A Quick Trip to The Land of Oz

Photos

Years ago we had a subscription to Our State Magazine as an annual Christmas gift from Clay's older brother and sister-in-law. I had a collection of articles I'd torn out and piled on the living room table as places I wanted to go. Over the years, the pile had dwindled. Last week the article on NC's Land of Oz was finally removed from the pile.

NC's Land of Oz is a defunct small theme park in the western North Carolina mountains. It operated from 1970 to 1980. All that's really left now is an amazing yellow brick road. Maybe that's enough. Now there are limited times each year when you can enter the old park. Somehow, this year finally everything lined up and we went online and bought tickets for Journey with Dorothy. We paid $43.37 each total for a 1-hour guided group visit and round-trip ski-lift tickets to the park at Beech Mountain Ski Resort for June 26th at 10:45am. As best I can tell, all available tickets sold out. We were surprised to see many out of state license plates in the parking lot that day. Who knew?

We planned a leisurely trip around the park visit with 2 nights at the Best Western Mountain Lodge in neighboring Banner Elk. We paid a total of $180.38 for the motel stay. It was a good choice. It was not only affordable, but clean, quiet and conveniently located for us. They had an above average complimentary breakfast buffet and sadly nearly non-existent free wi-fi Internet.

We drove up around mid-morning on Tuesday and it took under 4 hours driving even with a stop at Bojangles in Mebane for lunch. It ended up taking almost exactly one tank of gas to make the round-trip journey. I think it was about 200 miles each way. Plus we did nothing else but drive around while we were in the mountains.

After we checked in and unpacked, we drove to Valle Crucis and visited the Mast General Store complex. We drove back to Banner Elk for dinner at the Pedalin' Pig. Clay had ribs which he said he enjoyed. His half-rack came with 2 sides and he picked the collards and corn on the cob. They brought us a small basket of hot hush puppies with butter up front. I had the pick 4 sides meal which I found a disappointment. I really disliked the Brunswick stew which featured okra. I used the included slice of Texas toast to sop up broth from the bowl. The mac & cheese was not cheesy. The baked beans were okay. The baked sweet potato came with a side of brown sugar so I ate it for dessert and it was good. But, I can't give credit for baking a sweet potato. It was affordable.

We planned to use the Internet and watch a movie on cable TV that night. Unfortunately neither happened. There was about a 2-foot square section of one corner of the room that had Internet signal and it was weak, slow and intermittent. That was true of the signal in the motel's lobby as well. Needs improvement. HBO was the only movie channel and what they were airing we'd seen or didn't want to see. We planned to sleep in the next day as breakfast was served until 10am and we needed to be at the park's check in at 9:45am. Sadly, we didn't notice that someone had set the room's alarm clock for 6am! We finally gave up and got out of bed at 7am.

Breakfast was good and an extensive array of hot and cold items with something for everyone. We were ready to go way too early but since we weren't sure exactly where we were going or how long it would take we set off early. Beech Mountain is uphill from Banner Elk. They had a sign which stated that Beech Mountain is the highest town in Eastern USA. (I'd call it more of a village than a town, but who knew?) There was a poster at the ski resort's rest room which said it was 5506 elevation. On our way uphill to Boone (the nearest city) we crossed the Eastern Continental Divide right beside the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The sign gave that altitude as 3100. I guess I have misunderstood the Eastern continental divide concept as I imagined it was the highest point and water falling at that point would either flow down to the Atlantic or eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. I guess I was partially right, but Beech Mountain is a lot higher than the Continental Divide as well as Boone, Banner Elk, etc. I may be overthinking this.

