We arrived in Cartagena on schedule, but our tour was not scheduled until 10:00, so we started the day in the formal dining room for a sit-down breakfast instead of the buffet. It was good, but took a looooong time, so we probably will not do that too many more times. But with a late breakfast, then we did not get hungry so early, because the tour was scheduled to last until after 3:00 and did not include a meal. Cartagena is basically a deep water seaport in southern Spain. It is surrounded by a large agricultural area which reports itself as the most productive in both fruit and vegetables in all of the Mediterranean. They grow various fruits (oranges, lemons, olives) and vegetables (lettuce, tomato, etc) for export across Europe. So being picturesque is kind ... read more

Bonne jour from France. The first night of cruising was very smooth with hardly a ripple. We started today with a buffet breakfast and then a brief Mass held in a small chapel on the top deck of the ship. Then we docked in Toulon about 11:00 and we were off for another day of adventure. All five of us (Kathy, Jim, Rich, Janet, and I) were on the same tour bus (leaving at 1:00) visiting Marseilles. We grabbed an early lunch and were all set for the day. It was a city originally built by Greece and then conquered and rebuilt by the Romans, before it eventually became the property of the Duke of Barcelona. Eventually it became one of many independent pieces of France, and now has the second highest population in France. Fortunately ... read more

We started with a very large breakfast (at least by European standards) included by the hotel. Well, actually two of us had a severe equipment malfunction and did not get up until they were called at 8:00 AM. With the bus leaving at 8:30, Jim and Kathy did not have much of a breakfast this day. But our group all met our guide for this day, Paula, promptly at 8:30. She passed out little radio receivers so she could talk to everyone without having to shout to be heard over the noises from other groups also touring - it worked pretty well. The first stop for the day was the Vatican. We had “no wait” tickets which saved us hours of time from standing in an incredibly long and slow moving line for admission. Clearing a ... read more

The first day of the trip was essentially a long airplane day. We managed to get everything for our trip packed in 3 suitcases and two carry-on bags (same for the Sieberts). The whole tour group (14) met at St Louis airport in plenty of time, the fully-packed flight to Chicago was on-time and was smooth, and our next departure gate in Chicago was just a short walk from where we arrived. We had plenty of time for a mid-afternoon lunch at O’Hare. The flight to Rome left on time and likewise was pretty smooth but was also full. Airline food is nothing to write home about, but it is the first in-flight hot meal we’ve had in many years (choice of chicken or beef), so we are writing home about it after all.  It ... read more