Just Sayin' - Transatlantic Blog

down in the cava caves

Wed, 13 May 2015 00:01:59 GMT

April 27, 2015 - Barcelona

I love breakfast in the hotel. It is a splendid buffet with Iberico ham, lots of different cheeses including manchego, a Bloody Mary station, churros and chocolate as well as regular breakfast fare.

After breakfast the group was off to the Codorniu cava caves. The drive was very pretty - lots of vineyards. Our guide shared information as we were driving. Like, the unemployment rate in Spain is 24% but in Barcelona it is 17%. And if you remember from one of my earlier posts, it's 40% in Cadiz.

We learned about the monarchy and the scandal that made the very popular King Juan Carlos abdicate the crown to his son, Felipe VI. The current king is 47 and married a daughter of a taxi driver who was a TV journalist. Unheard for royalty to marry a commoner, but that's not the scandal. The current king's sister, Cristina and her husband (a retired professional handball player) are embroiled in a tax fraud and money laundering investigation. Cristina lives with their children in Switzerland. The king at the time, Juan Carlos, was distraught and could not be associated with such a scandal and it was felt the monarchy was losing touch so, he abdicated and gave the crown to his son, Felipe. King Felipe can never been seen associating with his sister. The monarchy in Spain are not just figureheads, Juan Carlos was instrumental in returning democracy to Spain after the dictator Fransisco Franco died.

OK, so we arrived in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia at the Codorniu cellars and split in to smaller groups. The buildings are spectacular - designed by modernist architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Under the building is a labyrinth of cava caves - the area where the cava undergoes its second fermentation.

Codorniu is the oldest family business in Spain - 450+ years of growing grapes and making wine. They know what they are doing. They are also great marketers. Check out their manifesto...makes me want to pop a bottle of cava. Or move to Spain.

The tour started with a 3D movie about the history of the vineyards and winery, the grape varietals and the products produced. It was really well done. Then we boarded a little train for a tour of the property. It's really beautiful. The family no longer lives on the property. Anna was the last family member to have the surname Codorniu name so in 1983 the new cava made with Chardonnay grapes was named after her. I personally think the women in the family should have kept their last name when they got married. I guess things were different in the 1600's.

Codorniu rents out the spectacular spaces for events. James thinks Fashion with Compassion 2016 should be here. Not a bad idea...it is our 20th anniversary after all. I'm sure our loyal attendees would love to attend a fashion show in Spain with the cava flowing freely!

Oh, so what is cava you ask...it's not champagne. Champagne only comes from France. But it is sparkling wine made with the same technique - double fermentation in the bottle to produce softer bubbles. We walked downstairs to the caves - fascinating! I believe they said the caves are 20 metres underground and there is 37 km of caves. The little trains toured us around roads underground. The caves go on forever! I was actually expecting to stumble upon Gringotts (Harry Potter reference for non-Potterites). We learned about the entire process of making cava which I won't share. You will have to do the tour next time you are in Spain.

Of course at the end of the tour we tried two types of cava. One with Pinot Noir grapes and one with Chardonnay grapes. Both were very good. We bought a little bottle of Anna cava to have tonight to toast our fabulous vacation.

Back in Barcelona we decided to hunt down Granja La Pallaresa a cafe with chocolate and churros that Ian, the destination specialist on the ship, always talks about. When we were here in 2012 mom, dad James and I walked in circles in the Gothic quarter trying to find it to no avail. This time James punched it in to his phone and we followed the Google directions. As we were walking it didn't seem right but we kept following the directions. After about a 25 minute walk, James announced "we are here". No we are not. I've seen photos and this is not the place. Turns out he punched in the wrong name. Good thing I carry around my handy notebook with the name written down. We punched in the right name and back tracked...all the way back to the Gothic quarter. OK so it took us a long time but we are on the right track and we found it! And it was closed until 4 pm. Augh!!! We'll be back.

We walked around, looked at shops - went through the huge El Cortez, a Spanish department store. It was overwhelming. The Europeans sure have a lot of choice for clothing and shoes.

At 4.00 pm we made the trek back for churros and chocolate. Finally! We indulged in the most delicately crisp churros dipped in thick chocolate. So good! Now I know how to get there and when they close, so next time...

Then guess what? It started to rain - good thing I had my St. Paul de Vence umbrella stowed in my bag. Great purchase!

