* LIVE from the Rotterdam - 30 day Passage to Spain and Western Europe - Mar. 30th*

[kazu]

Oops, I inadvertently posted two pics the same. Sorry about that.

 

 

This place is amazing. The town is gorgeous.

 

 

And then shortly, we were at the Church and monastery here.

 

 

 

 

Again there were amazing oourtyards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the flower pics, but kazu loves flores. And it was truly beautiful.

 

 

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[kazu]

So, if you are not bored yet, let's carry on...

 

 

I am having a tough time picking pics and fear that I am choosing the wrong ones, but, the pic above is where the nuns prayed.

 

 

Look at the doors - amazing

 

 

And the art:

 

 

Where the nuns sat...

 

 

 

And then we went into the Church itself which is attached.

 

[kazu]

The entire complex is very old and the Church is absolutely gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

I loved the bells the Church had. Can you see the stork's nest?

 

 

 

Then our driver took us to the house of Juan Jiminez. A very famous poet in Spain who comes from this little town.

 

Over 8,000 books and manuscripts here.

 

Now, I call this a door!

 

 

Like a well to do person, the well was in the house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

There were over 8,000 books and manuscripts (including his own) here.

 

 

 

 

The courtyard is very pretty:

 

 

 

 

And, of course, in Moguer, there are statues in his honour.

 

 

 

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[kazu]

After our tour, we asked our driver to drop us off in Huelva to get a taste of that city and savour the flavour. Frederico, our driver recommended a particular tapas restaurant and we al decided to follow his suggestion.

 

Here is the restaurant - beautiful!!!!

 

 

 

 

Check out the Cristopher Colon mosaic. Really something!

 

 

And a bit of food porn......Here are the tapas waiting for orders::::

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Love the beach]

Love traveling along with you and your gorgeous photos! Thank you!

[kazu]

After our very delicious tapas, it was time to return to the ship and check on DH. I knew he was improved when he was able to eat the octupus tapa I had bought for him.

 

One look at the menu which was practically a repeat of a couple of weeks ago and it had no appeal for either of us. So we decided to chance the Canaletto. We were able to be fit in and off we went.

 

Now, kazu has only been happy with one Canaletto (Prinsendam) which she repeated several times. The rest of the ships where she tried it not. So, they had a tough customer coming - LOL.

 

We got the usual bread and oil and bruschettas, but there was a clear plus in the service which I noticed right away.

 

 

 

 

 

DH had the seafood soup and it was awesome.

 

 

I had the salad and it was yummy.

 

 

the pasta - DH was happy

 

 

And my veal

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

The waiter kindly answered my questions on the Canaletto wine and said it was much better than the house wine.

 

So guess what I will order one night... LOL

 

 

Canaletto wins big time with me... on this ship...even before I was made my rose by my waiter....

 

 

 

 

excellent service, excellent food. Kazu highly endorses the Rotterdam's Canaletto. They even used the pepper mill!!!

 

Then to finish off the evening, we decided to go to the Casino and after I lost all my winnings from the other night and then charged to the room, I won big time (ok, big for me). I quickly cashed out and headed out.

 

We are in Lisbon today and I nedd to conserve some ipad battery for our Fado show tonight.

 

Friday was a fantastic day and evening. Back later with more.

 

 

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[fancy234]

Sounds like a fantastic day !!! Huelva and Vigo are the most important stops for mom and dad! I think I would have enjoyed the sights and tapas in Huelva also!! What are the next ports before hitting Rotterdam?? Tell mom and dad we are well here and I got an A in my course lol

 

 

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[1of4]

All I can say is: WOW!

 

Glad Jose recovered quickly and you were able to enjoy dinner.

 

Side note...gave Tink her flea and tick chew today which will last 3 months. Ian wants to know why he can't get a human one? Lol. The vet said they had removed 25 ticks already this year.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I never get bored reading reviews and looking at pictures.

Glad Jose was better for you to enjoy your Canaletto dinner.

