Celebrity Cruises – Scribbles and Snapshots

Pompeii and Pizza – Naples, Italy

September 14, 2025Posted in Europe 2025, Spain, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Italy CruiseTagged adventure, Celebrity Cruises, celebritycruises, cruise, Europe, italy, Mediterranean, Mediterranean Cruise, Mosaic, Pompeii, Roman Ruins, Romans, travel, travel blog, Walking TourLeave a comment

September 7, 2025

When most people think of Pompeii, they picture the ash-covered ruins frozen in time. But walking through the ancient streets, it feels less like a tragedy and more like stepping straight into a bustling Roman city. It was complete with bakeries, fast food joints, grand villas, and even mosaics that served as cheeky “welcome mats.” (We even saw one warning visitors to beware of dog because clearly some things never change.)

Pompeii’s fate was sealed in 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the city under 21 feet of ash and pumice. The eruption happened so quickly (and lasted for so long – over two days!) that thousands were trapped, their homes and daily lives preserved beneath the volcanic blanket. What’s remarkable is how advanced this city was for its time: courtyards decorated with colorful mosaics, plumbing systems, and even what we’d recognize today as fast food restaurants. It’s wild to think of ancient Romans ordering food much like we do now.

One of the most haunting things about Pompeii is the casts of the victims. Archaeologists discovered that the ash left behind hollow spaces where bodies once lay. By carefully filling those spaces with plaster, they were able to recreate the final moments of those who perished. We only saw three casts of the victims in the market square, but nearly 100 casts have been made over the years out of an estimated 1,300 victims. Seeing even a few was enough to bring the tragedy to life in a way that history books never could. (If you’re interested in reading more about how they make the casts you can read here).

One of the most well preserved buildings was a bathhouse – the roof was still well intact. It was incredible to see inside – shocking that this was over 2,000 years old!

Only two thirds of Pompeii have been excavated 44 hectares so far – 22 hectares – are still covered in debris from the eruption almost 2,000 years ago. Our tour guide said that they are on track to finish it in the next 100 years, she said she wasn’t joking! They can only do their digging during the winter months because of how many tourists visit the site during the summer months. In fact, she is an archeologist herself and is a tour guide during the summer months.

We only had a few hours to explore, but Pompeii has a way of making time stand still. It’s a city frozen in its final day. I know I’ll be thinking about it long after this trip and doing more research into the history.

We could have spent all day there and still not had enough time. Before we knew it we were on our way back to the bus.

The only original part is the white marble at the bottom – I guess Madonna had an event here last year!

Thankfully, we still had time in Naples before the ship left. Naples is the birth place of pizza, so of course we had to eat it there. We had heard that one restaurant was superior, so of course we hightailed it over there.

Naturally, we weren’t the only ones who had that idea. There was over an hour wait. So we started wandering around and finally settled on this other place who had a rather a very charismatic owner who got us seated right away. He was incredible. The food, drinks, and service were all amazing too.

The owner is the gentlemen in the window

We got to talking with a Norwegian couple next to us who were visiting Naples for a concert. It was a really fun conversation and just a nice change of pace and a good reminder why we love traveling so much. They were meeting up with a group of friends to celebrate a 50th birthday and asked us to help record a video to surprise him with, I’m sure we will be part of the blooper reel.

This was our last day on the ship, so once we got back on board we packed up our suitcases and got ready for an early morning.

Up Next:
-Travel day
-Florence
-Tuscany wine tasting

A Postcard from Santorini

September 6, 2025Posted in Europe 2025, Spain, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Italy CruiseTagged adventure, celebrity ascent, Celebrity Cruises, celebritycruises, cruise, Europe, greece, Islands, Mediterranean, Mediterranean Cruise, Santorini, travel, travel blog, Wine, Wine Tasting1 Comment

September 5, 2025

I have dreamed about Santorini since I first had seen a picture of the whitewashed buildings, the blue-domes, and the blue water in the background. I bought a calendar once and I think I kept that picture for years after because I loved that image so much. When Andy and I got engaged – this was where I originally wanted to get married.

One thing led to another and the universe had other plans and we got married in the Dominican Republic instead. This was the port stop that I was most excited to visit because of how long I had dreamed about Santorini for – and honestly, it didn’t let me down.

Santorini is one of Greece’s most iconic islands, but what makes it truly unique, is that it sits on the rim of an active volcanic caldera. The result of a massive eruption thousands of years ago that shaped its dramatic cliffs and crescent shape.

One of things to note about Santorini is that all of the villages are on the cliffs, and tourists have limited options to get to the top. You can climb up 588 stairs to the top of Fira, ride a donkey, ride a cable car and pay 10 euro per person (one way), or book an excursion with the cruise ship who will arrange travel for you.

