July 17-19, 2024 John and I loved Lisbon and its surrounding area when we visited in November 2021. In July 2024 it’s still lovely – but a lot more crowded. We did a Guruwalk this time, so learned a little more about the history – especially about some of the …
July 13-16, 2024 Moroccan Dirhams – 10dhs=$1 Malaga’s seaside rises up into a first class shopping avenue covered by canvas sails to protect shoppers from the southern Spanish sun (and the occasional episode of “liquid sun”). It’s a beautiful town with large beaches in the city, but be prepared to …
July 8-11, 2024 Mallorca, one of the Balearic islands, sits in the Eastern Mediterranean and “belongs” to Spain. Like much of the Med, the island changed ownership over the centuries – the Phoenicians, The Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Moors and finally the Spanish. The Serenade docked near its …
July 4-7, 2024 Corsica is technically part of France, although it spent over 500 years as part of the Kingdom of Genoa. As such, even though their most famous son, Napoleon, was Emperor of France, they do not consider themselves French. The Maison du Bonaparte, the home where Napoleon was …
June 30-July 3, 2024 After we left Sicily, we sailed past the island of Stromboli – which has an active volcano. My own phone photo camera could not get a pic – but pro Matty had the right stuff! (From the ship you could see the flames spouting in the …
June 21-22, 2024 After WWII, the northeastern corner of Italy – the little section that covers the north and northeastern portion of the Adriatic Sea became the Free Territory of Trieste. The region was claimed by both Italy and Yugoslavia, so in 1947, to avoid more fighting, the UN formally …
June 19-20, 2024 The arrival in Ravenna, Italy also heralded the end of our semi-private yachting experience . Throughout the Africa segments only 700-800 passengers wandered the Serenade – a ship capable of carrying 2200. For the next several weeks, we will be completely full. Before dealing with this, John …
June 16-18, 2024 With our arrival in Corfu, we caught back up with our original – very busy- itinerary. With a port almost every day for the next 6 weeks, I will be posting mainly photos and minimal stories/ history. We took an island highlights tour with some friends. Our …
June 11-14, 2024 En route to Tenerife, the ship finally had a passenger talent show! Myself and two fellow guitar players – calling ourselves “The Mutineers” – played “All I Have to Do is Dream” and “Lay Down Sally” – we received many accolades – and it was fun! We …
June 3-8, 2024 For those unaware – June is International Pride month and the Serenade had a Pride Flag raising ceremony to celebrate (and will have a Pride Party on June 14th). Unfortunately, the flag had to come down as we approached Ghana. Ghana decided to outlaw LGBTQ+ individuals (simply …