Day 5 - Mediterranean Cruise - France

 Or rather NOT France.

We arrived in Marseille at 7am Monday, but didn't go into the port.  We found out that the dock workers were on strike and there were protesters in port blocking things for political reasons.

So the passengers waiting to get off the ship were sitting in all the atriums grumpy with their luggage all day.  AND the passengers on land, trying to get ON the ship, weren't able to.   The captain came on the speakers every hour or so and gave us updates in 4-5 different languages each time.  He was trying to work something out with the government of France to let us dock but nothing came of it.

He announced that he wrote a "sternly" worded letter to them and we kept thinking and doing the math in our heads.  "If we land now, it'll take an hour to get off the ship with these crowds, an hour to walk around and then another hour to get back onboard..."  hmmm  Then we dropped each of the times in half with each disappointing announcement until it just wasn't worth it.

So the 4 of us spent the day exploring the ship.  

Being that it was chill and winter out, only very brave people attempted the outdoor hot tubs and the pools were not open.  So we found an open table on the deck and talked, sharing photos we'd taken so far.

Over in the corner of the deck, we noticed about 30 kids, found out later they were 15ish yo students from Rome on a class trip.  They were playing ping pong and accidentally hit the ball way off base towards the tables.  A man in a blue jacket was sitting at one nearby and grabbed the ball as it rolled past him. He promptly tucked it in his pocket and refused to give it back.

The kids swarmed around him asking for it and he sat there with his girlfriend/wife all smug and ignored them.  Then he got up and left the deck.  The kids were amazed at his audacity and looked around for help.

THIS is where we came in.  They noticed us watching and came over to see if we could help.  Since Ruth Ann and I had been studying Italian, we caught a bit of what they were asking.  We were stumbling on one word so one girl finally whipped out her cell phone and her translation app. 

AHA!  Chiesto - You already asked for a new ball!  Got it!

Well, they won't refuse two determined grown up women!!!

So Ruth Ann and I went into Mommy mode and said, "WE'LL take care of it!" and we headed out the door to the Savannah bar where the extra balls were.  We got that part translated just fine!

As we walked out, a few of the kids called out after us "We LOVE you!" in English! lol!  Well, we don't have the extra ping pong balls yet, so hold your applause.

After much searching, we finally tracked down the girl guarding all the various types of balls.  She was only instructed to give us ONE ball!  I asked for another pretending not to be with Ruth Ann, but she said, "ONE ball!" and pointed at Ruth Ann.  Yikes!  Okey dokey then!  

The kids were grateful for the ball and swarmed back around the ping pong tables.  We saw them around the ship during the next few days.  And we saw the blue jacket guy at breakfast each day!  What a jerk.

Well, it turned out that we were NOT going to land in Marseille France after all.  We felt the ship start moving around 8pm that night and only afterward 30 minutes or so, the captain made the announcement that we were heading to the next port, Genoa, Italy.  The people with their luggage were given their rooms back and the people on shore were bussed to Italy.  If you were on the FB group for this ship, there were grumblers!!  Which I don't blame them!  I'm sure they missed their flights or work.

Everyone, including us, received $100 each toward onboard credit toward our bills or purchases in the gift shop which was rarely open, but I took advantage of it when it was and got more souvenirs! :)

And poor Teresa and Ken!  This was their 2nd attempt to land in Marseille!!  So they STILL haven't been to France.  The last cruise they were on here, they couldn't land because of high winds so the cruise line took them to Monaco for the day instead.

Third time will be a charm!

End Day 5.

Day 4 Mediterranean Cruise - Still Barcelona & then the Ship

 Day 4 Mediterranean Cruise - Still in Barcelona

Ruth Ann and I are early risers, so around 5, we saw the party stragglers walking home. And then saw some people heading off for work.  That was Sunday morning.  We weren't meeting up with Teresa and Ken until 9ish, so we walked down La Ramblas looking for a coffee.  The lady at the hotel desk mentioned a place but we couldn't find anything local open, however we DID find a McDonalds!  It had an elevator to get to it but we used the stairs down.  The coffee was good and we shared the BEST croissant!  It was super flakey and we made a mess.

We walked back and met up with the others.  We checked out and walked down the alleyways to the seashore.  

Me, thinking I was on a sidewalk, blocked policemen on motorbikes and since my hearing isn't the best, blocked them for a good awkward minute...

I rolled my suitcase along and through what I thought was rainwater and wondered where it fell from as there wasn't a gutter there.  Um no.  

Ken informed me that most likely some party-iers had peed on the wall of the building in an alley.  ew.  You had to be careful.

We found a staircase going down on the sidewalk and Ruth Ann and I ran down it to see the subway system that had made our room rumble in the night several times. We slept through most of them.

Oh, it's just a subway station. hm.

I took a pic of a sign adverting renting a bike would make you faster than a zombie and only  afterwards noticed a homeless person sleeping in a bag on the opposite side of the alley. Whoops!  Excuse me! Yes, I told him that.  Ruth Ann has been picking on me about that ever since.

