Travelling to Worlds End.......

Yeah, there really such a place. Oddly, its here in London. I was thinking about his recently, and I truly dont know the origins of the name, but I suspect that it was named so when it really was the worlds end. I mean, the West End of London is far from what I'd call west. But back in the 1500, when the seat of power was the Tower of London, and a royal palace, it would have been west. Now this is just my guess. I know that Hyde Park had been King Henry VIII deer hunting forest.....yes really. So why not Chelsea being at the end of the known world.... Now that the history lesson is over, I just want to make note of the fab day I had. Took the 328 bus to it's terminus at World's End, and low and behold, it drops me right off on Kings Road near the chairty shops. i must say I had quite the day putzing around there. Chelsea is one of the nicer areas in London, so very nice things are donated. Let me be clear, most are tiny sized, but I did find some Russell and Bromley black flat shoes for £4.50. What a coup!! Also picked up some nice long sleeved Tees for £4 each. Had to hit Cath Kidston as well. Nothing like a few gifts for the girls back home.... Wandering down the street took me to Bluebird cafe. Jess said it was lovely place to have a cuppa, so I did. I'm still learning to enjoy just getting out and bopping about. There is so much to see. It's sometimes sad that I do it all by myself. But such is the cross I bear.

Wrapping up the cruise....part tres

More good food. I can't believe we didn't gain a million pounds. Actually, we both did well and didn't change our weight at all. I have trouble believing this myself since we were slurping up cocktails at all hours of the day (got to get our money's worth of the all inclusive!!) But I suppose it no random eating, like I do at home. Boredom sets in and I see what's new in the fridge. While there is 24 hr food to be had, we just we're hungry at non meal times. If we were, let's have a cocktail instead!!

just some random  food shots - soup

GF pasta - so good

GF tiramisu - oh yes please!

Valencia is one of those palces I know nothing about. Don't they have oranges or something? Well, it's a lovely port really. Chocked full of Art Nuevou buildings I can't show them all. Did snap a lot of doorways so if you're interested, let me know...Again, we chose to just wander by ourselves. this lead us to the wonderful mercado ( I have the spelling wrong here and can't seem to find the correct one, sorry) It's a huge victorian styled iron market for food - meats, fruits veg and spices all fill this indoor space.

Outside, trying to capture to glasswork

inside, bright and smells yummy

Italians love their tiles

More wandering around led to more interesting sites. At a loss of their names, we can only guess at some of their dates and history.

old vs. new

side street

Tiles to St Someone

Torre

And I had to add this...ever wonder about gas stations in small town and villages? Well, this is how they do it. Just along the curb.

The next day took us to France and the port of Marseille. Somewhere in my head I was thinking "Cannes or Nice". Wrong! Marseilles is nothing like that. It very much a working port, I believe the largest in France. THey bused us into the marina area which is nice, a bit rundown, but that gave it some charm. There was the Notre Dame de Garde on the hill but we didn't make it that far.

Notre Dame on the hill

Civic Building

Marina

side street

Then back to our port of departure, Savona Italy. We docked at 8am but our bus to Milano airport wasn't until 2pm, so this left some time for us to kill. Easy, get off an walk around. Only trouble is, it's Sunday and everything is closed till mid day or not at all. Fine, we can just roam with people and traffic. So we scoot along the provided city map. There are lovely piazzas and streets full of fashionable shops. Maybe it's a good thing they are closed!! We eventually end up back near the port at the old fort built on top of a Roman one - so like everything in Italy!'

Fort entrance

beach huts awaiting warmer weather

view from our room

berthed

Be sure to look down those side streets...

Faux painted buildings everywhere!

So then onto a shuttle van and a 2.5 hr bus ride north to Milano. It was a fabulous cruise and the staff was great. Yes, I would definitely do another Costa cruise, as long as I can bring my extra captain with me.

survived the cruise ......part two

So then we're off to the beautiful island of Sicily. To Palermo to be exact. It is situated on the  northern-western part of Sciliy, an area we hadn't been to. We had visit the island decades ago, but on the eastern side, at Catania. The city proved to be bigger and more populated than Catania. It hosted some very nice architecture, but had that island vibe to it. Sicilians are proud to call themselves such, more than Italian. Kinda like how Texans are: Texans first, then Americans...
Here again, we opted not to do the tour, but maybe we should have. At night, before each port, they leave a map in your room. I think it gives the false hope that you can tour yourself. The problem is, do you know what you're looking at? WE wandered around the pre-layed out course on the map and stumbled down some side alleys. WE found the big attractions, but had no real idea of what they were. Somehow it never occurred to us to take pay the fee and tour the buildings.....

Palermo has that Moorish influence that much of the western Med has in it's architecture. I wish I had read up more on the area before we went.

