Month: July 2018

Breakfast in hotel dining room to start our day. They had a nice spread. Soft boiled eggs even. I am sure we got ripped off price wise. I mean you can get an outstanding cafe petit dejeuner for $2.50. But we were waiting for a guide and did not relish trying to find our way out the Médina to eat.

Youssef, the guide, came by right about the end of breakfast. We had a quick discussion about services and prices. I had been planning to rent a car and drive around to various things and places I wanted to revisit. But, Youssef is actually cheaper than a car and he provides a van and driver. Easy choice. These guides make a good living thru kickbacks from restaurants and venues when they bring tourists in. So we win because he is able to charge us less.

So day began with a driving tour of parts of Tanger. We went all over. Had a nice trip to Perdicaras Park. Story goes, back a hundred years or so, Me Perdicaras was kidnapped. He was an American. Turns out the US President let the kidnappers know they were going to die if they did not release him. They let him go. Movie made aboutnit starring Sean Connery. Perdicaras left thousands of acres of land to the Moroccan govt and they turned it into a park named for him.

Next stop Cap Spartel lighthouse. It’s 153 years old. The lighthouse is where the Mediterranean meets Atlantic. Beautiful views. I look at the two oceans and see no difference.

On to Hercules grotto. First, a camel ride down the beach. Every tourist must ride a camel. If u don’t uou risk being labeled a total failure. 44 years ago, I rode a camel at the very same spot. After the camel, we went to the grotto. In 1974 the grotto was literally a hole in the ground on a bluff above the beach. There was nothing around for miles. There was an extension ladder down into he ground thru the hole. A little rough. Now?Everything is over. There is a restaurant. Bathrooms. You walk into the grotto via a paved path. Inside, the ceiling hole has been sealed. Here is electric floor lighting. It’s changed just a tad. Either way, like going home.

When I was here in 1974 I stayed at the Ville de France hotel. My dad lived there for a few years in the 1970s. Lots of fond memories. So our guide arranged a tour of the place. It has been extensively remodeled into a palace. I recognized nothing. Till I went behind the hotel. Turns out the old front is now the rear entrance. Now it became familiar. The hotel is quite old. Henri Matisse, the famous painter, lived here andnpinted in one of the upstairs rooms. We got to go peek. He painted a street scene from the window view. And the view has not changed.

We dumped our driver and walked the Médina. Then we walked the Casbah.
All of it is so familiar 44 years later. Of course, these areas are so old they never change.

We Ate lunch inside the Médina.

Walked more.

When Dad lives here he made a few friends. One of whom was Ahmed Amrani. A merchant in Tangiers. He and Dad did business together. By that I mean Dad helped him with restrictive Moroccan currency laws. Our guide Youssef looked him up, somehow, turns out he passed 11 years ago. But, Youssef knows another Amrani who took over all the stores. So, we went to Amrani’s shop at #13 in the Casbah to say hello. Had a nice chat about old times. And, like my Dad, we bought rugs from Amrani. And Dad’s discount was still good. Love that. I have his contact info and we may have to send a nice California gift.

Continuing down memory lane, we went to the Petit Socco, a small square in the Médina, and sat awhile just to watch the world go by. Youssefs idea to knock loose old memories. It seems to work.

Memory lane is long and winding. Next up, a walk to Eric’s. Back in 1974 I often went to Eric’s for burgers. And fries. Well, it’s still there in the same place. No fries. We had burgers. I had my fave, the egg burger. Still very good. Some memories make he pay great. And sometimes your memory is good.

Back to hotel after burgers. Off to bed. We are whipped.

What a morning. I was up at 630. Everyone else asleep. I got my SSS done. I’m dressed. I head out to grab a cab. I need to go to the airport to pick up a rental car. We are traveling from Granada to Algeciras by car. About a three hour drive on the Spanish interstate. Very nice roads in Spain.

I got to the airport at a quarter to 8. The taxi driver drove all over looking for Alamo. No where to be seen. I have a reservation so I know it’s here somewhere. I had to call the number in my confirmation which answered totally in Spanish until I heard the word “Enterprise”. So I went to the enterprise rental hut and there was a very small Alamo sticker on the door. The counter opens at 8. They weren’t ready so I went into the cafe next door and had coffee.

I came back out in ten minutes and got my car rented. Drove back to Granada, got to the downtown hotel, found a parking garage, worlds smallest aisles and spaces, and parked. Right next to hotel. NO street parking. Went up to the room and woke some up, got out, loaded car, went to breakfast, and got on our way to Algeciras.

The only exciting part of the drive was in Granada and it wasn’t that bad. We had to stop at the rental car counter on our way to get the car drop changed to the port of Algeciras. Otherwise it drops off at the airport 60 miles from Algeciras. Which sucks and costa too much to go back to Algeciras.

The 3 hour drive through the Southern Spanish countryside was really a lot like driving through California. The weather and the look are the same. Both have Mediterranean weather only California has no Mediterranean. Here I was driving with the Sea to my left.

We stopped twice for breaks and doubled up for a snack at one of the rest stops. The sandwiches were good. Best part, foot long ham and cheese on good bread, $3. Though the bathroom here was blown out so we had to use a separate handicap restroom. The surprise, they actually have a handicap restroom. Of course, no lock and the door swung free.

Some confusion in port when we arrived. Poor signage, no English spoken by anyone, could not find the rental drop. We got put in the load your car on the ferry line. Wrong. We had to figure it out. Then go out the in flow to get around the port barriers, followed a cop who was leaving, got to another part of the port and the Enterprise guy was in the lot looking for his cars to arrive. Yay. Still stressful with much gnashing of teeth betwixt family members. If u know what I mean. And I think you do.

