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Our Exciting Sixteen Day Transatlantic Cruise

by Mary Frances Hansen

e flew to Rome, Italy, on October 12th to start our today. We also witnessed the hundreds of
wonderful vacation by revisiting some of the amazing people protesting against their government.
Wsights starting with the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, You may have seen it on the world news.
Coliseum, Trevi Fountain and the Vatican!While in the vicinity we At this point we had a chance to catch our
dined at Al Fresco, our favorite outside restaurant in the Piazza breath with a relaxing sea day. We sailed through the straights of
Nervona. We started with classic Pizza Margarita followed by Gibraltar, which is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean
traditional spaghetti while we were serenaded by musicians to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar and Spain in
in the Piazza. The next morning we took the train to the port in Europe from Morocco in Africa. Later we arrived in the south of
Civitavecchia to start our exiting 16 day transatlantic cruise. We Spain at Cadiz. This is one of the oldest continuously occupied
chose this cruise because it had 9 different ports of call, and the cities in Europe dating back 3100 years. I must say, shopping was
ship had only 6 sea days that were broken up by our various stops. fantastic with great selections at fabulous prices. From here, we
There are usually 7 straight sea days on these crossings. cruised up the coast to where we arrived in Lisbon, Portugal. The
One of the greatest things about these long cruises, you meet so streets were filled with excitement as they were having their annual
many interesting people from all 42k Marathon Run which is held every October. We had another
relaxing sea day and a 900 mile journey to the Azores, where
over the world. Since Texas is a country of it's own, we felt proud we visited Ponta Delgada. This island is noted for hot springs,
to say we were from the big “D,” Dallas, Texas. On our the first botanical gardens and crater lakes. We were pretty well worn out
day of our cruise we were fortunate to meet the “perfect couple” by this time and welcomed three restfull days at sea as we continued
of 37 years, Russ and Helena who were from Broken Arrow, across the Atlantic to Bermuda. We had an overnight at the Royal
Oklahoma. This couple were so charming and delightful, we spent Naval Dockyard on this beautiful island surrounded by crystal clear
a lot of time with them, Helena is a proud Native American of the waters. It is a haven for divers and snorkelers alike. From Bermuda
Creek Nation. We learned so much about their customs, rituals and we headed for our first stop back in the USA, Port Canaveral. Many
language. Helena is a beautiful woman passengers were interested in visiting
not only on the outside, but her “inner the Kennedy Space Center, while others
beauty”radiated. When they found out were off to see Universal Studios and
Richard had performed as a Singer/ Disney World. After 16 days on the
Impressionist Headline Entertainer on ship, we arrived at our final destination,
many cruise ships, they immediately Miami, Florida. We got up early and sat
wanted to recommend him to the Creek on the open deck drinking our coffee as
Nation Entertainment Committee for we watched the beautiful sunrise on the
their annual Valentine Party, which is Miami Skyline.
held at their Casino in Oklahoma. Of
course, I had to brag on my fabulous We can now add Bermuda and Ponta
husband, (his greatest admirer) and told Delgada to our list of places we have
them to go to RichardBarryProductions. visited. This now brings us to 138
com and they could see how talented he countries and all 7 continents. Richard
is. and I feel so blessed to be travel
consultants for Celebration Senior
While blessed with fantastic weather Travel and continue our adventures
for our entire trip,we enjoyed eating with so many of the wonderful travelers
outside during the day on Deck 12 . We we meet over the years through
were greeted each day as we entered the Celebration. I encourage all my readers
dining area by a Filipino crew member to check out our upcoming trips in 2020,
playing his guitar and singing along and see which ones you want to put on
with the happy “washi washi greeter your bucket list. As George Burns once
” spraying our hands as we entered to said, “You can't help getting older, but
insure our health and safety. They were you don't have to grow old!” You are
precious and so much fun! never too old to set a new goal or dream
Our lst port of call was in Livorno, Italy. a new dream. As seniors, we want to
From there, we took a train to Luca, a keep on keeping on until we can't keep
Medieval Walled City dating back to the on any more!
3rd century BC, which became a Roman colony in 180 BC . On As an added note.... I'd like to add a funny story of a day at sea I am
our way back to Livorno we stopped in Pisa to revisit the “Leaning sure will make our fearless leader, Debra Saxon, laugh. I am not a
Tower of Pisa” to make sure it hadn't fallen over. (lol) To climb t-shirt person ,but I thought it would be nice to wear my Celebration
to the top is 297 steps and takes about 30 minutes. (We did that in Senior Travel T-shirt. Lo and behold..... I forgot there was writing
our in our younger days! ) Our next stop was in Cannes, France, on the back that said, “If you want to win a free cruise, follow
where we strolled along the sea on the Boulevard de la Croisette me to booth 363”. (This is just one more example of husbands
to see the famed Palais des Festivals, and of course, stop for a Cafe not being very observant of what their wives are wearing.) I had
Aulait. Most of you probably know it as the place for the Cannes people coming up to me, “ Where is the booth to sign up for a free
Film Festival. Our next port of call was Barcelona, Spain. We cruise?”(lol) After a little confusion on my part and a good laugh,
always admire the breath taking architecture and needless to say, I explained it was the 2019 Travel Show in Dallas Texas. This
Gaudi's famous unfinished Cathedral, la Segrada Familia, which was a great way to get a plug in for people to read our fabulous
went under construction in 1882, and is still under construction Celebration Magazine on line from wherever they live!•

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