On The Road Again

I am sure that it will come as no surprise to anyone who knows us that we are on the road (or I should say, ocean) again.  This time were are sandwiching some land and island time between 2 cruises.  Let me explain. 

We start with a transatlantic cruise from Miami to Barcelona on the Oceania Riviera.  As I write this it is Thursday and we are at sea heading for Bermuda, scheduled to arrive on Saturday.  This is the third time we are doing this crossing on the Riviera having previously done it in 2014 and 2016.  Yes, we are on the alternate year plan - only even number years.  Here are a couple of pics from our embarkation day:

The champagne toast on the sail-away.

 The beloved life boat drill!

The crossing includes stops in Bermuda, the Azores, Tangier and Mallorca before we reach Barcelona in 2 weeks.  So far, the seas are fairly smooth with just enough movement to rock us to sleep.  Here's hoping that it stays this way.

After arriving in Barcelona we jump on a flight to Tenerife in the Canary Islands where we will be staying with Manuela and Wolfgang, friends that we met on a previous Oceania cruise.  We are looking forward to four days there having not been to the Canary Islands before and, of course, catching up with good friends.

When we leave Tenerife, we fly back to Barcelona to spend 5 days in and around that wonderful city.  We've booked a couple of day trips - one that will take us to Andorra and one that explores the Costa Brava.  We've also booked a visit to the Sagrada Familia to see the progress they have made in the almost 20 years since we've been there.  And, of course, we will indulge in tapas at our favorite restaurant in Barcelona.

And, when our stay in Barcelona is over, it will back on the Riviera for another 12 day cruise, this time with ports of call in Lisbon, 3 of the Canary Islands, Funchal and Tangier again.  At the end of that cruise we will be flying back to Long Beach.

No promises, but I will try to keep this blog as up to date as I can.  Sometimes it depends on the ship's internet as to my ability to add photos.

So, as I've said before, we live an incredibly blessed life with all of our travels and, more importantly, with our wonderful kids and grandkids.  It gives me great pause as I write this to think about some people we know who are bravely battling cancer.  There is our friend and neighbor Marlene, who is the main impetus (or nudge) for me to write this blog.  There is our long time friend in Cincinnati, Carol.  There is one of the Oceania cruise directors, David Peterson, who we ran into unexpectedly at breakfast in Miami yesterday only to learn that he is also battling cancer.  There is our cousin Juanita in Hawaii who is putting up the good fight.  Our thoughts are certainly with them.

That's all for now.  Hopefully I'll be back in a day or two with an update on our progress.