Always an Adventure!

On Thursday, August 11 Kevin and I began a 3 week trip over the pond. We flew from Colorado Springs to Dallas, Dallas to Madrid, and Madrid to Malaga, Spain. About 2 hours into our flight to Madrid, the captain came on the intercom and informed us that a problem with the plane’s navigation system would prevent us from continuing our trip across the Atlantic, so we made an emergency landing in NYC. We were greeted with emergency crews, police, and fire trucks (the problem was not that bad, I guess it is just protocol to send the crews when a plane makes an unplanned landing). We unloaded our first plane, received two $12 food and drink vouchers, got some snacks, and were loaded on our new plane within an hour and a half. The process was actually much easier than I expected it to be, and we received 5,000 bonus miles for the inconvenience. Our flight continuation was uneventful and we landed in Madrid only about 2 hours later than originally scheduled. Fortunately, we had a very long layover scheduled – 5 hours to be exact, and with the delay, the layover was much more tolerable (only 3 hours). We flew from Madrid to Malaga and arrived at our hotel around 6pm on Friday, August 12. We showered and went out to grab some dinner – a fabulous Burger King dinner (it was right next to the hotel and if we wanted anything authentic we would have had to walk about 25 minutes) – and then fell asleep early!

Our unplanned stop in NYC. 

 Saturday, August 13: We woke up on Saturday morning and went to the ship. We worked until about 1:30pm, went back to the hotel to shower and pack, and then checked-out of the hotel at 3pm. We really didn’t have much time in Malaga so we did not get to see much of the town, but from what we saw last time (June) we weren’t missing much. We flew to Palma de Mallorca, Spain that evening and arrived at our hotel around 8:00pm (we spent almost an hour at the airport trying to exchange currency). This was a brand new city for us so we decided to go out and explore – and try to find a place to exchange currency since we were unsuccessful at the airport (what international airport doesn’t exchange US currency?). I did not do any research about Mallorca before we arrived so I did not have any idea what to expect, but on our way to the hotel we passed this incredible Gothic cathedral so I decided we would go there – when Kevin and I travel together it is almost always my responsibility to plan our adventures and I leave the food aspect of things to him. We walked about 25 minutes from our hotel to The Cathedral and were once again unsuccessful at finding an open exchange office (we found one, but it was closed before 9pm). Instead, we decided to eat. We found this neat little restaurant near The Cathedral and ordered a large beer and a large sangria, along with a pizza and pasta. The sangria was AWESOME!! It came out with about 15 different colored straws in it that were about 2-3 feel long. It was quite an experience to drink! Thank goodness the drinks were good and fun, because the food was less than desirable….I would definitely go back for another massive sangria though! After dinner, we briefly walked around The Cathedral and then went back to the hotel around 11:30.

The view of the Cathedral on our walk from our hotel. 

My massive Sangria...the straws were SO AWESOME!

Isn't he so handsome!?!

I couldn't resist this one!

Sunday, August 14: On Sunday morning we went to our second ship of the trip and this time worked until about 11:30. We got back to the hotel around noon, arranged to check out at 4pm and went back to The Cathedral. We were still on the hunt for a currency exchange, but settled for an ATM instead - that was enough to at least get us back to the airport. We shopped a little (I bought a new bag) explored The Cathedral in the daylight, and then went to an Irish bar for some drinks and nibbles – it was SO HOT and a pint of something good was just what we needed. We went back to the hotel to shower, since we were sweating so much in the heat and humidity, and went back to the airport for our flight to Venice, by way of Barcelona, at 6pm. If you have lost count, we were in 10 airports and 7 different cities in 4 days! It was crazy! We landed in Venice around 10:30pm on Sunday evening for another ship on Monday morning.

Beautiful flowers everywhere! 

Windmills on our walk. 

The architecture all over the city was so unique. 

This is like the "tree of life" from The Lion King. 

More architecture. It reminds me of a chess board. I think this was some kind of government building. 

Just us in front of the beautiful Cathedral. Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to go inside. Maybe next time. 

A guard station in front of the Cathedral.

Barcelona, Spain

On Sunday, June 19 we flew non-stop from Malaga, Spain to Barcelona, Spain. We arrived around 1:30pm, relaxed at the hotel for a few hours and then went into the Gothic Quarter for some dinner and shopping!  I went into one of my favorite shops and bought 2 new pairs of pants and then we went over to our favorite little Irish Pub and had some pub grub – don’t worry, we ate some authentic Spanish food later in the trip! We got back to the hotel around 10pm and relaxed.

This seemed to be the trip or protests! We experienced the protests in Athens first, and then there was a protest in Barcelona as well! Too bad we didn't understand what the protests were about. 

So many passionate people!