We opted for the last option, which took the guess work out of it for us. It did mean we had an early wake up call for us, but we got on tender who brought us over to the new port where our bus was waiting for us. These roads were teeny tiny and would have had anyone who was afraid of heights pinching their eyes closed and praying for it to be over as quickly as possible.

Our first stop was Oia, with its winding alleys and the famous blue domes. We were one of the first busses to pull into the parking lot, and our tour guide was so excited that she hustled us to the meeting point and told us to get to the “Instagram” point as quickly as possible because the crowds would be getting there soon and the lines would get long for the picture.

This is where things got funny. Andy and I ended up splitting up on accident because she told us that the there were two different vantage points for the domes, and both of us were in too deep with our respective lines. Andy’s line moved faster. He then came over to my line to be the ever-dutiful Instagram husband and take my pictures. Another bucket list item secured!

Since he waited, he got his line’s vantage point

Our next stop was a winery – Artemis Karamolegos. We sampled three wines: a crisp white Assyrtiko, a dry rosé Assyrtiko, and a sweet wine that they were famous for, the Vinsanto. Santorini has some of the oldest grapes in Europe because they were resistant to phylloxera, which had devastated the rest of Europe’s vines. We enjoyed our time there before getting back on the bus for our last stop.

They had some local cheese, tomatoes, and olives as a pairing

They have a unique way of weaving a “basket” with the vines underground.

We made our way to the capital, Fira. This is where most tourists make the pilgrimage from the old port (the 588 steps or the donkey route). Thankfully, we were already at the top. We had an hour here, so we made our way to the edge and snuck a peek of the caldera and the donkeys before doing a little shopping.

The height of the coach bus really highlighted the crazy switchbacks headed down to the new port- sorry to the moms out there following along…

We made our way back to the cruise ship after our stop in Fira. Andy and I discussed, and we realized that everything had worked out the way it was supposed to. We were supposed to get married in the Dominican Republic. Santorini was stunning, and beautiful. But it was small – and I think we would have been bored after a day or two. It’s funny how things work out and you just don’t know it at the time!

Up Next:
Naples

Turkey, that’s my second favorite kind of poultry!

September 5, 2025Posted in Europe 2025, Spain, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Italy CruiseTagged adventure, Celebrity Cruises, celebritycruises, cruise, Ephesus, Europe, Kusadasi, Mediterranean, Mosaic, Roman Ruins, Romans, travel, travel blog, turkey, wonders of the world, Zeus1 Comment

September 4, 2025

Our third stop was Kusadasi, Turkey, which was a new country for me – but a revisit for Andy (due to his time in the Air Force). We had booked the “Ancient Ephesus” tour with the cruise line, which would take us a little bit inland to the ancient city. It was an earlier wake up for us, but well worth it!

Strolling through Ephesus feels like walking straight into a history book, only way sunnier and with a lot more cats (and a few dogs!). Once a major city of the Roman Empire, it was famous for its great theater, shiny marble streets, and the incredible Library of Celsus. Back in its day, Ephesus was buzzing with trade, politics, and worship at the Temple of Artemis which is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

What makes Ephesus even more fascinating is its connection to the Bible. The apostle Paul spent years here, preaching and later writing the Letter to the Ephesians. It’s believed that the Virgin Mary lived out her final years nearby, cared for by the apostle John, who continued his ministry in this region. You can still visit Mary’s home, and the ruins of Temple of Artemis. Unfortunately our tour didn’t include these two as options, but if you are going – I’d recommend looking for these as add ons!

It was eventually abandoned as the river silted up and malaria spread through the area, leaving the once-great city to crumble. Today, archaeologists are still uncovering its secrets. They think only about 10% of the site has been excavated so far, making it a bit like Turkey’s own version of Pompeii, with more treasures waiting to be revealed. It was recognized as a UNCESO World Heritage Site in 2015.

Now for the fun part! We had an early start – and glad that we did because each port has been HOT. It hasn’t mattered if we start at 8 or at 12pm, it’s hot. But we were hoping that it would be less busy if we went early.

We were dropped off at one end of the valley and started working our way downhill. This city was incredibly advanced: wide marble streets, aqueduct system with fresh water, and an advanced sewage system.

A few of the major stunners in the valley though are the theaters (one of them could hold over 25,000!) and the Celsus Library, which is one of the third largest library in the ancient world. (Not to be confused with the second or fourth largest).

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves – and let Andy take over. Because I think the captions might add more value at this point.

This is The Great Theater (almost 24k seating), they are restoring it for modern shows!

After we left Ephesus we went back into Kusadasi. Our tour brought us to a rug factory where they demonstrated how they gather silk from silk worms, and then they showed us how they make rugs. Of course, it’s a sales pitch. The couple next to us asked how much the smallest rug was – $1,300! Our guide had told us that we would get a group discount of 30%, so I tried to help them out and asked, “Is that with the 30%?” And the guy nodded, “Yes – that’s with the discount. Are you interested. Can I help you?!”

