a taste of la bella vita

I started this blog less than two years ago as a way to stay connected with family & friends.

In the past year it's grown so much and has also connected me with some wonderful new people.
(In fact, this is my 300th post!)
I never dreamed where it might take me someday.

And now it's taking me on a cruise!

I know, right?  I can't believe it either.

This will be my 8th cruise, but I've only ever cruised on two big American cruise lines.
MSC Cruises is one of Europe's leading cruise lines.  It's an family-owned Italian company with a large fleet.
I'm going to go scope it out for you (I'm such a giver) and tell you what I think. 

Tomorrow I'm joining a small group of travel bloggers and flying to Rome to board the MSC Splendida.

We're off for a three night cruise to experience all that this modern and stylish ship has to offer. Here's a tour of the ship from MSC Cruises.

 We will stop in Genoa, Italy and Marseilles, France before disembarking in Barcelona, Spain.
I can't even tell you how excited I am.


I'll be checking in on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram along the way.


You can follow along at #MSCBlogCruise.


If you have any specific questions or things I should pay special attention to,
just let me know.  Take a look at our cruise page for more info about our cruising experiences.

Have you ever cruised with MSC?  What did you think?
 

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The City of Gaudi

 As I've mentioned before, I fell in love with Spain after our last visit.
So I was eager to get back and explore another corner of this wonderful country.

My three night MSC Blog Cruise ended in Barcelona.

This is a city that I was eager to visit and Matt was excited to revisit,

so he flew out and met me for a few extras days in this modern, ancient city.

I got a lesson in European assertiveness when I disembarked the cruise ship during a torrential downpour.

I headed straight for the taxi line and politely took my place in the queue.

Ha!  I quickly realized that less than half of us were complying with proper line etiquette.

The rest had decided that they weren't required to wait and would just jump into the next taxi.

 The shouting started, the situation escalated and the police were called.

After a half hour getting soaking wet and actually being bullied out of two taxis when I was NEXT IN LINE,

I realized that she who screams the loudest gets the taxi.

I must have done it right because no one fought me as I jumped in yelling "Mine!"

I might have even stomped my foot.  But I got that next taxi, dammit.

After the initial drama, our stay in Barcelona was wonderful.

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain
and after London and Paris, is one of the most visited cities in Europe.

We stayed at the Musik Boutique Hotel and were very happy with our stay.

Cute and comfortable with a very nice breakfast each morning.

We took a hop on/hop off bus one day when it was raining,

but most of the time we just spent exploring the Old City on foot.

The city is world renowned for it's interesting architecture.

It's a great combination of historical and modern.

I found the eyeball building, The Ohla Hotel, particularly interesting.

You can't talk about Barcelona without mentioning the work of Antoni Gaudi.

The city is dotted with his whimsical and distinctive designs, full of curves and color.

We visited two of his works, La Sagrada Familia and Le Pedrera which I'll show you in future posts.

 

The city's most famous pedestrian street is the tree-lined Las Rambles but after about twenty minutes

fighting the tourists and dodging the street performers, I was anxious to get back into the side streets.

That's where you can get lost and really experience the wonderful city of Barcelona.

 We walked and walked, stopping for ice cream or jamón when we needed sustinance.  

When it was time for lunch we would pop into a Tavern for pinchos and wine.

 It's kind of like tapas.  The bar was covered with trays containing a large variety of skewered snacks.

You settle up your bill by just counting the number of sticks you have left on your plate at the end.

We walked all the way down to the port passing some interesting art pieces along the way.

 

Barcelona is also the home of one of the top rated city beaches, so of course we had to take a look.

The sand was a bit rough, as was the crowd,
but we enjoyed watching the sun go down over this beautiful Mediterranean city.

What is your favorite thing about Barcelona?

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Celebrating Spain with Rioja

*I received two complimentary bottles of Rioja from Roberson Wine.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you know that I'm in love with Spain.

We visited earlier this year and had a fabulous time.

 

Here are my top five reasons to visit Spain.

Another great reason... Wine!

 We were introduced the Spanish wine Rioja at the Rioja Tapas Fantasticas and we both loved it.

When Roberson Wine offered to send us a few bottles to sample at home, how could we resist?

The bottles arrived packaged safely and I tucked them away for a special occasion.

It was quite difficult to keep Matthew from taking a corkscrew to them until last weekend.

We had some friends over and it was the perfect time to open the Rioja.

(But not before I pretended to be a food and wine stylist with more grapes from the garden.)

 

Viña Tondonia Reserva 2001

Lopez de Heredia

 "Vanilla and dried berry aromas on the nose. Rich and dry on the palate with smooth, well developed tannins. A nicely balanced wine."

 

 

Decenio Rioja Reserva 2002

Bodegas las Orcas

"This Reserva Rioja from Decenio is made from low-yielding 70 year-old Tempranillo vines. The wine is matured in French oak barrels for 24 months, then bottled unfined and unfiltered to retain its character and flavour. A developed nose of blackcurrant, tobacco and leather, this is not a big blockbuster wine, and that’s a good thing. It is light on its feet, wonderfully balanced and refreshing to drink."

They were both lovely, but the gang's favorite was the Tondonia Reserva.

 It had great "legs" and was very rich.  (That's about all of the wine talk that I know.)  Matthew certainly approved.

  I see much more Rioja and tapas in our near future.

Next weekend, I'm off for a 3 night cruise with MSC Cruises.  
The last stop is Barcelona where Matt will join me for a few extra days enjoying Spain!

How do you feel about Rioja and tapas?

¡Salud!

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*I received two complimentary bottles of wine from Roberson Wine for the purposes of review.
All photos, writing and opinions are 100% my own.  

 As always, I promise to be open, honest and transparent with my readers.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.