Hot Barcelona Days!

My friend Miguel and I just spent 10 totally fantabulous days in the Mediterranean! We started off with 2 days in Barcelona before joining 2000 other gay men and 29 women of undetermined orientation for a week-long Atlantis cruise (http://www.atlantisevents.com/). Then we hopped off the boat in Mykonos, where we spent the last 3 days of the trip. An amazing time was had by all!
Don't tell anyone, but I love photos taken from airplane windows.
Our room at Le Meridien in Barcelona. The hotel is nearing the end of massive refurbishment project, and the newly redecorated rooms (including ours) were fab: plasma TV in both main room and bathroom, funky lighting and an orgasmic rain shower in the marble bath. Note Miguel's appearance in this photo -- that's pretty much what he looked like during the entire trip.


The hotel's location right on Las Ramblas was perfect, as was the fact that it was crawling with randy pre-cruisers.

These Corinthian columns from 1 BC are all that remain of the Temple of Augustus, once the most prominent structure of what was then the Roman colony of Barcino.


La Sagrada Familia. I'm sorry, but it's just creepy.

Hot Barcelona Nights!

As gorgeous as our days in Barcelona were, the nights were even more incredible. Nights in Barcelona start late and don't really end. There were a bunch of festive, smaller bars -- each with their own unique personality -- that were busy from around 11pm to around 2am, and then the discos starting picking up. Sleep is for losers!


Miguel at a fun small bar called Atame (translation: "Tie me up!")

Me getting a little "Venus of Urbino" on the roof of the Axel, Barcelona's self-proclaimed "hetero-friendly" hotel. (www.axelhotels.com)

Me and Miguel at People Lounge, a bar intended for the older, showtune set. We fit in perfectly, natch.
Check out my Vodka on the rocks. Note how sharp and in focus it was. Nothing else that followed that evening was, however...

How beautiful is Miguel's shirt under extreme ISO in a pitch black restaurant-cum-sex club? Stunning.



The Sauna Barcelona had just opened the month before our visit, and definitely sets a new standard as the "W" of saunas.

Somehow, I feel like this was frequently my vantage point when looking at Miguel -- or anyone else for that matter -- during this trip. We had a surprisingly good dinner at a gay restaurant called Castro. The theme was industrial, with a healthy dose of S&M, sort of like Madonna's "Express Yourself" video. (www.castrorestaurant.com/)
Boogying in Metro Disco. This was where we "accidentally" wound up in a back room and Miguel found himself in the crosshairs of an enthusiastic pocket gay. Miguel grabbed what he thought was my hand and scampered down several hallways pulling me behind him, only to discover it wasn't me at all and that he had inadvertently grabbed the hand of the aforementioned pocket gay, who obviously thought he had hit pay dirt. I don't have the heart to describe the poor PG's visible disappointment. (www.metrodiscobcn.com)

No comment.

Atlantis Cruise

After 48 hours of nearly non-stop debauchery in Barcelona, we looked forward to what would surely be a nice, relaxing cruise with 2000 other like-minded, serenity-seeking gay men. Right.

Our very first glimpse of our cruise ship -- the "Brilliance of the Seas" -- as we approached by taxi.

Miguel and I registering for the cruise. Needless to say, Cher was blasting over the speakers in the terminal, setting the proper tone for the whole cruise.
Our stateroom #9256. Miguel had met other Atlantis cruisers while we were in Barcelona and bragged about how we had gone all out and gotten a stateroom. How fancy! I guess I should have explained to Miguel beforehand that all the cabins on a cruise ship are called "staterooms," so as to avoid the embarrassment of us coming across as even more white trash than usual.

The super-cool thing about our stateroom was, however, the fact that we had an exceptionally large balcony as a result of being on the port-aft (that's pretentious-speak for "left-rear") corner of the ship. Our balcony easily accommodated 2 lounge chairs, 2 sitting chairs, a table, etc. and had sweeping views off the back of the boat.

The outdoor pool. This was where it all went down: the dog-tag party, the white party, the toga party, the disco party, the 80's party, etc., etc.

Some more photos of the ship.

I'm particularly proud of this photo.

Atlantis Cruise - Cannes!

The first port of call on our cruise was Cannes, France.

Have I already mentioned how fabulous the views from our balcony were? And how much cuter is Miguel when flanked by the French Riviera?



Since the ship couldn't dock at Cannes, we had to climb aboard one of these little tenders for the trip to shore.












This is me fresh off the tender, with our ship in the background.



Miguel really seems at home on the Cote d'Azur, doesn't he?
Part of our Cannes walking tour.
Even the trash receptacles in Cannes have panache!
Me in front of the Grand Auditorium, where most of the main events take place during the annual Film Festival.



Back on the ship, Miguel and I attended the Dog Tag party. Everyone wore a sticker indicating their availability: red = off limits; yellow = I need to think about it; green = available. (I wore TWO green stickers, obviously. ) This photo of me is horrendous, but what can you do?

Atlantis Cruise -- Rome!

Our second port of call was Civitavecchia, Italy -- about an 80-minute bus ride to Rome. We did a "Rome on your own" shore excursion, which essentially meant we grossly overpaid for a roundtrip bus ride to the capital. Here are some snapshots of the Eternal City.

Miguel with St. Peter's in the background.











The Pantheon (right)





















It was hard resisting the urge to frolic in Trevi Fountain à la La Dolce Vita.





















Miguel at the top of the Spanish Steps













Lunching al fresco















Me in St. Peter's Square








Miguel in front of Saint Angelo Castle










Yet another gorgeous sunset from our stateroom balcony

Atlantis -- Rhodes!

On the eve of our arrival in Greece, we celebrated with a Greek Isles-themed party (think gods & goddesses, tunics and togas). I decided to go all out and wear a black Banana Republic polo shirt -- how wacky am I!?!?! ;-) Miguel gamely donned a laurel wreath.




This is me with Sarah, a fabulous straight girl who was taking the cruise with her brother Adam. These two totally rocked the cruise, and Sarah made quite a "splash" with the hunky straight staff.

The next morning we arrived in Rhodes. Rhodes wasn't part of our original itinerary, but on account of several bombings in tourist areas along Turkey's coast while we were at sea, it seemed a good idea to skip our planned stop in Kusadasi (Turkey) and pop over to Rhodes instead. As one of the Atlantis entertainers put it, blowing up a huge cruise ship full of gays would be like the Triple Word Score of terrorist attacks.

The port of Rhodes as seen from our balcony











Miguel on the the Street of the Knights, one of the best-preserved Medieval streets in Europe.

After walking around the Old Town for a bit, we hopped a bus to Faliraki beach.

Me on Faliraki Beach. (I look terrible and more than a little "mooby" in this photo.) The beach was mostly filled with young vacationing Europeans. The water was warm and crystal clear, and it was so fantastic to finally get into the Mediterranean Sea for the first time on our trip.

Back in the Old Town, at the Palace of the Grand Master