2017 Freedom Med Sept | FindPenguins

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Trip start
September 17, 2017
2017 Freedom Med Sept Rulocal
Day 1
September 17, 2017, Western Mediterranean ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Well that was one of the best trips to Barcelona I've ever done. Firstly I got a text message from Jet2 saying we could use their twilight service and take our bags to the airport the day before our flight. Meaning we just went straight to departures the next day, no stressful queues etc. The flight was good, and on arrival at Barcelona we had transfers with Royal Caribbean, which meant that we bypassed all the queues at the port check-in, we were on the ship in minutes.
After muster we went up to the old diamond lounge which for this trip is reserved for Pinnacle members only, woo hoo!
On the way up we saw one of the two nicest people on board that is Adrianna (Georgie) the loyalty ambassador and upstairs Gisleni (GiGi) one of the best concierges in the company.
Another nice surprise was that we as pinnacle members had been invited to Chops Grill for dinner that night. So all in all a brilliant start to the cruise.Read more
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2017 Freedom Med Sept Rulocal
Villefranche-sur-Mer, France
September 18, 2017 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Today we are anchored off the beautiful little French town of Villefranche-sur-Mer. After breakfast I got the tender across as I had planned to have a mooch about, one thing I did want to see was Rue Obscure, which is a 13th century covered street hidden beneath the buildings in the old town. It's a wonderful atmospheric little street, and you feel transported way back in time as you walk it.
After that I had a walk up to the Citadel Saint Elme, which now houses three small museums, a military museum, a film museum and the third is more of an art gallery with work by the sculptor Volti.
All in all a very pleasant and interesting couple of hours, and most importantly to me all completely free.Read more
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2017 Freedom Med Sept Rulocal
Wine tasting wash out.
September 19, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Today we where docked in La Spezia, Italy 🇮🇹.
As we had the wine tasting and hot air balloon excursion booked for the afternoon, I just had a walk in the town and visited the Cathedral of Christ, which is a very modern building with a very modern interior on the lines of the Liverpool Catholic cathedral.
Not very interesting, but nice enough.
The town itself although quite run down in appearance, did have some very ornate architecture.
In the afternoon as I said we had the excursion booked, this was free to all pinnacle members, and $99 to anyone else.
It was a trip to a vineyard in Tuscony, about an hour and a half away from La Spezia, a place called Cenaia.
We were supposed to have a wine tasting then watch some hot air balloons go up.
We where sat outside in the vineyard, it was a beautiful rustic setting, just how you would imagine an Italian vineyard to be. We were just having the third wine, when we heard the first clap of thunder then the lightning 🌩, then the heavens opened, not rain, but hailstones the size of frozen peas.
Needless to say everyone piled inside for shelter.
The storm then turned into torrential rain and the thunder and lightning 🌩 got worse, at one point knocking out all the lighting in the building.
After about 30 minutes it showed no signs of letting up so some people asked to be taken back to the ship, as there was no chance of the balloons going up in that weather.
So Michael Bailey the CEO arranged for a bus to come back early and those that wanted went back to the ship 🛳, myself Maz and Sue included.
Having said all that, it was still a very enjoyable day, and was worth doing.
Oh yes and the people who had paid for the trip where promised refunds on their tickets, so no problems there then.
We did learn some interesting stuff on the coach to the vineyard, such as the seeing the mountains where they cut the world famous Carrara marble, this is the pure white marble that was used on most of the statues by Michaelangelo and the like.
Until the guide told us, I just thought that it was snow 🌨 on the mountains.Read more
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2017 Freedom Med Sept Rulocal
Naples, Italy
September 21, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Today we docked in Naples, Italy 🇮🇹.
Last time I was here, I went to the left from the port and visited the Castle Nuovo, and then had a stroll and found a beautiful church and a very interesting museum.
This time I decided to go right. I had looked on Google maps, and there was something called the Penne Palace, which conjured up thoughts of Napoli in times gone by, with beautiful ornate buildings.
I should have known better, this was modern day Naples, and what I found was a very run down building, which looked nothing like a palace at all.
Having said that, you could see that it was a beautiful building in its day, and could be beautiful again, with some restoration.
Next to the palace was an old church, again very run down the front door was open, so, I poked my head inside, and it appeared to be getting used by students having an art class.
Around the corner I came across another church, and in this one the university was holding a graduation ceremony, with the students wearing mortar boards and being presented with certificates.
After that I had a walk around the back streets, which brought to mind the Peter Sarstedt song, "Where do you go to my lovely" where he sings about the girl being brought up on the back streets of Naples.
Then having had my fill of neapolitan culture, I headed back to the ship for lunch.Read more
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2017 Freedom Med Sept Rulocal
Rather a hectic sea day.
September 22, 2017, Western Mediterranean ⋅ 🌙 16 °C
After leaving Naples, we had a day at sea, heading for Palma de Mallorca.
After breakfast, the four of us went to the theatre for a Q&A with Michael Bayley, this turned out to be very interesting and enjoyable and it over ran by about 10 minutes, and as we had a suites and pinnacles event to attend with more food and free booze🍷, we scooted up to Chops Grill at the other end of the ship. I had told myself that I wouldn't be drinking to early today, the event started at 11am, we arrived at about 10 past and I had my first wine at a quarter past!!
Then we had our lunch with an officer to go to at noon, so straight from Chops to the dining room and lunch, with more wine 🍷 and before you say anything, it would be rude not to, so I did, lol.
On our table we had Gary Davis, the hotel director, who's a scouser and a really nice guy, with a typical scouse sense of humour.