The only part of our Land of Oz experience that was less than satisfactory was the dozen or so cars with us that couldn't figure out where to park. There was parking signage directing us for miles until we ran into a mile or more of terraces of at least 4 parking lots with no signage. They had personnel out directing cars when we left but that was too late to help the first couple of scheduled time slots. We used our extra time to visit the minuscule museum, use the restrooms and watch the ski lift start up. There was a free 25-minute shuttle bus trip to and from the park included  or like us you could add a 15-minute ski lift ride. It was a beautiful cloudless day with a cool breeze so the ski lift was a good choice. It was tricky and a little scary but we both enjoyed it. The park itself was fascinating as a long, strange, literal, yellow brick sidewalk. Dorothy's Gale farmhouse/storm shelter was pretty amazing. It slanted destroyed house we exited made me dizzy and it took some time to recover. That combined with the ski lift was almost too much! But the dead wicked witch of the East's legs sticking out from under the house's foundation was my reward! Love those ruby shoes! Where the operating park would have had a cast of characters in the park, today there is only Dorothy. Park workers in green polo shirts ride herd on the tour groups. They also assign parts to selected visitors to play the parts of the Good Witch, The Cowardly Lion, The Tin Man, The Scarecrow and the Wicked Witch of the West. They give them hats to wear and a laminated script and place them in the way on the yellow brick road. All our recruits played their parts with heart. It was fun and over too soon.

We left looking for lunch. Our target was Valle de Bravo, a Mexican restaurant. We'd driven past both. We stopped at the first one in Beech Mountain on our way downhill. While the sign by the road remained. There were hand written signs for a new Mexican restaurant in the space. It was not fully operational yet. It had handwritten signs stated the liquor license had come through yet, OK. They couldn't take credit cards, OK. They had only 1 worker available out front, not OK. After waiting a while without menus, we left. We went to the location in Banner Elk where enjoyed an above average meal. Clay had a combination plate with chile relleno and enchilada and I had huevo con chorizo. It was a lot of very tasty food and affordable. It came with chips and salsa up front.

We had the afternoon free. I think Clay was thinking of the suspension bridge at Grandfather Mountain but I balked. I remembered a visit with my grandparents as a child being unpleasant and I know Clay doesn't like heights anyway and I didn't want to spend the money for it. I countered with a request to go see the Linn Cove Viaduct a short distance further away. It would be free and easier while a greater engineering marvel. We got a rubber stamp for the National Park Service/Blue Ridge Parkway and an embroidered patch at the visitor's center. We walked a 870 yard trail to view the underside of the viaduct. We drove across and parked at the next viewpoint where we walked back to see it curve around Grandfather Mountain. I think we enjoyed it more than we'd have enjoyed the suspension bridge.

On the way back to the motel, on the mountains' hottest day this year, we needed a cold treat. We stopped at the only ice cream place I'd seen along our travels. Sugar Cream in Sugar Mountain. It was a tiny place serving 14 flavors of Kemps ice cream along with soft-serve and shakes. It was better than expected. Mine was especially delicious though I can't find my flavor on the website... Ripe Raspberry Chocolate Chunk. It was a dark burgundy colored with a deep rich raspberry flavor with small chocolate cup candies in it.

The last thing we did that afternoon was stop in at the Garden Center next to the motel. We were fascinated by the vast number of colorful poly Adirondack chairs lining the road out front! We liked the folding version and it was comfortable, but at 40 pounds each and $275 each, we weren't that in love with the colors available. Clay was concerned that the dark colors would get too hot in the sun on the back deck. The light color available was Kermit-green! We returned to the motel where they had popcorn off the lobby. (We didn't have any!) We both struggled to access the Internet. Clay in the courtyard by the pool and in the lobby and me in our 2-square foot corner.

We went out for dinner in Banner Elk again this evening. We went to Bayou Smokehouse. It was good food and affordable but we suffered a service failure that turned this into an unpleasant experience. What can you do? It was only our server and there seemed to be more than enough servers working hard and the tables around us came and went in a timely fashion. It happens.

Back to the motel for a final night. We watched a movie we'd seen before on TV. We made sure the alarm was turned off! We slept in even after Clay's cell phone rang at 5:30am with an unknown Raleigh number. He didn't answer and they didn't leave a message. We enjoyed a final breakfast and headed back for home without stopping until we bought gas on South Saunders Street on the way home. It was a good, relaxing trip.

