Last Day: Guggenheim Museum and Bilbao, Spain

Sadly we had to leave the Sea Cloud.  It was sad saying goodbye to the crew and each other.  Some of us were going on to an extra few days in Spain, and the rest of us were heading home the next day.

We visited the famous Guggenheim Museum in the morning.  It was quite, well, interesting.  Very modern art shall we say!  We did not quite understand it.....!  A few pictures from there.

 This was cool, a dog built with flowers.

And finally, our last dinner in Europe.  We ate at a little pizza place.  We were the only ones sitting outside as it was a little chilly.  This is where the weird guy came up to our table, trying to sell us something, and actually touched our pizza!  A little scary, but he finally left. 

 Our hotel in Spain.  Very posh!

 A video of the park outside of the hotel.

 And our last European coffee!  I can't lie, I missed American coffee!

 And then it was Wednesday morning and we were flying back to the US.

  Thanks to everyone who helped us make this a trip of a lifetime!!  We are eternally grateful!!

And a last little tidbit about our time on the Sea Cloud!!  We weren't joking about the food!!

Last Day on Boat

Our last day before we disembarked the Sea Cloud we spent the whole day at sea, mostly under sail so it was very calm and peaceful...until they took down the sails before our last dinner, and took off.  Then it was rocky from then until the morning.  I got thru dinner, and that was it!  So, not a great last night, but dinner was fun!  Also, our last YL club was that day and I am going to include some video of Ash at his best!

 Our Captain, our "Julie" like the LoveBoat and of course Simon!

Our friends from Chicago, Debbie and Barbara.  We kept Barbara from getting too bored with all the "adults"!

The table at our last Farewell Dinner

And of course the wine!  We even were served a special wine with the appetizer of caviar!

Ok here are the videos of Ash!  This is the head of the pig that we had at the barbecue.  His name is "Dewey", which was the name of our wine expert!  It is kind of hard to tell by these, but it was hilarious.

June 5, Wine Tasting

Today was our wine tasting day.  We went to the Bordeaux region, which produces all the red wines listed in the 1855 Classification except one.  What is the 1855 Classification you ask?  Well, we learned everything it isn't from wine expert Dewey Markham, Jr.  It was fun listening to him talk about everything wine since we know next to nothing about it!  Anyway, a fun day and also got to do a little sunning on the boat since it was actually hot this day!
Here is the Chateau Pichon Longueville, and our wine expert, Dewey, is talking.

Here we are in front of the Chateau, also Dewey and our guide for the tour.

And inside the winery. 

And the tasting!  This is Ash with Rob.

And last, a picture with the Bradshaws, good friends with our good friends the Brinkman's from Charlottesville!

And back to the boat!  The music is coming from the crew having a little crew party!  And they are...

...roasting a pig for our "Barbecue" tonight!  Except that this barbecue had filet mignon and roasted pig!

And what would a barbecue be without a sing-a-long with the crew!!

Saturday, June 4

La Rochelle - a bustling port city, a lot bigger than the other towns we had been in, plus, being Saturday, a lot of people were out.  We did not go on any tours today, just walked around the city and enjoyed the sights.  This is the day we found a hotel that let us use their computer so that we could check email and post on the blog.

Dinner on the Sea Cloud!

Dinner was always an experience on the Sea Cloud - 5 courses, wine, and so much silverware!  The videos are of our captain, and Simon, who was our favorite shipmate!

Bike ride in France

Friday, June 3 we and 30 other folks took a bike ride through the French countryside.  It was supposed to be a leisurely ride, but it was quite strenuous and really and truly uphill both ways!!  So, we got some much needed exercise after all the eating we had been doing on the ship!

 A car we saw at a water break!

 This was the scene that Monet painted 80 or so times.  That's all he painted the entire time he was here!

 Some people wanted to climb down this cliff to the water, but our guide said NO!!  We saw some people down there and he said, "They must be French" and rolled his eyes!

I took this for Mimi!

We board the Sea Cloud!

On a very windy day, we boarded the Sea Cloud and boy were we in for a treat!  Champagne served as we boarded (one of about 5 times we were served champagne!) and wet towels to wipe our hands!  Here are a few pictures of the Sea Cloud. (first a picture I took at the last WWII Museum we went to with the flags all waving in the wind.  Beautiful)

Ok, here we are on the Sea Cloud!

Georgia Brinkman, this is for you!  Linda Bradshaw and me!

 The ship and a view from near our room (that's our door right by the steps, and right by where all the crew hung out!  We'd hear them early in the morning). 

Our first excursion was to an island (Herm) that was actually owned by England, so we had to set our watches back an hour.  We were supposed to see birds called Puffins, but we really never saw any!
It was a beautiful island though and we got to walk around the whole thing.  Only 50 or so people live on the island, everyone else are tourists.

Our first view of setting the sails!  Quite an undertaking.  The crew climb the masts to undo the sails.  Some pray before going up.  It's a long way up there!

Here is a video of setting the sails!

And another from out in the water.  Rob braved it, I didn't!