End of Cruise

We had a final day at sea and docked on time in Southampton. After collecting our luggage, we staggered to the train station and off to London and return to our hotel.

We had a lovely cruise, saw great sites and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Next posts from London and Paris.

Vigo, and Santiago de Compostela

Vigo is in the very north west part of Spain and looks and feels much different that the other parts we have seen. As our tour guide, Margarita, informed us: Galicia (the area of Spain...the "state" so to speak) is much different than the rest of Spain. This is the area of rain, cool weather, hard working people and bagpipes...as it was originally settled by Celtic people from the north. It was raining when we arrived and we had opted for a tour to Santiago de Compostela, which was about an hour's drive away. The landscape is beautiful with stone houses set far apart on small plots of land. There is a lot of farming and fishing here, it looked like parts of Ireland or Norway. Santiago de Compostela is a UNESCO world heritage site and the main church is the focus of the town (along with the University). It is a main stop of the pilgrimage route as it has been named a holy town by the Catholic Church and the pope in the 12th century. It is the final resting place (supposedly) of St. James who's remnants are in the cathedral. It is said that if pilgrims visit the site on St. James feast day (25th of July) on a year when that day falls on a Sunday, then all your sins are absolved. Unfortunately that did not happen to us. However, the church and the town itself are beautiful examples architecture of the 12-13th centuries. The weather cleared up and we had a good time. Lunch was provided but was nothing to write home about.

We also visited a garden in a manor house prior to Santiago, which was also lovely. We knew all the plants and trees and it looked like northern California. We watched the German and Norweigan tourists take pictures of the hanging grapes and the pear trees.

A great day and capped off a lovely cruise.

The city of Vasco de Gamma-Lisboa!

Lisbon, a small city and eminently do-able. There is a "hop on and off" bus which we took and saw basically all the monuments in the City. There are the requisite few museums and old buildings, palaces and the like and tourist shopping etc. Aunt Becky had a nasty cold which she picked up from a thoughtful woman who sneezed in the elevator on the ship WITHOUT COVERING HER MOUTH! euuwww! A number of passengers were sharing this cold...

We rode the entire route of the bus because there were very few buses and if you hopped off, chances were slim you would be able to hop on again. The port area and sea side area of Lisbon are well maintained and beautiful. It is the Atlantic side, so the water is cold and rougher than in the Med. We ate lunch in the main plaza in town. Katy had pasta (of course), Greg had brochettes of cheese and bacon (yum!) and Aunt Becky had bacalao. Bacalao is salt cod that has been re-hydrated and prepared in a number of ways and is the national dish of Portugal. Aunt Becky's special selection was a lovely and tender filet of bacalao that had been baked in the oven with a tomato sauce with olives. We cruised the patisserie for dessert and had small custard tarts that are also the specialty of the region. (Like egg custard in a puff pastry tart shell). Greg and Katy liked them, Aunt Becky had no sense of taste and didn't much like the texture! Tartes de nata were what they were called.

After lunch we wandered around looking for pottery, another specialty of Portugal and found a great shop were we bought a few pieces and arranged to have them shipped back. Then we scampered back to the shuttle bus stop and headed back to the ship.

Monkeying around in Gilbralter

After a day and a half at sea, we steamed into Gibralter around noon. It was sunny and warm with a brisk breeze blowing off the Med. We could see the coast of Morocco very clearly and also the Rock. We opted to take a tour of the colony and boarded a very small minibus. The reason for it's tiny-ness is soon apparent as Gibralter is rather compact with winding streets that are the width of a (small) car. We saw the lighthouse, St. Michael's cave (one stalagtite looks pretty much like another no matter where in the world the cave), and then we saw the monkeys. More accurately, we saw the Barbary Apes of Gibralter. They are rather small, scruffy looking primates that have a tendency to scratch...hmmmm. The absolute highlight of the day, and perhaps the entire trip, for Kate is when our tour guide got of the little creatures to sit on her head and shoulder. Luckily, no fleas were exchanged during the brief relationship. Back to the ship via the runway of the airport, where they close the road when a plane lands. We sailed on time, no one was late, and off we went over the horizon towards Lisbon.

ROMA!

