Map of the next adventure

Sailing is such a great way to sample cities and countries you've never been to. 2017 was the mass exploration of the western edge of Europe. I figured, why not do the same and explore the Mediterranean the same way. Welcome to the next grand adventure. 25 days seeing much of the Med.

Itineary

The prior map was a simplification of the trip. Here's the adventure (in case you want to join).

Date	Activity	Time
9/23	Barcelona, Spain	5pm depart
9/24	Nice, France	9a-7p
9/25	Livorno, France	7a-7p
9/26	Rome, Italy	7a-7p
9/27	Salerno, Italy	7a-6p
9/28	at sea
9/29	Venice, Italy	arrive 3pm
9/30	Venice, Italy	depart 7pm
10/1	Split, Croatia	7a-4p
10/2	Kotor, Montenegro	7a-6p
10/3	at sea
10/4	at sea
10/5	Barcelona	6a-5p
10/6	Cannes, France	8a-7p
10/7	La Spezia, Italy	7a-7p
10/8	Rome, Italy	7a-7p
10/9	at sea
10/10	at sea
10/11	Athens, Greece	6a-6p
10/12	Mykonos, Greece (was originally Kusadasi, Turkey)	7a-6p
10/13	Santorini, Greece	7a-5p
10/14	at sea
10/15	Valletta, Malta	7a-5p
10/16	at sea
10/17	Marseille, France	7a-5p
10/18	Barcelona, Spain	arrive 6a

Day 1 - Time to leave

Finally it's time to start this crazy adventure. LA - JFK (4.5hrs), JFK - Barcelona(7hrs).

My kind of waiting lounge	JFK has an outdoor lounge atop a terminal building. Very nice

Day 2 - Arriving in Barcelona

I usually love traveling but the flight crew was so clumsy (dropping trays) and laughing all night that I got very little sleep. Let's see what we have around my hotel.

Sunrise over Vigo, Spain (was there last years)		Coastline of Barcelona
Not sure I've ever been on a staircase to get in or out of a plane	AWFUL customs line. Wait from hell	Of course everyone there hits the taxi line (no Uber or Lyft in the country)
	Arc la Rambla outside my hotel. Just a giant pedestrian pathway
Belgium fries (so so good)	Papas con caso	Papas con jamon
Local swing group enjoying the Friday evening on the beach		Where to begin
Random square exist within the Gothic Quarter	The Gothic Quarter. Seems like Venice without the water

Tomorrow: Part 2 of Barcelona

Day 3 - Barcelona exploring (pt.1)

I've heard so much about this crazy church, Familia Sagrada. Given the crowds it must be done first thing.

7am. Let's do this	Great signage	Clean, large stations
	30 minutes early. Let's get some food	Flavors right out of France
	Gaudi's original construction and that of recent years	Gaudí worked on this for 26 years until a street car killed him then building stopped
		Gaudí knew he'd never see the end so he created just enough structure so others could know his intention
		Our elevator to the top
	Upper seats for those attending mass	Until recently heavy machinery has been in the church. New tile (left) is in and will replace the old brown concerete
		One family creates these stain glass mirrors. Natural light travels down the columns to illuminate them
A 'filler' mirror	The last pieces being constructured
	Plywood covers what will be the bottom of a solar tube. Each hoe will get a custom 'light bulb' like those in the photo to the right

This building truly was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.



Next: Part 2 of Barcelona exploring