Day at sea

Tuesday was our day at sea. Jackson and I slept in until 10:00. It was amazing. He never sleeps in. He blames MacKenzie for always making him up. I blame his old age. :) 

Cappuccino and a pastry for brunch? Sold!  

We ran into Susan on the boat so she joined us for an early lunch. We ate at the pizza place and were not disappointed. The food on this cruise was pretty top-notch. After lunch Susan and I decided to use some of our onboard credit at the casino's quarter machine. We had fun and I even won a keychain. Sure, we had about $35 invested in that keychain, but still. It was a good time. Jackson mocked us mercilessly, but how else was I going to blow through all my onboard credit? 

Big spender on the quarter machine!

Winner, winner!

Jackson and Susan decided to go to a wine tasting. I opted to go to the gym instead. The gym onboard was SO NICE. I was so impressed. I took a personalized spin class until my knee screamed and then lifted weights. I took some turns around the outdoor track soaking in the warmth. It was an awesome workout. I eventually got changed and headed to the pool to read which is where Jackson found me once his wine tasting session ended. He enjoyed it and joined up with me a bit tipsy! It made me chuckle that he'd gotten himself drunk on wine in the midday, but it did lead to my getting some quiet time while he slept it off. I'd already finished one book by the pool and now I was starting a new one. Two books in one week? That is my idea of a great vacation! (I'm a nerd. I know.) 

Gym time!

My favorite author's newest release loaded onto my Kindle
for free from the library- winning!

That night at dinner we were seated at a table with 4 other couples. This kind of dining experience is not normally my favorite, but we were hungry and this was the quickest way to get a seat. We ended up seated with some nice folks from Atlanta, the wife was a CPA and the husband a Delta airlines pilot. We only peppered him with 1,897 questions about flight matters during the meal. We also had a young couple from L.A. at the table. They were so typical of Los Angeles folks that it was laughable. I recall now why I'll never live in So. Cal. There was a couple from Houston who were so awful that I almost jumped off the ship to escape them. The woman kept telling me about her daughter finishing college and joining Big 4 public accounting. Her daughter was heavily recruited (all accounting majors are) and ultimately picked to work as an auditor with KPMG. Big mistake, sister. They're audit practice is in a world of hurt right now due to some legal violations. Whatever. She'll work a million hours and no one will care. I just let the mom keep being so boastful, though. The CPA beside me (an alum of KPMG herself) and I kept exchanging knowing looks about this woman's daughter's future hell. HA!!! Finally there was a nice Australian couple. It was a lively dinner, but one that I don't need to ever repeat. I now remember why sitting with strangers at dinner isn't something we typically do in America. Unless we are at Cheesecake Factory where the food makes up for the company issues. ;)

Rock of Gibraltar

We awoke in Gibraltar and it was AMAZING. I was afraid that I'd imagined it better than it would be, but alas, I had not. We disembarked and took the long-ish walk from the port into the city center. From there we caught a city bus. We met plenty of nice folks while waiting for the bus. One woman was visiting from Scotland and was just dying to talk talk to Americans about the love of her daughter's life: the television show Nashville. I am not kidding. Neither of us had seen it, but we told her the city itself was mighty fine. Too funny. Scottish accents are so strong that I can only get about every 3rd word and Jackson only gets about every 50th so it proved to be a bit of a tedious conversation after a bit. Ha! 

We then chatted with some folks from England who were also looking to get to Jew's Gate to hike the Mediterranean Steps up the Rock. The four of us got off the bus and headed the direction the driver and locals gave us. Our new British friends, Roger and Varina, were great additions to this adventure. He was a British Naval Officer in the anti-piracy division and she was a chemotherapy pharmacist. Jackson and Roger hit it off and left us girls in the dust. No worries, though, I enjoyed Varina's company quite a bit. We chatted easily as we followed the boys up the Rock. Listen, the people at the bus stop were friendly, but their directions stunk. We ended up climbing many dead ends and never got to the steps we were looking for! Seriously! One of our wrong turns took us up an area void of other people so the monkeys that the area is famous for had only us in their sights. Jackson made eye contact with one and greeted it. Before I knew it Mr. Monkey took this as an invitation and launched himself onto MY back. What the heck, Jackson?!?! I did what any sane person would: screamed like a little girl until the monkey got spooked and literally got off my back. Thank goodness the sun was so strong that day that I'd worn a hat to shield my face and fresh hair coloring so Mr. Monkey didn't get his wish: they like to pee in women's hair. SO GROSS. After that Jackson had strict instructions to fend off monkeys, not greet them.

