Back to Barcelona

It’s early here, the ship is docking in Barcelona and my bride is still sleeping. We didn’t do much yesterday, just stayed on the ship so we could rest. We’re last off the ship because our flight to Paris is this evening, so we wait. It’s hectic downstairs with all the folks who are trying to make to the airport in time to catch an early flight…like our 4 dining mates from England…their one of the first off. Not like the gentleman we met yesterday who is taking the B2B (back to back). He’ll get off for the day here and back on the ship tonight to do the transatlantic crossing to Galveston. Yep, this is one of the ships that will spend until the fall taking all those Texans, Okies, and whoever else down to the Caribbean for 7 days. This was his 27th cruise.

We wondered about our other dining mates from Montreal. They joined us for the first 3 nights or so and then didn’t come back. They are a young couple with a 6 month old baby boy. She was on maternity leave and he took some time off and they are doing 5 cruises in a row from Barcelona, two seven day cruises followed by a 14 day and 21 day cruise, yes you heard right…7 weeks in a row on a cruise ship with a 6 month old. They had decided if they wanted to travel…now’s the time. Not sure where they went but after the 4th night or so they didn’t come back to the dining room.

Cruising is interesting and enjoyable. Everybody looks so happy all the time. Maybe it’s the escape from reality that draws folks. Maybe it’s the exotic ports of call that you seem to sometimes rush through…i.e..Rome in a day. Maybe it’s because you can be as busy as you want or do nothing. Maybe it’s because no one has to cook or clean…you can do exactly like you want. Maybe it’s because you simply want to make some special memories. Surely it’s a mixture of all the above. My bride and I decided when our kids were young that instead of spending inordinate amounts of money on Christmas presents and birthdays…we take trips. No, we didn’t start out in Europe…our destinations were Galveston and camping in the hill country…San Antonio. But they were memories…many of which last a lifetime. This was one of those trips. We both wished several times that our kids had been with us. We have shared many memorable trips…and Lord willing there will be more.

I guess reality sets in today as we make our way from Barcelona…to Paris…to Houston…then Baytown. I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed. No more all you can eat bacon…or fried eggs…or whatever your pleasure. Hopefully we can avoid the pickpockets on our way back. Thanks for reading and keeping us in your prayers.
See you Soon,

De & ke

Unfortunately Kim doesn’t even make it back to Baytown. Jared is bringing her other travel bag from home…she’ll swap out some clothes and hit the road…and be home Friday. Oh, the joys of travel.

FAQ - Why didn't you post more pics? Internet on the cruise ship is 50c a minute and eternally slow! Thanks for asking.

Quiet on the South Coast of France

Yesterday was a quiet day for us. We docked at Villefranche, in between Monaco and Cannes to the south while Monte Carlo lie to the north. We decided after three straight days of going from early to late to rest for the next couple of days. Villefrance is a small, quiet, but beautiful town on the edge of the sea and built on the side of the mountains. Our ship docks out in the water and we catch the tender boats into town. There’s not much there besides a few restaurants and shops at least half of which are closed for the season. We headed up to the train station, managed to purchase two train tickets from billet machine in French and boarded the train to Nice, one stop over.

Nice (niece or neese whichever you pronounce it) was nice, pretty big but nice. We got off the train and headed towards the port, or so we thought. It was several blocks down through the middle of town and we were the only tourists we saw. I like that. It doesn’t make me look like a local though as we stood out like sore thumbs everywhere we went. We strolled by a local park where some retired men were playing some kind of game with large metal balls. They threw a red ball aways away from them and then attempted to throw one of their three bigger ones closet to the read one. After their first attempt to see who got the closest, the rest were an attempt to knock the close one away. It was fun to watch.

We did go the right way, made it to the port and sat in an open air café for a morning beverage. The port was full of boats of all kinds, from small colorful fishing boats which we hoped to see to multimillion dollar yachts and everything in between. Mornings are slow to get started in Europe. Nothing seems to get going till 10 or later, then most places shut down from 12-2 for a rest I guess, then things open up again.

