Our Mediterranean Cruise - Day 3 - FRANCE & MONACO

PORT: Villefranche, France
Nice, Eze, Monte Carlo, Monaco

Today we drove up to Eze, the oldest little town in the Med highest up overlooking everything for miles around. Im fussing on a keyboard that is very different than our own. Will fix errors later. We drove up to the Eagles Nest castle and had authentic French crepes in outdoor patio and had to climb many, many stone steps to get to it. We used the bathroom inside the cave area and to run water to wash your hands you had to step on a button on the floor. The room was so tiny, you had to slowly turn your body to maneuver around. It was very hard to just find the bathroom in the little room, the door was disguised and flush against the back wall. John walked out and noticed on the big screen they were playing Starsky & Hutch in French.

We walked along the French Riviera along the pebbly beach area. Many people were walking here with their dogs. Then we explored the local Market Place and tasted olives and salsa and saw many interesting wares.

We then drove on to Monaco and saw the castle where Princess Grace lived with Prince Rainier and also where she lay to rest. We saw the two homes side by side that her daughters own. Then we drove to the casino of the rich and famous, in Monte Carlo. We got to sneak past all the people waiting in a long line to get in because our guide got us a short cut. This casino wasnt all that interesting though because you had to be quiet the whole time. You are not allowed to shout out or get loud.

After the casino, we drove along the Grand Prix Racetrack area of the highway. They were doing some sort of Grand Prix race with scooters when we were there.

Our Mediterranean Cruise - Day 2 - Sat, Oct 11th, BARCELONA

We settled in to our cabin (6291 on the Promenade) and then we went to meet our http://www.cruisecritic.com/ people. For our official Meet & Mingle was in the High Note Bar, overlooking Barcelona. The group was a wild one. Everyone was in great spirits and so excited to meet each other and put a face and name to the usernames we were used to. They are a fun group. Royal Caribbean treated us well with gifts and drawings for our group.

We at dinner at the Windjammer buffet and had a dessert at the Cafe' in the Promenade and went to bed early, around 9:00 pm. We prepped our backpack and personal items so we could be ready to go early the next day. We were excited to be joining our group and going to Villefranche (France) and Monoco. Touring the Casino in Monte Carlo holds a bit of excitement, as well.

John woke early (around 2:00 am this time thinking it was time to get up). Zena had quite a bit of convincing to do get him to settle down and sleep some more. I guess he was still on Central Time!

Our Mediterranean Cruise - Day 1 - Fri, Oct 10th, THE FLIGHT

The flight over to Amsterdam didn't seem like 8 hours. We left Minneapolis around 3:15 pm, Friday. We had our own little monitor on the back of the seat in front of us to watch movies, play games, watch maps to see where we were in the route and more. John only got two hours of sleep during the 8 hour flight. Zena didn't get any. She intended to and felt she'd have no problem falling asleep - however she watched 3 movies, read and played games. She was WIDE AWAKE (I guess she and WE didn't have to worry about her snoring!).

Amsterdam airport was very easy to navigate. English signs were posted everywhere. There were a good number of restaurants and shops. The urinals in the mens bathroom even looked like a bowl. When Zena went to look at shops, she got lost and had to figure her way out to where I was waiting. The whole place had more of a feel of an American airport or a high-end mall.

Most of the people in the airport looked like they were dressed for an eclectic coffee shop. It was supposed to be only 2 1/2 hours in-between flights in Amsterdam to Barcelona, but we ended waiting another hour because the captains seat was not working correctly and they were waiting for a part to come in to fix it.

Arriving in Barcelona around 6:10 am (Saturday morning), we it was easy find our Royal Carribean representatives, even though most signs were only in Spanish (thank God for the study lessons in Spanish on CD)! We didn't have to go to baggage claim -- because, indeed, we did travel light. We each had only a carry-on and personal tote that we brought right on the plane. It's very nice not having to wait for baggage!