Author Archives: Serene

Barcelona was the end of the fourteen day transatlantic segment of our cruise and also the beginning of a seven day Mediterranean cruise. Eight hundred passengers, mostly American retirees, left the ship in Barcelona while six hundred of us were … Continue reading →

We viewed a lovely sunrise from our balcony as we came towards the port of Alicante Spain. This area has been populated for 7000 years by the regular cast of characters, the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and Arabs. The Spanish monarchy … Continue reading →

We were in the part of the cruise that had a new port every day, mostly along the southern coast of Spain.  Our next port was Málaga, a city thought to be 3000 years old. Established first by the Phoenicians … Continue reading →

Cadìz is arguably the oldest inhabited city in western Europe.  The history is authenticated from 1104 BC.   It was inhabited first by the Phonecians, then the Carthaginians (beginning in 530 BC) Romans (beginning in 49 BC),  Moors (beginning in … Continue reading →

When we purchased our transatlantic cruise, it included ports of Gibraltar and Monte Carlo.  However, we knew before we left home that those had been substituted out and our new ports were Cueta, Spanish Morocco and Nice, France. Flexibility is … Continue reading →

The Azores are a group of islands spanning a length of 373 miles.  The islands formed 50,000 years ago through volcanic eruption. Ten major islands surfaced and two were later joined through another eruption, leaving nine primary islands in the … Continue reading →

If Entertainment and Covid seems an odd title, it is unfortunately fitting. We first suspected that something was going on when the entertainment we could see scheduled out days ahead started changing.    We had gone through pretty rigorous requirements … Continue reading →

Our 21 day cruise started with six straight sea days. Actually it was eight out of the first nine days on board the Nieuw Statendam.  That allows for a lot of sea day activities and for sea day routines to … Continue reading →

We recently returned from spending five weeks on a rather significant trip – a 21 day transatlantic cruise from Florida to Rome and then a two-week land tour of Italy.  Without hesitation, we declare it a wonderful trip.  We saw … Continue reading →

Our friend Beth was traveling nearby so we drove north to join her in the Verde Valley.   Randy and I spent February 2015 exploring the Verde Valley while in our fifth wheel and knew there was an abundance of … Continue reading →