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Live on Splendor - London to Barcelona

forgap

By forgap,
in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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October 6,2023–Alicante, Spain

 

We had a late sleep as the ship was not to arrive in Alicante until 10 am.  Seas were calm, and the weather forecast was again for warm and sunny.  I would have brought more summer clothes for this trip.  I didn’t bring a single pair of shorts or sundress, and I have been missing both.

 

Alicante is a beach/resort town with a lot of Moorish and Spanish history.  Our tour for the day was a walking tour of Alicante and Novelda, another nearby town then wine tasting.

 

We were in port with a huge MSC ship, so it was quite crowded.  To one side, there was a long white sand beach filled with sunbathers as well as two huge rocks with old forts on top.  On the left was a large sailboat marina, and behind the old town, with tiny streets, old buildings and an undulating tile  promenade.  We walked through, hard to do as we were tempted on all sides by the tapas places.

 

We then boarded a bus to Novelda which is an inland town that produces marble.  The area is very dry with mostly olive and almond groves and vineyard.  Above Novelda is another big rock hill and on top of that an old moorish fortress, a triangular tower, and a beautiful church designed by a student of Gaudi.

 

We were able to climb to the top of the tower then go inside the church.  Inside, there is an organ made totally of marble,including the pipes.  It isn’t totally finished yet, as the guy who was carving it had covid really badly apparently, but it is enough finished that it can be played.  We listened to Canon in D major, and as my husband said, he i ordered hopes heaven is this good.  It was transcendent.  

 

We then rode to a big very nice vineyard nearby, and tasted some really good wine as well as olives that they grow.  Again much better than any of the ship’s wine tastings in France.

 

We drove back to town.  There was the option to stay in town.  We came back for trivia and came in 2nd.

 

We decided to go to the observation lounge pre dinner.  Tonight was cruise capers as well.  Then dinner in Prime 7.  My filet was perfect. George had the surf and turf and the lobster was over cooked,  they brought him a new one which was good.  But why not just cook it perfectly the first time.

 

The entertainer was the illusionist and I decided to give him a second try.  Much better.  I could actually follow the show.

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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6 hours ago, mdunne48 said:

Rachel,

 

What is the name of the winery you visited near Motril? We are going to be there in about 6 weeks.

 

Thanks

Senorio de Nevada.  They have a very elegant looking small hotel and restaurant there as well.

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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October 7, 2023–Palma de Mallorca, Spain

 

Another smooth night sailing, and when we awoke we were in a large port next to what appeared to be a big ferry.  Down the way were 3 other huge ships-Aida, Marella,and GNV, what ever that is.  GNV appeared to have seen much better days.  The Aida ship was a huge monstrosity.  The Marella ship, which is apparently owned by Tui, a large travel company which supplied many of our buses and guides this trip, seemed to be the best of the batch, but no where as nice as Regent.  Forecast for the day—again warm and sunny.  

 

Our excursion for the day was to be to Alfabia garden then to a Mallorcan lunch followed by a visit to Bellver Tower.  We have been to Mallorca before, so I was trying to pick something different.

 

We boarded our bus and took off into the countryside.  Soon we were out of the city and in a beautiful valley surrounded by high peaks on 3 sides.  A small group, only 14, with two of those being the wife and 4 year old son of one of the officers.  He was a delight, very polite.  His only English words were “My name is …”, but he said it with confidence.  George taught him a game, and he was our buddy for the trip.

 

The Alfabia Gardens are in an old Moorish estate with a large beautiful house, all the old stables, and expansive gardens and orchards with water features.  I would highly recommend.  We wandered all over.  There were photo ops everywhere.  With the shade, it wasn’t hot.  

 

Then we walked across the parking lot to Los Vascos, a typical Mallorcan restaurant, where we were served lunch consisting of fresh tomatoes, cheeses, ham, potato salad, croquettes of mushroom and potatoes, oxtail sandwiches, bread with olive oil, and cheesecake.  It was so fresh and delicious.  Oh, and free flowing red and white wine.  Probably one of the best meals I have ever had on a tour, and it was not an extra charge tour.

 

We then drove to Bellver for photos—couldn’t go inside.  There was a wedding going on, so we got to see the bride and groom leaving.  Then a quick stop by the cathedral and back to the ship.  All in all, a wonderful excursion.

 

But a sad sight awaited us—luggage was out on the bed.  We got busy and packed pretty quickly and, amazingly, found room for everything. 

 

The show was early tonight at 6 pm, and was one of my favorites as it was the Broadway music show, but unfortunately I didn’t get to attend as George had scheduled so many social events with old and new friends. We had drinks, then more drinks, then dinner in Sette Mare ( food was great but service was terribly slow), then more drinks.  I took to pellegrino with lime.  But we were able to visit with some really nice people.

 

We went back to the room and set out the luggage.

 

 

 

 

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mariners "Live from...." Rare

mariners

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Forgap, I hope that whatever interfered with your cruise and getting out and about is over and all is well.  I appreciated your posts and missed reading your take on the last few days.

 

RachelG, as always, it's great to read your experiences onboard as well as ashore.  Thanks so much for taking the time to post.

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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October 8, 2023-disembarkation in Tarragona, Spain

 

We woke up early as you had to be out of the suite by 8 am.  Our driver was not arrive u til 9 am, so that is what I requested as disembarkation time.  We just sat out in the lobby area and visited with friends.  They actually called our tag number early.  Fortunately the driver was there, so we were on our way by 8:45.

 

As our flight was not until 11pm, we had the whole day to explore.  I had researched and hired an excellent private guide who specializes in hiking and wine tours.  I had been in touch with him for a few months, we had set an itinerary to fill the day.  Not cheap, but worth it.

 

We spent the morning walking all over Tarragona and exploring the Roman ruins which are very extensive and well preserved, the medieval ruins, and the cathedral.  Along the way, we ran into a parade which was part of some sort of local festival.  They have these huge figures of people and animals which they carry through the streets.  The octopus was squirting people with water.  It was really fun.

 

We ate lunch at a Michelin starred restaurant which had outstanding wines and very innovative modern Spanish cuisine.  They brought out what looked like a green olive to begin.  You bite it, and it was a fondant filled with olive oil.  I thought the sea bass which was the fish of the day was a little dry and unimaginative, but the filet of beef was excellent and well priced.  The bread was amazing, and the salad and ravioli starter were great.  We finished with a delicious creative chocolate dessert.  They have two tasting menus but that just seemed to be too much food to us.   What we saw of it looked great though.

 

Then we drove out of town and up to Montserrat, the famous monastery up in the mountains.  People go there to see the black Madonna.  We weren’t interested in that particularly though we did take a look. We were interested in hiking.  We rode a cable car up then hiked further. There were excellent trails, and by the time we were finished, we had done over 8 miles.

 

The drive to Barcelona was uneventful.  Very little traffic.  Check-in and going through security and customs was torturous, particularly security as the x-Ray machine didn’t like George’s back pack, and the security guys couldn’t figure out why, so they kept sending it through the machine.  They finally gave up and let us through.

 

We fly to Dublin tonight, then on to the US tomorrow.  We have a room booked at the airport Hilton for tonight.

 

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