Archive
Montserrat, and Cava wine
Montserrat is a beautiful mountain range about an hour northwest of Barcelona. It occupies an important part in Barcelona history, and has been contested by various armies, including Napoleon. It also is the home of the Virgin of Montserrat, the patroness of Catalunya, AKA the black Madonna.
The monastery itself is spectacular, with portions dating back to 1200. Many people still make pilgrimages to the site, and it shows…. very busy even mid week. Also of interest is the Basilica boys choir, which performs twice a day. We got to hear them perform in a very crowded chapel.
There is also a very steep rail car to take you to the top for even more spectacular views. In short, a terrific spot for both history and natural beauty.
After our tour we stopped off at small winery. Actually, not a winery, as they only specialize in “Cava”, the local sparkling wine. Consider it the Spanish version of champagne. One of the winery principals gave an excellent tour of the original house, over 1,000 years old. Then a detailed explanation of how Cava is produced, followed by a tasting of the various vintages. Bought a bottle to take home. ..
Montserrat from a distance
The monastery, nestled in the rocks
A view from the top
Pat of the original monastery, dating back to 1200
Entrance to the chapel
Inside the chapel
Boys choir performing
Stained glass window
Entrance to the old house
Kitchen inside the old house
The old wine press
Portion of the wine cellar
More modern production area
The 1,000 year old olive tree in the back yard
Cruising to Barcelona
Our cruise left the Houston Cruise Port Terminal on April 16. It was the last cruise from this port, which is going to be converted to a container terminal. Our ship was the Norwegian Cruise Lines “Jade”, which was repositioning to Europe. A seperate blog post details our extensive dining experience.
We made a quick stop in Miami to pick up more passengers. Our first real port of call was St. Thomas, VI where we got off for a walk before 6 days at sea. A ride up the cable car gave some good views of the surroundings, and our ship.
We joined with the cruisecritics.com crew and had a great time. There were over 100 of us, from around the world. We even celebrated joint birthdays with Romola and Jennifer. Special thanks to Viet for including us!
Our next stop was Funchal, Madeira where we had a nice excursion. Our first stop was at the market, with the usual collection of plants, veggies, meat and seafood. Always interesting to see what’s local! Then, a short stop to taste the local Madeira wine. We even took a ride on their famous toboggan!
Then on to Barcelona. I managed to get a picture of the Rock of Gibraltar, even though it was late and I only had my small camera. Then on to Barcelona, where I’m sure new adventures await us.
Serial in St Thomas
Not all people that live here are poor
Or ship on the left
Or new friends Dan and Veronica
Cliffs at Funchal
Fishing village colors
In the fish market
Flower merchant in traditional clothes
In the Madeira winery
Living on the side of a hill
Hang on!
Vietnam and his new wife, who had a birthday
Jennifer's birthday on the same day as romola
Gibraltar at dusk
Eating our way to Barcelona
Norwegian Cruise Lines had a cruise from Houston to Barcelona that was reasonably priced, and since we were parked near the port, we booked it. As a bonus, we received an Unlimited Dining Package.
Most larger cruise ships have specialty restaurants on board, rivaling those on shore. So we prepared to spend 16 days of gastronomic excess. The specialty restaurants are:
Cagney, a Chicago style steak house.
Le Bistro, classic French.
Moderno, Argentinian Chucassaria
Tepanyaki, Japanese steak house
La Cucina, Italian style country
So here are a few highlights. Yes, we gained weight but a lot of walking kept it somewhat in check.
Tenderloin (Le Bistro)
Cornets (Le Bistro)
Lobster and Fettuccini (Cucina)
32 Oz porterhouse (Cagney)
Chicken drumsticks (Cagney)
Lobster, shrimp, calamari and filet (Tepanyaki)
Lamb chops (Bistro)
Roasted pig (Grand Buffet)
29 oz. Tomahawk steak (Cagney)
Filet (Moderno)
Art Car Parade, Houston
Every year Houston holds an Art Car Parade. This is a parade that anyone can enter that has a car (or at least a moving mode of transportation) that has been customized for the occasion. This brings out the best in the would be custom car builders: some are whimsical, some are laughable, some are political, but all are enjoyable.
So we drove on down, found a place to put down our lawn chairs, and enjoyed the spectacle. BTW, if you ever plan to attend, come early… it is very popular and good places (and food) are hard to find.
