Cruising

Our latest adventure was a 14 day cruise across the Atlantic. No, not one of Chris's sailing trips (I'm not brave enough to take that small of a boat onto the ocean), but a big Princess cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona Spain.  

Beautiful views

Yummy food

We spent 7 full days at sea before coming ashore in Madeira, an absolutely gorgeous island that is part of Portugal. From there we had another day at sea and then a series of landfall: Gibraltar, Cartagena Spain, Palma Mallorca, and finally Barcelona Spain.

I'm going to do posts on each stop, but here's a quick preview.

Bock Damm beer and coffee in Barcelona

One of many churches in Barcelona

Barcelona market 

Kayaking in Cartagena

Cartagena tapas

Roman ruins in Cartagena

Madeira fish market

Madeira embroidery factory

Yet another gorgeous view

We had such a great time and were extremely fortunate in the weather and in our dinner companions. We did the traditional dining which means we had the same time/table/people each night. That can cause a bit of worry about ending up with people you just can't relate to or enjoy. We had no such trouble - in fact we ended up being one of the last tables to clear each night. 

In all, the trip was fun, the weather was cooperative, the food was unbelievably good, and when we got home most of the snow was gone. That's a winner!

More on the trip soon.