Exit Thru Barcelona

Our ship The Wind Surf had pulled into Barcelona early in the morning while we slept.  We had one last breakfast outside on deck in the sun and and by 8:45am we had disembarked and were headed to the Hotel Majestic via taxi. After a lovely 8 days our cruise was over.

It had been ten years since I had been in Barcelona, and it was Matt & Jen's first time. I couldn't recommend this hotel more for its location (practically across from the Gaudi house), service, and just the touch of swank that you need after being on the road (and/or sea) for 10 days.

It was a gorgeous day so we dropped our luggage and headed out to explore. We strolled down the Ramblas and had chocolate and churros at Cafe Opera (where they weren't as good as they had been in the past) and then walked to the Basilica de Santa Maria del Pi- which means Saint Mary of the Pine Trees- and on to Barcelona Cathedral.

Near by is the Mercado de Santa Caterina which is easily spotted by its colorful and wavey roof. We had a fairly good tapas lunch at Cuines Santa Caterina outside, in front of the market. Nothing better than eating and drinking al fresco!

The highlight of my stay in Barcelona this time was our afternoon spent in Park Güell (the last time my highlight was climbing up the Sacrada Familia). We made our way up the steep hill via escalators and stairs and entered one of the free areas of the park. The views are absolutely outstanding and I would have been more than happy to have packed a picnic and just have spent the day gazing at the city and the Mediterranean (we could even see our ship still in port).

But we had come to see the works of Gaudi so we followed along the windy paths, enjoying some really cool sculpture and more views, until we got to the main ticketed zone. This is where we found out that we needed to a buy ticket- no big deal- but that they were timed tickets and we would have about an hour and a half wait before we could enter. Not the worst thing as we were able to wander the free area some more, and then snagged a table at the outside cafeteria and cooled off with some beers and sangrias. The wait was worth it but if you book in advance you won't have to!

If the weather is good, I would highly recommend the park!!

We started our evening with drinks at our hotel's rooftop bar, which had fantastic views of the city including the Sagrada Familia. Then we headed out for a proper martini at the aptly named Dry Martini Bar. I'm not the first to say that this is a fantastic spot for a cocktail, you should absolutely go while in town! The service is old school proper, the decor has a great throw back feel, and the drinks are top notch.

We then walked to the very popular Cerveceria Catalana at Calle Mallorca 236. After putting our names on the list we grabbed a couple of glasses of wine and waited out on the sidewalk along with everyone else. There is always a wait here as it is very good! The food is outstanding and combines traditional tapas dishes with plays on contemporary items (like mini hotdogs!)

The next day we started with an early lunch at Bar Pinotxobar which is one of the first bars as you enter the amazing La Boqueria market. This place is also very popular, they serve fantastic food (especially the chickpeas with squid) and the owner is a hoot!

La Boqueria is closed on Sundays and the fish stalls are closed on Mondays so I'd suggest to plan your visit Tuesday thru Saturday.

After lunch we strolled through the market, shopping for saffron and tins of tuna and sardines to bring home. Then continued down the Ramblas to the waterfront and into the gothic quarter. Barcelona is incredibly easy to walk around.

That night, after some wine at our rooftop bar to grab some last views of the city, we headed to another old school haunt, Boadas cocktail bar. It is hidden in plain sight, right off the top of the Ramblas, and has been serving classic cocktails since 1933.

And for our last meal we had an absolutely delicious dinner at the one Michelin starred restaurant Hisop where the 8-course tasting menu WITH wine pairings was 90Euro. I think one-starred restaurants are really overlooked and they almost always impress me more than the three-starred!

Not only was the food and service stellar but the space is fantastically designed. It is quite small and very modern, with smart touches like these cupboards which store glasses, service ware, and a cheese drawer!

Highly recommended!

The next morning we took a cab to the airport (30 minutes and 26 Euro) and flew home. The sadness of saying goodbye to a great vacation was somewhat eased by the fact that I had cashed in miles and we were in 1st class, on a British Air 747 with just 20 total people in the upstairs section. And lay-flat pods.

All Barcelona photos here.

Mallorca Round 2

Our last port of call on our Windstar cruise was on the island of Mallorca. Originally the ship was to anchor in Soller, where I had stayed the year before and was excited to visit it again. The weather didn't cooperate however and the ship had to dock in Palma. We decided to take the narrow gauge train that runs from Palma to Soller, rather than stay in the big more touristy city, which was fun and offered some great scenery as it climbed through the mountains.