Photos

When a List is Not Just a List

When I woke up yesterday, I had 91 countries on my Countries Visited List. Now I'm not sure. How can that be you may ask? There is no quick or easy answer. A little history. Years ago, I saw a mention of something called the Century Club with a TripAdvisor travel map attached. I created and added my own map to the blog. See the bottom of this blog! Now I'm not much of a joiner, so I kind of forgot about the club until yesterday. Next step in the history is that TripAdvisor dropped a feature of their travel map which was a country counter. I don't know for sure why they dropped it. At the time, support replies were that it was an oversight and it would return. It never did. I would conjecture because it was a support nightmare as to the definition of a country. What gets counted and what does not? It is not a simple question as it might seem. Which brings us to my list. The genesis of my list was the TripAdvisor travel map. Support at TripAdvisor some time ago offered, as a substitute for their lost counter, the ability to download one's own list. Clay did that for me and saved it as an Excel spreadsheet file. I have a terrible time with those little boxes and don't use it much. However, it is the master list for my countries visited. I knew there were legacy errors from TripAdvisor and my own entry errors. One day an accounting would come and that day was yesterday.

Clay was motivated by my new reluctance to travel. He has been motivating me by dangling my list. 100 is a nice round, goal-type number. No one likes a quitter, not even a quitter. So when I woke up yesterday, Clay had yet another trip to sell me for next year. 6 or 7 new countries. I was happy adding the 5 or 6 countries we'll visit on our next trip. It was close enough to 100 for me. Not so fast, Clay says. He was using Encyclopedia Brittanica as his reference. He edited my list and whittled my number to only 85. I felt defeated. The late summer trip and even his new proposed trip in 2020 wouldn't bring me back to where I thought I'd been. So I found the list linked above from the Century Club and we edited the list again and now I had 113! Clay was dismayed as he said it meant I would never leave the house again. Right now we've agreed to maintain both lists. We'll either have to find another reference list or live with an indeterminant number.

Pasted below is the itinerary of our next trip.

Self-guided Eastern Europe & river cruise
Days              Location notes                      Sleep                          
1 Thu fly RDU to Prague               plane
2 Fri Arrive Prague                         our hotel Prague - Cloister Inn
3 Sat in Prague segway tour our hotel Prague - Cloister Inn
4 Sun tour Prague                             our hotel Prague - Cloister Inn
5 Mon tour Prague our hotel Prague - Cloister Inn
6 Tue fly to Minsk                            our hotel Minsk - Hotel Monastyrski
7 Wed tour Minsk                              our hotel in Minsk - Hotel Monastyrski
8 Thu fly Minsk to Kiev our hotel in Kiev - Sunflower Hotel
9 Fri tour Chernobyl our hotel in Kiev - Sunflower Hotel
10 Sat tour Kiev city tour                 our hotel in Kiev - Sunflower Hotel
11 Sun fly Kiev to Bucharest            our hotel Bucharest-Europa Royale
12 Mon tour to Bulgaria                     our hotel Bucharest-Europa Royale
13 Tue wash day - rest                      our hotel Bucharest-Europa Royale
14 Wed            8-Day-Transylvania-and-UNESCO-Painted-Monasteries-from-Bucharest
15 Thu        Bucharest - Curtea de Arges - Sibiu tour hotel in Sibiu
16 Fri          Sibiu - Sighisoara - Bistrita tour hotel- Coroana de Aur in Bistrita
17 Sat          Bistrita - Gura Humorului - Radauti tour hotel- Gura Humorului
18 Sun         Radauti - Piatra Neamt tour hotel- Piatra Neamt
19 Mon Piatra Neamt - Brasov tour hotel- Brasov
20 Tue        Brasov - Sinaia - Bucharest tour hotel- Bucharest
21 Wed       tour ends - fly to Chisinau                    our hotel in Chisinau-City Park
22 Thu 2-day gastronomic tour in Moldova    farmhouse on tour
23 Fri gastronomic tour ends our hotel in Chisinau-City Park
24 Sat fly to Bucharest our hotel Bucharest-Europa Royale
25 Sun Embark river boat Giurgiu- amawaterways.com/gems-of-southeast-europe
26 Mon GIURGIU – ROUSSE, BULGARIA boat
27 Tue       VIDIN boat
28 Wed SCENIC CRUISING THROUGH THE IRON GATES boat
29 Thu       BELGRADE, SERBIA boat
30 Fri        NOVI SAD, SERBIA – VUKOVAR, CROATIA boat
31 Sat         MOHÁCS - PÉCS, HUNGARY boat
32 Sun  BUDAPEST – DISEMBARKATION our hotel - Hotel Central Basilica
33 Mon fly Home - BUD to PHL to RDU home

London to Raleigh and We're Home

Photos

Or the prophetic Cumberland sausage.

