I wouldn’t say it was the highlight exactly, but our guide steered many in our group to his favorite gelato shop where I sampled the dark chocolate with orange peel. I think we were all glad to get back to the ship (especially our guide who dripped water from hair, jacket and chin) and indulge in hot showers!

Quite a fascinating spot! We knew pretty much nothing about Corsica but now we’ve seen the watch tower, the gorgeous beaches (even in rainy March), the statue of Napoleon with his brothers, roads named for Napolean, a grand cathedral (well, grand on the inside) where Napoleon was christened, a park with a huge monument to, you guessed it, Napoleon. Ahh, he was born in Ajaccio and they are proud of that! We attended a lecture last night on Napoleon to prepare. Amazing how little of European history we were taught in school – or at least, I find I remember very little so it was terrific to take that information with us into Ajaccio.

Today brought a morning tour of the seaport city of Marseille, France. We’ve toured the city in the past so opted for a simple ride-around and some free time in a plaza near the Vieux Port (Old Port). We heard about the Notre Dame de la Garde and had incredible views across the Mediterranean. The plaza was fun to explore and I managed a quick trip to the Galleries Lafayette nearby to buy Alf some much-needed socks :-). A stop in a wonderful sweets store included a sample of a local style chocolate-filled biscuit and another shop was full of the local olive oil soap – so fragrant with the lavender of Provence. A simple morning but lovely.

Early up, luggage out, breakfast in the hotel and then it is all hurry up and wait as we are sorted onto various buses and sent off on a driving tour of the city (obviously to give the ship’s crew time to ready things for a new complement of travelers). We saw several areas of the Olympic park (1992, I think), an triumphal arc and and art museum before winding our way to the pier and the Viking Saturn. A very smooth process to get us aboard, followed by lunch in the Cafe and then into staterooms. Safety drills with the crew, unpacking, meeting our room stewards, a lecture on the history of France and dinner in the Italian restaurant finally ended with a long night’s sleep.

The usual enormous buffet breakfast in the hotel and then a taxi to a spot near the Sant Antoni market – a local favorite. Our guide (Barcelona’s Favourite Markets Tour – Viator) took us through the market with tastings of ham (jamon) and seeing lots of the local fish and shellfish, along with beautiful produce. Next and walk through the streets and a stop at a local bakery for a croissant and sort of fluffy sweet bread topped with sugar (a Catalan favorite – never did learn the name), La Boqueria Market and lots of samples. The seafood and the sweets were the best! Really liked a local version of paella that is made with broken pasta instead of rice, and a dish made with black rice and octopus. The various forms of nougat were wonderful! Lots of honey, pistachios and almonds – and chocolate. Let’s not forget the chocolate! We tried a local red vermouth – nope. And a local rioja – yep. Overall, very very crowded but a lot of amazing produce, meat and fish available – and a wealth of prepared food for take-away. On to the Santa Caterina Market – very similar, much less crowded. I wish I could have bought some of the absolutely enormous strawberries (almost as big as a tennis ball).

Time is passing quickly so goodbye to today’s first tour and on the second – Ramblas, Old Town, Gothic and Gaudi Architecture (another from Viator). The contrast in architecture around the city was very obvious – from ruins of Roman buildings, medieval churches, somewhat gothic church facades, and Gaudi. Casa Batilio and La Pedrera show his progression from the incredibly colorful and fanciful sort of maritime-themed Casa Batilio, a private house, to La Pedrere (an apartment building) that is much more monotone dark bronze decoration – both still avoiding straight lines and using themes from nature. Fascinating.

Finally, exhausted and back at the hotel – the taxi system in Barcelona is great! and they are everywhere. Dinner is the next adventure.

Dinner is at a Michelin-starred Catalan restaurant – Xerta – pronounced “Cherta”. In spite of being very early for dinner in Spain (8pm) the service, the food and the ambiance were amazing. We had the seafood tasting menu. The very best thing was fresh, tiny green peas with baby octopus. Each whole octopus was no bigger that 2 inches long. The sauce was cured duck egg yolk and I don’t know what else but incredible. Risotto with lobster. Pink cuttlefish with a squid-ink sauce, coconut milk sauce and basil oil. Sea urchin shell holding the uni with a romesco sauce and something. So beautiful. Anyway we both ate every single scrap and loved it all. Thank you to The Fork app for making it easy to search for and reserve restaurants around the world – in English so I’m sure of the date and time and all the important stuff when I reserve!

