Malaga, Spain Day 14/16 Viking Vesta ‘Malta, Morocco and the Mediterranean’ cruise March 26, 2027 #checkthisoffourbucketlist #myvikingjourney #myvikingstory #malaga #spain #vikingvesta Ah yes! Malaga, Spain! The birthplace of Pablo Ruiz Picasso known for co-founding the Cubist movement. But more about Picasso shortly. We arrived bright and early into Malaga, Spain this morning - early enough to catch the sunrise off our balcony overlooking the cruise terminal of Malaga. Ou

Day 12/16 Viking Vesta “Malta, Morocco and the Mediterranean” cruise March 24, 2026 Casablanca, Morocco #vikingvesta #myvikingstory #maltamoroccoandthemediterranean #checkthisoffourbucketlist #casablanca #morocco As yes…Morocco! Another exotic North African port on the Mediterranean! Except our port of call today is Casablanca which meant that we had to sail in the rough Atlantic Ocean overnight to get to the port of Casablanca, which is one of the top 5 busiest container p

Day 10/16 Viking Vesta ‘Malta, Morocco and the Mediterranean’ cruise March 22, 2026, Algiers, Algeria #algiers #algeria #vikingvesta #maltamoroccoandthemediterranean #checkthisoffourbucketlist Algeria! Not a country we had a burning desire to visit, but when it is on the cruise itinerary we figure out what excursion we want to do…and roll with it! Not the nicest sign to welcome us to Algeria, but the country is really not set up for mass tourism. This sign was on the top of

Day 8/16 Viking Vesta. Tunis, Tunisia. Malta, Morocco and the Mediterranean 16 day cruise March 20, 2026 a very special big birthday for me! #vikingvesta #maltamorocooandthemediterranean #myvikingjourney #myvikingstory #checkthisoffourbucketlist I have always wanted to visit Tunisia. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know why. I visited Morocco in 1997 and since then I have always wanted to visit Tunisia. Maybe because it seemed so exotic in North Africa, away from the bea

Valetta, Malta Day 2 Day 7/16 Viking Vesta, Malta, Morocco and the Mediterranean March 19, 2026 #vikingvesta #viking #checkthisoffourbucketlist #malta #myvikingjourney #myvikingstory Viking Vesta docked in Valetta, Malta Today our back on board time was 3pm. Since we had docked overnight in Valetta, we had another partial day to explore this magical place! It was also nice to know we didn’t have to wake up with an alarm clock for a tour and that we had about a half day to

Day 6 Valetta, Malta Viking Vesta ‘Malta, Morocco and the Mediterraean 16 day cruise from Barcelona to Barcelona #checkthisoffourbucketlist #vikingvesta #myvikingjourney #myvikingstory We woke up this morning to very heavy swells. We really haven’t had very rough seas so far on this cruise. The swells actually woke me up! I noticed we were slowing down because the pilot boat was arriving. Off in the distance we could see the coastline of Valetta, Malta so we knew we were f

Day 4 Viking Vesta ‘Malta, Morocco and the Med’ 16 day cruise Civitavecchia, Italy #vikingvesta #maltamoroccoandthemed #italy #Civitavecchia #rome #checkthisoffourbucketlist We woke up this morning in Civitavecchia, docked next to our sister ship the Viking Mars. The Mars is on a 20 day repositioning cruise which embarked in Ft. Lauderdale and ends in Athens. It was interesting to see the slight differences in the two ships, with the Vesta being a 2025 ship and the Mars bein

Today starts another big adventure! We have been planning this 5+ week vacation for over 2 years and we are finally going to embark on another trip of a lifetime! 2026 is the “Year of Ruth” as Richard is calling it. I turn 65 this month on March 20th and I wanted to be somewhere special for my BIG BIRTHDAY! One of the places I have always wanted to visit happens to be where we will be on my Birthday! Our adventure begins from Tampa, Florida where we have spent the winter