Cat successfully dropped off.

After that, sat and waited. Some excitement trying to confirm late arrival with the Hotel Continental in Tangier. After the Barcelona debacle (The Oxbow Incident) I am more careful with lodgings. Anyhow, I have the hotel phone number but it did not work. At all. I booked they Travelocity but it took 45 grueling minutes to get them on the line. The building had to cell service inside. Maybe the great AC interfered. So I stood outside in the sun the whole 45 minutes on hold. But, this time , they came through and got me late check in. With the ferry ride in front of us and trip from new Tanger MED port to Tanger Ville we get to hotel at nine.

Time for a drink. I went to the cafeteria in the terminal just to see what they have. They had a carousel of bottles. Seeing that the cafeteria guy was no bartender, I ordered 4 rum and cokes. Glory be to god, the guy came up with some nice rum, anejo even. 4$ each. Nice. I took my drinks to the terminal even though I was sposed to stay in the cafeteria. I am not a rule follower. We needed a drink. Ok, I needed a drink and did not want to drink alone.

Next step, load up the ferry to Tanger MED. The trip took about 2 hours. We took the slow ferry. The ferry was full of Moroccan nationals returning from Spain and their obnoxious, noisy ass kids. It was a zoo. I know my wife hates our of control children, so it was two hours of torture for her. I don’t really care.

Great idea onboard. The passport and customs clearance was on the ship. So when we landed we had already cleared customs. The last time I came through it took 2 to 3 hours to get through customs.

We found a taxi at the port arrivals and were off to Tangiers. It’s a good 40or so kilometers. Our taxi driver called ahead and arranged a guide for our trip. Funny thing, we did not ask for assistance. Turns out that guides are now licensed by the national government and they are not the sleazebags I remember. So we were met at the hotel parking by Hassan who speaks fluent English, has a profile on Trip Advisor and was ready to help out. Sadly he got called away for a much larger group. But he arranged for Youssef to take his place. He is also a national guide. More on this later.

Our hotel is The Continental. It used to be THE place to stay. Movie stars and the like came here. It is still nice but there are many other nicer places. It’s clean, unique and old. The entrance is in the Médina which is the old marketplace. We had to hump our luggage uphill through crowded, narrow streets full of stores and stalls and lots of people. Fun. Not too far, maybe a quarter mile. Glad Hassan was there. Not sure I would have found it. But we made it.

Out to dinner next. Michael found a restaurant, on trip advisor, in the Tangiers Medina. The site shows it 315’ away. Michael has a tremendous faith in the internet. He is a millennial. So he turned on his nav andnoff we go. Now, a Médina is old. Usually 500 to 1000 yearsbor older. No shit. This was no exception. Many streets, which is a generous description are too narrow for cars. Windy to the extreme. No signage to tell where you are. At night, like now, no lights so very dark. We walked 5 minutes without finding the place. Thank his we are in Morocco. A self styled guide popped outta nowhere to show us he way. I gave him a handful of coins. Old school nav.

The dinner was fantastic. Truly authentic Moroccan food. Though most of the customers were European. No surprise, it’s on Trip Advisor. We had a delicious meal. I had Cous Cous though I ate it with utensils.

We headed back to the hotel after dinner. Michael had his bearings back. Left turn out the restaurant, walk 160 ft. You are now at the hotel gate. That close.

We got to the room and after this long day we collapsed.

Travel day. No game.

We are up and it’s already 415am. It’s too early for travel, isn’t it, Ed?

Despite the early hour all were ready at 5am to go to the Barcelona airport. Great airport but way to damn big. Very difficult to get around. And, in the end, I judge by airline flown. So this airport is judged by Vueling Airlines/Buslines. They are almost a complete failure on the ground. The cabin crews suck too. I hate them. Don’t fly Vueling Air. It’s so funny, we go thru security, line up at the gate, walk down the gangway and…get on a bus. Really. Every time. They then bus us to the airplane. Today they kept us on the bus at the plane for ten minutes. Why? Who knows? They DO NOT share any info on what they are doing. All delays are a mystery. I have been on 4 flights with them, all have had delays from 15 mins to over an hour. Last one into Barcelona, hour fifteen delay, caused cancellation of my hotel. Vueling does not care. They are pieces of crap. All of them.

So I am sitting on the plane now. In my reassigned seat. I was able to check in online, first time, Go Vueling! They assigned seats and gave me mobile boarding passes. Wow. How 20th century of them. Then I get kicked to the curb at the gate and get a new seat. It’s a mystery.

We ate breakfast in the airport. The coffee was weak and not hot. First time for bad coffee on the trip. Plus croissants. The kids got breakfast sandwiches which appeared to be not very good. And the comments were negative. Everyone’s a critic. I can’t count on Vueling to serve anything during the flight. Once they even skipped serving a few rows. Including mine. They suck.

I am now not listening to the safety announcement. It’s pointless. I read the safety card and memorized the escape routes and door operations. I’m good.

So Vueling had a cart for food and drink. ALL items must be purchased. No freebies. They did not offer me anything, just skipped asking. Assholes. I would have purchased a cup of coffee. I hate Vueling.

Well, it happened. We took off from the airport on time. And landed on time. We may have to update Vuelings motto. Right now it’s “Vueling: When you absolutely, positively have to be there sooner or later.” Though I like it. Baggage was timely as well. I am floored.

We picked up a cab from the queue and were off to Granada. It’s about 10 miles from the airport. €32 in taxi speak.