Back to the hotel for packing up (luggage will be picked up at 7am) and falling into bed. March 8th at an end.

What a wonderful city! In spite of a LOT of rain, the charm of Spain’s second-largest city is apparent everywhere.

Our flight from Dulles was fine in spite of the wind storm in Washington when we left. Even the drive to DC, parking and the airport shuttle were simple – this may be a first. Transfer to the hotel was smooth and I met our guide (Viator Tours) for a private tour of Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. The Gaudi architecture is simply amazing. So colorful, filled with curves and images from nature. So many surfaces are covered with mosaic, made not from cut glass but from broken bits of pottery, dishes, bottles. It is beautiful, imaginative and completely unique.

The Park has an enormous plaza, edged with a wall that includes seating. The wall, front and back, is covered with this mosaic. The wall undulates around the plaza which hosts concerts, fashion shows, protests and simple gatherings. The views are spectacular. There is an aqueduct, which off-kilter columns and a curves ceiling that mimics the waves of the sea. There is a small house that truly could belong to the witch in Hansel and Gretel! And, being a park, there are green spaces, meant specifically for the locals. Even in the rain, the Park was amazing.

The Sagrada Familia is not yet finished (started in 1883) so Gaudi will not see its completion (anticipated for 2026, the 100th anniversary of his death). However, other architects have spent the decades since trying to complete his vision, based on drawings and models. The tower will be one of the tallest in the world. There will be 18 spires, 3 big facades, glorious stained glass and marvelous views from the towers. A great deal is finished and it is breathtaking. I particularly like the turtles in the columns outside, the bronze doors with leaves and various bugs, the view of the finished spires and the walls of color in the stained-glass windows.

A quick taxi back, a simple dinner in the bar of our hotel and a collapse into bed finished March 7th.

Off to Barcelona, then meeting the Viking Saturn for 15 days around the Mediterranean. Yipee!

Fun morning! We walked through this smallish town, tasting bread from the local baker, seeing the donkeys and horse carts, children everywhere. Stopped at a place that presses lettuce seeds for oil (who knew that was a thing?). Visited a very elderly gentleman sort of shaking raw cotton to fluff it up for eventual stuffing for mattresses and pillows. Smelled the spices and eventually visited the market for a little bargaining and buying. For me, just a little of this as being surrounded by ten men trying to push things into my hands and insisting “Three dolla, three dolla” no matter what is very disconcerting! I tend to just say “No, no” and make a beeline for the exit. However, I did manage to buy a galabeya for “Egypt Night” on the ship. I will probably never wear it again but I think I paid a reasonable price (meaning only twice what it’s actually worth) and escaped whole!

Sailing through the aftrnoon. Next stop – Aswan.

We stopped in Aswan for two nights. A biggish city! Many cars, tuk tuks, donkey carts, horse-drawn carriages, scooters, motorcycles, pedestrians paying no attention, buses, vans and what seems to be absolutely no system for traffic. It works, though, even if I cannot tell you how that’s even possible.

Expedition this morning to the Aswan High Dam and Lake Nasser. The lake is lovely and uncrowded – one of the group asked if there are water sports, sailing etc. on the lake. And, well, not so much due to the large number of crocodiles – big ones. That would take the shine off kayaking at sunrise for sure!

Another market, this one with a lot of spices. Interesting to see dried hibiscus flowers and peppermint sold for teas – very fragrant. I managed to buy a couple of souvenirs without losing my cool and even found my way back to our bus!

We ended the morning with a sail on a felucca which was peaceful, except for the children paddling out to hang onto the sides of the boat and asking for “one dolla, one dolla.”

Tomorrow – a Nubian village!

Spectacular! The limestone hills are deeply carved by the wind and sand which is very beautiful itself. Yet the treasure UNDER the hills is so old, still so colorful and shows so many sides of ancient Egyptian life that it is hard to believe the many tombs in this area stayed hidden for thousands of years. There are, I think, 64 that have been unearthed at this point. King Tut’s tomb entrance was covered with rubble, probably from the building of another tomb back in the day. As a result, it remained hidden until found by Howard Carter in 1922. The contents of the tomb have been removed to various museums around the world (although mostly here in Egypt) but the mummy of the boy king are still there. We explored several tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens (or the Beautiful) including the tombs of Nefertari and Hatshepsut and ended with the Howard Carter house. The carvings and paintings on the walls of the tombs are still brightly colored and a fascinating window into ancient life and beliefs.