I forget what episode number I’m on and honestly, it’s just too much work to figure out what it is. Maybe next time. Heather and I returned from three weeks of travel two weeks ago and I still feel a bit like I’ve not fully rejoined my life here at home.
Well, I feel like that even when I haven’t been traveling, but that’s a different post.
Don’t expect too much out of this post as the “dazed and confused” feel remains strong today.
Anyway, a little about the trip we took … I’d call it a vacation, but being retired, I’m not sure what vacation means when you don’t work. I took a vacation from not working by not working on a different continent … sorry that’s a different post. I’ll do that one another time.
The trip we took was a little cruise in the Mediterranean. We started with two nights in Madrid, yes, not strictly on the Mediterranean, but close. We had a day at a couple of museums and a walking tour. Then we got a train to Barcelona where we joined our cruise ship for 11, 12 or was it 13 days. I forget and am too lazy to open up the folder that has the answer. Maybe in another post, I’ll have the facts for you.
We did get a walking tour of Barcelona before the ship left for the next port. There’s only eight minutes till the pizza is done, so I won’t go into all the details of each port. The very short version is that we stopped in ports in the south of France, Monaco, Italy, around the toe of Italy to Corfu, Croatia and finally Venice where we left the ship and boarded a flight to England to visit Heather’s family.
While it was a wonderful trip with lots of good things, like the food on the ship was outstanding and shipboard experience was just luxury. Most of the tours on shore where interesting and we enjoyed the day out.
But there were a few things that were, less than we had hoped for:
- If you’ve seen one walled city, you’ve seen them all. Seriously, if it wasn’t for our pictures getting their GPS stamp on the cell phone, I couldn’t tell Corfu from Split. However, any picture with a canal is likely Venice.
- Every tourist spot is over crowded.
- They don’t have public toilets, anywhere, and if they do you pay for them.
- Guided tours never give you enough time to shop in the towns.
- Never let the cruise line plan your connecting flights. They seem to think you need minimum layovers of 6 hours or that you can find your way from the international terminal to the domestic terminal in less than 20 minutes.
- The older you get, the more jet lag kicks your butt.
Well, as anything in life, there’s a lot to complain about and a lot to rejoice in. Over all it was a trip of a lifetime and I’m happy we were able to go. I’ll post more about as life returns to normal.
But one of the first things I’ll have to explain next time is the difference between bacon and crispy bacon.
Andrew's View of the Week 
Nice Pizza. We love Pizza at Bepakt!
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🙂
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I liked it that you said so much with less words 😊 and that it was a trip of a lifetime is the best.
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It was a trip of a lifetime.
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We took a similar trip around the Baltic Sea, where literally every stop was a different country. Like you, I wish we had more time in each country. Each was a taste at best – mere hours – with the thought we’d return and explore some of them further on another trip. The real test will be if we actually follow up or just leave it at this cruise. I really would love to see more of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
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After every stop Heather and I asked, “Would we want to come back and see more here?” Of all the places we went, I think that Madrid, Corfu, and South of France remained on our list of places to go back to.
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I don’t even need a taste of South of France to know I want to go there for many days!
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or weeks, months …
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Sounds like a wonderful trip despite the few annoyances. Save a pizza slice for me!
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We have plenty of pizza here … 😉
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To your point, it’s so true. In many ways, traveling has lost its charm. Maybe because we are older, set in our ways and as you mentioned too… Many cities start to look alike. I often feel that myself. I’m smiling, I don’t think Europeans know how to do crispy bacon, so wonder if that’s what the story will be about. Glad you had fun!
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The only crispy bacon I found was on the cruise ship. When we were in England, I just had the sausages for breakfast. The way we do travel these days has become way to stressful. Next time we go, we’ll aim for doing less, shorter stays and less travel in one day.
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Yes, less travel in one day is the best. Otherwise, it doesn’t feel like a “vacation,” it feels like go, go, go without being able to relax and enjoy our surroundings. Maybe this is older age too. We don’t need to “prove” we saw different things. We really do “want” a relaxing vacation. At least, I do.
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and as you see a lot you start to realize that so many things just look the same.
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It sounds like a good trip… welcome home! No matter how good a trip is, getting home is always one of my favourite parts of it. 😉
(Mmmm, bacon.)
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It was a great trip, but being home is even better.
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It does sound exhausting but I’m looking forward to you sharing some of the highlights.
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I’ll need a bit more rest, there will be more to come.
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Sounds wonderful and exhausting!
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It was both!
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I traveled for 5 days and I’m exhausted. Three weeks! You’re my hero.
Enjoy the pizza.
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We’ve decided that we won’t travel for that much time again – 10-14 days max next time.
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Glad you had fun, and it’s no wonder it will take time to rest up and decompress. Me, I got tired just reading about it!
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I get tired just thinking about it.
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Crispy bacon, a very important distinction in my books as well 🙂
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It can’t be underestimated!
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It sounds exciting, but it sounds like a lot. I don’t think you can call it a ‘vacation’ either, because you seemed to be on the move most of the time. I have heard of the lack of bathrooms in places in Europe and for me, that is a deal breaker. What is one supposed to do? Cape Breton here in northern Nova Scotia is the same. It is a long ride around the Cabot Trail and the few places that are on the northern end don’t allow you to use the washroom. It was really a turn-off for me to ever go visit again. They want the tourist money without accommodating basic needs. I would rather look at photos.
It does sound like you had a nice time though. It does take a little longer to reacclimate to regular routine, doesn’t it? I look forward to your follow-up posts. 🙂
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What you end up doing is just buying a coffee somewhere and using their restroom. Of the paid tours always had some provision at one of the stops. I’ll be posting more soon.
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I hope you didn’t have any problems in Barcelona. It’s pretty much the pickpocketing capital of Europe, especially Las Ramblas. Rome would come in a close second.
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We didn’t have any problems. The tour company gave very good guidelines on what to look for and what to avoid. Also being on a tour meant that we didn’t have to carry too much in our pockets – just a little cash and one credit card which limited our exposure. I also think the bad guys didn’t like to mess with the tour groups – too many eyes and cameras for their liking.
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Apparently pickings areeso good that the bosses will fly in their pickpockerts even from Brazil and Columbia!
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I can believe it. The crowds as large and pickings would be good.
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