We got to the hotel. We thought. Took a few minutes to ID the front door. Turned out to be a doorway in the alley. That was only half the battle. I called th desk cuz door is locked. Within 30 secs the guy onnhe line identifies me and noted I had a reservation. 9 1/2 mins later he buzzed me in. Wtf? Well, he firsat asked me where I was and I answered. We discussed that for 30 secs.
Then he asked me to walk to the cafe on the corner and go inside, which I did. Then wan to opposite corner to he cafe and go in. Th nbwalk back to the door. At which point I yelled at him to come open th door. He said an associate would come down. F…ing amazing. Gal came and opened the door. Inside, the front desk I a hallway. Nice hallway. Gal was rude. But she warmed up as she checked us in. And, the rooms at the Siloe Plaza are damn amazing. They are apartments and well appointed they be. All the way around. They left a free and good bottle of red wine for us. Great view out the back. Two rooms full AC. Fridge, washer, beds for four, couch. Table and four chairs next to the kitchen. Love it.

We unpacked and relaxed for awhile. Then went out for breakfast #2. Hey, up at 4am and it’s 1030. It’s time. The food was passable, not excellent. Great coffee again.

We are staying on the edge of the old city. So after breakfast we walked thru the oldest part of Granada. Some parts are over a thousand years old. And look it. The fun part for me is to try and figure out what it was like even a few years ago let alone one thousand. Prob looked much the same. We wandered for a couple hours. We headed back to the hotel for watering.

We have booked a tour of the Alhambra with a guide. 3 hours long. After our quick break we headed up the hill to the Alhambra. Our hotel is a 10 min walk. Well I shoulda read my ticket. We were sposed to meet in town. Oops. So we walked back to town, near our hotel, to meet the group and walk back to where we were. Look Ed, more pointless walking.

So for the next 3 hours we walked and climbed thru the Alhambra and associated palaces and battlements and watchtowers while our not very good tour guide droned on and on. I did really enjoy it. I was here 44 years ago, no guide, so no memory of a lot of it. This memory shld stick.

At 630, tour over, we headed down the same hill. Went to hotel to relax. Most restaurants here don’t seem to be pandering to tourists. They open 8 to 830 for dinner. So we gonna wait a few and go eat. In the meantime, Spanish TV. With NCIS on in espanol. Entertains.

Night out on the town in Granada! Not very exciting. I think Granada qualifies as a small town. It is quiet. The crowds are not so dense as elsewhere.

We had one hell of a time picking where to eat. My lovely children, esp Michael, insist on vetteing each choice through some website or other to determine whether we should eat there. This, today, led to much emotional discussion and gnashing if teeth, no food gnashing. We finally just picked a place. And, it wasn’t very good. We did fill up.

Back to hotel and to bed. We got to get moving in am. Tomorrow we grab a rental car and head to Algeciras to get the ferry and go to Tangiers. It’s very exciting. Well, I’m excited.

I actually woke early this morning, 745. If I could only stay on a good schedule I could do this every day. Our flight tomorrow is at 720am so I think my schedule will be disrupted again. Oh well. We are on the downslope now on two weeks till we leave the continent. Well, this continent. We will be off to Africa in a couple days but then back again for a week. Emily and I have been on the road traveling for a month. Obviously, if you are a reader of the titles you know this. I write the titles, so I know it.

We are not planned out today. We just finished breakfast, and it’s 1035. I think we are going to visit some medieval basilica today. There are old churches all over Europe, they seem to be the biggest attractions wherever we go. Funny, I don’t go to church at home and here I pay to go inside the most sacred churches in the world. Weird.

So today looks like the basilica. Good news, there is a tour of the 400’ tower, and it has an elevator! Better news! The tour is sold out and I don’t have to go inside!

Europe is a tour of very old places with very old buildings. And drinking. And eating. Is this a surprise to anyone? Not me. I think the food is the best part. The medieval buildings, old military and religious installations, are cool and interesting. But, the food wins. Three times a day plus ice cream, gelato, glacé, etc. I forgot, we also visit old buildings full of old objects too. But, you seen one old statue you seen em all. Not really, but they can run together.

Now 11. Just got back to the room. We are all doing our morning ablutions in preparation for the days events which are far from the hotel. I am betting we may leave before noon.

I am going to lose that bet. We are not moving and it’s 1115. Maybe we need an actual goal to inspire us. I’m ready whenever. I will git and go as needed. That’s an old Okie expression. I have Okies behind me in the genealogy.

The waiting is killing me. I have things I could be doing. But I don’t want to get started and then have everyone ready. Then they would be waiting on me. So I just lay here waiting. Shoes on the bed even. Hotels are a place you can do that.

This afternoon, we have decided to go to the number one tourist destination in Barcelona, the Gothic cathedral. Sadly, my blog is screwed up and I can not get pictures uploaded. So my powers of written description will have to suffice. Or you could look at pictures online.

We are unable to go inside the basilica because tickets are sold out weeks in advance. And we did not plan that much. We plan as we go. Works, mostly.

So I must admit,on first sight, the gothic cathedral is truly breathtaking. It is awe inspiring. It is immense. It actually soars into the sky. I walked all the way around it because I felt compelled to see it from every angle and every side. The designer/architect designed a beautiful church that is not the usual cross shaped blockhouse of every other church. This one is unique, it stands alone. There are four main spires that I would say rise out of the ground like stalagmites, in size and shape and look. There are no flat surfaces. The height appears to be around 400’. The outside walls, to the top are covered with carvings, statuary and gargoyles. It looks in many ways like the castle from Wizard of Oz, or the evil queens castle in a Disney movie. And the creepy gothic look just adds to it. I am at a loss how this one got out of design and then built back when the church was in charge. It’s a scary, gothic, church. Majestic certainly, but as a medieval house of God I admit it’s surprising.

