We take one last European train ride from Rome to the port city of Civitavecchia and after a long hike to the dock (hooray backpacks again!) we board the cruise ship to Ft. Lauderdale. This is one of the big mileage segments of the trip: a two-week repositioning cruise crossing the Atlantic Ocean. We are very excited to pull our stuff out of the backpacks and put our clothes on hangers and in drawers again. A small little cruise cabin will be home for the next couple of weeks - but at least we can live out of a closet instead of our packs for a while.
Like our Pacific crossing, this ship is filled with lots of full-time cruisers. But this time instead of Chinese tourists we get to share the ship with a pack of Florida retirees. It's a very concentrated dosage of American tourists to get used to after shuttling through Europe on our own. We're trying to stay focused on the positive things about traveling by cruise ship: lots of veggies, a big salad bar, warm weather and live music.
On boarding the ship, it finally feels like we're heading home. We saw an airplane take off at one of our ports and felt a little longing to just be able to hop on a plane and be home tomorrow. But that would be breaking our crazy made-up rules for this crazy made-up adventure. So we lounge back, ratchet up our tourist patience and try to enjoy the 15-day boat ride to the US.
But first we have a few port stops along the Mediterranean before we cross the Atlantic ocean.
Livorno, Italy
We've just finished a week-plus trekking around Italy so we opted to wander around this small port city on our own instead of sprinting into Florence for a couple of hour tour. The stop gives us one more chance to get some walking in before the sea days begin. Not surprisingly, our wanders end up at the local food market. Like many other cities across Europe, the Livorno market is housed in an amazing old building. We continue to be jealous of the Eurpoean food market buildings and high quality selections available there.
Cartagena, Spain
We've visited Spain on a previous trip so we were pretty excited to spend a day tasting tapas and sipping sangria (how's that for some awesome alliteration?). The Spanish have definitely figured out a great way to eat - pair a drink with a tasty bite of food, then do it again and again. Combine that with a two-hour siesta and you have a recipe for a great afternoon. We're getting warmer weather now that we're moving into the southern European countries so our afternoons are spent walking the pedestrian malls and lounging on sunny tapa bar patios. (Tapas pics at the end of the post) It's a welcome weather change from the brisk days we had in eastern Europe. Cartagena hit all our happy buttons and definitely goes on our list to visit again.
Agadir, Morocco
We hit our first logistics issue of any significance here in Agadir. The Moroccan cooking class we scheduled was cancelled so we land at this port without any plans. We wander off the ship to enjoy some more wonderful sunshine walking - this time along their beachfront resort area. It definitely feels like a completely different culture from Europe: the signs are in Arabic, camels are scattered on the beach waiting for tourists rides and peddlers harass you trying to sell their trinkets. It's an interesting enough place but it didn't really hit our happy buttons.
Canary Islands, Spain
One of the reasons we chose this partiular trans-Atlantic cruise was to visit the Canary Islands - they've been on my list to check out for quite a while. We found them to be a very interesting blend of Hawaiian landscapes, Virgin Islands bustle and Spanish culture. We enjoy more walks through pedestrian streets and more patios at tapas bars. More happy button pushing for us. Next time we visit (that list is getting kind of long) we'll have to hit the pretty beaches too.
Atlantic Crossing
After the back-to-back Mediterranean port stops we settle into a routine for the remaining nine sea days crossing the Atlantic ocean. We're trapped on this ship with tons of old retirees so we try and fit in with the crowd. That means an early breakfast, an afternoon nap poolside, a cheap happy hour glass of wine, early bird dinner, the nightly glee club show and in bed by 8pm. We refuse to join them in wearing socks with sandals and bath robes in the public areas. I guess we're not quite old enough to have that don't-give-a-crap attitude that evidentially comes at a certain age.
Eventually we find a quiet oceanside deck away from the crowds to soak in the rays and read our Kindles. By the end of the two weeks we've also figured out the most popular activities and make sure we're on the opposite side of the ship.
Half way across the Atlantic, we get the news about the Paris terrorist attacks. It definitely added a somber note to the rest of the cruise. But in talking to our fellow passengers, it also wasn't going to scare anyone into changing their future travel plans. There's risks in getting up in the morning or driving to the store or going to the movie theater. You can't let the fear of remote possibilities keep you from living the life you want to live.
All and all, the crossing was quite smooth but also quite long. After two weeks, three continents, six time zones and 5,600 nautical miles further west, we have completed the last major segment of the journey. The finishing leg of the trip starts Thursday: driving home to Colorado!
"Like all travelers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen." - Benjamin Disraeli
Spanish Tapas
We're not going to bore you with pictures of the cruise food and buffet lines this time. Instead you'll get food shots from our stops in Spain. You've probably heard of Spanish tapas - the small bites of food they serve with drinks. This is pretty much our perfect way to spend a day - hanging on a sunny patio and snacking our way through the day. And yes, you're reading that board right: a beer, a soda or a glass of wine with a tapa for about two bucks.
First, you want to order a drink. Spain has some great wine so you can choose either a red or a white and probably end up with a tasty start to the afternoon.
Then you get a couple of little tapa bites. These are mussels with a little fresh salsa. We love the small portion sizes because it means you can try that many more dishes. More dishes = more flavors!
Tomatoes with farmer's cheese, anchovy and olive oil. We tried it with the anchovy but both of us ended up picking it off. I guess we not quite full-on adventure eaters yet.
Then you order another drink. Spain also makes a very tasty sangria so that's a great option too.
And you get another couple of little tapa bites. This is braised chorizo (can't leave Europe without eating more pork sausage) with potatoes and peppers. This was Brian's favorite tapa of the set - it brought back fond memories of the infamous Prauge Dog.
This one was kinda weird. It's something like a potato salad but with mashed potatoes instead of the potato chunks like we're used to. And I guess you dip those cracker/biscuits in it? This one will not make our recipe box.
And you order another drink. If you're pacing yourself, you might switch to a refresco for one round so you don't need to take a siesta in the middle of the day.
And you get another couple of tapas. This is the classic Torta Espanola - eggs and potatos cooked and layered together served room temperature. We make a version of this with peas and red peppers for our 'traditional' Christmas morning breakfast. Delish! Hmmm... Sangria might be a tasty addition to our Christmas traditions.
This is another classic Spanish dish: Paella. It's safron-flavored rice with a bunch of other stuff tucked into it. This version had mussels, chorizo, chicken and clams. Went great with the dry white wine. And the perfect sized tasting.
And then you order another drink.
And you get another couple snacks. I'm going to call this 'Spanish' rice but I think it might have just been left-over paella rice with all the seafood picked out.
Then you grab a little dessert. LOVE churros dipped in their thick rich hot chocolate. It's almost worth a trip to Spain just for this dessert.
And maybe there's time for one more drink before your ship departs from the dock. Salud from Spain!
