Never Say Never

In the summer of 1984, I took my one and, at least to date, only cruise.  While it was fun and I got to see islands in the Caribbean I would have never otherwise seen, my preference is to travel independently.  I thought I would never ever do another organized tour - until now!  In the spring, while I having lunch with a friend, I learned about a company called Voyages to Antiquity.  The emphasis on their cruises is visiting historic sites and providing more of an educational travel experience.  So, I checked their website and found a cruise leaving on October 17th which is going to visit places in the Mediterranean that I have never seen before.  Destinations include Greece (Athens, Santorini, and Crete), Malta, Sicily and Spain (Cartagena, Malaga, Cadiz and Seville).  There was also the option of adding Madrid at the end of it.  I decided to give that a go too.  

I start my vacation next Thursday in Villefranche sur Mer, one of my favourite places.  Next Saturday, I will meet a friend there and, after a couple of days on the coast, she and I will head inland to explore the area around Saint Paul de Vence.  Then, before I fly to Athens for the cruise, I will spend a couple of days on my own in Nice.

So, this holiday will be a combination of totally flexible, independent travel for the first 10 days followed by two more structured weeks aboard ship.  Only time will tell if the latter works for me personally.  I am a bit of a skeptic at this point although there is no question I am keen to see the ports of call.  The reviews on Cruise Critic are generally quite good for this company; for example, one said, if you are looking for a wave pool and a climbing wall, this is not the cruise for you!  Okay, maybe this is going to work.  No question, however, in the future I am going to be more careful about using the word NEVER!  I have clearly been proven wrong in that regard.   One thing for sure, I look one heck of a lot different now than when I took that first cruise back in "big hair" days of the 1980s! 

So, stay tuned.  I should be posting my first blog from the French Riviera Thursday or Friday.  Let the fun begin!