Dinner was at the waterfront again, this time it was tapas. The sunset was pretty with the Frank Gehry fish glistening. We walked down La Ramblas to the Christopher Columbus statue and had our Anna cava before calling it a night.

The modernisme building

Getting ready for the show

We tried two types of cava. Both very good - my first choice is the rose made from pinot noir grapes

The bag is great!

Frank Gehry Fish sculpture

Beautiful sunset to end our last day

Our little bottle of Anna cava to toast an amazing adventure

montserrat and the black madonna

Tue, 12 May 2015 02:24:20 GMT

April 26, 2015 - Barcelona

The sky is a bit grey and dreary looking today. Good thing I have two umbrellas!

Leaving the ship is always sad. Our disembarkation time was 9.30 am so we did not have to rush. We had our usual breakfast in the Lido, said goodbye to some new friends, packed up and walked the deck a bit until we ( green #1) were called to disembark. James realized that he forgot to play his usual game of solo shuffleboard so he decided to do that. He was a bit rusty at first but then pulled it together (video). We said goodbye to the Eurodam and collected our luggage.

We booked two days post cruise in Barcelona with the Travel with Alan group. There were buses waiting for us to whisk us away to the beautiful Montserrat.

The ride to Montserrat was about an hour. Our guide Oriel told us about St. George's Day (a day when roses and books are exchanged because a dragon was slain) and told us that tomorrow is Montserrat Day, a big celebration at the basilica. We can expect crowds!

Montserrat is the spiritual soul of Catalan. In 880 some young shepherds saw a light emanating from a mountain. They went exploring and found the light was coming from a cave and inside the cave was a statue of Madonna - a black Madonna. There was a very peaceful and spiritual feeling around the cave. The bishop at the time tried to carry the Madonna away but the statue became very heavy. Obviously this meant the Madonna wanted to stay in this special place in the mountains, so the Benedictine monks founded the monastery. I actually think the same thing happened to my suitcase on the Eurodam. It got really heavy because it didn't want to leave the ship.

The monks work hard and the monastery is prosperous. They were able to hide the black Madonna from the likes of Napoleon in the 1800's, but he destroyed the basilica. The basilica we visited has been reconstructed and is only 120 years old. People from all over the world do pilgrimages to Montserrat. Here is a Rick Steves video about the area.

The scenery is breathtaking. When we arrived the clouds made it look mysterious and spiritual. Our guide gave us a tour of the area and then let us explore on our own. We decided to squish in the basilica for the last part of mass (15 or 20 minutes). I have never been pushed so much at mass. Communion was especially dangerous! We stayed to listen to the boys' choir for a bit. Then we lit candles and walked around the area until it was time to meet the group.

The bus took us to our hotel in Barcelona - Catalonia Ramblas. It's in a perfect location in an interesting old building. The room is spacious - though we have been in a small cruise ship room for the past three weeks so almost anything would seem spacious.

We went out exploring and found the Gaudi apartments - Casa Mila with its twisted wrought iron balconies and Casa Batllo which has characteristics of a dragon - could be a reference to St. George.

We came back to the hotel and met the group for dinner. We went for seafood paella at a restaurant by the water. James and I forgot to wear our Travel with Alan buttons which is frowned upon. Our salad had a whole wheel of caramelized goat cheese on it. It was good but probably a little more cheese than I can eat in a sitting. After paella we had a lemon sorbet drink and cake for dessert. There was a lot of wine and different aperitifs. One was made from herbs and was kind of medicinal. It was good.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed some free wifi before bed.

The clouds made it look very spiritual

The Basilica. We stood in the back for the last 15 minutes of mass and then listened to the boys' choir.

I wasn't able to get a very good photo of the black Madonna

Lighting a candle

We lit candles - ours are the two tall green candles in the front row

Sculpture done by the same artist as the Sagrada Familia

There was a farmer's market so we bought some Montserrat cookies

The outside of our hotel

Our hotel room

View outside our hotel room

Spotted this building with lots of balls

Gaudi's Casa Batllo - dragon scale roof and the bones

Gaudi's Casa Mila

The wrought iron balconies

Resting by a Gaudi lamp post

Getting inspired

Seafood paella for dinner

After dinner aperitif

monaco & the cote d'azur

Sun, 10 May 2015 21:37:18 GMT

April 25, 2015 - Monaco & St. Paul de Vence

If I bring an umbrella or rain jacket with me to port, it won't rain. If I don't...it rains!