 On Monday, we went to the ship. This particular ship was not in Barcelona as an Embarkation/Debarkation port, so the wall was open to climbers until 11am. We worked until about 12:30 and then got off the ship with the Sports Supervisor (Rich), his girlfriend (Lucy), and a girl that works in the Adventure Ocean Club (Michelle). We went back to the Irish Pub for lunch and drinks (it was a cheaper option than eating somewhere else) and then they had to get back to the ship so Kevin and I went back to the hotel and changed to go to the beach. We spent a few hours at the beach and then went to the local grocery store and bought some Salami, bread and cheese for dinner. We enjoyed a nice little picnic dinner and evening in our room.

The beach was so nice! 

This was a wedding gift we received. It is called a platy-preserve and you can carry a whole bottle of wine in a plastic container, making it more transportable! Thanks Karla!

Our dinner of champions! 

 We left the hotel around 11am on Tuesday and enjoyed our last day of sight-seeing during this trip. Our first stop was Parc de la Ciutadella. It was a beautiful park with an even more incredible fountain! I would say this fountain rivals the Trevi Fountain in Rome! The fountain is called the Cascada and was designed in 1875. It was exquisite! We walked through the park to the Arc de Triomf which was designed as the entrance to the 1888 World Expo. It was much smaller than the Paris version, but still a neat piece of architecture! Our next stop was the Picasso museum. Picasso was actually born in Malaga, Spain but lived in Barcelona for part of his child hood and young adult life. The museum featured all of his different stages of art work and it was awesome to see how talented he was. I am a huge fan of his cubism period and there were some neat pieces from that time, but it was interesting to see his sketches, portraits, and sculptures as well! After the museum, it was time for lunch! We went to a restaurant on Las Ramblas and enjoyed a traditional Spanish meal (croquettes and paella). Then it was time for me to do some more shopping! While we were in the Barcelona airport during a layover earlier in the week, I was handed a 5 Euro off coupon at Desigual, a very popular Spanish clothing store. I have always wanted to buy something there, but they are a little out of my price range. With this coupon, I decided it doesn’t hurt to look. So I went in and found not one, but two bags that I loved, one for my laptop and one as a purse. The gal gave me a total of 10 Euros off my bags and I basically got 2 bags for less than the price of one normal bag at Desigual! I was psyched! After a long, but great day we went back to the hotel and packed our bags for our early morning flight home. I always forget how much I enjoy Barcelona!

The incredible Cascada fountain!

The top of the Fountain. 

My husband the model!

Just us!

The Barcelona Zoo is connected to this park and we stumbled upon this awesome sculpture!

Close up.

The Barcelona Arc de Triomf. 

So handsome outside of the Picasso Museum. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any photos inside the museum so this is all you get. 

Tapas! So delicious!

Chicken Paella. I told you we would eat authentic food. 

My new bags! 2 for the price of one!

Malaga, Spain - The Birthplace of Pablo Piccaso

Our time in Malaga was very short. We arrived around midnight on Friday, June 17 and left around 11:30 am on Sunday, June 19. On Saturday we went to the ship a little later than planned and had a hard time getting Kevin’s tools through security. This was the first time we had been to this port so we had to figure out the logistics of how it is run. We were able to get into contact with the sports supervisor and she had to escort us from the security station in the terminal to the ship. We ate lunch in the Windjammer, finished working around 3pm and then went back to the hotel. Kevin uploaded some documents to the internet and then we decided to go back into town. The bus we took into the city dropped us off at the city center, but it was certainly not the center of the city anymore!

It was a Saturday night so we figured the city would be hopping, but we had a hard time finding any kind of night life or civilization. The city was very run down and vacant. We walked for about 30 minutes before we found the heart of the city (aka the part of the city designated for cruise ship passengers) and wandered for a bit. We went to see the Cathedral and then located the main street with shopping and food. We went back to the hotel and ordered pizza for dinner – we had been craving it since we saw it the night before, and then packed our bags for our flight to Barcelona in the morning. It was a nice town to see, but it is certainly not at the top of our list. Maybe when we go back in August, we will have a better experience!

The view of the Alcazaba of Malaga from the ship. 

Incredible stained glass at the local market.

We found this on the sidewalk.

The Cathedral - it was really difficult to get a good photo because all the building were so close together!

The local brew...

...to go with our dinner!