All the buildings were so close in the alleys with fantastic construction cropping up out of nowhere, that it all looked like a scene straight out of a James Bond movie. 

 A lot of mosaic stuff in shop windows!

We got to the ocean and it was beautiful!  Palm trees everywhere. 

 Our cruise ship was about 5 miles down the coast 

so we found a large enough taxi at the Columbus statue roundabout.  

Below is NOT our taxi.  We each had a suitcase and carry on AND 4 people.  

So even though the taxis are in the order of being hired out, the ones in the cars were gracious enough to let us take the minivan a few cars back.

Teresa pointed out the hill behind where the Olympic village is and was, when the Olympics were there last.  It wasn't far away but we didn't have time to explore it.

The minivan taxi got us quickly to the MSC Orchestra ship. We went through security to get onboard and the walkie talkies that I'd brought got confiscated. Yes, two run-ins with police/security in the same day!  I got them back the next day after they researched them to make sure these kind were allowed.  Apparently certain types are not.  But for your info, the ones you can buy at Walmart are A-OK! 

They didn't work so great anyway so if you were on the opposite end of the ship you couldn't understand the other person at all and there are only so many times, I'll say WHAT?! really loudly.  Oh well.  They got left in my bag for the rest of the trip. If you need any walkie talkies, I've got 'em!

We got onboard the ship and since we weren't able to go to our rooms immediately, we enjoyed some complimentary mimosas and then explored the ship where we got some food up in the buffet.  mmm..   Lots of varieties at the buffet.  Always pizza, burgers and fries for lunches and dinner with loads of other alternatives for meats, prepared a million different ways and in different nationalities.

Around 2:30ish, we were finally able to get unpacked in our cabins and then off to explore some more.  We found the ultimate spot to see the ship head out of the port at the back end of deck 7 in the Shaker Lounge.  We went there a lot over the course of the next week.  The girls and myself got into the MSC app and got set up to message each other.

In our exploration, we found the Shanghai restaurant that had a lot of dishes that reminded me of a game we play with Maddy and Matthew.  It includes Sashimi, Nigiri and Maki to name a few.  We got to sample their sushi later that week.

And then the ship set sail. 

Here was a our view. Perfect!

 I think I was only on the outside deck a few times and got pics of Barcelona from the sea. 

Beautiful!

The sea through our cabin's window was fascinating and a bit mesmerizing to watch. 

 After supper in the L'Ibiscus dining room, we found an ABBA tribute party going on so the girls and I hung around and sang along dancing from a balcony up above. He and Teresa got their picture professionally taken later by a the photographer who was always trying to pull us into photos after a 7 mile hike in Italy...  NOT looking my best right now Thanks!

We enjoyed a show in the Covent Theater on deck 6.  

It was a tribute to 80s and 90s music.  So fun!  

One young woman sang Whitney Houston's "I will always love you" in Italian for the first verse and then in English. 

It was beautiful!

End of day 4!

Day 3 Mediterranean Cruise - Barcelona

 Day 3 Mediterranean Cruise - Barcelona

7 hour difference from home!  

We landed in Barcelona in the afternoon and took a taxi near to our hotel.  It took a long time dragging our luggage through the little streets until we finally found La Ramblas street, where the hotel was. 

 Ruth Ann and my room had a tiny balcony facing La Ramblas and Teresa and Ken's room had a large patio overlooking the market.  

We got settled in and then explored.  La Ramblas street was torn up in spots and fenced off but didn't look like any workers were out, at least on the weekend.  We found out later that the workers were redoing the tiles and uncovered some ancient Roman artifacts, so everything had to be shut down for about 3 months.  Then they'll build around them.  There were a few little souvenir shops in the middle of the street and we picked up a few magnets and trinkets.  Teresa and Ken wanted to walk to La Sagrada Familia cathedral to pick up a requested souvenir for a co-worker.  It was a 45 minute walk and Ruth Ann and I were NOT up for it.  Plus the Sagrada closed in an hour so it would be a rushed jaunt.  So Teresa and Ken took off on their own and so did we.  Ruth Ann was dead set on buying a black baseball cap with a subtle Barcelona design on it that didn't blare Barcelona.  She did.  We found it in a tiny shop on a square run by a young Indian man who was looking forward to visiting or moving to the USA someday but that may have been his salesman tactic to get us to buy from him.  Most of the stuff in the shop was made in China. :) But we were game!  In the square there was a farmers market of sorts where they sold cheese, by the pound or wheel, honey products, clothing and gifts. So cool!

We walked down the tiny alleys and found little souvenir shops everywhere as well as a couple thrift stores, where looking back now, I really should have bought something there because for all the anticipation of buying cast off clothes in another country, these were the only thrift shops we found and had time to stop in.  oh well.  We found a tiny book/coffee shop that could easily have been used in Harry Potter movies.

In a big square in front of a church, there were acrobats dancing and jumping on top of each other's shoulders to fun loud music. 