After a long leisurely time sitting at the port café and being pretty much ignored by the waiter and everyone else at the café we headed back towards the train station. We happened on a local bakery which we found first by the smell of baking bread. What a treat it was to go inside and see all the French pastries and bread, just like you imagine it would be and at local prices. We got what looked something like an éclair, shaped more like a small dingy, filled in the middle with dark chocolate, chocolate chips, and doused with powdered sugar all for 1 euro, what a bargain. We quickly ate that one and decided to get another one to go, plus something that looked like fried pie dough, also covered in powdered sugar. Both were divine to say the least. We would have loved to sit there for hours and tried one of everything, not to mention take home those torpedo shaped loaves of French bread. But it’s time to head back on the train to Villefrance, make our way back to the ship for our own siesta before dinner. There’s nothing quite like quiet, restful days…that’s today…and tomorrow before heading home.

De & ke

Our day in Florence

We docked today in a port called Livorno, Italy. Livorno was not what we came to see but had to travel inland. It’s the coast of Tuscany but to get there you have to go inland. We met our driver and guide around 8 am, got in the van and headed to Florence. It was a beautiful drive through the fog covered hills towards Florence, covered in wine groves, olive trees, and quaint villages and towns of the region. Our first stop was a hill overlooking the historic city of Florence. Florence is said to be the birthplace of the Renaissance. It’s where many famous artists and thinkers supposedly brought the world out of the dark ages. It’s not nearly the size of Naples or certainly Rome but beautiful in its own right. The Arno river cuts the city in two one being Florence and the other our guide called “the other side of the Arno,” the other side of the tracks some might say.

After our picturesc beginning we headed straight into town to walk for the next three hours. We visited the Plaza del Duomo with its towering church dome, designed by Brunelleschi, the accompanying baptistry built in 12th century, the Campanille, the Torre del Mangia, the Palazzo Pubblico, and the Ponte Vecchio, famous bridge built in 1345 over the Arno river which houses gold and jewelry shops since the 1500’s. Most all of what Florence is famous for was funded by the Medicci, who held power from 1434-1743. They were at that time the richest family in the world.

We stopped for terrific Tuscan style lunch of an antipasto plate and fresh made fettucini with porcini mushrooms and a cheese and spinach ravioli. I’d never really eaten pasta unless it was covered by sauce of some sort but the Tuscan’s simply use fresh olive oil and parsley. It was nothing short of fabulous, though not inexpensive. We declined to pay 14 euros to see the original statue of David having seen an exact replica earlier on one of the plazas. After that it was back in the van for the trip back through the Tuscan hillside to Pisa.

Pisa is close the port and home of the University of Pisa, an important science school for the Italians. It wasn’t much of a town that we saw except for the Piazza del Duomo, its Baptistry, Campo Santo, and the Leaning Tower. Apparently building such things next to the Arno river was ill advised because of the shifting soil. Bottom line, everything there leans, the church, the baptistery, and the tower. At one time the tower leaned from vertical as much as 17ft. They’ve attempted to stop the progression of the lean and managed to slow it anyway. Our time was short and we didn’t have time to climb to the top, only to take in the sights before heading back to the ship.

Our evening was highlighted by an excellent dinner of turkey, dressing, and all the trimmings. After that a stroll down the Promenade for the turkey parade, and four Asian guys who did justice to a number of Beatles tune. Neither of us could stay awake for the 9:30 evening tribute to America show having been going, going, going for three straight days. Tomorrow is a day of rest for us in the city of Villefrance. Many will go to Monaco to see the casino. I guess it’s one of the largest in the world. For me, once you’ve seen one casino, you’ve seen them all.

Oh yeah, I bought something for me today. We stopped in a local market to try this year's olive oil. I bought some first press, one week old olive oil. Hope it makes it home in my suitcase unscathed.

Once again, ciao!!

De & ke

Rome wasn’t seen in a day!

