Barcelona

was founded by the Romans, who set up a colony  called Barcino at the end of the 1st century.

It has been voted the "Best Beach City" in the world. By the way, all beaches are artificial.

Today Barcelona is known for its art and architecture.It is home to nine UNESCO world heritage sites.

The longest street is Gran Via, 13.1 km, but the most famous is La Rambla, it is pedestrian free and  runs for 1.2 km.

My favourite, however, is the elegant boulevard Passeig De Gracia, it is adorned by 32 lamposts, built in 1906. They feature a bench structure at their base made out of mosaic ceramic tiles, they glisten in the sun and at night when the lamps above are lit.

ARVIA, Cabin 8302,

Suite on the 8th floor, cost £4,112 for 13 nights.

Am travelling alone.

ARVIA, 13 night cruise to Spain and France.La Coruna, our first port of call.

La Coruna.

I have been several times and clearly remember the very first visit. We docked in the heart of the city, two ugly buildings greeted us, the port reeked with urine, condoms strewn everywhere.

It could only get better, I thought, and it did, even if not cleaner.

The street running alongside the port is lovely, lined with coffee shops and little boutiques.

When we were asked to rate the ports we had visited, I, and many others wrote the port needs a big clean up. And the town's council listened.

But covid affected La Coruna as it affected most towns, many establishments have closed and only time will tell if they are going to re - open. Still, I found a lovely coffee shop, had excellent orange juice and latte, a rather disappointing croissant, walked a lot and content returned to the ship.

ARVIA. My first time on this latest P & O cruise ship.

I love  this little sitting area separated from the sleeping area.

And  yes, it is a  box of chocolates and a bottle of champagne on the table, a welcome present from Arvia.

Suite 8302 is going to be my home for the next 13 nights, sailing to Spain and France.

The Hague.

The seat of the Dutch Parliament.The permanent home of the United Nations'International Court of Justice, of the International Criminal Court, of the Court of Arbitration. I wanted to see it all.

The tour started well. Then the bus broke down.It was freezing inside waiting for a replacement, the heating was not working. The tour guide did not stop talking.

At the end of the 3 hour misery I lost the will to live.And I have 4 photographs to show for it.

The photograph is I think that of the Criminal court, the tour guide could barely be understood.

The Dam on The River Rotte-Rotterdam

Is the second largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam.In May 1940 the city was heavily bombarded by the Luftwaffe and during the four days of the Rotterdam blitz the entire historic centre, much of it dating to the 13th century,was destroyed.This is one of the reasons Rotterdam has co many skyscrapers, as do many other European cities,that suffered the same fate in the war.

But Rotterdam is not a concrete jungle, all towers are well designed and well looked after. The city grows on you.

There are the cube houses, 38 regular size and 2 super-cubes, designed by Piet Blom and built in 1982-1984.They are yellow and tilted by a 45 degrees angle.Someone has described them as "mind - boggling optical illusion" and they are indeed quite extraordinary.

But some other buildings are tilted, too, Pisa has nothing on Rotterdam!

The Maritime Museum is rather special,you can watch engineers at work.

And the cruise port is  right in the centre of the city. How wonderful is that.

The Dam on The River Rotte-Rotterdam

Is the second largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam.In May 1940 the city was heavily bombarded by the Luftwaffe ( "air weapon") and during the four days of the Rotterdam blitz the entire historic centre, much of it dating to the 13th Century,was destroyed.This is one of the reasons Rotterdam has co many skyscrapers, as do many other European cities,that suffered the same fate in the war.

But Rotterdam is not a concrete jungle, all towers are well looked after. The city grows on you.

Today we had a sea day and a black tie evening.

I keep an Instagram account

and  now and then am asked what to pack on a cruise.

I travel light and often vety light, like now.

Yes, this is all I have packed for a five night cruise.

An oversize shirt and shorts, jeans for the evening(yes, I dress up my pale blue Marks & Spencer jeans in the evening), white blouse, sexy throw, dark grey top and sweater cashmere set, joggers, short sleeve t - shirt, silk lingerie set, a  pair of white socks, green sandals and a green evening bag, swimming costume.

And that's it.

Ventura, 5 night cruise 19-24 September 2023 to France and Holland.

Le Havre, our first stop,is just hop, skip and jump away from Southampton.

Even though I am on the 9th floor, I can hear the old girl's engines rattle when getting ready to sail or deploying stabilizers in strong winds as there were last night.

This is my very first time in Le Havre and I have not planned a tour. Two thousand people had the same idea. A shuttle bus was provided and I took the advantage of it to and from the town centre.

Le Havre was largely destroyed during World War II, it was rebuilt by Auguste Perret and thanks to him the town is Unesco World Heritage site for its "outstanding example of modernist architecture".

