Serenade of the Seas picture heavy fun review–12 day Med cruise incl DIY port trips!

[mouse84]

I'm loving your review! I was curious about the Black Madonna and the significance of the orb, so I googled a bit. It seems like it's just to touch it & say a prayer.

 

http://www.goddessgift.net/black-madonna-monserrat-statue-SS-BMM.html

 

"There are many stories about this black madonna and the mountain, who many believe to be magic and some say she guards the holy grail. The statue is kept in a glass cabinet but her right hand is exposed so that a pilgrim can touch her golden orb and make a prayer or wish."

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Barcelona (part six of ten)

 

The train ride back to Barcelona was pretty quiet, because Tanja and Tarik both fell into a comatose sleep. I was (just a bit) worried about Tanja’s health, so I stayed awake and watched her. By the time we reached the hotel, she definitely had a fever.

 

If you don’t know Tanja, this would seem serious. No worries, this is pretty normal for her. Our doctor always says Tanja is amazing…she gets sick the way very small children get sick… she works up a high fever for half a day…sometimes a full day if it’s really bad and after that she’s perfectly fine again. We’ve been through this many times, so I wasn’t worried too much. All she needed was a bed and a couple of hours of sleep. There was no point in staying in the room watching her sleep though and so Tarik and I headed out to explore more fun things about Barcelona. We took a cell phone with us, so Tanja could get a hold of us at all times. But she was likely to sleep soundly for the next 5 hours.

 

I don’t want to have you all worried for the next posts, so I’ll tell you right away, that when Tarik and I returned, she was all fine again and was eager to head out for a Tappas dinner and a glass of wine.

 

Our next destination was Park Guell. We took the Metro and walked. There were signs saying where to go to the park. I wish we wouldn’t have followed those directions. It brought us to the park, but not to the entrance I was looking for. I wanted to ride up the escalators in the Baixada de la Gloria street. Bummer. But oh well, we would just walk through the park and would head down those escalators afterwards (that’s what I thought). Anyway, following the signs we arrived at the main entrance:

 

 

It was VERY crowded. But it’s still so cool.

 

 

After walking up those stairs you get this view:

 

 

This park is simply amazing. I would love to stroll around here in the off season. I believe there are hundreds of little things to explore here. We just saw a tiny portion of all the magnificent little spots. You feel like Alice in wonderland – in a good way.

 

 

And the views are spectacular:

 

 

See our beloved Sagrada Familia?

 

 

 

Here you can even see two cruise ships way in the back….I’m not sure if the Serenade is the one on the right or on the left…any suggestions?

 

 

At some spots you felt as if you’re not in Barcelona anymore.

 

This house looks like it could be standing in a neighboring village in Germany. Well, okay, the roof wouldn’t have this funny pattern…but other than that looks quite familiar.

 

 

And then we leisurely made it to the entrance/exit I was looking for:

 

Just to find out the escalators go only one way---up. Tarik was not amused, when he found out we would have to take the steps all the way down. But on the first or second side street to the left, there was a small ice cream shop and we both got the very best ice cream ever! I think Tarik got watermelon and something else and I was in heaven with my Baileys Irish cream. Delicious! The steps didn’t really bother him that much anymore now. We both agreed that was the best ice cream we ever had!

 

More to come!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

 

So, can I also ask you who you used for your Colosseum 3rd Tier tour? That is the only other one I am confused about. Seems like the cost should run about 30 Euros and I know the ticket will also get me into the Forum and Palentine Hill.... just not sure which company to purchase through.

 

Thanks so much!

Melissa

 

Hi Melissa,

 

We got our tickets here:

 

http://www.rome-museum.com/booking-colosseum-third-tier-hypogeum-porta-libitinaria.php

 

...worked out just fine.

 

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Deal!

 

 

Have you read The Secret Life of Bees? It is all I can think about now; a black Madonna plays a major role in the book :)

 

Nope, haven't read it nor heard about it. Is it good? I'll check in our library in a week if they have it.

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

 

 

Montserrat is also one of my favourite places, my Mum is scheduled to have heart surgery shortly, and as soon as she is well enough to travel I intend on bringing her here for a few days recuperation.

