假期結束之後，我只能說，這一趟旅行應該我這輩子去過最高CP值的旅行了(單指歐洲，亞洲比較便宜不能這樣比)。
首先，我們得搭火車去Harwich，這個地方很難到，從劍橋出發，轉了三次火車才到！但是我們買了advanced tickets，只需要十磅左右，所以雖然搞了三個半小時才到，倒是沒有花太多錢。
我們的船是一個小型的cruise ship，叫Discovery。我們一上船之後，服務員很親切的問我們房號幾號，然後幫我提行李，直接帶我們到我們的房間。房間是inside cabin，沒有窗戶，兩張單人床，有衛浴間，一張小桌子，一個衣櫥，房間可能四坪大，蠻小的，但是乾淨整濟，我非常的滿意。
接下來第一個晚上，我們是去他們的 Seven Continents Restaurant用餐。晚餐共四個courses，每一個course都有三四個選擇。餐廳外還有已經做好的餐點，讓我們直接看晚餐有什麼選擇。
我對他們的晚餐很滿意，食物蠻好吃的，而且服務員很親切，上餐速度無敵快。我們四個人一桌，一邊是我跟我男友，另一邊是一對六十多歲的親切英國老夫妻。我們用餐時跟他們聊得蠻愉快的。
晚餐之後，我們兩個非常的興奮，在船上到處跑來跑去，到處探險。
Discovery是比較小型的船，所以餐廳有三間，然後有一個主要的Discovery Lounge，也就是上面照片中的後兩張。然後還有一個 Carousel Theatre，這裡每個晚上都有表演，表演的內容通常是音樂劇類的還是60還是70年代的歌曲。遊客通常都是已經退休的老先生老太太們，所以表演的內容也以符合他們的口味為主。但是由於我也有一點老氣，喜歡比較文靜的休閒，所以他們表演老歌，我倒是蠻開心的。
他們一天供五餐，包含Breakfast，Lunch, Tea, Dinner, and Late Night Snack。其中前四個都可以有buffet選擇，至少四個main courses，tea的話也有至少四種甜點供選擇，全部包含在費用內。食物蠻好吃的，但是主要是針對英國的口味，所以沒有海鮮，只有魚，雞肉，牛肉，豬肉等比較常見的食物，印度咖哩或是中式料理也是做得有一點英式，比較平淡一些，但是印度咖哩很好吃，中式料理就做得很不道地比較難吃一些。Late Night Snack比較簡單，只有一些烤肉串可以拿，但是一次可以拿很多串，所以如果真的一天吃了四餐之後，還是很餓的話，可以再拿一般烤肉。
我們的費用只包吃包住，不包喝，只有包coffee and tea，隨時可以取用。他們的Discovery Lounge主打cocktails，一杯通常四磅左右，比起英國的價格算是非常的便宜，大概半價。
小費的部份，一天為五磅，但是也可以決定不給。
船上號稱有兩個游泳池，但是實際上很少人在用，而且還看不到海景，deck上面挖一個洞就算是游泳池，一點都不會讓人想跳進去。不過他們的jacuzzi卻很棒！水溫不是很高，所以我們還在英國跟法國附近的時候，雖然是九月份，但是冷到半命，只有我跟我男友跳進去，但是一出水就一直抖，一路抖回房間洗熱水澡。不過等我們進入地中海之後，氣溫通常二十多度，就有一些其它的老人家們也一起下水，起來之後也不會冷到一直抖。
船上有一個Discovery Theatre通常都是一群老人包辦，他們是一個特別的旅行社一起來的，途中我們剛好跟其中一對老夫妻一桌吃飯，就有跟他們聊了一下。他們說他們是一個人一千磅，房間也是很小，但是有一個小小的圓型窗戶，他們聽到我們一個人不到五百磅，臉都綠了，說我們這種旅行才真的划算，他們也寧願花半價，不要旅行社幫他們辦跳舞課，也不需要窗戶。他們這間旅行社很奇怪，每天都在教愛爾蘭舞，一整個theatre只有幾個人在跳，其它人都只在看，然後自high。愛爾蘭舞蠻吵蠻熱鬧的，這些老人家們在岸上平地走路都不太穩，船搖一下他們就會跌倒，居然會想到船上跳舞真的很奇怪。
----------------------------------------------------
以下介紹Cherbourg, France。
----------------------------------------------------
以下介紹La Coruna, Spain。這是一個可愛的小鎮。船停靠之後，步行不到五分鐘就到小鎮的市中心了。以下介紹改寫自wikipedia。
The Romans arrived in the 2nd century BC and the city soon became important in maritime trade. In 62 BC, Julius Caesar came to the city and established commerce between this city and what are now France, England, and Portugal. The town grew in the 1st and 2nd centuries when the Tower of Hercules, which can still be seen today, was built. The town declined after the 4th century with the invasion of the Normans and later the Vikings.
