LooneyCruzer

First day in Rome. The ship departure was a circus. Internet service was spotty out by the taxis. We had a nice ride into the city and I am really impressed with Hotel Navona. They are very friendly and had everything ready for us. Fed us breakfast while our room was being cleaned, then we went exploring around. It was super crowded everywhere you went. I cannot imagine trying to see Rome in the busy season. Lines for restaurants were very long way into the dinner hours. We went back to our hotel room and got unpacked. I splurged for a suite, which is huge compared to most hotel rooms here. We have a full size jacuzzi tub in the room. The bathroom is huge also. My firestick plugged right into the tv and worked great, as there were no english channels to watch. We went out for a small lunch which was ok. Such different interpretations of foccocia. There were crazy long lines for all the sights, so we just took pictures of things. For dinner we went to In Rome Cooking school and learned how to make pizza and gelato. It was really fun and i learned a few new things. The pizza was great and the gelato was so easy to make. Cannot wait to get home and try making different flavors. We were exhausted after the day in Cinque Terre and more walking on the cobblestone street. I would not want to drag my luggage over them very far, and lots of females were walking in high heels. ??? My wife was flabbergasted. So wear good shoes for such uneven and broken up streets. Returning to the hotel for a long soak in the tub and we slept great. Day 2, I got up at 7 to hit the laundromat for clean clothes. Most of them are a service, you leave them and return to pick them up, kinda pricy. I found a self service laundry and its really clean and easy with all new machines that are automated. Off to breakfast now and a day of exploring.

It was free to walk to the train station and 64 bucks (34 x2) for the all day train tickets pass for the 5 Cinque Terre cities, which includes the free bathroom privileges ( which paid for themselves) vs the individual train tickets. The ferry boat timetable just did not work for us and once we were at Monterosso, we were too tired and worn out to walk all the way across again to the ferry.

What a great day in La Spezia. It started with a cool fog stuck on the edge of the mountains. We walked to the train also, Sat, 7:30 am, 55 degrees, just wonderful. No one was out and we saw walls of hanging rosemary, just fascinating. The train to Cinque Terre was almost empty, hit Riomaggiore first, quaint town. Fun to walk on the edge of the cliff trails into town. Ate fresh croissants and pastries for breakfast and explored a bit. Easy on and off the trains to Vernazza. Wonderful views and tons of pictures. Train to Monterosso, lots of walking and choices to eat as the town was waking up. We had prosciutto and melon, fresh ravioli with carbonara sauce and gelato. Really could have used a nap. I can see the reason to go now as it was very crowded and can only imagine what it is like in the summer when the beaches are packed. Train back to La Spezia and walked to the Castello San Giorgio. Filled with old roman artifacts that were incredibly interesting. It was a really cool day with lots of steps, we hit 16,000+ today and so many were stair steps.

2 different sunset views last night

Moon over Malaga

Cartegena was a wonderful stop. Very clean and lots to see. We did our own self guided tour just looking on the internet. The suggested lunch was excellent. Restaurante Techos Bajos. It was seafood but wow it was good, and we eat alot of seafood! Seafood croquettes and garlic shrimp was very yummy. Fresh french bread to sop it all up. Just perfect for a quick lunch. While we were eating they delivered all the days fresh seafood, fish, octopus, all on ice right off the local boats. We saw all these sights and ended up walking down Calle Mayer to the city square where an armed forces military event was taking place. Dress review, unit bands and music and singing with 4 real cannons being fired off. Quite impressive, and loud cannon shots!!! Too many pictures to post. We hit 12,000 steps, alot of those steps were literally stairs 🙂 Museo Del Teatro Romano (Roman Theater Museum of Cartagena) Roman Theatre Columnata Romana (Roman Colonnade) Museo Foro Romano Molinete (Roman Forum Molinete Museum) Augusteum Casa de la Fortuna (House of Fortune) Punic wall of Cartagena City Hall Catedral de Santa Maria La Mayor (Cathedral of Saint Mary the Great) Castillo de la Concepción (Castle of the Conception) National Museum of Subaquatic Archaeology IMG_2325.mov

Malaga is such a lush and beautiful place. Our trip to the cooking class was about 45 minutes up the mountains, past Colmenar, a quaint town nestled in the valleys, with very friendly people. And Toro, the local mascot. A bit more up the mountains, which are all classified as Preserve areas, meaning you must be a farmer or producer to live there. They get most everything from locals except staples from the grocery store. Lush olive tree fields, cactus (grown just for the fruit), wine vineyards, almond trees, goats roaming free, just amazing. La Rosilla is in Solano, where we were met and driven out to the house and were greeted warmly with conversation about us and daily life for them, wine, and incredible snacks, which tasted like a refined fig newton. We toured the area where they grew almond and olive trees on the hillsides and left with olive oil they produce themselves. Just an amazing fresh taste and feel, nothing like any store bought oils I have ever had. Into the kitchen for cooking… starting with almonds toasted in olive oil and fresh rosemary, OMG, so simple but you couldn’t stop eating them. They grow all their own herbs and vegetables on the patio, with lemon and orange trees to grab fresh picked fruit. Next was prep for the Paella, onions, beans, asparagus from the backyard, peppers, lemons and 2 kinds of fresh mushrooms, with chicken and locally made chorizo. Then out to the patio to the burners and paella pans, learning cool techniques and tips for the best results. Layering the ingredients with such a heavenly smell, sigh. While that cooked, we had fresh out of oven olive loaf bread with tapas of local pork loin, sausage, with quince jelly and cheeses. Then onto the main course, the paella, which traditionally is only eaten in the noon meal, too heavy for the later evening meal. Such a rich flavor, nothing like I ever got when I tried to make it. We ended with an almond/orange slice of pie with lemon gelato, it was eaten so fast we forgot to get a picture. We were just stuffed and returned to the ship very satisfied. I would highly recommend this fun adventure for anyone wanting something different. http://www.larosilla.com/

Yes you can use Starbucks gift cards but only at the main location on deck 4

Another wonderful sea day. Search for a chair, eat, drink, watch people search for chairs, drink, eat, get ready for dinner, eat, drink, search for chairs in the royal theater or 270, drink, watch performers, crash for the night.

We go thru about 1am so not much to see of the Gibraltar rocks.

@Scottee25 organized the custom tour, they did a great job of getting us around the island to see most of the good viewing spots plus our scheduled stops. https://azoresdreamtours.com We have been to the lakes before so chose to do something different. If you can get a private tour and have good weather, they are spectacular, especially if you can beat the tour busses and get there first. We have also been to Malaga before and hit most of the hot spots. This time we are doing a private cooking class with a local catering company up in the mountainsides overlooking beautiful scenery and learning how to make paella and other Spanish dishes. https://larosilla-catering.com/

Great day in the Azores. Thermal baths, the local lunch at Tony’s, then pineapple plantation with goodies, pineapple vodka, beer, sorbet, tart, and got a bottle of liquor.

Just take a screenshot of drinks on this thread and show it to the bartender. I have done it for several different ones

Lol, so cruise bloat has set in 😉 We like being diamond and having 4 free drinks. No rush to get 6-7 drinks to break even, and no specialty lunches, too much food with dinner again a few hours later.