This week we finished off our time in Spain in Madrid, then set out for the north.
We left Santiago de Compostela and drove through the green, foggy mountains onto the flat and surprisingly also green plain of central Spain. We stopped in Segovia, a beautiful town with a perfectly preserved Roman aqueduct, a confection of a cathedral, and a 19th-century Romantic idea of a medieval castle. It’s a great city just an hour’s drive from Madrid.
We drove through a mountain range to the main event: Madrid. There was a huge rain storm, followed by driving the highway that goes for several km under the city center. They routed the traffic underground so that most of the center is pedestrian only–one of our favorite things about Europe! We arrived at our AirBnB, got the car parked, and were tucked into our little apartment. We had just started unpacking when the massive rainstorm that we encountered in the mountains caught up with us again. It was dramatic!
We set off to find live music, but it found us as soon as we got on the metro—there was a guy busking on our train car. We wandered around a bit, but it was mostly a quiet Monday night, so we settled for a very tasty pizza and turned in. The next morning, we headed for the center of Madrid and a walking tour. We were in the city for a few days in 2019, but there was much of it that we didn’t remember so well. We visited the famous places, like Plaza Mayor and the Gran Via. We didn’t;t save any time for the museums (again), but we did have some good food and enjoyed our lunch at an Argentinian steakhouse. We decided on the spur of the moment to go see a musical and we chose to see a production of Gypsy, directed by Antonio Banderas and entirely in Spanish. Nathan played in the pit orchestra for a production 30 years ago and I saw it a couple times, so we both knew what was happening. Nathan likes to challenge himself with the foreign languages he’s studying. I just enjoyed the interesting staging and the listening to the superfast dialogue.
From Madrid, we caught a flight to London. We were ultimately bound for Southampton to board another cruise ship. I’ll tell you all about our England and Scandinavian adventures next week. Happy Mother’s Day to all you dear ladies and I’ll talk to you next week!
We have had a great week touring the fjords of Norway and Iceland. We’ve done some hiking, had some adventures, and seen some beautiful places. Unfortunately, our long streak of staying healthy has ended, as Nathan came down with a head cold.
We’ve had an exciting week driving and walking around in Spain. We started off with a few days of hiking in the Pyrenees, then we spent time in Basque country and Galicia. We’ve had lots of adventures, so this is a longer post.
We picked up our rental car in Barcelona and headed right for higher ground. We started with the striking monastery complex at Montserrat. We took the cable car up and walked around. It’s a very touristy place and there are a lot of pilgrims coming through, so it seemed like everything had an entrance fee. Because of that, we took a little walk, hopped on the cable car down, and moved on. We took the very long, very scenic route through the mountain towns, and WOW! Every valley was breathtaking and beautiful. There are several national parks on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees and we kind of just chose one and booked a place in the small town of Boltaña. We spent three days driving into the different parts of the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park to hike around and gawk at the amazing scenery.
One feature that we learned about on these hikes is a “faja”, which is a narrow path along a cliff where there is a natural ledge. On our first day of hiking, we encountered a park ranger who told us about what was on our planned path. He said that part of the path was a faja and there were three places where there were chains to hold onto. It was a really cool hike down a steep and deep gorge carved out by the river. The faja was no big deal.
The next day, we wanted to go to a different part of the park to see another valley. I will interject here that I have had a weird injury on my right foot that I have been mostly working with for maybe the last six weeks. Well, it was not happy with the more strenuous activity,but I was doing ok and didn’t want it to interfere with the opportunity to hike around. When we chose our hike for this day, it was a combination of two faja trails, finished off with a hike on the valley floor. The faja the day before was a piece of cake, so we set off. It was an immediate steep ascent to get to a waterfall and the turn for the faja. Oh, and did I mention that I have trouble with heights, especially exposed rocks and cliffs and such? As soon as we turned to take the faja, I knew it was not going to be fun, but I figured I could just muscle through and I would be happy when I was on the other side of it. This faja was very different from the tree-insulated trail of the previous day. It was very high, very narrow, and very exposed. I have to say that there were tears and a definite moment of hyperventilation. We were maybe halfway through the first faja when two ladies that had passed us returned on the trail and informed us there was a snowy part. Since I was having trouble without snow, we decided to turn back. It was not fun, but it was really beautiful. Nathan was really patient with me. We returned to the valley floor to hike up to three stunning waterfalls. My feet and legs were hurting and I was feeling a bit defeated by my panic moments, but it was still a good day. We hiked about 12 miles that day.
