my blogging head hangs in shame.

Three posts?! Three?! That's how many posts I published last year. Shameful. My new year's resolution? To beat that number this year. Even if no one's readin'.

I'll start this year's blogging with an account of our big vacation from last year: a 12 night Mediterranean cruise, which left from Barcelona and traveled to Sicily, Athens, Rhodes, Egypt and Malta. Well, at least it was supposed to. I'll begin the day by day account of our travels:

TRAVELING TO BARCELONA/BOARDING THE CRUISE SHIP
Well, our vacation started with adventure, but not the good kind. We traveled to Munich on Friday evening in order to get a leisurely start to our travel day on Saturday. We were scheduled to take a flight from Munich to Barcelona in the early afternoon on Saturday. We got to the airport in plenty of time, only to discover at the e-ticket kiosk that our flight had been canacelled. Sadly, we had been detached from news and were completely unaware of the air traffic controllers strike in Spain, and we assumed it was a weather issue. After waiting in a lengthy line, we were told that they didn’t think that there would be any flights out to Spain that day, but that they could get us on a flight the next day, Sunday. But while they thought that the flight would depart as scheduled without major delays, they couldn’t guarantee it. Naturally, we were freaking out a little…it’s not like a cruise ship will wait for you. We said okay to the Sunday tickets but started researching other options. We (along with all of our bags) took the 45 minute train ride to Munich’s main train station to see about getting a train to Barcelona. We could have done that, but it would mean a 22 hour train experience on multiple trains and would cost nearly 600 euro! No thanks! We then briefly entertained the thought of driving the thirteen plus hours to Barcelona, realizing that it was the most certain way to get us to the ship on time. Since we were already in downtown Munich, we thought that it would be silly to miss this opportunity to visit Munich’s wonderful Christmas market and to sample our favorite treats. We took full advantage of our short time at the market, consuming Gluhwein, Feuerzangenbowle, 2 Bratwursts, 3 Latkes, and a cone of warm candied almonds.

As tasty as the treats were, we weren’t huge fans of the crazy crowds, the dirty slushy snow and the freezing cold. We returned to the airport, hoping that maybe flights had opened up, but no such luck. This time, we were told that if the flight didn’t go out on Sunday, they would fly us to the first port of call (Palermo), so that we could meet up with our ship. Not a great option, but it was something. We decided to chance the Sunday flight (since neither of us felt that a 13-hour drive was the least bit appealing) and headed back to our hotel for an additional night. Of course the hotel was now quite full and they put us in a new addition to the complex that was over a block away. The room was brand spankin’ new (still smelled of paint) and beautiful but the walk to dinner and checkout on a snowy rural street left something to be desired.


Sunday morning, we rose early and checked several websites, all indicating that our flight to Barcelona would depart as scheduled. We were cautiously optimistic as we began the day. As poorly as our Saturday went, Sunday was super smooth. Our flight left with only a slight delay. We got a superspeedy taxi to the port. And in no time at all we were on the ship and finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and truly relax.

Our first order of business was to find our cabin. We have been on one cruise together before and we had a very tiny cabin. So we were very pleased to see our cabin this time was much larger and had a balcony:

After a quick look around, we headed up to the buffet lunch and quickly commenced the ridiculous eating that is required on a cruise.

After the buffet, we completed this learn about the cruise raffle thing, which resulted in us winning zero items.  Then it was on to the emergency drill.  The drill was fine, but it was frustrating to listen to everyone complaining about their hardships in reaching the ship due to the air traffic controller strike.  Of course, the frustrations were understandable, but at that point they were on their ship and we thought that they should get to work enjoying the vacation!

By the time that we finished the drill, it was time to go to dinner.  Dinner was nice and we met the two couples that would be dining with us throughout the cruise.  Both couples seemed very nice and dinner was delicious.

After dinner, we attended the Welcome Show, which was pretty much what we expected.  Then we walked around the ship, checking out each desk and enjoying a second dessert along the way.  We participated in the first bingo session (of many!).  We didn't win  anything (something that sadly held true throughout the trip), but had lots of fun and yummy drinks (I had a fozen mudslide!).

We did some final exploring and then returned to our cabin where we finished unpacking and finally got some sleep!
The foods we enjoyed:

Friday Night, Munich Hotel –Bread with strange butter (bits of bacon and chives in it), Potato Carrot Cream Soup, Bratwurst with sauerkraut (Jerry), Kaesespaetzle with Onions and Bacon (Heather)

Saturday, Munich, Christmas Market – Gluhwein (Jerry), Feuerzangenbowle (Heather), Bratwurst, Potato Latkes with Garlic Cream Sauce, Roasted Almonds

Saturday Night, Munich Hotel – Bread with strange butter (bits of bacon and chives in it)Potato Carrot Soup, Roast with Knoedel (Jerry), Flammkuche with onions and Bacon (Heather), Warm apple strudel, Hot chocolate with amaretto (Heather) – waitress asked twice incredulously when I asked for amaretto in my hot chocoloate

Sunday afternoon – Ham and soft cheese w/chives sammich on the plane, Santa chocolate

Sunday afternoon , ship – Buffet galore

Sunday evening, ship - Heather: Prosciutto w/Melon, Sea Bass, Warm Blackberry & Peach Cobbler

Jerry: Hot & Sour Shrimp Soup, Prime Rib, Spongecake with Syrup, Started our 7 Bottle Wine Package

Since I wrote all of this while we were actually on the cruise, I'll try to get the rest of the days posted very soon!