BEWARE DISABLED......

.....toilets. We have disembarked & now in Barcelona but not totally without incident. We both had both had issues with the ships disabled(is that an acceptable word, or will receive the wrath of vested groups?) toilets. All Edge toilets have a disabled cubicle, Linda was desperate and opening the doors is electrical & slow, no forcing them - just clench & hope for the best and trust in Tena. I went, both stalls in use, tried handle on cubicle, door ponderously & slowly opened to reveal a squatter to everyone waiting in line. No stopping that slow reveal.

Walked from hotel through the zoo park to visit Palau Guell, Gaudi's first commission. Has his signature style that is repeated throughout his later work. Perhaps Guell's stone quarries helped him in his future style choice.

CARTEGENAN OLD FRIENDS

Spent a lovely day with our old friends Phil & Jo, who now live on Mar Menor,  close to La Manga in Spain. It is about 20min drive from Cartagena where we docked this morning. They now live on a beautiful apartment overlooking the golf course. We were so wrapped up in our time together that no photos were taken, hence the old photo taken in the USA. Can you name the year?

Arrived in Palma Mallorca and as we(Lin) had packing to do only took a nice walk around the port to the military museum in the 17th century fort at the port entrance. Lot of kit there including 1920's Vickers field guns German 88mm AA guns, Bofors quick fire and some large long range pieces for defending the port entrance. I went wrong with the Google map route that added an extra 0.5miles, (bad) but when we arrived we found the Google route was not possible to access saving 1mile (good)

The stage is interesting on board. It has no conventional stage, arch or curtains as such but the stage comes into the auditorium so it it surrounded on 3 sides, and it 8 moving screens at the back onto which 18 projectors can display all sorts of effects - very wihizzy.

Getting ready to leave, just took the precaution of booking a cab, as Monday is public holiday & nothing too much will be working in Barcelona.

MALAGA

Spent our morning in the lovely spa on board, followed by leisurely breakfast.

Malaga is quite a large town that sprawls around the bay making up other resorts like Torremolinos & Benalmadena. A nice clean & tidy place with shady parks running along the harbour front. Full of parakeets.

We did our own tour, taking the shuttle to town centre, then walking up to the moorish castle that dominates the high ground. Good tip is to find the lift behind the town hall that avoid the stairs & slopes to the top. Finish off with a stroll around the harbour back to the ship for rejuvenating beer.

Meant to take in the rock band show, but pleasantly side tracked by dining with some US Marine couples from San Diego. Much discussion about table saws and the Royal Family.

FINALLY.......

....the weather has improved massively and we are on land -  Madeira.  We have been busy this morning. Took the wicker sledges down the hill, much smoother than anticipated. The sled boys have an interesting routine, 3 minutes down the hill, get their tips, spend the next 30 minutes, smoking, drinking, chatting & buying lottery tickets. Then load up the sleds on a truck, back up the hill & do it all over again.

Next up was into the market, and being Portugal Pata de Nate with coffee. Unfortunately, no sweet port to go with it, so off to Blandy's cellars for free samples. Linda took full advantage.

Exhausted on our return I took Lin to the Perfumed Garden, Celebrity's spa area with hot stone beds, gold penguins on deck, spa, sauna, Turkish, stones room, zen area, rain room, crystal room plus all the other usual stuff, including a dedicated mens barber shop, cutthroat included.

PEACE AND.....

....sea days. We have had 5 consecutive sea days with the weather not too good, very blowy so you couldn't really lounge on deck unless you went into the solarium area. The compensation is that we are only half capacity around 1500 guests with the same number of staff. The indoor areas are really top notch with Eden at the stern of the ship with excellent views out but also incorporating a specialty restaurant, a large bar & dance area but also lots of secluded nooks and crannies.

IT'S SUNDAY.....

......but I can't tell what day it is. What have we learnt? The best Titanic film was by the Nazis, the last tune played on the ship was "Nearer to me", by Arthur Sullivan. The 737 Max crashes were pilot & operator errors. We have an NTSB investigator as lecturer. Lindbergh wasn't a Nazi (I think he was)

We have been negotiating around a storm, lots of rock & roll, dance show cancelled, commedian instead. Otherwise all good, getting ready for hottub. Next stop Madeira & downhill sledging.

EDGE

These are some of the public areas on the Edge.

The day ashore on Bermuda was great, the island is truly beautiful, very clean and everywhere lush. We took the ferry over to Hamilton and walked around the centre, went to the art gallery and the harbour. If you can get there for 10:30 you can get the free historic walking tour conducted by the town crier in full regalia, including bell. We were too late. The ferry was heaving with people & we came back by bus. It's a very scenic drive & the beaches on the north coast are stunning. The whole return fare was $18 for two of us.