Bion Girono!! Today was our day to travel to Rome. We docked at Civitavecchia, a port first built around 200 AD. They’ve upgraded it since which is good for ships like the Voyager of the Seas. Some days they get as many as 7 cruise ships in port at the same time. Since we are very late in the season there were only two. Our driver met us at about 8 am for the 45 minute trip to Rome. Ivan was our driver and guide. His great-grandfather started the business of giving tours of Rome, and his son, and his son, and now Ivan. They’ve been around awhile.

We hit rush hour into Rome and made our way slowly to the “old city.” First stop was the Coliseum and it was fantastic. The whole surrounding area has been excavated so as to give you a feel for what it was like in the 1st century. It gave both of us chill bumps to walk the cobblestone steps up to where the “games” began. Unfortunately most of its original marble beauty was later “recycled” to build newer parts of Rome before there was archeology and tourism, but it’s breathtaking still the same. The stadium was to have held 58,000 people when it was built. We tried to imagine the Emperors, the officials, the chariots, the politicians and the people all gathered for such games. A large cross stands in one section of the place as a reminder of the many folks who paid with their lives for believing in the Christ.

Then we travelled to an important city square, saw dozens of other buildings, I can’t recall the names of, the Trevi Fountain, Placa Novay, the Pantheon, and on to Vatican City. The Vatican is the smallest country in the world. We toured the museum part of the city, made our way down for almost an hour in the Sistine Chapel. It was a place we could’ve stayed for hours. Part of our tour included our own guide for the Vatican. I really believe he could’ve talked for a month describing everything we were seeing. It was hard to take it all in. Then from there we went into St Peter’s Basilica. Boy, there just wasn’t enough time. We’re not Catholic but it was still amazing to actually stand where so many world people focus their faith. We just missed the Pope. He speaks at noon every Wednesday. Aaron, I didn’t get to tell him hi for you, sorry.
That’s all the time we had for today so it was back to the ship.

The weather has been just perfect so far, lows in the 60’s highs around 68 and no rain. “Rome wasn’t built in a day” they say. Well, I’ll tell you, you can’t see it in one either….but it’s certainly worthwhile to see all you can.

We pray for each you of a greater sense of Thanksgiving for each and every blessing the Lord gives us. I’m especially thankful for my bride of 30 years, come December.
Ciao ya’ll,

De & ke

Where's Your Wallet?

My last blog was from the Hotel Oasis in Barcelona. We liked Barcelona. The area we were in was right near the port or marina and a popular place to be. One of the things I like most about travelling overseas is the chance to do as much non-touristy things as I can, travel the trains/subways, eat at local places, and the like. While you do that its part of why you travel is to see the sights. We headed out of the hotel with good directions on how to get to Sagrada Familia, a huge church that was started by Gaudi and is still under construction.

We headed down to the metro station, down the stairs, finding our way to make sure we were headed the right direction. It was a busy day on the train and as it arrived we stepped in, at least Kim did, I tried to but some decent looking guys wanted the spot by the door. I tried to push through, explaining without words the best I could, “I need to get through.”

The next few moments still play over and over in my mind. The ring that indicates the door is about to close goes off and I’m trying to get through. All of a sudden there’s a bump and the guys blocking the door give way, and quickly get out, only for me to realize, they stole my wallet! I realized it just a split second after it happened. After all, I was carrying it in my front pocket like you’re supposed to.

I hollered at Kim, "they stole my wallet” and rushed out the door right behind them. Kim quickly followed by putting her hand in the train door, despite it closing. Thankfully it opened and she was able to follow. I quickly confronted the guy who bumped me and of course he holds up his hands as if to say, what?” I continued to follow him, demanding my wallet. And truth be told, he didn’t steal my wallet, his cohort did. Up the escalators we went me right behind demanding my wallet and back down the other side of the station. I’m hollering at him with Kim not far behind. Of course there’s no wallet.

All of sudden I see Kim standing with some older gentleman, holding up my wallet, of course cash free. It all happened so quickly. We looked and found a security gal, who kind of shrugged her shoulders as if to say, “duh?” It was done. Fortunately there was not too much cash that was lost. We decided that when we needed cash we would use the ATM and that has worked fine, though losing any is more than I would have preferred.