#avalonsaigon #vietnam #avalonwaterways #hochiminh #checkthisoffourbucketlist #saigon Day 1 of our land portion in Ho Chi Minh or Saigon…it seems no one can give me a straight answer on whether we should say Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City. Apparently the city was renamed in 1976 after the Vietnam War but locals with a sentimental connection to the city pre 1976 still call it Saigon. We left our luggage outside our cabin this morning at 6:45am and headed to the buffet on the Aval

Day 7 Avalon Saigon River Cruise on the Mekong Delta #avalonsaigon #avalonwaterways #checkthisoffourbucketlist #snakes #poprice #vinhlong This morning we had our last Sampan ride of the cruise. Our early morning excursion brought us to Vinh Long to a workshop. We got to experience some traditional Vietnamese foods and drink at this ‘one stop shop’ on the Mekong River. We disembarked at what look like a covered open air building which had various stations set up inside. Our

#avalonwaterways #avalonsaigon #checkthisoffourbucketlist #vietnam Day 6 on the Avalon Saigon on the Mekong We did not travel very far overnight as you can see from the map above the border of Cambodia and Vietnam is still pretty close. Our destination this morning was a very small place called Long Khanh A. Apparently there is a Long Khanh B and C but we were only visiting A today. As more silt builds up in the Mekong delta, more islands form and instead of figuring out n

Day 5 Avalon Saigon River Cruise…leaving Phnom Penh #avalonjourney #avalonwaterways #checkthisoffourbucketlist #cambodia #vietnam We started off from Phnom Penh this morning at 2am to sail on the Mekong River until we reached the border with Vietnam. Apparently we would have to ‘get in line’ with any other ships which were crossing into Vietnam, so arriving early in the morning was the plan to make sure we were not delayed too long at the border. Approaching Vietnam the Mek

#RoyalPalace #privatetour #cyclotour #tuktuk #phnom penh #cambodia #avalon #checkthisoffourbucketlist Day 4 Avalon Saigon Mekong Delta River Cruise Docking in Phnom Penh for a few days meant that we could have some free time this afternoon and we could go on an included excursion this morning. Cyclos all lined up to take us through the streets of Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh has a population of 2.8 million and the traffic is very chaotic. Rather than have a tour bus to drive us ar

#cambodia #avalontours #avalonjourney #avalon #checkthisoffourbucketlist #oxcart #killingfields Day 3 of our Mekong Delta River Cruise on the Avalon Saigon How do you get to work? Many of us that lived near Toronto would commute via GO Train or Subway, with a few brave ones willing to risk rush hour traffic and sit in their cars for hours at a time. Well today’s commute was a wee bit different to get to the village of Kampong Tralach! Ox cart!! Who knew there was a specific

#avalonsaigon #mekongrivercruise #checkthisoffourbucketlist #wathanchey #angkorban Day 2 on the Avalon Saigon Mekong Delta River Cruise We had the option today of climbing up 390 steps to the temple or take a bus. Humidity was 90% and it felt like 39C. We took the bus. We knew we would have lots of opportunity to sweat today, so why start out sweaty! The bus dropped us off at an 8th century Buddhist temple compound where we were to experience a water blessing ceremony by the

#busrides #avalon #checkthisoffourbucketlist #avalonsaigon We started off our morning leaving our luggage outside our hotel rooms at 7am....

#siemreap #bantaysrea #taprohm #cambodia #ricenoodles #avalon #checkthisoffourbucketlist #angkorwatsunrise 4:30am wake-up call! Up bright...

#avalon #checkthisoffourbucketlist #cambodia #siemreap #ankorwat In the 16th Century Portugese traders and missionaries discovered a vast...

#avalon #checkthisoffourbucketlist #vietnam #tamcoc #lagooncruise #gogoyears #retiredtravellers Day 2 of our Fascinating Vietnam,...

#avalon #hanoi #vietnam #checkthisoffourbucketlist Day 3 Hà Nội After two day in Hanoi with a guide and on our own, it was finally time...