on the way home

Barcelona - whimsical, vibrant, and beautiful city. From the walk along Las Rambla, eyeing the food in the Mercat Boqueria, and of course being enchanted by the Gaudi buildings, it is a fantastic place. A thunderstorm punctuated an otherwise perfect Spring day. Fortunately I had already visited Gaudi’s Parc Guell! Bit wistful as I reboarded Queen Victoria, knowing that this was our last port of call.

Thinking about our ports and the things I did: the most -

pure fun - riding the elephant bareback
awesome buildings - Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia
awesome natural site - Rabaul’s active volcano
educational - Panama Canal; Guatemala macadamia nut farm
strangest - Mumbai temples
prettiest harbor - Cabo San Lucas; Manly (Sydney_
inspiring - Ephesus
surprising - Petra
emotional - Saipan, El Alamein, Hawaii military bases
charming city - Christchurch, Civitavecchia, Hobart
best food - Phuket
most like home - North Island of New Zealand
attractive countryside - New Zealand, Tasmania
most international - Singapore
richest - Dubai
poorest - Mumbai
best coffee - Athens
cleanest - Singapore
dirtiest - Mumbai; Phuket
enchanting - the sea
hottest - Tonga
roughest sea - Mediterranean between Greece & Italy
Other memorable places: Suez Canal, Robert Louis Stevenson’s home on Samoa, Sydney harbor, Glover Garden in Nagasaki, Topaki Palace in Istanbul, tea ceremony in Busan, Shanghai towers and the Maglev train, Hong Kong shopping, Vasco da Gama’s church in Cochin
least favorite port - Puerta Vallerta
what we just missed - eruption in sea near Tonga, typhoon in Cairns, volcano eruption in Japan, demonstrations in Mumbai, Bangkok (twice) and Pattaya (Thailand) as well as in Athens and Istanbul, fire in Australia, hijackings in the Gulf of Aden, sand storm in Dubai, disputes between North and South Korea including rocket launch.