 

Hi Cathrine,

 

Thank you!

 

I keep my fingers crossed for your mom!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Hi, Stef.

 

and then I noticed that I was being yelled at by the Swiss Guard. What?!? What was I doing wrong? He was yelling at me in Italian. I couldn't understand a word. Then, unbelievably, he switched to French! Yelling at me in French. And, I just stood there with my hand frozen on the statute. And, then ... you'll be amazed at this ... he switched to German! Yelling at me in German. I just stared at him, shaking my head ... and, finally, he switched to English. Oh, thank goodness, he hasn't stopped yelling at me, but at least I can now understand what he wants! What he wanted was for me to let go of the statute. Well, that seemed reasonable to me.

 

 

Hi Member123,

 

Welcome to the review! Thank you!

 

Oh my God, poor you! But I must admit you had me laughing out loud at this description.

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

I'm loving your review! I was curious about the Black Madonna and the significance of the orb, so I googled a bit. It seems like it's just to touch it & say a prayer.

 

http://www.goddessgift.net/black-madonna-monserrat-statue-SS-BMM.html

 

"There are many stories about this black madonna and the mountain, who many believe to be magic and some say she guards the holy grail. The statue is kept in a glass cabinet but her right hand is exposed so that a pilgrim can touch her golden orb and make a prayer or wish."

 

Hi Mouse84,

 

 

:)Thanks for looking it up for me. Wow -- the holy grail --- now we're really getting mystical. Cool stuff!

 

Dang, we all skipped the wishing part. But we're pretty lucky in life anyway -- better reserve those miracle wishes for the people who might need it more.

 

Stef

[windjamming]

Women do pilgrimages up here when they have the strong wish for children. There are some hardships to it though…the woman is supposed to carry a large stone up here and is supposed to spend a night in prayer. Also -- if there will be a child born after this pilgrimage, she shall name the child Tsambika if it’s a girl or Tsambikos if it’s a boy. I don’t really believe in all of that – I didn’t carry a stone or spend a night up there…but sometimes, just in my mind I call Tarik my little Tsambikos.

 

Stef, this is so touching. Thinking back to the beginning of the review, when you mentioned Tarik's backstory and how this was his first travel experience, it's clear what a wonderful influence you and Tanja have been on him in just a year! He's obviously a very normal teenager -- sticking to his favorite foods, getting lost, and expressing dismay at taking stairs instead of an escalator!

[xxHadleyxx]

Hi, Stef.

I was going to wait until you had completed your review before I chimed in and let you know how wonderful it's been to travel along with you and your family. You are quite the travel writer, storyteller, and I am enjoying your trip report so much!

 

Since we seem to have a bit of an intermission here, in the story, I thought that I might just tell you a quick story of my experience in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It might explain the touching of the globe of the Black Madonna, maybe?

 

Anyway, as a prelude to the story, I can tell you that everywhere I travel (I am an American), I try to learn enough of the language that I can, at least, be polite. I don't have enough grasp to carry on a full conversation, but I can accomplish important travel-related things (like bathroom facilities, directions, and ordering wine!)...

 

So, I'm in St. Peter's Basilica and I see that many people are lining up to go before the statute of St. Peter and when they arrive, they cross themselves and touch his foot. I was so mesmerized by the whole experience of even being in Rome, being in St. Peter's Basilica... well, even though I'm not Catholic, I really wanted to go and touch St. Peter's foot. My husband didn't understand, but I just... wanted to. So, I got in line and I watched everyone... doing what they were doing.. and the Swiss Guard was watching everyone (this is an important detail).

 

Finally, it became my turn and I found myself in front of St. Peter's statute. And I reached up to touch his foot. And I became ... frozen ... literally frozen .... I was mesmerized.

 

I know that you have the understanding of how energy in a place feels. I know this because of statements that you have made. So, you probably understand how I just became a bit overwhelmed...