We hung around about an hour. Took a bunch of pictures, and w not to lunch. Lunchbis important. The central market areas aboutba half mile away, so there we went. Barcelkna’s Central market looks a lot like the Florentine central market. Lots of food vendors of ready to eat meals and drinks, spice stalls, meat stalls, cheese, etc. with counters to sit and eat at. And packed with people. I think I like the Florence version better but this one was fine. I had an empanada which I think is Mexican but whatever. Emily had nachos which seems strange since I know nachos are from our side of the pond. No matter. They were good.

The place we got the nachos had no seating. One of few that did not. The problem now, where to sit? Turns out nowhere. All available seats “belong” to certain vendors and they can not be used unless that vendor sold you the food. We had to walk out of the market to find a place to eat. A pain, but not too bad.

After lunch Em and I went back to the hotel. I have work to finish. So I got online and spent the afternoon working. Emily went shoe shopping. Might be her favorite thing to do ever, I think. She came back with two pie a couple hours later. I was still working so Emily took a nap. Lucky her.

When she woke up and Inwas done we went downstairs in the hotel and had Sangria. It was not as good as the Sangria I make but better than yesterday’s.

During all this, the kids went bar hopping and got drunk. Something they are quite skilled at. Marika was very drunk.

Dinner was not to late. Early flight tomorrow. Strangely, we had Tapas. Good news, least expensive dinner since we started. The food was very good as well. For anyone keeping track, it was called Bahia.

We went back to the hotel to pack. And the kids went to rooftop bar.

We packed and went to bed after we finished. My adult children got more drunk at the bar. Lovely.

Morning came way to early. I woke at 930. Fuck the free breakfast, I went back to sleep. I am sure it will improve my disposition. But, I don’t care. Sleep is nice. The bed is comfy. If not downstairs by 11 I miss petit dejeuner gratis. So what. I slept till 1102. At which point I realize I need to do a few things. Like check out. And call the assholes (Travelocity and other hotel).

Call other hotel. No answer. Call Travelocity, no real answer though I did get to talk to an unfriendly man in their Filipino call center. He was a jerk. Told me it was all my fault I did not reconfirm my confirmation. They had sent me a confirm email, he claimed. All my fault. As a favor he contacted the hotel. They did not answer Filipino man. He became more helpful. He said he would pass the case to the back office. They would determine whether I get a refund. Within 72 hours he says. But I imagine he was lying. I hate call centers. And, yes, I do keep a list of all the things I despise.

We got up too late to have free breakfast. With the above problems with the first hotel we decided to extend our stay at the hotel we are in. Well, they moved us next door to a sister hotel. Which turned out to be just as nice. And they are available at all hours. Which can be important at times when guests arrive very late. It happens.

So we grabbed our socks and dropped our r’s and headed next door and moved in. Yay. Then off to a lunch/breakfast of Tapas. With wine. Nice to be fed. Unfortunately, we met the worlds rudest waitress. Good news, she was our server. And what did she do? Ignored us completely. All tables in the room served. Not us. I actually flagged down someone else to get us things. She still did not care. Food was very good, once she took our order. No tipping here so difficult to burn her. The lunch came with a bottle of wine so our mood improved. But not much.

After our semi-mid day repay, we decided to see the sites. We are in the old city neighborhood which is city center for Barcelona. We went to the central market, reminded me of the central market in Florence, lots of food and bev available. We had bev, sangria. After all, we just had lunch. The food places don’t want to serve just drinks. And often refuse to serve u unless you eat. Too. No problem, there are bars.

We sat for awhile. Turns out the gal sitting next to us was from Sacrmento. We chatted with her for quite awhile. Fun to get a point of view from someone like yourself. Geographically at least. We compared notes on all the places we had been or were going.

The kids went to find a drink at same time we sat down. There were only seats for Em and I. They went to three different places for drinks only.

After our thirst was quenched, Em and I went to find our two. Emily had another sangria, she is thirstier than I am. We sat there for awhile.

One of the large streets, La Ramblas, travels through the old city and gothic quarter. We walked that a couple miles. The street has wide sidewalks on each side and a street sized median for pedestrians. There were thousands of people out. Fun to shop and look around. We ended up deep in the gothic quarter with its medieval architecture and streets. We just wandered thru. Our sojourn ended at the Gaudi designed Muséo nacional. Seems Gaudi designed everything. His name is all over the place.

The Gaudi designed Magic Fountain was our next destination. See, more Gaudi. We walked about 1.5 miles and…the fountain was off. No water show for us. The fountain, really a series of fountains, is inpressive even when dry. Massive in scale and built into the side of a hill. It seems designed to resemble water running downhill, with a flourish. The fountain is lit by multi color LED, when it’s running. Oh well. I climbed the zillion stairs to the museum for a look. We arrived to late to get inside. Again, oh well.

Once we were satisfied with our look, we Taxi’d back to the hotel. We had a quick break to freshen up and then we were off to a tapas place called Colom. Recommended by many.

We decided to taxi to dinner. We get tired of walking. Can u believe it? We planned on having paella and Colom has the best accdg to many.

I am so pleased we took a taxi. Was a 1.6 mile walk. Replaced that with a €6 cab ride. Bargain. Win win. Arrived feeling good, not tired and sweaty.

The restaurant was quite busy, line out the door. Well, I guess we weren’t the only ones to ask around to find a good place. We got to the front of the line within 15 minutes. Our host says hi, how many? It’s cash only. Ok? So Em and I went to get cash and the kids sat and ordered Sangria.

There was a bank ATM up the street in a nice out of the way dark corner. You always fear you might get robbed in these situations. I did get robbed. By the ATM fees. And currency conversion fees. And I willingly let the bank do it. And I am supposed to worry about pickpockets in Barcelona. Right.

