Day 15: Going Home

And finally, it was time to go home. (I should point out this was actually day 16. I didn't count the first travel day, because it was just waiting around and flying and then recovering at the bed and breakfast. Actually, so that makes it day 17. Wow).

We had a wake up call to make sure we were up, finished packing, and then headed to the buffet for one last breakfast. I don't believe I had an omelet that day, but there was still plenty of good stuff to eat.


Our 'butler' and stateroom attendant, Ivan and Hussein (Ivan pronounced Eee-vahn). The butler made the beds and did turn down service at night, and got us anything we needed. The stateroom attendant emptied the trash and cleaned the bathrooms. This was Ivan's last trip, as we was cutting short his contract to go home and spend time with his wife, who was expecting their first child very soon after that.

We went back to our stateroom and waiting for them to call our boarding numbers. Kevin made the announcement, and that was the last I heard of him (didn't get to see him). We shuffled along with the other people in our departing group and walked off the ship.


Our cruise director, John. He was such a fun guy, and made everyone feel special.


I feel bad. I'm pretty sure this is Phil, the hotel director. I do know he was always a very pleasant gentleman and very nice.

The cruise director is in charge of entertainment and everything relating to the cruise portion of the ship. That makes him one of the most important men on the ship. The hotel director is in charge of everything that would be like a regular hotel - so mainly everyone's lodging.

We gathered our luggage from the luggage carousels (they had us leave our big luggage outside our door the night before to be off-loaded). We got our bags and put them on our shuttle bus and then drove away to the airport. Goodbye Azamara Journey.

Now, when there are roundabouts, which are very prevalent in Europe, they are usually good things that I enjoy so much more than regular intersections. They eliminate the need in most cases for stoplights. However, in Barcelona, they had a huge roundabout with stoplights all along the way. We basically had to make a left hand turn, but had to go through about five stoplights along this roundabout to do it, and each light was red. So annoying.


The sunrise was so beautiful that morning. I wish I could have got out of our bus and taken some more. This doesn't do it justice.

Traffic was bad, but we finally made it to the airport. Our flight was scheduled to leave soon, and we weren't sure we were going to make it in time. Funny enough, the Benicia couple that we met earlier was on a different flight, getting home a couple of hours after we did. Anyway, when we expressed concern, they told us that if it got to crunch time, they would call for all passengers going to Frankfurt. We made it in time, went to Frankfurt (where I spent my last few euros on a Frankfurt magnet, so I can say I've been to Germany), and then made the long flight home.

This flight, unlike the flight there, was all during the day. I liked the movies they were playing, and stayed up almost the whole time. I was very glad when we finally made it home, and waited until my friends could pick us up.


Sunset outside the San Francisco airport. See, we even have nice sunsets here.

And we made it home, had something to eat, and rested, until my mom left the next morning to go home to my dad.

It was such a great trip. What a beautiful world God has given us. Probably the only time I'll get to go to the Western Mediterranean with my Mom. Not that I wouldn't mind going there again real soon, but I think I'd first like to see the Eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Israel, etc) and South America, if I get to go on a cruise anytime soon.

If anything else about the trip catches my attention and I want to share, I'll definitely post it here, but for now, that's the end of my trip report. Thanks to everyone who's read them and to those who have left comments. I hope it was given you a glimpse of the wonderful trip I got to experience and the wonder world we have.

Day 14: Barcelona Bound

We weren't scheduled to arrive into our final port, Barcelona, until 3 PM, but our captain was able to take a different route and get us in at 2 PM, so we had more time in Barcelona. Still, that left us with much of the day at sea, so they scheduled some things to keep us entertained in the morning. Mom and I had breakfast at the buffet. I believe that day I had my last ham, cheese, and bacon omlette, some sausage and bacon, some hot chocolate, and some oatmeal. Yes, way too much, but hey, it was my last real breakfast. I had to go all out.


Here I am with my cruise-crush and dancing partner Kevin. I forgot to put this is yesterday's post, as I took it later that night, after the magic show. He's a little short, but that's OK. Plus I found out that last day he's only 23. I thought he was more like 28. I felt like a cougar.


