MONTSERRAT, A WINERY PICNIC, TAPAS (AGAIN😂), AND FLAMENCO — MAY 15, 2026

We were up early — very early — on Friday because we needed to leave to by about 7:15 for our tour. Fortunately breakfast in the hotel starts early so we were able to grab a quick bite to eat before we left.

Our “Montserrat & Cava Winery Tour — Day Trip from Barcelona with Lunch” left from near the Gothic Quarter and the waterfront at 7:50. We were in a comfortable touring van, and as far as I remember there were 12 of us plus our driver and our guide Ariana.

Ariana was great! Whenever you book space on a tour in a small group instead of a private tour with a specific guide you’re risking getting a bad guide, but other than the robot from our tour in Provence we had great guides on this trip. The tour was booked through Walks/Devour Tours, the same company we used for our tapas and history tour Thursday evening, and it was excellent. Monserrat and Winery Tour.

The day didn’t start out too well in the weather department. The skies were gray with flat light, it was windy, and it was spitting rain off and on. It was also cold up at the higher altitude where the Montserrat monastery is located. I had on a sweatshirt and a long sleeved t-shirt, and if I could have bought another layer while we were at Montserrat I would have!

The monastery of Montserrat has been in operation for over 1,000 years. You can read about the monastery’s history and evolution here: Montserrat.

The monastery is set in a strikingly beautiful setting high in the Montserrat Mountains northwest of Barcelona. It is secluded and difficult to get to on steep, winding mountain roads.

Nevertheless, thousands of visitors daily make the trip to see both the monastery itself as well as the majestic surroundings. The scenery was beautiful despite the gray skies and threatening clouds, and I think it would have been breathtaking on a clear day.

The “main attraction” at the monastery is the Basilica of Montserrat in the center of the complex. The basilica is accessed through a large atrium. While the most famous feature of the basilica is the statue of The Black Madonna, the structure itself and the finishes are beautiful and definitely worth visiting.

Ariana explained the history and culture of the monastery, and then we had free time to explore. Guides are not permitted to provide tour services inside the basilica, so we walked through the basilica and then toured the grounds on our own. There is a funicular that takes guests to a scenic overlook above the monastery, but we didn’t think it would be worth going up there given the weather conditions.

We had a little time in the gift shop for required souvenirs (and snacks) before we headed to the food and wine part of the day.

I really enjoyed the scenery on the way down the mountain. The cloud cover was lifting a bit and the skies were brighter than they had been earlier in the day.

To the best of my recollection the drive to the Joan Segura Pujadas Winery was about 45 minutes. Joan Segura Pujadas

We were greeted by Alba, our outstanding winery hostess and guide. She led the tasting, the cellar tour, and the picnic in the vineyards.

We had a pretty extensive tour of the cellars after our tasting, but to be honest, the stairs were STEEP and it was very dark so I was concentrating more on staying upright than on taking pictures!😂

The winery part of the tour ended with a bottling demonstration, and one lady in our group had the opportunity to “bottle” her own wine with a label she created and take it with her! Since it was her birthday I thought it was a great keepsake of the day!

The highlight of the day was, for me, our trip out to the vineyards for a picnic lunch. After all, what’s not to like about good food and wine in a beautiful setting?

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, so we headed back to the winery and then boarded our van for the drive back to Barcelona.

We were thankful to have a little down time back at the hotel before our evening tour. We had booked a Tapas and Flamenco tour with Liv Tours: Tapas and Flamenco. There were five of us on the tour, and we tasted MANY tapas at two different restaurants in the Gothic Quarter.

Everything was very good, but if I’m being completely honest it was way too much food. Lunch in the vineyards had been substantial, and the tapas on the tour just kept coming!

We saw the flamenco show at Tarantos after the food part of our tour. It wasn’t what I expected, but it was enjoyable and different. I was afraid it would be very touristy, but it really wasn’t. The venue is small and “cozy” and the performance was part show and part guys sitting around talking and playing guitars!🤷‍♀️

We took a cab back to the hotel after the show. Thank goodness it was a set rate, because the less than 2 mile trip took 45 minutes!

While we were walking to the meeting point for our taxi we passed one of the hundreds of tacky souvenir shops that litter the landscape in Barcelona. I couldn’t decide which magnet or bottle opener was tackiest, so I just took a picture of the whole display. Unfortunately when I looked closely I realized I can’t share that picture here — it’s extremely vulgar. Here’s a crop of the only item on the whole display that’s remotely acceptable for my blog!

Just like that, we only had one day left!😢 We spent our last full day taking a road trip to Costa Brava and Girona. I can’t wait to share my pictures…Costa Brava is gorgeous!

BARCELONA — MAY 14, 2026

We had really been looking forward to our visit to Barcelona. We had heard so much about the city and we were excited about exploring it ourselves. We packed a lot into three days and saw Barcelona as well as some fantastic places outside the city.

Believe it or not, despite having a great time we did not love Barcelona like we love other European cities. It felt very Americanized to us, and outside of the scattered Gaudi architecture, the Gothic Quarter, and of course La Sagrada Família, we could have been in any large city. When I’m in London I know I’m not in the US. The same goes for Rome, Amsterdam, Paris, etc. There was just something about Barcelona that felt very familiar…perhaps it was Nike, 5 Guys, Taco Bell, Hilfiger, Levi’s, KFC, and the list goes on. I know those things are everywhere, but they seemed more pervasive in Barcelona than other cities I’ve visited.🤷‍♀️

Our day started outside the cruise terminal about 8:45 when our ride/guide from Spain Day Tours picked four of us up for a city tour and hotel drop off. Spain Day Tours

I thought this tour would be a good way to get an overview of the city without worrying about our luggage. Our friends Doreen and Neil who were touring with us were staying in a hotel just a block from ours, so between luggage and location the convenience factor was high for choosing this tour!

