Travel Tales

Young Chang

COSTA MESA -- A retired couple from Costa Mesa spent an entire month

traveling by boat from Long Beach to Barcelona, Spain.

Hans and Anita Knoblauch left mid-March and returned mid-April simply

because they could.

“Well, you have to have to do something when you retire, no?” mused

Hans Knoblauch, who used to work as a field representative for a Swiss

company that makes precision instruments.

The couple boarded a cruise that went from California, through the

Panama Canal, up the Atlantic Ocean and to Spain. They stopped at Cabo

San Lucas, Mexico; Acapulco, Mexico; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; the Panama

Canal; the islands of San Andres, which belongs to Colombia; Key West;

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and multiple cities in Spain, including Malagon

and Barcelona.

“You learned different languages, different cultures, different

histories. It’s very educational and relaxing,” Anita Knoblauch said.

Life on the boat for a month was never dull, the couple agreed. They

ate good food, played Scrabble, learned to play bridge, used computers,

watched movies and just lounged. When the ship docked at a city they

wanted to see, they got off and took mini-excursions. When they didn’t

feel like being active, they stayed on the water.

“There was always something to do,” Anita Knoblauch said. “You don’t

have to worry about cooking, no packing and unpacking, I think anybody

could travel cruises.”

In Spain, the tourists walked their way through towns and saw all the

sights. The couple agreed that the most impressive sight was a church

that, by its architecture, depicted the story of Christianity and even

the state of Christianity today.

In Barcelona, she enjoyed looking at beautiful buildings, Roman walls,

channels of shopping centers underground and just the well-kept state of

things.

“There was a lot of gold involved,” said the 66-year old, who is a

retired office manager.

They also visited a sherry-wine-making factory.

“It was quite interesting,” Hans Knoblauch said. “And naturally, we

brought a sample home.”

* Have you, or someone you know, gone on an interesting vacation

recently? Tell us your adventures. Drop us a line to Travel Tales, 330 W.

Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; e-mail young.chang@latimes.com; or fax to

(949) 646-4170.