Today we are in Funchal, Portugal. It is sunny and warm! We woke up to learn (or confirm I should say) that Obama won. We were up at 7am as we are all on a tour of the island today. Latte's and cinnamon roll and down in lounge by 8am. This is a tropical island, with temperate climate; so beautiful; flowers and banana trees everywhere. Bouginvillas are native here; the flowers are purple. The island has 150,000 inhabitants; average income of 550 Euros per month. Because of this low salary many natives go abroad to work to save enough money to [View Full Entry]

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Slept in; we are sea today, heading towards the island of Madeira, Portugal. Ken had a massage at 8 am, so I got to sleep a little later. Met him afterwards and had breakfast. Went down to play 'corn hole' or bean bag; corn hole sounds so weird to me. Ken played but did not win. It is a fun game and I will play sometime on the ship. If you don't know what it is, check it out on Google. Henna and I went to the hot tub on the back deck for awhile; then I showered and headed for [View Full Entry]

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Set wake up call for 7am. Grabbed latte' and headed to deck for breakfast. Afterwards, back to room to gather things for our day in Malaga, Spain, birthplace of Picasso. Ken and I are visiting the small village of Mijas. We take a 45 minute ride through scenic pine-clad hills to this picturesque village. It is located in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. The views are spectacular as you look towards the Mediterranean sea. A small narrow road winds us past little whitewashed houses with red tile roofs everywhere. It's a bit foggy because of the drizzle, but occasionally the [View Full Entry]

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Today was a day at sea; a time to rest and enjoy the beautiful ship and ocean. We slept in of course; breakfast around 9. We always run in to some of our friends to join. After breakfast we sat on the deck, read our books and relaxed. The weather is still chilly so we sit on the inside deck but the view is still wonderful. I had a massage at 11 am so I took a shower before. I was scheduled for a Swedish massage but she talked me in to a bamboo massage. Who has ever heard of a [View Full Entry]

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Up early, coffee on the balcony. We (only Ken and I went on this one; others did something else) have an excursion in beautiful Palma de Mallorca, Spain. We took a bus to Valldemossa; a beautiful quaint, very expensive, village on top of a mountain. This is where Michael Douglas has a home and he is almost worshipped here. He donated a lot of money to the church when it needed restoration. It is very clean, narrow cobblestone streets everywhere. I wish I could upload the pictures. We walked through the town, toured a monastery, drank lattes. We walked some more [View Full Entry]

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Happy Halloween; today we are in port in Barcelona. We ALL are going on a tour together to Montserrat mountain. We drove for about an hour in to the mountains; we then boarded a train that goes practically straight up the mountain. It took us to the famous Montserrat Monastery, founded as a Benedictine Abbey during the 11th century. It is perched on a ledge hanging 2,400 feet above the Llogregat river. We were given a brief history and then on our own. A little black cat, looking like our 'Summer' came up to us meowing. She loved the people. We [View Full Entry]

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After blogging, Ken was still in the cigar bar talking politics with a group of guys so I went to the casino to spend my $20. That's all I ever waste. I got a mango daiquiri. The $20 lasted about 10 minutes, not as long as the drink. We went back for a nap, I could not sleep. We got ready for dinner, but first happy hour at Minnie and Jack's. Annie and Henna decided to do laundry. It was crowded and a long wait to get a washer so Annie brought a bottle of wine. There were 3 other ladies [View Full Entry]

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As we loaded in the van with Marco outside of the train station, he told us the other driver already picked up our friends at their hotel and would meet us at the first stop, the Bracciano castle. (I apologize for my spelling: I am typing fast since I am paying per minute and I left my notes in the room). He said since the train was late, this would save time. A little disappointed as I couldn't wait to see all of them and hear of their experiences in Rome. We had been there 4 years ago and that is [View Full Entry]

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We left our hotel in Paris, taking a taxi to Gare de Bercy to wait for our train. We arrived at the station around 5 PM; we have 2 hr wait. I had no idea it was going to be an 'open air' waiting area (may be due to construction). There were just a few people waiting so we got a seat. I put on my scarf, gloves, coat and hood. It was cold, probably in the forties and misty drizzle. I got the tickets stamped and we sat down to wait. The people watching is great. It's funny how you [View Full Entry]

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Arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport around 7pm Sunday. The plane trip was a 45 minute flight, although 30 of it was on the tarmac waiting to take off. We both dozed off, woke up and thought we had landed in Paris but we were still waiting. No problems getting through customs; one of our bags was the last bag to come through; a little scary! We arrived at our hotel: Relais Bosquet Hotel on a narrow residential street. Like the French, we decided to go to dinner late; a quaint restaurant a few steps away from our hotel. Our waiter [View Full Entry]

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