After a few moments of settling down to take in what had happened, realize all our cash was gone, and to sort things out, we headed back to where we had been, continued on our way to Sagrada Familia, at a hamburgesa at McDonalds, stopped at the ATM for more cash, again by train to Las Ramblas, the major happening area in Barcelona, walked talked, had more Tapas in a streetside café, and eventually walked back to the hotel. By the time we got back and laid down, all I could think about was what happened. What I could’ve done differently. I think it was a miracle I got back my wallet at all, credit cards, ID, drivers license, ATM card all still there, along with my hiding cash. All they wanted was the quick cash and they got it. I had a hard time sleeping because of it.

After breakfast the next day, we couldn’t get to the cruise ship fast enough. Next stop the southern Italian coast.

More later,
de & ke

My "Fr-english" is Bad

It was quite a start to our trip to the Mediterranean. I think from now on I just call it the Med so I won't have to be concerned if I spell it right hereafter. We got a late start from IAH on the way to Paris. I've been on several trips over the pond so I thought for sure they could make up the time in the air. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. This time nada, we were late landing in Paris and missed our connecting flight to Barcelona. When folks tell you to avoid CDG airport in Paris they mean it. Well, we were late getting there for our 9 am flight to Spain and were immediately booked on the 3:45 pm. That's right...all day at CDG...or stay awake, hit the train into Paris for a couple of hours of sightseeing so that's what we did.

We made our way down to the RER train area, stood in line with 100 or more other people, spent some of the Euros I had gotten at IAH, paid the fare into Paris...8.50 Euros...and boarded the train to the Notre Dame stop. It has a french name but I forget what it was called...something Notre Dame...duh! After stopping at every stop between the two we got off the train, up the escalators and stairs and came out just a block from the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Wow!! It's totally impressive. We spend the better part of an hour or more outside, then inside...yes, it's free to get in the church...took in the very first part of a noon prayer service and then left. I admit...I got nothing out of the service. Maybe my french is just that bad...yes its bad. My "fr-english" is not very good either. Maybe it the combination of my southern accent combined with what is likely a terrible rendition of french...hence "fr-english"...I suspect that my spanglish is just as bad. I didn't get it...and those I tried to speak it to didn't get it either.

Well...after the few minutes of a french catholic prayer service we hit the street next to NotreDame...found a little streetside cafe for a bite to eat. Going on virtually no sleep for almost 24 hrs we thought it better to keep going than to stop. Kim ordered some quiche lorraine and I got fried eggs and ham...along with some french coffee. While we waited for the food and rested...we just people watched. Even in November the area around the cathedral was very crowded. The food was just outstanding and certainly the coffee was much needed. Then it was time to stroll the shops back towards our trainstop on the Seine river...try to make sure we found the right train back to the airport...security check and wait for our plane to Barcelona.

After an hour and half flight to Barcelona...we finally made it...unless you count finding the RENFE train...catching the train...making a connection at Barcelona Sants stop...finding the correct train to Estancia Le Franca...walking a few blocks...asking a local who showed us the next half block to our Hotel Oasis...that's pretty much our trip so far. Well, we did manage to do all that...get a shower after 30 hours of pretty much no sleep...walk a couple of blocks away to a nice area for some evening Tapas...potatoes brava...their version of garlic shrimp (prawns)...a nice mozerella cheese...and sundried tomatoes on bread drizzled with olive oil...a guitar playing guy...another who came and played the accordion...then back to the hotel our evening.

After we got back to the hotel...I bought internet access...3 Euros for 24 hrs...got online to see if I could use Skype and try to figure out why Kim's phone wouldn't work. After some back and forth and finally getting a decent connection...the nice lady at Verizon Wireless in the states...stayed patient with our connection...we walked through the problem...really on their end...and got Kim's cell phone working...3G network and all. Then it was time to call home and let the fam know we made it.

