June 12 – Sitges, Spain

old town and the beach

Weather – 26º, sunny, breezy…lovely

old town

Steps – 7,975

Humidity – 75%

Being in Sitges is like a combination vacation of a Mexico resort and big European city vacation. It’s mostly relaxing in a warm place, but with some city aspects.

Because of that, there is little to report from today.

The day started (and ended) very much like yesterday…breakfast, some reading on the balcony, a walk, a stop for a refreshment on the water, lunch, a stop for

Vivero Beach Club

water, back to the room, watching rehearsal, napping, watching soccer, watching the real show, bed.

Today we started our wander in the opposite direction from yesterday’s walk. This direction is through the old town.

sculpture and church

Things of note were the beaches we wandered past. We assume they are all public, with some chairs and umbrellas for rent (50€ for 2 and an umbrella.) Most people DIY their beach time, and don’t seem to spend the whole day, but more like a couple of hours. We walked for a bit in the water – it is cool and refreshing. The beaches are deep and the water is shallow for a long way with soft, light brown sand. Some are topless, but not very much. We found a nude beach –nude sunbathing is legal but seems to be only in specific spots. Topless is wherever, but nude was only at one beach.

We found lunch an outdoor place that was actually non-smoking. We didn’t

lunch

choose that place for that reason but realized when we were already seated – I guess places can choose to go non-smoking if they want. We had pan con tomate (not as easy as I thought to find) and a burrata salad – both were delicious. A busker stopped by for a few songs and came around for tips after…he took cash of course but also had something to tap with – the first time we’ve done that.

all this for 7 Euros

On the way back, after lunch we weren’t looking for another drink, but found a spot with a beer and chips for 2.5€, or vermouth and olives for 3.5€! How could we pass that up!?! So, 2 drinks and a snack for less than 10CAD!

Sitges is sprinkled with statues. We didn’t have to search at all for them. Each has a QR code letting you look up info on them.

watching the game

We went back to Sitges Sports Bar to watch the Canada soccer game. It wasn’t nearly as busy as it was for the Mexico game last night. There were a few Canada supporters including a group of ‘kids’ who seemed like they should still be finishing gr 11!

The Pride show was still going strong when I closed

El Greco - spent time in Sitges

my eyes at about 1230, but I went right to sleep.

Stacey – it really is…we aren’t doing much, but the day somehow passes

beautiful place

June 11 – Sitges, Spain

Caatalan flag

Weather – 24º, sunny, breezy, lovely

Steps – 9,776

Humidity – 54%

view from our room

Despite our hotel being at ground zero for the Sitges Pride festival, we got a surprising amount of sleep last night. I planned to stay up until midnight when the festivities were supposed to end, but I passed out just before that and good thing as I woke up just before 1 and it was still going, Chris says it ended around 1.

For some reason I didn’t sleep much the night before, so I was beat, this helped - I must have been tired because when in the morning I discovered the soap dispenser in the bathroom fell off of the wall and I didn’t hear a thing. I’ve been

our room/balcony

happy with my sleep situation since we’ve been away. I’m usually a fine sleeper at home, but here I’ve regularly been sleeping by 11/1130 and up at 8. I wouldn’t mind this continuing at home.

Anyway…we showered and headed to the included breakfast – I have a submission for the complaints dept re the shower…the volume control and temperature are on the same knob!?! If you want pressure, you have to be prepared for a scalding, don’t want a scalding…you’ll get a drip.

Beckham was more$$

Breakfast was fine - it did the trick. I’m always looking for something local and
new at hotel breakfasts. In addition to any kind of espresso coffee there was the usual, eggs, yogurt, fruit, they had tortilla, a couple of Spanish cheeses, and fuet – a dry, pork sausage, name means ‘whip’ in Catalan because of its long thin shape, this was new to me. I had hoped for Spanish tomato bread…none to be found, but the bread they did have was excellent. Although everybody thinks French bread is the king, in my opinion Spanish is better – I think it’s French marketing.

rehersal..."As Long As You Love Me"

There was also Cava, which I suppose did make it special! I remember the olden days of Chris and I on our first trips to Europe having a glass of something bubbling for breakfast from hotel buffets, just a bucket of help yourself…not so common anymore.

Oh, and fresh squeezed OJ, from a machine filled with oranges waiting for a
‘push’ to be juiced – this was nice.

