Florence - The big steak in the window

One night in Florence, Italy we went to dinner at La Buchetta Firenze. It had a big steak in the middle of the kitchen. So we had to order steak! 

They brought it to the table before they cooked it.

The steak was very good, but the best thing we had was the Mozzarella. It was awesome! The one above the tomatoes was Fior de Latte (cows milk), then continuing too the right -Bufalo (fresh buffalo milk), Burrata, and Stacciatella (from the inside of a great big burrata).

They must have been collecting corks for years because they have them everywhere, even the kitchen. The best part of all is you can write on the wall on little wooden circles.

I drew TOPOLINO which is what they call Mickey Mouse in Italy.



INTERESTING FACT: Mickey Mouse's name was originally Mortimer and Minnie Mouse's name was originally Minerva.

Florence - Cold, Wet Gelato Festival

We went to the Gelato Festival in Florence on a cold and rainy day. The weather was horrible, but the worst part was that the Gelato Festival was closed - not because of the rain, but because the generators weren't working so they couldn't make the gelato.

However, there was a demonstration and it was in a covered area, so we went to watch. The guy spoke all in Italian, so I have no idea what he was saying, but he made the BEST strawberry gelato I have ever tasted.







The generators started working, so we waited another hour until they reopened the Festival. My mom had used Groupon to get the ticket and the ticket didn't work so we had to find someone to help us.My Mom was supposed to go online to activate the Groupon, but since it was written in Italian, she didn't know. Fortunately, they let us in anyway.

There were 14 different kinds of Gelato to taste and 8 were in the competition.

           

My favorite was Buontalenti, but I ate so much of it that I don't like it anymore - boo! Buontalenti wasn't part of the competition because it was last year's winner. My favorite of the flavors in the competition was Sambuco.

At the end of the day we were all so sick of gelato that we didn't think we would ever eat it again. Since it has taken me a while to write this blog post, I can tell you that I definitely still like to eat gelato!

Barcelona - Favorite Places

We arrived in Barcelona on April 10th.

We got off the ship and took a taxi to our apartment. There was a marathon and the taxi could not take us all the way to the apartment so we had to walk with all our luggage. The apartment was on the top floor and there were 119 stairs.




There was a really nice dog at the apartment named Stevie Wonder.








After we got all checked in we went to meet my friend Josh. He is 10 and lives in England. I met him at the Notre Dame playground in Paris last year (actually I first saw him at Sorza, one of my favorite restaurants in Paris). We met Josh and his parents, Brett and Clara at one of my favorite restaurants Elsa y Fred.




After lunch, we went to the playground in Barcelona that I loved when we stayed there 2 years ago,





Then we walked to Cuitidella Parc and watched the ducks and climbed the elephant. It was really hard to get a turn to take a picture on the elephant because there were so many people and they all kept running in front of us.



After that we walked to my favorite gelato place - Vioko. I had my favorite flavor - banana split. We went to Vioko every day while we were in Barcelona and every time I had banana split!







Clara, Brett and Josh were only in Barcelona with us for 1 day, it was the end of their trip and the begiining of ours.We wanted to spend as much time with them as possible, so we met them for dinner too. We went to Sagardi which makes the best steak ever!




Josh gave me a present from Smiggle - some really cool art supplies. Since it has taken me so long to write this blog post, I can tell you  that I use it almost every day.

We said goodbye to Josh and Clara and Brett, but we will see them again in Paris in August.

The rest of our time in Barcelona was spent visiting some of our favorite places from 2 years ago and spending time with Stevie Wonder.

The Boqueria Market

Buying Postcards for Oma, Opa, and my Classmates

Iberian Ham - Ymmm!

I LOVE Barcelona!

On La Ramblas

Drinking from the Fountain so we can come back to Barcelona

On the balcony of our apartment

Interview with Captain John Scott

Captain John Scott was the Captain of the Eurodam. The Eurodam is the ship that we sailed on around the Caribbean and across the Atlantic Ocean. We saw the Captain walking around the ship and many times we saw him at the Explorers Cafe getting a cup of coffee. Whenever he saw me he would say “how is my sophisticated 9 year old today”. On the day before we arrived in Barcelona we saw the Captain having breakfast at the Lido Market. I asked if I could interview him and he said yes. He took us to the bridge and showed me all of the equipment used to run the ship. Then I interviewed him.

Katarina: What is your name?

Captain John Scott: My name is Captain John Scott.

Katarina: Where and when were you born?

Captain John Scott: I was born in New Zealand.

Katarina: Did you have any brothers or sisters?

Captain John Scott: Yes I have 1 younger brother.

Katarina: What was your favorite thing about school?

Captain John Scott: I didn’t really like school and I wasn’t a very good student, but if I had to pick a subject it would be Geography.