The next day was spent at sea while we were transiting west to Palma de Mallorca. This is somewhere I really wanted to see. But since we had a day at sea to kill, why not lay about in the sun. Easier said then done. The ship is steaming along, in the sun, but that breeze made it a bit nippy. In the end we found some sunny chaises aft, out of the wind. Then, we were told to move. The deck was being cleared of people and yellow caution tape was put up on ladders to prevent people from occupying the area. Then it expanded, not once but twice more. The port side rigged lighting was coming down too. Ok what's up?? At first I thought they were doing maintenance and needed the area clear for that. Then we thought maybe there was a fault in the lights and they needed to bring them down for repair. Well, turns out there was a medical emergency on board (after  PA announce "Tango India" earlier) and we were slowing so a helicopter could come and air lift a passenger off. This also meant we had to alter our course, returning eastward closer to Sardinia so the chopper could reach us. Then we wait, while barely moving. Now I feel bad for someone whose vacation really has gone off.  But we see if medical chopper fly away and it's "full steam forward". We've lost a few hours now and we need to get back on schedule. Engines are cranked up to near , if not  full throttle. It causes a lot of buffeting especially in the aft. So, guess where the dining room is? Aft. Dinner was a bit of a choppy  time with much rattling of dishes. I'm glad I grabbed a black cocktail dress at the last minute to cram into my case. Turns out we had three nights of Gala, or special dining. SO this night was the Italian feast. Had I known I would have brought my camera to dinner. The waiters were dressed in special aprons, the food was more native and then, about salad course ( after the main) the lights dim, and we get serenaded by the Italian tenor on board. There is napkin waving, conga lines, everyone's up ( at least on our level) dancing. Too fun.

our view of the Ceres restaurant

There were other dinners with themes: the Captain's Gala, regular gala and just the plain fine dining. All so enjoyable. Any meal we don't have to cook and clean is fabulous with us. And the gluten free was brilliant.
Now we're in Palma. Oh my. What a great place. I already want to go back. truly an interesting city, which I will have to read up on. Such a huge influence int he architecture - Moors, Gaudi ( on the cathedral), art nuevou, art deco. Everywhere you looked there was something beautiful to see. And interestingly, there was a lot of street art ( graffiti) but it was done with intent not just tagging. It also was placed in such areas to be decent. Unused doors were targets as well as small access panels, but main walls were left untouched. And tidy!! Oh my after most of Italy which can be very dirty and littered, Palma is spotless. Either people have better respect for their neighborhoods or they have some wickedly good street cleaners!

Cathedral with Gaudi  additions

moorish doorway

public garden

Gaudi influence

more Moorish styling

random side street

ditto

View from Cathedral wall

And no, I didn't get any Mallorcan pearls. I think I need a moratorium on pearls. Though I was very tempted.

I survived my Costa Cruise!!!.....part 1

Ok, maybe not the best title for an entry, but I got your attention.
Now that we're back safe and sound, it's time to write down all the fun. I wish I could capture the beauty and the smells of the Mediterranean, but I can't. It was the absolute best thing that Hubby planned this all out. What a blessing. Of course, this then left me with no idea of what to expect. Oh yes, I knew which ports and such, but not much beyond that. Usually I am the travel agent, so this was a real treat for me.
The bad part about our first day was the early flight to Nice. As in Nice France! yes that's right...the French Riviera. Woo hoo here I come. But of course all I got to see was the airport, and I have to say it is lovely. It's right on the water. and of course it was sunny and war, Not quite as warm as I was thinking, but this isn't San Diego after all. We got to sit in the sun soaking up the "rays" while we waited for our bus; which would shuttle us off to Savona ( Italy) where we meet the ship. The drive was nice. I reminded me so much of the drive along the Amalfi Coast that I had almost 7 years ago to the day. Windy (as in wine) roads towering above villages, set along the sea edge, was the route we traveled. oh, if commuting to work could be this scenic....A noisy French family forced us to move to the back of the bus, but there we had the best view out the panoramic window. Serendipitous really. The minis we had packed in our carry-ons may have helped with that too.

Note out thinness at the beginning point....