Back to Colom. We rejoined our party. The place was clean and nice with friendly staff. Not at all like the place we had lunch. Emily said the bathroom was one of those types. A 1 out of 3, maybe a 0. I didn’t go.

The tapas were very good. We ordered off the fixed price menu which got us a large table size paella and six tapas. Which were very good. The Gambas was as good as back home. We have a tapas place near us. The others were new and different but still great. The Sangria was not as good as what we make. I drank it anyway. Someone has to.

Last but not least, a very large pan of paella. Seafood paella. We figure since cBarcelona is on the ocean we should go fish. All recommendations were accurate and true. We all really enjoyed it. Usual stuff, saffron rice, large shrimp, clams and mussels, squid, langoustines. Not the same as home which I suppose is the point.

We did not save room for dessert or even ice cream on the walk home. We had to walk back, or maybe roll, after such a large meal. Evening was warm and the streets still crowded at midnight. It is Spain after all. Took twenty minutes to get to the hotel. I am going to sleep well tonight.

Sunday. We are not going to church. Our plans include a tour of Canalques National Park, only. Tour starts at 230. So, rhat means one thing: sleep in. All the way to 930!! Still very nice and we need sleep. Showered, dressed, ready.

Staying in hotels has its perks. Here, free breakfast. And this is France, breakfastbis a solid meal. This is no La Quinta in the interstate in Omaha. We get real food and good coffee. I love the food here. And the way everyone sits around for an hour to eat it. Never a rush. Well, breakfast was packed. But I still got my croissant, roll, coffee and juice. And a couple hard eggs. We ate our fill.

After breakfast, about 1145, we checked out. We stored our bags in the luggage room and headed to the old city. The port area. Vieux Marseille. An easy downhill walk of about 20 minutes. Sorry Ed. We had decided to check out the fort and other old monument buildings prior to the tour. We also purchased tickets for the tour in advance.

Then off to the nether parts of the old port battlements. What’s another couple miles of walking now? I mean we pound it out every day. Of course, the temp is over 90 and humidity is high but we can tough that out.

All around us are hundreds of cops. World Cup final is tonight, France v Croatia. I guess the cops expect trouble. All the food and bev locations are getting r asybearly for the crowds. And more people are coming down to the port with each passing minute. It’s gonna be a madhouse.

So we wandered around the port for about two hours. Then we had a quick snack. Everyone’s favorite mussels and frites. The cafe sells them for €7.9 which is like free. And it was a generous serving. We ate quick since we had a tour, as I mentioned.

We headed over to the quay right after our quick lunch. We got in line for the boat early enough to get seats of our choice. If I forgot to mention this is a boat tour, sorry. It’s a not tour. About 3 hours long. Like the SS Minnow.

There were about 50 passengers on the boat. Not crowded. We were sitting up top by the bridge. The port of Marseille has thousands of pleasure craft which are moored right around where our tour boat is moored. It’s a hell of a lot of boats. Took ten minutes to pass all by as we went out to open water. There were a couple cruise ships moored in another area of the port. The port is large.

The boat went out the port and headed east along the coast. There were a lot of day sailors out and quite a few sea doos playing in the wake of all passing boats. We continued down the coast for about an hour and a half. The boat came in close to the coast to show off anything interesting like old buildings, beaches, secluded coves. Down the coast there were a few coves with small town-like habitations there. They seem like small resorts. I think I could spend a summer sitting around one. The water is beautiful and warm. Beaches are rocky, which seems to deter no one.

We continued on this course. And turned around at about the 1.5 hour mark. Our trip back was much faster – nothing to stop for. Took a little over an hour for the return.

When we returned the port area was kickin. More people by 10 fold, same for the cops. We decided to go have a drink or snack. We ended up stopping at Glacier that also served Paella. Weird combo but all the food and ice cream was tasty. We sat for a while watching the wild people watching the Cup final. Crazy. But we have a plane to catch and wanted to be out of the city before the end of what appeared to be a French win. So we are and walked back to the hotel, uphill.

I had order an Uber that morning for trip to the airport. So we just sat at the hotel in air conditioned comfort till he showed. A couple of us, not me, drank beer while we waited.

Driver showed just at the point where the game ended. You have heard the phrase “and the crowd went wild”? They did. We could hear and feel the city from inside the taxi. It was crazy. I saw online what it looked like in Paris. This was a much smaller more personal level but still crazy.

Trip to Marseille airport was 20 minutes, without incident. After the day, kind of a letdown. No matter. Uber was on bonus time so I had to pay 1.9x for our ride. Losers.

We sat around the airport quite awhile. Had dinner and sat some more. The ticket counter was closed at Vueling so it did not matter. We got in line, first, and waited for them to show. About an hour. No one wasnin any big hurry since the flight was delayed over an hour. Leisurely pace.

They finally got their shit together and checked us in and gave out boarding passes. So we went through security and sat down and waited at the gate. Ours was the only departure so the terminal was mostly empty. The airline did not make any announcements regarding the delay. We just waited.

After forever, we finally got loaded and are now in the air on our way to Barcelona. It’s after midnight and I imagine we will be in our hotel by 2am. I hope.

Flight took about an hour. Got to get one bag and a taxi or Uber to the hotel. I can hardly wait for sleep.

Bag took a half hour. Because Vueling is a complete piece of crap airline. Also, Vueling arrivals unload to a bus. No gate service. Piece of crap airline. I hate them. It’s 230 am and I am in the taxi queue with my fam. All tired, hot and sweaty. No love available. Looks like another 15 mins for a taxi.