We had a short stop in Monaco today and we had to tender. We've been to Monaco before and seen a lot of the local sites and the palace so we decided to take the ship's tour to St. Paul de Vence. Today was our last port stop on the cruise.

We met our tour group, got the tender and were on our way. Our friends Karen and Paul were also on the tour.

Our guide, Michel, was great and shared a lot of information about the Côte d'Azur, Monaco, art and Princess Grace. We drove past the place where Princess Grace died - she had a stroke while driving and her vehicle went of the side of a cliff. She was taken off life support the next day.

Grace Kelly introduced Monaco to the rest of the world - most importantly to the rich and famous. The union between her and Prince Rainier was totally orchestrated by Aristotle Onassis who had business interests in the Monte Carlo casino and the development of Monaco. He wanted to get the rich and famous to Monaco and he knew an American movie star would do just that. His first choice for a bride was Marilyn Monroe, but Prince Rainier didn't think that would fly with the strong Catholic folks of Monaco. Grace Kelly met Prince Rainier at the 1955 Cannes film festival. He was not an easy man to get along with but she said she learned to love him. The people of Monaco loved her. She learned their language and was completely involved with the community. Our guide met Princess Grace three times and said she was stunning, gracious and down to earth. There seem to be quite a few illegitimate children in the Grimadli family.

On our way to St. Paul de Vence we drove by Eze and through Nice. We saw Sasha Sosno's square head building in Nice which is where the library staff work. There is a marathon in Nice tomorrow so you can see preparations. We also saw Prince Albert's private jet parking garage. There are a lot of perfume factories in Provence. We drove by the most expensive villa - it's for sale for €420 million.

Our guide also met Chagall when he was touring some children through a museum. The then old man stopped and asked the children for their thoughts about his work. Some of them didn't understand it and he said - Artists don't need to copy reality. Artists need to bring dreams to people.

By the time we arrived in St. Paul de Vence it was raining pretty hard. Not a down pour but more than a sprinkle. We decided to buy expensive (€15.50) but cheap umbrellas. We used them for a bit and then it stopped raining.

St. Paul de Vence is spectacular. It is another charming hillside town with quaint, narrow cobblestone streets (that are very slippery when wet!), lots of art and interesting shops. We were left to explore on our own for a couple hours. We visited the very picturesque graveyard and saw Chagall's tomb. Many artists (Picasso, Chagall, Matisse) hung out in St.Paul de Vence. We went to the church and poked around the shops. Before we had to head back to the bus we had a warm drink and snack with Paul and Karen.

The drive through the Cote d'Azur is stunning. There are three levels of corniche (road on the side of cliff/mountain). Many famous people own homes and property here. I can't blame them - I would too if I had money!

Back in Monaco, they are setting up for the Grand Prix. It takes them 3 months to set up and 2 months to take it down. Last time we were here the Historic Grand Prix (it's only every two years) was on and there were a lot of barricades up.

All the buses seem to arrive back to Monaco at the same time and the line up for the tenders was insanely long. Here's a shaky video. We stood above on kind of a breakwater area and waited. We learned that the Seaborne ship was leaving right at the busy tender time for us. When there is a ship leaving there can't be any other sea traffic (like our tender boats) for 30 minutes. It really backed everything up. Our captain was not happy and as an apology, we all got free champagne with dinner.

When we got back to our room the luggage mats were on our bed. That means we have to pack. Boo! Here is a video of what was waiting for us. We decided to move the mats out of the way and had a nap instead.

After the nap I decided to start packing. Somehow I have too much stuff.

We had a really lovely last dinner of the cruise at the Pinnacle Grill with Karen and Paul. It was a fabulous way to end an amazing 21 day voyage.

When we came back from dinner we were greeted with the sad sight of suitcases lining the hall. You have to put your packed luggage in the hall by midnight for disembarking the next morning. It always signifies the end of a voyage. A fabulous voyage I might add. At least we have two more days in Barcelona.

Mini Maurice (pictured below) is the little sock monkey who travels with me. Here is a video of his adventure.

The casino in Monte Carlo

Square Head in Nice - offices for the library staff

Making use of the new umbrealla

The horseshoe horse in St. Paul de Vence

No! The luggage mats are on our bed. I don't want to pack. That's Mini Maurice - he has his own video about the trip. Link posted above.