After what felt like 45 years of climbing, some of them with a monkey on my back, we were suddenly at the top. Roger and Jackson were beside themselves that we missed the steps. Varina and I were just pleased to be done with the uphill part! The views at the top were beyond amazing. Roger came through and was able to point out Morocco (our first time seeing Africa) and a British nuclear submarine coming up in port. SO COOL. We lingered at the top soaking in the views before deciding to climb down the way we came up as everyone who did the steps we'd originally looked for came up swearing they'd never go down them (or up them again for that matter-ha!) due to a lack of sure-footing and guardrails. That was all I needed to hear...down the road we went!  We stumbled upon monkey central on the way down so we made it down faster than anticipated. I was just not going to have another near miss with urine hair. We lost our friends somewhere along the way down which was a bummer, but they were truly lovely. Their company made a long climb much more fun. 

We found our way back to a bus stop and back into town. Since Gibraltar is a British territory we figured their fish and chips would be great. We were correct. The mushy peas made me miss Mother England, though. They left much to be desired. We wandered around the city center for a bit before making the trek back to the boat. We decided that all the hiking meant we deserved a little time by the pool so we hit our new regular spots up for some late afternoon sun. Lovely. 

VIEWS

EXHAUSTED.

One of my top 10 views of all time

My best friend

Tired monkey

Angry monkey

Stalling at the top- dreading the hike down

I loved these trees

Not a fan of mushy peas

Sailing away from the Rock

Petefish

Hey we were on top of that earlier!

Goodbye old friend

HA!!!

Sunsets over the ocean never get old

We finally got cleaned up for dinner really late and headed for the dining room. We passed by the steakhouse which was one of the two upgraded restaurants on the boat. It was a $29 up charge to eat in those places and you needed reservations. The steakhouse didn't look super crowded so Jackson decided he'd go ask if we could have a table. I thought they'd bounce him immediately. Nope! They seated us right away and we had the best meal we'd had in ages. The lobster cake appetizer was honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten. We both loved it. We had a prawn (shrimp) appetizer that was also amazing. We had soups, salads, filets, lobster, potatoes, asparagus. You name it. We had a FEAST for $29 each. Hello, onboard spending account! Jackson even had a bottle of wine. Cruise Jenna and Jackson go all out. HA! We had excellent desserts and finally had our fill and rolled ourselves out of there. 

Date night

I even wore earrings! 

Dessert

The look of love

We took a couple of laps around the ship to try to ease with the digestion of our feasts before heading back to our stateroom. The onboard on demand selection was awesome so we watched a documentary on Presidential Chiefs of Staff until we fell asleep. Jackson told me as he nodded off that it was one of the best days of his life. Success! 

Happy boy!

Cartagena

Our first port of call was Cartagena, Spain. Turns out there is a massively popular Cartagena, Colombia that this places gets mixed up with often for tourists. How odd that someone mistakes a place in Europe for a place in South American. Whatever. Clearly we need to work on geographic education worldwide. 

We did not know what to expect of Cartagena. We do not like to book excursions through the ship because they're 1. Overpriced 2. Dorky. We just disembarked and walked into the little town. Luckily they had a Burger King with free Wifi so Jackson got a coke and I got my internet fix. Ha! I like to check in with my Mom whenever I'm across the planet so she knows I'm ok. The time difference meant she was generally waking up to my check in messages. After sufficient surfing time, we headed off to explore. 

It was a pleasantly warm afternoon so Jackson decided we should climb to the highest point in the city. He does these things to me on the regular. When will I learn not to follow him around?! We took what I called the "poor man's tour" of Cartagena's ruins. We don't like to pay entrance fees because we buzz through places quickly (Listen, I don't vacation to win Jeopardy later on. I don't need to know every little thing about places and their history.) so we always feel ripped off. We climbed the hill instead of taking the elevator as the girls did. They entered the places. We didn't. To each their own. We spent hours just meandering around the city soaking it all in. We really enjoyed the little town. It didn't feel like just a cruise port. Once we'd had enough of exploring and one more quick hit of internet access, we hopped back onto the boat and hit up the adult pool. This was the other advantage to this cruise: the adult pool. YES!!! It was such an upgrade from having to swim in toddler pee. I even got a piña colada to sip on while I read my book. It was lovely. Part of the cruise package Susan booked included a bonus, non-refundable $400 onboard credit per room so Jackson and I each had $200 loaded on our cards to use on whatever we wanted. This made the idea of a $9 piña much more appealing. 