Why no Uber? I tried. No one on God’s green earth knew where the pickup spot was. The driver did. I spoke to him. He spoke Spanish and French and Arabic. I spoke English. He wanted me to go to VTC. Where? Worked poorly. No one inside airport could help me.

What to do? Regular taxi. That was a walk and a half to get to the taxi stand. Got there. One hundred people in front of us. And a virtual army of cabs. We had to wait about ten minutes for a ride. But we got one. Now the adventure truly begins. We drove into a Barcelona. Close to 3am now. We are all tired. Very tired.

We got to the “hotel” by 315. Well, I need a code to get in. I have no code. It’s late. I let these people. I phone the number on the door. Disconnected. I phone the number in my confirmation. No answer. I was the only one out of the cab. We ended up with the cab driver taking us from hotel to hotel till we found one with a room available. The cab driver even got out of the cab to speak to hotel clerks and store owners to help find a room. Awesome driver. Two rooms actually. City rules, only 2 persons to a room. So we got two rooms. By the way, Travelocity does not answer their phone in the middle of the night. We did finally get two rooms in the hotel Regina. Nice place. At 4 am I don’t care. I went directly to bed. After calling the other hotel and Travelocity, again, just for purposes of self abuse.

Ok. So to bed late last night after the expensive trip to Monaco. And up early to get Carly to the airport to fly out home. We needed to get a car at the airport to pick up our rental car for the next leg of our trip to Marseille. Maybe I will see Brandy. She would be about 70 by now. 70 year old bar girl. Yikes.

We skipped an immediate breakfast till we got to he airport. Save a little time. We hope.

Carly and Michael left earlier than the three of us. Her flight was leaving early. Prior to us.

We got a call while still at the hostel. Carlys flight was cancelled. Fucking Vueling Air. The plane was broken. Don’t want to fly on a broken plane. I hate Vueling Air. Don’t fly it.

We tried to help solve the problem by helping to find another flight for her. But, she did not want any help.

We got to the airport. Had to go to terminal one to get car. Then we left car and took a shuttle to terminal 2 to meet with Michael and Carly. Talked to Carly. She and Michael are working on it. Vuelings solution is bad at best. And she would miss her connection.

We had breakfast. Pastries and coffee. Great even in airport format. Why is it the French always make good coffee and great pastries? In America the food in airports is bland and overpriced. Seems as though we could do better.

The Nice airport is small but still very difficult to get around. They have separated the two small terminals to a point where u have to take the shuttle. The rental cars are in the back of the car park, even farther away. I got to walk off the pastries and coffee.

Carly finally found a flight to LA. Cost her an xtra $2k. Fucking Vueling. At least she is on her way. Sad her trip ended so poorly.

We went to enterprise got our Citroen C3. It’s a station wagon, nice looking, manual transmission with a very long throw. Weak acceleration in 1 and 2. Squirrelly steering which is no fun. Ample room for people and luggage. I won’t be buying one anytime soon.

3 hour trip to Marseille. One stop at rest stop for food. Again, asbin Italy, the rest stop foodnis truly great. They had a line for pre made sandwiches. Very good sandwiches. And cheap. America put to shame. There was also a hot food line where you could get a full meal. Served on plates with silverware. I did not try the food but it looked great. We sat down inside and ate. Much to Michaels chagrin as he wanted to eat in the car. But, whennin France…

To Marseille airport next. Very small airport. We did not get into it since we were only dropping off the car. Once we rid ourselves of the Citroen, I called for an Uber and got out of there. Straight to Marseille, 21 miles. That part is not so good. We spend a lot on transit.

Uber’d to our hostel. Vertigo Hostelnits called. Only one twin bed on top floor, no AC and super hot. Marika got the reservation wrong on bed count and sizenof room. So, we booked a room at he Holiday Inn four hundred feet away. They had two beds. And AC. Not so bad.

So we laid down for a few in our new, cool room. Tried to use the hotel laundry service. No go. They don’t wash on Sunday and we check out tomorrow. No clean clothes.

We decided to go out. Walked down to the old port. It was quite a long walk but we got a good feel for that part of the city. It’s dirty, and seedy. We stopped at a cafe for a drink. What fun. We ordered three Aperol spritzed and a beer. The waiter brought three double espressos and a beer. And he then went off on a tirade when we corr Fred him. Rude fucking waiter. He took the coffee. Brought the correct drinks. The drinks were excellent.

Next, we walked up to the old fort. It’s a looming presence over the port, above it on the hillside. Large police presence for Bastille Day. Gendarmes all over. Did I forget to mention French Independence Day? It’s today. And the police are all over.

Walked back from old city area to town picked a cafe. Had dinner.

Pleasant place. Dinner was nice. Not excellent, he’ll not even very good. Picked the prix fixe menu. Ok. Wanted better. It was just ok. Now we sit and digest.

After dinner a reversal. Walked through town the other way to the hotel. There were thousands of people on the street headed to the port. Turns out the fireworks show is set off there. I think every citizen of Marseille was out and headed down there. Not us.

Got to hotel and did the shower thing. Sat around. Read a book. Watched the fireworks out the back window. The best seat in the house. Spectacular show. The finale was a thing of beauty. You shoulda been there.

Off to bed.

Nice is nice. And I mean that. Running about 80 degrees with some humidity. Hot enough you want to seek shade and a cool drink. Or go for a swim in the Mediterranean which is the only thing that’s free here.

This morning we had no reason to get up. No schedule. Just go to the beach. But Emily got up by 845. And went to shower. So I was woken, rudely, and got up at 9. Still nice to sleep in. I am tired all the time. Hi Ed.

We all took our sweet time getting ready. At least 90 minutes for everyone else to get moving. Which is why Emily and I went in search of breakfast and left the chitlins to their own devices.

