Review Ports of Call (Part One) north east girl

[north east girl]

We had 6 ports of call, I will post about the first 3 and then add the other 3.

 

Barcelona - Gaudi Exclusive

 

Our first stop was the Park Guell which was quite a distance from town. Our guide was very informative about why the park was designed. Gaudi wanted to design an english city garden. He thought people would enjoy relaxing there. It was not successful and the people did not like the colour full tiles and that it was out to town.

 

It is a very busy place and I can see why people would want to visit, could have spent a lot more time there. The shapes and colours where amazing, the guide said he was well ahead of his time. This park is well worth a visit.

 

Then onto La Sagrada Familia, when you first get a look at this building it takes your breath away. Of course still not finished, when we got inside it was very noisy because they were trying to finish one of the areas where to Pope would conduct a service. The guide said he hoped it would be finished. We got a good talk about how they managed to build this amazing place and saw lots of diagrams, this area is well worth a look.

 

We were told to be very careful of our bags because of pick pockets. The place was very crowded. The money that is paid to see the building is helping the work to continue, it was nice to know that our little donation would help with this. Booking this excursion help jump the very long queues.

 

We then went to the exclusive part of the excursion. This was an apartment that was designed by Gaudi and is still lived in. This is unusual as most of the apartments have been changed to offices. We were shown round by the nephew of the lady who lives there. He was very enthusiastic about the apartment and told us of his memories of growing up visiting his aunty.

 

This was well work a visit as we saw how Gaudi designs worked, everything was individual from the doors to the door frames. The ceiling had his signature on it, amazing. We also had a lovely glass of cava which went down well.

 

All in all a great excursion and well worth the money.

 

 

 

 

Monte Carlo - Walking the Principality

 

This was a 4 hour walking tour, very hard going but we did see most of the important areas of the Principality.

 

The guide walked us through a garden area where we could see the 2 princesses homes, granted not much but we did see a little bit. Then onto the Cathedral where Price Rainier and Grace Kelly were married and are now buried.

 

We walked past the start of the grand prix on the main street, then onto Hotel de Paris and Cafe de Paris. The casino was closed which was a shame, we did see the outside. We also saw the princes palace.

 

We got a bit of free time, would have had a coffee the the Cafe de Paris but it was full so just admired the view of the lovely dressed people passing by. Of course there was some expensive cars parked, my son would have loved that.

 

It was then time to walk back to the QM2 and get the tender. I think if we had gone on our own we would not have seen so much.

 

 

Civitavecchia - Glory of the Gladiators.

 

We arrived in Rome at 10am after a 90 minute drive. The bus was met by the guide that would take us to the historical part of Rome. We had 48 persons in our group which was very large. The guide commented on this. We were given a radio and ear piece so that we could hear what was said.

 

However, with the group being too large not everybody could hear at the back as he was walking and talking at the same time. When we got to the Colosseum one of the group suggested he wait until we could get close so everybody could hear what was said. Well he went made and said he had been a guide for xx years and he knew his job and did not need to be told how to do it.

 

We continued into the Colosseum, it was very crowded. Everybody seemed to want to see everything at the same time. Did not enjoy it at all. Pleased I had seen it but would not go back, Tony was not happy about the size of the group. He thought we should have had 2 guides, he did put this on the feedback sheet at the end of the trip on QM2.

 

With having trouble with the radios our lovely guide who meet us on the bus at the port got some new ones delivered, that seemed to help with the problem of the sound. I did hear the Rome guide appologise to the lady and she seemed happy with that. In fact he could not say sorry enough.

 

We then went on to the Roman Forum where we saw the remains of the Senate House and also the old market town where food and brothels once stood.

 

We then met back up with our lady guide and went onto to the Piazza Navona, it was approx 1.45pm by then. We had 3 hours free time, we decided to go for lunch just off the square. We enjoyed this very much, a glass of wine help the lovely food go down. We were also glad of the rest.

 

After all that walking we decided to stay within the square and just enjoyed the sunshine and a lovely ice cream. We ended our time in Rome with a glass of Henrys Bellini sat in the sunshire watching the world go by. This was a lovely end to the excursions or so we thought.

 

When we got back to port a welcome was waiting for us. Some of the waiters and officers were standing inline with trays of champagne. It was the perfect end to a long but happy day.

 

Will continue my review soon to finish the ports of call. Naples, Gibraltar and Lisbon.

 

Catherine

[Salacia]

Hi Northeastgirl. Thanks for your ports review. I'd love to take a Med voyage someday so it's fun reading about your experiences. Looking forward to your next chapter.:) Cheers, Salacia

[Jimsgirl]

I am so pleased that you enjoyed your Med trip Catherine, I loved my trip to Rome, many years ago .

 

Hope you continue to cruise and enjoy every one

 

Lynn

(hope you emember we met on the QM2 last year particularly in Sir Samuels one morning)

[north east girl]

Hi Northeastgirl. Thanks for your ports review. I'd love to take a Med voyage someday so it's fun reading about your experiences. Looking forward to your next chapter.:) Cheers, Salacia

Thanks Salacia,

Been really busy at work the last two days. Will try to finish the review tomorrow.

 

Thanks Catherine

[north east girl]

I am so pleased that you enjoyed your Med trip Catherine, I loved my trip to Rome, many years ago .

 

Hope you continue to cruise and enjoy every one

 

Lynn

(hope you emember we met on the QM2 last year particularly in Sir Samuels one morning)

Hi Lynn, Do remember you from our last trip. We continue to enjoy our coffee in Sir Samuels. Had to had my fix at least once a day.

 

Catherine