http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/SusieQ3443/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from SusieQ3443 en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:31:57 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:31:57 +0000 Disembarking the ship is quite a science for the Princess crew. If you follow their instructions it is quite painless. People are going in several different directions when they arrive in Southampton and Princess is very good about getting you where you want to go. Luggage is all packed the night before and set outside the stateroom door for pick up. A tag on it identifies what your plans are wh http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/Kensington/blog-291349.html Life on the ship is pretty much luxury. And that is what we experienced. The Grand Princess is truly grand. It seems to lack for nothing.I guess that if I'm going to talk about life on the ship I need to start in the morning. I mostly just know what I did but others did join me. My normal routine is to get up early and go to the gym. I go to the gym for spinning at 530 a.m. before I get ready f http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-290560.html What a day to land in Le Havre For those who went to go to Normandy it is DDaythe 64th anniversary. It is also Kathy Teske's BirthdayI won't tell you which anniversary it is for her and we went to Paris.The French Government was up to their favorite tricksobstructing things and being hard to get along with. They would not clear us for immigration so we sat in a holding pattern in the Exp http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Upper-Normandie/Le-Havre/blog-290158.html What a pleasant little city. Once again we figured we could do this one on our own. Once again that's what we did. This time we were not disappointed. Being able to depart the ship on our own allowed us to have a little more leisurely or more active morning. This day we did not arrive in port until later. This gave Linda G and I a chance to do our morning stretch with James at 700 a.m. and then http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Galicia/Vigo/blog-289266.html A new country but we're up to the same tricks. We didn't book a shore excursion so we decided to try it on our own again. After our ordeal in Casablanca you would have thought we had learned our lesson. NOT This time we were somewhat more fortunate. Linda G negotiated us a limo with an English speaking driver. His name was Coladalike in Pina Colada and he had good command of the English langu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Portugal/Lisbon-and-Tagus-Valley/Lisbon/blog-288455.html Our visit to Cadiz was a pleasant surprise. It turned out to be a most charming captivating port of call. We did not book a tour. We could have gone to Seville and the Andalusian area. But instead we bought tickets for a hoponhopoff bus and had a great tour of the city.We got on close to the ship and rode to the other side of the city where got off to stroll down the street. We found a great http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Andalusia/C-diz/blog-287804.html Casablancasounds so romantic. You must remember this a kiss is just a kiss a sigh is just a sigh... We will remember this Not because of a kiss or a sigh but because of the filth and deceit. We all agreed that this was our least favorite port for a number of reasons.Several of us took the shuttle from the ship into the center of town. We were hoping that we could negotiate a tour similar http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Morocco/Grand-Casablanca/Casablanca/blog-287694.html The Big Rock A mighty point of land that has been fought over for more than 13 centuries. Everyone wants to control the passage between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. That makes it truly multiculturalMoroccan Spanish English French Portugese and many more have influenced this small country.Once again we did not book a tour from Princess and decided we could find our way around. We http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Gibraltar/Gibraltar/blog-287268.html Barcelona in the Catalonia region of Spain is said not to be Spanish at all. It has a history all of its own. The Catalan language is similar to Spanish but also has much in common with southern French dialects. It was the host of the 1992 Olympics. Pablo Picasso Joan Miro Salvador Dali Pablo Casals and Antoni Gaudi have called Catalonia home and their influence is everywhere. The heart of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/Catalonia/Barcelona/blog-286961.html Linda G planned ahead and booked us a tour of Cannes Nice Monaco and Monte Carlo with Dream Tours and it was a really great choice. After tendering to the dock in Cannes 9 of us piled into the Mercedes Limo for our tour of Villefranche. The tour was booked for 8 of us but Pam hitched a ride into Nice so that she could find a special restaurant that she had visited the last time she was there. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d-Azur/Cannes/blog-286912.html Livorno is is the gateway to glorious TuscanyLinda G. and I were the only ones of the 12 to take The Best of Florence tour. The others were going to Tuscany for Chianti tasting and lunch. We had a 1 12 hour bus ride into the city of Florence Florenzia. The countryside was marvelous. We walked and walked around Florence ate lunch then walked some more. We had time to shop at a great leather http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-286001.html We got up fairly early and went downstairs for the breakfast part of the B B. With tickets in hand we ordered American coffee and a croissant. One small cup was not enough so we got another round then anothernot realizing that each cup was 4 EU38 EU later we went back to the room to get going on the tour. Rosana's husband David Kellogg is a transplant from San Fransico. He is a former http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-285989.html We arrived in Rome right on time and met our driver after going through customs and getting our luggage. He took us to the Benhouse B B where we met our guide Rosana. Benhouse overlooks Vatican City and we had a view of the Pope's living quarters. We dropped off our luggage and then walked to get something to eat before going to St. Peter's Square for the Pope's Blessing. We were so lucky to ge http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-282177.html Ok I've logged in from a different computer so that is another hurdle that I've conquered. I don't have any photos to try to add from here but that will just have to be the next hurdle.My students are finishing up their finals in Math. I have been teaching Special Education for 26 years. The past six years I've taught Special Ed Math at Ironwood Ridge High School in Tucson AZ. With my extra r http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Tucson/blog-278755.html This trip has been in the planning for about a year. It is a celebration of friendships that have lasted and lasted. We are a group of grade school high school college buddies in our sixties that still enjoy getting together as often as possible and partying hearty for as long as we can.It started with 16 of us but 2 couples had to cancel. We will fly to Rome transfer to Civitavecchia Italy t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Tucson/blog-277353.html Well here goes. My first blog Two weeks until I fly out of Phoenix and head to Rome. I want to practice a couple of blogs before I head for the high seas and try posting from random places. Hope this all works and everyone enjoys or at least tolerates my posts.I sure do hope that I have enough computers skills to do this all with ease. I want to be able to add photos and witty comments and let http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Tucson/blog-274808.html