We normally don’t take shore excursions when on a cruise. We find them crowded , usually too brief and feel like we’re part of a herd

However, on Sunday we docked in Livorno and having been there before I really couldn’t think of much to see or areas I wanted to saunter through. John and I are big saunterers. We average between 8 and 10 miles a day on vacations so we took the plunge and took a day excursion to Cinque Terre billed as “ On your Own “.

To be fair once we got there it was on your own . However, getting there was definitely unpleasant.

It involved a small bus built for school children, a driver who wasn’t sure where we were going and a very chatty guide ! He was quick to share his feelings on everything from marble to a 20 minute lecture on why gas station coffee in Italy is doing good.

However, once we arrived and spent hours walking through two of the five villages and eating really amazing lunches, as always the drive was worth it…we’ll sort of . Though I do have to ask who sends a child’s school bus for adults. Several of our large bottomed guests really struggled to fit. Luckily that’s one issue I don’t have lol

The day was beautiful and the villages who have really suffered without mass tourism seemed very welcoming. Mass tourism is such a blessing and a curse . We will discuss that next time. I need to go for a swim ! Lol

1991 was a strange year for me. I quit my job in Chicago and moved to Ireland . I couldn’t find meaningful work in Dublin so I ended up going to London to stay with my friend Guy and look for work . I eventually took a job at OUP and one weekend I ended up going to Barcelona for a long weekend to visit friends who lived there. They were very much into the Catalan culture and took me to late night dinners, art displays and even to Pamplona for the running of the bulls. I became a bit addicted to the city and the area and started going for long weekends and vacations there whenever I could. I went to the Olympics there in 92, I spent summers wondering through streets and spending hours in cafes.

I took the train to Sitges to have beach days. I seriously thought about moving there but life as it often does interfered and I ended up taking a job in London and staying in the UK for the next 20 years off and on .

I still love Barcelona , I love the pace l, I love the food , I love the architecture full of Art Nouveau, Art Deco and of course the amazing Gaudi the founder of Barcelona Modernism and the architect of the still unfinished Sagrada Familia.

The first time I entered it there was no roof , no altar, no completed lighting. Funds had dried up and many thought it would never be finished. I’ve watched that change in the last 30 years as it now has a roof , the pigeons are gone and it’s actually a church. They say it will be finished in 2026. I’ll be back to see that

In the meantime I walk down the Ramblas repulsed to see both a Starbucks and Dunkin next to each other on the main shopping street. Chain coffee in Barcelona! Sacrilege!

I walk through the city market chasing images of my younger self and still loving this amazing city.

Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. Who knew? However, it has a very laid back feel as opposed to very busy Barcelona. We spent the day on rented Bikes and cycled from the port into the city. I was really blown away by the “City of Arts and Sciences” complex. I love modern architecture when it has something to say and when it’s open and welcoming. I always marvel when a city actually approves and pays for daring unique architecture and not just metal boxes. I could have spent the day here just exploring every part of the complex. Luckily we had time to also ride through the city gardens and into the old city .

The gardens were beautiful and literally hundreds of miles of bike trails made it really easy and pleasant.

I’m still trying to decide if the children’s playground shaped like Gulliver from Gulliver’s travels was whimsical or a bit bizarre….

The bad thing about being on a cruise ship is that you never get the time to really explore a destination. However, it’s a great way to tip your toe in and decide where you’ll return to. Definitely Valencia is on that list

I came to Cadiz the first time sometime in the early 2000s. I was trying to think last night why I was there and how I got there. I felt suddenly old . I think I came for a meeting near Granada and must have rented a car and driven through southwest Spain and somehow ended up there. I remember I stayed at the Paradore as I accidentally “borrowed” a towel that said Paradores on it which I still have in my linen closet. It was a very nice towel . Lol.

The city is one of the oldest in Spain and is the city the Christopher Columbus sailed from on his voyage in 1492. In the 17th and 18th century Cadiz thrived from the trade with Latin America and many of its finest buildings date from this time

Anyhow, I remember Cadiz as a laid back town with a marine vibe and beautiful public gardens. It still is.

In fact, I think it’s one of those places you keep in your memory and when you return years later it feels exactly the same. It looks the same and has the same vibe it did 20 years ago. It’s still beautiful. It’s a town I could see myself spending weeks in.Strolling through gardens, eating in squares and buying my food from the huge public market. I love a bustling city market and Cadiz has one of the best in Spain

Hmm, maybe I need to rethink my retirement plans!

It’s been years since I’ve been here but the feel, the light and the character of this remarkable city remains the same.

To me, it’s one of the few European cities that exists primarily as a city for its inhabitants and not a set piece for throngs of tourists.

Yes, in the last few years it’s endured the onslaught of hop on hop off buses and tacky American burger chains but it remains a city built for the Portuguese by the Portuguese..visitors welcome.

When I wander around Lisbon I feel like I’m in a real working city where people work not where they take meetings and count tourists . Even the commercial streets are crammed not with tacky souvenir shops but with food stores and restaurants where Portuguese shop ,

I love the faded magnificence of it. Happy to be what it is and still thriving and doing the business of being a city. A beautiful one !

It is not a gracious DC or a pompous London or a romantic date that is Paris. It is a real , luminous, gorgeous working city.

Due to our schedule we only had a day to explore it. So we took a bus to the top of Paraue Edwardo VI and sauntered down to the bay . We explored small streets , interesting stores , road the funicular up to the mirador and walk and walked .