Today I feel like I got run over by a truck. We did have some breakfast...good coffee...and go for a walk near our hotel. Right now the bride is resting and I'm blogging. Later we'll venture out a bit further to take in some of Barcelona...hopefully Sagadra Familia...a gothic church 100's of years already in construction with possibly 100's more to go...then some dinner...maybe some paella...then a another good night of rest. Manana we board the ship. Well...that's it for now. I'm still trying to find a church for tomorrow morning...not much luck yet. I found one...I think...but will have to try to get some more info...I'm sure if I speak "fr-english" that will help. My spanglish is really bad.

Thanks for reading,
de & ke

Almost Gone!

By this time tomorrow my bride and I will be headed to her favorite airport, IAH. It just so happens she won't be home until this evening, just in time to wash a few things, repack, and head back out. I'm pretty sure the last thing she probably wants to do is head back to the airport but she does love to travel and she does get those airmiles and somebody has to use them.

So, tomorrow we'll head out over the pond as they say. We're flying to Barcelona, Spain for a day or so and then board a ship for a 7 day Western Mediterranean cruise. I was looking awhile back when she was working so hard, trying to find a reasonably priced cruise to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. And there it was...a 7 day cruise to Rome, Florence, Pisa, Pompeii, Nice, Marseilles, and Cannes, then back to Barcelona for cheaper than we could cruise out of Galveston. We've gone out of Galveston before and wanted to go somewhere new. Next was to check to see if we could fly on those Continental air miles and yes...flights were available so...off we go.

On our way back we'll overnight in Paris and see what we can see in just a few overnight hours. I'll try to blog and post a few pics while we're gone while at the same time try not to pay for too many minutes on cruiseship priced internet.

It's the least she deserves for putting up with me for 30 years...don't you think?

Well...we're almost gone. No FB, no farmtown, hopefully no mosquitoes, and the trip of a lifetime for the next 10 days. We'll be enjoying the fare in another part of the world and working on our next 30 years! Everyone have a blessed Thanksgiving!

cya later,
de

Why I Started Blogging.

I tried to think back about exactly why I started blogging but couldn't recall. So now, I take you back to November 1, 2005. Here's my first edition blog. Not much to brag about but here it is. Oh by the way, I'm sure to pick up this week on the blogging as my bride and I take our 30th anniversary trip to cruise the Western mediterranean.

My Son Says I Need a Blog

Actually I've had one for months but have never learned how to use it. Just guess I wasn't sure what to do with it. After everything that's happened lately in the world and in my world I decided to jump into blogging. I'm still not sure I know what I'm doing or even how to use this but here goes.

The title for my blog is, "Not too seriously please." I guess that's the reason for my hesitancy to start blogging because much of what I might say could be taken too seriously and I might offend someone. I hope not but, oh well, here goes.

I just finished what I have entitled "dead week". No, I'm not in school, I'm a full-time minister who just finished participating in some way in 5, count em, 5 funerals in eight days, hence the name, "not too seriously please" and "dead week."

Day one of dead week was the funeral I did for a sweet gal who I really came to know only in recent years. She was one of those folks who live 70 or 80 years in her just under 50. Life was tough, she lived it fast and hard, and finally wore down. Her soul mate was a guy the rest of the bikers called "Wild Man." If wild man could play the guitar he could sub in for Billy Gibbons or Dusty Hill of ZZ top anyday. He looked the part with an 18 inch white beard and leather jacket.

It wasn't my first Biker funeral and probably won't be my last. Wild man answered his cell phone at least twice during the funeral and maybe three times. Bikers, God love 'em are an interesting lot. Funeral attire has drasctically changed over the years and biker funerals are one example. Overall, it was an interesting day and the family and bikers were all pleased by the service. One down.

After that, I left to go home and pack, load up the car and head to the funeral home for the second of the five funerals I just couldn't fit in to my schedule. All I could do was just visit the family, so that's what I did. Then it was off to the doggie motel to house my Schnauzer Frazier, drive to the airport, and off too OK for my uncles funeral, #2 on Tuesday.

Well, that's my first blog. I'll write more maybe tomorrow.

Stayin alive, stayin alive.

de