SS Voyager

Well, we arrived and I remember why I loved London the first time I ever visited back in 2001. London is magical. Even with a third of the city buildings covered with scaffolding due to the “sprucing up” taking place for the upcoming Olympics, London has an exciting pulse. Jim and I tried to pick up on that pulse when we arrived on Wednesday, but to be perfectly honest we dragged ourselves around from the time we arrived at 6:30 am until 1:00 pm when we were allowed to check into our room and threw ourselves fully clothed onto the bed for a nap. We walked over to Hyde Park and Kensington Palace, but the palace is being remodeled for the Olympics this summer and the Public Rooms are hosting modern art exhibits, so we skipped ... read more

I’m really far behind on these blogs! It seems the only time available to do them is midnight! Well, this one is about Tarquinia, the Etruscan Tombs and Tuscania. MK and Jim and I ventured off to view these under threatening skies while the T’s road their bus east out of the rain zone to Rome. The Etruscans lived in west-central Italy from the 9th century BCE (Before the Common Era) onward. Their culture reached its height in the 6th century BC. In a strange way, the necropolis of Tarquinia documents the only urban civilication in pre-Roman Italy. The depictions in the frescoed tombs many of which are replicas of Etruscan houses are a unique testimony to a vanished ancient culture. The tombs are accessed through stepped corridors leading down into rock cut chambers. The painted ... read more

Hi Folks! Time to catch you up on our comings and goings in Italy! Our first port in Italy was Livorno, from where all the excursions to Tuscany and Liguria departed. This time the blog is only about Jim and I in Cinque Terre. I will do a separate blog for M&K and the T’s in Florence. Jim and I hopped on the bus to the Cinque Terre. These are 5 tiny Italian Riveriera towns where the buildings hang precariously off the sea cliffs or perch on top of steeply terraced hillsides. We only visited 3 of them. Manarola, Riomaggiore and Vernazza. Manarola was in my opinion the most beautiful. The weather was mild and cool with the hint of rain hanging in the air. This made the cliff and vineyard vistas even more dramatic as ... read more

Hi Folks! Finally time to blog. The unfortunate fact that I picked up a terrible cold and our Monaco stop has been cancelled due to high seas has one bright side. I am sitting here on the ship in our beautiful suite with lots of time to tell you what we’ve been up to! Our hotel in Barcelona, “Hotel 1898” was beautiful. The decor was somewhat art deco in style with contemporary Barcelona touch. As soon as we arrived, we all departed to different parts to relax. Kayla, Mike, Teresa and Tony took off for the rooftop lounge and pool for repair and rejuvenation. Cigars, Sangria, a cool swim and magnificent views! Jim and I had a cocktail at the hotel bar and decided to venture out onto La Rambla for saffron infused Paella. We then ... read more

Back in Brussels. It’s our last day and we went to the Musee de Beaux Arts. We saw the most beautiful paintings, some of which I never thought I would ever see in person like David’s “Death of Murat” and a wonderful “Magritte” collection. They had an incredible collection of Dutch and Flemish Masters also. After that we roamed the streets of Brussels looking in the shop windows. We stopped in at a few chocolate shops and sampled the wares, and of course had to stop for BELGIAN WAFFLES! Topped with caramel syrup and whipped cream, they were delicious. On a sugar high we finally went back to the Metropole Hotel to our room to make sure our ride to the airport was all set. We had dinner at the beautiful Metropole Café and a last ... read more