Tonight we’ll get all dressed up again for another formal night, along with the Captain’s Cocktail Party that we have an invitation to attend because we’ve cruised several times. It’s time we check it out.
Monday, October 31, 2011
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Today is a sea day as we sail down the coast of Spain and enter the Straits of Gibraltar again. It’s Halloween and there are decorations all over the ship, with pumpkin carvings and Halloween movies showing throughout the day.
Tonight we’ll get all dressed up again for another formal night, along with the Captain’s Cocktail Party that we have an invitation to attend because we’ve cruised several times. It’s time we check it out.
Tonight we’ll get all dressed up again for another formal night, along with the Captain’s Cocktail Party that we have an invitation to attend because we’ve cruised several times. It’s time we check it out.
Barcelona
Today is Barcelona, which is one of Spain’s most lively and dynamic cities, but Barcelona is really not Spanish at all….it is the capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia. Located on the coast of the Mediterranean, it was a leading trading power in the 14th and 15th centuries. Today Barcelona is a busy, cosmopolitan place, a center of experimentation in politics and the arts. Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Salvador Dali, and Antoni Gaudi have all called it “home”.
There is a lot to see in Barcelona but being here only for the day we had to decide what we wanted to see for our first-time visit. We chose Gaudi, who combined art nouveau and modernism in his many works found all over town. Gaudi believed in natural and organic lines, with no trace of anything angular or mechanical. We decided to concentrate on seeing a few of his famous projects.
We were among the first off the ship and after a shuttle ride from the port to the Columbus Monument. You would think that Columbus is pointing toward the new world, but he’s not….he is pointing toward his hometown of Genoa, Ital. We started walking up the famous street, La Ramblas. It is a mile long street lined with shops, flower stalls and cafes. Early in the day, it was not very crowded. On our back way down at the end of our day, it was a mass of people going in both directions. We were always on the alert for pick pockets, and luckily didn’t have any problems.
After reaching the top of La Ramblas we took the advice of our daughter Jen who visited Barcelona in 2010. “Take a taxi between sites, don’t try to walk it all.” We had lots to see and limited time so off we went to our first stop, Parc Guell, Gaudi’s colorful park. He intended this 30-acre garden to be a 60-residence housing project—a kind of gated community. But around the turn of the century (1900) that idea flopped as the high-income families it was intended for didn’t want to live so far away from the shopping and cultural activities.
Next we took another taxi ride to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s most famous and persistent work, an unfinished church. He worked on it from 1883 to his death in 1926. Construction continues today and it is considered about 60% finished. Following the travel tips I had researched prior to this cruise, I booked our tickets for entry into the building over the internet and that proved to be the way to avoid the massive line of people waiting to buy tickets upon arrival. We breezed right by them all and exchanged our internet receipt for our entry tickets. A definite plus when we didn’t have 3 hours to wait in line. The inside appears to be finished as there was a big push to get that done before the Pope’s visit in November, 2010, when he dedicated the church. The outside is still very much in construction phase and will not be finished until approximately 2026. Local craftsmen often cap off their careers by spending a couple of years on the construction site. Gaudi knew that he would not live to see the building completed and recognized that later architects and artists would rely on their own inspiration to complete the project. There were many Gaudi drawings and blueprints in the museum beneath the building and plaster models made throughout the years that were used in construction. It was a most fascinating building and we wandered around for about 2 hours.
But it was time to move on to the next Gaudi building, the Casa Mila—Gaudi’s last major work before dedicating his final years to the Sagrada Familia. The Casa Mila was built to be an apartment building for the middle class. We were able to tour a typical apartment, all set up as it might have been when first occupied. A highlight was the jaw-dropping rooftop, where chimneys look like they could have inspired the Star Wars soldiers.
Next on our list was the Casa Batllo, with skull-like balconies. We decided not to tour the inside of this as time was getting short and we were feeling a bit tired.
So it was time to relax a bit at a little café on the La Ramblas, do a little people watching, and enjoy a little more gelato!
Before heading back to the ship, we walked through the Barri Gotic area and check out the remains of the old Roman wall that protected a smaller Barcino, as the city was called in ancient times..
Then it was down to the Placa Reial, a neoclassical square that has Gaudi’s first public works—colorful helmeted lamp posts.
