2025 Mediterranean Cruise (April 29-May 8)

Hey! It has been a challenge to find time to update this blog  - internet is sketchy.  But I'm trying! Custom Brands Group/Hunter Douglas awarded us two tickets plus guests, so we added two more and brought the whole fam on this trip.  They had to miss school but we think it was worth it!

Travel days April 29-30

First flight from Waterloo to Chicago - the guy in the background was ready.

Violet can sleep in the weirdest positions

We flew from Waterloo to Chicago, Chicago to Philadelphia, and Philadelphia to Lisbon.

We flew overnight to Lisbon - 9:30pm Philadephia time and landed 9:30am in Lisbon.  We forced ourselves to sleep on the plane as much as possible, but jetlag was still hard.  

First meal in Lisbon

Vanessa found strawberries covered in chocolate in a little market shopping area!

our hotel room view - old Roman aquaducts

walking to dinner provided by CBG

Vanessa got so sleepy

Thurs, May 1 - boarding the ship and leaving Lisbon! 

Violet loves honeycomb

our first view of the ship

during check in Calvin noticed a guy messing with his rubiks cube and solved it for him in 30 seconds 

it was a good moment and a good laugh

Lisbon erected this statue of Christ as a way to thank God for protecting them from WW2 destruction 

On our way out to sea - we saw the Monument of the Discoveries

also saw the Tower of Belem, built in 1514, celebrating Vasco da Gama's explorations from Portugal to India in 1497-98.

 Friday, May 2 - Cadiz, Spain

view out our room patio door

Catedral de Cadiz

Built between 1722 and 1838 - 116 years!

climbed a tower - saw great sites - VERY windy

churros and chocolate

oldest known roman theater, recently discovered/dug up in 1980, originates to the 1st Century BC. (approx 70 BC)

we played Pictionary on the ship later - this was Violet's rendition of "planet of the apes"

Saturday, May 3 - Tangier, Morocco

the rocks in the foreground are Africa - the land in the distance is Spain

old Roman walls in Tangier

old Roman walls in Tangier

We took a tour to the spot where the mediterranean and the atlantic meet

We took a tour to the spot where the mediterranean and the atlantic meet

Hercules caves - legendary, of course

Calvin picked me a bunch of flowers

we rode camels on the beach!

I wonder what his name is?

We boarded the ship around 4pm - and got a very late lunch at the Waves Grill on the ship.

Hung out and watched the ship go through the Strait of Gibraltar - saw some dolphins - and the Rock of Gibraltar.  

Violet's friend asked her if she was going to see the Rock of Gibraltar - it was visible but pretty far away still

We had dinner with the boys in the Grand Dining Room

The girls got ready for a very long time, took a lot of pics, and were late joining us so they sat at their own table. :)

Sunday, May 4 - Melilla, Spain (on northern African coast)

Didn't sleep all that well - lots of tossing/turning/hard to get to sleep but took melatonin moments.  Slept in til 10:30am! The ship got washed, there were loud noises, I don't know.

David and I got a quick breakfast, and we found and collected the kids, and headed out to explore Melilla.  It has Phoenician origins, later a Roman establishment, then conquered by Spain in 1497 and has remained spanish since then.

The old city with its walls was beautiful!

loved finding an orange tree

this will go down as the weirdest lunch ever...except Vanessa's knockout caesar salad. The chef salad had molasses for a dressing, Calvin and David's ham sandwiches were fried balls of cream and bits of cheese and ham, and Eli had a coke.

Melilla has a pretty park though!

so picturesque!

never seen a white palm tree - I am sure it is not called that

set this up on a stump and balanced my phone on my purse for this pic

set this up too - these flowering trees were amazing

found a cute park

on the way back to the ship we stopped at the beach by the old city walls

there they are - all four of `em!

We boarded the ship, split ways, some swam, I showered, did laundry, etc.  We will figure out dinner later.  

Ok I have a hilarious update.  It's actually kinda gross.  I was gathering up dirty things to toss in the laundry.  I grabbed a pair of shorts that David had been storing his daily vitamins in.  Some of the pills he takes are fish oil.  You might know now where this story is going.  No, I didn't check the pockets.  Does he ever store pills in his gray workout shorts? No.  

The load came out smelling like fish.  I was so confused. David was like "uh did you wash my gray shorts? my pills were in there".  It all made sense now.  I had to run three more washes on that load of clothes - I even went down to the store to buy extra detergent soap strips, which helped.  *sigh*.

We had dinner at Terrace Cafe (buffet) and played pickleball and mini golf for awhile.  Violet got a hole in one at one of the greens.

Monday, May 5 - Alicante, Spain

The morning was relaxed - we got going by 12:30pm and took a shuttle to the city.  Calvin said he wants to  climb the big hill with the roman walls. We'll see about that.

Climb the hill is what we did!  The "hill" is the Santa Barbara Castle, with history of Romans, Arabs, and Spanish control.  The views were amazing.

We stopped for snacks - Violet ordered just milk, the waiter was confused.  

Eli the navigator - he led the way up the hill.  Took us about 30-45 min to get to the top.

After getting back on the ship, we hung out by the pool, had supper at Polo Grill, then went to the comedian show - he was so funny.

Tues, May 6, 2025 - Palma de Mallorca, Spain

the gorgeous feature of this cathedral is the 45 ft wide rose window

this is the opposite side

the light shines through it and casts a beautiful glow on the inside!

classic flying buttresses of gothic architecture!

600 yr old olive tree

spanish candy is intriguiging

the famous Palma cinnamon bun

David spotted Jeff Bezos's sailing yacht

we finished with dinner at Toscana, the italian restaurant on the ship, and caught a beautiful sunset at the same time

Wed, May 7, 2025 - Marseille, France

we just got off the ship and snapped this selfie - there's a big church up on the hill in the background. We didn't have plans to go there....but of course we did

smelling perfume at Louis Vitton

the girls sought out macaroons!

they were yummy I think

Eli's Europe drink of choice

best pizza and burrata salad of the week

it was an uphill climb!

but the views were worth it

inside

lots of mosaic flooring

a sharp downhill street 

cool reflective walkway/art

this town is famous for its soapmaking

Vanessa grabbed her last chance to get a chocolate croissant in France

Thurs, May 8th, 2025 - dock in Barcelona, ride to airport, fly home!

Barcelona - the city we can never visit.  We have docked twice here and gotten rides directly to the airport - never visited it! 

A spanish barista's phonetical spelling of Eli's name: "I-lai". We loved this.

looooong travel day back

Wloo airport waiting for our bags.  Travels were smooth but LONG and the kids went right to sleep when we got home.

What an opportunity to bring them along for this Mediterranean adventure! Super thankful.  Eli and Vanessa performed in the patriotic program at WCS on Friday and got through it.