Tenerife - Canary Island Paradise!

Since the Canary Islands had been added at the last minute to our itinerary, we did not know much about them.  The island of Tenerife blew us away with its natural beauty and the charm of the beach towns.

With only 33 hours to spend in Tenerife, we quickly grabbed a taxi and headed to the north side of the island to explore the beaches.  On our way, the taxi toured us around the larger than expected capital city of Santa Cruz and showed us stunning vistas overlooking the sea towns and volcano that dominate the island.

Upon arriving in Puerto de la Cruz, we found an oasis of unique swimming pools that included lava islands, fountains and caves.  The pools were built along the sea wall and waves crashed into the rocks and create sprays of textured water that we ventured dangerously close to.  After seeing these amazing (public!) pools it was hard to get our kids to do anything cultural that day. 

We tore ourselves away from the beach on our last day in Tenerife to explore the jagged mountains on the northeast coast called Monte de las Mercedes.   Our driver dropped us off in a chilly cloud forest and we hiked along the island’s old trail system that wound through villages, past goatherds and descended through several microclimates on the way down to the hot beaches below.  The scenery was striking and well worth the hike.  We drove back on a new and even more spectacular set of nausea-inducing roads that left us amazed at the beauty of the surrounding peaks. 

Someday, with more time on our hands, we would love to go back to Tenerife, hike the active volcano and explore the many other activities on the island.

Spain - Six Days to Explore Andalucía

After concocting a hundred different itineraries in our heads that included flying to Barcelona, hiking the Pyrenees, and visiting the sword making city of Toledo, we decided to rent a car and thoroughly explore the southern region of Spain called Andalucía.  Six days was not near enough time. 

We arrived in the Andalucían capital of Seville, Spain at eight in the evening, just when the city was awakening for dinner.  We had briefly visited Seville in 2009, but this visit showed us an entirely new side of Seville.  We loved walking amongst the bustling diners who sat at bistro tables lining the small cobble stone streets.  Everything was vibrant and alive. 

As we weaved our way through narrow streets that fed into a large square, La Giralda Cathedral greeted us with its candelabra lights.   We were mesmerized by the lights dancing off its spires and decided to see more of Seville at night thanks to a kind horse and his carriage driver.  The horse’s hoofs created a magical clicking on the cobblestones as we were pulled past the historic sites, palaces, fountains and parks.  

Our next destination of Jaen attracted us because of its famous castle hotel.  The hotel was built onto an original fortress and it looked and felt like the medieval home of kings and queens.  The cavernous dining and reception halls were the most spectacular we have ever been in and the town at the foot of the castle was charming.

Our adventure continued when we drove through the mountains along nausea-inducing roads, finally arriving at the town of Nerja on the Mediterranean Sea near Malaga.  If it had not been raining, we would have enjoyed the spectacular cliff-side beach.  Instead we discovered the Cueva de Nerja, vast caverns that stretched back for a mile and upwards for hundreds of feet.  It was the most fantastical setting one could ever think of for a movie and could well have inspired scenes from Lord of the Rings.

We spent the last night of our journey in Ronda, set along the top of a deep gorge that is spanned by a 18^th century bridge which is famous for the number of people who had been thrown off it during the Spanish Civil War.  We managed to not fall off the bridge (or be thrown off it!).

We arrived in our Spanish port city of Cadiz with only a little time to explore the town we had visited in 2009.  We had been away from the ship for eleven days and were happy to arrive back at our floating home to rest our heads and change our clothes!  

Portugal - Old World Beaches!

The quaint winding cobblestone streets, outside bistros, and friendly people immediately welcomed us to Portugal and its capital city of Lisbon.  We only spent one day in Lisbon exploring its hilltop castle, old town and cafes along the harbor --and it was not enough! 

Jay snuck away for a round of golf at Oitavos Dunes before meeting up with the family in Cascais.  Cascais is a town set on spectacular cliffs that are interspersed with pristine beaches.  We had dinner at romantic restaurants overlooking the sea – well, they would have been romantic without the kids - and enjoyed the beach with the partying SAS students.