We said no and head downstairs to the other part of the store. Not that the rugs weren’t beautiful, just a bit out of our price range. I did buy some jewelry and a few other souvenirs at their shop.

We wandered around Kusadasi a bit more before returning to the cruise ship. It was a lovely town, it definitely had a resort feel. We were even surprised to see pine trees!

Up Next:
Santorini

Our first taste of Greece: Mykonos

September 3, 2025Posted in Europe 2025, Spain, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Italy CruiseTagged adventure, celebrity ascent, Celebrity Cruises, celebritycruises, cruise, Europe, foodie, greece, Mediterranean, Mediterranean Cruise, travel, travel blog, Zeus1 Comment

September 3, 2025

We arrived in Mykonos early today and were awoken by a ton of shaking. Not sure what the shaking was because we weren’t actually docked, (this is a tender port for us – which means they shuttle us back and forth to shore by smaller boats) but it was really windy. I guess Mykonos is notorious for being windy, but without the wind the heat would be unbearable. Honestly, it feels a bit like a hair dryer because it’s hot!

One of my favorite types of cuisines is Mediterranean, so we had booked a walking food tour while we were in Mykonos with Celebrity. It didn’t start until lunchtime so we took it easy in the morning and got ready at a leisurely pace.

We got there a little early, and walked around waiting for our guide to show up. Once Claudio did, we immediately knew that we were in good hands. We could tell that he carried himself with professionalism, was incredibly knowledgeable, and that he was well known with others in the industry.

And honestly, without him we would have gotten lost within the labyrinth that is the Mykonos maze. The maze was set up intentionally to confuse pirates that may have tried to invade to loot the town in the past. Now it just confuses tourists (including us) and makes for a fun adventure when you’re trying to find a shop that you spotted a cute sun dress in the window at earlier!

We had five different stops that included a variety of traditional Greek food and drink. The first stop was a bakery that had a Tiropitakia (cheese pie), which was something that the average Greek would grab when they were “on the go.”

Claudio also wanted to make sure he mixed in cultural stops too – so we stopped to see some windmills and “Little Venice.” It was a really picturesque area!

From there we had kebabs – some people in the group opted for gyros, which were the size of your head. Once we left that restaurant we reentered the maze. As we wove through the streets, we saw the interesting mix of high end stores (Louis Vuitton) with Mykonos branded mugs and keychains shops. And there were so many cats everywhere! Claudio taught us that cats are loved on the island because they help keep both the rodent and viper population under control, plus they’re cute!

The next couple of stops were a little quicker – the next was a sweet. It was called the “Ypovrichio.” The submarine – a rich white chewy sweet that is served on a spoon dipped in a long glass of crystal cold water. So that’s exactly what we did, we all stood outside a candy shop with our glass of water with these!

My 10-year old self would have killed for one of these. But it was a little too sweet for me now, but it was so fun to try!

From there, it was a quick walk over to our next stop where we had a shot of Ouzo and an appetizer plate with traditional Greek items that were all super tasty. The Ouzo was definitely an acquired taste – has a very strong licorice flavor (not my favorite). But, when in “Rome” in this case, Mykonos… bottoms up!

We rounded out the day at The Milky Way, our final stop for Greece’s spin at Turkish Delight and a sample of Mastiha (another one of their liqueurs). The restaurant was hopping so the server actually brought the glasses and the loukoumi out to us on the beach. Both were actually very good, and the liqueur was far tastier than the ouzo we had at the previous place.

After we finished those, we parted ways from Claudio and the rest of the group and made our way into the maze and started shopping. It was fun to drop into different shops, and window shop. But we didn’t leave with too many different things.

We made our way back to the ship with plenty of time because we wanted to make sure we didn’t get lost and left behind in the maze. (Although it might not have been the worst place to get stuck!)

Up Next:
Ephesus, Turkey

Pastizzi and Panoramas: A Day in Valletta, Malta

September 2, 2025Posted in Europe 2025, Spain, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Italy CruiseTagged adventure, celebrity ascent, Celebrity Cruises, celebritycruises, cruise, Europe, malta, Mediterranean, Mediterranean Cruise, travel, Valletta1 Comment

September 1, 2025

Our first stop on the cruise was in a micro-nation, Malta. We had most of the day to spend there, but as per usual, my jet lag kicked in. I woke up in the middle of the night and was up for about 3 hours, so we got ready a little slower in the morning.

We hadn’t booked a tour with the cruise line, so we decided to make the most of it with a self-guided walking tour of Valletta. The city might be small, but it packs in centuries of history, stunning views, and more uphill climbs than our legs were ready for.

Once we got off the ship, it was a quick 20 minute walk over to the Barrakka Lift, which would save us quite a few steps for 2 euros total to bring us up to street-level.