Le Havre is the ugliest European  city I have ever been to.

It has no character, all historic, old and beautiful was destroyed by the Germans, but it is scruffy and dirty and that is solely the responsibility of the French. I walked the steeets looking for a coffee shop and found none and then, when I thought nope, not today, Josephine, there it was on Rue de Paris - an absolutely wonderful boulangerie and I was served a plain croissant and a delicious fruit tart by a delightful almost beautiful girl,

but they do not serve coffee.

Next door there is a shoe shop I never wanted to leave.

No, I did not buy anything, my flat is on the market and I have masses of shoes to move, but if I ever come to Le Havre again, La P'tite Dockee will be my first stop.

So in that dowdy unattractive town there is hidden beauty and I am sure I would have found more, but it was cloudy and I did not want to be caught in the rain, so returned to the ship.

Ventura, 19- 24 September 2023

Last Friday evening I was so tired,I knew I had to go somewhere, anywhere.As always,my first thoughts were ships.Ventura had a 5 night cruise to France and Holland from coming Tuesday. Would I be able to get everything ready in just 3 days ? Would I get a stateroom with a balcony?  Yes and yes!  When I opened the door to my room D723, 9th floor, my heart jumped with joy.  Oh, there is nothing spectacular or fancy here, (I do not think the cabins have  been refurbished from the day  the ship was launched in 2008, even though some work was done in 2013 and again in March 2023), but the bed is massive, towels large  and soft, comfy slippers, roomy dressing gown, sitting area has a second TV- cabin is Superior Deluxe, after all. Heaven.

But  the moment I stepped on board, I knew the communal areas of Ventura have been  revamped, and beautifully so,

in a  classy, understated kind of way, and I love it.The 4 week refit was done in March 2023 at the Blohm& Voss shipyard in Hamburg.

As always in life I make the most of every situation.

Our first port of call was going to be Stavanger. I booked a helicopter ride the moment I installed the app on board, rather extravagant, but haven't been on helicopter since Hawaii. We never docked in Stavanger, the weather was atrocious and Iona was safer in the open water. People were upset and thought we should have docked, but myself, as a seasoned cruiseader,know the captain was right, similar thing happened on Queen Mary years ago and we had to ride out the storm in the  sea.

So we sailed and docked  in Alesund and stayed overnight. 

It was raining intermittently. I walked a little, looked at a dress, walked some more, had rather lukewarm and weak latte and a passable croissant, hopped on  a Hop on Hop off bus, the ride was not pleasant, the roads were not built for two buses meeting, we had to back up several times to let a wide vehicle pass. And so back  on board.

Iona, 1-8 July 2023, Norwegian fjords.

The cabin 14532 on the 14th floor is plain, the bed uncomfortable, mattress too hard and unbendable as are the pillows, towels coarse and unpleasant to use,  shampoo,body wash cheap and not cheerful, no conditioner;the slippers are lovely, but no bath robe,the shower cap after asking was brought the next day.The shower is good, the sink has little water trickling through.The layout of this mammoth vessel has been designed by someone who has never been on a cruise and has no idea what makes a cruise a pleasant experience. You can hear every single toilet flush from the cabins next to mine and from the cabin above. 6 months old babies in nappies are allowed to be taken in every jacuzzy and in every infinity pool. Most uncomfortable deck chairs.

The food in restaurants is mostly inedible.The waiters have not been given any training how to provide decent service, no  chair pulled out  for  me, but it would be the least of my problems if I could eat what they put on the table.

It is incomprehensible to me how the unpalatable garbage they serve can be considered acceptable.

The entertainment is third rate.

All in all a ship built for mass market, functional but not luxurious. I would not be sailing on Iona again.

I was in Lanzarote several years ago

when Mr David Cameron and his family were there on holiday. I could not understand why would a British Prime Minister,for whom  the world is an oyster, choose to holiday on this drab, monotonous island.

The cruise ship has brought me to this barren land again and I am beginning to understand why. 

I have learnt it is the life below the ground that is extraordinary and so worth exploring.

I booked a tour to the famous cave,Jameos Del Agua, where blind albino crabs live.

Our tour guide talked snd talked and talked, laughing  at every attempt of his own jokes, but a child could have organized the entry to the cave better. Other groups were beings ushered in by their guides, Bernardo was nowhere to be seen, consequently we had too little time inside.

And no, I did  not see an albino crab,  but  they  are there  and nowhere else in the world.

On the way to the cave we stopped by the Monumento Al Compesino, sculpture by Cesar  Manrique,dedicated to farm workers.The statue is made of disused water tanks, the site where  it stands marks the geographic  centre of the island.