In the medieval period, King Vermudo II built a fortress in the ruins of the Tower of Hercules. He gave power over the city to the bishop of Santiago, who became the most important political post in the province of Galicia.
La Coruna was an important port in Spain in the early modern period. In 1520, King Charles I of Spain embarked from La Coruna to be elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The Castle of San Antón was built during this time.
From a port nearby, Phillip II left to marry Mary Tudor of England in 1554. In 1588, the Spanish Armada also set sail from the same port to be defeated by Elizabeth I's navy. In the Anglo-Spanish War, Francis Drake beseiged La Coruna but was repelled by Maria Pita, the famed heroine of this town, who upon the death of her husband, took up his spear and rallied support to defeat the invading English. In the main square of the city, there is a statue of Maria Pita with a statue of her dead husband lying next to her feet.
以下照片為 San Anton Castle。
以下為harbour的照片。
以下為市中心的照片。
以下為往市中心的plaza的路的照片。
以及市中心的plaza。
這裡很出名的就是他們的海鮮。市中心附近的plaza那邊有一條小巷，裡頭一整排都是海鮮餐廳。我們點了以下的 seafood platter，包含one crab, two crabfish, two king prawns, mussels, shellfish, prawns, etc. 兩個人合起來只要三十三歐元，還包含麵包。
下面照片中，有Maria Pita的statue。
以下為廣場裡某咖啡館的照片。
--------------------------------------------------------
接下來我們從西班牙出發前往Porto。這是一個Portugal的城市，以port 酒聞名。這裡的port幾乎都是外銷英國。之前在劍橋擔任學院公關以及學生會會長的時候，就幾乎每兩星期就得訂一次port，當做formal之後的餐後酒。
我不會非常愛喝酒，也不太能喝，所以每個人聽到我要來Porto，都跟我說一定要帶幾瓶酒回去英國，不然好歹也得試喝幾種。雖說蠻可惜的，但是訓練了四年下來，還是不喜歡喝酒，也不見得有因為不太會喝酒就交不到朋友，所以最後就算了，也不想訓練了。
以下介紹有一部份改寫自wiki網頁。
Porto is sometimes also known as Oporto (which means the port in Portuguese). It is the second largest city in Portugal after Lisbon. It dates back to the Roman Empire, when it was called Portus Cale and is perhaps the origin of the country’s name as well. Its most famous export is its port wine, also called port, which is a type of fortified wine usually drunk after formals in Cambridge.
The original people of Porto are of Celtic origin but they were conquered by the Romans in the third century. During the Roman occupation, Porto developed into an important commercial port. In the 8th century, Porto fell to the Moors during the invasion of the Moors. In 868, Vimara Peres, a Christian warlord, reconquered the lands from the Moors, and in the same year, he established the County of Portugal after conquering the lands north of the Douro River.
