Week 31 was spent on a boat cruising the western Mediterranean, starting in Barcelona, and stopping in Naples, Rome, Florence, Marseille and Palma de Mallorca before returning to Barcelona. I have posted galleries of Italy and Marseille elsewhere; this weekly blog is largely devoted to pictures taken onboard the ship, except for the last few, which are from Palma.
The ship left Barcelona Sunday afternoon and arrived at the first port, Naples, Tuesday morning. So Sunday evening and Monday were basically dedicated to exploring the ship, eating and taking pictures.
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We are aboard, waiting to depart. This is the part of Barcelona harbour where cruise ships dock:
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Finally moving, I get a good look at the working part of the harbour:
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Waving goodbye:
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Barcelona disappears into the distance:
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For a while, we have winged escorts:
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The first sunset:
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The chimney at night:
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The disco on deck 15:
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Early Monday morning, the deck is being cleaned before the onslaught:
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Sunrise in the breakfast restaurant:
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My daughter checking Facebook at lunchtime, when we were close enough to Corsica and Sardinia to catch a 3G signal from land; otherwise, the ship’s satellite connection was very expensive and pretty useless:
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One of the many bars on board:
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Monday evening sunset:
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A charming little touch. When making up our room, the staff left these towel sculptures on our bed. This is supposed to be a dog:
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Depending on your mood, this is a swan or a cobra:
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And a monkey:
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I found most of the entertainment on ship fake and contrived. But this guy was good:
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He really got into his playing:
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Finally, Tuesday morning, we sail into Naples harbour:
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A statement I can relate to, near Naples train station:
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The next day we were in Rome, visiting the Pope and buying ice cream from this lovely lady:
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Another port, another señorita, this time it’s Marseille:
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Saturday lunchtime, our ship docked in Palma de Mallorca:
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The ship docked next to ours had a nicer paint job:
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Palma’s main pedestrian street, rather kitschy right here:
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Window shopping in Palma:
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Serious shopping in Palma:
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Look over here!
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The three official flags of the Baleares:
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And an unofficial flag:
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Open every night. This is the main industry in Mallorca:
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But watch your step on the way home:
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Getting ready for the evening shift:
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In the nicer parts of Palma, most real estate signs are in German, English, Dutch and Russian. Here is one from a much less posh part of town, near the harbour:
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One of the many silly signs on the ship. This is the last picture I took during the cruise:
For some reflections on the whole cruising experience, check out my musings.