I thought the tour was good, but I’m not sure we got our money’s worth, at least from the aspect of time spent . The tour was scheduled to last four hours, but including the hotel drop-offs our tour was closer to three hours. I didn’t really mind — I knew we would be seeing most of Barcelona later in the day or during the other days of our stay, so I wasn’t upset. We had three busy days ahead of us and I was anxious to get checked in to the hotel and get settled/freshen up.

We really enjoyed our hotel — H10 Universitat. H10 Universitat

The location was great, and I had been lucky enough to grab a suite during a big sale, so we had plenty of room inside to spread out, and our own private terrace to enjoy being outside.

The only problem we encountered at our hotel was getting into our room without a long wait. Our room had been cleaned, but was waiting for the head of housekeeping to inspect it. We checked our luggage and went to lunch since the receptionist told us it would only be a few minutes. Well, I guess the head of housekeeping wasn’t about to rearrange her routine to accommodate us, so we still had plenty of time to kill when we got back from lunch!😳 By the time we got into the room Doreen and Neil were in the lobby waiting for us to go to our tour at Sagrada Família. It all worked out in the end, but it was a little stressful waiting and knowing we had a tour scheduled for 3:30.

Our original plan had been to drop luggage and check in to our hotels during our city tour, get dropped off near Sagrada Família around 1:00, grab a quick lunch, and take the Sagrada Família tour at 2:00. We had actually booked a private tour instead of a small group tour specifically so we could choose our time and make it work with the other things we had planned.

I had tried my best to include some down time between our afternoon and evening tours, but it didn’t work out. On Monday, May 11, while I was enjoying a marvelous day with Mago in Eze and Saint Paul de Vence, I received an e-mail that the Sagrada Família had changed our entry time to 3:30.🙄 I knew that meant we would have to go straight from our afternoon tour to our evening tour but we had no other options at that late date so we made the best of it.

La Sagrada Família was, in a word, magnificent. La Sagrada Familia

The structure has been under construction since 1882, and is still about 10 years away from completion. The exterior of the tallest spire, the Tower of Jesus Christ, was completed in February of this year, and blessed by Pope Leo on June 10 in commemoration of Gaudi’s death a century ago.

The architectural details of Sagrada Família are incredible, and Gaudi positioned the windows so that the use of light and color play a major role in the interior appearance. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s just breathtaking! Our guide, Caterina from LivTours possessed a wealth of knowledge and did a great job explaining the significance of what we saw. Liv Tours

After we left La Sagrada Familia we shifted our attention from spiritual things to physical things for our next (and final) tour of the day. Our Tapas, Taverns, and History tour was starting in the Gothic Quarter at 6:30, so as soon as we found a taxi to cram ourselves into we were off!

Our walking dinner/tapas tour was through Walks and Devour Tours. Walks/Devour Tours

We had a great time exploring the nooks and crannies of the old city and tasting authentic Catalan food and drink with our guide Luke. The places we visited were tiny and off the beaten path — I doubt we would have found them on our own. Throughout the tour we learned a lot about Barcelona’s history as we wound our way through the narrow cobblestone streets. We also got to see the thriving street art scene, and saw glimpses of vibrant nightlife outdoors in every public square and plaza.

The tour was a great way to end our first day in Barcelona. The Gothic Quarter was fantastic — just what I was hoping to see when I was planning our time in Barcelona.

We were exhausted by the end of the tour. We had walked many miles on uneven pavement, and we had been on our feet most of the day. As soon as we got back to the hotel I flopped on the bed. I couldn’t wait to get my shoes off and stretch out. Much to my surprise (not a good surprise I might add) my ankle was swollen!😢 I guess that was nature’s way of telling me I had done enough for one day. We grabbed just what we needed — pajamas and toothbrushes, I popped a couple Advil, and we were out!

Stay tuned for Barcelona Day 2…we have a 7:30 meeting time!😳

MARSEILLES TO CADENET, LOURMARIN, AND GORDES — MAY 12, 2026

Since I started my last post with a definition from Webster’s Dictionary I thought I would stay with a book theme and quote Charles Dickens to describe our day — “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

I had high hopes for our “Highlights and Flavors of Provence” Celebrity small group tour but the overall experience was disappointing.

In the best of times column, the places we visited were beautiful and interesting. We had sunny skies and warm but not hot temperatures — perfect for sightseeing.

Unfortunately there were several items in the worst column. The transportation (10 people on a full-sized bus) was oversized for the roads we took, the drive time was very long, and our guide was simply awful — one of the worst we’ve ever had in all our travels.

In addition to the worst column items, I assumed (you know what they say about assumptions!) that since our tour was all day, was very expensive, and had the word “flavors” in the title we would get lunch, or at least multiple snacks, but we didn’t. The “flavors” part of the tour was an olive oil tasting which was excellent, but for anything else we were on our own with no help at all from the local expert (our guide). But, more about that later. Despite the negatives we visited some fantastic places!

After a trip to the theater for some pre-shore excursion chaos, we boarded our bus for the drive to Bastide du Laval in Cadenet, about 45 miles from Marseilles. According to Google the drive is about an hour, but because of rush hour getting out of Marseilles the ride was about an hour and a half.

During that 90ish minute ride our guide droned on and on. Her voice and intonation were very robotic, and she repeatedly laughed at her own jokes while her captive audience stared out the windows with dazed expressions on their faces. I amused myself by trying to take pictures out the bus windows and I followed our journey on my maps and weather apps.🤷‍♀️ The scenery we were passing was stunning but I didn’t learn anything — the commentary was that bad. Please excuse any blurry pictures…taking pictures from a moving bus is not a recommended photography technique!

