On With The Show

Why have I felt a tinge of sadness and regret that my short stay in Barcelona is ending? The trip to this Catalan capital was supposed to be a sidelight with the Mediterranean cruise as the highlight of this 17-day European get-away. However, Barcelona wooed me with her architecture, her food, her narrow streets, her museums, her lovely people, her mild weather, her many attractions. I was enchanted by her and I loved it. I love her.

Hence, it was pretty difficult to change gears from sadness of leaving Barcelona to excitement at the thought of the exotic ports, like Alexandria in Egypt the gateway to Cairo, or Piraeus in Greece, the gateway to Athens, that we will be visiting.

The welcome aboard cocktail helped plenty to swing my surly mood to a festive I'm-on-a-freaking-holiday swagger. I went about my business of unpacking - mildly concern that the clothes we brought would not be enough for the 12 days on sea (we brought dirty laundry onboard, the ones we used in Barcelona). Dear husband had reminded me that there is laundry service on board - in the past we had no need for this service as our previous cruises were 3 and 7 days each. We have a habit of underpacking, keeping in mind the need for luggage space for souvenirs and pasalubongs (gifts) weighed more in our decision making. Hence less clothes reasoning that we could always buy it when we need it.

So here we are on to the show!

Comments

  1. You can never go wrong with a Norwegian boat cruise, Maria. I know you were thrilled. I love the long cruises and all the ports of call. I can hardly wait to see more...after incredible Barcelona. I agree, that's one of the best cities I've ever seen!

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  2. I do understand your feeling about Barcelona, this is a fabulous city!
    Looking forward to see your new destnations!

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  3. wow, a medi cruise!
    if only i have all the time and money for it. ^0^
    i hope to see more of your travels as i'm enjoying the sights you're sharing.
    and totally agree with less packing, i do that too, but always regret why i brought so little, and then complain if my suitcase ran out of space for new stuffs. haha, ^0^

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  4. When I attended a Spanish refresher course, the trainer always mentioned Catalan, but of course Barcelona is at the top of his most talked about city there! No wonder...

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  5. Wow... and the travel is not yet finished... this was just the start :-o
    Lucky you !

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  6. oh, to see the world...how exciting!

    looking forward to the photos from the cruise and ports of call.

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  7. That's an exciting stretch of cruise. I'm keeping an eye on your succeeding posts (as always). =)

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  8. What a thrilling trip! Very nice picture!

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  9. I'm following a couple of Barcelona blogs, and I can totally understand why you were loathe to leave it. But you are so lucky to be able to travel so much! Looking forward to your photos from all the cruise's ports of call.

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  10. Let the sailing begin ha ha! On trips, I like to pack less myself and as you noted, clothes can always be bought where one goes. Great travel sense Maria!

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  11. katapat mo si nomadic sa mga byahe. yihaa!

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  12. that sounds like quite a trip! i can understand, though, the sadness of leaving one place that you have grown so fond of. looking forward to seeing the next set of shots!

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  13. nice ! On with the battle with the bulge
    ( waistline) hehe. It's gourmet food time :) They should have coin laundry in the ship, don't they ?

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  14. I'll be looking forward to your cruising stories ...

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  15. Fabulous city! Love your photos.

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