One really cool thing our captain did, which the parent company Azamara liked so much they say they're going to make it a part of all of their cruises, is to have a representative from each country that worked on the crew to come up, say what country they were from, and say a quick greeting or something like that, and then all stand on stage. It was meant to show how we could all get along and work together. It was great and very emotional. When a crew member got on board that I knew, I'd of course cheer louder. The lady from Brazil who served on the activities staff (she was technically the fashion consultant) was one of my favorites (darn, I can't remember her name). And I think the only American other than the cruise director, was Kevin. He had a great American flag tie. He said he wasn't sure if he should wear it, but decided to. Other people around agreed it was great. It was a great moment that we could all be together and not worry about strifes. The crew member from Pakistan standing right by the crew member from India.


Captain Theodoro and me. He's a very nice and personable captain

We finally sailed into Barcelona. Our final excursion was to go around town and then to the La Sagrada Familia. Driving around town, we went by several places that were host to the Barcelona Olympics. One personal highlight for me was when we went by the diving pool. I would have liked to stop and got out and take pictures. That's the image I have most from those Olympics, seeing the city of Barcelona from the diving platform. Definitely the best diving venue I've ever seen in the Olympics. More things should be open air.

There's a lot of strange architecture in Barcelona. During one vista/picture stop, we saw a building in the distance that one guest described as a bullet. The tour guide said, "we say it looks like many different things," hinting that it looked a bit phallic.


We made it to the La Sagrada Familia, which is a beautiful church that was started over a hundred years ago by the architect Gaudi, and won't be complete until at least 2026. It's all privately funded and is just enormous. There is so much symbolism on there, it's amazing. The pictures don't do it justice, and it looks a lot prettier in person. From a distance, I didn't like it, but it's amazing up close. Each side depicts a different period in Christ's life. This side is the Nativity. The other side is the crucifixion and death of Jesus. But the styles are completely different.


You've really got to see it up close


This is the other side. A lot different looking.

We next made our way to the Museu Picasso museum. Picasso lived in Barcelona the early part of his life (before moving to Paris), and this museum houses a lot of his early works. I like to say his pre-drug period. He was actually a very talented classically trained artist, and you can see he did many great works of art before going into his famous Cubist movement. It was interesting. I'm not the biggest fan of his work, although I do like Guenerica (although that wasn't there) and this painting below, which my parents had a print of (you couldn't take pictures inside the museum at all).


Picasso wasn't really my mom or my thing, but we did enjoy the trip to the museum. We then walked around the area and made it over to the Gothic Cathedral La Seu. It's built over the chapel of a previous cathedral (which St. Peter's in the Vatican is as well). It was very different architecturally from what I had seen previously, which made it interesting, as by that time we had all seen so many cathedrals who would think there would be one that would pique our interest.


The pictures of course don't do it justice. There is a court of geese inside the cathedral grounds which is interesting and this area for the choir which is very different. Very unique and I would like more time to study it sometime.


I forget what this place was, but it was just along the street as we made our way from the Cathedral to our bus.

Our tour finally came to and end. We got to see a lot in the afternoon and evening we were in Barcelona. That night we went to a few last night performances, saw the Kristen Lee Trio one more time, but there were a lot of people who were gone. Since we were overnight in Barcelona, there were plenty of people either checking out the night life, or going to bed early, as we all had to be up early to catch our flights and other connections. I think a lot of the crew had the night off and were going out to enjoy the town. As they were most of the young people aboard, I really wanted to join them, but instead I went around saying goodbye to the ship, and finally went to bed, ready for the next morning and our trip back home.

One more post to come about the trip.

Day 13: Viva la France

Our second to last stop was in Toulon, France. Toulon houses a major naval base and is in the heart of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, which is a beautiful stretch of land also known as the French Riviera. Tuolon itself isn't know to be exceptionally beautiful, but more as a port for some of the other beautiful places around there. This is the area known for it's beautiful beaches and beautiful weather.

Of course, being the beginning of December, it wasn't exactly swimming season. Still, it was very beautiful. The area includes Nice (pronounced like niece), which we visited from the train from Monaco the previous day. It also includes Cannes, famous for their film festival. I defninitely need to check this place out sometime again, perhaps if I ever get a chance to tour all of France (I would really like to go to Paris at some point).


Our ship moored in Tuolon


While going through the various excursions on out TV, we decided we'd check out Marseille, the second largest city in France. Some of the other places would be really nice to visit in more sunny weather. This is a view of the mountains from our bus. It reminds me of Provo.