 A big crowd gathered around. The acrobats were great!  

We kept a good hand on our purses in case of pick pockets.  

Then we started walking in the direction that we THOUGHT the hotel was at and couldn't quite seem to run into La Ramblas. So Ruth Ann pulled out her phone and we used GPS.  We were going in the opposite direction!  None of the streets had been straight and those tiny curvy alleyways threw us off.

We got back to the hotel and then walked through the market, which was still open.  We were getting hungry but wanted to wait until Teresa and Ken got back to do supper.

The market had fresh fish laying out on ice, sandwiches already made up and sitting out for who knows how long.  

Side of meat hanging up, nuts, fruits, everything food-wise you could imagine, they sold it there.  

And the running joke of the trip.  "Val is stopped by La Policia or  La Polizia in every single city."

I was NOT actually stopped by the police!  They just happened to be walking behind me and I got ahead of Ruth Ann. :) But yes.  There was a "run in" with police in every city.  None in a super bad way and I never got fingerprinted.  More on that later.

We bought some waters and then a sample platter of various types of fish like calamari, sardines, etc, breaded and fried. We were totally expecting ourselves to be sick by the next day but we weren't!

Ruth Ann and I sat on a different patio overlooking the market while we ate our treat.  The market was SO huge!

Teresa and Ken got back and we started walking around looking for a restaurant to have dinner.  La Sagrada's gift shop was only available if you bought a ticket to go into the church itself and they closed in 10 minutes.  So they got their steps in anyway!! and her co-worker should probably just buy her souvenir online.

We found Hard Rock Barcelona around the corner and enjoyed a taste of home!  Our waiter was from an entirely different country and was super helpful and cheerful.

And it seems that La Ramblas was a party street as it had thousands of people partying into the night.

In the wee hours of the next morning, Ruth Ann and I saw some partier stragglers stumbling down the street right with other people heading to work looking totally sober!

End of day 3!

Days 1,2 and a bit of 3 Mediterranean cruise

 Whew, here we go!

Day 1 Mediterranean Cruise

Ryan took me to the Amtrak station in the wee hours of the morning on a Thursday.  We waited until they opened and then he took off to make it back in time for work.  Well, an hour late but they were aware.

The Amtrak ride was good.  Internet spotty.  My seat companion was a very nice lady about my age and life experiences, but no kids.  We were talking about our upcoming week and I happened to mention that I on the first leg of my journey to Barcelona. OH MY GOODNESS!  She'd been there not long earlier and gave me all sorts of info on places to eat, things to see!  The train had some problems and actually stopped for a couple hours while something was being fixed on it.  From what I've been told that doesn't happen ALL the time but be thankful they took time to fix it! We both had to do some work on our laptops but when the internet conked out in dead zones, we chatted up a storm!

My sister and BIL met me in the Chicago suburb and my new friend and I parted ways cheerfully.  Teresa asked about my train companion and you know what? I never even got her name! :)  Oh well.  It's not like we were going to be penpals or anything.

That evening, Teresa and Ken had a work dinner to attend so they asked their son and his family to babysit me. lol. 

We had a tea party, played board games, ate pizza and watched tv together.  It was a good time!  

Teresa and Ken picked me up and I crashed hard back at their house.

Day 2 Mediterranean Cruise 

I worked on my laptop for much of the day and in my free time, packed and repacked my suitcases.  I had a large bag to check and another for carry-on.  Teresa pulled out her scale and I was so surprised to find that my super heavy suitcase only weighed around 34 pounds!  Doesn't leave much for souvenirs but that's ok for now!  And my bulky carry on was well within the limits. WHEW!  I did leave about 20 pounds of clothes in Teresa's guest room while we were gone though.  Did I REALLY need that many pairs of jeans and extra shirts?  Looking back now, I wish I hadn't left as much as I did. Oh well.  Live and learn!

We three took off for O'Hare that afternoon.  It had started to snow!  Yikes!  With only a 2.5 hour layover in Iceland, time was going to be close.  Ruth Ann was on a bus ride from Wisconsin and met us at O'Hare before we went through TSA.  We rushed to our terminal, we're that kind I guess! and then sat.  I babysat the luggage while those three went for some supper.  The flight was delayed 1.5 hours.  uggh.  

We finally got in the air and Ruth Ann promptly got a nose bleed!  We managed to scrounge up enough napkins to help her out.  

And DON'T believe these screens about the outside temp!  I have no idea what is accurate up in the air, but it said that in Iceland, it was 172 degrees as we were taxi-ing to the terminal.  I DON'T think so...

The movies were good but the seat screen in front of each of us was so close to our faces, especially if the guy ahead of us decided to recline his seat.  But that's flying for you.  It makes you appreciate the final destination so much better! And I may need new glasses for flights only.

We flew over Ireland and I got to snap a couple pics!  

I'm glad I did.  

Someday, I'll go back there!

Ok that's it for Day 1, 2 & a smidge of 3!