 

and then I noticed that I was being yelled at by the Swiss Guard. What?!? What was I doing wrong? He was yelling at me in Italian. I couldn't understand a word. Then, unbelievably, he switched to French! Yelling at me in French. And, I just stood there with my hand frozen on the statute. And, then ... you'll be amazed at this ... he switched to German! Yelling at me in German. I just stared at him, shaking my head ... and, finally, he switched to English. Oh, thank goodness, he hasn't stopped yelling at me, but at least I can now understand what he wants! What he wanted was for me to let go of the statute. Well, that seemed reasonable to me.

 

But, I went up to him and just politely asked him what I had done wrong? He told me that touching the statute was a "sign of respect." That I wasn't supposed to "hold onto" the statute, but simply "touch and go." He repeated this to me several times. You "touch" and "go," a "sign of respect." Of course, I apologized for my behavior but told him that I was overwhelmed by the experience and he lost all of his anger towards me. He actually smiled and said, "sorry. I should have started with English."

 

so, maybe, the touching of the globe of the Black Madonna is meant to be a sign of respect? Hopefully, you may have a Catholic reader or a person who knows the history who would be able to answer more knowledgeably.

 

And, now, back to Barcelona..... well, on our way back to Barcelona...

 

Thanks for posting this :) I really enjoyed your little story within Stef's story--and, like her, I laughed out loud reading it (I needed a good laugh today, so that is great).

 

Nope, haven't read it nor heard about it. Is it good? I'll check in our library in a week if they have it.

 

Stef

 

It is pretty good, but not great. There are better books to read. ;)

[evelyn51]

I love your family's story (it literally brought tears to my eyes) and I can't wait to read your review and see your photos!

 

 

Same. Best wishes here from Canada. Our daughter-in-law came to us 8 yrs ago from Germany. We have 2 sons, one is her husband. They have given us a wonderful grandson.

 

My husband tells everyone she is the daughter we never had! ;)

[kirian]

Hi Melissa,

 

We got our tickets here:

 

http://www.rome-museum.com/booking-colosseum-third-tier-hypogeum-porta-libitinaria.php

 

...worked out just fine.

 

 

Stef

 

Thanks! As usual, you ROCK!!!! :D

 

Melissa

[wnycruisefam66]

Over the course of a few days I've read about your adventures & just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed it. We'll be taking our 1st trip overseas next year (also with a 13 yr old boy!) & it's fun to read about that perspective. I've just called my daughter in to look at your Monserrat pictures, especially the funicular. She's not thrilled with the thought of that. I also need to go back & show her your pics. of what she'll end up wearing if she doesn't dress the way I've told her she needs to for the churches! I think she'll listen to me after she sees the photo! Thanks for all the time you've put into this.

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Hi everybody,

 

:(What a weird coincidence... here I am writing about Tanja's fever and prombtly it hits me. Just a cold...but not one of the little snuffy nose ones. Full blown headache, fever, clogged nose, sore troat and hurting limbs...No way I can write anything today...Sorry guys. Hope I'll be better tomorrow to continue with the review!

 

Stef

[ElizabethA]

Hi everybody,

 

:(What a weird coincidence... here I am writing about Tanja's fever and prombtly it hits me. Just a cold...but not one of the little snuffy nose ones. Full blown headache, fever, clogged nose, sore troat and hurting limbs...No way I can write anything today...Sorry guys. Hope I'll be better tomorrow to continue with the review!

 

Stef

 

I hope you feel better soon, snuggle up with a blanket and rest

 

Liz

 

PS we need to well to finish the review:D

[xxHadleyxx]

Over the course of a few days I've read about your adventures & just wanted to say how much I've enjoyed it. We'll be taking our 1st trip overseas next year (also with a 13 yr old boy!) & it's fun to read about that perspective. I've just called my daughter in to look at your Monserrat pictures, especially the funicular. She's not thrilled with the thought of that. I also need to go back & show her your pics. of what she'll end up wearing if she doesn't dress the way I've told her she needs to for the churches! I think she'll listen to me after she sees the photo! Thanks for all the time you've put into this.