This is Cheateau_d'If, famous in literature for being one of the settings for the Count of Monte Cristo (although in the Jim Caviezel movie, they use a fortress in Malta (YAY MALTA!) as Cheateau d'If). It's also incorrectly identified as where the Man in the Iron Mask was kept. It was once a fortress, then became a prison (sound familiar, Bay Area friends?). We didn't have time to visit it, but it's another site I'd like to visit some day. I always think of cruises as a way to quickly visit a lot of places and then determine where you'd like to spend a lot more time exploring some day.

Interesting random fact: Marseille is known for hip hop music in France. Interesting.


Notre-Dame de la Garde is a basillica with Mary and baby Jesus standing overhead, much like Moroni over our temples, and is on the highest point in Marseille. It can be seen miles away at sea. It's decorated inside with a lot of murals and paintings and articles from ships.


The view from the basillica. You can see all of Marseille from here.


We then went into the city. These Christmas shops were set up everywhere in Marseille and Barcelona. Most of them had little dolls that are evidently very big around there. They are used in kind of Christmas villages.


I can't recall what this building is named.




After our trip to Mareseille, we had plenty of time before our ship left, so Mom and I took a little tourist train around Tuolon. While we had been told Tuolon wasn't as beautiful as other areas of the Provence region, I have to say it was pretty enough for me! Just look at this coast line, right by a beautiful park with kids playing. I could live there.


Around the marina was a lot of shopping. We walked around and saw some of the shops around there and Mom bought me a hat at a discount store there. But I just love this picture of the marina.

Then we were off, our last night at sea. Not the last night of our cruise, but the last night actually at sea.

We had an officer/cruise passenger dance, where we could dance with one of the officers. I just planned on going to see it, but one of the activities staff asked me to join in, as they needed more people. Mom was supposed to come, but evidently was so tired she fell asleep.

They called us all up to get partners, and I let the other people choose first. And my little cruise-crush, Kevin, the activities director, was still available, so I went to him. I didn't want to just rush up to him. So, we were in the third group of dancers, and the cruise director, John, thought we did the best, but the audience chose another couple from our group. John later joked that he thought it was an age thing, as Kevin and my average age was FAR below everyone elses. Still, it was fun to do a waltz, cha cha, and .... I forgot the other dance, with Kevin. He was always friendly before, but after that always made sure to say, "Hello Kirsten" when he saw me. Ahh, sigh.

Then later that night I watched the comedian/magician's show. When walking around the audience to pick on somebody, he picked me. He blindfolded me, had me go to the stage, and tell him what I thought different items were. One was an orange, another a big card that he had already used, and finally.... my watch. He had lifted it off of me (made me realize just how sneaky pickpockets could be). Then he asked someone if they had a hundred dollar bill, and when someone raised their hand, he asked me to go get it (by this time I didn't have the blindfold on anymore). I went and got it and he said, wow, usually when that happened, nobody had one and he'd end up with a $20. He had me write my name on it really big, so I did. My name was on the whole bill. He then did his trick and it ended up that the bill was in the orange. I'm sure he put it in there as he was slicing the orange or something, but it was still cool. And my name was on there nice and large. He asked me to return the bill to the man (with a towel), and acted surprised when I didn't run off with it. I really thought they'd give him a new hundred dollar bill, but he left with that orange stainded, Kirsten branded bill. I'm sure they took it somewhere.

Then Mom and I went to the lounge to hear the Kristen Lee Trio perform another time. It was fun, and the last night that the whole activities staff was out there (I think they gave them the night off in Barcelona). All in all a fantastic day and night. A lot of fun!

Day 12: Luck Be a Lady (in Monaco!)

My postcard shot, taken by me.


Our next stop was Monaco. It is the second smallest independent municipality in the world, second to the Vatican. So I've been to the two smallest 'countries' in the world. Much of Europe used to consist of these independent municipalities, before Italy and France were united. Monaco was able to stay independent. It is by the Italian border, but it is entirely engulfed by France.


So many yachts. And BIG yachts!




We went to check out old Monaco, where the palace is, first. We thought at first everything was closed, because there's a mid level that was all closed that day(elevators and escalators so nobody has to strain to visit Monaco). We finally realized we needed to keep going up. Our first stop was the gift shop of the Ocean Museum, which is world famous and evidently a very good museum. We didn't have time to go, but I wouldn't mind going again sometime.


