ArtGirl
Sharon Benton Joined: April 27th 2009
Logged in: May 20th 2010
Logged in: May 20th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
Cadiz the Smiling City
Cadiz is small, accessible, medieval, and has the best T.I. I've ever encountered.. We stopped at the T.I.and the gal there spent 20 minutes marking on the map places that were closed and then places of interest we should see.She answered our questions and then went above and beyond with helpful tips and explanations. Our main map laid out 4 different city walks, each denoted by a different color line. Not only were there lines on the map, but corresponding lines on the street so you could not get lost! But, on the other hand, Cadiz was of a size that you could not really get lost anyway, being on a small peninsula about 1 mile across. even meandering through the crooked medieval streets. It's on a narrow peninsula less than 1 mile across (in the ... read more
beautiful tile everywhere
Note: To view photos as a slide show, click on the first photo, then click Slideshow on the right hand side Casablanca started out with the personal guide we hired not showing up. We waited 2 hours for him to show but he never did. We missed the ship's scheduled tours, as they all departed while we waited 1 1/2 hours for no-show. We have yet to hear from him, but I am chalking it up to a miscommunication, scheduling conflict, or something similar. I refuse to believe I was ripped off. (Update: Hassane, our guide, emailed me on April 28 - he had been in an accident on April 15 and was just out of the hospital. We wish him a speedy recovery.) By 10:30, we decided to take the shuttle bus into town on ... read more
Photo 1
(Note - to view larger photos, click on the first one and another screen will pop up, then you can scroll through them all) This was really a cool day! We hiked around the volcanic land of Lanzarote. This is a small island - 12 x 33 miles and most of it is covered in volcanic rock. Apparently, the island was very fertile farmland until the mid 1700s when the volcano errputed and covered much of the land in lava. The outer regions of the island are covered in a fine rocky soil that is really very fertile. They grow grapes for wine, among other things here. Our guide Antonio was very knowledgeable of the region and the geography. We drove about 1/2 hour from Accerife, where we docked, to the Timanfaya National Park. We hiked ... read more
Kayaks
Today we arrived in Malaga and boarded a bus to take us to the beach for our kayak trip. We traveled an hour to the beautiful beach town of Nerja and found a little beach dotted with palm trees. It was a blue bird day, mild and sunny. We got outfitted with life vests and paddles and then carried our kayaks down to the water's edge. After a brief lesson, we climbed into our 2-person kayak and started paddling out to sea. I was in front and as we pulled away from shore, I felt the boat tip and suddenly, we were both in the water. Damn! It was cold! I swam back to shore trying to catch my breath and kept getting knocked down by waves as I tried to walk out. I ended up ... read more
Bruce on board
Our first full day on the boat was a day at sea. We relaxed, explored the boat, did some blogging, and had our first formal night.... read more
Waiting at the airport
This trip started with another moment of panic (I seem to have recurring problems booking air travel!). I checked in online with SAS the day before we were to leave and discover that there was a ticket to Barcelona for me, but no ticket for Bruce! So Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before departure, I freaked out just a little. I called SAS and they searched but could not find a ticket for Bruce. *PANIC*. "Can I still get a ticket on the same flight?", I asked, "You see, we are leaving on this cruise and we have to be there by Friday afternoon!" (As if she cared.) "Yes, you can get a ticket, but it will cost twice as much". "Thank God! Please book it." Another ticket disaster averted! We have a cheap ticket ... read more
