Back In Barcelona and home

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Day 12 - At Sea

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

A large part of today was spent on the ships tour, covering the laundry, backstage theatre, food preparation, food storage, environmental systems and the bridge. In all the tour took about 4 hours, with a short break for sandwiches and sparkling wine.

Day 11 - Malta

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Rain, rain and more . . . rain . . . .

Another day of getting soaked in the Mediterranean.

Day 10 - At Sea

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Day 9 - Alexandria

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Alexandria is certainly a city of contrasts. They have trams which have been repaired so many times, they look like they are made of papier mache ! There is clearly a lot of poverty around, but on the other side, it is a holiday resort for Egyptians which beaches as good looking as the French Riviera and high class hotels.

Day 8 - Alexandria

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

A long but rewarding day visit to Cairo. The Pyramids and Tombs tour takes about 13 hours, leaving the ship at 7:30am, and returning at about 8:30pm. Cairo is a 3 hour bus ride from Alexandria.

Day 7 - At Sea

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Day 6 - Izmir (Turkey)

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What a busy place Izmir iz ! The entire hillside was covered in houses as far as you could see.

Another day where the rain was never far away, but thankfully stayed dry, and even sunny at times for the 2 hours we spent in Ephesus, the remains of a Greek city from around 500 BC which housed 400,000 people ! The site was where the temple of Artemis was located which was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. There are still large intact structures, the most impressive being the library of Celsus, which at the time was the 3rd largest in the world

Day 5 - Pireus (Athens)

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Ah the Acropolis where the Parthenon is . . Stephen Fry eat your heart out.

After what seemed like endless discussions with a local taxi drivers wanting to offer tours (at 120 Euro for 4 hours) or equally expensive taxi rides into Athens, we walked the 3 Km to the train station and got an all day pass for 8 Euro each. If you want to do this, expect a price of closer to 80 euros with the expectation of 'tips' if you like the tour. at least that's how low I got him to before deciding that with the poor exchange rate, £80 was still too much and gave up. The walk took about 40 minutes, but we did get slightly lost towards the end. Basically continue around eth coast till you reach a pedestrian bridge that crosses teh road, take this and you are at teh station. The train journey from Pireus took about 20 minutes to a stop called Monastiraki on the same line. From there it was a short walk to reach the Acropolis, just in time for an almighty downpour. Entry is free for children and XX Euro for Adults, but this also gets you into many other Athens attractions.

Day 4 - At Sea

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)

Day 3 - Civitavecchia (Rome)

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Day 2 - At Sea

(This post is Work In Progress as I pull all the information and pictures together)