We found a nice breakfast only spot half a block away. Ordered up a couple continental breakfasts and sat and ate slow. Nice. People watching at its finest. We struck up a conversation with a couple young women next to us. One whose family lives in Sacramento. Ahh, a touch of home. They have both been all over, one studied in Rome the last few months. She was very concerned about the theft that goes on against tourists in Europe. Especially in Barcelona, where we are headed day after tomorrow. She was just full of info. Love being able to meet people while traveling, makes the trip that much more interesting.

The kids came and ate. They left before us. They were upset we were so engrossed in conversation that we had no time for them. Tough. They are old enough to handle themselves, I think.

We finished and went back to the hostel. The kiddies (adult children) have decided to spend the day at the beach. This is not an uncommon activity in Nice where there is a tremendous amount of beach. Though it is a rocky beach. No one seems to care.

Emily and I went shopping for the day. Had our own lunch and etc. Lunch was the best deal ever. We had run across a very nice looking patisserie while shopping. By nice looking I mean the pastries and food looked fabulous. We made a mental note to come back. So for lunch later, we went back. I planned on a pastry lunch. Emily bought a rice salad and a tartine. I did not get my entire order so I ended up sharing hers with her. And all was amazingly delicioso. We actually took our lunch to hdinner beach and sat in the shade on the promenade to eat. The three child adults were on the beach just below getting sun burned. Fun. Ahh, yes, I remember those days. Now my skin is the color and texture of cheap Corinthian leather due to sun. Now I stay out of it. And wear clothes all over. Better for me.

I had wanted to go to Monaco to check out, well, Monaco. Turned out to be an expensive trip. We got there and started to wander, saw the famous Casino Monte Carlo where James Bond gambles. Walked a ways. Michael had to find a bathroom so he and Carly wandered off. Once we got split up it took an hour to find them. They wandered off without a word. But we found them. And we also discovered it is very expensive to eat there. So expensive we had to leave. The return taxi cost 150$. Christ. What a rip. The taxi driver was nice enough and explained why it was so pricey. Explained how he can legally take only four people etc. whatever. He took four of us and I walked down tonhebco Net and hailed him and he picked me up. He says there are many cameras and he needed to cover. And not turn on the gate box. Like I said at start, turned out to be a high price outing.

Well we took the coast road to Nice. Beautiful scenery and interesting drive. Driver went into a 30 minute rant about the death of he planet. We are doomed. That was weird. He dropped us in Nice. Good bye. And we searched for and found a nice place for dinner. It is Carly’s last night with us. Tomorrow she flies home. 🙁🙁.

After dinner we hard s for the barn and a late night. Tomorrow is Bastille Day and we are headed to airport and then a drive to Marseille.

Today we are traveling to Nice. We have to take the train, though I prefer a car, but a rental car that crosses over a border is more than insanely expensive. The train is not too bad.

We managed to get up, pack, shower, dress and get moving quickly. Paid our room tax, no time for food, off to train station. I was lazy. Called a cab. I don’t want to carry the bags and neither does anyone else. Cab showed and he refused to carry all five of us. Only four. So Michael walked. Hey,it’s only 3 mins.

At the train station I had to get in line to get help with my paperless tickets. The agent printed them out. He didn’t get the memo. Asshole did not print a ticket for the third leg of our trip and I did not notice. More on that later.

We had some time so Marika went to the cafe in the station and got coffee, and food. I hate to miss breakfast.

All was well. We hopped our train to Genoa PP and were off. On the train we mostly dozed though we were able to have conversations with some of the other passengers. Those around us were natives. Some spoke English. Nice trip.

We dozed, and chatted,for the next hour. Got off the train in Genoa, and could not find our train connection. Had to get in info line to ask. Little bit of luck, one on the Trenitalia guys wandered by the line we were waiting in to get help and Michael grabbed him quick. Turns out we got off the train a stop early, at Genoa Brigante. Guy says hop on Santova train to Genoa PP. which we did. Very quickly. And made it to the correct station and correct train with 2 mins to spare. Actually, Emily was last up to the platform and we had to block the door open to get her in. Close I said.

Again, nice ride to Ventimiglia. Enjoyable. I fell asleep. Only a one hour ride. It gets a little funny right here. We got off the train, and I could not figure out what to do next. I had no ticket to Nice. Remember the asshole who did not print it? It completely screwed me up. It’s been a month since I booked this. So we were gonna eat lunch and talk about it. I got the brilliant idea (all my ideas are) to review my itinerary. Guess what? I am not that stupid. I booked through to Nice. The hostel is three minutes walk from the station. I amaze myself. We made the train with 9 mins to spare. With no more missteps or problems. I should be a tour guide.

We got off the train. Last stop. Nice-Ville station. Yay. As I previously mentioned, 3 min walk to hostel. Turns out to be a hostel and hotel. We got a hotel room for four and Marika is in a hostel dorm room. And our room has AC. God bless us, everyone! We are on the 4th floor. The stairs are filthy and we were all worried on the first climb. Will the room be filthy? It wasn’t. Clean and nice. And cool, like me.

We got settled and decided to head to the beach, it’s only a block. But, instead got a taxi and had him take us to Vieux Nice (old town) for food. Ten minute drive.

We had lunch. Good food, bad service. Thought it was a good deal but ended up being about usual price wise.

We headed down the Oceanside promenade after lunch. And, btw, lunch ended at 5pm. We walked for quite awhile then sat on a bench facing he beach. Marika and Emily promptly fell asleep. Fine. I worked on my blog. For an hour or so. Carly and Michael went in search of whatever. Good for them. They are probably drinking.