It was then time to catch the shuttle bus back to the ship and say “Adios” to Barcelona with hopes that we will return someday….there is so much more to see and experience.
There is a lot to see in Barcelona but being here only for the day we had to decide what we wanted to see for our first-time visit. We chose Gaudi, who combined art nouveau and modernism in his many works found all over town. Gaudi believed in natural and organic lines, with no trace of anything angular or mechanical. We decided to concentrate on seeing a few of his famous projects.
We were among the first off the ship and after a shuttle ride from the port to the Columbus Monument. You would think that Columbus is pointing toward the new world, but he’s not….he is pointing toward his hometown of Genoa, Ital. We started walking up the famous street, La Ramblas. It is a mile long street lined with shops, flower stalls and cafes. Early in the day, it was not very crowded. On our back way down at the end of our day, it was a mass of people going in both directions. We were always on the alert for pick pockets, and luckily didn’t have any problems.
 |
| Columbus Monument |
 |
| La Ramblas in the morning |
 |
| Parc Guell |
 |
| Serpent-like mosaic bench |
Next we took another taxi ride to Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s most famous and persistent work, an unfinished church. He worked on it from 1883 to his death in 1926. Construction continues today and it is considered about 60% finished. Following the travel tips I had researched prior to this cruise, I booked our tickets for entry into the building over the internet and that proved to be the way to avoid the massive line of people waiting to buy tickets upon arrival. We breezed right by them all and exchanged our internet receipt for our entry tickets. A definite plus when we didn’t have 3 hours to wait in line. The inside appears to be finished as there was a big push to get that done before the Pope’s visit in November, 2010, when he dedicated the church. The outside is still very much in construction phase and will not be finished until approximately 2026. Local craftsmen often cap off their careers by spending a couple of years on the construction site. Gaudi knew that he would not live to see the building completed and recognized that later architects and artists would rely on their own inspiration to complete the project. There were many Gaudi drawings and blueprints in the museum beneath the building and plaster models made throughout the years that were used in construction. It was a most fascinating building and we wandered around for about 2 hours.
 |
| Sagrada Familia |
 |
| Plaster model in museum |
 |
| Casa Mila |
 |
| The rooftop chimneys standing guard. There are 30 of them on the roof |
 |
| View of Sagrada Familia from rooftop of Casa Mila |
 |
| Casa Batllo |
 |
| Close up of the skull-like balconies |
Before heading back to the ship, we walked through the Barri Gotic area and check out the remains of the old Roman wall that protected a smaller Barcino, as the city was called in ancient times..
 |
| Remains of the old Roman wall |
 |
| Gaudi's first public work--a helmeted lamp post |
 |
| A much busier La Ramblas at the end of the day |
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Day 8 - Cannes, France
It’s another beautiful day here in the Mediterranean. It’s Saturday and today we visited the Cote de Azur of France, known as the French Riviera. Today’s port was Cannes.
Back in the day of the Roman Empire, this area was called “Cane Harbor” by the Romans because of the abundance of reeds in nearby marshes. Cannes today is the crown jewel of the French Riviera. This seaside resort was no more than a small fishing village until 1834 when Lord Brougham, a British Lord Chancellor, visited. He could not get to Nice because of a cholera epidemic, but he found Cannes so pleasant that he built a house there and returned for the next 34 years. By the late 1940’s, it was the site of the International Film Festival and the resort of choice of many wealthy visitors.
I had read that a good way to see the Cannes was to take the little “petit train” that circles around the city. Definitely designed for the tourists, it was a bit dorky, but it did provide us with a good overview of the city and a little of the history.
After the ‘train ride” we walked along the waterfront, past the harbor area with yachts and sailboats, and then to the building that hosts the Cannes Film Festival. Like Hollywood, there are handprints and signatures of movie stars encircling the building. Many of them were unknown to us, but we did find the handprints of Cameron Diaz and Julie Andrews.
The waterfront is filled with expensive designer shops and luxury hotels. The Riviera has long been noted for its beautiful coastline and quaint villages. Even more important for artists, however, are the clarity of the air and the vividness of the colors. The entire region has been home to many artists who have done some of their best work here. Claude Monet felt the quality of light helped him to produce some of his greatest impressionist works.