One of our first stops was Jean de Valette Square, named after the founder of the city. Just around the corner is the open-air Royal Opera House, which was bombed during WWII and now serves as a striking mix of ruins and modern architecture. It’s a reminder of Malta’s resilience, standing right in the middle of daily life. There are still discussions if it will be rebuilt to its pre-WWII prominence.

Once inside Valletta, everything feels like a living museum, with every corner showing off its limestone buildings and colorful balconies. We then made our way to the Triton Fountain, which is right outside the city gate.

We wandered down Republic Street, which is lined with shops and cafés.

I asked one of the restaurants for a look at their menu. I was looking for the classic pastizzi (flaky pastry filled with ricotta or peas typically) and only saw overpriced food. I asked him if they had the pastizzi and he pointed to Spar (basically a 7/11) and said they would have them.

You could tell he was annoyed that I wasted his time and I mean I was annoyed he wasted mine with his overpriced food! We walked into Spar and tried the chicken and mushroom pastizzi. It was simple, cheap, and delicious. Exactly what I thought it would be!

We saw down to enjoy an Aperol Spritz and cool off in front of a fan. It was in the upper 80s and super sunny, so it was nice to relax in the shade with the fan blowing on us. I noticed a street food stand that had a qassatat, which was another Maltese food. This one is rounder and stuffed with ricotta – and it’s flaky and delicious and as good as it sounds. Except it was in the upper 80s and we weren’t already having a hard time staying cool. But both food dishes we tried were 10/10 – no notes. Malta knows what they are doing with their food!

Of course, no walk through Valletta is complete without a stop at the Upper Barrakka Gardens. The views over the Grand Harbour are some of the best in the city. It’s the kind of view that makes you stop talking for a minute just to take it all in.

It might be a view you recognize, because it’s actually been in a lot of different movies and TV shows!

Valletta is one of Europe’s smallest capitals and is a UNESCO world heritage site – it really is a gem.

We made our way back to the ship in time for one of our favorite games – will anyone accidentally miss the cruise ship? No one did yesterday! At least no one that we witnessed!

We had dinner in the Mediterranean restaurant on board and actually reconnected with one of the staff members from our first cruise, Jayson. It was fun – naturally he didn’t recognize us, but I put the pieces together right away. What a small world!

Up Next:
At Sea
Mykonos on Wednesday

Bon Voyage Barcelona!

September 1, 2025Posted in Europe 2025, Spain, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Italy CruiseTagged adventure, Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona, Barcelona Cathedral, Casa Batlló, celebrity ascent, Celebrity Cruises, celebritycruises, cruise, España, Europe, Gaudi, Park Güell, Sagrada Familia, travel, Travel Day5 Comments

August 30, 2025

Saturday morning we woke up and got ready for the day and finished packing up our luggage before walking over to Sagrada Familia. This is Barcelona’s most iconic landmark and we wanted to see it one more time before heading to the cruise ship.

Sagrada Família has been under construction since 1882 and was dreamed up by Antoni Gaudí. Gaudí was Barcelona’s resident genius of all things whimsical. It’s still not finished, so every time you go, you are getting a front-row seat to the world’s longest home renovation project.

They say the main structure will finally be finished by 2026… just in time for the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death, but knowing this place, you might still be able to catch scaffolding selfies well into the 2030s. That might be part of the allure, maybe it’ll never be truly be finished. Time will tell!

From our hotel, it was a nice 30 minute walk over to Sagrada Familia. As we walked over we saw Casa Batlló from last year and got a better exterior picture of that as well.

Comparing pictures of Sagrada Familia from last year, it looks like the center tower is a bit taller. But honestly, it’s just incredible to look at – it’s so worth the walk to stare at.

You really need to walk around the whole thing- each side is SO unique

Afer we walked around to get a view of all the angles, we caught a cab over to the Gothic Quarter, which was another stop similar to last year. But there was a famous bridge we didn’t know about last year, called the Ponte del Bisbe.

It’s a cool looking bridge tucked away in the neighborhood, it looks like it’s original – but was actually built in 1928. Either way, it was a super cool stop. The Gothic Quarter has such a nice mix of old medieval feel with winding streets – and modern retailers. The centerpiece is definitely the Barcelona Cathedral, which after we walked past that we made our way back to our hotel.

We checked out and got into a taxi and our way to the ship. This was the newest ship in Celebrity’s fleet – the Ascent. (Their next enters the fleet in November). The line was flowing pretty smoothly as we boarded and we didn’t have any issues getting on board or to our room. After dropping our carry ons, we headed to the cafe and got lunch.

Our tradition is a celebratory cheers on the sundeck!

Once we wrapped up lunch we decided to do a quick tour of the ship to get more familiar with the space and amenities. One of our favorite parts of cruising is the ability to unpack and get settled in while being able to see a bunch of new cities/countries. Once our suitcases arrived we got settled in to the room and then had dinner.