Luggage is put out in the hall the night before disembarking. Always sad to see.

exploring the italian riviera

Sun, 10 May 2015 16:39:13 GMT

April 24, 2015 - Santa Margherita Ligure & Cinque Terre

I was up early and sat on our verandah to watch the sail in to Santa Margherita. It's was a beautiful morning and I caught a bit on video. I am feeling very grateful for the opportunity to see so many fabulous places, relaxing and meeting such nice people.

We decided to take the Travel with Alan tour today to visit the Cinque Terre and Portofino. We met the very large group - about 100 people and left the ship to tender in to Santa Margherita. Once onshore we were split in to 4 groups of about 25. In hindsight, I'm not really sure why we were in small groups, we didn't do anything with our designated guides.

I knew we would have to take a boat to get to the Cinque Terre as it is only accessible by train or boat. We all got on a large boat - it actually looked like a party boat from the Caribbean complete with pirate flag. We were only handed bottled water so there was no partying on the boat. Though, there was often a line up for the bathroom. I thought the boat ride would be about 15 minutes. Wrong. It took more than an hour. It was interesting to see all the seaside communities but I was ready to get off the boat when we finally reached Vernazza.

Cinque Terre means 5 lands. The 5 villages, the coastline and surrounding hillside make up Cinque Terre National Park and it is a UNESCO site. The 5 villages are Manorola, Vernazza, Corniglia, Monterosso and Riomaggiore. It is amazing to see buildings and farm terraces clinging to the side of rugged sea cliffs. There are a lot of grape vines, lemons and olives. The area is colourful and picturesque. There is a hiking trail that links the villages and I would like to come back to hike the trail. I'm not sure if the trail is completely open now. Part of it was damaged in October 25, 2011 floods and mudslides.

Vernazza is very cute and it was busy. We didn't have very much time to explore but we were able to climb up a bit and see some of the views from the top. The stairs through the buildings are steep. It is really amazing that everything is built in to the cliffs. We saw where the walking trail connects to the next village.

We got back on the boat and went to Monterosso. First on the agenda was lunch but we had to trek up the hillside to get there. I was actually surprised that the group (of 100+ people, many with mobility issues) was walking up a steep incline for lunch. James even got nudged by a vehicle here's the video proof. We reached the 4 star Hotel Porto Roca and it was worth the trek. We ate outside and the view was stunning! The food and wine was really good - except the tiramisu for dessert. I am not a fan of anything with coffee flavour so James ate mine. He reported that it was very good. After lunch we had a bit of time to look around Monterosso. I love the striped buildings and there are lemons everywhere. I regret not having limoncello while here!

We sat outside for a bit of the boat ride on the hour long trip to Portofino. It is a beautiful day! Portofino is definitely an Italian riviera resort town. The colourful painted buildings and the yachts in the harbour add to the feel. It's pretty small so we were able to tour around and get a gelato before we had to get back on the boat for our return to Santa Margherita - only about a 5 minute boat ride.

This tour was ok but I really prefer smaller more intimate tour groups. I was really excited to see the Cinque Terre but there wasn't enough time on this tour - we only got a taste of the area.

All aboard wasn't until 10.30 pm so we decided to stay in Santa Margherita for a few hours. We walked around and admired the painted buildings. By painted I mean that the building are painted in great colours and there are also painted windows and detailing. You have to look closely to determine if they are real or painted. Everything is so colourful. The hotels (like the 5 star Imperiale Palace Hotel) look magnificent and old.

We stopped for some pastries and James had a coffee. There are more high end stores here and it is very clean. We spotted a wine bar perched on a bit of a hill over looking the water by some sort of tower. Take a look. We ordered a couple glasses of wine and it came with an odd assortment of appetizers. The view was picture perfect.

It was now about 8.30 pm and it was starting to get chilly and James was wearing short sleeves - as an aside, the locals were wearing thin, puffy ski jackets. We caught a tender back to the ship, had a snack and called it a day. We sailed away in the dark leaving the lights of the Italian Riviera behind.

On our pirate ship to the Cinque Terre

In Vernazza

The number 5 is big in the Cinque Terre

Lemon trees, terraces, the walking trail and train tracks in Vernazza

I love how people put flowers everywhere - even in the most inconvenient places!

The steep steps in Vernazza

The tiramisu at lunch in Monterosso. James said it was delicious - he ate 2 pieces so he should know!

Stripes!

Too cute to not take a photo!

Lemons everywhere. At home they are .97 each. Ridiculous!

