In the last fourteen years since Lin and I have married, we have visited the coolest places all over the world. Here they are!
Santorini, Greece
Nestled on the top of a mountainous plateau, this town spoke to my heart. We didn’t ride the mules up to Santorini, but we walked down among them. The views were amazing and it felt like a magical city.
Rome, Italy
While we were in Rome, Lin became my tour guide because he’s so good with maps. I clocked 27,000 steps in one day as he took me from one historic sight to another. To end the day, we did a gastronomical tour that required still more walking, but it was amazing. We savored the food and the fun with the guide.
Naples, Italy
We visited Naples twice on a cruise, but we didn’t see much of the city, but we went out to two major sights I will never forget: Pompeii and Herculean. Unbelievable history at its best! So, I always connect them with Naples.
Munich, Germany
The day we visited Munich, our tour guide spoke several times of places Hitler spoke at or had been at, and it resonated with my soul. I had read about the horrors of the Hitler regime, but to hear his name connected with buildings I saw as we drove by shocked me. The tour guide emphatically warned against the Neo-Nazi groups of today.
Edinburgh, Scotland
The castle on the hill overlooking the city stands out in my mind as I think of Edinburgh—so majestic, so regal. After touring the castle, we had a delightful time walking the Royal Mile, shopping and enjoying the culture. A young man adopted us and helped Lin buy a kilt and all its accessories there!
Dublin, Ireland
I booked our accommodations there and wanted an inexpensive place. We ended up in a hostel with spartan accommodations that met our needs. I had to leave my driver’s license as collateral for a blow dryer, but it was right across the street from the Guiness Storehouse, so that worked out well when we did the tour.
London, England
We saw “Les Misérables” in a theater on the West Side of London and my husband said he would never go to a theater in the states again—it was so outstanding!
Once again, Lin’s mastering of maps helped us use the subway there like experts!
Barcelona, Spain
The brilliance of Antonio Gaudí’s artwork graces so much of Barcelona, but my favorite is the Sagrada Familia. When we toured it, the structure and creativity overwhelmed me. I remember the light radiating through the stained glass windows and just walking around in a circle to capture it all.
Seville, Spain
As we watched a Flamenco dance troupe perform, I had to pinch myself. The beauty and stylistic nature of Flamenco dancing has always captivated me, but to actually be in Seville watching it was surreal! The skirts, the clicking of the castanets and the soulful music filled the air. Again it was magical and the coolest!
Óbidos, Portugal
We had an extra day in Lisbon because of an unexpected delay, so we went to Óbidos on a tour. This walled city felt like a step back in time. We enjoyed shopping and sampling goodies throughout the town and didn’t want to leave.
Finally,
Wow! As I identified these ten coolest places I’ve visited, I realized I could add to this list probably ten more. Our world offers such great places to visit! Make sure you visit one or all of these!
Stay home or go on another cruise? We went! This will be short, because Lin and I arrived home on Thursday night, December 8, 2022, from our second cruise in six weeks with COVID but didn’t know it. On Friday morning, I received a text from a friend who had just found out she had COVID, so I asked her about her symptoms.
She said, “Yucky. . .sore throat, coughing, headache, laryngitis, can’t sleep.” I cringed, because I had had those same symptoms for several days since Barcelona, but I thought I had just caught an awful cold.
See, this whole cruise was cold! When we went six weeks ago, the weather was glorious! Yes, I researched the weather but convinced myself the 50s would be warm. So, we both had to buy coats to survive the cold.
Lin and I love Barcelona and had gladly expected another fun day in Barcelona, so we bundled up and added layers underneath our new coats, got on the Hop-On Hop-Off bus and sat upstairs outside for a couple hours in the cold morning hours. Finally, I said enough! And we went downstairs for the rest of the day, but the damage was done.
So that night, I started with a sore throat and felt like I had caught a cold. When I took the home test on Friday morning when we got home, immediately the two lines appeared and darkened over the 15-minute waiting period. Lin’s test turned out the same, so we came home with COVID.
Here’s where we went:
November 26—flew to Rome, Italy (day after Thanksgiving)
November 27—Florence, Italy (where I bought a coat)
November 28—Naples, Italy (where Lin bought a coat)
November 29—Messina, Italy
November 30—Palermo, Sicily, Italy
December 1—Cagliardi, Sardinia, Italy
December 2—Palma Majorca, Spain
December 3—Barcelona, Spain
December 4—At Sea
December 5—At Sea (We had a major itinerary change. Because of a strike by the port workers in Lisbon, Portugal, we had to skip our last two ports in Spain to arrive in Lisbon before the strike. At first, the disappointment overwhelmed me, but then I remembered, “I could be bitter or better—the choice was mine!” You know which one I chose.)