Nobody that works in Monaco lives there. They don't make enough. To live in Monaco you have to make a minimum amount of money. Don't worry, you don't make enough. All the workers live in France. So it's interesting, the two smallest countries have the strictest population controls. In the Vatican, children of Vatican citizens only have a temporary passport, and are given dual Italian membership. Once they turn 18, it's goodbye Vatican citizenship.


We made it in time to watch the changing of the guard. It was fun. Not as elaborate as Englands, but still very good.




This is the cathedral where Grace Kelly married Prince Phillip and became Princess Grace. There were pictures of her everywhere.


Beautiful cliffs. There was also a great spot to go swimming. I'd love to come there in warmer weather!




We made a quick trip to Nice, France. It was late enough we didn't have time to go visit the famous crescent beach, but it was fun to take the train and visit a new stop. And my first entry into France. This is a photo from Nice.


And we made it back and went to Monte Carlo, the section of Monaco that includes the Casino. This is the big hotel that all the big wigs stay at when they visit.


And here's the world famous Monte Carlo casino. Because you had to pay to enter, I had no desire to enter. And although they loosen up the dress requirements earlier in the day, by the time we got there I doubt we'd be able to get in anyway.

Historically, Monaco, which at one time had been a wealthy country, their fortunes changed, and to try to keep from becoming bankrupt, they introduced gambling. It's worked VERY well for them.

I'm definitely glad I got to see Monaco. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful place. I hope to go back someday soon.

Day 11: Genova and saying goodbye to Italy

After leaving Livorno, our next stop was supposed to be Portofino. Now this port is so small, that only a ship of our size could dock there. Still, the main places to see in Portofino were miles away, so I wasn't terribly excited about what we might see there. Still, as we left Livorno, the seas were getting rougher. It was quite the thing to be in the theater and feeling the ship roll. I get car sick no prob, but the rough seas haven't yet made me sick. Of course, being on a cruise ship along the Alaskan coast or in the Mediterranean is nothing. so I'm sure I would be in really rough seas.

The seas were so rough that in the morning, Portofino advised us from docking there (we would have had to take tenders in to the actual town. Our captain went close to there to check for himself and agreed. Luckily, we were able to dock in nearby Genova, Italy. It is an important economic city in Italy.

The cruise arranged free shutle service to the main part of Genova. After breakfast, Mom wasn't feeling well, so I rode the bus there myself. It was raining that day, so I just walked around. There was a cathedral to visit, which was very pretty.

Outside the cathedral. Watch for the lions.

The Cathedral

More of Genova

Around the Ferrari fountain (the fountain at the top of the post). Genova was very pretty and had a lot of great architecture, but with the rain and being by myself, after a couple of hours I was pretty much done. I went back to the ship, then realized my Mom must have felt better and went to Genova herself. I had lunch and just hung out until Mom came back. She walked around too.

At the time, I wasn't that impressed with Genova. I realize now that a lot of it was the rain, how everybody felt after a night of 'rocking and rolling' and that after all the Italian cities we saw, this wasn't as impressive. Still, I'm glad I went there. It was a nice town and I'd like to go investigate more some time and see all that Genova has to offer.

Later in the evening, there was an improv class. It was fun. These two were leading it. They are actually two of the five Journey Singers. They're both from Las Vegas, and they both like men. I didn't realize that until this improv class. He's very funny though, and we danced together at the dance party later in the cruise.

I think my favorite thing of this port though was the sunset, with all the clouds in the sky. If this darn HUGE cruise ship wasn't in the way, I would have had AWESOME photos of the sunset. I figured it'd be gone by the time I got off the ship and walked around the ship. Too bad, because I could tell it was just BEAUTIFUL!

Most nights after the performance in the theater, there was the Kristen Lee Trio, this band that would play and we could dance to. She's great, and could sing all kinds of genres. Most nights there was hardly anyone dancing. I kept thinking how I really needed my friends Joan and Jill and we'd show them how to dance. But the activities staff would be there dancing, and that got some of us out of our seats. It was fun!

And with that we left Genova and made our way to Monaco. It was our last stop in Italy, after spending 9 of the past 11 days there. I miss that place!