Manchester, England

We took an overnight train from Nice to Paris on May 5^th and then took a train from Paris to Calais and crossed on the ferry to Dover. We shared a sleeping compartment with a 65 year old French man who spoke almost no English so I got to brush up on my French a little bit. We decided we would take a bus from there to Manchester because it’s a lot cheaper. We got about 2 hours from Manchester when our bus broke down. They ended up splitting us up so we got on a bus to Leicester where a bus was waiting to take us to Manchester. We didn’t end up getting in until about 1:30am so we ended up sleeping in late and not doing much on the 7^th.  We got up on the morning of the 8^th and left the hotel at around noon to head to the area where Old Trafford is. So many people were on the sidewalks and the surrounding restaurants had huge lines. We stopped and ate lunch and then decided to walk to the stadium to get our tickets and watch warm-up. We have been to a United game before but nothing would compare to this one. United was playing Chelsea and the only way we were able to get tickets was to buy seats in the VIP section. We got to our seats about an hour before kick-off and watched warm up. The seats were amazing and it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. The crowd was so loud it felt like you were at a concert and you could feel the stadium rumbling from all the screaming and jumping. There was a lot of security at the game especially surrounding the Chelsea section with security sitting at the ends of each row. With United scoring within the first minute of the match the crowd went wild. The game was great and I don’t think we could top the experience. With a game this big you really got to see how important the fans are to the players and how much the players rely on them to cheer them on. You could definitely see how soccer is more of a religion and how the fans are a huge part of the match.  After the game we had dinner in the Red Cafe at the stadium which was included in our tickets. We got to meet a former United player Stu Pearson and talk to him for a bit while we ate. When we got back to the hotel you could hear people celebrating in the streets singing and yelling. It was a great weekend in Manchester and hopefully we can see United play again next time. 

 

After the first goal

                                            Everyone celebrating at the end of the game

Toulon, France & Monaco

Our next two stops were Toulon and Monte Carlo. Toulon is a small Mediterranean city in France. Again we decided that we would walk around on our own. A few of the excursions took people to surrounding towns but after a long day in Barcelona we wanted to take it easy.

The port was not very large so we walked directly from the port into town. There was a nice market already going in full swing. The smells were amazing as there were many people roasting chicken right outside of their shops. It would definitely be a fun place to live in order to stop by the market on your way home for some fresh food and produce.

We continued a little further into town but eventually decided to come back to the port. Before heading back to the shop we walked down a street along the water. There were all sorts of cafés and restaurants. We stopped for some crepes before heading back. It was definitely a place just to relax, have lunch and some wine as it was a small scenic town.

The next day we got to stop in Monte Carlo. We again decided to walk and do things on our own since it is such a small country. We unfortunately had to tender since there was another larger cruise ship in port that day. It was only about 20 minutes to get to shore though.

We first made our way to the train station as we had decided to make our way to Manchester by train that day. After that we started our walk to a small Japanese Garden. Since the Monaco Grand Prix was only about 3 weeks away we had to navigate our way around some of the fencing and construction but it was still pretty easy to get around. Along the way we stopped outside the casino to take pictures. Apparently the locals are not allowed into the casino. As we continued we walked past the well known turn that takes place during the Monaco Grand Prix. It is almost a 360 degree turn. Eventually we made our way to the garden which although small was very peaceful. There were not many people in the garden which was nice.

After that we started our walk to the Palace. We walked along the water which was very scenic. We had to make our way up some steep steps to get to the palace but thankfully it was not a very long walk. At the top of the hill we obviously got to see the palace which the Royal Family lives in today. Right on the grounds is some shops and a restaurant which seems a little strange as it is so close to the palace. Right around the corner is the Cathedral wehre Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier were married and are now buried. We took an alternate route back to the ship was nice as it gave us a nice view of the port as well as the city.

We got back in time for lunch which was good because we found out we had to get off the ship early since we were not coming back due to immigration issues. They basically just had to confirm with the authorities that we were all clear from the ship. 

Market in Toulon

Toulon

Toulon

Random pic of our door...we thought we decorate it a bit

 

 

 

 

Monaco

The sharpest turn in the Monaco Grand Prix

Monaco-Japanese Garden

Monaco Palace

Monaco Cathedral where Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier were married

Monaco

Barcelona, Spain

Our next stop on the cruise was Barcelona. Both of us had visited Barcelona on our previous trip to Europe. We took the shuttle bus from the port which dropped us off right by the Columbus Monument. The monument depicts Columbus pointing to the New World. This was the prefect starting point as it dropped us off at one end of Las Ramblas. It is a busy street that leads from the port to the centre of Barcelona. There are all kinds of street performers, stores and restaurants.  Many of the street performers will don makeup and costumes and stand perfectly still like statues. One performer was dressed like the aliens from the Aliens movies while another was dressed like Gaudi.

We made our way slowly up the street and made our way to 2 different buildings designed by Gaudi. The first was La Pedrera which is now the Gaudi museum and the other was the building across the street where you actually get the tickets. We were only interested in taking pictures so we did not go in.