Our stop at Bastide du Laval was the “Flavors” part of the shore excursion. Bastide du Laval

We had a tour of the production facilities with a very thorough explanation of the process of pressing and crafting olive oil — from tree to consumer! It gave us a new appreciation of why good olive oil is so expensive. Getting the olives from the trees, extracting and filtering the oil, and bottling it for the grocery store shelves is a long, laborious process!

Fascinating fact — olives don’t grow as green olives or black olives. The black olives are left on the trees to ripen longer, and that’s when they change color. I never knew that — I always assumed olives were like grapes and different varieties were different colors!

The oil we tasted was delicious! Bastide du Laval produces many different oils with different intensities, aromas, and flavors. They also craft olive oil infused with popular seasonings. You can read about the different oils they make here: Olive Oils at Bastide du Laval.

We had a hard time making a decision, but ultimately came home with three cans (yes, cans!) of infused oilve oil, a white balsamic vinegar, and a sampler for friends who were looking after things at home while we were gone.

If the AIL (garlic) can in the next picture looks a little funny it’s because it has a dent in it. All the cans went in our suitcase looking pristine, but the air pressure during the flights home caused dents in the cans.🤷‍♀️

Thankfully our ride to the next stop, the village of Lourmarin, was a short one.

Much to our surprise the guide got off the bus and took off towards the village without waiting. She was talking to one couple, but the rest of us had no idea where we were, what we were going to see, or how long we would be there.😢

We caught up with our guide inside the village and took a brief walk through the town. Just a few minutes after we arrived our guide told us to eat lunch and make sure we were back at the bus at 1:30. That’s it — no explanation about the village, its history, or its people, and no direction on what to do while we were there. I was dumbfounded!

Several people asked where we should eat and our guide (sorry, I’ve tried and just don’t remember her name) said there was a Michelin Star restaurant but outside of that the restaurants were all the same. We chose Restaurant L’ormeau right on the square and had a delightful lunch despite the lack of direction. Still, I can’t help but wonder what we might have seen/learned/eaten if our guide hadn’t been a dud, or as the French would say, un guide nul! Actually, to call her a guide is misleading, because she really didn’t guide at all!

Here’s a little information about Lourmarin: Lourmarin

We left Lourmain a little after 1:30 and drove an hour to Gordes. It was during the drive that I really got frustrated by our situation. We passed by many interesting sights, and there was much to see out the windows that I would have loved to explore. Sadly, I didn’t learn about any of it because we weren’t told what we were seeing or where we were!😡

I know we passed through the charming village of Bonnieux, but I know that because of the location information on my cell phone pictures, not because I had any idea where we were. I will add that it was a bit of a “white knuckle” ride by bus as there were many switchbacks and steep inclines/slopes.

At about 2:30 we arrived in Gordes, a striking village perched high on a hilltop overlooking Provence.

Our tour here was much the same as it was in Lourmarin…not a tour. The guide walked us to the middle of the village and told us what time to be back at the bus. We walked around, did a little souvenir shopping, and just enjoyed the beautiful village. Thank goodness we live in a time when I can fill in the blanks after a bad excursion! Gordes

It was extremely windy in Gordes — so much so that I didn’t want to get too close to the edge of the sidewalk/overlook when I took Jim’s picture with the village in the background. I thought tearing the ligaments in my ankle in Iceland last year was pretty bad and I definitely didn’t want to find out what would happen if I tumbled down the steep slope near Gordes! We learned that the wind was the Mistral, and it’s very common in Provence. Mistral

It took about an hour and a half to get back to the port. Mercifully the ride back to port was without commentary for most of the trip, and I don’t think I was alone in napping part of the way!

Just like that, our cruise was almost over. We were exhausted, but we had a sea day Wednesday to rest and pack, then three very full days in Barcelona and the surrounding area before we had to face the “joys” of international travel.

FROM NICE TO EZE AND SAINT PAUL DE VENCE — MAY 11, 2026

The dictionary defines “nice” as Pleasant or Enjoyable. This is the most common modern usage of the word, meant to describe a positive experience or feeling. To use “nice” to describe our day would be doing a disservice to the spectacular locations we visited, our outstanding guide Mago, and the exceptional overall experience of our day. Even the weather was more than just nice!

I had arranged a tour with Mago, who is the owner of Unique Tours Riviera and also their top guide. Unique Tours Riviera

There were six of us from the ship, so we met at 7:15 to make sure we had plenty of time to tender into the port, which is in Villefranche. As it worked out, there was no wait at all. The port uses large port tenders which makes the process move much faster than when the ship’s lifeboats are used. We ended up getting to shore so early we had time to walk over to the open-air market and get coffee before our tour.

Shortly after we walked back to the port we met up with Mago and we were off on our tour to Eze and St. Paul de Vence. The weather didn’t look too promising at the beginning of the tour. Threatening clouds covered the landscape at our first scenic viewpoint, and we got rained on a little bit during the drive. The clouds couldn’t mask the stunning views though!

The drive to Eze wasn’t long, and the weather was turning around. Skies were clearing and even though the streets were wet it promised to be a beautiful day.

We got to Eze after a short drive and waited outside a grocery store while Mago parked the van. Everything looked so fresh and delicious!

Mago told us about the history and culture of Eze while we walked up the steep hill into the old town. Eze sits high atop a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and stunning countryside. Everywhere we looked we saw beauty and hints of life in the centuries-old walled village.

