The first step of my journey through Europe was, naturally enough, getting to Europe. This I did via 14 day cruise upon The Independence of the Seas. You can hear me talk about the trip here.
The Independence was simply enormous, check out the overhead view of the 'promenade' which was basically a miniature shopping mall on the boat. The second picture here is taken from the very front of the boat. There the view was the best, but the wind was often fierce.
We didn't go straight to Europe, we also took a short detour through the Caribbean. We stopped in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, for an evening. As it was only for an evening I didn't have too much time to explore. Mostly I walked around El Morro, a fortress built by the Spanish in the 1500s that has survived attacks by English, Dutch, and American forces. A cemetery close to the fortress, and shown in the below pictures, includes the grave of Pedro Albizu Campos a major figure in the Puerto Rican nationalist movement and a fascinating person.
After San Juan we visited the Virgin Islands of St Thomas and St Marteens, though only for an afternoon and morning respectively. Didn't see too much of these two or take too many picture. Mainly just went to the beach. I did get a nice view of St Marteens as we pulled away:
After that it was ten whole days at sea. I did get a little impatient before the end, but truly I had a good time in those ten days. Of course, the best part of a cruise is simply watching the changing faces of the sea. An experience so beautiful I couldn't resist waxing poetic.
