The second leg of the journey.

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Rome



We said goodby to are fellow guests who were ending their cruise. Dan and Laura had to return to work, Mary and Judy were continuing to explore Italy for a while, then Judy was returning to Australia while Mary connected with a friend in London. Ed and his wife from Wallingford disembarked. Ed had trained with Ray Baldwin, our former 1st selectman, at the CT Police Academy. And the world gets smaller. Two thousand of my new close friends got off and two thousand new ones embarked. The dynamics of the vessel changed in a day.



On the first leg we had lots of Europeans and Australians. Now there are more Americans who are sailing home after touring Europe. Some of the six hundred or so went to Rome for the day but the travel time was longer than the touring time so ML and I stayed aboard.



The next day was a sea day.



Alicante



After a sea day we arrive in Spain again. Alicante is a new port for me but is much like the other seaside cities. There are large apartment and condominium building, wide esplanades and all is very clean. Our destination is Costello de Santa Barbara. This building dominates the skyline and from it’s many, many vantage points it offers stunning views of the coast. The bus lets us off in a courtyard and it’s all uphill from there. Again, I forgot my cane. Still I managed to climb up a bit if not to the tippy top. There are so many nooks and crannies to explore. I wish I was a kid again and could wander and imagine life here.



The fortress dates back to the 9th century when the Moors occupied the Iberian peninsula. In 1248 is was captured by Castile and named after it’s patron saint, St. Barbara. It served as a fortress for centuries, then a prison and then fell into disrepair. It was restored and opened to the public and is now a very, very popular tourist stop. We wandered around and enjoyed the views until the crowds were just a little too much to handle.



Back on the bus we drove through the city, the “old” town and the modern Alicante, a provincial capital. We saw the shopping street with all the familiar stores. It was just like every other large city. We passed a beautiful beach that made us sorry we weren't wearing our bathing suits and a shaded esplanade where stalls were selling all sorts of tourist goods.





Back on the ship we had a delicious lunch and I headed out to the Seaview pool to take a dip and read a bit.

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Photos

Alicante
Castillo de Santa Barbara

Stop to smell the flowers

Nook art.