This might be a good time to mention that ancient castles, fortresses, and walled villages are not by any stretch of the imagination ADA compliant. Old limestone steps and paths are worn and uneven, and recent rain can make them slippery too. Handrails? Not many! I took things at my own speed, and it was really in Eze that I started feeling more confident about my ankle and steep slopes coexisting peacefully!

Eze is the location of La Chevre D’Or, a stunning 5-Star hotel built within the walls of Eze and cascading down the stone cliffs above the Mediterranean. La Chèvre D’Or

Ordinarily day tourists wouldn’t be allowed to access the hotel’s terrace cafe, but Mago “knows people” so not only did we take a refreshment break in a beautiful setting, we actually got to see one of the rooms in the hotel! We were reluctant to leave this amazing location, but we had many more things to see and our time was limited.

We opted for a quick lunch at La Premiere Boulangerie in La Turbie. It was delicious, and our entire lunch cost less than my drink at La Chevre D’Or!

Saint Paul de Vence is a beautiful Medieval village perched on a hilltop overlooking the surrounding countryside.

I found the cobblestone streets of Saint Paul de Vence to be wider and more walkable than the steep paths and stairs of Eze. Each street is filled with art galleries and shops featuring wine, cheese, olive oil, and handmade clothing and accessories. I thought it was a beautiful town in its own right with an extensive art history and culture, beautiful flower-lined streets, and many nooks and crannies to explore. I wish we could have taken more time in Saint Paul De Vence…we’ll have to go back!

Mago took us back to port through Nice so we could see a little of the famous resort town. Nice’s reputation is well-deserved. Stunningly blue water, a wide promenade overlooking the sea, top notch art museums, and world-class restaurants and hotels make Nice a draw for travelers from around the world.

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and we said our good-byes to Mago after a fantastic day. I would love to visit the area again, and I wouldn’t hesitate to spend another day (or days!) with Mago. I can’t imagine our day could have been any better!

PORTOFINO AND CAMOGLI — MAY 10, 2026

If Saturday was picture perfect, Sunday was anything but. It was an ugly duckling, at least as far as the weather was concerned. The brilliant blue skies and abundant sunshine of Saturday had vanished and left us with gray skies, low clouds, heavy seas, and intermittent, sometimes heavy rain. If I was home I would have had a pajama day, but since I was in Portofino I decided the thing to do was get dressed and take my tour!

We had chosen a Celebrity tour called Portofino and Paradise Gulf by Land and Sea for Portofino. I wanted to see the town from the water, and I had visions of those classic Portofino shots filling my head. I also liked the ease of getting off the ship with a ship’s tour since Portofino is a tender port and they use the ship’s lifeboats to get passengers ashore.

The day started with a whole lotta waiting and (somewhat) controlled chaos. Celebrity is still using the archaic system of giving out stickers and attempting to get everybody to sit until their number is called. Nobody listens, so the person on the microphone ends up having to repeat themselves several times. Everyone winds up clustered in the back of the theater, because of course everyone thinks they need to be the first one out the door. We got our numbers, joined the cluster near the back, and waited. And waited. And waited. It seemed like forever, but in reality I guess we waited about 45 minutes until our number was called.

The tender ride into town was relatively short and not too rough, although I could see how it wouldn’t have been fun for someone who is prone to seasickness. When we got to the town pier we found our guide and lined up on the pier to catch the boat for the “sea” part of our land and sea tour. There were a lot of people on the dock, and our guide was quite petite so I found it hard to see her. It was also hard to hear her despite having the little tour headphone things.

I didn’t love the boat ride, but I think that was more a function of the weather than the ride itself. There just really wasn’t much to see because of the mist/clouds, and we had chosen to sit outside so we really couldn’t hear the commentary either.

The trip to Camogli didn’t take too long, and when we arrived we were greeted by the sight of many, many people lined up around the square. We learned it was the weekend of the annual Fish Festival (Sagra de Pesche), and after a weekend of celebrations and bonfires, the festivities culminate on Sunday with a giant fish fry featuring free food for all. Here’s a picture of a representation of the giant pan they use, a picture of the fish they serve, and a short video that tells about the weekend.

Camogli Fish Festival

The Fish Festival wasn’t part of our itinerary, so we followed our guide on a short walking tour of the town, and then we were given free time until lunch. Rain was threatening all during the walk, and it was very difficult to hear the guide, so I admit to removing my ear buds and just taking it all it. Camogli really was a charming town, it just didn’t show well on the day we were there.

During our free time we found a coffee shop that also had a restroom for customers, so we grabbed a table and split a delicious apricot pastry. We also had enough a time to purchase a travel magnet and look for tacky souvenirs. We found an abundance of tacky magnets — some were so raunchy I couldn’t even bring myself to take a picture! Who buys that stuff and what do they do with it?

By the time we met for lunch the rain had really settled in. Lunch was down a set of steep, scary, wet stairs, but I managed to get into the restaurant without breaking my neck (or tearing any ligaments!) so I’ll call that a win. The restaurant appeared to be a combination restaurant/bar/beach club. I’m not sure how much business the restaurant would get outside of the tour groups on a regular day. Perhaps people using the beach and changing facilities would also eat there?

Lunch was OK…not particularly memorable, but at least we were inside out of the rain! We had focaccia bread and pesto pasta, which are two of the things the Ligurian coast is known for. The wine and Limoncello were plentiful, and we were also served dessert, but I didn’t take any pictures at lunch and I don’t remember what it was!🤷‍♀️ The meal was filling and very carb heavy. I found myself longing for a lettuce leaf or some cucumber!🥬🥒

After lunch we made our way through town and the fish festivities to the boat for the “scenic cruise” back to Portofino.

