Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona by ship

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Fort Lauderdale - We enjoyed staying overnight at the Pillars Hotel which is located on one of Fort Lauderdale’s many canals. The next morning we joined the Celebrity Equinox for our two week cruise across the transatlantic.

After seven days at sea our first port was in the Azores, somehwere Ron had always wished to visit. First impressions as we were driven out of Ponta Delgada the capital, was how clean and beautiful the island appeared. Our excellent guide Paulo Camara ([e-mail]) explained the reason was due to the amount of rain and good volcanic soil, the island really felt like a well-tended garden paradise.

Lucky to be on our tour with only one other couple we were driven down narrow lanes and around the coastline to areas the larger buses could not reach. We went to several lookouts over the beautiful coastline before driving to Fire Lake (Lago do Fogo), the crater of an extinct volcano. We also visited the Caldeiras – hot springs, where they bury pots of food in the earth to be cooked by the steam. Finishing our tour in Ponta Delgada we walked around cobbled streets admiring the traditional buildings and enjoyed eating in one of the many outdoor restaurants.

After two more days at sea we arrived in Lisbon, Portugal. Having visited this port before we were able to find our way around, travelling on the scenic number 28 tram up the steep hills and then walked the narrow winding streets to a high lookout. We had lunch in a restaurant with great views over the old city enjoying delicious tapas, wine and beer. We had to agree Lisbon was a wonderful and remains one of our favourite cities.

Cadiz – Again having visited the lovely city of Cadiz before we decided to venture further afield and found our way to station to take the train to Seville for a few hours. It was an hour and forty minutes trip each way which only allowed us around four hours in Seville but as neither of us had visited this city before we enjoyed exploring and walking the historic part of the city. We agreed Seville would be worth a few day visit possibly one day in the future.

Malaga – we spent the day walking, exploring the Roman Theatre and the Alcazaba (a fortress and royal residence) before taking a steep walk up to the ruins of the Castle of Gibralfaro. After the steep walk up the hill we were happy to find a lovely hotel with a terrace overlooking the city, for another fabulous lunch and rest before our hike back to the ship.

Alicante – Another castle on a hill but this time with a lift that took you to the top allowing more time to explore before walking back down to the town to enjoy lunch on the seaside promenade. With only one day in this beautiful seaside city, it would have been good to have more time to explore.

Barcelona - After two weeks of cruising we left the Celebrity Exquinox and our new friends to continue our adventures overland.

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