Athens, Greece - The City of Riots

On Tuesday June 14, we flew from London to Athens! Neither Kevin nor I had been to Athens so we were pretty excited (me much more than Kevin)! We arrived in Athens around 6pm and took a taxi to our hotel. As soon as we landed Kevin checked his email using the airports free wi-fi and found out that the ship we were supposed to inspect the following day, was not actually arriving until Friday, due to the scheduled protests and riots planned for Wednesday. At that point, I thought we would have more time to sightsee, but my hopes were quickly shattered. It turned out that the WHOLE city shut down to protest new legislation that was about to be signed. The whole city included all public transportation (some taxis were still out on the streets), restaraunts, and even the Acropolis! Needless to say, I was slightly disappointed – we finally made it to Athens and we were going to be stuck in our hotel all day! We spent Tuesday evening, and all day Wednesday at our hotel. We slept until 2pm on Wednesday and then I spent the afternoon getting caught up on the blog. Around 9, Kevin and I went downstairs for dinner (thank goodness this hotel has a restaurant and bar in the lobby) and drinks – we should have thought about the drink part earlier in the day J! We went back to the room around 11 and I fell asleep around 1:30am. Kevin on the other hand, didn’t fall asleep until 7am, just to wake up and leave the hotel around 11am on Thursday morning to finally explore the city – you can imagine he was not a happy traveler!

We took an airport bus that stopped just outside our hotel right into the city center and we were instantly pleased with our decision to stay out of the city the day before. The bus pulled right up to the National Parliament building where all the protests happened the day before and we could still smell the tear gas the police used to break up the rowdy crowd. We also saw a decent sized tent city in the square and lots of signs still hanging on the street. It was pretty crazy to see! We walked from Syntagma Plaza to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. From this site, we got our first look at The Acropolis! It was beautiful! We spent some time walking around the ruins and then were on our way over to the Acropolis. We entered at the gate to Dionysus Theatre and the view of the Parthenon and the city of Athens just got better and better the higher we went. It was HOT on the way to the top of the Acropolis and we didn’t have water with us. As soon as we got to the top, our goal was to find water and then explore. Surprisingly there was nowhere on top to purchase water, but we did find a fountain. As soon as we got to the top it started to drizzle some rain, which was so nice to cool us off a bit. We walked around for about 30 minutes and then began our decent. We stopped at the Acropolis Museum to see some artifacts and cool off a bit, and then proceeded directly to lunch! Kevin ate a gyro and I had some Souvlaki. It was a delicious traditional greek meal!

This was in Syntagma Plaza where the riots took place the day before we took this picture. It was pretty crazy to see and be a part of!

This is the ruin of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. 

Our first view of the Parthenon!

Just us at the Temple of the Olympian Zeus with the Acropolis in the background. 

There were wild/stray dogs everywhere...this one was particularly cute!

This is Hadrian's Arch. 

This is the Herodes Atticus Theatre at the Acropolis. It is still used to host summer concerts. 

The view of the Temple of Olympian Zeus from the top of the Acropolis. 

The Erechtheion - where Athena and Poseidon battled. 

A close up of the columns on the Erechtheion.

The Parthenon!

After lunch we decided to go see the Agora. We took the metro to Monastiraki and we were instantly in shopper’s heaven! Every direction we looked, there were side streets lined with tourist shops. We finally re-focused and walked to the entrance to the Agora, but it was already closed for the day, so we did some shopping instead. While we were shopping, we spotted a rooftop bar with 2 Euro beers so we decided to make a pit stop.  It turned out to be a great stop because it poured rain for about 30 minutes and we got to watch the rain come down on the Acropolis, while staying completely dry! It was beautiful! It started getting late, so we decided to make our way back to the bus stop. We stopped for dinner on the way and when we got to Syntagma Square again, the riots had picked back up. They were nothing like the day before, but the police were back in full force walking around with shields and masks. It was at this moment, we realized the road to our bus stop had been blocked by a SWAT van and we had to come up with an alternate plan. Fortunately I was very observant on our way into the city and realized we could take a metro train from Syntagma to Ethniki Amyna and then pick up the bus to the hotel from that station. What Kevin do without me!?! He would have spent a lot of money on a Taxi! We got back to the hotel around 11pm, redeemed our free drinks at the bar, and then went to bed. It was an incredible day and I had so much fun exploring a new city!

The view of the Temple of Hephaestus (in the Agora) from the top of the Acroplolis. This is the best preserved classical temple in Greece. 

Shopping!

The sun setting on the Acropolis and the Parthenon. 

The SWAT team vans blocking off the street (on the left). 

On Friday morning we left the hotel around 8:15 and took a taxi to the port. Our hotel was near the airport and apparently the port was not! It took us over an hour to get to Piraeus (which is where the ships dock, seeing that Athens is landlocked) and then we had a heck of a time finding our way to the ship. There must have been at least 15 ships at this port, and that was just one section of the port. It was the biggest port I have ever been to! We finally got on the first ship and finished our work around 11am. Then we took a taxi to the second ship (the ship that was supposed to be in port on Wednesday) and finished working around 1pm (fortunately neither of the ships needed any extra work done). We had just enough time to go back to the hotel, pack our bags, and fly to Malaga. We arrived in Malaga 2 hours late, but were glad to be in another new city!