 

13 is a great age to come over for the first time. How old is your DD? I bet they will both have a blast :)

 

Hi everybody,

 

:(What a weird coincidence... here I am writing about Tanja's fever and prombtly it hits me. Just a cold...but not one of the little snuffy nose ones. Full blown headache, fever, clogged nose, sore troat and hurting limbs...No way I can write anything today...Sorry guys. Hope I'll be better tomorrow to continue with the review!

 

Stef

 

Oh no Stef! I hope you can get some rest and recuperate quickly.

[windjamming]

:(What a weird coincidence... here I am writing about Tanja's fever and prombtly it hits me. Just a cold...but not one of the little snuffy nose ones. Full blown headache, fever, clogged nose, sore troat and hurting limbs...No way I can write anything today...Sorry guys. Hope I'll be better tomorrow to continue with the review!

 

Oh no, feel better, Stef! Get some rest and get well soon!

[lorrdean]

get well soon, but I'm kinda glad (sorry ;) ) that you may not get much done. I'm getting married on saturday and will be too busy to check in :D :D :D.

 

seriously do get well soon,lots of hot toddies will get you better :D

 

sandra

[xxHadleyxx]

get well soon, but I'm kinda glad (sorry ;) ) that you may not get much done. I'm getting married on saturday and will be too busy to check in :D :D :D.

 

seriously do get well soon,lots of hot toddies will get you better :D

 

sandra

 

Congratulations on your wedding! I hope you have a lovely day on Saturday :)

[evelyn51]

Oh no, feel better, Stef! Get some rest and get well soon!

 

 

Same from Canada. You're not alone we battled this bug last week! :o

[Nyrina4life]

Dubrovnik (last part)

Back on the ship we enjoyed our park café lunch and got ready for our second part of the day. We wanted to go snorkelling. Tarik had no desire what so ever to join us, since it would be a stony cliff entrance into the sea again, something he absolutely had no intention on ever doing again. He preferred to stay on the ship to play basketball and tabletennis…So be it -- nothing worse than having a grumpy teenager along for the day.

So Tanja and I left the ship once again to take the bus to Old Town. Past lunch time the busses where a lot less crowded. We only took our snorkelling gear, cabin towels, sea pass and Dubrovnik cards with us, since we planned on leaving our stuff on shore to go snorkelling together. So no own photos – sorry.

Our snorkelling spot:

If you look at a map of Dubrovnik, you see Old town as a circular blob at the bottom right. To the bottom left, one bay apart from Old Town, you see a fortress on a cliff that sticks out into the sea. Our goal was to find the bay left to that fortress. The bay looks like an arrowhead.

This is a picture showing our bay and the fortress during rough weather.

Foreign picture:

 

Foreign picture:

Isn’t this beautiful?

But how to get there? We took the bus all the way to Old Town again and started walking back uphill. The next possible street you take a left and you get to a split parking lot…half of it leads uphill and half of it level ground to the left. We decided to walk on uphill and were rewarded with our first view of the bay we were looking for:

Foreign picture:

Mhhh, but how do we get down there? The parking spot was a dead end road. No walk ways down to the water. So we headed back to the other section of the lot. Here there are some partially hidden stairs leading downhill in front of the houses. We trotted down there…down seemed good … the sea had to be there somewhere and glimpsed through a stone gate to the right. And there it was -- the entrance to our paradise for this afternoon.

But one thing was different from all the pictures we found online…it was burstling with beach life. There were tons of kids jumping in of a rock, little kids playing soccer on the tiny space in front of the water and two waterball teams in the water having a blast. On the rocks to the sides, there were many towels with people sunbathing on them. Would it be fun to go snorkelling here? Surely with all this racket there wouldn’t be a fish in sight?