During breakfast we discussed what we were going to do about being in the heart of loud-ville. Would we try to move rooms in the hotel (doesn’t look like much availability), move to another Sercotel in Barcelona (more $ to move and another travel day), or tough it out and make the best of it - we are staying. If I didn’t want to get any sleep, it’d be fun.

drag show

Tonight’s party theme is Boy Band, last night was Roxette, tomorrow is Amy Winehouse/Rhianna/Shakira, Saturday is Ricky Martin/Gaga/Cher – no shockers. Watching rehearsal was fun, really this is the perfect spot for me to
participate in a music festival…I have no interest in rubbing shoulders with strangers as we jockey for position – I don’t even have to use a porta-potty!

It’s only at night that you’d even know that our hotel was in the heart of party-town. During the day, old couples strolled along, groups of high school kids walked by on their way to end of school year beach days, and people walked their many, many dogs.

Zumba

After breakfast we walked along the waterfront and found a beach-club that we just had to stop at for a beer (5€). It was only about noon, so things were still quiet, but it was a good spot to people watch. The whole Sitges beach area is pretty great and we’re not even beach people.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for more provisions – wine (1 liter for 1.25€! that was perfectly drinkable), David Beckham chips and more water. Apparently, tap water in Spain is perfectly safe to drink, but it is so dirt cheap to buy, that we bought a giant bottle yesterday and another today - 2 liters for about 75cents.

Our room has a mini-fridge, or should I say mini-cooler. The things put there by the hotel are barely cold, but I guess this is the best we can do and there definitely isn’t ice!

Sports Bar Sitges

We spent the rest of the afternoon, lazing in the room and on the balcony – shaded by about 3.

Around 7 the first drag show started, followed by a short Zumba class, then more drag. Some was in French, English, and Spanish.

Boy Band Revival

Today is the first day of World Cup and of course Chris wants to see some
games – fine with me. Sports Bar Sitges (unique name) is on the same block as our hotel where we joined what seemed like mostly Mexican supporters (and half kids) for the Mexico/South Africa game. A couple of beers (4.90 Euros) and chicken fingers…not exactly what you think of when you think of Spanish food, but it was perfect.

By the time we got back to the hotel Boy Band Revival had taken the stage – they weren’t great. We listened intentionally for a bit on our balcony while watching the fireworks, then listened unintentionally in our room – it shut down promptly at midnight. Lete’s see how things so tonight when the party is supposed to well into the wee hours.

June 10 – Rouen, France to Sitges, Spain

back in Spain

Weather – 22º when we arrived in Spain

Steps – 12,527

Humidity – 65%

Rouen is about 150km from Charles de Gaulle – where we boarded a 2-hr flight to Barcelona today – that is far! I’m surprised that Rouen doesn’t have an airport, but what do I know. Martin, our very silent driver, picked us up at 8:30 and we were at the airport by 10:30.

We originally planned on taking a car even though we could have taken a train, good thing, because today was a planned France-wide train strike. I heard more than a few people on the ship discussing their alternate plans.

ignore the train routes

I was a bit worried when Martin took us on what seemed like every back road from Rouen to Paris – I would have thought a highway would have been the play, but not Martin. I kept looking at his GPS and our time of arrival was on schedule, so I figured he knew what he was doing. We eventually hit the highway and were there when we expected, so…

Once at the airport, we were too early to check in (we figured this, but I’d rather sit and wait at the airport than be pressed for time enroute) so we split yet another French chien-chaud. This time, the French-ness of it was legit – and actually more of a sausage in a baguette, with cheese and grainy mustard, tasty.

breakfast

Check-in was a breeze. As we approached security the line seemed non-existent, so we figured we’d be through in a matter of minutes…nope. Many people (Chris included) had their things flagged for wanding – with that small cloth-like thingy for what…who knows.

Then there was a gaggle of 20ish young women who for some reason had their things extra-scrutinized. They then decided it was a good idea to FILM the process. Big shocker…security did…not…like…that. There was yelling, demands of deleting videos etc, etc. It was quite the show. I, for once, breezed through, but Chris was in the thick of it. In the end, I’m not sure what the problem with them was.

We had a short wait before boarding a bus to another Vueling plane – pretty much the same as the one we took from Barcelona to Lisbon. This time we were in row#1. We upgraded thinking we’d get more space – we did, but I was in the dreaded middle. Sideways space wasn’t much better, but we had plenty of leg room.

We are spending the next 4 days in Sitges, Spain, which is a 20 drive from the Barcelona airport.

After unpacking a bit we headed out for snacks, then back to the room to recharge. We also bought Kleenex – none in the hotel. This isn’t at all surprising. We’ve been in plenty of hotels outside of North America without Kleenex. I suppose I can blow my nose with TP for the next 4 days…but for €2, I’m going to live my best life!Chips and a beer don’t exactly make dinner, but by the time we were ready to head out again, we weren’t hungry. We walked a bit and headed back.

