The Cruise Line is Holland America, and the ship is the MS Eurodam with 11 decks, holds 2100 passengers, is 935 feet long, and can do around 24 knots.








Our itinerary is: fly from LAX to Barcelona transferring directly to the ship; cruise to several Spanish ports along the Mediterranean (Valencia and Cartagena), sail through the Straights of Gibraltar (with a stop in Gibraltar), around the Iberian Peninsula stopping at several ports in Spain (Cadiz and Vigo) as well as Lisbon, Portugal; traveling through the Bay of Biscayne to Portland, England; across the English Channel to Cherbourg, France; up to Brugge, Belgium, and then through the North Sea to our final destination Copenhagen, Denmark. We'll stay in Copenhagen two nights before flying back home. The cruise itself is 12 days long - total trip 16 days.

Can we handle a 12-day cruise (our longest yet)? Can we survive the flight over in economy class? Will we win the battle against 2000+ passengers for access to the breakfast buffet?..and my first day on board the ship, I discovered that our "Drink Package" which included 15 free drinks per person per day (including alcohol) is not like roll-over minutes - if you only consume 5 drinks one day, you cannot have 25 the next day. *SIGH*....A true test of our survival skills.


Sunday, May 10, 2015

Day 7: May 1 - Lisbon, Portugal



















We booked a "Leisurely Lisbon" tour - a nice bus ride around town stopping at a few famous spots for photo shoots and bio-breaks.






One particular stop was at the famous and historical Jeronimos Monastery,  which was a favorite destination for people traveling hundreds of miles as part of a pilgrimage to this very spot.  

We, on the other hand, ignored the Monastery and headed for an even more famous bakery - Pasteis de Belem (many people on the ship raved about this place).  Diane fought the crowd to pick up some small custard-filled pastry things supposedly made from a secret recipe dating back to 1837.  They were quite tasty, and well worth our own Pilgrimage.


One note:  The economic depression was noticeable in Spain, but perhaps even more so in Portugal, where 34% of the population is unemployed and there were many, many shops, warehouses, and homes empty and boarded up.

One example is the bridge (below), which was planned to be completed in 2013...then 2014...then 2015...now 2016

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