Our 15 night cruise from Rome took us across the Atlantic with a few stops along the way. We shared some of our favorite moments from Marseille, France in our last blog post. The two additional stops we made on our journey were in Barcelona, Spain and Madeira, Portugal followed by 8 days of sailing across the sea.
Although we have been to Barcelona 
several times before, we enjoyed walking Las Ramblas and the Central Market.
The day was made a bit more interesting because there was a huge demonstration going on the day on our stop. Thousands of people were involved in a coordinated demonstration about the Catalonia state separation from Spain. People were chanting, waving the Catalonia flags and marching to the city center where they blocked the flow of traffic. We did our best to avoid the crowds and did not experience an incidents while in the city.
After a few hours walking around, it was time to head back to the ship for a few days at sea.
Our next stop was Funchal on the island of Madeira, Portugal. We had arranged for a private tour of the island. It was wonderful because it was half the price of the tours available through the cruise line and it was private tour just for the two of us. We were greeted by a young man holding a sign with our name on it. He took us to several different villages on the island’s Southern Coast.
At the end of our tour of Madeira, our guide took us the famous spot for wicker toboggan rides. This mode of transportation was used over a hundred years ago to transport crops form the village high in the mountains to those a sea level. The large baskets glide down the paved roads (what used to be cobblestone). While this form of transportation is no longer used for crops, it has become a very popular activity for tourists. It is rather expensive at 30 Euros for two sharing a toboggan but it is worth it. Funchal is the only place in the world you can experience this time of toboggan ride. It definitely worth doing once.
The island is beautiful, the people are very friendly and the history is very interesting as well. We look forward to going back for a longer visit in the future.
Back on board the ship, we settled in for the trip across the Atlantic. The seas were a bit rough at times but we were glad to not experience any sea sickness. The weather was hit or miss with quite a bit of rain along the way. We enjoyed playing cards each morning.
Our favorite part of the day was 5:30pm trivia. We were fortunate to meet a very wonderful Scottish couple on our first night. The four of us became a trivia team and had a blast each evening giving it our best shot. We were thrilled to win one round along the way.
The ship sailed into Miami just before sunset offering us some amazing views of the city. The next morning we disembarked and started our whirlwind tour across the USA to visit our families for the holidays.
We made a quick stop in Orlando for a 
swap out for warm clothes. It was awesome to see some friends. As well as stop at our favorite pizza place for lunch, Winter Garden Pizza.
We took a VERY early flight from Miami to Portland with two stops along the way. After 13 hours of travel, we received a warm welcome from Robert’s brother and family. We spent the night in Portland with the Allen Family before heading the LaGrande, OR for Thanksgiving.
Spending the Thanksgiving holiday with the Allen family is always a culinary delight. I enjoy the opportunity to cook with my father-in-law, Dr, David Allen. We made all the traditional goodies and enjoyed some of Cherlyne’s homemade pumpkin and pecan pies.
We will soon be on our way to Seattle, WA to visit Robert’s Mom and Sister’s family.