Part 2: Fourteen days...

Christmas Day was spent relaxing on the boat, spending time with the family. Seeing as this was our first Christmas with Spider Dave and Jessie, we made sure to spoil them a little.

Jessie with her own camera.

I designed personalized cards for all the gang.   

A selfie!

Spider Dave with his walky talky. 

Seeing as Fat Dave did not seem too concerned about his duck hat, we decided to torment him a bit with a few more pictures. Spider Dave was up for the task!

 Boxing Day was spent at Toulon, France where the weather was wonderful!

Some found it a bit cooler than others. All thought it was better than Canada.

Ange went dress shopping. Mom was not impressed with her choices.

We finished off Boxing Day with an amazing sunset.

 Barcelona, Spain was the next destination.  We all visited the Sagrada Familia together and went up the two towers (something new for those who had been there before).  The church is just as spectacular the second time.  We also got to see a bit of the progress in construction from April.

The exterior on the Nativity side.

We all walked down from the towers.  The staircase is a bit scary considering there is a large hole down the centre that looks like it could hurt if you took a wrong step and fell.

Mom and Dad on their audio tour.

The exterior on the Passion side.

The roof.

 We split into groups after the Sagrada and some went to Casa Mila, an apartment complex also designed by Gaudi (who designed Sagrada Familia).  It did not disappoint!

The roof of the complex.

This is Ange in an archway.

Arthur in an archway.  

The audio tour was more like a treasure hunt where one had to be very perceptive to find the numbers that dictated what to listen to on the tour. Here you will find the Number 8 sign.

You may remember from my previous Barcelona blog that the boys bought some slingshot toys that eventually ended up caught up in a palm tree.  We went back to see if they were still there.  Yep, one was!

 After Barcelona, it was on to Valencia, Spain. It is a very pretty little city with a beautiful garden and some old buildings.

An early morning break at a fountain.

Ange waiting for the others to finish exploring yet another church.

The boys went missing for awhile.  This was a bit concerning because they had the kid's stroller.  We eventually found them waiting for coffee like this.

Uncle Dennis trying to take a picture of a poinsettia tree.

We came across a playground.  I think the big kids had more fun than the little ones!

Uncle Dennis found some bubbles that kept him occupied for about 30 minutes.

We were entertained watching him for about that long!

Back on the boat to watch us sail away!

This is Jessie being a monkey.

After a long day, we were all excited to hit our spot at Tankards.  Unfortunately, it was occupied so we had to sit beside our usual area. 

I can't explain this one. 

Someone's dumb face always ruins a picture.

Our next place was Cagliari, Italy (or how some pronounced it, Calgary-a).  It was a very pretty town but there was not much to see.  I think most of us were just happy to get off the boat after a few days of rough seas.

Cagliari.

We somehow lost 4 members of the group walking from the ship.  We did eventually meet up at this viewing point which was a great place for pictures.

The original Five.

A beautiful sea-side town.

A picture of the gang.

 Back on the boat, Shea had a surprise for everyone. He went full nautical for one dinner!

Ange enjoying the getup! Complete with the nautical themed pashmina afgan. 

Fat Dave was less impressed because it took away from his slick hair and popped collar.

Back to Tankards!

I stole Fat Dave's squirrel hat.

It's been awhile since we took a selfie!

Dumb Dave!

Fat Dave finally found the bowling alley!

The competition was intense with the final score being 4 points apart.  

Shea had this great idea to order every drink on the menu throughout the cruise.  Here is a drink that did not agree with him!