We chose to sit inside on the boat for the trip back to Portofino since it was raining pretty hard. That meant we really couldn’t see much. The seas had gotten angry and it was a rough ride along the coast. We stopped briefly in the secluded Bay of San Fruttuoso to see the 10th century Benedictine abbey, but the visibility was so poor by this time that I didn’t even pull out my phone, much less my camera!😳

By the time we got back to Portofino Jim and I were more or less done. We walked with the group for a while, but we couldn’t hear the guide and we felt like we were just shuffling through crowded, wet cobblestone streets that looked very much like other towns we had seen but with more expensive stores. When the group got back to the main piazzetta (central square) we decided to call it a day instead of climbing up the steep, wet stone steps to the historic Church of San Giorgio perched above the town.

In hindsight, this tour was probably not a good choice for us. It was the only thing I found that would allow me to see Portofino from the water, and I had visions of the beautiful travel brochure shots I was going to take of Portofino from the water and then from above when we climbed to the church. You know the ones…you can find them everywhere when you look for things to do in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately there were just too many people on the tour for us, and that combined with the weather made it a not-memorable day.

Of course, we couldn’t leave Portofino without adding to our travel magnet collection, and I found another tacky souvenir — a pair of socks with pictures of classic Italian things. From the socks, I can conclude Italians like sunshine, wine, basil, lemons, peppers, and penises!😳

The tender ride back to the ship was interesting to say the least. I was lucky enough to grab a seat near the door where I got some fresh air, but even near the door the air in the tender was thick and the ride was uncomfortable.🤢 We were pitching all over the place, and the crew had a very hard time securing the tender so we could get back on the ship. Stepping off the tender onto the platform required timing, patience, and agility. We saw many people who were shaken up by the experience. It didn’t really bother me, but I admit I was relieved to be back on board.

We were leaving Italy and heading to France for our next two ports of Nice and Marseilles.🇫🇷 Nice was first — thankfully we had booked a private tour and we were hoping for better weather!

CINQUE TERRE — MAY 9, 2026

Every so often things come together perfectly — weather, location, companions, timing — and a magnificent travel day is the result. So it was with our day in Cinque Terre. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

Cinque Terre (which means five lands) is a series of five seaside villages built on the steep hillsides lining the Italian coast. The villages, the coastline, and the surrounding land now form the Cinque Terre National Park and are a major tourist attraction. The villages are connected by ferry, train, or hiking path. Cars can only reach the area with great difficulty, parking is scarce, and there is little to no vehicle traffic in the villages.

The early residents of the area were farmers, and the land around each village was originally used primarily for growing grapes and olives. You can still see evidence of that today in the terraced land stretching down the hillsides. Interestingly enough, fishing was not a primary industry even though the villages of Cinque Terre are now thought of as fishing villages. Only Monterosso al Mare had an established fishing tradition, and in the remaining villages fishing was only for local sustenance.

The brightly colored houses that attract so many tourists are a fairly recent development. Until the 1970’s most of the houses were natural colors, with a few brightly colored houses here and there so fishermen could spot their home from the sea. The painting of all the homes started as an effort to attract tourists. I’d say it worked! Today the color of each home is regulated by the National Park. Although a homeowner can’t be forced to repaint or make repairs if their home falls into disrepair, once they begin a renovation project their paint choice will be made for them!

Our day in Cinque Terre began when we met our guide outside the cruise terminal about 8:15. Even though we could have done this trip by ourselves, our day was much richer and more stress-free touring with someone who knew the history of the area as well as the ins and outs of travel in the region.

I booked our tour through LivTours and Filippo Coari was our guide. What a fantastic tour he gave us! Filippo works as a contractor for several travel/tour providers, and also has his own business. I highly recommend Filippo! Here’s his contact information:

We walked from the cruise terminal to the ferry dock. Here’s where having a guide really paid off…Filippo knew how early we needed to be there to be first in line to get on the first ferry of the day, and he knew exactly where we needed to sit once we were on the boat. We grabbed our prime viewing seats upstairs in the back corner, and we were off!

The ferry makes five stops on the two plus hour journey to Monterosso — the first is in Porto Venere, and then four of the five villages. The ferry doesn’t stop in Corniglia since the village is built high up on a hill and there is no pier.

Porto Venere is not part of Cinque Terre but is often referred to as the sixth village because of its location along the same coast. Porto Venere is older than any of the five villages, and is a beautiful town in its own right.

After we left Porto Venere we stopped at or passed by each of the villages as we made our way up the coast. Each village has its own unique features and history, and Filippo shared his knowledge. We also considered our options and formulated a plan for the rest of the day. We decided to go all the way to Monterosso on the ferry, then travel back by train stopping at one or two of the other towns. We settled on Vernazza and either Riomaggiore or Manarola, depending on how my ankle felt near the end of the day. Riomaggiore would require navigating steep slopes immediately after exiting the train station, whereas access to Manarola would be relatively flat. We ruled out Corniglia. It looked charming, but there are almost 400 switchback stairs between the train station and the village and that seemed like something I probably didn’t want to attempt yet! Little did I know what was waiting for me in Vernazza!

Once decisions had been made, the rest of the journey was spent viewing the Cinque Terre coast and villages through my lens!

I loved every minute of the ferry ride, but I was also excited to disembark in Monterosso and start exploring.

We wound our way through the narrow streets and Filippo explained how the houses would have been used “back in the day” and how they have changed over the years. Most of the homes have very large double doors at street level that were used for storage of oversized items such as wine casks. Entrance to the home would have been through a separate, smaller door or a door that was inset into the larger storage door.

We took time to look in a few shops, and we were rewarded with a magnet, an ornament, our “nice” souvenir from the trip, and a photo of the tacky magnet of the day!😂

Lunch was at a wonderful restaurant on the hillside overlooking the beach and town. Jim was brave and tried some fried anchovies (a local favorite) based on Filippo’s recommendation. I stuck with the other favorite local dish, pesto pasta. The food was excellent, and as with every place we went everything was very fresh and grown/made locally.