Fully taking advantage of our infinite veranda, enjoying the moon’s reflection

We’re quite pleased so far with our room and the cruise! Our first day is a sea day, so I think we’ll skip writing about that – so you’ll hear from us next when we recap our first port: Malta!

Up Next:
Malta

Sand, Sun, and Sitges

September 30, 2024Posted in Europe 2024Tagged Cava, Celebrity Cruises, Juvé & Camps, Sitges, Spain, Wine, Wine TastingLeave a comment

September 5, 2024

All good things must come to an end, and our cruise returned back to Barcelona Thursday morning. We got up early and ate breakfast right away and then finished getting ready/packing.

Early in the trip we had made the joke about our trip having three parts – the first part was exploring Spain – the next was the cruise and all of that entailed – and the third “half” was Sitges (a beach community outside of Barcelona).

We picked up our car rental, and we were on our way to Sitges. One of the gals that I worked with had recommended Sitges because it is a nice beach community and it’s where her and her family/friends would vacation.

I was so happy that we were going to be outside of Barcelona. This was a much smaller community, and right on the water. We had done a lot of research months ago – and had landed on one hotel. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any ADA rooms – so we ended up switching to a different hotel.

Sometimes the universe gives us what we need, even when we don’t know we need it yet! We ended up at ME Sitges Terramar. It was a very beautiful hotel with a sheltered cove that made it easy to splash around in the water – or try your luck at stand up paddle boarding.

After we dropped our luggage we made our way to our first winery of the day – Juvé & Camps. We needed to rally after not getting a ton of sleep the night before – because we were excited for this tour.

Juvé & Camps is known for making top-quality Cava. Founded in 1921, they farm over 270 hectares of vineyards, focusing on organic practices. Their Cavas are distributed worldwide, so there’s a chance you may have even seen them in your local store! Jon had set up a tour for us – and it was very small. Just another couple from Wales. It was a great tour and fun to see their cellars. At the end they also gave us some characteurie boards.

While in the cave, our guide brought us to a little room pictured below to continue his lesson on making Cava, the disgorging process. We are quite familiar with the process with my love of quality sparkling wine and out tour through the Champagne region. The process is basically to pop the top of the bottle that has been aging and under extreme pressure (7 atmospheres of pressure vs the 4 atmospheres of pressure from the final product) and top it off with special ingredients and then re-cork before it’s ready to sell. Then he surprised us all, he dawned his PPE (face shield and an apron), he grabbed a bottle and actually did the process; a first for us! Instead of the standard process, he poured straight from the bottle so we could see the difference between a freshly disgorged bottle and the final product. What a fun treat to experience the process and taste the difference!

From there, one of our wineries had cancelled. But one that Jon hadn’t heard back from confirmed our tasting. This time – we had the place to ourselves! It was just a tasting, but it was so fun!

This was a much smaller production – Cava Guilera. They had some older vintages as well – which was a great experience. One of them was even from the year I graduated high school. (Which as most of you know was just a few years ago!)

We made our way back to the hotel and took a quick nap before heading to downtown Sitges. The streets were tiny – and there were people everywhere! Parking was a challenge, but we found a spot and made it in time for our reservation.

Up Next:
– Andorra
– Wine tasting
– Beach time

Tangier – rock the cat’s paw (Kasbah)

September 12, 2024September 12, 2024Posted in Europe 2024Tagged Cave of Hercules, Celebrity Cruises, Celebrity Equinox, Morocco, TangierLeave a comment

September 2-4, 2024

Going to be combining a few days because we only had one port left, which was Tangier.

We woke up to a beautiful port in Tangier on Tuesday. We had an excursion booked with the cruise, Taste of Tangier. The excursion was advertised as a city tour of Tangier, in addition to a visit to Hercules Cave.

Our guide gave us a brief history on Tangier, and the different occupations of it over the centuries. One thing that was interesting, is that they seem very proud to point out all of the different buildings that belong to different countries. For example – here’s the palace for the King of Saudi Arabia- he comes here once every 20-30 years! And then the different mosques, the churches from the Christians, and the hotels owned by the Italians.

On our drive, we saw lots of camels, which wasn’t new to us – but they had a lot of baby camels! (Which was new). Tangier is also unique from the standpoint that it’s where the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet. There was a sign that showcased this, but our group didn’t want to stop for a quick picture there.

Once we got to the cave, our group made their way down super quickly and we mostly had the cave to ourselves. As we walked in, one of the men that worked for the cave started to show us a cool photo opportunity. They said the hole kind of looked like the continent of Africa, I personally think you have to squint and turn your head to the side, but then you can see it.

There was a movie playing in one section, and we joined at the end of the English version. It had some incredible graphics, but we couldn’t tell what was being said.

The Cave of Hercules is located just outside of Tangier. According to legend, it is where the Greek hero Hercules rested after completing his twelve labors, and some say it is where he separated Europe from Africa. The cave has two openings—one facing the land and another, more famous one, resembling the shape of Africa, facing the Atlantic Ocean.