This is the big day when we shun cruise orchestrated stuff and go into Rome BY OURSELVES on the train! We dock in Civitavecchia Chee vee ta vekia: the port for Rome) right on time at 7:00 am. We have plotted to be on the train into Rome about 8 and we make it at about 8:30. Good plan, the train is jammed full of people. Greg and Katy rode 45 minutes standing up in the area between cars whilst Aunt Becky got to seat in the jump seat. There were about 20 other people with us including Italians, Ghanans, English beer fish and families etc. We jumped off at the S. Pietro stop (St. Peter's) and headed over. The dimensions of the square and the basilica (designed again by our favorite - Michelangelo) are perfect and truly an architectural wonder of the world. We got in the relatively short line to enter the basilica with hundreds of others. After going through metal detectors and clothing guards we made it in. No men or women in shorts, tank tops or any other disrespectful attire and these guys are serious. Having previous knowledge of this, we were all appropriately clothed and Aunt Becky even had a hat. Greg did too, but he took it off when we got inside. Again, the dimensions, the size and the sheer beauty of the space is always awe inspiring. Greg's eyes glazed over and he started snapping pictures. Katy and I tried to keep one eye on him and look at everything else. The Pieta carved by Micheangelo is to the right as you enter and is so simple and so beautiful that everyone stops to gaze and comment. Directly ahead is the spot where Charlemagne was crowned in 800 a.d.(before the basilica was built but supposedly the spot) The main alter and the stained glass window of Bernini (a sunburst with the dove of peace in the middle) are ahead and Greg is clicking away as fast as he can. We take a quick look through the brass grating on the floor into the crypt below where lotsa popes are stashed, including Pope John Paul II and supposedly the original Fisherman-St. Peter. We stagger around after touching the brass foot of St. Peter (statue) and head for the door because we have a lot of ground to cover before catching the train at 3:30. Out the door, across the square and to the taxi rank for a taxi to the Pantheon. We take a quick look at that and then hike over to the Trevi fountain. Aunt Becky points out the hotels near the Pantheon where she stayed with Chrissy and Kelly. Chrissy will be glad to know the McDonalds is still there and so is the gelato place...nothing ever changes in Rome. The Trevi fountain is crowded but we make our way down and throw coins in to return. (but please...not in summer again). Then off to walk to the Colliseum but we stop for a quck bite to eat. Katy had prosciutto e melone (again) and Greg had a pannini of salami and cheese, Aunt Becky had a small typical pizza napolitano with anchovies!

Time is now getting short and we opt for a taxi to the Colliseum. It is hot and sweaty but the tourists and the "Roman Soldiers" -take-ah your peecture lady?-are all there. We bypass the main line and opt for the audio tour (no line 14 euros). As Aunt Becky has been here before and IT HASN'T CHANGED...Greg and Katy parked her with the bags and her swollen ankle and trudge around listening to the audio program. Greg, of course is taking a few pictures of EVERYTHING. Then back to the train...nice seats this time and back to the ship. We now have a day and a half at sea and your correspondent is going to do NOTHING!

Gibraltor is our next stop Wednesday at noon! Greg is behind in downloading his pictures and posting. Hopefully he will catch up.

Landing at Livorno and on our own in Florence

Sunday morning 19th July we docked in much calmer seas at Livorno, the port for Florence. We opted for the "Florence on your own" tour which just dropped us off and picked us up 6 hours later. The drive took about 1.5 hours. We started off at the Duomo, (the main church and piazza) then headed down to the Piazza de la Repubblica...the main square then beat it back up to make our entrance time in our reserved tickets for the Accademia and the statue of David. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed so Greg only got two. We circled David several times in awe at the ability of Michelangelo to create such beauty, grace and power out of stone, then we left out of their to head to the Perfumeria Santa Maria Novella, my favorite spot in town. This apothocary and perfume shop has been in existence since those clever Franciscan monks started making pot-pourri and elixars in the early 1300's. It is a beautiful series of rooms to see even if you don't buy anything...but some of us did buy (and buy and buy). Greg bought some gifts (my lips are sealed in this blog) and of course I bought too, having most of it shipped. We then started walking back up to the square but stopped for lunch at a little trattoria, very lovely. Katy had gnocci in pesto sauce that was perfectly done, al dente (not gummy) with a cream pesto sauce. We started with melon and proscutto (Katy's new favorite food item) then Greg and I shared an enormous thick t-bone steak cooked in the style of Florence-grilled with a little zuccini and a little tomato. It was delicious, of course...this is Italy! Then back to the meeting place and back on the bus to the ship.

Katy in Cannes-Oh my!

We shoved off from Barcelona and guess what! 80 knot winds (hurricane force) and 12-14 foot swells...wheeeee! The ship was pitching and rolling, people were staggering around heading for their cabins and we of stout Viking blood were eating pasta in the Italian restaurant on board. The bartender in the restaurant was taking the bottles down from behind the bar and stowing them away so they wouldn't fly off the shelves. When we finished and came up to our cabin (we are on deck 11 and there are 14 decks in all) the spray from the the ship plowing through the waves reached all the way to our balcony...Greg stayed out for a quickie exfoliation and Katy and I retreated to bed. We all slept like logs.

Cannes is as it looks in the pictures of the film festival. It is a picturesque town made up mostly of beachfront and shops/hotels and beach like apartments. We had to anchor off shore and come in on tenders (actually the lifeboats from the ship) which was quite an operation. It took forever as there was a shortage of pier space to land the tenders or something. We finally got off and spent two hours walking around up to the castle, down again through the walking street selling everything one could possibly want on a beach holiday. We did find a store that sold olive oil so we bought some! Stopped for lunch...Katy had tomatoe with mozzarella (again), Greg had sole in a lime sauce with potato and carrot and I had salad Nicoise (what else would one have in the south of France). Of course the food was delectable...it is France after all. We walked along the beachfront because Katy wanted to layout and get a head start on skin cancer (didn't we all) but she was put off by the number of people and the number of tops optional (and I don't mean the men). In actual fact, there were not that many topless women sunbathing and most of them were "old", like over 40, but Katy decided she didn't really like Cannes that much and was ready to go. Having seen most of everything, we jumped back into the tender and motored back to the ship. Oh, did I mention the rough seas and slamming into the landing platform at the ship right when it was Aunt Becky's turn to step out? Luckily the Viking blood came through, and not only did she keep her balance but she helped one of the crew stay on his feet. HAH!