We knew we had to get moving if we wanted to see more of Cinque Terre, so we reluctantly left our table with a view and headed to the train station.

Monterosso is split by a mountain into 2 parts — the old town and the new town. The two distinct sections are connected by a tunnel, which we used to access the newer part of town where the train station is located.

The train connecting the villages is fast and runs frequently, so we were in Vernazza in a matter of minutes. Vernazza is the most “popular” village and the one most frequently seen in photographs. It is also just as crowded as you would expect a top attraction to be.

Still, it wasn’t unmanageable, and we enjoyed walking the narrow streets and seeing the differences between Vernazza and the much larger Monterosso.

No visit to Vernazza would be complete without climbing to the lookout point above the village to see the famous views of the colorful town. This was my first real test of my ankle. We had walked a lot and I had navigated a lot of stairs, but the climb in Vernazza took things up a couple notches! According to AI (I didn’t count!🤷‍♀️) the climb to the panoramic viewpoint is 700-800 steep, uneven stone steps.

It was worth it!

Getting down proved to be more difficult and a lot scarier than the climb. There are few handrails to be found in old European villages, and absolutely nothing resembling an ADA law! Luckily Jim and Filippo were very patient and helpful. Jim carried all the bags and Filippo held my hand on the rough parts to make sure I didn’t slip and fall.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and our day in Cinque Terre was no exception. We decided it was too late to try to walk around another of the villages, so we caught the train and headed back to La Spezia.

It was a day I wouldn’t go back and change even if I could. The villages of Cinque Terre were picture perfect!

PISA, LUCCA, AND WINE TASTING IN TUSCANY — MAY 8, 2026

I’m going to start with a quote by Elbert Hubbard. He said, “No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.” Looking back, that quote sums up our vacation, and it was on full display with what we did on our first day in La Spezia.

It started out innocently enough. I saw a great tour to Florence and Pisa and booked it immediately without really digging in to what a day trip to those places would entail. My plan was to return to the ship and have a leisurely evening, then a morning boat ride to Porto Venere on Saturday followed by a quick wine tasting through Celebrity in the afternoon.

Well, as Jim often says, our plans are only our plans until I change my mind, and never was that more in play than our two days in LaSpezia. Once I realized we would have spent more time riding in a van than sightseeing, Florence and Pisa became a tour with Bella Italia Tours (https://www.bellaitaliatour.com) to Pisa, Lucca, and a Tuscan winery. Saturday’s plans got scrapped for a full day tour of Cinque Terre. As if that wasn’t enough, I started wondering why we were going to eat dinner on the ship when we were in Italy, and a Sunset Dinner Cruise got added to our itinerary.

I’m glad we changed things around. Our tour with Bella Italia was fantastic, and the dinner cruise was pleasant and relaxing, even if it wasn’t quite what we expected. But more about dinner later…I have three other places to write about first!

Our tour with Bella Italia was in a van with two other couples from the ship. We started in Pisa, where we had plenty of time to walk around and take the standard tourist pictures.

We saw something in our wanderings that became a joke focus of our trip. While we were casually shopping the “Flea Market” by the leaning tower we came across a rather graphic David magnet. When we really looked closely every stall had their version of David! From that point on we made it a point to look for tacky souvenirs, and we saw some doozies! Since I know you’re wondering, at the end of the trip we were able to determine that the French are much classier than the Italians or the Spanish when it comes to producing souvenirs!

We left Pisa after about an hour for the short (30ish minute) drive to Lucca. Our guide Mossimo (Max) provided great commentary during the driving segments of the tour which helped pass the time in the van. Once we reached the destinations Max gave us an overview and suggestions, but beyond that we were on our own. That was a little surprising and unexpected, but we still had a very nice day.

Lucca is a charming walled Renaissance town with narrow cobblestone streets and wide ramparts surrounding the old city. Jim and I walked around town on the ramparts, and wove our way through the narrow streets until we found a place for lunch.

Lunch didn’t disappoint! One thing that always strikes me in Europe is how good the food is. It’s fresh and not over-processed or loaded with preservatives. I can easily taste the difference between the food in Europe and at home.

The drive from Lucca to the Valle del Sole winery (https://www.valledelsole.eu/en/) was only about 15 minutes, but it was very scenic and I especially enjoyed seeing the pelotons we passed.

At the winery we were treated to a tour of the production facilities and a seated tasting. Such a pleasant afternoon!

The drive back to the port was about an hour. There was plenty to look at, but I was already thinking ahead and hoping we would have time to get back to our cabin for a quick refresh before our sunset cruise.

Here are a couple of ”windshield shots” of things that caught my eye on the way back to the ship.

We ended up having just enough time to get back to the ship and freshen up a bit before we had to leave for our evening tour. It was an enjoyable evening with a handful of things that weren’t expected, but I’m still glad we went. We booked the tour through Get Your Guide: https://www.getyourguide.com/la-spezia-l1348/portovenere-aperitif-tour-at-sunset-t439640/?ranking_uuid=0e355c98-dcdd-4da6-8e50-1a64aae74fcb&referral_redirect=1&q=sunset%20cruise.

It was about a 20 minute walk to get to the departure point for our sailing tour. I’m glad it wasn’t more than that…this day was one of just two during the trip that my ankle needed to remind me I had surgery in August. It didn’t hurt, but it was TIRED, and it reminded me it was tired with every step.

The ride to Porto Venere was very relaxing. Unfortunately one of the “unexpecteds” for the evening was that the captain spoke very little English. There was one passenger who spoke Italian, but translation was sporadic so I had to do a lot of Googling to find out exactly what I took pictures of!