On our way back to our place, we stopped for a bite to eat. The news was on in the little restaurant, and I kept seeing the headline “caos” and what I thought said “Aragon” which was the region we were in. Then I realized it said “apagon”, which is a power outage and they were showing images of the huge traffic jams in Madrid and people stuck in the metro and at the airport. Well, we were obviously not in the middle of all of that and there was power at the restaurant, so we thought it was probably just in the city. Well, we learned slowly that it was pretty much all of Spain and Portugal being affected. Our power at the Airbnb was out and we feared that they wouldn’t get it back on for days. We went to bed early-ish (because there was really nothing else to do) and when I woke up a little while later, the power was back on. I know it was a big headache for a lot of people, but we only got a little taste of it. The next day, we chose yet another valley and a shorter hike up to a glacier and another waterfall. This one fell over maroon-purple rocks and was so lovely! The Pyrenees did not disappoint.
The next day was a three-city day: Zaragoza, Pamplona, and Donostia/San Sebastian. We drove west and then north, stopping to walk around the towns and see the very different styles and cultures within just a day’s drive. Zaragoza is the capital of Aragon, with a beautiful and huge baroque cathedral. Pamplona, of course, is the famous site of the Festival of San Fermin and the running of the bulls. We walked the short route of the run and you can really see how that one long, narrow street leaves no escape for the runners and for the bulls. Crazy! Then it was further into Basque Country to the gorgeous and green coastal town, San Sebastián. It was a joy to walk around the old town and sample some pintxos, the Basque version of tapas.
The next day, it was time to walk again. We wanted to walk a leg of the Camino de Santiago, the pilgrim route across Spain to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela purported to house the remains of St. James. There are many different routes across the country, but we wanted to do some of the “northern way”. We walked through the city, along the high hills above the Bay of Biscay, through neighborhoods and farms, and finished in the beachtown of Zarautz. It was hard because it was long, but we encountered friendly people along the way and saw some beautiful country. It was fun to take part in something that has been happening for over a thousand years and to connect in a small way to so many faithful seekers. We did about 16 miles that day by the time we got to the bus stop and found some dinner.
Unfortunately, bad beds and achy joints took their toll and I was not in good shape the day we left San Sebastián. The weather was rainy and dreary and I was, too. We headed for Guernica to tour the Peace Museum there. The museum does a good job of relating the horror of the bombing of the town during the Spanish Civil War through the testimonies of those who survived it. The most chilling part is that throughout the dictatorship of Franco, these people couldn’t tell their stories because the official line was that the bombing never happened and that the town was burned down in retreat. Terrible! From there, we went to Bilbao to visit the Guggenheim Museum. I’m ok with modern art, but just like the Guggenheim in NYC, I’m mostly in it for the building. Frank Gehry’s creation did not disappoint. It is a huge, undulating sculpture of a building, built from limestone, titanium, and glass and set on the river. Truly amazing! My favorite art was the famous “Puppy” by Jeff Koons outside and the enormous sculptures “The Matter of Time” by Richard Serra inside. The weather had cleared up a bit, but I was still hurting from our days of hiking.
We had to get up early because we had tickets to go tour one of the many caves near Bilbao and Santander that contain paintings and evidence of Paleolithic dwellings. The most famous one is Altamira. They don’t let you tour the cave there, but they have reproduced the paintings in the museum. I was feeling a bit stubborn and really wanted to visit a cave and see actual paintings in situ. Unfortunately, tickets for the few sites that still do that were slim pickings. But Nathan was persistent, and we were booked for the first tour of Cueva El Pendo. It was actually the first cave in the area to be discovered, even before Altamira. The archeologists found tools and other evidence of very early humans. Astonishingly, they had been studying the cave for over 100 years before they discovered the cave paintings. There are beautiful depictions of several deer done in red iron oxide. They are stippled into the surface of the rocks. The archaeologists say that the cave was inhabited by Neanderthals as long ago as 84,000 years ago and by Cro Magnons and Homo Sapiens. The paintings are over 20,000 years old.