Portugal and England established a marital and military alliance in 1387 when John I of Portugal married Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt. This alliance is the world’s oldest recorded military alliance.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, Porto became famous for its shipbuilding industry. It was also from the port of Porto that Prince Henry the Navigator embarked on the conquest of the Moorish port of Ceuta, Morocco (right across from Gibraltar) in 1415. Henry the Navigator was the son of John I of Portugal and the English Philippa of Lancaster. From the Vila do Infante, a village located on the southwesternmost point of Iberia with access to both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Henry sponsored the voyages down the coast of Africa as far as Guinea. These voyages were mostly explorations that also brought back slaves and goods from Africa. Henry was a strong Christian and had no whims about bringing back African slaves. For him, conversion the Africans to Christianity was an interchangeable term with slavery. His actions against the non-Christians were violent and started a violent trend. Most of the voyages were done in small ships sailing from the nearby port of Lagos. The ships sailed close to the coast and moored at night. This series of conquest, navigation, and exploration began the Portuguese Age of Discovery.
The Portuguese were referred to as the tripe peoples since higher quality meats were exported from Porto while the lower quality tripe and other products were left behind for the locals. Tripe is still an important dish in modern day Portugal.
The history of Porto’s wine began back in the 13th century when wine was transported down the river in ships. In 1717, the first English trading post was established in Porto, and the production of port was gradually passed into the hands of the English people. The Prime Minister Marquis of Pombal tried to counter this English dominance by giving the wine monopoly to a Portuguese firm. This was the first attempt to control wine quality and production in Europe. The winegrowers were not hppay with the Prime Minister and rebelled against him, an event called Revolta dos Borrachos, or Revolt of the Drunks.
The icon of the city is the Torre dos Clerigos, or Clerics Tower, which was built in the 18th century by the Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the city continued to grow as an industrial city.
從我們下船的地方到historic centre，大概搭公車得一個小時。我們的programme是寫說只有十一公里，但是不知道為什麼，十一公里搭起車來，非常非常的久。這裡的房子高高瘦瘦的，看起來好像隨時會倒下，倒是正面通常貼有藍色磁磚，整體感覺有一點shabby chic。
Historic centre 的房子應該是整個地區最有歷史美感的建築物了。這裡很多古老建築物，最著名的地標之一就是Clerics Tower。所以這也是我們第一個去的地方。
這是一個建於十八世紀的教堂，教堂附有一個高塔。進入教堂參觀不用付費，但是如果要爬高塔的話，要二歐還是三歐。
但是爬上去之後，算是不虛此行。
下來之後，附近有一間很有特色的餐廳，於是我們進去，男友點了一杯啤酒，我點了一杯可樂，我們就坐在高塔附近坐下，一邊可以聽爵士音樂，一邊可以欣賞高塔的美景。
接下來，我們時間不多，男友問我我想看什麼，我說我只想看這裡的兩個最重要的地標。第一個當然就是Clerics Tower，第二個就是他們的Cathedral。這個大教堂建於十二世紀，是 Romanesque的風格。通常大教堂都是文藝復興以後的風格居多，但是這個地方教堂保持得很完整。
The Porto Cathedral is one of the most important Romanesque monuments in Portugal. Its construction began in the 12th century and was completed in the 13th century. Many sections and chapels were added later on so the cathedral has Gothic and Baroque elements as well though it retains its overall Romanesque feel.
上面兩張照片是從教堂前面的廣場往下拍的。
最後，我們離開之前，經過一個很特別的麥當勞。
最後，這裡有一個很特別的食物，基本上就是土司，加很多不一樣的豬肉跟牛肉，一層接一層的疊，最後再淋上一大堆乳酪。
-----------------------------------------------------------
接下來我們到了 Gibraltar。這是一個很特別的地方，有很濃重的英國風格，也有很重的西班牙風格。
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It has an area of 6.7 square kilometers and borders Spain on the north. The Rock covers most of Gibraltar. There are about 30,000 Gibraltrians and other peoples.
In 1704, an Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain in the War of the Spanish Succession. The territory was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Today, Gibraltar governs its own affairs but its defence and foreign relations are still governed by the British government.