Gorgeous

The elevator we weren't allowed to take- ha!

Our boat in the background

Cartagena

Naturally Jackson had to look at the sailboats

They weren't open to let me see if they were anything close to
Marion's Pizza Kings (which are the best. Poo on Hartford City.)

Now THIS is the life.

That evening we all got cleaned up and went to dinner together. It was quite good, but far too formal for my liking. I'll place my own napkin in my lap, thank you kindly. The best thing about dining onboard is that it is all included so you can take risks without being afraid of wasting money. There was even a mixup so Grace got THREE desserts. She was not upset about it. HA! 

We decided to see the onboard entertainment that evening which was Cheaza, Remembering a Legend: A Tribute to Whitney Houston. You guys, it was awesome. I was dancing in my seat like a madwoman. I kind of forgot how much I loved Whitney's music. Jackson enjoyed laughing at me. All was well in the world. We retired to our stateroom after that to rest of up for climbing the Rock of Gibraltar the next morning. 

3 desserts? OK!

Getting excited for the show

YES!

My handsome date for the evening

Cruisin'

Ready to go!

Typical. :)

Susan arranged to have Stu pick us up. He arrived promptly at 12:15 and away we went. Our flights went smoothly. We got to Toronto, ate dinner and our passports worked this time!! HOORAY! The flight from Toronto to Barcelona went pretty quickly (even though they didn't have wifi or in-seat screens #FirstWorldProblem) and soon we were grabbing our luggage and heading for our Airbnb in the city's center.

Does this look like an active door to you?!

We grabbed a taxi and marveled as the driver navigated through the confusion of the city streets. Their roundabouts make Carmel's look tiny. We got to the Airbnb's address and were so confused. The door appeared to be boarded up. CRAP! We made it all this way just to get duped by someone on the internet. Fear not, we finally knocked on what appeared to be a construction site and the tiniest door opened in the boarding. It turns out that the mouse door lead into our place. It was a very interesting place. I've posted a link to a video of it below for your viewing pleasure. :)

Our place was still being cleaned when we arrived so we dropped our luggage and headed out to grab some breakfast and do some exploring. We had a pretty excellent breakfast at a little cafe and then, upon recommendation of one of Susie's friends, we went to a scheduled tour to see a place called the Palau de la Musica. It was a really impressive music hall...if you're into those kinds of things. This friend acted like it was something you just could not miss. 15 minutes into our visit I asked Susie to unfriend this woman as soon as we got home. :) Turns out I'm STILL not cultured. Darn. We suffered through the whole lame hour tour before heading back to take a power nap. (Note: I wanted to sneak out early but the other Petefishes wouldn't do it. Grumble.)

Quick breakfast

Palau.

"Look impressed"

Fresh fish at the market

Arc.

Date night selfie.

Kathy and Gracie arrived later that afternoon and they went to explore the city with Susan. We continued our naps (I did not sleep a wink on the flight over) until it was time to meet our friends for dinner. In a funny coincidence our good friends Derrik and Jess (Note for my Mom who cannot ever remember my friend's names: Derrik Heinzen went to Eastbrook with me so we've been friends forever and we really like his gf, Jessica) were also in Barcelona finishing up their European summer vacation so we met up for dinner and gelato. It was so fun to see them and hear about their adventures. We went for Mexican as they were tired of Spanish food and we did' really have a burning desire for it, either. This girl will always eat chips and guacamole and tacos! We also tried fried plantains (which we admittedly mistook for potatoes originally) and loved them dipped in a spicy mayo. They don't do ranch in these parts (my friend Kortnee says world peace would be achieved if we just introduced everyone to ranch dressing and I think she may be onto something...), but the spicy mayo was a nice departure from the standard. We walked along the waterfront and noticed the increased police and military presence for the first time. There were quite a few men holding machine guns. It was a little disconcerting and we did not know what was going on. It turns out terror threats and activities are on the rise. Bummer. We grabbed gelato and then said goodbye to our friends. They were headed for Paris in the morning and then back home. 

