Hello from day 13 of this very long sojourn. It was two weeks ago today I headed to Miami airport for my flight to Barcelona, and happily in two days I will be deposited in Miami for a short train ride home. 15 days is a looong time to be at sea!

We made land for the first time on this side of the Atlantic on Friday, the Leeward island of Antigua 🇦🇬 . I’d never been, so it became my 48th country visited. 

Antigua was prettier than I expected, with some elevation and a rainforest canopy. I took a 2.5 hour scenic tour around the island, taking in Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour and other sights. Antigua was a British colony – they still drive on the left and speak fluent English as their primary language. Learned a lot of history from our guide – Antiguans are a hardy people, collecting rainwater in cisterns since the island gets a surprisingly low amount of rain. 

On Saturday, our stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico 🇵🇷. I’d been once before in 2019 and really enjoyed it. I chose a walking tour of Old San Juan since I’d done it on my own last time. Our guide was great – walking us to all the key sites – castles, palaces and some of the oldest churches in the western hemisphere. 

I’d rate San Juan as my favorite place in the Caribbean. It has a great vibe, colorful colonial architecture and plenty of history to explore.

Today is a sea day as we make our way on the outside of the Turks and Caicos and Bahamas to NCL’s private island of Great Stirrup Key in the Bahamas 🇧🇸. I was able to watch the last F1 race of the year this morning – streaming on ships has never been better. So close to home…which will be a welcome sight on Tuesday.