We made a short day of it in Cannes and headed back to the ship to catch up on the blog and to rest up for tomorrow, when we arrive in one of our most looked-forward-to ports…..Barcelona!
Back in the day of the Roman Empire, this area was called “Cane Harbor” by the Romans because of the abundance of reeds in nearby marshes. Cannes today is the crown jewel of the French Riviera. This seaside resort was no more than a small fishing village until 1834 when Lord Brougham, a British Lord Chancellor, visited. He could not get to Nice because of a cholera epidemic, but he found Cannes so pleasant that he built a house there and returned for the next 34 years. By the late 1940’s, it was the site of the International Film Festival and the resort of choice of many wealthy visitors.
 |
| View of Cannes from the ship |
 |
| Over view of Cannes from the "old town" |
 |
| The tourist train |
 |
| Harbor filled with sailboats and yachts |
 |
| The Cannes Film Festival theatre |
 |
| Cameron Diaz handprint and signature outside the Cannes Film Festival building |
 |
| Luxury hotel |
 |
| The Carlton luxury hotel on waterfront |
 |
| Missing our little grandson, Enzo |
 |
| People are still enjoying the beach in late October |
 |
| View from the ship of sailboats in harbor having a race |
Day 7 - Tuscany and our plans change....
Italy’s third largest seaport, Livorno, located in the heart of Tuscany, was our next port, where we had our choice of visiting Florence, Pisa, or the Cinque Terre, which is a section of the coastline of the Italian Riviera that consists of 5 villages linked together by a hiking trail. That was our choice BUT the best-laid plans don’t always work out. A couple days before we received notice that our excursion to Cinque Terre was cancelled due to severe weather in that area on Tuesday. We later learned that torrential rains and mudslides had destroyed part of one of the villages of the Cinque Terre. So no tours headed that way and we had to change our plans. We decided on the ship’s tour of “Florence and Pisa on your own”. The ship provided the transportation on a coach bus and also a guide who gave us maps and information about the cities enroute.
Our first stop was in Pisa, where of course we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa, along with a cathedral. You would think that late October would be considered off-season for tourists. But there are thousands of them—can’t imagine what is must be like during the height of summer when there is no school and families would be travelling. The tower is very impressive and we would have liked to have climbed to the top, but there would have been a wait to do that and we didn’t have enough time at this stop. The tower tilts 14 feet off center due to an underground river and the very heavy stone constructing the tower.
So it was on to Florence, which means “the Flowering” and is considered to be the jewel of the Renaissance. Since the bus ride to Florence is 1.5 hours each way from the port, we only had about 4 hours to enjoy and explore. Upon arrival it was lunchtime so we enjoyed lasagna in an outdoor café overlooking the Palazzo (a plaza) Vecchio.
We then headed toward the river flowing through town, the Arno River, browsing some shops along the way. We stopped by the cathedral in town, the Duomo, that symbolizes the wealth and power of Florence in its golden age. It took 14 years to build, and was paid for entirely by the clothmakers’ guild. The façade is decorated with multi-colored marble in geometric shapes. It was very impressive, inside and out. We had thought about climbing up to the dome of the cathedral for an overview of the city, but the 15 Euros per person to do so (about $45 total) changed our minds. Instead we found a place to enjoy some gelato for an afternoon treat!
A return trip to Florence would definitely include a visit to the Academia and Uffzi Museums, which requires much more time than what we had on our short visit. Inside, among the artwork and artifacts of the Renaissance, we would be able to see Michaelango’s statue of David, certainly a highlight.
So as we headed back to the ship, we said “Arrivederci” to Italy with hopes of returning again someday soon.
Our first stop was in Pisa, where of course we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa, along with a cathedral. You would think that late October would be considered off-season for tourists. But there are thousands of them—can’t imagine what is must be like during the height of summer when there is no school and families would be travelling. The tower is very impressive and we would have liked to have climbed to the top, but there would have been a wait to do that and we didn’t have enough time at this stop. The tower tilts 14 feet off center due to an underground river and the very heavy stone constructing the tower.
 |
| The Leaning Tower of Pisa |
 |
| Yes, we are here!! |
 |
| Our choice of restaurant for lunch |
 |
| Enjoying the city of Florence and a glass of wine! |
 |
| The Arno River |
 |
| Artists and vendors in the palazzos |
 |
| The Cathedral Duomo |
 |
| Ahhh, Gelato! |
 |
| NOT Michaelango's David but one of many, many statues in the palazzos of Florence |
Day 6 - ROME
We visited Rome on Thursday so I’m a little behind on writing the blog. It’s been a busy few days as our days in port were full.
