Ted. After two wonderful months in Málaga, Judy and I flew out on the morning of October 25 to begin our long journey home.
Our first stop was Barcelona where we spent the night, catching a flight to Rome the next morning. It’s a two hour journey from Rome airport to the seaport of Civitavecchia. We enjoyed a charming little hotel there and briefly explored the town before boarding Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas for our cruise back to Ft Lauderdale.
This was going to be a 15 night journey with lots of stops at the beginning.
 |
| Checking out the balcony on a breezy arrival |
Our first port of call was La Spezia, Italy, known primarily for its proximity to Pisa, Florence and the Cinque Terre. Being pretty well pooped, we just wandered the town itself. Judy shared on Facebook that we would visit Nice, France the next day. In one of those joyous coincidences we so often encounter, our Swedish friend Mikaela announced that she just happened to be in Nice.
The next morning, the three of us met up on the pier in the lovely village of Villefranche-Sur-Mer (our ship being too large for the port in Nice). After a quick stroll through the charming town, we hopped on a local train to nearby Monaco and had a wonderful day exploring this tiny country.
 |
| Villefranche-Sur-Mer |
 |
| Port of Monaco |
 |
| Palace |
 |
| Judy and Mikaela |
The next day we stopped in Palma on the Spanish island of Mallorca. As we had just spent four days there last year and were still recharging our batteries, we didn’t feel the need to even leave the ship.
Day 5 was spent in the town of Valencia, Spain. We did enjoy a brief walkabout and were most impressed by the beauty of La Lonja de Seda, the Silk Exchange.
 |
| Valencia Cathedral |
 |
| Central Market |
 |
| Hall of Columns in La Lonja |
After this non-stop action, we finally got two sea days which are frankly, our favorite times. There’s nothing to do but sip wine on our balcony, eat great food, take long walks, visit the gym, listen to live music and drift asleep to the gentle rocking of the ship.
And look forward to the second week of our voyage…
 |
| Gibraltar |
No comments:
Post a Comment