There are also no face cloths…again…no surprise. Chris couldn’t care less, but I like to take shower #2 of the day and not get my hair wet but wash my face…is that too much to ask!?! I’ve been known to ‘borrow’ a face cloth from Regent for post-cruise hotel stays…I returned it of course!

Our room at the Sercotel Hotel is in a great location – if you want to watch the Pride festival. More specifically, if you want to hear the Pride festival. As soon as we got to our room, I was worried – it was going to get loud. It was loud at 5:30 when we arrived and they were only doing sound check. Sitting on a terrace with that view would have been great, but a hotel room…yikes. In the end it was loud, but I passed out around 11:45.

Chris found this hotel and picked this room specifically because it overlooks the sea – for that it is wonderful. During non-festival times it would be glorious…we’ll see what the next days bring.

Diana – I thought of that each time I looked at the map of where we were. Makes me wonder how different things were in those days. That Gulf Stream is incredible – palm trees in Scotland too!

June 9 – Rouen, France

flag of Normandy

Weather – 16º, sunny, cloudy, rainy,

seems so far from the open water

deluges

Steps – 15,908

Humidity – 75%

Rouen (pop. 117,000) is another port, similar to Bordeaux, that is along a river rather than the sea or ocean. Our ship is docked on the Siene River, about 3km from the old town and 90km into the Siene estuary.

We don’t dock until about 10, so there is a sail-in party (a very little sail in party) on the deck just outside our room where the hot tub is.

chateau etc

another chateau

There are chateaus dotted along the river banks and plenty of contrasting industrial-ville.

We are doing our own thing today. We hoped to miss the rain, but oh, no we did not. We ate lunch outside on the ship

when it rained. We were under cover, so no big deal.

industrial-ville

Lunch was French themed, and it was my favourite theme yet – pâté, cheese, crepes, sardines, and raclette.

more industry

After lunch we walked to the old town – about 3km.  The ship provided a shuttle, but it was taking a lunch break, and 3km is a good way to stretch our legs right along the Seine next to warehouses turned into bars and restaurants.

glad I found shelter

As soon as we got into the 11^th century church

ship in the background

it started to pour. We waited as long as we could before making

a sprint to a café for a wine. Then it stopped and the sky turned blue. We continued on again until…yup…deluge, buckets and buckets of rain. We just had to stop for another glass of wine – oh well. Finally, it
let up and the sun shone yet again. This doesn’t seem to be typical weather - the locals seemed to think it was out of the ordinary.

lunch!

industry and chateaus

The church is actually the Cathedral of Notre Dame that Claude Monet painted 28 times – check THIS out.

We also wandered into the Joan of Arc church built on the site of where she was burned at the stake.

half timber house

There were also many ‘half-timber’ houses to look at throughout the old town.

I don’t remember being in the 11^th century church before, but I sure do remember the Joan of Arc church. It was built in
1979, so it is very different in style to the typical European church. It is built in the shape of a boat.

Joan of Arc church

Then we had our last dinner on the boat, before packing to be off tomorrow. Having only carryon sure does make packing simple.

inside Joan of Arc church

Cathedral of Rouen that Monet painted

June 8 – Cherbourg, France

Weather – 16º, rain with periods of deluge, the sun came out eventually

German bunker

Steps – 7,519

Humidity – 80%

We are visiting Cherbourg (pop. 25,000) for the first time today. We’ve been to the area when we visited northern France about 10 years ago, but not to Cherbourg. I shouldn’t really say we visited Cherbourg today – more accurately would be to say that we docked here and visited outside Cherbourg. This isn’t any different to other ports, if what we want to see is outside the town. It’s always nice to at least meander through on the way to wherever…today we got out right away.

When choosing this tour, it seemed like the main attraction would be a visit to Utah Beach, but the focus was more on a stop in the tourist town of Sainte-Mère-Église.

Utah Beach memorial

The last time we were here, we visited Omaha Beach – all American, but the tour takes you where the tour takes you and when our travel companions are mainly American that’s where you go. In the end we technically visited Utah Beach, but due to the weather and the design of the tour, we didn’t spend nearly the time we expected at the Beach and accompanying museum.

Utah beach flags and memorial

The day started out with cloudy skys but then turned to showers throughout the morning. Despite our crossed fingers, our afternoon tour was wet. The wettest part of the tour was while we were on the bus, so that was a blessing, but we didn’t do as much outside as we would have had it been dry.