From the cave, we were bound for the far west and Galicia. To break up the long drive, we stopped just outside of Gijon for another walk. They have a trail called the Via Verde de la Camocha, which is an urban trail. It was nicely wooded and there was even a section that goes through a tunnel. Our final destination for was day was the pilgrim town of Santiago de Compostela. We are here soaking up the good vibes from people excited to reach the end of a long journey. We also took it slower here to rest up and recover from our long week of hiking and hard-core touring.The cathedral here is remarkable. We’ve also eaten really good seafood here. We’re off to Madrid tomorrow so stay tuned for a bit more Spain and then for new places and new experiences.
We have had a great week touring the fjords of Norway and Iceland. We’ve done some hiking, had some adventures, and seen some beautiful places. Unfortunately, our long streak of staying healthy has ended, as Nathan came down with a head cold.
This week, we had an excellent end to our cruise and we’re now off on new adventures.
We started the week with a full day at sea. After four straight days of ports, it was nice to have a day to rest and do some laundry. I got too much sun on our day in Athens, so I was also glad to be able to stay out of the rays for a bit. We also really enjoyed access to the workout facilities, especially the weights and the walking track on the top deck.
Our port for Tuesday was Bar, Montenegro. On our original itinerary, our stop was to be Kotor, just up the coast a bit. We heard that the bay there was stunning, but the cruise excursions that were headed to Kotor from Bar felt too expensive. Instead, we hopped off the ship first thing and walked to a local car rental agency. We picked up a little Hyundai and set off for Kotor. The scenery was nice along the coast, even though we were in traffic and some construction slow-down. But Kortor was worth it! A gorgeous old town on one arm of a bay surrounded by enormous mountains and cliffs. We hiked up the steep path to the ruins of the fortress. Then it was time to have a snack and pick up our car. We decided to take the scenic route back to the ship and we got our money’s worth – it was VERY scenic. We took the oh-so-steep switchback route up above town, the view becoming more dramatic with every one of the 16 turns. The road was too narrow for two-way traffic, especially when there was a big truck or a tour bus in the mix. It was exciting to meet up with oncoming cars! We then took an even more remote road through the back country. We could see one way over the Bay of Kotor and the other way to the other side and the sea. It was a really fun day.
It was going to be hard to beat our day in Montenegro and our next stop, Corfu, was our last in Greece, so we weren’t expecting anything too different from previous ports. But Corfu is just lovely and we had a relaxing day walking around town and we had a delicious lunch off-the-beaten path. The island is green and beautiful and a quieter day was just what we needed after our mad dash through Montenegro.
Our last cruise port was Messina, Sicily. There was really only one thing we really wanted to do for that stop – visit Mt. Etna. We were on the tour bus for a big chunk of the day, but it was worth it. We learned a lot about volcanoes and the tectonic plates that are driving the volcanic activity of Italy.we got to walk around on the volcanic rock and around an old crater. It was so cool! We had some time in the city of Catania, which we used to run to a little restaurant for a very tasty lunch of pasta and seafood. And we had a delightful cake made with a sweetened ricotta filling and coated in nuts.
We ended our cruise with another sea day and then we arrived early in Barcelona. We disembarked and then made our way (slowly) to the train station to pick up a rental car. We are now roadtripping around Spain, but I think I will save all those details for the next blog. Have a great week!
We have had a great week touring the fjords of Norway and Iceland. We’ve done some hiking, had some adventures, and seen some beautiful places. Unfortunately, our long streak of staying healthy has ended, as Nathan came down with a head cold.
What a wonderful week it has been! We have thoroughly enjoyed the first half of our Mediterranean cruise. We stopped in Crete (twice), Mykonos, Istanbul, and Athens.
After a few days of gogogo in Italy, we had a relaxing day at sea to kick off the week. We got in a workout, did a lot of walking on the ship, and saw some great musicians perform. For dinner, we went to one of the specialty restaurants here on the ship, Butcher’s Block by Dario. The Dario in the title is an Italian butcher extraordinary and the meal was unique and delicious.
