Tag Archives: Spain

September 12, 2022 · 5:35 am

Transatlantic 2022 — Valencia; Our Next Port of Call

Our next port of call came three days after leaving Tenerife, Canary Islands. Like the Canaries, we were at another Spanish port. But this port was on mainland Spain east of the Strait of Gibraltar in the Mediterranean. So, on 11 May 2022 we found ourselves in Valencia. If you’re keeping track, that means Vision of the Seas had completed the transatlantic portion of this 14-day cruise, and we were getting close to our final destination. And, as is frequently the case, Ursula had us lined up for another tour. First stop — Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (Valencian)/Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (Spanish)/City of Arts and Sciences (English, of course).

Museum of Sciences; City of Arts and Sciences

This incredible city-within-a-city contains many stunning architectural gems, fountains, reflecting pools, works of art, and, of course, museums galore. One such structure is L’Hemisfèric, which contains an IMAX theater, a planetarium, and a “Laserium” laser light show.

*L’Hemisfèric*; City of Arts and Sciences

Yep, lots to see and photograph here. I’ll leave you with this taste of art before we move on in the tour:

Blue Lips at the City of Arts and Sciences?

From the City of Arts and Sciences our tour bus took into the city. We alighted from the bus in the Old Town portion of Valencia within easy stroll distance of our next attraction, Plaça de la Verge (Plaza of the Virgin).

In Plaça de la Verge you’ll find the spectacular fountain imaged below. That is Font Del Túria:

*Font Del Túria*; *Plaça de la Verge*, Valencia

We’re just getting started here at Plaça de la Verge, though. There’s a rather impressive church — Valencia Cathedral. We’ll be walking around the perimeter of this incredible piece of work on Wednesday. Until then I’ll leave you with these samples of what awaits you:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, vacation

Tagged as cruise vacation, R. Doug Wicker, Royal Caribbean, Spain, transatlantic cruise, travel, travel photography, vacation, Valencia, Vision of the Seas

July 9, 2022 · 1:10 pm

Seventy-One Days Away, But Now We’re Back

Our latest jaunt began April 27 with a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and it ended 71 days later with a flight from Los Angeles, California to El Paso, Texas. Along the way we took a transatlantic cruise to Spain, a back-to-back follow-on cruise in the Mediterranean to destinations in both France and Spain, a four-night stay in Germany, two nights in the Netherlands, and then three 12-night back-to-back cruises before flying back for a night in Los Angeles.

The Transatlantic adventure aboard Royal Caribbean’s smallish (78,491 gross tonnage/2,050 double-occupancy passenger capacity) Vision of the Seas allowed me to play a lot of bridge as we had seven days at sea before reaching the Canary Islands, and an additional two sea days before making port in Barcelona. The eight-day Vision follow-on took us to seldom visited ports of call such as Carcassonne (Sete), Toulon, and Corsica in France; followed by the Spanish ports of Ibiza, Cartagena, and Valencia.

Our three Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas (slightly larger at 90,090 GT/2,191 double-occupancy) back-to-backs included Iceland, Ireland, and Northern Ireland; followed by destinations in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales; and finishing off with six ports in Norway. That last voyage took us well north of the Arctic Circle where, during our time there, the sun never set. The farthest north we ventured was 71º 10′ 21″ North latitude, the northernmost point of the continent of Europe and a mere 144 miles/232 kilometers from the closest point to the resurgent Evil Empire that does not deserve mention. You may recall that back in March I pulled all articles on destinations to that deplorable nation.

All in all, not a bad trip save for one completely disappointing city, which I described to you in this recent well-deserved rant: Trashy Amsterdam and the Hellhole of Schipol. You just know the wheels went completely off the rails when I take time away during travels to produce an unscheduled PSA.

At any rate, I’ll be presenting this series shortly after the conclusion of my series on cruising the Southern Caribbean. I’ve not decided yet, but I may run a week of firearms articles between the two series. If I do, that series of three articles will feature a bevy of fun little Berettas — a 21A Bobcat in .22 LR made in 1986, a nifty .25 ACP/6.35mm 950 BS Jetfire manufactured sometime between 1978 and 1986 (I haven’t been able to narrow it down beyond that; hopefully a more knowledgeable reader can solve the mystery for me), and a .380 ACP/9mm kurz 84B Cheetah in remarkable condition dating back to 1982. The 950 should be a particularly fun article, as it is one of two candidates for the unspecified “very flat .25 Beretta automatic with a skeleton grip” Ian Fleming’s fictional spy James Bond used in the first five novels — Casino Royale; Live and Let Die; Moonraker; Diamonds Are Forever; and From Russia, with Love. Of course, we all know what replaced that diminutive “lady’s gun” Beretta, now don’t we.