January 5, 2019 - U.S. News & World Report's top rankings for South Florida Cruise Lines AND A Sneak Peek at Tanya's Barcelona Itinerary

Elisa's Daily Scoop 
Covering Long Island & NYC Boroughs 
CURRENTLY IN: LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK
​NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 42 DAYS: DISNEY WORLD, FLORIDA

Tanya's Daily Scoop 
Covering the West Coast & the World
​CURRENTLY IN: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 6 DAYS: EUROPE

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U.S. News & World Report's top rankings for South Florida Cruise Lines

Hey there - Raining here on Long Island - what a downpour today!

My day started of with yet another house showing. This week, we had four interested buyers.  No pun intended, but when it rains it pours.  We’ve had four interested buyers this week and now  I’m awaiting offers!! We’ll see what happens.

Having to get out of the house for a while, we caught up on some errands.  First, to Trader Joe’s for groceries; then to Petco for Punkin’s food and lastly to Stop & Shop to fill in with some items not available at Trader Joe’s.

In travel news...
Have you taken a look at Tanya's trips for the coming year?  Wow - four visits to Europe. 

• First trip to Europe in 6 days - Spain, Gibraltar, Canary Islands, Madeira plus Morocco - her first time to the continent of Africa! 
• Second trip to Europe in June/July - London & Sicily 
• Third trip in September - Croatia
• Forth trip in October - Greece

It's going to be amazing, following her around throughout 2019.  We'll be giving lots of facts and information about the places she'll be traversing.

As for me, I've got a crazy year ahead with the (inevitable) sale of my house, moving into a new home, lots of school events and of course, a few trips of my own!

I have a few major trips and will be filling in with some smaller daycations and hopefully weekend excursions as the year goes on. 

• First Trip is Disney World in Florida in February
• Second trip to Sicily (my one and only trip to Europe this year) in July/July
• Third trip to Las Vegas in October.

I'll admit, this is not as exciting as Tanya's year, but, life is a bit different on my end with commitments on the home front.  

For today, I thought you might enjoy this article I came across in the Sun Sentinel about the Top South Florida Cruise Lines:

These South Florida cruise lines made U.S. News & World Report's top rankings

US. News & World Report has released its rankings of the top cruise lines in the country and South Florida is well represented. Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Carnival cruise lines were ranked in several categories. Pictured are Norwegian ship renderings. (Norwegian Cruise Line / Courtesy)

Here's the basic summary:

• “Best Cruise Line for the Money” - Miami-based Celebrity Cruises, which is part of Royal Caribbean
• "Best Cruise Line for Families" - Disney Cruise Line 

Royal Caribbean came in second in the "Families" category. 
Doral-based Carnival Cruise Line. 

• “Best Cruise Line in the Caribbean" - Disney Cruise Line
•   “Best Cruise Line in the Mediterranean” - Carnival-owned Seabourn Cruise Line 
• “Best Luxury Cruise Line" -  Carnival-owned Seabourn Cruise Line 

Pretty cool information for cruise travelers!!

I'm off folks!!  
Enjoy your day!!

-Travelin' Elisa
xoxo

Sneak Peek at my Barcelona Itinerary

Hello and HAPPY SATURDAY to you!

Aside from the busy and quite normal ins and outs of a typical day in the life of being Tanya, we had a few special visitors yesterday afternoon...
​
Liz showed up with Mika, Noah, Levi and the wee little angel Aurora.

Brigitte holding Aurora (c)travelincousins.com

Chaplin kissing Aurora (c)travelincousins.com

Mika holding Aurora (c)travelincousins.com

I also carved out time to work not only on my upcoming trip (OMG we leave in 6 days) to Europe, but also my trip to Croatia - which departs in September!

AND I've also adjusted my trip to Greece to October - yes I am Heading to Europe 4X in 2019!!!

Can you tell that it is my favorite place to travel?!

• First trip to Europe in 6 days - Spain, Gibraltar, Canary Islands, Madeira plus Morocco - my first time to the continent of Africa! 
• Second trip to Europe in June/July - London & Sicily 
• Third trip in September - Croatia
• Forth trip in October - Greece

Being that I've adjusted my trip to Greece from August to October, I've also added another trip for the month of August - to Portland and Bend, Oregon.

There is great fun to be had, I know that I can't wait and I'm sure that you can't wait either!

As far as today goes, we are expecting rain here in SoCal, I've got plenty of packing to still do, we'll be taking Cosette over to her friend Brianna's house for a sleep over and then later tonight we'll be meeting up with my friend Jodie (who will also be joining me on the trip to Croatia) to go see the Clint Eastwood for Oscar nominated true story movie The Mule.

I've also got to manage filling all of the cabinets, the fridge and the freezer here at home for the kids and the fam bam for while Dave and I are away on our trip.

Now here's a sneak peek at what to expect during the first few days that I am away:

​Day 1 - Depart Los Angeles
Day 2 - Arrive Barcelona, check in and then explore La Rambla,  Mercat de la Boqueria & the Christopher Columbus Monument. 

• The famous La Rambla is a tree-lined pedestrian street in central Barcelona approximately 1.2 kilometres long with Port Vell at the Southern most end and Plaça de Catalunya at the northern most end. La Rambla forms the boundary between the quarters of Barri Gòtic, to the east, and El Raval, to the west.   There are also dozens of restaurants and shops along the full length of La Rambla.    - The Spanish poet Federico García Lorca once said that La Rambla was "the only street in the world which I wish would never end."
• The Mercat de la Boqueria a large and colorful market on the Ramblas. Dating back to 1217, this famous market has been the city’s best grocery store for as long as anyone can remember. Visiting this market, particularly during the summer months, you'll be dazzled by the brilliance of color from the fruits and vegetables in its stalls.
• To honour Christopher Columbus’ first voyage to the Americas, a 60-meter tall monument was constructed in 1888 to the lower end of Las Ramblas near to the harbour. Upon his return to Spain Columbus reported to King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I in Barcelona and the grand statue stands close to the site where Columbus touched the Spanish soil for the first time after his long journey. 

Day 3 - Exploring the Old Gothic Quarter and  La Barceloneta

• Despite its name, a number of landmark Gothic buildings in the neighborhood do not date to the Middle Ages. Rather, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the quarter was completely transformed from a sombre neighborhood to a tourist attraction through a massive restoration project, timed to be completed for the 1929 International Exhibition. Keeping that in mind however this beautiful neighborhood is so called the Gothic Quarter because it used to be the Roman village and thus has some remnants of its glorious past!
• La Barceloneta was practically an uninhabited zone until the mid 18th century. Fishermen were the first to frequent this part of Barcelona even though the sea conditions were very precarious. La Barceloneta is now known for its sandy beach and its many restaurants and nightclubs along the boardwalk​. Amongst the attractions on Barceloneta's beach are German artist Rebecca Horn's "Homenatge a la Barceloneta" monument, and, where the beach gives way to the Port Olímpic, Frank Gehry's modern "Peix d'Or" sculpture. 

Much more to come! So be sure to stay tuned!!

For now, I'm outta here.
-Travelin' Tanya