The next day, we were in Chania, our first stop in Crete. This was also our first time in Greece, so that was exciting. The island is pretty big, one of the biggest in the Med, and the mountains in the center of the island still have snow on the peaks. We took a tour that first took us up into the hills to visit an old monastery. It was the site of a pretty dramatic episode in the fight for independence from the Turks. Many townspeople had taken refuge there, but they were overrun and slaughtered. Since it is Holy Week, churches are decorated for Easter. Inside. We could smell lilies and other flowers. Outside, the air smelled of herbs. We then visited the small town of Reythymno, an old fishing village with a beautiful Venetian harbor. We finished our day on the island with a wander around Chania.
The following day, we were again at sea, bound for Istanbul. This stop was definitely one of the reasons we chose this particular cruise. The journey through the Dardanelles (a narrow strait separating Europe and Asia) was scenic and lovely on its own. When we arrived in Istanbul the next morning, it was just breathtaking. The cruise port is right in the middle of the vast city and we could see mosques and other buildings everywhere. We got off the ship as soon as we could and wandered the streets a bit, buying a simit (ring-shaped bread coated in sesame seeds) for breakfast. We met our tour guide at the German fountain. He took us into the Hagia Sofia. It’s one of the most culturally significant buildings in the world. It is 1500 years old and the dome is truly impressive. Due to the sweep of time and history, it has been a church of the Eastern Orthodoxy, a catholic cathedral, and a grand mosque. It still has Christian mosaics that have been preserved for their cultural importance. We then went to the Cthedral cistern, an underground limestone reservoir that is structurally held up by hundreds of different columns that were appropriated from other structures. It’s nice and cool in there and occasionally, you feel a water droplet falling on you from the ceiling above as surface water seeps through the ground and into the cistern. We visited the Blue Mosque, a working mosque that is decorated on the inside with thousands of blue and white tiles. We went to the Egyptian bazaar, where they well spices and tea and many other things. We hopped on a boat for a trip up the Bosphorus strait and a different view of the city. It’s such a busy but beautiful place. We stopped for a lunch of durum, a grilled meat wrap, and walked back to the ship. It was a great day!
we made a stop at Mykonos, our second Greek island. We didn’t have much planned for that port. We just wandered around the town to see the famous sites, like the church that’s really five church piled up, with one right on top, and the windmills. It’s a pretty little island. It was good to have a quieter day after Istanbul and before the next stop, Athens.
We again hopped off the ship as soon as possible and took public transportation into the city from the port of Piraeus. Figuring that out was the first adventure of the day! We went to see the treasures at the National Archeaological Museum. It was like an art history textbook come to life. So many famous finds, like the Mask of Agamemnon and the bronze Poseidon statue. So cool. Then it was on to walk through town and meet up with our tour for the Acropolis. Our guide was knowledgeable and did a great job. The whole thing was great and to be in that world-famous spot was thrilling. The views of the sprawling city of Athens from the hill was impressive.
For Easter, we were back in Crete in the capital of Heraklion. We had a drive across down the island and then a cruise in the Mirabello Bay. We were able to see the island of Spinalonga, a fortification built by the Venetians, but more recently used as a leper colony. It was a beautiful and quiet day, as most businesses were closed so that people could spend the holy holiday with family in celebration.
The ship has been lovely and we have enjoyed so many aspects of this trip. Connections are a bit slow, so staying connected is a bit of a challenge. Beyond that, it’s been joy. Talk to you next week from Spain
We have had a great week touring the fjords of Norway and Iceland. We’ve done some hiking, had some adventures, and seen some beautiful places. Unfortunately, our long streak of staying healthy has ended, as Nathan came down with a head cold.
We are sailing the Mediterranean! It’s been about a year since the cruise line offered to let us move to a different date and we postponed by a year. We are back in Europe and having a ball!
We flew from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam, then onto Rome from there. The Dutch immigration officer just smiled and shook his head when Nathan started rattling off our itinerary. You might me doing the same thing a few weeks in!