Did I mention it was Easter sunday? Once we got to Savona, almost traffic free, we boarded the Costa Serena ("Home of the Gods") our home for the next week. Does this mean I'm god like? Probably not... we move up to deck 6 where our balconied cabin was, if only to run around a half empty ship. Soon enough it would fill. There was a giant Pasqua egg waiting for us on the bed. What is this egg you ask? Pasqua means Easter in Italian, and they do hollow chocolate eggs, wrapped in bright foil paper. All wrapped up, it's about three times it's real chocolately size. I didn't have the heart to unwrap it for about two days. But I did break down eventually...We were soon on the deck for the mandatory life drill. It's really amazing how many people do NOT take this seriously. Carnival Cruises owns Costa, and with the recent accidents, one would think passengers would be more in tune with this. (Carnival staff was on board later in the week for some routine evaluations).
Let me interject here and say that traveling on or with non - American lines is fun. At least for me. There are differences that make us unique from each other, but can drive you to annoyance if you let them. We're on an Italian vessel. OK. If you aren't familiar with the Italian culture - everything is loud and nothing is serious. While similar to the Mexican "manana" , there is a lot more hand gestures and a higher level of shouting. Italians seem to have an unspoken code that laws and rules don't really apply to them., One elderly Italian walked off spouting loud "who knows what" because he was tired of waiting for the life drill to go through each of the five languages on board. Oh yes, each and every announcement made was given five times, each in a different tongue, English last as there were so few of us on board. Paul, our Australian hospitality guide, was always there with tips and advice on dealing with an issues which arose. None did. but we had a few good laughs at the craziness ( to us) of other cultures.  During the drill, we went underway. I wanted to run to the edge and look and wave, but that really wasn't called for. And me, Mrs "I can feel us move while tied to the pier" had no idea for a few minutes that we had pulled away. Kudos to me (of course as I sit here writing this I can feel the movement in my living room???)
Ah, but it's Easter and they are planing a big meal I hope! We entered the main dining room festooned in Easter decor complete with paper ducks on the table ( dummy us didn't bring a camera), so it's the next best thing...buy the one they sell.

I had the lamb. It's what you do on Easter. And I never turn down lamb! Oddly It wasn't till day three that they discovered we had signed up for the gluten free menu when we booked. It was all okay since we can pick and chose from the menu. Order around the wheat, don't eat the delicious bread or pasta. Since we are only intolerant, not deathly allergic, it wasn't an issue. Let me just say here, that once we were on the gluten free and out evening breads were brought piping hot the table and the amazing GF pasta with all the yummy sauces arrived, we over did it - of course.
Morning brought sunshine and a new port - Civitavecchia, the port of Rome. Okay Rome is over an hour away by bus, but the Romans consider this their Brighton or Coney Island. Most places were closed for the Easter Monday, but this made it great to wander and take photos. We did not sign up for any tours on this trip, as we like to have a nose around by ourselves. There were some ports where one would have been nice. But oh well.

We strolled along the beach and up and down some streets. Then back to the boat, er I mean ship, for cocktails. Oh yes, we bought the all-inclusive drinks package. While we debated this for some time, we finally broke down and got it. THe greatest thing! While not all drinks offers are on it for free, most are, and we've come home with some new recipes. Espresso, coffees and chocolates were also included!!

Costa Dream and Caipiroska

So I'll leave you salivating here...till next time. And yes, there are food photos coming.

Ahhhh Dominican....

Those of you who read this must think my life is some kind wonderland.  Well, it's not. I just choose to record the highlights. It must give off the aura of a charmed life, but really, those of you who know all, know the downs of all this travel. Reminds me again, that we all carry burdens and scars even if others can't see them.
Saying this just to remind you that I'm not bragging or boasting about these travels and events, but recording them, so in my old dotage I can recall that I once "had a life".
The Girls adn I headed to the Dominican Republic this year. We stayed at our third Iberostar resort. Man, we love these. All inclusive food and booze. What a way to go!! Honestly it takes a few days to relax and slow down to island pace, but once achieved, it's a beautiful thing. This resort was much smaller than Cancun last year, and it was fabulous. La Romama, on the south coast of the DR, is where it's situated. You fly into this tiny, one runway, two gate airport. They actually have to do a U-turn at the end of the runway and taxi back to the terminal. Too cute. It's an undiscovered area so far. There were only a handful of Americans at this resort, quite unusual. But it made it nice. WE weren't the ugly Americans so we did fine. I think there were as many or more Canadians there as Americans. Mostly Europeans. Very much like being in London. Lots of skimpy bathsuits and Speedos too. And we're talking bodies that Americans would NOT put in a Speedo. I say "bravo" to them, especially the ones who went topless on the beach. You go Girl!!
We opted for two rooms this years, which worked out well. One gal had to leave toward the end of four days ( planned, not an emergency) so I moved inot the other room. Even then, it's fine. Ibersotar rooms are good sized with large bathrooms. so there is no crowding. And the food!!! oh my. always good when someone else cooks and cleans, but the fresh fish and friut were fab.Service was great too. You would barely finish something and the plates were wisked away, or a drink refilled. The entertainment was nice too. Lady Gaga, aka a local employed as a socail director made everyday special with some sort of planned activity. Then at night, the social crew would put on a different show to entertain the crowds. We vowed to stay up one evening and watch the show. It was great. They sang and danced their hearts out. Was it Broadway worthy? NO, but it was fun and we cheered for the cast who daily serves and entertains us on the beach.
the weather wasn't as hot or humid as I expected. WE all said it seemed milder than the previous years. But of course, the weather pattern all over the globe has been funny this year. My hair got wavy, so I know Singapore will do the same. If Singapore is like this weather wise, I'm golden.
If the other Girls cough up some photos ( cause I didn't take my camera this year) then I'll post them. Otherwise, this is it. Still trying to hang onto the Caribbean vibe. Relax man....