We arrived in Soller and their weekly market was in full swing so we did a little browsing and shopping before settling into lunch at Cipriani's which we discovered the year before. They specialize in Mallorcan cuisine and are right in the town center.

 After lunch we boarded the trolly down to the Port. The weather was beautiful; sunny, warm and perfect for a lovely gintonic outside at Cava. This entire menu is just gin and tonic combos!!

After a relaxing afternoon by the sea we took a taxi back to Palma and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery while sailing towards our final stop where our cruise would end, Barcelona.

It was the last night on board, one last in-room apero was had, one last dinner, and one last night in the casino.

Windstar is still a choice I'd recommend, I may even try one of their other ships some time!

Mallorca photos here.

Valencia, Spain

The day we spent in Valencia was probably my favorite day of the entire cruise. We started out at the Mercat Central, one of the largest markets in Europe. I've been to a lot of markets and this one was absolutely amazing!

We started off with churros and chocolate at l'Orxateria, which is located just outside one of the main doors. We then spent the next few hours exploring the massive market. The building has beautiful stained glass looking skylights and some walls with impressive tile murals.

Of course it is filled with the normal market wares; butchers with all cuts of meat, fishmongers and strange looking sea creatures, fruits and vegetables galore. This market had some unique stands including one that had all pickled things, an incredible olive seller, another with fresh and dried mushrooms, fresh juice vendors, and a stand with many different kinds of snails!

After browsing the market, as well as picking up some snacks for aperos that night, we asked around for where to go have lunch of the regional specialty- paella. Everyone told us that you have to have paella at the beach so we grabbed a cab and headed to Playa de la Malvarosa. The beach here is beautiful! If I had a few days in this gorgeous city I would happily spend them at the beach!

The beachfront walk is lined with restaurants all advertising delicious paella. We picked a place randomly, well actually we picked it based on their gintonic selection, as everyone told us that most all the places down here would be great, and spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying a long lunch. Destino 56 was delicious but it really took forever as the kitchen forgot one of our paella orders! As these dishes are made-to-order they take about 45 minutes each. But we enjoyed our gintonics, delicious mussels, amazing calamari (both sent out on the house) and finally two different paellas; one seafood and one rabbit and artichoke.

That evening we had a very nice dressy dinner at the ship's AmphorA restaurant.

My favorite day was one spent leisurely checking out good food and eating good food in a beautiful setting with good friends. For me it doesn't get much better than that.

Photos here. Next stop Mallorca.

Cartagena, Spain

Our fourth stop on our southern Spain cruise was Cartagena (Spain not Colombia!). The four of us decided to spend the day exploring the port town together, specifically the 2nd century Roman theater.

We had read that Cartagena was the home of the Peral submarine, the first electric submarine built in 1888 with the first fully underwater nav system. We went looking for it and found where it use to be displayed but it has since been moved to the naval museum. At first I thought it might had been stolen!

Once we finally found the Roman museum entrance (we somehow walked past it and were just following the gate perimeter for a while!) we had a great time exploring both the inside exhibits as well as the theater itself.

It always boggles my mind when places like this have survived for so long! I love ruins!

We spent the rest of the morning strolling around the main part of town. There are quite a few beautiful pedestrian only streets lined with stores and cafes.

After a lunch of tapas enjoyed outside in the sun, we decided to head back to the ship for a little sunbathing and hot tubbing, with wine of course!

Next stop Valencia!

Cartagena photos here.

Alhambra Day Trip

We woke up docked in Almeria, Spain. We'd been in this region before but it is large and we were hundreds of miles away from our last destination.

The big draws here are Granada and the famed Alhambra. Both could easily be trips on their own but we only had about 8 hours in port. We decided in advance to book a private group tour of the Alhambra, which would include private transportation, with Top Day Tours.

It was a long 2 1/2 hour drive to Granada from the port for our small group of ten. This drive was made longer and really uncomfortable because the "door open" alarm went off the entire time. Everyone, including the driver and the tour guide, was about ready to go bat-shit crazy but there was nothing to be done.

We drove past very interesting hills with houses built into the sides of them, house/rock caves if you will. It was hard to get a picture since we were on the highway but we noticed they were the very typical housing choice of the area. The heat out here in the summer is intense so this keeps the people cool. And insulated from hearing the non-stop door alarm...