We were up at 5 am to be downstairs and checked out of the Sofitel by 6:15 am for our 6:30 am van pickup. Clay had showered last night. When I got out of the shower, he had his phone in his hand and told me he had bad news. The plane we were to depart on at 9:15 am had been delayed leaving ORD and would be at least an hour and a half late departing Heathrow. The notice he read added to come ahead to the airport as if it were going to be on time. So we carried on. We were downstairs when the MB van driver came in looking for us. Good because he went to the Guest Relations desk and that guy phoned our now vacant room. The Ground Transportation desk people did not notice. Clay went over and asked him if he was here for us and he was. We loaded up. About 15 minutes and 26 Pounds later, we were at Terminal 3. It was a good idea to stay at the Sofitel. It was an easy walk even with 4 heavy bags. It was unbelievably quiet and we got a good night's sleep. We only had to pay for transportation one way this morning and that was because we didn't want to struggle physically with the 4 bags taking the free train between terminals 5 and 3.

The van driver got us a luggage trolley outside terminal 3 and loaded it up and we were on our way again. Since the next 2 segments of our AA tickets were Business/First we went to the Priority Line. There were only 2 in line ahead of us, so very little wait. Clay had searched and found an available RDU flight out of ORD 3 hours later. He asked if we could be rebooked and checked through on it. The answer was no. AA considered a 1.5 hour layover in ORD a legal connection and as late as our London outbound was predicted we still had 30 minutes of wiggle room. She gave us our boarding passes and baggage claim slips and wrote directions to the Priority Lounge for us. Security was relatively painless as these things go. (Clay had been through extra screening leaving Nice.) We both passed right through. Fairly short lines everywhere.

We found the lounge thanks to our detailed directions this time. They checked our boarding passes and welcomed us and told us to help ourselves to food and beverages on the buffets and they'd announce our flight and gate when it was time for us to leave. We had breakfast. It was very lucky! Clay's favorite London breakfast is a Cumberland sausage sandwich with HP brown sauce. I went up to the buffet first and they had all the ingredients for Clay to make his own sandwich. I went back and pointed to my plate and said Cumberland sausage. Clay's face lit up and he asked, brown sauce? It is the sausage sign, a prophetic omen of good luck today, I told him. After we ate and before we moved from our table to club chairs, Clay either checked his app or got a notice. Boarding had been moved back another hour. Now it was impossible to make our connection in Chicago. I stayed put while he went back to the lounge's front desk. He was gone 10 or more minutes. He came back victorious with new boarding passes. He was disappointed that I guessed we had been moved to the direct flight to RDU. I was impressed. He said he asked the woman for the later ORD-RDU flight. She typed some and must have seen no availability because she asked him if he'd mind the direct flight instead. It left at noon so we'd have to wait here longer but it was on time and we'd get home earlier. Clay agreed. She said she had to go get permission from her supervisor. Clay waited. He waited while she called the baggage handlers to get our luggage pulled and retagged with the new routing. Now we didn't have baggage claim slips and the new jet's configuration meant Clay had to fly facing backwards. He didn't mind. It would have destroyed me. I got the lay-flat pod directly behind his and facing forward. We both had windows. It was good! Flying home from Europe always seems harder to me because you leave in the morning and it is afternoon when you arrive. It is a long flight and you are awake the entire time. Going over, you sleep most of the flight because it is night time. Clay prefers the coming back flight and says he can't sleep flying over. I haven't ever seen anything keep him awake. Anyway, we were lucky, no ORD connection.

We thought we must be living right with all the excellent good luck. Then our luggage didn't come down the 1 carousel at RDU. We left the controlled border area without our luggage and crossed the terminal to AA's baggage desk. We weren't the only ones. Luckily, it turned out someone had just stopped the carousel and put on the Completed sign before they had delivered all the bags. Our 4 were there with all the others' missing bags. The bad news was that they were on carousel 1 inside the controlled border area and we couldn't go back. It took some time for AA to consult supervisors and come up with enough workers who were allowed to cross the border and bring our bags out to us. So, it all worked out very well in the end. There was no further luggage damage. They delivered our bags on a luggage trolley so we pushed it out to the taxi line. We took the 1st van in line and entered early rush hour traffic. We got home around 5 pm local time. The house and car were both fine, no problems. It was a good finish to a great trip.