We got to Porto Venere about 7:20, and this is where we had a second unexpected moment. We were dropped off, and told to be back at the dock in an hour!😳 I had so many questions! What about sunset? When is dinner?😂

Apparently one of the ladies on the sailing had mentioned she wanted to swim, so we all had to get off the boat so she could spend some time in the water. Of course she decided not to swim, but there we were with an unplanned stop in Porto Venere for an hour! I wasn’t happy…we really didn’t know what was going on, and to this American it was way past dinner time!

We looked at a few restaurants that all seemed like more than we wanted or had time for, and finally settled on a cone of fries. They were hot and delicious and enough to tide us over until dinner which at this point I was hoping wouldn’t end up being breakfast!

It was close to 8:30 when we got back on the boat and the captain seemed surprised that we wanted to see the sunset, but with some convincing from the man who spoke Italian he reluctantly took us back out to the bay to see the end of the sunset.

We headed back to the calm waters near Porto Venere for dinner, and that was when we had another unexpected glitch. The captain and his helper were just about to serve dinner (at 9:00) when one of the ladies made a big stink about not liking pesto. Dinner was delayed again. We all had to wait while the cook/helper made a separate bowl of pasta with red sauce.

The food was fine, but by that time I was exhausted and had kind of lost interest in dinner. I nibbled a little, enjoyed the view, and was very thankful when the crew cleaned up the food and headed back to port!

We had a great day, but we were beyond exhausted and knew we had to get up very early again the next day. This trip really let us know that we need to do a MUCH better job of scheduling our tours and allowing for down time when we’re in Europe. I can’t imagine trying to keep this pace on the next trip when we’ll be gone almost 5 weeks!

MAY 6, 2026

I had been looking forward to our day in Naples ever since we chose this cruise and started planning. I was very torn on what to do with our day — Jim hadn’t been to any of the places on the list of possibilities, so he was noncommittal. I really wanted to go to Pompeii but I also wanted to go to Sorrento (for purely nostalgic reasons) and so the Positano/Sorrento day trip won.

This would probably be a good time to mention that we had a great time, but the Sorrento we saw bore little resemblance to the Sorrento where I spent a week as a teenager. I’m not sure what I was thinking…I was there over half a century ago so I have fuzzy memories of a beautiful, idyllic town atop a cliff overlooking the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. It’s still a beautiful location, but I had a hard time aligning my memories with what I saw. More about that later, back to our day!

We took a small group tour through ItalyTours.EU and were paired with two other couples from our ship. We had all met at 7 Bell’s House in Civitavecchia and made arrangements to disembark together for our tour. Our driver Enzo was waiting for us and we headed out to Positano.

Honestly, the drive was a little tedious. It was pretty overcast which limited the views, and the traffic was INSANE! It took two hours to drive 36 miles to Positano! We stopped once for pictures overlooking the Amalfi Coast, but we were pretty happy to get to Positano and get out of the van for a while.

The last couple miles of mountain road leading in to Positano were lined with cars parked bumper to bumper. Enzo explained there is so little parking in Positano that’s where residents have to park! I can’t imagine having to walk a couple miles up a steep road just to get to my car! Can you imagine if you got to your car and discovered you had forgotten your keys?😳

Positano was beautiful from land but I would have loved to see it from the water. We enjoyed walking around the narrow streets and exploring, but I don’t think I would want to stay in Positano. I thought it was congested considering when we were there it was still not “high” season. To me it would be a great place to visit by ferry for the day and stay in a town like Sorrento that’s more accessible.

We left Positano after about an hour and a half, and headed to Sorrento where we were going to spend most of our day.

The drive into and through Sorrento was beautiful. Enzo took us past the hotel where my family stayed in the 70s, but outside of the hotel itself nothing struck a chord in my memory. The quaint seaside town I remembered had, like so many other places worldwide, become a major tourist attraction.

We were treated to a wonderful Limoncello tasting! My favorite was the Limoncello Cream.

Remember I mentioned the view across the Bay of Naples? The view hasn’t changed, but the weather didn’t cooperate!

As in the 1970s, there are many paths and terraces along the sea to walk, relax, and take pictures. These days, that means large groups of tourists waving selfie sticks, but we were successful in having Enzo take a picture that only required a little cropping to get rid of the selfie-takers!😂

We had a great lunch at Donna Sofia. Unfortunately I didn’t make a good choice. I thought my ravioli was weird and way too heavy, but everybody else loved their food. The restaurant was beautiful and it was a very relaxing break in the middle of a busy day.

After lunch we had time to walk around and shop. Jim and I added to our growing travel magnet and ornament collection, and I found TWO backpack handbags I couldn’t live without. Not a bad haul for a short amount of shopping time!😂

We were supposed to see Naples on the way back to the ship, but Enzo offered a “drive by” of Pompeii instead and we all jumped at the chance. We didn’t go in, but we did have time to get out and look at what could be seen from the street.

Much like Sorrento, the Pompeii I saw didn’t look anything like my memories. It’s much bigger now due to continuing excavation, and much more touristy. It reminded me a lot of visiting Stonehenge in 2018 for the first time since the mid 70s. What was once a quiet site had become a major attraction complete with traffic, souvenir shops, and lines.

All in all this was a really nice port day. I would have liked clearer weather, but it didn’t rain and we were able to see everything we wanted to see and then some!

MAY 4, 2026

We had chosen to bypass the Rome crowds in favor of a short two-night stay in Civitavecchia. It was a good decision for what we wanted on this trip! We had just finished a very busy two weeks including volunteering at/riding in the MS 150 the weekend before we left, and we knew we’d have very little down time once we got on the ship.

