Last Villefranche

This cruise is going to be last everything, pretty much.  Yesterday was our last Marseilles, and I went on a tour of a few amazing villages in the Luberon Valley. It was a nice tour, but absolutely freezing!  It was an icy day, despite the sun, with winds at 80-100 km/h.  Yikes!  We were all a bit miserable due to the cold and windiness, but the tour was really amazing.  I think its finally winter here - today its quite cold as well.  As for my last Villfranche, I'm just using the internet at our favorite place with a bunch of friends.  Hot tea is warming me up as we speak.  

Just a recap of the end of last cruise:  I took a walking tour in Corsica in order to avoid crew boat drill, and got a glimpse of Napoleon Bonaparte's house and the cathedral in which he was baptised.  After the tour I ran into a couple of friends from the a cappella quartet and we ate lunch at a little restaurant that had some amazing homemade lasagna.  Yummy.  

In Casablanca, (just for you, Dad) I went on a mission to find Rick's Café, or at least one of the recreations of it.  I brought a boy along with me for protection cause Casablanca....well, its not Disneyland.  Anyway, we found it!  It was a really nice place, and we got something to drink there and sat for a while.  I haven't seen the movie in forever, so I have no clue how closely it resembles the original, but I got a picture of me sitting at the piano.   I hope you're happy, Dad!!

In Barcelona I went on an adventure by myself again - to the CosmoCaixa: a new science museum that is supposed to be one of Europe's best.  It happened to be a free entrance day, which had its pros and cons: the con being the legions of Barcelona's school children running amuck all over the museum.  Despite that, I was pretty entertained for several hours, and even sat through a presentation in the planetarium that was entirely in catalunyan (a variation of spanish spoken in the region).  I understood a couple of words at best....but it was cool.   One of the neatest exhibitions is a section that they have converted into an Amazon rainforest, full of real animals, simulated rain, and even fish in the deep river that runs through it, which you can see through glass from outside the exhibit, like an aquarium.   

At the end of this cruise a lot of my friends are leaving, which will be a bummer.  Metro (a capella), some youth staff, my friend Rob....all leaving on December 1st.  I've decided to think of this cruise as my last cruise, and the transatlantic as just a scenic route home.  I really am already on my way home if you think about it, as we sail into the west.... It will definitely make the time change easier.  I'll gain an hour every night over a week, then only gain three more on the flight home.  So, I'm going home next cruise! :-)