The Wednesday Ws My World of Wonders Welcome to France Edition

Where am I?  Carcassonne France, a medieval walled city in the southeast of the country. We are here for a couple of nights, then slightly farther north. 

Where have I been?  We crossed the Atlantic on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas from Miami to Barcelona. We really enjoyed the stops in the Canary Islands, though we didn't see any canaries. Three days in Barcelona. 

What have I been eating?  We stayed in Barcelona for three nights after the cruise, lots of Tapas. Croquetas, ensalada rusa - with shrimp or tuna, jambone, queso. 

Who have a I seen? Lots of people, no one I know. 

What have I heard? At least a dozen languages, most of which I can identify or at least narrow down to a region.  Few that I know.  Very little English after leaving the ship.  I am surprised at how functional my very basic Spanish is.  

When will I do this again?  I am already looking at Atlantic crossings for next spring?  Want to join us? 

What happened to lunch with Mitchell?  He was not feeling up to the trip (it is easily an hour each way) and our time in port was limited making it difficult for us to get to him and back to the ship on time.  So sadly we missed one another.  Hopefully NYC late this year or early next year.

What was the greatest entertainment on the ship?  Watching the pier runners. These are people late returning to the ship on a port call.  They come running down the pier to the cheers and geers of the peanut gallery gathered along the rail on the ship.  The last couple, on the last port call, were about 1,500 feet from the ship and the police picked them up, lights flashing and tires squeezing he delivered them to the ship. The young police officer was hamming it up for the crowd, urging cheers and boos.  The ship left the dock less than 5 minutes after they boarded.  

How was the digital detox? Good.  I missed my blogs and comments.  98% of the over 200 emails backed up were junk, really a waste of space.  I replaced my morning blog session, with a morning soak on the hot tub on the top deck of the ship  I could get used to that. 

How was the crossing?  Absolutely wonderful.  The weather was just about perfect, the temperature stayed around 20C (70f), the seas were mild. A few windy days.  Just over 5,000 miles in 14 days.  

What have I been reading? I finished three books on the ship and got a good start into a fourth book.  3 out of the 4 were excellent. 

I will do a little posting over the rest of this trip.  Most of my photos from this trip are on the Nikon and not postable until I get home.  The image above is from the National Gallery in DC.  I am posting on Selfie Daily (there is a link in the sidebar.)