We finally made it to Granada, our heads ringing from the audio abuse, and had a quick walk around. We went into the lovely cathedral, walked to one of the pretty town squares, and then explored the Alcaicera, a Moroccan style market of crafts, clothing, spices, etc.

We then drove up to the Alhambra and met our private guide who led us into the most beautiful gardens and grounds I have ever seen. We spent hours touring the palace, staring wide-eyed at the incredible detail given to its design.

There is nothing I could write to convey the true beauty that is the Alhambra so you will just need to get yourself there. There's even a parador on the grounds that you can stay in!

They only sell a certain number of tickets a day so unless you book a private tour you will need to buy your timed ticked well in advance, I think it's like months.

To make up for the insanity inducing noise of the van alarm, our tour company both got us a replacement van and treated us to a very nice lunch before heading back to the port. There was wine, two types of gazpacho, salads, grilled chicken, and ice cream. A very nice gesture!

After another long drive back (but a quiet one this time) we got cleaned up, enjoyed happy hour, and then joined the crew and passengers for a big BBQ out on the upper deck while we sailed off towards Cartagena!

Photos here

Malaga, Spain

First off it is Mal-a-ga. We spent a lot of time figuring out how to pronounce it so... Mal-a-ga! And it's lovely.

Jenn & Matt set out on their own while we boarded a bus for an excursion to the tiny hill town of Mijas. Wow, this little place, even riddled with tour groups, is a charmer!

Our guide walked about 20 of us around the town, pointing out the fantastic views of the neighboring hills and the sea, the donkeys which have been used as taxis for years, and the independent shops and restaurants that created the town's economy.

We entered into the small yet beautiful cathedral, and saw the tiny bullring from the outside before heading to a wine shop for a tasting and some education on the area's wine.

Since we had some time on our own after we wandered around just taking in the charm of this little villa! Then we found a nice cafe with only locals inside, for a bocadillo and a beer.

When the bus took us back to Mal-a-ga we opted to have the driver drop us in the center of town. After strolling around for a bit we stopped at La Espanola for a fantastic tapas lunch which included a dish of hardboiled eggs tossed in house-made mayonnaise as well as a cone containing a mix of delicious fried seafood, both specialties of the area.

We met Jenn and Matt back on board and exchanged stories of the day on the deck out in the sun.

That night after our wine tasting session and stateroom happy hour we did a Bridge visit before heading to dinner.

Photos here. Next up Granada, and the Alhambra.

Cadiz, Spain

When we docked in Cadiz everyone had a choice to go on a full day drive and excursion to Seville or a shorter excursion to Jerez for some sherry tasting. Since we had done both the previous year we elected to stay and explore the pretty old city of Cadiz.

Upon disembarking we found a tourist map which showed us four optional walking tours of the town. You hardly needed a map however as the streets were painted with various colored lines which you just followed depending on which type of things you were interested in exploring. This is so brilliant, I think every city should do this!

After our lovely walking tour (with a tad bit of rain) we stopped into the fantastic cathedral right in the old town center. The risers outside were still in place from the big Easter Sunday Mass the day before. And inside there was an incredible and huge silver alter as well as an impressive crypt.

We had lunch in what looked to be quite a touristy outdoor cafe but when I saw some elderly local looking diners eating things I had never seen I just asked the waiter to bring the same. We ended up with these really interesting little pan fried "pancakes" which had tiny shrimp in them. Awesome.

We made a quick trip to the town mercado, which was small and sadly closing, for some Iberico jamon and then into the grocery store for some Iberico jamon flavored Pringles. There would be a serious taste test that night!

The sun was out so we stopped for an al fresco drink before returning to the ship and meeting up with Matt and Jen to hear about their day in Jerez.

Photos here. Next stop Malaga, Spain.

Windstar WindSurf at Sea

The last time I went on a cruise it had been on this same ship, we sailed from Rome to Nice and our friends Lauren and Paul were traveling with us. This time we sailed from Lisbon to Barcelona with Jennifer and Matt, although Lauren and Paul were scheduled to come they sadly had to cancel at the last minute. We were all very excited for the cruise but it was bittersweet also.

The ship was just how I remembered it. Roomy staterooms (for a ship) and wonderful decks with lots of seating to enjoy the views. And of course 5 masts which unfurled huge white canvas sails. We had the sails up over 90% of our sailing time which was fantastic as they can cut the engines and it is super peaceful.