We wanted to try anyway. Getting into the water was painful…the cobblestones all seemed to have the ONE size to hurt under your feet. Today I envied Tanja for her water shoes. But we made it into the water afterall (Later on we saw, that there was a much easier spot to enter on the side with a ladder…oh well). Once in the water we snorkelled away past the real shallow rocks and the waterball square. Out here there were no more people and we basically had the whole bay to ourselves. And it was WOW! The water was crystalclear and there were all kinds of different fish. Real small ones in huge groups, which shimmered and parted once you swam through them. Huge white ones with a little black on the sandy ground way way below us and all kinds of different ones close to the rocks on the sides. It was heavenly. We snorkelled forever and loved every second of it. Sometimes we would halt and take out our snorkels to talk to each other and share what we saw. During one of those chats, paddling in this beautiful spot, we saw this ship (saw it in the morning in the harbour as well and asked ourselves if it was just there to be pretty or if it actually leaves the port) sail by really close.

We saw only this ship, no other people, no other boats -- just the scenery with the fortress high on top and this ship sailing by silently. We felt as if we time travelled into a long past century. It was magical!

Our bay proved to be just right for us. I don’t know if there are any facilities like restrooms or showers here though. We didn’t need them or look for them. If you look at the following picture of the bay, you see two doors in the rocky side…maybe that’s a place to check out if you’re looking for one or the other? Anybody ever been there?

Foreign pic:

Well, anyway, the bay for us was a huge success. We LOVED the snorkelling here and DEFINITELY will snorkel in Croatia again. Lol – I ripped my bikini on one of the rocks – it was so bad I had to throw it away afterwards – but it was such a wonderful day, that not even that could lessen my mood. We leisurely strolled back to the bus station and rolled back to the ship. The busses are very frequent and not as crowded in the afternoon as before noon time.

Once back on the port area, we did some last minute souvenir shopping and sat down in the one bar/internet café they have there. We still had a little time left until the time we arranged with Tarik to meet up. We decided to try a local beer. You can pay with Euros within the port. Half a litre on tap beer for 1 €. Now that’s a bargain! Needless to say we enjoyed two of them! The lady behind the counter was very nice and I believe I‘ve never seen so many smiling faces than in our stop in Dubrovnik (of course not counting the stressed out gazillion tourists).

We really liked the feel of this country and town, even if we didn’t get to experience a whole lot. But it was enough to stir the wish to return.

What I learned in Dubrovnik:

As soon as we’re not bound to the school holidays anymore, we’ll travel in the off season.

Croatian beer sure is yummy.

Snorkelling here rocks!

If you’re doing DIY trips it would sure help to have at least rudimentary knowledge of the local language.

Don’t swim too close to rocks if you don’t have extra swim gear.

More to come!

 

Love your review so far. The third from the bottom photo looks like a scene from Game of Thrones.

 

Thank you for sharing such an awesome review of the ports, and ship.

[wnycruisefam66]

13 is a great age to come over for the first time. How old is your DD? I bet they will both have a blast :)

 

 

 

Oh no Stef! I hope you can get some rest and recuperate quickly.

My DD will be 19 & we just recently added her boyfriend as a 3rd person to our cabin, he will be 19 as well. We're a group of 6 now & we're all so excited to experience in person what we've only seen on tv!

[wnycruisefam66]

Get well soon!

[Member123]

Hi everybody,

 

:(What a weird coincidence... here I am writing about Tanja's fever and prombtly it hits me. Just a cold...but not one of the little snuffy nose ones. Full blown headache, fever, clogged nose, sore troat and hurting limbs...No way I can write anything today...Sorry guys. Hope I'll be better tomorrow to continue with the review!

 

Stef

 

Hi, Stef,

Boy, I hope that you're feeling better and you're just away because you've got so much work to catch up on... not that you're still feeling bad! I guess you don't have Tanja's ability to feel better in a couple of hours; that was fantastic, by the way... that she felt better after only a few hours of sleep. What a relief, especially on vacation.

 

Anyway, this was just meant as a short note to wish you Get Well Soon greetings.

[xxHadleyxx]

My DD will be 19 & we just recently added her boyfriend as a 3rd person to our cabin, he will be 19 as well. We're a group of 6 now & we're all so excited to experience in person what we've only seen on tv!

 

Sounds like a perfect grouping to be able to really enjoy so much that the area has to offer :)

[lorrdean]

Congratulations on your wedding! I hope you have a lovely day on Saturday :)

 

thank you for your good wishes. We had a fab day, plus the weather played nice :D