World Tour Part V

Wednesday 28th May 2008 - Cannes/Nice/Monaco - Monte Carlo

Today was a day I was really looking forward to. The French Riviera! I'd seen many movies and travel documentaries with this area as the backdrop was keen to see it all first hand. I was not disappointed.

The Cannes Film Festival and Monaco Grand Prix had just been held so they were still 'cleaning up' after these two events. The Red Carpet was still in place and so were many of the stands from the formula 1 car race.

We boarded a small air conditioned coach and met our French tour guide - Gabriella. We drove along the beachfront of Cannes past the expensive apartments and cafes on the sidewalk. Next stop was Nice which is also a very beautiful place and the opulence is apparent in along the streets and buildings. Elton John and David Furnish's beautiful home was pointed out to us along the way. It overlooks the ocean and St Tropez - Co^te d' Azure he would have to be the best house in the best street! It is really the 'California of Europe' with many other stars residing in this area also.

Our first stop was at a Palace owned by the late artist Matisse. The grounds and architecture were beautiful and we spent the next hour and a half looking at his paintings and sculptures. I am not really a huge fan of his work but it was interesting to be in these surroundings nevertheless.

We drive the coast around a very winding roads and eventually come to Monaco and again the opulence and wealth here is so obvious with the beautiful shops, chic cafes and luxurious yachts.

We were told that Brad Pit's yacht is moored here somewhere, it is called "THE PITS"! Not sure if its true but we certainly got a laugh.

Lunch was at a beautiful French Restaurant at the Marina where we enjoyed some of the local food and wine before walking through town. We spend about 3 hours here before making our way back to the ship for our departure in the early evening. I could really see myself returning here one day!

Thursday 29th May 2008 - Barcelona

I had been to Barcelona about 35 years ago so was looking forward to seeing how much it had changed. We paid an enormous price for a very short bus ride into the centre of the city (so we thought) however after about a 5 minute ride we were dropped on the outskirst of the city. Our first disappointment here as everything is so expensive.

To make matters worse the locals seemed to be very arrogant. Nothing has changed in 35 years. I was keen to do an open topped 'hop on hop off' bus however Nick, Jan and Barrie were keen to go to the main square. Once there we watched a few street performers which were very entertaining. I waken by a group who were playing a game with boxes (similar to two up I guess) I was distracted by one of these low lifes and before I knew it 50 Euro had been taken from my wallet (the equivalent of about $75-00Aus). Once i noticed it and we were a fair way away I was so shattered and upset that I could let myself get into the situation of allowing these crooks to fool me into doing something which was out of my control (it all happened so quickly also)!

Anyway, me feeling sorry for myself and in tears, Nick talked me into doing the 'hop on hop off' bus' (which is what I wanted to do in the first place)!

We ended up back on the ship that evening after an enjoyable (second part) of the day to look forward to our next day which would be at sea!

Friday 30th May 2008 - At Sea

We enjoyed a lovely relaxing day at sea, calm water, fresh ocean breezes and a full day of relaxation. BLISS!!!

Saturday 31st May 2008 - Gibraltar

Nick and I decided we'd go out on our own today as Jan and Barrie wanted to spend the day on the ship. I find the days are so lovely and while we have the opportunity I like to go and explore these beautiful cities we are visiting.

After leaving the ship we walked for about 45 minutes to where the cable car takes you up to the Rock but once there the queue was so long (there were 2 cruise ships in the port that day). Once I saw how steep the cable car was I also lost my nerve so we then thought it best to get our own driver.

Not far back into the main square we came across a young fellow who said he had a 7 seater vehicle and would take us up to the top of the Rock and a few other places of interest. He would charge us 25 euro each but needed to find some other passengers. We were happy with this and before long an Italian family joined us.

Stephen our Spanish driver who spoke fluent English was a real character and our first stop was to visit the beautiful St Michael's Cave, the underground chamgers feature illuminated stalactites, an amphitheatre, and an eerie subteranean breeze. Steps lead from one cavern to another and beautiful classical music playing the whole time we were in there.

The Ape's Den is where there is a colony of tailless monkeys know as Barbary apes. They have inhabited the rock for centuries and are a fantastic site.

Then we walked 45 minutes to the 18 th Century Great Siege Tunnels carved by the British out of solid limestone.

After 2 hours we had seen most of the sights of Gibraltar and as we were hungry we found an English Pub who sold the tastiest fish and chips. We had had a fantastic day and one of the best on the whole trip.

Sunday 1st June 2008 - Casablanca

There was some confusion and misunderstanding in our plans for the day so Nick and I went our own way and caught a shuttle bus into Morocco. We walked through the markets in the square and brought a few small items then decided to find a cafe for a coffee.

This country is mainly Islamic so the huge number of men in the streets and cafes were very obvious. Not many women anywhere and it left me feeling quite uneasy.

We found a small cafe (where there were men and women eating and drinking) so we stopped by and had lunch (not really what I had imagined Moroccan food to be) - rather spicy meat yes, but limp yellow lettuce and soggy tomato and a little bit of tasteless yoghurt - we are so spoilt in Australia as I think we have some of the best food and produce in the whole of Europe.

Anyway, before long we had found a taxi driver who spoke mainly French (Nick was able to communicate in his limited French which made it quite comical at times) who took us to the Great Mosque, and few other places of interest but I was keen to get back to the ship - Casablanca is not my most favourite place to visit.

Monday 2nd June 2008 - Caciz, Spain (Seville)

We decided we wanted to go to Seville today. Mum and my sister Jan had been there together many years ago and I can always remember how much they loved it so I thought this was a good opportunity for us to do it, but, i was not sure how.

Somehow, once we left the ship Nick and I met up with a lovely couple from Turkey. Berry and Darra who are young fashion designers. Betty worked for Pierre Cardin for 5 years after which she found she was 'bored' so decided to go out on her own. She met Darra who was into the busines of textiles and joined together to run their own fashion label. They travel throughout the world for this and their very favourite place is Paris which they raved about so I am looking forward to going there in about 3 days time.

We found a Spanish driver (but that was ok as Betty could speak fluent English and was able to translate for us) who agreed to take us the 120kms to Seville.

We had a fantastic day. Visited many of the parks, monuments and sights and our driver left us in the Santa Cruz quarter where we enjoyed lunch of traditional Tapas.

After 2 hours of wandering the narrow cobbled stone streets we were then driven to a few more sites and the huge bull fighting ring. I was not keen to continue this despite no bull fights being performed however, we decided to give this a miss and drive back to Cadiz to at least see some of the local sights of this beautiful area.

We were back on board by 4:30pm and enjoyed the 'sail away' through the harbour by the marina out into the sea on our way to Portugal.