We are in the airport lounge in Barcelona waiting for our flight home. If you have been following the blog, you know that we have had another wonderful experience (or, should I say, many wonderful experiences) since we left Long Beach. But, after five plus weeks, it is time to go home and see the grand-kids in California and to get ready to go to Emma's high school graduation. There's a lot to look forward to back home.
But first, let's recap the end of our journey. After leaving the Canary Islands, we had a day at sea on our way to Tangier. It was probably the roughest day we had in the 26 days of cruising but still nothing Linda could not deal with! For our third time in Tangier we decided to take a ship's excursion to Tetouan. This allowed us to see more of the Moroccan landscape. As we traveled through Tangier the views quickly changed from big city to little farming scenes. Lots of shepherds herding their goats. The mountainous countryside was very pretty. Arriving in Tetouan, we were disappointed to see that it bore no resemblance to Tatooine of Star Wars fame. It is actually quite a large city of 700,000 people. Our first stop was at an art school but we did not get to see the students working since it was the May Day holiday. It was interesting nonetheless since we could see the beautiful woodworking, ceramics, art, etc. that they produced. We were then guided through the Medina which was also fairly quiet due to the holiday. Linda did have the opportunity to don Berber dress in the market. Our final stop was for refreshments (mint tea and cookies) at a house that has been converted to a restaurant and wedding venue. These houses look like nothing from the outside but are amazing once you enter.
Our next day was a mostly relaxing day at sea on the sunny, calm Mediterranean. We also had a cool view of the moon and Venus(?). OK, I have to be honest, this pic was from 2 days ago but it just seems like a fitting shot for the last night.
We then spent another day and night in Barcelona, walking around the city and the Riviera sailed away as we watched from the roof of the hotel.
Of course, for us, no visit to Barcelona is complete with out a tapas dinner at Sensi. It was delicious as usual. Over dinner we decided that, if we could arrange for a last meal, it would be at Sensi with a menu of Cava, Tuna Tatare, Duck Parmentier, Truffle Ravioli and a Chocolate Fondant for desert.
Towards the end of the meal we also got a bit emotional talking about how excited we were about going to Phoenix for Emma's graduation - the commencement of her journey to Stanford. We thought about the little Emma we share so many memories with and are so proud of the fabulous young woman she has become.
We love you Emma!
