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Published: January 12th 2010
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Hi Everybody!
I really planned to just do a photo blog on this trip. Walt and I are cruising in the Mediterranean. We went to Barcelona a couple of days early and took a side trip to Andorra. Andorra is a small country located in the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France. It has a population of around 77,000 people and an area of only 468 sq km. Andorra is known as a great place to ski and for its tax free shopping. There were many huge electronics stores there. It took us 5 hr. to travel to Andorra from Barcelona and 3 hr. to return. We passed by beautiful lakes, rugged mtn., old stone ruins, and many dairy farms.
I wish that I could have spent more time in Barcelona. I hope to someday return to this wonderful city. I did get to see the Holy Family Cathedral ( Sagrada Familia) designed by Antoni Gaudi. This cathedral was started in 1883 and is still not finished. It is most unusual looking- not necessarily pretty, and reminded me of a fortress. We walked down a famous street Las Ramblas to get there. It was a grand boulevard with many vendors out
on a Sunday. Families were selecting small pets - such as birds, fish, and turtles. I decided that they lived in apartments. There were many antique dealers with small booths. I loved seeing the baby clothes that I am sure were made by hand. The smell of fresh pastries was around every corner.
We boarded the ship in Barcelona and headed for Rome, Italy. It rained the entire time that we were there. We docked at Civitavecchia and took a bus into Rome. I took a tour of the Vatican with the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum, and other ruins. It was hard to get good photos on such a rainy day. Yesterday, we crossed through the straits of Messina and could view Sicily on one side and mainland Italy on the other. Mt. Etna was in clear view and another active volcano was visible on a small island.
Today, we docked at Piraeus, Greece. Walt and I took a ferry here from Crete several years ago. We took a tour of Athens on that trip. Today, we hope to just wander and around and explore on our own. So far, every street is lined with orange trees.
The street is littered with oranges that have fallen from the trees.
We have met lots of fun people. Walt has spent time with a neat guy who works 500 miles north of Goosebay, Labrador. I can understand why he would want to take a cruise. He told us that he saw a lady in tattered clothes in Paris holding a tiny baby. He walked over to give her some money and realized that the baby was a doll. When we are traveling, we hears lots of fun stories about travel scams. Another man told us that he felt someone bump him when boarding a bus. He turned around and accused the teenager behind him of taking his wallet. The boy dropped it. Several of this man's friends grabbed the teenager and held him until the authorities came to make an arrest.
Take care,
Everette
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Sandy
non-member comment
Everette, You didn't mention in Dec. that you were going on this fabulous trip. Tom and I flew to Barcelona a year ago and cruised to Monaco. Rome was over whelming. Greece is next for us. Have fun.