Photos

Monaco to Nice to London Heathrow

Photos

Well, it is officially the end of Crystal Serenity's 2019 World Cruise. A day that has been coming for 89 days. To Crystal's credit, disembarkation and everything about it was handled very well. There is no question that commercial air travel after this kind of luxury is going to be a shock but they did a very good job in our opinion. Our van was there at least 20 minutes before 10 am but that was fine because we were in Galaxy Lounge 30 minutes early. The WC social hostess came to us where we sat and told us we could go out to our car now. We got out there with the understanding that we had to locate our luggage staged with 5 Blue. It wasn't there, but Clay had seen it in a cluster behind a van. We walked over and someone had placed a sign with our names under a rear windshield wiper above the luggage. Perfect and civilized. Since we were so early our driver suggested the Middle Corniche along the French Riviera to Nice airport. He said it only took 7 minutes more than the planned highway run. It was nice and we saw different things than yesterday from the train. We arrived at the airport and the BA check in desk an hour before we could check in. There were Crystal reps and porters with big luggage trolleys waiting for us there which was above and beyond the call of duty in our opinions. The bad news of the day is that the porter tried to snatch the suitcases out of the back of the van and yesterday's new $39 suitcase became today's one-handled trash. Oh well, we tried but the new suitcase didn't even make it to the first flight. The good news is that it is none the worse off after the first flight. We decided not to buy another new suitcase here at Heathrow to replace it. It will either make it the rest of the way with one handle or hopefully with none if the other one gets snatched off.  So Crystal handled us right to the BA line. Everything was well done and we don't know how Crystal could have done a better job. Then there were the 50 or so Crystal cruisers who were on our flight who a good portion complained loudly to anyone in earshot repeatedly about how poorly they were being treated. It was ridiculous. People who had been walking all the time were suddenly in wheelchairs or demanding them and insisting as they were disabled that they go to the front of the line. It was embarrassing to witness. Crystal did a great job. In the face of the sold out flight of entitlement, so did BA. Clay and I were one row apart on opposites side of the aisle but could still talk to each other and share things so that was fine. I don't think any of us in the 2 exit rows would have chosen to sit there, but BA assigned us there as the Club Europe (Business) section was sold out as was the entire plane. It was smooth, on time and a short flight. We turned the clocks back an hour in flight. We were surprised that BA served a meal on such a short flight. Clay and I had shared a store-bought ham & emmenthal sandwich, a Coke Zero and a large bag of peanut M&Ms at the gate before boarding after 1 pm. BA Club Europe class got beverages, chicken or bulgar salad, bread & butter, roast beef with cole slaw and a chocolate mousse. Mine was bulgar with soft cheese and root vegetables and dandelion greens. I didn't eat the roots, weeds or rare beef with cole slaw and with the earlier lunch was quite full. Everything I ate was good. Clay said the chicken was not good and he only ate the salad and he was hungry. We did not get a gate at Heathrow on landing. They unloaded us on buses on the tarmac and then unloaded us right near immigration so that worked out. It was cold and gray here but not unbearable for the short transfer. Where BA dropped the ball was not handing out landing cards on the jet so we could fill them out at our tray tables at our leisure. We got them in the immigration hall and it was chaos. Fortunately our Club Europe boarding passes got us Fast Track access and a very short line. (In hindsight, the woman who checked us in told us to go to the airline's lounge instead of the gate to wait and we didn't because the only lounge entry we found near the gate had a menu of admission prices. Probably the boarding passes would have gotten us entry. We might have saved the 12.40 Euros I spent on our lunch plus not had to witness as much bad behavior. But then maybe it was going on in the lounge too.) We got our priority-tagged luggage right off the carousel on arrival and pushed it directly to the Sofitel Hotel at terminal 5. We think we probably paid double Economy fare per person for Club Europe, but the roomier seats and extras made it a good value plus the extra luggage allowance. The Sofitel was a splurge as well at over $200 for the night but it is a nice room, quiet and the most conveniently located place we could possibly stay. We realized that our morning flight tomorrow leaves from terminal 3 and it is not walking distance. There is a free train from terminal 5, but you can't use the complimentary luggage trolleys from door to door on the train. We went to the hotel's ground transportation desk and booked a taxi for 6:30 am tomorrow. He suggested a van for the amount of luggage and we agreed. He said it would be about 26 pounds and we could pay the driver with a credit card. So that's the plan. We found really high prices for dinner at the Sofitel. $30 for butter chicken. So, we walked back to terminal 5 and bought dinner at Marks & Spencer for $9.38. Clay had a bag of chips, pasta salad and a Diet Coke. I had a cup of porridge made with the tea kettle in the room. We shared a 2 pack of egg custard tarts for dessert. I think we're both satisfied. Here's hoping things go as smoothly tomorrow flying through Chicago's O'Hare to get home.