[FLAMINGONC]

Wonderful ongoing review. Love the descriptions, menus and photos. Makes us want to do this cruise in the future. We are on the Rotterdam July 15 for 18 Night Viking Passage from Rotterdam to Boston. Thanks for taking the time for us to enjoy your trip.

[rkacruiser]

Kazu, Your photos are "eye candy". Your photos of food porn are "eye and taste buds eye candy"!

 

The Canaletto entree of Vitella Al Forno is a unique preparation of a veal entree for me. The fact that you enjoyed it makes me hope that such an offering will be available on the Amsterdam this Summer. Even the salad that you ordered looked enticing, (And, I am one who usually does not order salads for dinner on cruises because of the fear of "filling up" too quickly.)

[kazu]

Sounds like a fantastic day !!! Huelva and Vigo are the most important stops for mom and dad! I think I would have enjoyed the sights and tapas in Huelva also!! What are the next ports before hitting Rotterdam?? Tell mom and dad we are well here and I got an A in my course lol

 

 

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We are on day 2 of Lisbon. Your parents had a full day yesterday with a full day tour and then dinner in Lisbon and a Fado show. Pics will be posted shortly (I hope). Depends on how tolerant DH is with free wifi. Otherwise, later on the ship.

 

After Lisbon, we do Vigo, then Portland, LeHavre & Rotterdam.

 

 

 

All I can say is: WOW!

 

Glad Jose recovered quickly and you were able to enjoy dinner.

 

Side note...gave Tink her flea and tick chew today which will last 3 months. Ian wants to know why he can't get a human one? Lol. The vet said they had removed 25 ticks already this year.

 

LOL on the side note and a good move Gail. Fox and Marley got their first dose (monthly) before we left. Lyme disease is very prevalent in New Brunswick thanks to all the dam deer. Their caregiver will give them their second dose while we are away.

[kazu]

I never get bored reading reviews and looking at pictures.

Glad Jose was better for you to enjoy your Canaletto dinner.

 

Wonderful ongoing review. Love the descriptions, menus and photos. Makes us want to do this cruise in the future. We are on the Rotterdam July 15 for 18 Night Viking Passage from Rotterdam to Boston. Thanks for taking the time for us to enjoy your trip.

 

You are both very kind. Thanks for following along :D

[kazu]

Love traveling along with you and your gorgeous photos! Thank you!

 

Thank you ;p:D

 

Kazu, Your photos are "eye candy". Your photos of food porn are "eye and taste buds eye candy"!

 

The Canaletto entree of Vitella Al Forno is a unique preparation of a veal entree for me. The fact that you enjoyed it makes me hope that such an offering will be available on the Amsterdam this Summer. Even the salad that you ordered looked enticing, (And, I am one who usually does not order salads for dinner on cruises because of the fear of "filling up" too quickly.)

 

It was really good. I recommend giving it a try if it is available. Everything in this Canaletto is good from the reports I have heard.

[kazu]

Good morning from the lovely Rotterdam. We are on our second day in LIsbon so I am only one day behind. With luck, I will catch up today.

 

I believe I neglected to post our When and Where for our first day, so here you go.

 

 

 

And here is today's When and Where

 

 

 

I simply cannot believe the wonderful weather we have had so far on this cruise. We have been very, very lucky. Huelva and Moguer were perfect touring weather - around 70 degrees until the afternoon when we had our tapas and the temp climbed to around 75. Timing was perfect. The difference in the weather and only around 8 miles to the ship was unbelievable. Back at the ship it was cold and windy - maybe 50+ degrees F with threatening clouds. In Hueva itself it was sunny and beautiful.

 

Lisbon was a lovely 75 degrees F yesterday with a beautiful breeze. No need for layers at all and is supposed to be the same today. I am sitting here in a short sleeved shirt. Absolutely unbelievable!

 

I don't know what weather awaits us as we move north, but kazu is not complaining. Weather is much nicer than anticipated. Only two nights of rocky seas (and not that serious to me) and the rest of the sailing has been so beautiful and smooth. (Hope I didn't get jinx us).

 

 

I can't comment on the dinner last night as we didn't eat on the ship. We were at Fado last night but here is the dinner menu for you for the MDR.