Our next stop was Park Guell which was also designed by Gaudi. It was originally supposed to be a village. Now it is just a park which has a very nice view of the city. It is very scenic and there are many building designed by him to see. It was pretty crowded but it was a very beautiful park to walk around to get away from the busy city.

After the park we started our walk to Sagrada Familia which is a Cathedral designed by Gaudi. Construction began in 1882 and is not expected to be finished until 2020. We had previously seen the cathedral but had only really gotten to see it from one side. Apparently the original designs had been lost during the Spanish Civil War so they have had problems trying to finish the work. It will interesting to go back one day when it is finished to see it completed and without scaffolding, cranes or construction equipment blocking our view.

The only other thing we wanted to see was the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona and thankfully it was on our way back to where the bus stopped. We really enjoyed the architecture and overall feel of Barcelona. There are so many fascinating buildings and so much history on every street. It was nice just to walk around and see so many things even if it was a little tiring.

You can buy birds at Las Ramblas

Sagrada Familia from Parc Guell

Gibraltar

We arrived in Gibraltar on May 1^st and we were not sure what to expect. Gibraltar is very small with everything being with walking distance for most people. There were a lot of tours up the rock of Gibraltar to see the war tunnels and the famous apes (the only wild apes in Europe). The apes seemed to be the biggest attraction and were very important to the British army. One soldier’s only job used to be in charge of feeding and taking care of the monkeys because it was said that as long as there were monkeys on Gibraltar it would belong to the British. We decided that after walking through the monkey forest in Bali that we didn’t want to see others so we decided to walk the main street of town. The main street looks like one in a small English town. It had a big square and then a more narrow street with lots of pubs and shops lining it. Because the Royal wedding had just been a few days earlier Union Jacks with Will and Kate’s photo in it were everywhere along with a lot of wedding souvenirs. We wandered around some of the side streets and saw the Cathedral and Monastery. We also stumbled upon a small cemetery called Trafalgar cemetery where many people were buried as a result of naval conflict. Because it was Sunday most of the shops or tourist attractions closed early so we decided to go watch the Manchester United game and have some fish and ships at a local pub. We went to the oldest bar in Gibraltar called Star bar and spent most of the afternoon there before going back to the ship. 

Watching the Royal Wedding

Madeira, Portugal and Casablanca, Morocco

Madeira, Portugal

On April 28^th we arrive in Madeira, Portugal the home of soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. The island is very picturesque with high mountains and houses perched along the side. We decided not to do a tour since it is a small island and just walk around and see the site. We walked into town and down the main streets and had lunch and then walked through one of the city centre’s gardens and by the Cathedral. We didn’t end up getting to do much more sightseeing because it started to rain really hard so we decided that we would go back to the ship for the rest of the day. 

Casablanca, Morocco

On April 30^th we arrived in Casablanca, Morocco. There was some concern over us docking in Morocco because of the terrorist attack that happened in Marrakesh on April 28^th. After monitoring the situation our ships security decided that it was safe to dock with heightened security around the ship. We had originally decided to do a tour to Marrakesh but had canceled it a few weeks ago. The tour to Marrakesh ended up getting canceled because of the attack.  We decided not to do a tour in Casablanca and just walked around and saw some sights. There is a huge market in what is called the Old Medina that has very narrow streets with vendors selling everything from luggage to kid’s toys and food. We didn’t go very far into the market as it is very overwhelming with people jumping in front of you and putting things in your face to buy. The market is also very confusing to get around and later in the day while walking around we saw the art director who said it took him a while to figure out how to get out of the market and that he couldn’t find anyone who spoke English to help him. We walked up the main street of the port and then decided to go see the Hassan II Mosque. To get there we ended up walking down a road that had housing on either side. A lot of people had hung up their clothes on the outside walls and the kids were playing soccer in the street. It’s always a bit uneasy walking through areas like these because there are no other tourists around and people aren’t use to seeing tourists in places like this so naturally they stare and watch you. The Mosque which was at the end of the road is the 3^rd largest mosque in the world can hold 25,000 people and another 80,000 in the courtyard. The area that it is in is away from the city centre on the edge of the sea with part of the mosque having a glass floor over the water for worshipers to pray.  The exterior is beige with blue and green mosaics and has the tallest minaret in the world which can be seen from most places in the city. We walked around the exterior but didn’t go in because there are strict rules on who can go…non-Muslims are not suppose to go into the mosque unless on a tour. We decided that we would start our walk back to the ship since it was about 3 km and decided to take a busier road. We had a fairly uneventful walk back except as we got closer to the port we heard the call for prayer from a minaret in the city. We have only heard the call for prayer one other time while in Dubai and it’s really interesting to hear. We enjoyed seeing the mosque in Casablanca but otherwise it was not our favourite place. We got hassled a lot more then we had in other cities…especially from people who wanted to sell us drugs and there are so many thefts you have to be really careful. A woman on our ship got her backpack stolen while she was out with her husband. She said she had both straps on her arm but that someone came along and cut them and ran off.