Malaga, Spain

Though many may have never heard of Malaga, Spain, it is actually a somewhat large city with a very large port that the company Maersk ships from. We began our journey of Malaga through its typical narrow shop lined streets. Malaga is heavily marketing itself as the center of the upcoming cultural festival “Malaga 2016” and has literally laid out the red carpet for this event and covered the sidewalks in red. After walking around the shopping area, we walked over to the bull fighting arena before heading to the man made beach for a break from all the walking. It was a little cool, so the locals were not out tanning as they were the last time we were here. We then made our way back to the city center, on foot as usual. By this time, our feet were killing us, but we got a great workout. Despite our fatigue, we toured a beautiful church that had recreated particular scenes from the life of Jesus Christ in life size figures in the windows. Although we intentionally skipped a few of the main sites because we had seen them on our last trip, we soon came across a familiar and exciting shop (and Aunt Linda’s favorite), Dunkin Coffee. It’s the same company as Dunkin Donuts back home, so we had to get a couple of treats for nostalgia’s sake. We continued to roam the streets and take in all that the city had to offer before heading back to the cruise ship. We have three more days at sea until we arrive in Venice, Italy where the next part of our trip will begin. Adios for now.


The red carpet in the shopping area


Kim in front of a fountain


Dunkin Coffee


Kim admiring the flowers in the shop window


The Malaga beach


Lorenzo outside the bullfighting arena


The Last Supper on display in the church

Cadiz, Spain

Once we arrived in Cadiz we headed straight for the famous beach. We took the long route and walked along the coast through the meticulously sculpted gardens, multiple theaters, and the University of Cadiz. It took a while, but we saw many interesting sites along the way, including discovering the Santa Catalina Castle, which we did not see the last time we were here. We explored the Castle which sat on the beach and provided a perfect backdrop for us to take a ton of beautiful pictures. We walked along the sidewalk that ran parallel to the beach and passed an elementary school as the children were getting out for the day. We were beginning to get hungry and hot from being in the sun, so we decided to head back toward the center of town. On the way back, we took a short cut through narrow streets full of locals. We saw men selling bags of oranges out of the back of a van, small cars and motor bikes speeding by us, shop owners cleaning the outside of their shops, children walking by in school uniforms, and men joking loudly with each other in Spanish. We eventually reached one of the main squares in Cadiz that has a Cathedral on one side and numerous restaurants on the other. The city of Cadiz also provides free wi-fi in the square and we took advantage of the connection to send a few emails. After a quick trip back to our ship to eat and rest (gotta take advantage of the buffet), we headed back out to the city for some shopping. Following Lorenzo’s memory, we found the main shopping street and ended our day with window shopping and buying a few Spanish snacks from the grocery store.


View from the Castillo


Lorenzo and Kim enjoying the sun and ocean views


Small fishermen boats along the coastline


Kim taking a stroll through the streets


Locals selling fresh oranges in the street


Lorenzo on the cathedral steps sending emails on his ipod via free wifi


Lorenzo shopping for a few snacks at a local supermercado

Lisbon, Portugal

We were really excited to get to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. We came here in 2008 and really enjoyed it. The last time we were here, we were mistaken for locals and this time was no different. Portugal is the only Portuguese speaking country other than Brazil, and Lisbon has a decently sized black population. Once we got to Lisbon, we took a shuttle from the cruise port to the city’s main square where we stumbled upon the end of a local road race. After watching the runners, we wandered around the Alfama area of Lisbon. We stumbled upon the Lisbon Cathedral and headed inside to watch mass. Lisbon is very hilly and we did some extreme hill walking that reminded us of being in San Francisco. Toward the tops of the hills were some amazing views of the ocean, the cruise port, and the red tiled roofs and white washed walls of thousands of homes below. Further up the hills and at the top of the city sits a fortress which was built in ancient times to protect the city. We toured the fortress for 5 Euros and walked along the narrow stone walkways and slippery staircases. While here, be sure to watch your step, but also be sure to pay attention to what’s around you, because these are the best views in the city. Other than the view, the best part about the fortress is being at the top of the hill so the walk was all downhill from there. After visiting the fortress, we made our way back down the hill, through the winding streets and past extremely small European cars and the street car, picturesque windows with clothes hanging on the line, and other tourists trying to take it all in. After spending hours visiting one of our favorite European cities, we made our way back to the port and walked along the waterfront. The waterfront was lined with authentic restaurants serving Portuguese favorites and it also had a great view of the statue of Jesus that is the sister statue to the one in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The Lisbon statue stands near a bridge that reminded us of the Golden Gate Bridge, which we thought was very fitting for a city nicknamed the San Francisco of Europe.


The early morning road race through the city


Kim walking one of the many hills


Lorenzo stopping to admire the view


Lisbon Cathedral in Alfama


Kim taking a much needed break on the Cathedral steps


Overhead view of the city


Arch of Augusta

Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Upon arriving in Ponta Delgada, the western most isle of the Azores, we perused the small fisherman’s town full of intricately laid black and white narrow cobble stone streets. We toured the town’s main church, peered in the windows of local shops, and watched the locals in their daily routines, like the teenagers mingling in the courtyard of a high school and playing soccer. It was surprisingly cold outside, and the cloudy sky that just made everything seem that much colder. After wandering the island and people-watching, we made our way to a shopping mall where we were able to pick up a wifi signal that enabled us to email our family and let them know that we are safe and sound. After all, it has been 5 whole days at sea since they’ve heard from us. They are just as happy to hear from us as we are to finally see land. Overall, Ponta Delgada is a very charming town where everything moves slowly and is stress free. Maybe we can bottle some up and bring it back to the States with us. After boarding the ship again, we spotted two whales, which are very common in the Azores. Our next port is Lisbon, Portugal.