As the students headed back to rejoin the ship for the passage to Spain, we decided to travel overland to Spain via southern Portugal and the beach town of Olhao.  Although Olhao itself was nothing special, the sand barrier islands, a short ferry ride away, were exceptional.  We explored the expansive, isolated beaches for hours before plopping down under a beach umbrella.

While in Portugal, we were disappointed to learn that our voyage was being rerouted to avoid Morocco, our next scheduled port, due to safety concerns after the response in the Muslim world to the YouTube video about Mohammed.  The positive was that we ended up with two extra days in Spain and two days in the Spanish Canary Islands.

Belgium - And France As A Bonus!

Our port in Belgium was Antwerp, more than 50 miles up the River Scheldt.  Not the usual entrance into a country, but not much is usual when you travel by ship.  In a world of immediate gratification that allows and even expects minimalist spelling like "gr8", it's hard to slow down into the relaxed cadence of the mindset of a ship.  In fact even the activities on the ship continue at a frantic pace while the ships coasts along.  So it's easy to fall into the trap of making up for the "slow time" on the ship when we do reach port.  Traveling 300 miles in a day is replaced by covering 300 miles in two hours on a train. 

Our time in Belgium split into the same confused trend.  We spent our first two days dealing with a minor medical issue - everything is fine - but it did require a very slow pace for those days, continuing to live on "ship pace".  One day we visited Passchendale, a WW1 battlefield, and the next we wandered around Antwerp and the old canal town of Bruges, including renting a boat!  A highlight of the day in Bruges was Ryan FaceTiming with his class from a square outside a church in Bruges.

We passed the next three days at breakneck pace, spontaneously deciding that the boys needed some kid time at Disneyworld Paris.  We rented a car and scurried out of Belgium into France.  After checking into one of the worst "quality per dollar" hotel rooms we've ever stayed in, we enjoyed the next day cavorting around Disney.  Although we had fun on the great rides, it paled in comparison to our experience to Orlando.  When we were told curtly that they had no salads (the only vegetarian option for Christy of their four entrees) at 11:15 AM, we knew we weren't in Orlando anymore (side note to any Disney execs who read this, Disneyland Paris is NOT helping your brand - or maybe the bar is very low for these experiences in Europe)!

That afternoon we decided that it was possible to show the boys Paris in 3 hours!  So we got up early the next morning, took a 45 minutes train ride to Paris, ate breakfast, visited Notre Dame, walked by the Louvre and spent some time at the Eiffel Tower.  And then back to Disneyland by noon to pick up our car, drive back to Belgium, get lost on the way to the car rental lot and walk back to the ship.  Not exactly ship pace!!

Three ports visited and ten more to go!

England - Jolly and Old!

After doing beer, fish and chips, castles and rain in Ireland, it would seem that we had already covered England.  Fortunately, there was plenty to do after our arrival in Southampton. Like all good travelers, once we landed in England, we headed straight for London. 

Christy found a great hotel near Hyde Park that was within walking distance of Buckingham Palace and other sites.  At least they were walking distance on the first day, when we put about ten miles on our tired feet.  Not so much the next day, when we spent a little more time on the Underground!

While we had no royal sightings, we did manage to visit many royal and government sites.  Among the favorites were learning the gory history of the Tower of London and our walk down the Thames to the London Eye (giant Ferris wheel).   We also got to attend a session of the House of Commons.

The highlight of our time in London was catching the theatrical production of "War Horse".  Our anticipation about seeing how they would utilize actual horses on a stage was tempered right away when we realized that the horses were portrayed by puppets.  However, we were immediately amazed by how realistic the "puppets" were.  They were each handled by three people and were remarkably realistic, complete with the sounds, heaving ribcages and little movements you would expect from a real horse.  The production was truly a highlight and the boys were at the edge of their seats, despite the play ending at 11 pm.

After two days of covering London by foot and Underground, we divided and conquered the last day, with Luke and Milton traveling to the Naval museum in Portsmouth and Jay, Christy and Ryan venturing to Stonehenge and Old Sarum.  Stonehenge is an interesting place, more as a result of the questions about its origins and uses than due to its current appearance of a circle of beautiful large rocks.  From Stonehenge we visited Old Sarum and explored the ruins of its medieval fort/castle.

Next stop Belgium, and our first stop on this voyage to a country that speaks a language other than English!