Here are some of the pictures, many more in our Photo Albums, see Art Car Album. No attempt was made at a description, these are far beyond descriptions!
Going to the dogs
Our friends Roland and Tish Stuebner raise and show dogs. Specifically, Standard Schnauzers. They’ve done quite well, and have raised several Champions and a Grand Champion, and are on their way to another. At this show, Roland was showing Chase, their Champion dog. Their handler was also showing Quinn, one of Roland’s other dogs.
They travel in their motor home (with a small army of dogs) to various dog shows. One dog show happened to be close to us, so we paid them a visit and took in some of the event. A lot of dogs, and this was a small show!
It was great to meet up with them again and watch them prep and show their dogs. There sure are a lot of dog breeds, so we had fun and just had to take some pictures of the many dogs being shown.
Time for spring flowers
Spring is here, and so are the wildflowers. We had the bluebonnets a few weeks ago (see other blog), but now flowers are appearing all over the place. Here are a few that I took with my new Pentax K-3ii camera with 105mm Macro lens.
-1-
-2-
-3-
-4-
-5-
-6-
-7-
-8-
-9-
Bluebonnet time in Texas
Spring time brings out the bluebonnets in Texas! Many times, next to the highway or other public area. I was lucky to find a field close to where we are currently camped that had a good field of bluebonnets. They weren’t as thick as some other places we’ve seen, but still lovely to look at and admire. Even caught a bee hard at work!
A closeup of one of the flowers
A field of bluebonnets
A bee hard at work
Dogs, and Arboretum
Spring is starting in Dallas area! Today, Stacy and Dallas invited us over for a brunch and to go over wedding plans. As usual, good food, family company, and things to look forward to!
The weather was so nice I just had to take a few pictures of the dogs playing outside. After that, we made a little side trip to the Dallas Arboretum to look at all the flowers springing up. The Arboretum is a favorite place for us to go multiple time during the year.
Nikita
Link
Hyacinths look and smell great!
A pink tulip, subtle in the colors
Pansies always look like they have a face
Double flower
A little waterfall
Even cherry blossoms
Even Benjamin Franklin looks pleased
Bright colored tulips
Colorful flower beds
Reflection cruise
The Reflection is a relatively new ship, so we thought we would check it out on a one week Caribbean cruise. It has become one of our favorite ships . All the shipboard facilities were nice, we’ll laid out and tastefully decorated. Plus, there was some truly great at work on display. And of course the food was excellent, and we had a beverage package so we didn’t go thirsty either.
Or cruise took us to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Jamaica, and an unexpected stop in Nassau. The last stop was added to replace our planned stopover in Coco Cay, as there was a major storm in that area. No one seemed to mind.
It was fun to travel with our friends (Les and Ida Cook), we made sure to get enough to eat, and got some nice photo opportunities. Below are a few, and many more in out Flickr album.
Inside the dining room
Shopping center in Jamqica
Colorful Jamaica!
Jamaica flower
Not sure about some of the ships in the harbor
A view of where we've been
Guess we made it to the Caymans
It does get hot on the islands. ...
Romola, Les and Ida
Island colors
More colors
Making sure we stay off the rail
Romola and Ida between the ships
A park in Cozumel
Where we had great Indonesian food (Chi)
Our ship
Early morning on board
Swimming pool at dawn
Following the NCL Escape out of Miami
Atlantis hotel
Back to Miami
At the Atlantis hotel
Caribbean cruise on the Jade
We do a lot of cruising, but never on Norwegian. So when we saw a very low price on a cruise from Houston, we decided to give “freestyle cruising” a try. Especially since they offered upgraded dining.
The ship was the Jade, and we had an inside cabin. It was small, but for our purpose just fine. The room attendant was attentive and did a nice job. The wood finish looked quite rich and attractive. Our only complaint was location, right above one of the night clubs, made for noisy evenings.
The food was very good, especially the upgraded dining. No problems there, although the open dining can get quite busy. The one problem we did have was that the Asian restaurant used MSG, which Romola is allergic to. So we skipped that restaurant.
Overall though, we enjoyed the ship and her crew. So much, we’re going from Houston to Barcelona on her in April.
The NFL Jade
Laninga's Travel Blog 