After we left the cave, we made our way to a lighthouse. Cape Spartel was built because of the number of shipwrecks in the area. In 1860, one ship carrying over 250 Brazilian cadets sank. It was because of this accident, that the Sultan agreed to have the lighthouse built at the urging of other countries that used this route for trade.

We hopped back into the bus and made our way to the Kasbah Museum. It was a short walk, but we got our first taste of walking through the winding streets in Tangier. The museum is perched on top of a hill, which means it has pretty stunning views.

This is when things took an annoying turn. Our tour guide said that we had 15 minutes to explore the museum, but didn’t really provide any highlights of things to see. Also, all of the panels and signs were in Arabic and French. (Which we understand that we are in a different country, hence the different languages… just made it harder to enjoy as we didn’t understand what we were looking at).

The architecture was incredible – and I’m definitely a sucker for mosaics. Andy found a staircase heading upstairs, and I didn’t really want to leave the main group. I had the sneaking suspicion that our tour guide wasn’t really paying too much attention to who was in our group and where we were all at. So reluctantly, I followed him upstairs and was quickly rewarded with a view of the mosaic floor from above.

We didn’t stick around for long, because the last place we wanted to be left behind were the windy streets of Tangier. We do think we saw some human remains in one of the displays, but because of the language barrier, we can’t confirm this.

There was a beautiful view from the museum down onto the water – and then we made our way on foot through the Medina. Lots of winding, teeny tiny streets, and a lot of shops. Similar to our experience in Egypt, it seems that every tour guide “knows a guy” and they bring us to their shop. This one was huge, but there wasn’t a lot that tourists would normally want to bring home. Big plates, vases, etc. that wouldn’t be easy to carry home.

We saw so many kitties all around. Black one, white ones, orange ones, they were so cute. We saw a lot of food left out for them, and even one dish with milk in it!

After shopping, we went to a cafe for coffee and tea and cookies. Honestly, we stayed at this place for far too long – there weren’t enough tables in the shade and it was hot. Some people in the group wanted to go shopping, and everyone was sort of wondering what was going on at that point.

We made it back to the ship and opted in to making the rest of the day a pool day.

As we were leaving Tangier, we went through the Straight of Gibraltar which is the waterway between Europe and Africa. As we were underway, we saw a large pod of dolphins following the ship.

We ended Tuesday with another silent disco on the ship.

———————————————————————-

At Sea Days

I really enjoy the sea days because it means you can rest up, and the cruise line usually does a lot more activities. One of our favorites was Deal or No Deal, which we didn’t win big this time.

It was also Jon and Yvonne’s anniversary, so it was cute to see what the cruise does to celebrate milestones.

Our last day on the ship was at sea, which meant we spent some of our time packing up. We were grateful that we brought an expandable duffle – that way we could bring even more stuff home! (Including the port we just purchased!)

The last day, the kitchen crew put together beautiful displays in the Oceanview Cafe. It was so pretty to look at!

Up Next:
– Third half of the trip: Sitges & wine tasting!

Douro Valley – No wine left behind

September 4, 2024Posted in Europe 2024Tagged Celebrity Cruises, Celebrity Equinox, Equinox, Port, Porto, Portugal, Wine TastingLeave a comment

Sunday, September 1, 2024

We docked in Porto, Portugal on Sunday. Jon had found a tour company that was accessible – and private – to take us into the Douro Valley for some wine tasting.

Márcio was both our driver and our guide – he had been in communication with Jon before we left the USA – so we knew we were in good hands.

Marcio explained that in Portugal it was more common that the wine be paired with food. He was super mindful about all of my food preferences (no red meat or pork – also, hoping that there weren’t any faces attached to the fish, etc…) Our first stop was in a quaint little town, Amarante.

Amarante is a charming town in northern Portugal, nestled along the Tâmega River. It is a stop on the famous Camino de Santiago hiking trail, offering a picturesque stop for hikers. However, we were not hiking – we were there to eat and drink! They had some famous pastries, I’ll let you take a look at the picture and determine what you think they were supposed to be shaped like.

Márcio stopped at a local tavern that had plenty of smoked meats, and some local wines for us to try. It was a great way to kick off the start of our day.

From there, we started our drive to the first winery. The Douro Valley is stunning – it was absolutely beautiful. We’ve been to quite a few different wine regions in the world, and this was definitely one of the most beautiful as it followed along the river.

We saw quite a few river boats making their way through to the Spanish border

The Douro Valley in Portugal is an absolute dream for wine lovers and nature enthusiasts. With the rolling hills covered in terraced vineyards, the scenery is straight out of a postcard. This region is famous for producing Port wine, and visiting the local wineries for a tasting is a must. (This trip made me a convert! I think I’ve just been drinking the wrong Port wine!)

