Vacation of a Lifetime – Installment 2
Day 6 – June 1, 2022. It’s time to leave Barcelona, but we have a few more things to do! We must go to the ST. Joseph La Boqeria, a fabulous market. So many wonderful fruits, vegetables, sausages, any kind of meat you could possibly want. Joseph bought me a skewer of chocolate covered strawberries, absolutely scrumptious! I could easily spend more time there and the next time, (hopefully, there will be a next time) we will be renting a place for a month in Barcelona and soaking up the joy we felt there; although, I did just hear that the air conditioners in Spain are going to be somewhat restricted! That might be a problem.
After leaving the huge grocery store, we needed to buy some stamps to mail post cards to the USA- you get them in the tobacco shop, and they cost $4 each – FOR A POSTCARD! The taxi was to pick us up at 1:30, but they got there early. Joseph interrupted my post card writing out on las Ramblas to rush to the cab. Our check in time for the cruise was 2:40 PM. We got there about 1:45 and there were very few people around. The taxi driver put us off in the middle of the parking lot (there may be a recurring theme here). Here we were – two old fat people with three huge suitcases, two carry-on’s and two back packs, a breathing machine, and my rollator. But fear not, the Holland America crew came to our rescue with a large cart. They checked in the luggage, and we proceeded to the ship – with masks, of course! (We had been all over Spain with no masks, but what do you do?)
We were verified as disease free, and we boarded the ship. We went immediately the “dive bar” at the swimming pool for a hot dog and cocktail while waiting for everyone else, although there weren’t many of them. The ship had only 1100 cruisers while having a capacity for 2000. We watched Barcelona fade away and went downstairs to join our other six table mates for dinner. We enjoyed our dinner and proceeded to the stateroom, where I unpacked, Joseph found his cigars, and went to the smoking deck. (Another recurring theme – there seem to be several of these!) I was sort of sad, I really liked Barcelona.
On Thursday, June 2, Day 7, we started our day with breakfast in the fancy dining room. Joseph had a full English breakfast including the beans and I had eggs benedict. Fancy fancy! Once sated, we headed out to Provence and Marseille. The tour guide/ driver talked more than Joseph! Her descriptions were very heavily accented and of course all the names she said were French, so this little old country woman missed a lot!
First stop – Provence. An incredibly old town. Naturally, there was a 1000-year-old church. Of course, everywhere you go in Europe you find a 1000-year-old church. This church was actually built in 600. It is a church built on a church built on a church. It appeared that when one wears out, you just put another one on top. Then the tour guide continued leading us down this cobblestone road – hard to walk on, hard to drive on. This is the reason I took my rollator. I did not want to turn an ankle, break a leg or hip on these uneven streets.
Occasionally, everyone would have to part ways so a car could go by. In this old part of town, there was not a place to buy anything! It’s like they want you to remember the history, but some of us like shopping! It just so happened that there was a market that is only there twice a week and we hit it!! Beautiful flowers everywhere, stalls and stalls of them!
There was not a magnet, postcard or knick knack available for sale. How dare they????
Eventually we moved to the newer part of town, and they had all sorts of things. Hats, scarves, soap. I was tired – walking down the cobblestone road of a 1500-year-old town is exhausting! I sent Joseph on a mission! I sat in my rollator while I sent him to reconnoiter the shopping opportunities. Specifically, French soap. Joseph took off downhill to the end of the shopping row, then back up the hill. He returned with 37 lbs. of French soap. (Not.) I was able to find some silk scarves and cushion covers. I had been told that fabric was a good find in Provence. After Joseph returned with his bounty of soap, they hurried us on to Marseilles.
Town two- we arrived at the top of the hill from which we had to walk three hundred yards downhill to the Marseilles Rowing Club. It was almost like going to a Republican Women’s Meeting where they just give you food (that you didn’t select), but it did come with wine!!! Lunch was mediocre. The wine was ok. At the end of lunch, it was time to leave, but there was a problem. There was a one “holer” on the top floor with forty women in line; however, there was a three “holer” on the bottom floor marked “men” with no one waiting. Joseph played superhero and guarded the door to facilitate the ladies’ comfort in the men’s room. The biggest problem now was that 300-yard hill to climb. My rollator and I made it, that’s enough said about that. After all that physical activity, we headed back to the ship. The Holland America crew were waiting for us on the dock with a cool washcloth! That was quite a treat since it had been unseasonably warm!
We met our tablemates for dinner, then dead!
Day 8 of the saga. Friday- 6/3/2022. The day started with a tender ride to Villefranche-Sur-Mer, France. A tiny lady picked us up with three other couples in a minivan once we reached the shore. Three people in each row. Needless to say, the person in the middle didn’t see diddly! She took us to a castle/church. It began as small houses that had become a town that is now all connected to become this 5-star hotel where movie stars stay! Duh! It was waaaaayyyyy up a steep hill. I climbed as far as a restaurant, then the climbing portion of my body quit. I stayed there and had a Coke Zero while Joseph, in his strong manliness, climbed every one of those 3,547,368 stairs to the top! He enjoyed it and said there were lots of little boutiques up there that I would have enjoyed- so he bought me a nutcracker! (He was just rubbing it in.)
This little woman driving us was Mario Andretti’s sister because she drove us around the entire racetrack in Monte Carlo. The track is part of the regular streets and roadways. The big race had been recently so many stands were still erected. She drove us like we were really in the race! It was exhilarating, but a little scary! She also took us by the beautiful church where Princess Grace was married and where her funeral was held. We waved at the casino as we flew by, but our money stayed in our pockets.
We got back to the ship a little early, so I took a nap and Joseph had a cigar. Since it was the second day of the cruise, we got dressed up for “formal night.” It was lots of fun. We had a delicious dinner, then we went dancing! We took dance classes twenty-five years ago in Portland Oregon and still belong to a ballroom dance club in nearby Enterprise. We love to dance wherever we can find a dance floor. We found one without a band, so we danced to the canned music. Several people came in and sat down to watch. After the band came, we found a small area where two pianists were playing so we danced there. I got tired and Joseph danced with a few other ladies that we had met earlier, then he saw one lady who turned out to be 90 years old. Joseph had noticed she was really watching us, so he asked her to dance. She was reluctant, but Joseph turned on his charm and convinced her that he could dance slowly, and he could support her (she didn’t know that he supports me when we dance- thank God for strong husbands). Come to find out, her husband had passed away recently, and her children had brought her on this cruise that she and her husband had planned! She was glowing after that! She told me how wonderful Joseph is and I assured her that I knew that. She also told me that he had said wonderful things about me. Her children thanked Joseph for lighting a smile on their mom. We saw the family later the trip at the airport and they were still thanking us!
Since we had bought the “whole package” of pictures, we hammed it up and got some good pictures!
For entertainment that evening, they had Andrea, a Spanish flutist. She played 3-4 different flutes and was amazing! The shows were pretty good, overall, but short. No big productions like we usually found and NO TOWEL ANIMALS! That was disappointing. I always looked forward to the monkeys hanging from a garment hanger! We meandered back to our room and
then we passed out This cruise was very exhausting, and this was just day two!!!