Today, Gibraltar is an important for the British Royal Navy and tourism, online gaming, financial services, and shipping. The sovereignty of Gibraltar is still highly contested between Spain and Britain. In 1967, the Gibraltarians rejected Spanish sovereignty in a referendum and again in 2002.
來這裡第一個發現的現象就是，這裡英國的國旗超多的！比在英國本土還多！他們這裡的人民不斷的跟西班牙說，我們是屬於英國的，我們喜歡英國，不願意成為西班牙領土。蠻有趣的。但是他們的人民大部份是講西班牙文，但是英文也講得很好，也不會有很重的西班牙腔。
上面這張照片就是他們的大廣場。這個城市非常的小，大概就是The Rock一座山，以及山腳一小片土地而已。
英國的軍隊。英國的國旗。但是他們每個人臉都好臭，好苦惱的感覺。
上 The Rock有兩種方式，一個是搭他們的cable car。另一種上The Rock的方式是搭他們的van，他們會帶你到處繞，比較便宜，也可以省下很多力氣跟時間，但是卻沒有機會搭他們的纜車。
這裡通行的貨幣為歐元以及英磅，兩種都使用，他們的英磅跟英國的英磅等值，但是造型有一點點不一樣，除了女王頭之外，還有一些船啦，或是原始人類的頭骨啦等等有當地色彩的圖樣。
另一個很特別的地方就是他們的apes。到處都是，而且很不怕人。
這座山頭，往往雲霧繚繞，搭纜車上山的時候，到一半就進入雲端。
但是往山下看去，山下卻是晴朗無雲。形成兩層天氣。
往下纜車的地方走大概半小時，就會到St Michael’s Cave。這是一個鍾乳石洞穴。
St Michael’s Cave 入口處有一個英式的pub。這裡的pub幾乎都是英式的，賣的也是英國的食物。
最後我們搭纜車下山。下到一半的時候，忽然出了烏雲，馬上又是晴天。回到船上，從船上看Gibraltar特別有感覺，尤其是The Rock上面的那一朵永不散去的雲。等到船開到一邊，我們正在進入地中海的時候，可以看到Gibraltar的側面，南面可以看得到一座清真寺。
----------------------------------------------------
接下來我們出發到 Almeria。
The city was founded by Calipha Abd-ar-Rahman III of Cordoba in 955 AD.
It is most famous for its Moorish castle, called the Alcazaba, which is the
second largest Moorish fortress in Andalusia, after the Alhambra.
The city reached its historical peak right after it was founded. In the
11th century, it was famous for its silk industry based on their mulberry
trees.
The city was besieged in the Second Crusade, called by Pope Eugene III.
Alfonso VIII led the army against the Muslims of Almeria and eventually
occupied it in 1147. However, within a decade, the city fell into Muslim hands
again, and it was not until the late 15th century that it fell into the hands
of the Christian monarchs Fernando and Isabel.
In the 16th century, Almeria was struck by a series of disasters.
Firstly, there were at least four major earthquakes. The one in 1522 was
especially devastating. Secondly, after the War of Las Alpujarras, the people
who had remained Muslim were expelled from the city in 1568. Thirdly, there
were frequent attacks by Berber pirates, whose attacks continued into the 18th
century.
附帶一提，參觀Alcazaba不需要付費，我們跟守衛說我們是來自英國的遊客，他就免費放我們進來了。
參觀了Alcazaba之後，門口有發廣告單的一個老人家，上面寫說這裡附近有一個Moroccan style tea house，我們問了一下路，循路找到這間可愛的tea house。這條小巷顏色明亮怡人，走進去之後，發現只有我們以及主人家，裝飾很有北非風味，菜單以及飲料也都是北非的風格，但是我們船上還有免費的食物可以吃，所以就沒有點食物，只點了一個加了mint的冰茶。冰茶有lemon還有mint，清涼消暑，很適合這種三十多度的天氣飲用。
---------------------------------------------------
接下來我們到了Valencia。