As we drove toward Utah Beach, Emanuelle our guide, described what life was like in this part of France during the occupation and subsequent liberation. We learned about D-Day and John Steele, an American paratrooper who had his parachute hooked on the spire of the church in the small village of Sainte-Mère-Église where he hung for several hours before being taken prisoner.

pretty cool Utah Beach cafe

replica parachute up there

We made a stop in Sainte-Mère-Église (pop. 2,896) for longer than we should have. Sainte-Mère-Église is basically a town built on the tourism of WWII and the John Steele story. We visited the church where he caught on the spire while Emanuelle described stained glass and other items inside the church. Then we wandered with
her through the town to the city hall and that’s about it.

We had an hour here when 30 min would have

sufficed. We filled the last 20 minutes sipping a cloudy French cider which I’ll never be sad about, but it seemed like the time could have been better spent on the Utah Beach museum which for some reason wasn’t part of the

city hall

tour.

cool tree

There are bunkers all over the place between Cherbourg and the 5 beaches where landings were made – we stopped to see a couple bunkers. Bunkers are super interesting with their 3-meter-thick walls, but the interesting parts are inside which we didn’t see – plus, it was raining, so I was happy to be back on the bus.

At Utah Beach we were sent on our own to walk the beach, see the gift shop and use the facilities. This was a bit of a let down compared to our last visit to Omaha Beach, and…no visit to the museum. Had it not been raining, we would have

I'm in the back

spent more time outside, instead we sprinted the beach, saw the memorials and found the café and shop for a wine, a beer, and a poppy scarf.

June 7 – Guernsey, UK

Weather – 16º (real feel 10º), partly sunny

so close to France

Steps – 12,997

Humidity – 87%

We were half expecting to wake up to another sea day this morning. The rocking and rolling had all but stopped last night, but the wind was still howling, and the swells remained high.

Luckily, things were calm enough for the tender boats to run us the 10 min to shore.

Guernsey (pop.64,000) is the second largest island in the Channel Islands, the largest being Jersey. Guernsey much closer to France (27 miles away) than it is to England (Jersey is even closer to France.) I need to learn more about the history of that.

The plan today was to stretch our legs with a good long walk and then find a pub for a pint and a meat pie or fish and chips - 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

expensive!

There was a market along the waterfront which was fun and interesting to wander through. I think we heard a local saying that yesterday was supposed to be market day, but due to the high winds, it was postponed until today.

flowers everywhere

It was a typical market very similar to one you’d see at home with handicrafts, baking, food trucks (we had a ‘French hot dog’) and an eight-piece drum band. It made for what would otherwise probably have been a quiet Sunday in town with most shops closed quite lively.

Once on shore, we wandered through the market and then picked up our pace along the waterfront path. Eventually, we found ourselves back at The Albion House, a pub we visited on our last trip to Guernsey. Unfortunately for us, this

St Peter church

pub doesn’t have a kitchen – a bitter for Chris and a cider for me (both local) and we were on our way…not before paying $12CAD for each pint! WOW!

While it wasn’t hard to find places serving food it was hard to find food that was in our price range…fish and chips for $30CAD was a bit much for us. We went back to the French hot-dog seller and split one…I’m not sure what makes it French, other than 2 British guys, pretending to be French working the place, but it was tasty! More like a sausage in a baguette topped with caramelized onions.

one and done at the Albion

A quick second pint at a pub where we almost won the meat draw and we headed back to the ship. Meat draws seem to be all the rage in Guernsey pubs. We didn’t really almost win, you have to play to win! We had visions of carting slabs of meat back to the ship.

Guernsey is a much more expensive place than I remember. A pint for 12CAD…wow!

roadside chien chaud

Before we left, we had to pop into a Boots the Chemist to see if we could find and new flavours of crisps – Worcestershire and Spicy Paprika, not bad.

We also saw plenty of palm trees which can grow here because of the Gulf Stream and mild winters.

Once back at the ship, we ordered room service of cut up veg, and chips and salsa to tide us over until the next feed.

BTW – despite this room being a tight squeeze for us, the shower is great. I’d say it’s about 1x2m (about the size of a bathtub) with a great shower head (an actual shower head plus the rain head for those maniacs out there that like those!) a door that doesn’t leak, and hot water almost on demand. It’s no

5 pounds, a bit better

hard to find new favours 

Princess shower, which was definitely the best shower I’ve ever had the pleasure of using, but great.

palm trees in the UK