  7.63 miles!

November 7 - Home, Lemons and Lemonade

We had an uneventful trip home. The flights were on time and our wonderful neighbor picked us up at the airport. Today I went across the street and collected our mail from our other great neighbors, Sandra and Don, who take care of things when we’re gone. How wonderful to have such great folks to rely on!

Now for a summary of our cruise. We have been on many voyages and each has been great. I think a large part of the trip has to do with the expectations you have before you go. We always expect to have a wonderful time and always have had one. I’ve read comments from some of our fellow passengers and their experience was different. On this Ruby Princess cruise we encountered nothing but crew members who were cheerful, hard-working and eager to help. The food was better than what we remembered from the last cruise or two. The weather was mostly cooperative. We don’t mind days on the ship when we feel some motion. I guess we are fortunate that we don’t suffer from motion sickness. We have actually been on some cruises where we were disappointed because we felt as though we were in a hotel on land not a ship. On this cruise there were bouncy days which we enjoyed.

We don’t go to many shows or activities but from the daily patter there appeared to be many things to fill one’s time. The ports that we visited were incredible. In each place there are many new things to visit even if you’ve been there before. Sadly, Princess has dropped Lisbon from the transatlantic next year. That’s a shame because it is a wonderful city.

One of the best parts of this cruise were our fellow cruisers. We had a lot of friends who were also sailing and the time we spent with them is, as they say, priceless! I find the friendships that we’ve made cruising to be one of the most wonderful things about the whole experience. On this trip we sailed with people we first met in 2005 and it’s like sailing with family.

Cruising is great!

November 5 - The last sea and Cruise Day

Well, this is it – the last day! The wind has kicked up again and we have some chop again. We go for our last breakfast in Sabatinis. I shall miss the mimosas and the apple turnovers. After breakfast we met our trivia team and played the final morning game. We won!! It’s funny, but the last time we did this cruise we played together and we won the last morning as well. Prizes were a fridge magnet and a lanyard! It’s not the prizes that count. It’s the fun of winning plus the companionship with Bill and Irene and Bob and Flora.

After trivia we did a packing marathon. It’s easier to pack for the trip home but we acquired a few things along the way so we have an additional bag. We were in a hurry to finish because we had invited the Gang of Eight for a leftovers party. We had all accumulated wine, cheese, crackers and cookies and other goodies which needed to be consumed. We managed to do a good job with what was left! When you have good friends and a great ambience, every wine tastes great!

Tonight we went for our last dinner at Sabatinis again. We love the venue and decided it was the place to be. There has been discussion on the Cruise Boards about the new menu at the restaurant. We love it. Add to that the fact that we have had special things prepared for us and we are happy campers!

This has been a lovely cruise. The weather has been mainly cooperative except for our day in Cannes. The service has been exceptional. The food has been good and the company has been outstanding. But now we’re ready to be home.