Civitavecchia was much less crowded than Rome, and although Rome has more than its fair share of popular sights, we found plenty to see and do in Civitavecchia. We scheduled a History and Food tour of Civitavecchia with Pamela Marchetti/Window on Italy who had been recommended by friends.

Window on Italy

The ancient city of Civitavecchia (Centum Cellae) was founded by Emperor Trajan in 106 AD as a major port for Rome, although there is evidence of Etruscan habitation as far back as the 6th-7th Century BC.

Civitavecchia is a city of layers, with Medieval Structures built atop Roman ruins. The modern port follows the basic outline of the ancient Roman port, and there are still some structures standing from Roman times. Civitavecchia was heavily bombed during WWII and modern buildings were built around and on top of ancient ruins. The city is a mix of old and new, with occasional glimpses of ancient structures, city walls, and gates.

In addition to a big dose of history, we tasted some wonderful local food in the kinds of places that are hard for tourists to find.

My only criticism of the tour was that I was so tired by the end that I could barely put one foot in front of the other. The combination of jet lag, little sleep, good food and wine, and thousands of steps meant I was practically sleepwalking by the end of the tour.😴

Despite my tiredness, I didn’t get a great night’s sleep. I found the bed too hard to get comfortable, although I did finally doze off after I moved to a different bed (our room had four!). Other than the bed, I found the 7 Bell’s Guest House to be a great place to stay. The owner couldn’t do enough for us, our room was large and very clean, and a simple but adequate breakfast was included.

One thing that I found interesting was that our “hotel” was one of two guest houses in a building with several apartments and small businesses. I don’t think the residents appreciated us, especially when there were 8 of us moving cruise luggage down the elevator on Tuesday morning!

Our first afternoon and evening on the ship were pretty uneventful. It had gotten unbelievably windy by the time we sailed, so we went to the Sunset Bar for sailaway but didn’t last long.

Our first impression of the ship was that the Equinox was showing her age in places. For example, our cabin was in excellent condition, but our balcony looked almost as old as some of the ruins we saw in Civitavecchia. Other than our balcony, there was nothing that impacted our cruise, but we both thought the ship was overdue for a major renovation.

We went to Le Petit Chef for dinner the first night. What an entertaining meal with great food! This would probably be a good place to mention that I LOVE the way Celebrity handles their beverage packages. Once you show your card you’re done. There are no annoying slips to sign and keep track of. Just show your card and the bartenders/waiters/sommeliers will keep pouring!

MAY 2-3, 2026

We love most things about living in Aggieland, but one thing we don’t like is the layer of complexity it adds to travel, especially when we’re going a long distance or on a trip that requires multiple flights. This trip qualifies on both counts!

We can’t get to Rome non-stop on United from Houston, so we decided to go through Chicago so we could get on a Dreamliner. That meant our flight was at 9:50 Saturday morning, and the shuttle service we use doesn’t run that early on weekends so we stayed at the airport Marriott. We liked it for the convenience factor, but unfortunately our room overlooked the Terminal B construction which is apparently a 24/7 operation. The incessant beep, beep, beep of construction vehicles backing up started around 2:45 a.m. and never stopped. That means we were starting the trip sleep deprived, but I suppose we’ll get caught up at some point.

Both flights were excellent! We were on fairly new planes for both flights, and that made a huge positive difference. We were even able to get comfortable enough to sleep for a couple hours, something Jim usually does and I never do!

It’s not something I thought about much before I hurt my ankle, but in my very non-professional opinion the pressurization on newer planes is much better than on the old buckets of bolts that have been my last few United flights. I was surprised in February (6 months post-surgery) when a reasonably short flight affected my ankle so much I was in pain for about 24 hours. I didn’t make the connection until our problem-free flight home on a much newer plane. Anyway, the conclusion I’ve drawn is that newer airplanes are easier on surgically repaired ankles than older planes and you’ll never convince me otherwise!😂

Our travel day was somewhat of an eating frenzy. We started with a full breakfast in the Polaris Lounge in Houston, got a meal on our first flight (we opted for the charcuterie knowing we would have just eaten breakfast), grazed in the Polaris Lounge in Chicago, and had two meals on the flight to Rome!😳

We got into Rome a few minutes early, and got through immigration and customs in about an hour. We had been dreading the new EES, but in reality it looked much worse than it was. It was crowded and chaotic, but there were plenty of airport employees helping to keep things moving. Jim noted that some were more blunt than others, but it was an effective system! It was much better than Schiphol last August when we stood for 2 hours in a sweltering area in a line that barely moved.

We easily found our Rome Cabs driver and got to Civitavecchia around 10:00. The only problem we had was finding our hotel (actually a guest house) even though we had the address. We’re staying at 7 Bell’s House which is located on the first (second) floor of an old building filled with apartments, another guest house, and some businesses. If you don’t know what you’re looking for it’s easy to miss! Nevertheless we did manage, and the lovely host made us coffee and then held our luggage while we walked around a bit.

Our room was ready at 11:45!🙂 We set an alarm, and I think we were both asleep by noon! After we showered and organized things a bit we walked to dinner at Our Lord Bistro which I had found on line. Dinner was excellent. There’s just something about fresh pasta that can’t be beat. We declined dessert in favor of a trip to the local Gelateria, and we were back in our room and ready to sleep by 8:00 when most locals were just getting ready for dinner.😂

Unfortunately sleep was elusive again. The Inter Milan football team had just won the Italian League, and fans were celebrating by driving around town with horns blaring until almost midnight. Jet-lag got the best of me around 3:30 am, so I guess I’m destined to get caught up on my sleep slowly this time!