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Lisbon, Portugal

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We left the ship shortly after 10:00 for our 11:00 food tour, because the meeting point was a 50-minute walk away. Needless to say, we did NOT walk! We'd planned to get a taxi, but there were none right at the terminal. We walked a block or so and finally settled on taking one of the many tuk-tuks.  Our driver didn't seem thrilled to be taking us so far, but Charlie's generous tip cheered him up.  Here are a couple of pics: Can you see us in the mirror? He dropped us off at the entrance to Estrella Park, across from the Basilica. The park itself is quite large, with nicely labeled specimens of plants from everywhere Portugal once had colonies. Here are a few that caught our eye: Silk Floss Tree (or Kapok, as our guide called it) Hibiscus Moreton Bay Fig Dragon Tree The other tour guests arrived -- a couple from San Francisco, and a mother and teenaged sons from Geneva. Our guide, Kika, told us she was 45 and had taught kindergarten for 14 years before changing careers. Here...
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Vigo, Spain

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Sunday morning, we left the ship about 11:30 to explore the area and find a lunch spot.  We spotted this guy just outside the cruise terminal: Here's a view of the port area, looking back toward our ship.  It was a beautiful day, cool and breezy. Also in the harbor area, we saw this sculpture of a man with his face pressed to the ground. I assumed it was a protest against oppression, but upon googling, discovered the title is actually The Bather of Arenal. So the guy is just swimming! Vigo is a beautiful city, with a mostly-flat area near the port, soon rising steeply where the residential areas begin. Just a few blocks from the port is a pedestrian area with a several-blocks-long park in the middle, with really old trees, most of which we couldn't identify. Cyclamen already planted for the winter We were ready for a break about 12:45, but no restaurants were open yet, so we stopped at a place near the ship for beers.  Refreshing! And the people-watching was excellent....
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Sea Day and Crafting Gathering

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We slept really well our first night in the new suite, so let's hope that continues!  We enjoyed breakfast in Chops Grille again, then spent time in the lounge so the room attendant could clean our room. After the big breakfast, we weren't very hungry at lunchtime, so went up to El Loco Fresh on the pool deck for a quesadilla. We have really enjoyed being able to get a quick lunch or snack there on this ship.  At 1:00, I went up to Deck 15 to meet the other crafters. There were about a dozen of us, and somehow I managed to sit next to the only other two from Texas! One woman was wearing an LSU t-shirt, so we talked about Baton Rouge. Others were from the UK, Australia, The Netherlands, California, and Illinois.  The young woman next to me is traveling solo, without her husband and son, and she said all three of them are happy with that!  She is also knitting socks. Most of the others were crocheters, with a couple of embroiderers. It will be a fun way to spend time w...
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Turnaround Day on Liberty of the Seas

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When we awoke this morning (after gaining an hour overnight), we were already docked in Southampton.  We left our cabin about 8:00 to go join a long line of other back-to-backers to get our new key cards.  It was pretty well-organized, thank goodness.  We noticed right away that we had different key cards, but didn't think too much about it. But when Charlie went to Guest Services to activate our WOW bands, the woman asked if he wanted a plain key card instead of a birthday one.  He said "Absolutely!" We don't want the restaurant staff singing happy birthday to us all the time!  But the birthday keycard is a cute idea, I admit. After moving our bags into our new suite, we went up to the suites lounge. I checked my watch, and it was 8:39. So, pretty fast! We stayed there until almost 11:00, when we went down to check in at our muster station. They were passing out champagne or mimosas to ALL the arriving guests, so we nabbed a couple of those and sat down in Scho...
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Heading Back to Southampton

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Yesterday we enjoyed lunch at Johnny Rocket's, which was absolutely slammed with customers.  We sat at the counter and ordered salads topped with chicken, which were very good! Of course, my side dish was fries, so it was hardly a diet meal. . . . We enjoyed watching the beautiful scenery as we left Oslo and traveled back into the North Sea.   After a quiet but somewhat rocky afternoon, due to rougher seas, we had dinner at Giovanni's.  Charlie really enjoyed the eggplant Parmigiana appetizer, which is much better than the version at Jamie's Italian on other ships.  I had the osso bucco, which is reliably delicious. And we splurged on dessert, the chocolate-hazelnut cake. This morning we had our usual walk around the ship, determined to find some photo ops for our devoted readers.  With Halloween approaching, the decorations are growing each day.  This friendly crew member posed for a pic outside the Windjammer. Alas, you can't get the full effect of h...
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