Our first winery was called Quinta Do Val Moreira, which had a stunning view overlooking the river and the valley. We enjoyed our tasting there – and the pastries that Márcio had picked out for us.

The next stop was lunch, it was a beautiful outdoor setting. I’m not sure about the others, but I was already starting to feel full. The staff walked us through the traditional kitchen, and oh my goodness – the smells were heavenly! I suppose you can always find room for more when you’re on vacation.

We were seated outside under a beautiful tree, where we had another tasting and a lovely meal. They had prepared fish for me – and the others had their choice of lamb or pork dishes.

We moved onto the last winery, Quinta Seara Dordens. Where we were greeted by some lazy dogs, Typhoon, Ruby, and Tawny. Our host there was very friendly, and we enjoyed our time there. We bought a bottle of Tawny Port before heading back to Porto to hop back on the ship.

Márcio was Fantastic and would highly recommend him to anyone!

At the beginning of the day, I had asked if we could swing by a bookstore in Porto. It’s supposed to be Harry Potter related, but we realized we were short on time and wouldn’t be able to go. So instead he brought us around on a very quick city tour, which was pretty cool to see.

We will definitely have to come back at some point, because we didn’t even scratch the surface of Porto!

After dinner, we went to another show on board the ship. It was poorly marketed, but actually ended up being a great experience with plenty of songs and acrobatics.

Up Next:
– At sea

Lisbon

September 3, 2024Posted in Europe 2024Tagged Belem, Belem Tower, Celebrity Cruises, Ginjinha, Lisbon, Monument to the Discoveries, PortugalLeave a comment

August 31, 2024

Since the cruise had offered an overnight in Lisbon, we were able to do a walking tour on Saturday of Lisbon with Jon and Yvonne.

A longggg time ago when I still worked for AAA, our computers had rotating screensavers and I had seen this cool looking “castle” that I knew I would need to see at some point in my life.

Belém Tower is a must-see, sitting right on the edge of the Tagus River. This 16th-century fortress has some seriously cool stonework that shows off Portugal’s history during the Age of Discovery. It was just a quick cab ride over to Belem from the cruise port, with a few other attractions nearby.

We didn’t go inside, as I think most of the beauty is on the outside. From Belém Tower, it was a short walk to the Monument of the Discoveries. The Monument of the Discoveries is a massive, eye-catching tribute to Portugal’s Age of Exploration. Shaped like the front of a ship, it features statues of famous explorers, with Prince Henry the Navigator leading the way. You can head to the top for some awesome panoramic views of the city and the river, but we opted to stay on the ground for this one.

We got a cab over to the Rossio neighborhood next. Our first stop was to get a ginjinha. Ginjinha is a popular Portuguese liqueur made from sour cherries, known as “ginja,” that are soaked in alcohol and sweetened with sugar. It’s served in small shots, often with a cherry at the bottom of the glass.

We opted to walk around from there, looking at the different shops. We picked up a few souvenirs before heading to a local festival, where there were other crafts and also some sangria. We opted to take a quick break and enjoy that before continuing our stroll.

Our last stop was the Praça do Comércio – Praça do Comércio is one of Lisbon’s most iconic squares settled right by the Tagus River. Surrounded by beautiful, yellow-painted buildings and an impressive archway. It was a fun spot to soak in Lisbon.

We made our way back to the ship and watched as we sailed underneath the “other” Golden Gate Bridge – and waved by to their Christ the Redeemer.

That evening we went to a show in the ship’s theater – Oli Nez. He was a very talented saxophone player, who also happened to be quite the comedian. It was a great time.

Up Next:
– Porto
– Douro Valley Wine Tasting

Sintra: the magical misty town

September 2, 2024September 2, 2024Posted in Europe 2024Tagged Celebrity Cruises, Equinox, Lisbon, Portugal, SintraLeave a comment

Friday, August 30, 2024

Our next stop was Lisbon for two days – we were excited that we had an overnight here, because it meant we could go to nearby Sintra and not have to rush back to the ship.

One of my girlfriends had gone to Spain and Portugal a few years back and raved about the beauty of Sintra. We knew that we needed to see it for ourselves. The ship has many of their own excursions, but none of them quite fit the bill for what we wanted to see. I was able to secure a private tour that was set up in a choose your own adventure format, our priority was Pena Palace, but there were other activities that we could choose from.

We had seen pictures of an ancient looking well – we didn’t know entirely what it was, but thought that could make a good stop. We also opted to do a famous bakery/factory in Belem.

As pulled into Lisbon, we went under a copy-cat of the Golden Gate Bridge – and Christ the Redeemer welcomed us to port with open arms.

We got off the ship pretty early, and met our guide outside of the cruise terminal. He said we were doing good on time, so he wanted to bring us up a tall hill in Lisbon to give us a great view of the city. The views were incredible – we could already tell that Lisbon was going to remind us a lot of California.