Lorenzo and the Azores sign. The island chain where Ponta Delgada is loacated.


The perfect view of the island


The island's main church


Street view of the small city


A Carolina blue building. You know we had to take a pic.


Kim enjoying the day, with our ship in the backgroud.

Bon Voyage-First a 14 day cruise to Venice, Italy followed by 5 weeks throughout Europe.

We left Virginia around 5am for the car ride from Charlottesville to New York City with Lorenzo’s Dad, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Ira. We had a lot of fun laughing and joking (and napping) as they took us to NYC and dropped us off at the cruise port in Manhattan. We were excited to start our two week voyage towards Venice, where our Europe adventure would begin on land and by train, but we were sad to see them go. Next time we will have to plan a long trip for the entire family. As we sailed away, we passed downtown New York and the Statue of Liberty. Right away we noticed that the average age of our fellow cruisers was quite a bit older than us. Later we found out from the cruise director that the average age on board was 62, and our daily cruise planner listed available activities of knitting, grandparents group, bridge playing club, and yes, even an arthritis seminar. Wow!!! We’ve been on four cruises now in different parts of the world, and never have we seen anything like this. Nonetheless, we will have to occupy ourselves with the beautiful scenery, port stops, movies, and the sports court. Bon Voyage, and off to our first cruise stop, Ponta Delgada, Portugal.


Kim boarding the cruise ship


Lorenzo on the way to our stateroom on the ship


Our home on the sea, for the next 14 days


Kim and Lorenzo enjoying the outside deck and preparing for sailaway


The outside Lido deck on the cruise ship.


Great view of downtown NYC from the cruise ship


View of the Statue of Libery as we sail away


The majority of the people on the cruise. Average age of 62. Reading, knitting, etc.


Kim admiring one of many towel animals left by the cruise staff


Kim and Lorenzo relaxing in the hot tub on the ship

Sorry for the hiatus (USA trip stats & Europe info)

During our USA road trip (January 18th-March 12th 2010) we traveled 11,067 total miles, touched 27 different states, 11 state capitals and both national and state parks. Our favorite city was Los Angeles, CA and our favorite food was a small Russian bakery at the Fisherman’s wharf in Seattle called Piroshky Piroshky. We stayed at Holiday Inns and Crowne Plazas most often, and our favorite places to stay were Hyatt Place, Stay Bridge Suites, and the Millennium Resort in Scottsdale, AZ. Our new favorite deli style café is the Paradise Bakery and Café, and while on the road, we practically lived at Whole Foods. We are really enjoying ourselves and hope that we can inspire others to go out and see the world. We apologize for the hiatus and our failure to update the blog recently. We began our European journey with a 14 day cruise on the Norwegian Gem from New York City to Venice, Italy, with stops along the way in Ponta Delgada and Lisbon, Portugal, as well as in the Spanish cities of Cadiz and Malaga. The internet connection on the Gem was extremely expensive and slow, so we did not post blog entries during the cruise. After docking in Venice, we will begin our 5 week excursion across Europe and will meet up with our brother Travis in Paris for the last two weeks. Here come the first Europe posts. Hope you enjoy.

Gary, Indiana and Detroit, Michigan

On the way to Detroit, we stopped in Gary, Indiana to visit the Jackson family home. We didn't know the address, but Lorenzo remembered "2300 Jackson Street" from the song, so we figured we'd go with that. Gary is a small city without much economy to speak of. The old Jackson family neighborhood, like the rest of the city, is pretty run-down and has numerous boarded up homes. We were surprised how small the home was since the Jackson family is so large, but it looked well taken care of compared to the rest of the neighborhood. Unlike most of the historic sites we'd visited, however, there was no plaque or sign in the yard identifying the house as the Jackson family home. We just figured we were in the right place based on the street name and the pictures, flowers, and balloons other visitors had placed along the fence.


Welcome to Gary!


The Jackson family home


The corner of 2300 Jackson Street and Jackson Family Drive where the Jackson family home is located

Because of Detroit's history as an automobile manufacturing capital, a factory tour was at the top of our must do list. We decided on the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, which included a Ford museum with movies and exhibits in addition to the factory tour. The factory tour led us on a 1/3 mile track above the floor where employees assembled Ford F-150's. It was really interesting to us to watch the different parts of the trucks come together. We saw windshields attached, headliners added, and the cab and bed of the truck connected.


Part of the Ford Rouge Factory


Historic Ford cars exhibit inside the Rouge

After the Ford tour, we headed over to the Motown Museum/Hitsville USA. Although the museum is relatively small, the tour lasted about 2 hours and we were really impressed by our tour guide's knowledge about Motown's history. The most interesting part of the tour was our visit to Studio A, where thousands of famous Motown songs were recorded. Before leaving Detroit, we also explored the downtown area, GM Renaissance building, and the Riverwalk - a walking path along the river that separates downtown Detroit from Canada. Although we did see some boarded up buildings around Detroit, overall the city seemed to still have an active economy and we enjoyed the history and sights.


Lorenzo on the front steps of Hitsville USA


Hitsville USA


Kim and Lorenzo at the Riverwalk


A view of Canada across the river full of floating chunks of ice


The GM Renaissance Center


One of many boarded up buildings around Detroit

We originally planned to go to Toronto and Niagara Falls after Detroit, but because Kim's grandmother passed away, we decided to end our trip a little early. We are still heading to Europe in April for the next leg of our journey so stay tuned!