Visit to Germany

After the cruise, I returned home with Wilhelm, Ursula and Alexandria to spend time with them at their home. I spent a lot of time with Wilhelm delivering plants and visiting his clients and just enjoying the beautiful scenery of their part of the world. It was truly magnificent!  They were very gracious hosts and I could never thank them enough for all they did for me. I had a wonderful time and will always cherish the memories of my visit and I hope I will have a chance to reciprocate sometime soon!

 

Traveled all over this beautiful part of Germany

                                     

Neighborhood celebration of Ursula and Wilhelm’s anniversary 

 

The town mayor came to celebrate

  

Dinner at Rebstock Durbach

 

Thermal baths at Baden Baden

Standing in the highest point in the southern part of the Black Forest 

Camping on Lake Konstanz

  

Crossing Lake  Konstanz  on the car ferry

Crossing the Rhine River

On the shore of Lake Konstanz

 

 

Zwergele(Little Dwarf) leading the good life!

Wilhelm  checking a plant for one of his clients 

 

Disembarking in Rome

Friday, June 8th

This turned out to be the day from HELL!!  We disembarked on a day that a strike had been called from 1PM to 5PM!  Our afternoon flight to Frankfurt had been canceled and we were rescheduled on a flight leaving Rome at 7:45PM. Alexandria was able to get us a day room at the Hilton at the airport so at least we were not stuck at the airport and could get some rest!  We went over to the airport around 5PM and faced a nightmare!!  Flights were overbooked and others were still being cancelled! Alexandria found a line for handicapped.....she made me get my cane out of my suitcase and we got in that line!!  She then told the lady I needed a wheelchair!!  It actually was pretty funny!  That made it a breeze to get thru security....we went to the front of the line!!  Our flight was again delayed....it was around 1AM when we got home!

Ibiza

Wednesday, June 6th

This is a new port on a lot of itineraries that I really don’t see much value for adding.  It really is just a beach stop..not much else. We took the shuttle in to town and just walked around.

Lighthouse in the harbor 

Yachts of the rich!!

Malaga

Monday, June 4th

Today, we took the HOHO bus around Malaga. I had been here before and took an excursion to Alhambra.  This time, we decided to take it easy and just check out the city.  Really not much to see of historical interest other then being the birthplace of Pablo Picasso

Me and Pablo

Beautiful....trees in bloom

Anniversary Dinner at Murano

Sunday, June 3rd

Tonite, we celebrated the special day when, as Wilhelm described it, he acquired his housekeeper 50 years ago!!  They are really a very special couple. The love they share just radiates.  Alexandria arranged a beautiful table in Murano speciality restaurant.

To many more years!

Lobster prepared at the table

Charlie was there in spirit

Gibraltar

Sunday, June 3rd

Today we took a tour up to the “Rock” to see the famous Barbary monkeys and also to visit St. Michael’s Cave.......also special today is that it is Ursula and Wilhelm’s 50th Anniversary!

St. Michael’s Cave......much better than the Ape Caves!!

 One of the monkeys wanted to come home with Alexandria

Hitching a ride

Road across the airport!  Closed when flight takes off or lands. Gibraltar on bottom of picture....Spain on top

Barcelona

Thursday/Friday May 31st & June 1st

Sail in to Barcelona on the helicopter pad

On this first day in Barcelona, we took the ship’s tour to Monserrat. Charlie and I had been here previously, but Alexandra and her family had not. The scenery up the mountain was spectacular!

Monserrat was very crowded so we could not get up close to view the Black Madonna as I had the last time I was here.

The next morning we took the HOHO Bus and walked LaRambla. Since we had all been to Barcelona several times, we took an easy day

Gaudi creation on Passeig de Gràcia 

Enjoying a Sangria on LaRambla

Villefranche

Wednesday, May 30th

This day did not start out as planned!  Wilhelm woke up with a very swollen, painful big toe!  Instead of going off to visit Eze, we took a cab to an ER in Nice!  The wait wasn’t too bad and the diagnosis was Gout!  Total bill including X-ray was 50€!!  Can’t imagine what the cost would have been in the USA!!

After the ER visit, we took the train down in to the Old Town section of Nice. It really was bittersweet....this is where we walked when our friends came to meet Charlie and me when we stopped in this port back in 2015. They had driven overnight to come and see us!

Walking the promenade brought back a lot of memories

See Wilhelm with my purple cane!

Picture from 2015.....This was the time our friends got to say goodbye to Charlie. It was a very special day for me. Although, Charlie and I took one cruise after this.....this really was his last good cruise and I’m so glad Alexandra, Ursula and Wilhelm were able to share this day with us

La Spezia

Tuesday, May 29th

I did not sleep well last night!  I think the jet lag finally caught up with me....also, I may be getting to old for this!  I cancelled me boat trip to Cinque Terre and turned it in to a sea day and a catch up on sleep day!  Charlie and I had been to Cinque Terre before so I have good memories of it.

Alexandra, Wilhelmina and Ursula took the train to Levantine and then to Monterosso and walked around and then took the train back to port. They said they enjoyed the day but I wish I had been with them!  They missed Vernazze which I think is the most beautiful

Guess the walk was tiring!!

Boarding the Celebrity Reflection

Monday, May 28th

My friends picked me up at about 10AM at the hotel. They had flown in from Frankfort that morning and had arranged the transfer to the cruise terminal. It was so good to see them!

Boarding the ship was pretty painless and we were in the main dining room for lunch by 1PM. After muster drill, we headed up to the Sunset Bar for sail away.

Arrival in Fiumicino

Arrived at FCO a little after 10AM.  Don’t think I got much sleep. I’m sure glad I had arranged pick up at the airport!  Would not have been happy to try to arrange pick up to the hotel. It was so nice to see a guy with a sign with my name on it when I got out of customs

The hotel, Domus Lina was a quaint B&B right on the sea in Fiumicino.  It was very nice and I felt very sake on my own.

Walking along sea wall

Enjoying a beer at a little cafe by the hotel