We visited Barbados but for us it was a sea day. We slept in, enjoyed coffee and juice in the room, had a leisurely breakfast and headed to the aft pool area. There are very comfy couches and chairs there and because it was a port day is was not crowded. We read there and probably napped a minute of two and then headed to the spa for our massages. Later it was time for happy hour, then dinner and a walk around the ship before bed. Just a wonderful lazy day. Next day we visited Martinique. Believe it or not the main attraction in Fort-de-France Martinique was The library. We decided to just wander the town and see what was on offer. Our first stop was the Cathedral, not to be confused with St. Patrick’s, ... read more

Escape from the Arctic Arrived on time at the FLL airport where chaos reined. So many flights were delayed leaving that the corridors were teeming with people and bags. Decided to take a taxi which was a good call as some folks waited 45 minutes for the hotel shuttle. This was my least favorite BW hotel in the area but also the cheapest. Heading to the ship was a kerfufle. It was about 50 degrees and raining and the entire hotel was gathered with their luggage in the tiny lobby waiting for transportation to the ship. There were seven ships in port and so it took 1 1/2 hours to get to the port and through the embarkation process. Dropped our valuables in the room safe and headed to the Lido for lunch. Unlike my last ... read more

Malaga was our next port and this makes the fourth time here. We headed to a jewelry shop where I wanted to buy a mother-of-pearl necklace like the one ML bought on our first stop but on reflection I adhered to my mantra “Subtract, don’t add”. We strolled around the city window shopping and I was particularly intrigued by the beautiful paving stones of marble. They provide a comfortable walking surface that I enjoyed after all the cobblestone sidewalks. We stopped at the same cafe and enjoyed our chat with a young Russian woman and a slightly older Brit gentleman. They met a couple of years ago and have been travel companions since, more like friends according to him. Four years ago he quit his job and bought a boat. Now he has a coffee business ... read more

I had been in Lucca once before with Mike but this time we entered the city through St. Peter’s gate and saw many different churches and plazas. The city dates back to Roman times and although the original walls are gone now it is still a walled city. The current walls date to the 15th century. No longer used for protection, the city walls provide wonderful walks and bicycle trails. While all the surrounding towns and villages were conquered by Florence, Lucca remained independent until a profligate ruler sold the town to Florence to settle gambling debts. It is a great sense of pride to the locals that the city has never been conquered. It was early when we arrived and the city had not fully awakened. We strolled through mostly empty streets to the old ... read more

Barcelona. Rather than go off on our own we decided to take a ships tour. The province of Catalonia has wanted independence from Spain forever and the provincial government scheduled a referendum for Sunday, October 1. The central government has sent in police from all over the country to stop the election and the locals are demonstrating daily. Whether the police will actually block the 2000 polling places or arrest the leaders of the demonstrations or both is still uncertain. The problem with a ship’s tour is that you are with 45-50 of your shipmates. This makes the logistics of getting on and off the bus time consuming. We stopped near the most famous Gaudi houses and saw dozens of young people emerge from the subway with Catalonian flags. They were heading to the Plaza Catalunya ... read more