 

 

 

Now, to see where I left off yesterday.

 

 

 

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[kazu]

I nearly forgot. The folks in Huelva treat the cruise passengers very well.

 

We were greeted with costumed people who really enjoyed their job. They were a lot of fun and offered us a "fake" drink and a "fake" piece of fruit.

 

And of course we had to have a password to pass. LOL.

 

 

They were still there when we returned to the ship and instead of blocking our way as they did when we arrived looking for the password, they raised their swords in a salute for us to pass under, thanked us for visiting them and wished us safe passage and very smooth seas. Probably one of the most fun welcomes I have ever had at any cruise port.

 

 

 

Huelva is full of reminders of Columbus and very proud of their involvement in the Discovery. A lovely monument to the sailors and all who worked for the Discovery.

 

 

 

The winds had really picked up again and it was going to be rocky (just off and on) that night. Our second night with movement which, when you consider how many days we have been sailing was pretty dam good IMO.

 

Here you can see the pilot struggling to get to the ship (I think they were pretty wet by the time they got to us).

 

 

 

 

 

It was a really great day and night and one that will live forever in my memories. Huelva was a fantastic stop for us.

 

 

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[puppycanducruise]

Thanks again for taking us along on your cruise.

Your pictures are wonderful.

I'm not bored, I'm looking for more!

[kazu]

So, yesterday we were sailing to LIsbon. We have an overnight which makes this itinerary wonderful as DH loves Fado and Fado is only late at night, so, we had a full day for our first day.

 

I had arranged for another private tour for 6 of us and then, afterwards 4 of us were going to a Fado show. It was going to be a very long day!!!!

 

But first, we had some scenic river cruising as the Rotterdam sailed down the Tagus river directly to Lisbon.

 

One of the beauty of the smaller ships is their ability to do this.

 

This is the bridge that we will have to go under to get to Lisbon. It is actually in part of Lisbon!

 

 

And the Rotterdam's stacks didn't have much room, but there was enough.

 

 

 

Such a pretty sailing. I will try to get better pics today as we sail back up the Tagus River this afternoon (with commentary) when we leave Lisbon.

 

 

 

 

 

Our group was all ready at the Ocean Bar (my preferred meeting place on the smaller ships - on the Vistas it's the Pinnacle Bar) and we were off with disembarkation only delayed a very few minutes.

 

Frederica was there waiting for us, easy to spot and off we went.

 

She was our guide/driver for the day. She really emphasized the "private" tour and she was ours to command to stay longer, stay less, whatever we wanted.

 

I booked this tour over a year ago but since I have the company has won numerous awards including best tour company in Portugal. We were to discover it was well deserved.

 

After a bit of a tour we started with the church of Santa Maria du Belin (sp?)

 

It's very old and was NOT destroyed by the earthquake.

 

Along with the church and the monastery, they have made use of the extra space with a lovely maritime museum and an archaeology museum.

 

It's a very big, impressive building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

Just a few more of the outside of this magnificent Church and we will go inside...

 

 

 

 

This church has many famous people buried here including Vasco de la Gama, the great Explorer. entrance to the church is free. The monastery has a small fee as does the Maritime Museum (8 euros) and the Archaeology Museum (5 euros). Our guide recommended we not waste time in the archaeology one as she said there was better and, in her opinion it wasn't great. We followed her advice.

 

This is Vasco de la Gama's crypt.

 

 

More later - I don't want to try DH's patience with free wifi and it is time to move on.

 

Warning...there will be FOOD PORN later.

 

 

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[NMLady]

....

 

It was a really great day and night and one that will live forever in my memories. Huelva was a fantastic stop for us.

 

Thank you for sharing so many photos and so much history. I learned a lot since I'd never known Huelva's place in history.

Edited April 23, 2017 by NMLady

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write and post pictures.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Someday, Kazu, I hope to cruise with you.:D You have so much fun on your trips! Your interest and enthusiasm for learning about the world around you, have made this thread, and your previous travel threads, a wonderful vicarious experience. I am extremely grateful for your generosity with both time and expense in providing menus, photos, and daily programs for our perusal.