Our first day on ship was also our only at sea day. Unfortunately it was cold and rainy so there was no sunbathing to be had. But it was nice to have breakfast in bed, get a chance to unpack, and just hang out reading.

The ship hosted a trivia contest, which we came in 2nd on (giraffes have purple tongues...). While playing we had a little bird visitor, the crew said it sailed with them often. I'm sure he got a much better deal than I did! Matt also entered the poker tournament that the casino held.

This cruise was specifically a Spanish wine cruise so each afternoon they held a tasting with about 8 different wines. Those wines were then available at dinner and throughout the next day until the next wine tasting. It took us a while to figure this out since we missed the tasting when they were docked in Lisbon. If you kept to these wines they were included in the price we paid. None of the wines were that exciting but we attended the tastings daily and found a white and a red that we liked ok. Also the tastings were fantastic for people watching; imagine folks who drink just a glass or two a week now having 8 glasses before dinner!

After the daily tasting we got cleaned up for dinner and continued the tradition from the first cruise with a nightly happy hour in one of the rooms. Gin, vermouth, and whiskey brought on board as well as an apero of snacks purchased from each port or delivered from room service.

There was a special dinner that night with wine pairings matched to courses which was quite good. And unlike the first night of the last cruise I was conscious to enjoy it!

We ended our leisurely day in the casino playing blackjack. Although our ship would pass through the Strait of Gerbralter at around 3am, no one stayed up to watch as the captain had said we'd be pretty far from land without much to see.

Next port, Cadiz Spain. Photos here.

48 Hours in Lisbon; Day Two

With only 2 full days in Lisbon we set out to do a lot, but it didn't feel rushed or hectic. After packing, checking out, and breakfast in the hotel we went shopping at the Conserveira de Lisboa. We had tried to go twice before but as we were there the weekend of Easter it (and many other stores) were closed. But on this day the adorable shop selling tins of all sorts of fish, which ha been in business since 1930, was open! As we could tell from the line around the block! No worries, it moved fast and soon we were loading up on an assortment of fantastic treats to take home. All personally labeled by this elderly woman who had her own desk in the corner.

We then hopped on the tram which took us out to the Belem area where we would spend the day.

First up the National Coach Museum. Now this might sound a bit hokey but we all loved it! A whole history of the country's use of carriages in a spectacular hall. The detail work, style, and progression of comfort were really interesting. And beautiful. If you are out in Belem I highly recommend a visit!

Time for lunch!! We found a recommendation, from Rick Steves of all sites, online for Os Jeronimos. The description said something like "it looks like shit but it is fantastic". We went into the divey looking restaurant, got seats at the counter, and had an absolutely stand out lunch! Fresh grilled fish, clams, a saucy rice dish with sausage, and some real characters who owned the place!

An easy walk from lunch took us to the Monument of the Discoveries which has two profile sides featuring 33 famous explorers. You can walk up to the top of this impressive stone tower for more amazing views (we even caught a glimpse of the five masts on our Windstar ship in the distance!).

The square below has a stunning map of the world all done in tile. It's cool from ground level but from above it is just gorgeous.

We then rushed over to the Tower of Belem but sadly did not make the last entry. Next time.

One thing we noticed all over Lisbon (and later in southern Spain) were beggars with tiny Chihuahuas trained to hold the coin bucket. Cute and sad.

We were suppose to board our ship by 10:00pm so we grabbed the tram back to town, had another round of gintonics at Taberna Moderna (while watching some absolutely wacky couple doing some kind of hide-and-seek performance art. We think.), and then headed to the very popular Cervejaria Ramirez. The line was already crazy long at 7pm so a taxi driver took us to a random place (his cousin probably owned it) which ended up being very good.

A quick stop to pick up our bags and we headed to our ship at the port. It seemed really quiet. Like deserted. We actually had to walk with our bags all the way down the pier to our ship as no one was working. Weird.

Turned out we were suppose to be on board by 5:30pm or something and that we were the last ones to arrive and they were waiting on us to pull up anchor and leave! LOL!!

I have to say that I absolutely loved Lisbon. There is so much to do and see, or you can do nothing at all except take in the views, wander up and down staircases, drink gintonics, and eat amazing seafood. And the pretty tile, don't even get me started on the tile! I hope to get back!

But we had a whole other adventure waiting for us, and we were excited to set sail!

All Lisbon photos here.