During our cruising aboard the Costa Pacifica we made several stops along the coast of Spain. I decided to put them all in one blog post so that my readers would get the full Spain experience at once :-)
Cadiz, Spain
Our first stop was in Cadiz, Spain. Cadiz is a port city located in southwestern Spain and is full of life and sun! Cadiz is also the oldest continuously inhabited city in Spain and is one of eight provinces which make up the community of Andalusia. When we first found out we would be taking this cruise and stopping in Spain we had decided it was a must to lounge at a beach in Spain . . . ummm, boy were we wrong! We first spent some time in the main square of Cadiz enjoying the live music/dancing, frozen yogurt and shops as well as meandering through the winding and narrow streets of the city. The cathedral of Cadiz was and imposing structure which demanded our attention. We then changed into our swimming gear in the bathroom of a local eatery and headed off to find our beach!
La Playa de la Caleta ~ when I had done my research before the trip I had learned that this beach was the best loved beach in Cadiz. It is a beach located in the Old city and is located between the castles of San Sebastian and Santa Catalina. What could be better than being in Spain, at a beach, located
Die Another Day. It seemed to be the perfect choice for a beach at this stop as it was within walking distance from our cruise dock and the reviews were amazing! The first thing we noticed upon arrival, however, was the density of people upon this certain beach.
It was packed! The beach itself is not very large . . . about 1,300 feet long and 98 feet wide . . . all of it filled with tourists and Spaniards combined! Well . . . "Let's give it a shot" we thought. Finding a spot large enough to lay out our towels we then took in the surroundings . . . the setting was indeed beautiful! A quaint beach situated between two extremely old castles, on the left side of the beach several boats were swaying with the tide, the sound of beach and touch of sun on our skin . . . . we then noticed the nudity . . .
between castles?? I had also learned that it had a certain resemblance to parts of Havana, Cuba and was used as the set for several scenes in the James Bond movie
For those of you who have not been to a beach in Europe, it is quite common for bathers to bathe topless. It is also quite common to find old and young men alike sporting the traditional "speedo". We are not European, however, and ended up feeling quite uncomfortable in our surroundings. Also . . the water was quite cool.
Back in town we were able to satisfy our American food cravings at a traditional, American "burger joint" (forgot the name of it at the moment) before heading back to the ship. It was a beautiful day and the setting was superb!
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Our next stop in Spain was at the port of Vigo, Spain . . . our main attraction that day?? The city of Santiago de Compostela and it's famous cathedral. Just a short train ride away and we were walking the streets of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Legend has it that the remains of the apostle James were located here and the cathedral was then built upon the site of the remains. The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela has been the final destination of a pilgrimage that began over 1,000 years ago and is known as the Way of St. James. Over 100,000 pilgrims travel to the city each year from across Europe as well as other parts of the world. Surrounding the cathedral you can find many shops and stands selling the scallop shell, emblem of St. James. Inside the cathedral there are backpacks and walking sticks stacked along the walls as pilgrims pay their respects (I guess we took the easy route . . no backpacks, tennis shoes or walking sticks for our group of 6).
The construction of the cathedral began in 1075 as was made in the Romanesque style with a Baroque façade. It is truly beautiful and intricate . . . inside and out! The first thing I noticed upon entering the cathedral, besides the number of people packed in such a small space, was a very large, and beautiful chandelier in the center of the cathedral. The smell of incense greeted us and everything seemed to be overlaid with gold. We stayed for part of the service before venturing back into the streets.
On our train ride back to the port we learned that the very same rail/route we were taking had an accident just a few months prior killing 79 people. Apparently the train was exceeding the speed limitations and derailed on a bend as it approached the Compostela station . . . uhhh . . gee . . .thanks for informing me. :-/
Malaga, Spain
(roman ruins with the Alcazaba in the background)
Malaga, also a part of Andalusia, was our last stop in Spain during this voyage. None of the shore excursions listed by our cruise where too tempting so we decided to just do this one on foot. Clayton, not feeling well, decided to stay on the ship so Ryan, Kelly and I set off on our own adventure. Malaga is the sixth largest city in Spain, located near the straight of Gibraltar and not very far from the African continent. The history of Malaga dates back over 2,800 years making one of the oldest cities in the world.
The Roman theater of Malaga dates back to the 1st century B.C. and was only rediscovered in 1951.
The Castle of Gibralfaro, as well as the connecting Alcazaba, were built by the Moors in the early 11th century. The Alcazaba was the fortification on the top of the hill Gibralfaro and was used for administrative and defensive operations. It was also the residence of the royalty of that time. The inner structure was filled with gardens, ponds and beautiful architecture . . . not the typical style of architecture we had seen in Europe up to this point. I later learned that we could have actually taken a ferry across to Morocco for the day . . . complete with a camel ride! Oh well . . .