Photos

Monte Carlo and Nice

Photos

Clay was asleep in bed last night before 8 pm again. Then he was still asleep when I woke up just before 7 am. He made noise last night about staying in today if the weather was bad. Screw that noise. I planned to go out anyway. Also, he's insisted we be consistent about being out of the cabin on a strict schedule so Feli can keep her promise to always service our cabin first. So that meant we had to be out by 8 am. I got up and got going. He thought I was crazy because his tablet had the wrong time and was an hour earlier. When he realized it was between 7 and 8 and not before 7, he got moving. But, that was a long night's sleep.

Well, after all the gloom and gray of yesterday today was forecast to be rainy and cloudy again. It wasn't! It rained early and then was blue sunny skies all day. We walked around the harbor (the long way due to all the Grand Prix grandstands blocking sidewalks and streets) to the Plaza Ste. Devote. We located the entrance to the 24 Hour Casino Supermarche! We didn't see it yesterday afternoon because at the time the pizza window and the sandwich window on either side of the entrance doors were stacked 3 deep with people. We got separated there just trying to get to the corner and lost each other and neither of us saw a way to enter the building. Today we had to walk by twice looking for it to find it. We found actual Duct Tape there (called adhesif textile) and bought 2 small rolls of 10 meters each for 3 Euros each. Too bad we didn't find it yesterday afternoon, but the pressure was off now. At Plaza Ste. Devote we had to hunt for the entrance we knew from instructions and the map was there to lead to the escalators to the train station above. Just one wrong turn to take us slightly out of our way but that was our only misstep all day. Round trip tickets for 2 on the slow coastal route train were 16.40 Euros. (Crystal wanted $89 pp for their Nice bus transfers only.) We arrived at Nice Ville about 10 am when both museums we wanted to visit opened. Clay used his phone app and the furthest said it was a 37 minute walk. We walked out to the street to find a taxi sitting there. He drove us to Musee Matisse for 25 Euros or so. The pedestrian route was different but it still would have been uphill and would have taken us over an hour or even 2. So good job there. We got 2 tickets at 10 Euros each that were good for at least 5 or 6 other museums for 24 hours but none that we wanted to visit. We were both disappointed in this museum. It was chopped up like a 3D maze of stairwells and rooms. There was a lot of copycat work by another artist very prominently displayed that was a distraction. I don't know if they even had audioguides as we weren't offered any. But, they had no English language brochures or maps because we did ask. We were told no and given an Italian language leaflet listing all the museums covered by our ticket. We just missed catching a taxi as we walked out to the street to leave. So back to the app and it was a 17 minute walk (downhill as it happens) to the Musee Marc Chagall. They had a cafe in their front garden and as it was just after noon, we ate first. We shared a Croque Monsieur and a Nutella crepe with a hot chocolate and a Coke Zero for 18 Euros. It was delicious and just enough food. We went back to the ticket office and learned admission was free on the 1st Sunday of each month! We were offered English language audioguides for 2 Euros each. We had to leave a drivers license as a deposit as well until we returned them. This was an excellent museum experience. I think it helped that Chagall was involved in the design and layout of the building that would house the collection he donated. The exhibit flowed and the audioguide made sense and other than the toilets there were no stairs. We really enjoyed it.

We walked about 15 to 20 minutes downhill again, this time down stairways to return to the Nice Ville train station. On the way we saw a baggage store open directly across the street from the station. I convinced Clay it was a sign that we were meant to replace the broken handle suitcase today. We went over and bought a perfect substitute for $39 or 35 Euros. Knock on wood all the bags survive to RDU! We caught the 4:01 pm train back to Monaco (6 stops from Nice Ville and some spectacular sea coast views when out of tunnels if you could see through the filthy windows). We were back onboard before 5:30 pm and had time to repack the broken suitcase into the new one so the old one could make the evening trash collection. We changed for dinner and were out of the cabin by 6 pm. Waterside was pretty busy on this final night especially since we're docked overnight. Our final meal was nothing special. 