Jess and Heinz

Lovin' the gelato

Early the next morning the whole gang (for ease I'll be referring to Susie, Kathy and Gracie as "the girls") headed for a tour of the Sagrada Familia. It is a massive, still under-construction cathedral in the heart of Barcelona. We arrived a few minutes early for our entry time so the girls went to a cafe and we went to a McDonald's. Typical. :) The McDonald's in Europe, like the ones in New Zealand, use automated ordering. This makes life so easy because you can pick the English option (by selecting Union Jack as your flag...the Queen is still sticking it to us) and then you know exactly what you're ordering. Well, so you think. We got ham and cheese toasted sandwiches that were actually served on inside out hamburger buns-ha! Then we got an egg and potato sandwich that turned out to be just horrible. Eh, live and learn. McDonald's doesn't usually disappoint abroad so I'm giving them an out this one time.

McDonald's for breakfast...

Sagrada

Amazing.

Listening to the tour

Views from the top

Brave face.

Tight stairwells 

S.O.S. we're up too high

More views...

Headed down

The door said "Gracies" so we MADE her pose

It was finally time for our tour so we headed on over to the church. I got our audio guides and my Spanish in asking for five was so great that he programmed them for Spanish. Whoops! Who knew high school Spanish would actually be helpful one day?! Anyway, he changed them to English and off we went to tour the massive cathedral. To say that it was magnificent is grossly understating its beauty. I've not ever been to a more beautiful place. It really felt like the building itself was an act of worship. You (well, at least I did) actually FELT God in the structure. It was just so open, airy and gorgeous. Everywhere you looked there as a mural or something telling stories from the Bible. It was by far and away the most wonderful building I have ever been in. Ever. Since Susie was sponsoring this part of the trip, we splurged for the passes to go up in the spires. We rode the elevators up about 30 stories and looked over the sprawling city below us. It was both magical and terrifying. We had to climb down and our legs were jelly after that! 

City living groceries

Mom's HRC pin

Waiting on the girls...

Our street in Barcelona

We bid the girls farewell and headed ALL THE WAY ACROSS TOWN ON FOOT to get my Mom her Hard Rock Cafe pin. We were able to get one that featured the cathedral on it so I was quite pleased. We really enjoyed strolling through the city and soaking in the culture. They LOVE dogs in Barcelona so naturally I was in Heaven. I even got to pet a little schnauzer. Life was good! 

We finally made it back to our Airbnb (I swear we walked through that entire city in one morning) to meet the girls to head to the cruise ship. Our taxi driver was born and raised in Barcelona so he hated it. I told him it was lovely. He countered that it was great for holiday and I let him have the last word. We had absolutely beautiful weather and I could not have asked for a better experience in his hometown (except for skipping the stupid Palau, of course). We easily boarded the ship and were off to explore more of Europe before landing in Italy. 

Susan booked us a balcony room (happy birthday to Jackson!!) and we were in Heaven. It was only 900 times nicer than the porthole room we'd booked ourselves on our first cruise leaving from New Orleans a few years ago. This was only our second cruise and after our first we were not convinced that we were cruisers. Princess, though, is much higher end than the Norwegian one we previously cruised and it showed. Our bed was bigger, our room was bigger, you could actually get clean in the shower. AMAZING! We settled in quickly (getting to unpack because you'll be on for a week is SO NICE) and then headed up for the sail away party. We found Susie up there drinking with new friends so we joined her party. It was so fun. We even walked on the glass-floored sky bridge! I almost peed, but it held up. Whew. Shortly after that we cleaned up and went for dinner. We were supposed to meet K&G, too, but there was a mix-up so it ended up being just the three of us. The one thing you forget when cruising is that your phone is pretty much useless so you have to really plan well if you ever want to see someone again. HA! After that little issue we all signed up for the Princess messenger website so the rest of the week would be smoother. After dinner we explored the ship and returned to the room to see that our steward, Alex, had decorated our door for Jackson's birthday as I requested. Hooray. He was so excited. Jackson may be 40, but he will always be a kid at heart! 

The boat was showing "A Dog's Purpose" on the outdoor theater so the three of us headed up to watch it. Susan and I just recently read the book so we knew what to expect. Jackson doesn't read so he had no idea. He was crying harder than me at a dog movie. That's impressive, honestly. It was SO neat to be out on the deck chairs under the open sky watching the movie. We really enjoyed it. By the time the movie ended it was nearly midnight and we'd had a full day so we finally retired to our stateroom. We had such a nice time in Barcelona and a great first day on the ship. What a great way to kick off Jackson's birthday celebration!