As we walked down through the Jardins de Avenida de Libertade and across the Praça dos Restauradores down through the crowded shopping street all the way to the bay; the sense of being someplace , A specific place , a place unique all around you is almost physical. I love Lisbon and could spend many evenings wandering it’s streets and boulevards. I’ll shut up now and just share the pictures

Three days ago I knew three things about the Azores

1 It is an autonomous region of Portugal.

2. It’s a long archipelago in the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean.

3. Christopher Columbus made an unscheduled stop there on his return from the New World when the Santa Maria was damaged.

I had assumed it was a collection of desert like islands similar to the Canaries and not all that interesting. Of course , I was wrong

It’s stunningly beautiful. Untouched by the mass tourism found in places like the Canaries and the largest tea growing region in Europe, who knew !

We started our day going on a hike to view the northern shore of the island. Rodrigo picked us up in his Land Rover and drove us to a small village on the north shore where we wandered through the town and then made our way to a path that led downward. When I say downward I mean straight down .

Protected by a thick canopy of Red Cedar we walked down to a river and sauntered along its banks. One waterfall after another. Totally deserted . Had it been a bit warmer we would have jumped in for a swim !

Finally we reached the coast and the last cascade that flowed directly into the sea.

The only problem with a steep three mile hike down means a steep three mile hike up . It was a killer. I was surprised Rodrigo and John didn’t leave me along the trail for the buzzards to find! I really can’t describe the views but check out the photos and imagine the reality was twice as stunning in person.

After a champagne lunch in which the other half drank almost entire bottle of Champagne we headed to the Lake of Fire ..crystal clear filling an old caldera and then back to the city of Ponta Delgada and a stroll.

9 miles of walking , back on the ship and then we found ourselves sailing away.

I often visit someplace and say “oh I will definitely return here”.In this case I actually see myself returning and exploring the 6 other islands. Until then I’ll just remember the blue of the water , those waterfalls and the three mile hike up the hill

Through the Mists

So day 6 is rapidly approaching. At 6 am we will dock in Puerto Delgado in the Azores. There is something exciting about seeing twinkling lights in the distance during any kind of Sea Voyage. I remember in 2018 when I took a freighter from Philadelphia to Auckland for 28days it was the same. The first 10 days through the Caribbean were beautiful but we passed a lot of islands and land never seemed far away. However the 18 days across the South Pacific were a completely different story. After evenings of unbelievable night skies and days of nothing but water when I spotted twinkling lights of NZ I got quite excited. I felt anxiety and excitement. It’s always the same for me whether it be a cruise ship or ocean liner or freighter loaded with containers.

Land Ho !

It was blustery and quite rough today on the North Atlantic . 8 foot swells and a very strong eastern wind. I spent most of the day holed up in my cabin reading and sleeping.

Somehow we got upgraded to a two bedroom suite with a butler who brings the husband PBJ sandwiches every afternoon and me some lavish cheese plate. It’s a nice life

This is the second time I’ve crossed the Atlantic but this time it’s a more relaxed and casual vibe and a bit more luxurious which considering my first trip was on the Queen Mary seems hard to believe.

I’m sitting here on my balcony and it’s hard not to think of what a huge role this ocean played in the lives of so many American families. Millions crossed this ocean voluntarily to change their lives , escape persecution and provide a future for their children and millions crossed this ocean in shackles dragged from their homes and families.

However, in so many cases history is very personal so it’s hard not thinking about my mothers father , my grandfather Alfred Edmund Syvertsen who made this journey alone as a 12 year old boy to join his older brother and sister who were already here. He was an orphan and his brother and sister were the only family he had left. Of course, when 12 year old AE crossed he wasn’t in a 2 bedroom suite. He would have been in steerage. Sharing space with literally a thousand strangers in cramped and dirty quarters in the bowels of the ship. I can’t imagine the fear, loneliness and trepidation he had making that journey in the early year of a new century. But he did make it and he flourished here in the states even after his older brother gave up

and went back to Norway . My grandfather and his older sister flourished in this new world and built lives here. I’m a result of that and it’s hard not to be incredibly grateful as I sit in a suite on a cruise ship eating pbj and think about him and his bravery and diligence. Many years ago I visited Norway and met his sister in law who had come back to Norway with her husband and built their lives again. She told me all about my grandfather and his journey and I couldn’t help think “Thank god he was made of sterner stuff than I “

The Crossing

Several years ago after I retired we decided to take the Queen Mary from NY to Southampton in the UK. One of the first thing we were instructed by the snooty sales agent was that we were on a crossing not a cruise. Lol Apparently cruises are very low brow and crossing well…are not

This time we definitely chose a cruise. While the first time was fun and indeed it did make us feel like extras on Downton Abbey abbey we wanted to have fun. We didn’t want to wear a tux to dinnner or be told when to eat and when to drink.

So today we will set sail on NCL ship The Gem.

The trip starts in NYC and then heads east for 5 nights until we hit the Azores . Brief stop there then on to Lisbon , Cadiz , Sevilla , Malaga , Barcelona, Piza and finally Rome.

Then we will hang out in Italy for awhile. Head to Norway, Ireland,UK and finally I’ll spend a few weeks with my sister in Cyprus

It’s a cruise ..not a crossing.

So last minute stroll through Philadelphia to get some money and a coffee at the WaWa. Walking through Dilworth park where the city has set up a roller disco .

I love this city. I discovered it relatively late in life but now it’s my second city. It’s a city with real personality and a character all it’s own. NC is home for me but Philadelphia has a big chunk of my heart.

All aboard the Keystone express !