The luggage is out in the hall. Breakfast starts at 6:30 tomorrow. Our transfer to the airport should leave from Galaxy Lounge at 9:45 am so I am not planning a 6:30 am breakfast. The final newsletter has no deadline time published for vacated cabins. We like to come back and brush our teeth after breakfast so we'll plan to do that even though it will put Feli in here later than usual. Our BA flight to Heathrow leaves Nice at 1:45 pm. We got checked in online on Clay's phone today and found ourselves assigned to 2 of the last available seats. They are not together. They are on opposite sides and a row apart, both on exit rows. It is only supposed to be about a 2 hour flight so I guess I'll live.  We are overnighting at the Sofitel at Heathrow before the flights home on Tuesday.

The final Reflections says this segment from Cape Town has been a total of 7212 nautical miles sailed equal to 8283.8 land miles. I'd have to do some research to tell you how far all the segments traveled but it is bedtime so I'll just click publish now. I think Clay's ready to link his photos anyway.

Photos

Cruising to Monte Carlo

Well, we actually sailed early last night. All aboard was 9:30 pm but we were cast off and moving by then. The port area in Barcelona is huge and maybe the captain wanted a head start if everyone was aboard already. Anyway, in his noon announcement the captain explained the stormy seas. He said he left Barcelona right behind a front and that he passed it, one. Two, he said about the time he got through the front we reached a place (I didn't understand what he said other than it sounded like a big bight or gulf that usually has strong wind and current going one way and when we arrived it was going in the opposite direction and against us.) I know Clay didn't walk the deck this morning. I know the wind howling and whistling around the balcony door woke me up. It was rough seas, raining sideways and stiff, cold wind. Conditions improved as the day continued but the sun never did make an appearance. We sailed along the coast of France all day, visible from the port side like Spain.

Clay has been on his usual tear about packing so that is what we did today. Everything is packed except what we'll need to get home. We surely knew that 2 of our 3 big suitcases had been torn at the seams when we arrived in LA and unpacked. I don't recall but imagine Clay putting them under the bed to deal with later. Later was today. He used some duct tape and dental floss to patch them. I do remember the conversation in LA that we only had to use them once more to get home. The problem is that they are expanded and heavier now than outbound so less likely to make it intact. We're nearly out of duct tape. Anyway, he's also peeved about the collapsible duffel bag I brought being forced into service.

We arrived at the Monaco pilot station at 3pm and were docked on the starboard side facing the sea with the port facing Monaco at 4pm. We went ashore to the terminal's tourist info desk. We got a map with instructions to the train station tomorrow. Clay also asked about a place to buy duct tape. He plans to wrap the suitcases in duct tape tomorrow. She gave us instructions and immediately without any preparation, we set off on a "15 minute walk". An hour and a half later, we were back. We found the building with Casino Supermarche signage lit up but also shuttered close. We stumbled upon an art supply shop and she had shipping tape. Not duct tape but wide tape containing some fabric. He bought her 2 biggest rolls for 13 Euros. I'll carry our leftover duct tape tomorrow on our travels (if we go) as a communications aide. Duct tape doesn't seem to translate. If Clay'd told me his plan before we left the ship today, I'd have been prepared today. Maybe tomorrow. Clay says if the weather tomorrow is like today, we may not go out.

Monte Carlo was gray and cold today but like our previous visit in mid-April they are setting up for the Grand Prix so streets are closed and sidewalks are blocked with grandstands. If the sun had been shining it all would have seemed very much the same. Hard to traverse and the maps don't do justice to the slopes. I don't have much else. I'm tired and ready to be home already. Unfortunately there are some hard times between here and there yet.

Barcelona, Spain

Photos

This was our 3rd visit to Barcelona so we booked a ship's tour to Montserrat.  We arrived here a little early because the captain announced it was a busy port day here and he was in some competition for a 7am pilot. He rescheduled for 6:30 am. The ship was still cleared around 8 am. We were one of 5 cruise ships dock at the port. Regent Voyager had the prime spot beside the WTC. She looked smaller than we remembered. It was chilly and overcast here today. But up the mountain, it was cold and it rained as we left. Pasted below is our tour description. This was our final ship's excursion.

