Europe 2015- Cadiz ( Part One)

Oh my goodness, we took so many pictures in Cadiz. So much so, that I've decided to break up my Cadiz trip report into three separate posts. In Cadiz, Dan's parents treated the whole family to a bus excursion, taking us to the Bodegas Tio Pepe ( famous Sherry manufacturer) and to see the world famous Jarez De La Frontera horse show. It was a busy day!

Exiting the ship, we took this picture with a "sailor". These Royal Caribbean pictures crack me up. I love the cheesy costumed characters that make the experience a tad awkward.

Cadiz was our last port and by the time we got here, we had become pros at the excursion process. We checked-in, got our stickers and caught our bus without a hitch.

I took a bunch of pictures out of the window as our bus drove to the Bodegas Tio Pepe.

The clouds created some stunning views. I love how these shots turned out, but they pale in comparison to the real deal. You had to be there.

As many of my readers may already know, I spent several years volunteering for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Research Department. I spent a majority of that time on a multi-year flamingo research project. Subsequently, I have a love-hate relationship with the birds. However, one of the coolest moments of the trip came on this bus ride. We drove through a nature reserve and saw a flock of wild flamingos. Although it was a brief glimpse (too quick for a photo), it was really thrilling to see these magnificent birds that I've studied in captivity, flying free.

We found a large bull sign in a field. Our tour guide told us that these signs used to be all over the area, but they are disappearing.

When we reached the Bodegas Tio Pepe, we had a pretty walk to the entrance.

I enjoy taking signage and advertisement pictures. I don't know who this guy is, but I love his snazzy bow tie and colorful poster. Doesn't that make you want to buy tickets?

Next post we will head inside the Bodegas Tio Pepe; celebrity signed sherry barrels and drunk rats!

Europe 2015- Mallorca

When I think of summertime family vacations, I think swimsuits filled with sand and shady palm trees. My childhood summers were spent on Maui, and the one time that we deviated from Hawaii, was to go to the Caribbean and Florida.

The last few summers, we did visit a seaside resort in Cornwall. Although the beaches in England are lovely, it's not the same as a tropical beach holiday. I missed the sunshine and heat. I wanted to wear my swim suit and get a tan, not goosebumps!

I was really looking forward to our stop at Palma de Mallorca, where we had booked an excursion to La Playa de Sitges for a day at the beach.

Our first views of Palma de Mallorca. Did I mention that one of my favorite parts of cruising is going to bed and waking up in a new city? I loved rushing over to our window and discovering a completely new view.

The Explorer of the Seas docked next to The World. Many years ago, I saw a documentary on The World and I was very thrilled to see it in person. As its name implies, The World, cruises around the earth, but it's unique, because it sells apartments and has permanent residents. Imagine living on a cruise ship? Sounds like the good life to me!

Here is our obligatory cheesy port picture.

There were a ton of buses ready to whisk passengers off on their excursions.

The bus ride was very short, only about twenty minutes. I took a few snaps as we drove out of the city.

The beach was perfect.

Perfect is not an overstatement.

I've been to plenty of nice beaches and La Playa de Sitges is the nicest that I've experienced.

The sand was soft and clean. I even saw several people picking up litter; never have I seen a beach kept so clean. Seriously, it was like Disney was in charge of beach maintenance. Scratch that, Disney should contract La Playa de Sitges maintenance to clean their parks. If the beach wasn't so darn sandy, I could have eaten off of it.

The water was calm, warm, shallow, and clear. It was ideal for Zoe and Felix, who are still honing their swimming skills. We were a short walk from plenty of food choices, clean bathrooms and shops. This is a tourist's paradise.

My favorite part was the lounge chairs under palm frond umbrellas. We rented four of them for six euros each. I was happy to park myself in the shade and read, while Dan played with the kids in the ocean. Vendors frequently made rounds near the umbrellas, so it was easy to purchase drinks and snacks.

If you'd rather play than lounge, the beach had plenty of water toys to rent. Look behind Felix in the picture below and you'll see a whole water playground.

Dan and the kids rented these pedalow boats with water slides.

But mostly, it was just fun to splash around in the water. There's no photographic evidence, but I also played in the ocean with the kids, while Dan snoozed on the lounge chairs. It was a team effort with those kids, who never-ever get bored of swimming.

Dan and I have quite an impressive fridge magnet collection and we needed to add one more. Before boarding the bus back to the ship. we stopped here to find a Mallorca magnet.

I'm mentioning the store, because the owner was the icing on the cake for our wonderful stop in Mallorca. We bought a few, very inexpensive souvenirs and she let us all have a Mallorca pen as a bonus gift. I know it's something small, but it was that little touch that just made our day even better. The kids loved it.

It was very tough to get back on the ship. I could have spent our whole holiday on that beach. Truthfully, it was one of the best days of the entire holiday and it's making us look towards a beach holiday for a future summer vacation.

Europe 2015: Toulon

Our second stop in France was the military port of Toulon. For book lovers and musical theatre fans, Toulon is where Jean Valjean was imprisoned in Les Miserables. We had a much more pleasant visit with a trip to the beach. Here is our first view of Toulon.

Our position on the in-room map.

We didn't book an excursion, but we did head to the excursion desk to have them help plan our day in Toulon. We gained two valuable pieces of advice that made our day a success. The first, was we were told to buy tickets for a ferry to take us into town. Using the ferry to cut across the harbor, saved about thirty minutes over taking a taxi. Plus, it's more fun to go by boat!

The second, was to take a ride on the little train, a shuttle that makes a loop around the city. The entire ride takes about forty minutes, with one stop at the beach.

I took a ton of snaps of the town as we rode on the little train. Toulon was less picturesque than Villefranche, but no less interesting.

The best named store. A little icky maybe, but it made me laugh.

And I found the Holy Grail in Europe = Iced Tea! Sure it's Lipton, but when I'm missing my iced tea, I'll settle.

We screwed up. We thought that the little train had two beach stops. We failed to hop off at the first and only stop. So we ended up riding a round trip and then walking about a mile back to the beach. This wasn't a huge deal, although it was starting to get hot and the kids ( adults too, but we kept positive), were not happy about having to walk. It was a grumpy trek to the Mourillon Beach, but once we got there, we knew that we had made the right decision.

Mourillon Beach was lovely. It was much nicer than the beaches that we have here in California. The beach and adjacent park, were both super clean and well maintained. The ocean water was clear and warm. The only downside, is that the beach was rocky, rather than soft sand, but we didn't let that get in the way of fun afternoon.

My favorite part of the beach was sunbathing and listening to all of the families near me, all speaking French. I didn't understand a word of it, but I loved eavesdropping and being removed from my own culture.

Before we left, we took a little walk on the rocks.

And some of Dan's panorama shots. I always love how these turn out.

Since we didn't hop off the train the first time around, we still had a return ticket to catch the train at the beach stop. After an afternoon playing in the sun, we were very relieved to not have to make the mile walk back to the ferry. If you do use the little train shuttle, my tip is to arrive early. Very few people got off at the beach stop, so we were lucky to grab seats. It seems like most people used the train for a tour of the city ( it was narrated in English), rather than as a shuttle for the beach. Also, just as we missed it the first time, the beach stop is a quick one. They don't hang around!

Toulon is a tourist destination and the city is working hard to be a welcoming destination. Everyone that we encountered, including the locals not working in tourism, were very friendly. On the ferry ride back, we were asked to fill out a survey.

We had a terrific time in Toulon. First rate!