Episcopal Palace
Having a custom suit designer brother on the trip mandated that we take a visit to Savile Row, known for it's tailoring of men's clothing and has had such customers as Jude Law, Winston Churchill and Lord Nelson. We also hit up Big Ben before heading back to the train station for our return journey to Dover. We did not have enough time in London as it is one of my favorite European cities. Clayton and I are planning on returning . . . and soon. I had spent a week in London back in 2006 and have come to love this city. The underground train system makes traveling throughout the city a breeze and it always helps to know the language. The people seem nice enough and the city appears clean and easy to navigate. It also holds many attractions for the tourist; numerous theater houses, the London Eye, Natural History Museum, Westminster, Tower of London, great food, St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge to name a few.
The island held strategic fortifications since ancient times and the location of the island made these fortifications key. During low tide the island was easily accessible to many of the pilgrims which would visit it's abbey, but during high tide any would-be assailants would be stranded or drowned. The Mont if famous for being unconquered during the Hundred Years' War because of this key location.
The Ten Boom family is well known for their efforts in hiding Jews during WW2 in a hidden room on the top floor of their small little "beje" in Haarlem. Mr. Ten Boom was a clockmaker and his shop was on the bottom floor of their little house. Corrie Ten Boom, the youngest of four children, lived in the house with her older sister Betsie and their father during the years of the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. They initially started out hiding their Jewish neighbors from persecution until they were able to connect with an underground network to find them a more secure, permanent residence. As word spread more and more Jewish people started showing up at their doorstep looking for a safe place to escape. They were able to move most of them out to homes in the country that were safe but some of the others that were harder to find safe houses ended up staying with them in their small home. At one point they had 30 people in their house at one time. . . I did not realize the significance of this until I visited the house. . . it is truly a "tiny" place and a household of 3-4 people would be cramped in our standards much less having over 30 people at one time. They eventually had the "hiding place" built in the top floor in case of a raid which would allow their 6 permanent Jewish guests a place of safety for at least a week if need be. There was a small vent in the room and was stocked with water in the event it needed to be used for an extended period of time. The room was behind a false wall in Corrie's bedroom and could only be accessed through a sliding panel in the plastered brick wall under the built in bookshelf. It required you to crawl through to the other side on your hands and knees and had to be done within 1-2 minutes after the alarm the Ten Boom's had installed in their house had sounded. All remnants of these guests must be removed with them and taken to the hiding place in a short amount of time. They had practiced this routine over and over again until they had it perfected. On February 28, 1944 it was no longer a drill. The 6 guests were able to make it to the hiding place and avoid detection but the Ten Boom family was no so lucky. They were taken into imprisonment where Mr. Ten Boom had died within a matter of 10 days and Betsie died later in Ravensbruck concentration camp. Corrie was able to make it through the concentration camps and was released on a clerical error on December 28th 1944 to find out that all of their guests in the hiding place had made it out alive. Corrie went on to set up rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands for refuges that had survived the concentration camps. She became a public speaker and a writer of many books, her best selling book being The Hiding Place which recounted the story of the Nazi invasion, concentration camps and their work in sheltering the Jewish people. I had read the book several months prior to the trip making this visit especially meaningful to me. We were able to walk through the house, see first hand some items that were mentioned in the book and even crawl through the bookshelf to the "hidding place" behind the wall. It was astonishing how small it really was. The room is only 30 inches deep . . . unbelievable! It was a touching visit and I am so very thankful we were able to see this first hand . . the memories 
The first thing I noticed about the ship was that the interior was not quite as roomy. It seems as if the walls were a little closer to one another, the ceilings a little lower and the furniture a little more cluttered. The great promenade of the Royal Caribbean ship was long gone and replaced with a small piano, stairs, and a bar. The outdoor activities were limited to several pools and hot tubs . . no mini golf, ping pong, basketball, etc. The food was decent . . . we ate when we were hungry . . not really something I looked forward to each night. I have the say the cruise director was pretty amazing . . . she spoke at least 5 languages fluently and would have to say the same announcement five times in five different languages! She didn't miss a beat! The biggest disappointment of the ship, however, was the entertainment! It consisted of the same group of thong-clad dancers and two singers every single night!! We kept trying . . and kept being disappointed. Night after night we left from the shows early . . . they were terrible!
Our first day in Prague was Christmas Eve . . . Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve in the Czech Republic so most of the store were closed . . . sure didn't keep us from exploring though! We wore out our shoes, legs and frosted fingertips that day with a walking tour of the whole city!! Some of the places we enjoyed were the Prague castle (the official residence and office of the President of the Czech Republic and not your typical castle . . . it contains several churches, palaces, Halls and gardens . . . kinda a massive, sprawling complex), Charles Bridge (a famous, historic bridge lined with statues of saints), Petrin Hill (where we were able to ride the Petrin funicular railway to the top of the hill for some amazing views! We also went to the top of the lookout tower, which 
