September 2007 Last updated: Friday - December 28, 2007 Gael surprised me with a cruise to the northern Mediterranean!  A bigger (better?) surprise: she's paying for it.. She kept it from me until just about a month before we sail.  I have this "new job-thing" now, so arranging time-off was something we had to do -- otherwise I wouldn't have been told until the last minute. We've been on three cruises lifetime-to-date, and enjoyed them all.  This one promises to be the best one yet. Here's the plan: We fly from Atlanta to Barcelona where we board the Celebrity Cruise Ship "Century" to Marseilles, France Next to Cannes on the French Riviera, Florence, Rome, Corsica, Valencia, Gibralter and finally back to Barcelona ..to fly back to Atlanta the next day. Here's the ship: ..and here's the route: If you've ever followed along on any of our sea or land trips (click HERE for prior adventures if you get bored with this one...), you know I'll be trying to keep you up-to-date with stories and photos as we go.  Gael knew to book us on a ship with high-speed internet in the stateroom!  And, this time I'll try to avoid dumping a glass of Pinot Noir into the laptop.  This time the computer is my new MacBook Pro; I'll be careful! And, new to us for this trip, we have a wee video camera that may come into play; you never know! Day 1 - Wednesday, September 19, 2007 The plan: We fly from Atlanta to Barcelona overnight leaving Thursay 9/19 at 8pm (trusting in Delta) and arriving in Barcelona at 11:05a Friday morning (Day 2). What happened in Atlanta: Click HERE. Day 2 - Thursday, September 20, 2007 The plan: We're staying for the night in what promises to be an excellent five-star hotel, the Hotel Majestic Barcelona. Today we'll tour Barcelona and end the day with an eight-course gourmet tasting dinner with paired wines at Cinc Sentits (Spanish not so good?  It means "Five Senses"). What happened in Barcelona: Click HERE. Day 3 - Friday, September 21, 2007 The plan: We spend the day in Barcelona and sail at 8pm to arrive in Marseilles at 7am tomorrow. What happened in Barcelona II: HERE. Day 4 - Saturday, September 22, 2007 The plan: We spend the day in Marseilles and sail at 6pm to arrive in Cannes at 7am tomorrow. What happened in Marseilles: Click HERE. Day 5 - Sunday, September 23, 2007 The plan: We spend the day in Cannes and sail at 10pm to arrive in Florence at 7am tomorrow. What happened in Cannes/Monaco/Monte Carlo: Click HERE. Day 6 - Monday, September 24, 2007 The plan: We spend the day in Florence and sail at 7pm to arrive in Civitacecchia (Rome) at 7am tomorrow. What happened in Florence:  Click HERE. Day 7 - Tuesday, September 25, 2007 The plan: We spend the day in Rome and sail at 7pm to arrive in Ajaccio, Corsica at 7am tomorrow. What happened in Rome:  Click HERE. Day 8 - Wednesday, September 26, 2007 The plan: We spend the day in Ajaccio and sail at 5pm for a two day sail, arriving in Valencia, Spain at 7am day after tomorrow. What happened in Ajaccio, Corsica:  Click HERE. Day 9 - Thursday, September 27, 2007 The plan: We continue our sail from Corsica to Valencia, Spain. What happened at sea: Click HERE. Day 10 - Friday, September 28, 2007 The plan: We spend the day in Valencia and sail at 2pm to arrive in Gibraltar at 1pm tomorrow. What happened in Valencia: Click HERE. Day 11 - Saturday, September 29, 2007 The plan: We spend the afternoon in Gibralter departing at 7:00p for a 1½ day sail to Barcelona. What happened in Gibraltar: Click HERE. Day 12 - September 30, 2007 The plan: We're at sea all day on our way to Barcelona. What happened on our last day at sea: Click HERE. Day 13 - Monday, October 1, 2007 The plan: We complete the tour by landing in Barcelona, then we fly from Barcelona at 1:05p and arrive home in Atlanta at 5:15p What happened on our way home: Click HERE. We hope you enjoyed sailing along with us; we know WE did!   Questions, corrections or comments (be gentle)?  Click .