October 11, 2024
Bilbao, Spain well worth the wait for me!
I have wanted to see Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in person, ever since I read about it years ago! It did not disappoint and I can totally see why it put Bilbao on the tourist map. The whole river's edge neighborhood benefited from it's installation. The Zubizuri or "white bridge" in Basque, by Santiago Calatrava was erected in 1997, the same time the Guggenheim was under constructed.
Below is a look around town. A fabulous start to this amazing adventure. Absolute Perfection for our first visited port! Amazing sites, yummy food, lots of fun and laughs & plenty of new friends to share it all with, Excelente!
It's never a dull Sea Day on the Odyssey! We have such creative residents, that are always coming up with new ideas to entertain ourselves and have a good time. This plot was the calculating of Eddie and Michelle - a Game of Clue! The rules were simple - find the party venue at 8:30 pm, come dressed as a character, weapon or room from the game and solve the mystery of who stole the Ship's bell.
In March of 1974, some local farmers outside Xi'An, China are digging a well and accidentally hit one of the great archaeological sites in the World! They were paid one day's wages for the find, roughly 4 USD! The Terracotta Army was dubbed the 8th Wonder of the World by France's President in 1980 when he came to visit and wanted to meet the farmers, the oldest was then, 89 years old.
Xi'An, China has been on my must do list , for awhile. The story of the Terracotta Army has fascinated me, since I first heard it. What I didn't know too much about, was the actual City of Xi'An and the walled inner City that remains today. It was built from 1370 to 1378 during the Ming dynasty on top of the older Tang dynasty foundations. There are 9 miles of City walls, they are 39' high, 45' to 50' wide at the top and 55' to 60' at the base. There are four main gate towers and the only draw bridge restored is at the South Gate. There are 98 ramparts, watchtowers, battlements and a wide surrounding moat. It one of the oldest and best preserved fortifications in China .