December 6 – Lisbon, Portugal
December 7 – Lisbon, Portugal
December 8—Flew home
I won’t be writing about this trip until after the new year, because I love writing about Christmas.
As you can see, we repeated four ports from our previous cruise, but we found different excursions to add to our knowledge and experience of those cities. More later.
Stay home or go? I always opt to go, and I don’t regret going on this second cruise. What do you do? Do you stay home? Or do you go?
~My new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? WON the 2022 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in the Body, Mind & Spirit Category. Have you bought your copy yet?
~Wish You Were Here: A Novel by Jodi Picoult, one of my favorite authors, deals with the COVID pandemic in fiction as opposed to my nonfiction book. Check it out! Interesting story!
~MY FIRST AUDIOBOOK IS AVAILABLE: Go to Audible to buy my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story. I’m working on Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? but have gotten stalled with shingles.
~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:
~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been two years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.~For me, it’s Christmas all year long!
Here’s a variety of Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When It’s Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
Columbus statueZoomed on Columbus with my new camera!
Barcelona: our first Mediterranean stop! The trip for our Mediterranean cruise started with an early departure. How I hate those early mornings because I can’t sleep, all exciting and anxious!
Here’s the first four days of our fifteen-day adventure!
September 29, 2022—Not Yet Barcelona
The alarm went off early on September 29, 2022, at 3:30 AM. We left the house at 4:30 AM after doing those last-minute bag checks.
Our flight day to Barcelona, Spain via Atlanta, Georgia and Amsterdam, Holland took off at 7:15 AM. We had about three hours in Atlanta and thought we had enough time to eat at a sit-down restaurant, but the server charged the booth behind us with our bill, so it got dicey.
From Atlanta to Amsterdam, I slept a little, which is unusual for me and also enjoyed the great distraction of movies. Lin and I both watched the new Elvis movie but had trouble hearing it because of the cabin and engine noise, so we need to see it again, but what a great movie!
September 30, 2022—Destination: Barcelona, Spain
When we arrived in Amsterdam, we had to go through customs but had enough time to grab coffees and sweets. On the flight from Amsterdam to Barcelona, they required we were masks—the only time on the trip.
At the Barcelona airport, we gathered our bags—yahoo! After so much media hype about lost luggage, I bought AirTags for our checked luggage in case they disappeared. We both breathed a sigh of relief when we saw our bright blue and red suitcases appear on the carousel.
Then came our next concern—the transfer to our hotel. We immediately found the guy wearing the “Orange shirt,” we were supposed to from our paperwork, but he said we had a private transfer. After some delay and a helpful phone call, I saw a man go by with “Linwood Miller” handwritten on a sheet of paper. Relief!
Our hotel, The Corner Hotel, was a genuine treasure, but not in any tourist area. We rested a little, then found a neighborhood restaurant suggested by the friendly clerks at the desk. Eating outside thousands of miles away from home in Barcelona felt magical that evening.
On our walk home, we stopped at a market and bought essentials: water for both us, chocolate for Lin and prunes for me and my stomach!
That night before going to bed, I reviewed the settings on my new camera and experimented with it while Lin reviewed the map of Barcelona to get his bearings again.
October 1, 2022—Barcelona Sightseeing
We had been to Barcelona before in 2020 on an Insight Tour with AAA. This tour with Bradley Dick, as a tour guide, had shown us the wonderful highlights of the city. So, we knew we had a full day ahead of us—the alarm went off at 7:00 AM. First, we thoroughly enjoyed a leisure European breakfast at the hotel.
Then we caught the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus, one of our favorite ways to see a European city, weaving our way through the area closer to our hotel. We had a destination in mind: the Columbus statue by the sea and Las Ramblas.
Because I needed a bathroom, we found a Starbucks and had some coffee. Then we wandered through an outside market (that had been there in 2020) near the Columbus statue.
From there we walked “Las Ramblas,” enjoying three mimes: Salvador Dali, Don Quixote and a mythological creature. We stopped, and I had a photo taken with Dali. We shopped at tourist spots and I enjoyed “dickering” with a salesperson over a Gaudi Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus and a solar Flamenco dancer.
Afterwards we hunted for a side street we had found in 2020 but never found it. However, we found another hidden jewel.
We hoped to tour one of Gaudi’s famous creations but decided against it because of time restraints, but we looked in the gift shop.
On our walk back to the hotel, we walked two extra blocks past our hotel and then back, probably because of deep conversation. I have Morton’s neuroma on my right foot, and it hurt terrible at this time. Those four extra blocks didn’t help.