Katarina: What was your first job?

Captain John Scott: My first job was selling diving equipment in a sports shop and I got paid $12.50 a week, but I had to pay $0.50 tax.

Katarina: What is your favorite place to visit?

Captain John Scott: I would have to say New Zealand.

Katarina: Has your family ever lived on the ship with you?

Captain John Scott: Yes. We have a house in London, but my wife sails on the ship with me some times.

Katarina: Were did you go to high school?

Captain John Scott: I went to high school in Tokyo

Katarina: How many ships have you been on?

Captain John Scott: I’ve been on thousands of ships. I’ve been on ships for 36-37 years.

Katarina: How many ships have you been Captain on?

Captain John Scott: I’ve been Captain on 9 ships.

Our day in Cartagena

Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located on the Mediterranean coast in South-Eastern Spain. Cartagena has been inhabited for over 2200 years. It was founded around 227 BC by the Carthaginians. As far back as the 16th century it was one of the most important naval ports in Spain.

We had such a short time in Cartagena and it was our last day before reaching Barcelona so I really wanted to just stay on the boat. Mom kinda agreed with me, but Dad said No - so we go up and had the usual breakfast. But during breakfast, we saw the Captain. We talked to him for a little bit and told him about my blog and how I was interviewing people and asked if he could spare time for an interview. He said yes and gave us his private number to call after breakfast. We called him and he told us to meet him on Deck 8. He took us to the bridge - that is where they steer the ship - and he showed us some of the equipment. Then we did our interview. After the interview we walked in to Cartagena.

Cartagena had another Roman Theater and my Dad wanted to look at it, but my Mom and I wanted to go shopping. So we split up and then met back by the Roman Theater for chocolate and churros. We had two different kinds of chocolate and the churros were really good. Then it was time to get back onto the boat to sail to Barcelona.

Interview with Mari Graham

We had dinner with Mari one night and she told us a story about how she was booked on the Andrea Doria when she was 3. She switched ships and did not die. Her Mom, Dad, Grandma, and herself were all supposed to be on the ship and all her other relatives thought they were dead and had a memorial service for them. Because they did not get on the ship, I imagined that her Mom, Dad, Grandma and herself walked in and everybody thought they were just imagining things.

Katarina: What is your name?

Mari: My name is Mari Graham.

Katarina: Where and when were you born?

Mari: I was born in  Spain on April 5,1953.

Katarina: Did you have any brothers or sisters?

Mari: Yes I had 1 brother but he died when he was 1

Katarina: What was your favorite thing about school?

Mari: I don't have a favorite, but I do love learning!

Katarina: What was your first job?

Mari: My first job was working at a French restaurant when I was 14. The owners were my parents friends. My parents did not want me to get paid but their friends insisted so I got paid 75 cents per hour.  

Katarina: What is your favorite place to visit?

Mari: My favorite place to visit is a beach called Bay Biscay in Spain.

Katarina:How often do you visit spain?  

Mari: 3-6 times a year.

Katarina: Why did you not go on the Andrea Doria?

Mari: I do not know, but we went on the Roma the Andrea Doria's sister. I didn't know the story about being on the Andrea Doria until my parents told me when I was 12. It was like I was given a 2nd chance at life.

Katarina: How long have you been a teacher?

                                                                       

Mari: I have been a been a teacher for 13 years.

Our day in Malaga

Malaga is a city on the Costa del Sol in Spain. It is about 80 miles North of Africa. It was founded by the Phoenicians in 770 BC and named Malaka. From the 6th century BC it was under th rule of the Carthaginians. Then, from 218 BC, it was ruled by the Romans. It was named Malaca. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it was under Islamic domination as Malaqah for 800 years. In 1487, it again came under Christian rule.  The archaeological remains and monuments from the Phoenician, Roman, Arabic and Christian eras display a history of more than 3000 years.

We visited Malaga on April 8th. It was our third land stop during our Transatlantic cruise and the second time we have visited. The last time was in 2014 when we did a guided tour. We started with a Hop On Hop Off tour that took us around the city. We sat on the top of the bus and when we were driving around I looked out and saw Carol and Martin. The tour took us to Gibralfaro Castle at the top of the hill. There were amazing views. Dad and I hopped off the bus and explored the castle. We saw Carol and Martin again at the Castle. We got back on the bus and met Mom at the next stop where the Roman Theater was located. We went to lunch at Bottega del Pimpi and had a really good lunch. Then we walked across the street to the Roman Theater. When we were walking through the theater I saw a cat, it made me sad because I miss Pumpkin, my cat back home. We took some pictures and sat in the theater listening to music. Then we went shopping a bought some postcards. Then it was time to get back on the ship to travel to Cartegena.