what's cooking?

We started by spending two days in Ft. Lauderdale. Brand new Hyatt House hotel who upgraded us to a full suite. The best part was that this hotel and several others that were still getting themselves to the opening point we're backed up to a brand new entertainment complex!  We enjoyed that part immensely.  After 6 hours in a plane and a total of 10 hours to get there we really needed to walk. This is allowed us to find a couple of really fun restaurants and enjoy window shopping.

The 1st night we ate at a really cute little Italian restaurant which had pizza for Steve and a really good beet and arugula salad with goat cheese for me.  The next morning we decided to venture out and go to a little diner for breakfast that also gave us a good walk. It was cute and the food was just what you expect from your traditional diner Then we walked back to the entertainment complex and just walked around most of the afternoon.  

We ate breakfast at the hotel, which was quite nice considering it was your typical hotel breakfast. And then before we knew it we were in the shuttle getting taken to the port to board Odyessy of the Seas. This was going to be our home for the next 2 weeks.  Everyone was curious about what nine days without touching land would be like.  We actually enjoyed it.I went to the gym and use the exercise bike the entire time. Unfortunately for Steve, day 2 saw him come down with a case of bronchitis, so he did a lot of tea drinking and coughing.

Our 1st morning we went to what they call theater 270.  A technical rest on many levels, but served as a gathering place for several activities.  We were able to meet and join up with 4 other people for our progressive trivia.   That took place for all 9 days.  We were pretty respectable! Our team came in 8th out of 52.Not bad!

Some of us would also get together in the afternoons for the afternoon trivia and since we were all dressed and ready for dinner we would stay and have a glass of wine and chat until we have to go for a reservations.

We finally got to our 1st port on May first.  Malaga, Spain.  Given my agility we were very happy that we took an ADA approved tour.This city has gorgeous parks and history. Unfortunately it was also a high holy day so a lot of Malaga was closed.  The old town was quaint and many of us wanted to stay longer, but when on a tour you stick with the program.  So off we went to what they called the richest area in Spain.It was filled with incredibly expensive stores and restaurants. It also had some of the largest collection of yachts and luxury cars, ever.  

Remember this is from a person who is raised next to Newport Beach.

The next day had us in Valencia. I actually like this port the best. It had the most beautiful parks and it was so wonderful to see people riding bikes and enjoying picnics and even taking their kids to enjoy the outdoors.

Our 3rd port was Majorca.  Again a beautiful, beautiful beautiful port.  We also took a tour in Marseille. We didn't get to really see too much of that as they seem to have quite a bit of heavy traffic that set the tour a little bit off course. So instead of getting to walk in Marseille we were in our open area bus just hoping we get back in time for that bus to take another tour out.

Our last port was Pisa.  This was our best tour.  Our guide didn't miss a beat.  The bus took an hour to get to Pisa. But once there we were greeted by a little restaurant with a snack and then we were left on our own to walk down a street and enjoy not only the very old architectural and apartments but the obvious reason for taking the tour.  Thankfully we were there so early in the morning that we were able to get some pretty nice pictures and have our walking tour before the general crowds began to fill in the air area. 

After that we were put on a trolley. We were all calling at a tin can for sardines because it was pretty snug.But she gave us some more history and show the surround before taking us on a ferry boat ride on the Arno river.

Before we knew it are 2 weeks plus 2 days was over and we had to leave the ship and get to the airport. Let me tell you —9 hours of jet lag, at 10 hour flight, a 4 hour layover, 6 hour flight and the 45 minute drive home was quite taxing.

By the time we got the dogs and got to bed we had been up well over 27 hours.

We had the time of our lives. We even did the captain's table.Would we do this type of trip again? I believe we would.  The next 2 years have us back on our favorite celebrity ships. But another transatlantic cruise is something to consider.