our adventures in iberia
Join Ron & Mary as they explore beautiful Spain and Portugal
EXPLORING SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN
Hola Amigos, we’re back in Spain, our favorite European country, and in a brand new city for us, San Sebastian. We’ll be here for two weeks, so we have a lot of time to explore, but so far the city on the Bay of Biscay, just a stone's throw from France, is impressive....
OUR WEEK IN LEIDEN, HOLLAND: FORMER HOME OF THE PILGRIMS
After a pleasant day of getting a feel for Leiden, it was time to get to work. Our mission was to explore the place where 50 Mayflower passengers lived for nearly a decade before their dangerous but historic voyage 403 years ago. There are no walking tours featuring...
TIME TO GO HOME
Okay, we’ve had enough adventure for a while. After three and a half months of exploring Europe - Ireland to Istanbul - we’re heading home on a 14-hour flight to LAX. Thanks for joining us. We’ll have a few more posts on our amazing Turkey visit soon. We’re home until...
THE ROCK TOMBS OF CAPPADOCIA
Visiting this part of Turkey is like visiting another planet. The magical geologic formations are out of a science fiction movie. No wonder so many movies have been shot here. The early inhabitants over 2,000 years ago called the organic ponty rock formations fairy...
SANTORINI, A BEAUTIFUL TOURIST TRAP?
We spent eight busy hours exploring Santorini yesterday. Highlights included a visit to the ruins of an ancient city dating to 2000 BC, which some speculate was part of the highly advanced civilization of Atlantis. The roofed site, steamy in the summer heat, featured...
GREEK ISLANDS ON FIRE: CHANIA, CRETE
We just anchored off of Chania, Crete, Greece’s largest island. Although there are no reports of fires on the island right now a warning was issued by Greece’s Civil Protection, proclaiming Crete is at a level five alert category, which is the same as Rhodes. It’s...
KOTOR, MONTENEGRO: A STUNNING SAIL IN
If it’s Sunday we must be in Montenegro. It took us a sea day to sail from Naples, Italy through the Straights of Messina and across the Adriatic Sea to Kotor, Montenegro. Before anchoring just outside this amazingly photogenic city, we sailed through Kotor Bay. Both...
OUR HISTORY OF SANTA BARBARA CASTLE IN ALICANTE, SPAIN
OK… let's try this again. Along with my usually lucky Aztec shirt, Mary and I moved on from Cadiz to our lucky city of Alicante, Spain, which has many similarities to San Diego. In this photo, I’m pointing at Alicante’s most famous landmark, Santa Barbara Castle. Its...
LOVING LUCCA, ITALY: A PARADISE IN TUSCANY
If you’ve been following us for any time, you know we love to mix in a cruise or two on our multi-month travels. Non-cruisers frequently asked why we travel by ship to explore the world. Can you really understand a place via day-long shore excursions? Of course, you...
SHOWTIME IN CITIAVECHIA, ITALY
We love to cruise on Azamara ships because they are relatively small compared to the behemoths of other major lines. Azamara's four ships each welcome up to 700 passengers. The ship docked next us in Naples, RCCL’s Symphony of the Sea, carries 6680. Big ships do offer...
A HOT TIME IN FLORENCE ITALY
It was hotter than Hell in Florence during our five-mile exploration there earlier this week. Over 100 degrees F with high humidity! It seemed appropriate to find the tomb of Dante, tucked inside the relatively cool Santa Croce cathedral. Surely touring Florence...
SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN
San Sebastian, Spain: Upcoming Portugal Spain Adventure Destination 5: July 13 to July 23. We've never visited San Sebastian. The Basque city, set on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, is famed for its beaches, and quaint Old Town, and is considered one of the world's...
MONTE CARLO: NOCTURNAL ANIMALS WITH CHAMPAGNE DREAMS
Monaco is a tiny enclave not just for the rich but the super wealthy— the .01 percenters. As such, it has become somewhat of a zoo. A zoo for masses of middle-class visitors from around the world who come to get a peek behind the curtain of an unbelievably exotic,...
MONTE CARLO, MONACO: WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE
My boat is bigger than your boat! Just pulled in Monaco, the second smallest country in the world. (Name the smallest.) We’re enjoying breakfast at our favorite table, this time with a magnificent view of the city, and one of the largest yachts we’ve ever seen. The...
MODERN ART FIX IN ALICANTE SPAIN
Happiest Fourth everyone! Mary and I celebrated by visiting the Alicante Modern Art Museum. It surprised us with five floors of very good art from around the world. It motivated me to take an artsy photo of us through floor-to-ceiling vertical room dividers....
ALICANTE SPAIN: A SUNLOVER’S BUNNANZA
After our siesta, we walked a few blocks to our favorite boardwalk cafe in Alicante. It surprised us that the beach was packed with thousands of sun lovers at 7 pm and still packed when we left after 8 pm. Our favorite pastime here is people-watching. It never gets...
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