So after this it was off to the cabin for an extended afternoon nap, before attending the top tier event at 5.30 pm, there was more booze there but only cheap champagne 🥂 which I don't like, so, I didn't have any.
Also for the first time ever at one of these events, you couldn't get a regular glass of wine, only the cheap champagne.
Which thinking about it was probably better for me, lol.Read more
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2017 Freedom Med Sept Rulocal
Palma de Mallorca Spain
September 23, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Today we are docked in Palma de Mallorca, and I didn't get off for my usual mooch, as we had an invite to see the Gipsy Kings later this afternoon as VIP guests, at an "exclusive" event held at the local bullring, arranged by Royal Caribbean.
We as supposed VIP guests where not to meet by the quayside with everyone else, but in the conference room on deck 2.
Well I got there with Maz and Sue as Sheila didn't come as it would be too much for her.
Anyway we get to this conference room, and I could immediately see what the trip was going to be like.
We had the usual pinnacle posturing, and one-upmanship, as some of them think they have been given a knighthood with the pinnacle badge.
For instance, the seats were almost all taken and Sue was looking for one, I had decided to stand and there was a seat right in front of me, so I called Sue to sit there, when this American bloke who was top cruiser on the ship rushed across and sat there. Now I may only be from a rough council estate near Liverpool, but I was always taught to give up my seat for a lady, but obviously if you are top cruiser this does not apply.
So I thought to myself, if this is how people are behaving before we even get on the bus to the concert, what are they going to be like getting seats at the bullring?
I thought if I go I'd end up arguing with someone, so I told Sue that I wasn't bothering and went back to the cabin to see Sheila.
Anyway about 6.30 people started arriving back which was a good 2 hours early, and I was right, it turned out to be a bit of a shambles, which was a shame as the other event that had been arranged earlier in the week, was spoiled by the horrendous weather.
Having said all that it's still been a good cruise.Read more
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2017 Freedom Med Sept Rulocal
Jardins de le 3 Xemeneies Barcelona
September 24, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
Well it's turn around day today, so, I decided to have a mooch around Barcelona, but not around La Ramblas.
I picked out on the map, a park called Jardins de le 3 Xemeneies. This means Gardens of the 3 Chimneys and is built on the site of an early 20th century power station, and is is one of five official graffiti parks in Barcelona, where graffiti artists can officially display their talents, they just have to book a date and time and away they go.
This means that the artwork is constantly changing.
The idea is great but the reality is slightly different.
Some of the artwork is brilliant, but the park is full of litter and homeless people dossing down.
Which is a shame on many points, firstly that people have nowhere to live and are forced to sleep on park benches, but also a public space that has been put to good use is spoilt.
This should be a pleasant and interesting place to sit and relax. But is rubbish strewn and quite intimidating.
But having said all that it is worth a look all be it a quick one.Read more
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2017 Freedom Med Sept Rulocal
Mirador del Poble-sec Park Barcelona
September 24, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
After the slight disappointment of the graffiti park I had a walk to another place I'd seen on the map, namely Mirador del Poble-sec Park, it is a public park set part way up Montjuïc which is a big hill or small mountain that overlooks the port of Barcelona on one side and the city on the other.
It's quite a hike but well worth it for the views.
I made it up to the port cable car station right by the Miramar hotel, which gave me some great views. I only scratched the surface today, as there is much more to see up there.Read more
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2017 Freedom Med Sept Rulocal
La Seyne-sur-Mer, France
September 25, 2017 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C
This was the docking port for the cruise ships visiting Toulon, which was a short ferry ride across the bay.
As I'd never been to either place, I decided to give the ferry a miss and have a mooch around La Seyne sur Mer itself. As I left the ship I could see that I'd probably made the right choice, as the queue for the ferry was quite long.
It was a pleasant 15 minute walk from the ship to town. Just before the town proper, I came across quite a nice park called Parc De La Navale, which although not a particularly pretty park, is very pleasant, and has lovely views across the bay.
At the far end of the park is the Pont basculant de la Seyne-sur-Mer, which is where I was heading for.
It is an old railway lift bridge 🌉 which was used to get trains across the bay to Toulon. It is permanently vertical these days, and has been turned in to a 44 metres tall, observation platform, and is a tourist attraction.
You take a lift up to the top where the views of the town, the harbour and surrounding area are beautiful.
You then walk down the stairs where you come across a small museum platform which houses the original engines that used to raise and lower the bridge, all in all it's well worth a look, and best of all the whole thing is free.
After that I strolled further into the town, which is very quaint and typically old French, with narrow winding streets and beautiful old buildings. I came across a church called Notre-Dame-du-Bon-Voyage, which translates to Our Lady of the good voyage.
It is a fairly plain church inside compared to some I've been in, but does have impressive gothic arches.
Quite a nice little town which I will explore more if I come again.Read more
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2017 Freedom Med Sept Rulocal
La Spezia, Italy
September 27, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Today we where back in La Spezia, and this time I decided to have a walk up to the Castle of St George,high above the town.
It was built in the 14th century as a defence for the town of La Spezia, but nowadays it is an archaeological museum.
The walk up there is quite a hike, but well worth it, as the views of the city and the harbour are beautiful.
Also there is a pretty park that you can walk through as an alternative to the steps, you end up at the castle whichever route you take and the park, although slightly longer is very pleasant.
The museum itself was closed at the time I was up there, but even so it was a pleasant if strenuous walk up.
I stumbled upon a small modern funicular type lift that could be taken to get you back down to the lower street level, which I gratefully took.
On the way back to the ship I took a stroll through the Giardini Pubblici, which quite simply translates to Public Gardens, which are beautiful and run along the sea front back to the port.Read more
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Trip end
September 27, 2017