Since we just visited Roma last spring and 2025 is the “Jubilee” year, we decided to skip the city and do things just outside of the crazy zone. We stayed near the airport in Ostia/Fiumicino.We were trying to fend off the jetlag after an overnight flight with little sleep, so after picking up our little Fiat, sitting in rush-hour traffic, and checking into our AirBnB, we took a walk to find groceries and an ATM. We tracked down a little place for a burger and then stumbled back to our place and bed.
The next morning, we headed for the archeological area of Ostia to tour the excellent ruins of the old Roman city. It was a big site with a forum, theater, and necrophilia. The Baths of Neptune and the market area had gorgeous black and white floor mosaics.
We then drove to the very southernmost part of Rome to see the aqueduct park. We saw the remains of the huge Roman aqueduct amidst a wild parkland covered in poppies and other wildflowers. It was a beautiful walk.
From there we wiggled our way up to our final stop of the day, Tivoli. The town is in the hills outside of Rome and was a favorite retreat for popes, cardinals, and other powerful richies.
The town center is only one way, so we ended up going around the entire thing three times in order to meet our AirBnB host. Nathan has nerves of steel when it comes to driving in Italy. Our host recommended a delightful seafood restaurant and we had an amazing meal. We were surprised when the check came and it was halfprice–apparently the off-season discount!
We wanted to tour one of the famous villas in town, Villa d’Este, the next morning. It’s a beautiful baroque palace with restored ceiling frescoes and gorgeous gardens. The fountains are elaborate and the flowers and trees were gorgeous. It is definitely spring here, with cool (sometimes cold) mornings, but mild afternoons and evenings.
We went from Tivoli to the north of Rome and into a National Park area around Lago di Vico. The lake is in the caldera of a volcano and we booked an AirBnB in the town of Ronciglione. We took a great hike along the rim of the crater, but the trees were so thick, it was hard to get much of a view of the lake. Our room was in the medieval borgo part of town and was great, except we didn’t find the thermostat to kick on the heat until the next morning. I filled a plastic bottle with hot water to warm up my feet at bedtime because they were little ice cubes.
It was time to end our little road trip. Our drive from. Ronciglione to the port city of Civitavecchia was so nice the next day. We drove through the hazelnut farms and the beautiful green countryside. There was fog wrapped around some of the valleys and the little hill towns always look great. We returned our car and made it onto our cruise ship with no problems and it felt good to unpack and settle in. The ship, the Sun Princess, is stunning and we enjoyed exploring it. We had lunch in the buffet and then dinner in the main diving room and it was all very good food. We didn’t even realize we had sailed away because the ship is so stable and we couldn’t feel a thing.
We saw a “sand show” with a lady named Eva. She has a lighted glass podium where she uses sand to create intricate scenes. The art is projected onto the screen and it’s all set to music. It was fascinating to watch each picture unfold and then morph into the next image as she added and subtracted sand to create the details. We’ve never seen anything like it.
Our first cruise stop was Napoli. We visited there with the kids in 2006 and it was fun to return. We took a tour that took us around the Bay of Naples and over the peninsula far a little drive along the Amalfi coast and a stop in Positano. Last time, we didn’t stop, so it was nice to have a chance to walk around that beautiful town. It’s so stunning, with the buildings stacked vertically on the cliffs down to the sea. We had a treat of an arogostina pistachio. Then we went to Sorrento for a stroll and some lunch (a classic pizza Napolitano). We went looking for the black-sand beach where we played with the kids all those years ago…such happy memories. We hit the gelato shop on our way back to the bus. Nathan had the hazelnut (nocciola) and pistachio. I had dark chocolate with orange (fondente con l’arrancia) and chocolate with hazelnut (gianduja).
Our last stop on the tour was Pompeii. It was great to walk around the ruins with a guide. The weather was nice, since we haven’t hit peak summer heat yet. The site can be pretty brutal in the summer. Sometimes it’s worth it to do the tourist things, even if you’ve done it before.
If you made it to this point, thanks for sticking around! I’ve said it before, but I keep up on the blog mostly for myself and for Nathan, so we don’t forget this singular time of our life. But it’s motivating to be able to share it with people we love. I apologize for not having more photos…the connection is a bit iffy this week.