Our port for Rome is Civitavecchia, which I finally mastered how to pronounce. The port is about a 1.5 hour drive from Rome so we were off the ship early to make the most of the day. We had a tour pre-arranged with Tuscan Heart tours along with 2 other couples from the ship. Knowing that one cannot see Rome in a day, we used this tour company to show us an overview of Rome and its highlights. We had a nice ride in an 8-passenger Mercedes van and our guide Robert was very efficient in winding through the heavy traffic and narrow streets of Rome.
Our first stop was at St. Peter’s Square inside Vatican City for some photos. Visiting the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica would have to wait for another trip to Rome as they require an all-day visit to get the most out of the history and artwork of the Vatican.
Next we visited the Colosseum. One of the couples in our group had taken care of buying tickets for admission and a guided tour over the internet so with directions given to us by our driver, we were able to breeze right by the long lines (queues as they are called here) and pick up the tickets and join the meeting place for the guided tour. As energetic and informative as our guide was, it was hard to hear and understand her English, even though we had radio handsets held to our ears. It would have been better to just use the Rick Steves’ guided audio tour on our iTouch or iPod. If we get back there someday, that’s what we will do. It’s a free tour that can be downloaded from iTunes or his travel website. The Colosseum was amazing to see and imagine what life was like when 50,000 Romans would pack this huge stadium and cheer as their favorite gladiators faced off in bloody battles. Only about a third of the original Colosseum remains. Throughout the years of the Middle Ages and Renaissance the pre-cut stones were carted off and re-used to make other buildings that still stand in Rome today.
Next stop was the Roman Forum, a rectangular flat patch about the size of a football field and about 20 feet lower than the level of the city today. This is where Rome was born and was the political, social, and economic center of the city beginning about 500 BC.
Lunch for the day was in a quaint restaurant filled with mostly locals. We shared a pizza and some good wine before heading across the street to the Pantheon, Rome’s best-preserved monument. Engineers still admire how the Romans built such a mathematically precise structure without computers, today’s machinery, or electricity. Guess have unlimited slave power didn’t hurt!
Before leaving Rome, we made sure we stopped at Trevi Fountain. Legend says that if you toss a coin in the fountain, you will return to Rome. We threw in our coins and most definitely hope to return to this city again. It was a terrific day.
Our port for Rome is Civitavecchia, which I finally mastered how to pronounce. The port is about a 1.5 hour drive from Rome so we were off the ship early to make the most of the day. We had a tour pre-arranged with Tuscan Heart tours along with 2 other couples from the ship. Knowing that one cannot see Rome in a day, we used this tour company to show us an overview of Rome and its highlights. We had a nice ride in an 8-passenger Mercedes van and our guide Robert was very efficient in winding through the heavy traffic and narrow streets of Rome.
Our first stop was at St. Peter’s Square inside Vatican City for some photos. Visiting the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica would have to wait for another trip to Rome as they require an all-day visit to get the most out of the history and artwork of the Vatican.
 |
| St. Peter's Basilica |
 |
| Dome of St. Peter's |
 |
| Colosseum |
 |
| Yes, we're really here! |
 |
| The Roman Forum |
 |
| Our authentic Italian pizza! |
 |
| The Pantheon |
 |
| Typical street with outdoor cafes |
 |
| One of many fountains |
 |
| Terry on the Spanish Steps |
 |
| Overview of Rome looking toward St. Peter's |
Before leaving Rome, we made sure we stopped at Trevi Fountain. Legend says that if you toss a coin in the fountain, you will return to Rome. We threw in our coins and most definitely hope to return to this city again. It was a terrific day.
 |
| Trevi Fountain |
 |
| Ready to throw our coins in the Trevi Fountain |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)