From there, we made our way to Pastéis de Belém, which is known for its iconic custard tarts, known as pastéis de nata. These have been made using a secret recipe since 1837.

These heavenly pastries feature a buttery crust filled with a creamy, sweet custard. You can choose to dust them with cinnamon and/or powdered sugar. The bakery is located in the Belém district of Lisbon and is the birthplace of this beloved Portuguese treat. I had seen pictures, and knew that I needed to have one. Growing up, my grandmother made custard pies and they were always my favorite!

After the bakery, we made our way to Quinta da Regaleira. The place with the really cool well. Quinta da Regaleira is like stepping into a real-life fairy tale, filled with mysterious gardens, hidden tunnels, and unique architecture. It was built in the early 20th century with lots of nods to secret societies like the Freemasons and the Knights Templar. The highlight for many is the Initiation Well—a spiral staircase that winds deep into the ground, offering a symbolic journey of discovery. Wandering through the palace, chapel, and gardens, you’ll find grottoes, fountains, and secret paths, making it a place where every turn reveals something new and magical.

We walked to downtown Sintra from there, and stopped for lunch at a cute Italian place with great pizza and lemon cello spritz. We continued to stroll through downtown, before getting picked up to head to Pena Palace with our guide.

Pena Palace sits atop a hill in Sintra and it is a striking blend of architectural styles, and is highlighted in bright colors. Originally a medieval monastery, it was transformed by King Ferdinand II into a whimsical royal residence, that was used as more of a summer house for royalty. The palace has beautiful fairy-tale towers and ornate details throughout. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, Pena Palace is a masterpiece of artistic imagination and natural beauty.

Unfortunately for us, it was incredibly foggy that day and we weren’t able to see the views from its high perch. Just gray clouds, but it was still an amazing visit!

Our guide took us to the most western point in all of Europe next. We drove through sunshine to get there, but within a few miles we were already covered in fog again. It was incredibly windy, but we took a quick picture before hopping back in the car.

He drove us to Cascais next, what used to be a small fishing village but has become incredibly popular for locals and tourists alike. Each corner we came around we saw a new sandy beach. He offered to stop for us to get out and walk around, but we were already exhausted from all of the walking. So we made our way back to Lisbon.

We had a quick dinner before calling it a day.

Up Next:
– Lisbon walking tour with Jon & Yvonne

Cadiz – Flamenco show and a walking tour

September 1, 2024Posted in Europe 2024Tagged Cadiz, Celebrity Cruises, Equinox, Flamenco, Spain, Walking Tour1 Comment

August 29, 2024

Our first stop on the cruise was Cadiz, Spain. This is viewed as the gateway to Seville – but it was an hour and a half one way to get there. Andy and I opted to do a flamenco show in Cadiz, and Jon and Yvonne went nearby to do a sherry tasting outside of the city.

A lot of people had signed up for this excursion, so many in fact that there were three charter buses waiting. Our group had flipped the original itinerary and we were doing the walking tour first, then the flamenco show, and ending with the bus tour of Cadiz.

We were relieved that we got the walking tour over first, as it was already getting hot and humid. Prior to this tour, we didn’t know much about Spain – except that they “discovered” a lot of the world. It was interesting to learn more about the country, and also Cadiz. Cadiz is one of the oldest cities in Western Europe is situated on a narrow strip of land surrounded by the sea. It really was quite beautiful!

From there, we walked to a flamenco bar. We got there as the place was opening, and it was only our group. We met a lovely duo from Canada, but originally from India. They were very interested in US politics, so we had a fun chat about what’s going on south of their border.

As we all got settled, they offered us all a drink, we of course chose sangria (when in Spain…), and a potato omelette with a cheese and meat plate.

But the political conversation came to a screeching halt once the dancers came out. We had one sassy Spanish woman – and a gentleman accompanying her. In addition, there was one singer and a guitarist. The music, the lyrics, the dancing… they were electric!

A flamenco show is a powerful expression of passion and cultural heritage, combining expressive dance, soulful singing, and intricate guitar playing. The performance features a singer and guitarist creating a deep, emotional backdrop, while the dancer(s) responds with intense footwork and graceful movements. The result is a captivating, dynamic experience that immerses the audience in the heart of Spain’s vibrant traditions. Unfortunately, no videos were allowed – so we had to work with still pictures only. Ole!

She was so sassy – and fierce – and incredible

If you get the chance to attend a flamenco show – do it! We enjoyed it – I wish we knew enough Spanish to understand the lyrics, but our guide translated some of the lyrics to us later. The stories in the songs varied about the Spanish’s hate for the French – to a woman wondering where her husband was (probably drinking wine)… it was a lot of fun.

We were there for about an hour – and after the show was over. We went to a local market – it had a lot of fish and produce. It was fun to see – but we didn’t have time to do any shopping. We walked by a few more historic buildings before hopping on our bus.