After our awesome Mediterranean cruise aboard the Vision of the Seas we opted for a short hop over to Morocco, as its proximity meant relatively cheap plane tickets for the quick flight, and additional savings flying out of Morocco as Lisbon at the time was asking almost double for the same flight home. It also meant the opportunity to visit with an old friend living up in the Atlas Mountains in the sleepy resort/university town of Ifrane.

During our 2009 visit Nicole talked about how the trip was only “mildly …

A great example of early neoclassical architecture, the city of Cadiz decided to construct the royal prison in 1792 when it became apparent that the original one had become rundown and was poorly situated anyways. Interestingly the new building was designed at a time when Baroque architecture was falling out of favour, as the more elaborate design was seen as being decadent and in poor taste, a sentiment likely motivated by a long economic decline Spain was suffering through at the time. The prison however wouldn’t actually open for another …

Our cruise with the Vision of the Seas finally came to an end as we pulled into port at Lisbon, Portugal. Having gotten some great sightseeing suggestions from a Portuguese couple we met during the trip – who were great hosts and showed us some of the best of what Lisbon has to offer – we made the trip up the giant hill on one of their iconic yellow trams, and visited the Castle of Sao Jorge.

Built during the middle of the eleventh century CE, the fortification was situated atop …

Having already talked about what the services and activities can be like aboard one of the cruise ships, I thought I should talk a little about what the rest of your life onboard might look like while you’re cruising.
While you might get to know some of the other cruisers enjoying the voyage with you, it’s more likely that the majority of your encounters are going to be with the staff and crew. Having been on a couple of cruises at this point, its become clear that the majority of employees …

I’m often asked why I cruise, and one of the top reasons I almost always give is the food. Pretty much anything you order in the main dinning room is going to be great, and leaves you thinking about what you’ll be having the next night. And so long as you don’t do anything more than a ten day cruise, you’re also unlikely to see much repetition in the dinning menu. On all the cruises we’ve been on, they’ve all done a great job trying to keep the dishes varied, …

Because not all ports of call are for everyone – even I was having ruin fatigue at some points of our trip – not to mention there’s always going to be the day or two at sea while the ship’s transitioning between ports, cruise lines make sure that the days are packed full of activities – even if you’re more than likely going to be spending the day at the pools.
You can always count on the main theatre having a movie on during the day – which Nicole and I …

The seventh port of call during our Mediterranean cruise with the Vision of the Seas was the Spanish city of Cadiz. Located on the southwestern coast of Spain, Cadiz is not only the principal port of the Spanish Navy – and has been so since the 18th century accession of the Spanish Bourbons – it is the oldest continuously-inhabited city on the Iberian Peninsula, but possibly all of Europe having born witness to over 3’000 years of history.
Uniquely situated on a narrow sliver of land jutting out into the sea, …

Located near the northeastern corner of Sicily by the Strait of Messina, the fourth port of call during our cruise upon the Vision of the Seas was the port town of Messina.

And while it may seem like a recently built town – thanks to their reconstruction after an earthquake – Messina has a long history having once served as the wintering place for Richard the Lionheart during the Crusades, and even as the setting for Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing.’

In recent years it secured its place in pop culture …

Our third port of call for the cruise this past November was the small archipelago state of Malta off the coast from Sicily in the middle of the Mediterranean. And having done our research, our first stop there while we were in at Valletta, was the Knights of Malta’s conventual church, St. Johns Co-Cathedral.
Following the conquest of the Holy Land by Islamic forces, the city was bequeathed to the Order of the Knights Hospitaller to safeguard the Catholic faith and Europe from the Ottoman Empire. Inhabited by noblemen from the …

Once I was asked if Turkey would be considered part of Europe or Asia, and the answer I gave at the time was yes. In fact, the county sits amidst eight countries, separating East from West. And has actively sought to foster close relations with both communities.
A true gateway between the two, Istanbul is in fact a small microcosm of the larger whole that Turkey is. Historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople, it’s the largest city in the entire country with over thirteen million inhabitants and is its busiest port …