When we arrived at the hotel, I checked email and received the notification of my book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? had won the 2022 New Mexico/Arizona Book awards in the body, mind and spirit category. What a delightful addition to our great day!
We ate dinner again outside and enjoyed the Spanish food and ambiance.
October 2, 2022—Left Barcelona on the ship
Our second morning in Barcelona went quickly. We packed up after another delicious breakfast and waited downstairs. The hotel staff helped us so much! The transfer to the port arrived on time. Pablo, the driver, spoke a little English, but I enjoyed speaking Spanish with him.
We easily checked in to the Norwegian terminal. As we passed the photographers that always station themselves for the passengers going onboard, Lin tried to avoid them, but I grabbed his arm and we took the picture.
We found our stateroom easily—we had upgraded to a stateroom and the extra space was great. We unpacked our carry-on bags, then went to the deck 15 and ate pizza and coconut ice cream out by the pool.
Later we saw the Epic Beatles show, a tribute to the Beatles! What a fantastic show with so many memorable songs!
Onboard the ship, we could finally relax and know that all the airplane rides and transfers worked and now the real fun would begin!
Finally,
Barcelona continues to be one of our favorite cities in the world. We love cruises too. Next week I will share about our one day in France and then on to three ports in Italy.
Do you like to travel? Have you ever done a cruise? Traveled internationally? Any interesting stories to share?
~My new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? WON the 2022 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in the Body, Mind & Spirit Category. Have you bought your copy yet?
~Wish You Were Here: A Novel by Jodi Picoult, one of my favorite authors, deals with the COVID pandemic in fiction as opposed to my nonfiction book. Check it out! Interesting story!
~MY FIRST AUDIOBOOK IS AVAILABLE: Go to Audible to buy my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story. I’m working on Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? but have gotten stalled with shingles.
~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:
~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been two years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.
~For me, it’s Christmas all year long! Here’s a variety of Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When It’s Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
I walked and walked and walked for a two-week total of 193,199 steps! Julius Caesar’s famous quote: “I came, I saw, I conquered” inspired me for today’s topic. Lin and I just got home last night from an eleven-day Mediterranean cruise with a two-day extension before in Barcelona, Spain and a two-day extension in Rome, Italy. On almost all of our excursions, we walked!
MY STEP COUNT FOR THE TRIP=193,199:
September 29–4594—Flight day to Barcelona, Spain
September 30–0—Barcelona—my FitBit wasn’t working!
October 1–272—Barcelona: we did lots of walking, so my FitBit must have not been charged!
October 2–10387—Left Barcelona on the ship
October 3–14047—Cannes, France
October 4–15176—Livorno, Italy port; visited Florence & Pisa
October 5–18517—Naples, Italy; visited Pompeii
October 6–7126—Messina, Italy
October 7–12070—Kotor, Montenegro
October 8–9241—Corfu, Greece
October 9–17067—Santorini Island, Greece
October 10–16003—Piraeus Italy; visited Athens
October 11–12227—Mykonos, Italy
October 12–10605—At Sea
October 13–12231—Rome, Italy
October 14–26323—Rome, Italy
October 15–7313—Flew Home
Some of these days’ totals don’t reflect that day’s activity because of the seven to nine-hour difference in time zones from ours in New Mexico, but they are close.
But we had to walk! How else could you see the ruins at Pompeii? Or the mind-blowing Acropolis in Athens? Or the massive colosseum in Rome?
I Walked the Most in Rome!
My largest walking day was in Rome, Italy, on October 14, where we followed suggestions given by the desk clerk at our hotel and wandered around from site to site. Lin’s amazing map reading skills made this possible. Then we had an excursion that evening where we moved from restaurant to restaurant sampling traditional Italian food. I walked 26323 steps in one day and ended up with busted blood vessels on my right leg from this action-packed day!
For the next few weeks of my blog posts, plan on traveling with me. We had such a fantastic time; I want to share this trip with you! I haven’t downloaded my pictures yet, so I shared none of mine today, but be ready for some great shots!
Finally,
As I walked where centuries ago many people walked, I felt in touch with those ancient ones. Are you a traveler? Have been to this part of the world? What was your experience?
~My new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? WON the 2022 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in the Body, Mind & Spirit Category. I’M SO EXCITED!
~Wish You Were Here: A Novel by Jodi Picoult, one of my favorite authors, deals with the COVID pandemic in fiction as opposed to my nonfiction book. Check it out! Interesting story!
~MY FIRST AUDIOBOOK IS AVAILABLE: Go to Audible to buy my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story. I’m working on Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? but have gotten stalled with shingles.
~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:
~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been two years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.
~For me, it’s Christmas all year long! Here’s a variety of Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When It’s Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