EXCURSION $79

THE MARVELS OF MONTSERRAT

Approximately one hour north of Barcelona is Montserrat, or “serrated mountain,” the site of an extraordinarily well-preserved medieval monastery. Step aboard an air-conditioned motor coach for the journey to Montserrat. 

LEVEL

MODERATE

DURATION

APPROXIMATELY 5 HOURS

On arrival, take the funicular for amazing views extending to the Pyrenees and the islands of Ibiza and Majorca. While the vistas are indeed impressive, what draws thousands of pilgrims here every year is the monastery and legendary statue of La Moreneta, or the Black Madonna. Founded in the 9th century by Benedictine monks, this site, with its treasured relic and venerated history, remains one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in all of Europe.

Before returning to Barcelona and your Crystal ship, enjoy time to explore the site on your own.

As this excursion involves approximately two hours of walking, it is not recommended for guests with walking difficulties. This excursion is not recommended for guests suffering a fear of a heights because of the funicular ride. It is recommended that guests dress in casual clothing and wear flat, comfortable shoes. All guests who wish to visit the Basilica must dress conservatively; ladies must cover their knees and shoulders, while gentlemen must wear pants. If a mass is taking place at the Basilica, guests will not be allowed to enter. The order of sights visited may vary. A minimum number of bookings is required for this excursion to operate. Pre-reservation of this Crystal Adventures excursion is recommended.

The excursion went about as planned we arrived about 9:15 am and boarded the 9:35 am train as a group alone. That was good because a bus of school kids unloaded as we waited to board. I guess they couldn't get their tickets in time. We arrived in time to get at the front of a line to visit the 12th century Black Madonna icon. That was special. We got back to the front of the basilica just in time to visit the sanctuary before they locked the entrance prior to the 11 am mass. We had to meet back at the bus for the return to Barcelona at 12:25 pm. So we walked over to a different funicular that went even higher to St. Joan station. We were already in the clouds! On a clear day... well you could imagine. It got colder and the cloud got thicker. I think we paid about 7 or 8 Euros each for return tickets. It was much steeper and shorter than the first ride up. I think I remember something like the elevation of Montserrat was close to 800 meters and St. Joan was close to 1000 meters. Sorry I can't check Internet is out. We walked uphill from there for about 15 minutes hoping to see the Ermita of St. Joan. We turned back before reaching it because the hewn rock stairs became to treacherous for us. It looked like there was a small rock recess, I hesitate to call it a cave. I'd Google it to find out, but no Internet. We got back on to Montserrat's main street and visited the shops, restrooms and cafe. We found a specialty about noon time. We shared a chocolate drizzled Coques de Montserrat. It was a giant, long, flat sweet bread. You'll have to Google it yourself. It was perfect and we were back on the bus right at 12:25 pm. It started raining behind the predicted schedule of mid-morning as the bus drove down hill. Perfect timing. We decided not to accept a drop off near the foot of La Rambla because of her crime warnings, crowd warnings and the rain. We got back to the ship and shared a pizza at Silk. The sun came out while we were up there and we decided to go into Barcelona. We caught a complimentary shuttle Crystal provided from Terminal B to the World Trade Center. That is about 2 blocks from the bottom of La Rambla, Barcelona's most popular pedestrian street. It was popular this afternoon. We didn't have any problems. We headed out around 3 pm and got back around 6 pm. We were lucky missing the rain again as it drizzled for a while when we under cover of the market and quit for our walk back to the bus. We were headed for the old market, La Boqueria. It was more of a food hall with prepared food to consume than the fish, meat, produce and flowers we remembered from our last visit. We ate way too much to be hungry when our 6:30 reservation at Silk came around tonight. I'll have to save this and hope to get it published with Clay's photos tomorrow.

We sail at 10 pm tonight to 4 pm tomorrow afternoon to reach our final 2019 WC port of Monte Carlo. So our last sea day. The next day is our final full day aboard. We are off by 10 am the following morning. On our way home. Clay is antsy to start packing and to continue booking parts of the August/September return to Europe. He's already got our supply of Euros!

Photos