Cruising Home

We boarded the Celebrity Ship Silhouette on Saturday and were able to check out many areas of the ship before we left the port. It is a new ship that was made in Germany and has only made 8 voyages in the Mediterranean this summer. There are about 2800 guests on board, so while not small, it isn't over whelming either. We settled in and prepared for our first port of call, Sardinia.

We met Jessica at the port in Sardinia at 9AM Sunday morning. She had arrived on Saturday and was staying at a Hostel on the island. Using the cruise ship information we started our walking tour of the city. The old part of Cagliari is called Castello, the castle, which lies on top of a hill, with a wonderful view of the Gulf of Cagliari.

We happen upon the botanical gardens of Cagliari and enjoyed all of the identified plants including this cactus garden.

Back to the ship and a new island on Monday. Palma De Mallorca, Spain.
Palma is famous for La Seu, its vast cathedral originally built in 1229, it did not finish until 1601. The Parc de la Mar (Park of the Sea) lies just south overlooked by the great building which sits above it on the city's stone foundations. Between these two are the town walls. After our cathedral visit we opted for rental bikes and a ride along the ocean. There is a 15 mile bike path right along the beach. We stopped for some local sangria and then returned our bikes and made our way back to the ship. A beautiful island worthy or more time than a cruise ship stop.

The next day we travelled through the Straits of Gibraltar on our way to Lisbon Portugal. We viewed Africa from the deck. Great sights in the straits with lots of other ships in view!

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The 25th of April suspension bridge in Lisbon, Portugal is one of the world's longest suspension bridges at 1.5 miles (2.2 kilometers) long. Built in 1966, its reddish-orange color makes it look like San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

Our day in Lisbon was wet but fun. We toured the city with our ship neighbors from Vancouver Island. We had some great local food and we purchased some local port wine to bring home. We decided Portugal would be on the long list of places we would visit again.

Back to the ship and six wonderful long days at sea. No pictures from this part of the journey but it was a great way to get home from Italy. Safely home now.