After blogging and nap we walked off in search of a drink, just us three. If you can believe it, we found a cafe with a really rude French waiter. Quel surprise. She was a bitch. I had a bad Aperol spritz as did Marika and Em had a glass of white. Sure is easy to drink all day in Europe. We had a drink and left in search of the other two.

We met up with them at the Red Kafe. They were having a drink. Turns out the Red is a gay bar. No problem, they were welcoming. It was not crowded and they prob needed the biz. Emily and I were not really interested in dinner being we ate lunch late. But the other three wanted dinner. So we went with them to a fishy place. Peixes, whichnis a strange name for a fish restaurant. Or it’s greek for fish. I don’t know. They ordered dinner and we got a few tastes of theirs.

There was a gelato stand outside the restaurant. Em and I decided to have dinner there. Ice cream for dinner. Remember,we are old enough to eat our dessert first. The gelato was very good. I had ginger spice cookie and raspberry. Nice.

We walked back to the hotel. Our brain trust has decided to take it easy tomorrow. Just sleep late and go to the beach. So we went to bed.

Up hard. Cuz up late last night. Of course, we are up late most every night and I don’t sleep well. Our hostel, here in Florence, has no AC. Like most Histels. We were spoiled in Rome. Here, I sleep in an oven with no ventilation. I sleep on top of the covers all night and am still over heated. I like the American version where even the cheapest motel has working AC even in winter in North Dakota. God Bless the US.

So, get ready for day. Usual problems, shower works poorly though it does have hot water. The shower doors are a funky tri fold thing. Leak like a sieve. The shower floor is the bathroom floor, no lip or tub. We have to throw a towel down to hold back the flood. Nice. But I manage. No fan so it’s insanely steamy and can’t leave door open cuz e got roommates, it’s a hostel. So I get cooked. Then I shave in a mirror that won’t stay clear. That’s fun.

But I manage to get out and dressed. Feels good to walk into the room after because it feels cool after. Only time of day it does.

Em and I headed down for the petit dejeuner. The morning meal is not anything special or unique. High carb packaged food, at best. The coffee though, is quite good. Automatic espresso type machine with good coffee in it. Coffee in Italy pushes toward excellent at all opportunities. My rest stop cappuccino I had in the drive here is a perfect example. Just excellent. That’s all.

Today’s activity starts in the center of Florence. We are visiting the medieval church and done. He Duomo. Built in the 1400s. Like everything else.

We tried to buy tickets, but the regular tickets were sold out for the next few days. We had to purchase priority tickets from a private vendor. Seems these companies can buy up quite a few of the regular tickets, in advance, and them increase the price 5x and cheat is tourists out of our money. Nice.

Well, we got in and enjoyed the usual hike up a medieval tower staircase to the stars. I don’t need to workout, I just visit old monuments. We climbed thru a very narrow, short and twisty old staircase. About as comfy as a submarine.
At times there was people coming down as well. We got up close and very pe signal with sweaty tourists. And they did too. Marika got claustrophobic and had to start deep breathing exercises to calm down. Her response triggered my response and I got nervous.

The stair came out on a walkway at the base of the dome roof. About 200’ above the floor. Walkway about 20” wide. Unnerving. We wandered around the dome and looked at the painted ceiling. And down at the church. Then back out into the next walkway which goes to the top of the dome. The walkway is between the outside dome and inside dome and has a curved outer and inner walls. One way traffic only. Twice as closed in as lower. Very uncomfortable. If there were any issue in their, you are gonna die. No jaws of life here. So, after ten minutes of unnerving climb in very very tight quarters, we came out to the outside of the dome, 400’ above the square. The floor slopes out too. There is a railing. I found it almost impossible to go to the edge to take pictures. Not scary, I just did not feel comfortable. At least I was out of the “submarine” passages. Marika did better out in the open but did not stand at the edge. The view of Florence was spectacular and the guide we had did tell is a lot of info about Florence and the sights. Of course we had to climb back down the way we came up.

The climb down was a lot easier on my brain. There is no building of suspense you get in a climb up. So it was easy at least getting out.

Out to lunch. And lots of shopping.

We split up for lunch. Em and I found a place that did not serve the usual menu we have come to expect. And it was very inexpensive. And delicious. It was mostly a tartine or crostini with many and varied toppings to start. Along with a drink. Just to take the edge off. They brought a few free items out as well which is really nice since I think the total came to under $20. A nice pleasant lunch. Could just be better because our other three were not there. That’s a treat.

The Kids had pizza which was mediocre. Which makes my meal even better

After lunch, more shopping. I try to stay out of that. I don’t want anything.

The afternoon is not complete unless we sit in a cafe and have drinks. So we did.

And after drinks, more shopping

Dinner at the usual joint. And when I say usual I mean this one was small and intimate. Excellent food. Friendly waiter. Good wine. Nice.

The place did not take credit cards. The waiter solved that by walking me to an ATM to get cash.

Waiter got us a cab. I guess he wanted to be rid of us.

Back to hostel directly by cab. And surprise, kids to bar. Me and Em to bed. I know, it’s a surprise, the kids drink too much and is older folk go to bed. I get the best in that trade.

We are staying in a six bed dorm room of the hostel. We occupy 5. When we returned to our room, our roommate Felix from Quebec was there. We were able to have a nice conversation with him. I have many Canadian relatives so we had some things in common. Nice kid, he is 23. A computer engineer and able to work from the road. Sweet.

I am still not sleeping and this hostel has no AC. I had to take a towel to bed with me tonight to periodically dry off. Yuck. I can’t to leave if only to get out of the heat. Next stop is Pisa, it’s hot there, but only visiting for a day. I guess this is the middle of summer. But I thought the Lors would have made an exception for me.