Stairs to someone's home - Monterosso

More stripes in Monterossso

This doesn't even look real. It looks like a movie set!

The resort village of Portofino

These were yummy - especially the lemon cookie

Enjoying wine and snacks by the water in Santa Margherita

Painted building in Santa Margherita - you can see some real and some painted windows.

I like taking photos of bikes.

Arrivederci Italy - until next year!

all roads lead to rome

Sun, 10 May 2015 04:57:24 GMT

April 23, 2015 Civitavecchia

Except not our road - not today.

Civitavecchia is the port for Rome. Rome wasn't built in a day and it cannot be seen in a day! Ok, I won't use anymore cheesy Rome cliches. Mostly because I can't think of anymore.

We didn't really want to go in to Rome on this trip. It's about a 90 minute drive from the port. We love Rome but it's a city that you need to take time to experience. We are going to be there next spring and are looking forward to spending a few days in the Eternal City

So, I was really intrigued when Margie posted on Cruise Critic that she was looking for others to join a Share a Shore Excursion tour to Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio. There were 8 of us on the tour - James and I were the only non-Floridians.

Our guide Tino loaded us in the van and we were off. The drive to Orvieto was about an hour and 45 minutes and it was really interesting. We were on some winding roads that took us through farm land and forest areas. It was really green. Lots of olive trees, grapes, sheep and cattle. And there was wifi in the van.

We made it to Orvieto before it got too busy. Tino parked on the side of the Duomo (cathedral) and I was totally intrigued by the black and white striped marble on the side. Then we walked to the front. What?!? I have never seen the front of a cathedral like this before. It was completely decorated with mosaic and carvings depicting the bible stories. The sunlight bounced off all the gold tiles. Breathtaking. It was built in 1290 and is a stunning example of Italian Gothic.

The church was built to house a very holy cloth. Back in the 1200's, a priest was questioning transubstantiation (when the communion host becomes the body and blood of Christ) when a miracle happened. The communion host that he broke started to bleed. All the blood stained the cloth on the alter and that cloth is stored inside the cathedral.

Tino told us to meet back for lunch and we were set free. I love Orvieto! It is so charming. We looked in shops - there are nice leather products here and lots of food shops. You can buy a bottle of Orvieto wine for €3. I bought a very soft leather bag from a brother and sister team who were cutting and sewing leather right in the shop. We walked through courtyards that opened to the most stunning views of the Umbrian countryside. I loved strolling the streets and could have stayed there all day. Tino told us there is also an underground tour. We will have to come back and do that some day.

We met the group for lunch at a rather odd restaurant. It seemed too formal for lunch but the food was good. James had a field salad to start which was basically a bowl of prickly weeds. His pasta was better. The Orvieto wine in the restaurant was €9 for a half litre. What? We just saw how cheap it was in the shops! Oh well...

After lunch we headed to Civita di Bagnoregio. At first we looked at it from up top. Wow! Words can't describe it. It looks almost magical. We drove over to the bridge area to cross. Most of our group decided not to cross the pedestrian bridge - they felt the climb was too much. This is the only way to get in the village. The tickets were €1.50.

The walk over the bridge and up the side was a bit windy (as you can hear in this short video clip) and it got quite steep close to the top. The views in the valley are amazing. In the cooler months about 20 people live here but in the spring/summer there are up to 300 residents. Mostly writers and poets. There are a lot of cats (video) and really good smelling restaurants. I wish we would have had lunch here. We saw the olive oil press and bruschetta place from Rick Steves video. It sure smelled delicious! The place is so cute and enchanting. It is eroding and some of it has been lost to the valley in an earthquake. There is a group working to save the hillside town. The ground is not stable around it but I sure hope they are successful.

When we crossed back over the bridge to meet the group, they were all drinking red wine - Tino's treat. He's super nice! He also gave us a bottle of olive oil when he dropped us off at the ship.

This was a fabulous tour. I really enjoyed both of our stops. They were unique and interesting. I would recommend Share a Shore Excursion - booking was very easy and they were professional and reliable.

Back on the ship we decided to eat dinner at the Dive-In. There were cannoli in the dessert area so we had to try them. Here are James' thoughts.

We watched the sunset and gave the day two thumbs up!

This sitting area is always set up when we get off the ship. We aren't sure who sits here.

The side of the cathedral in Orvieto - pretty cool striped marble

Then you turn the corner and see the front. Wow! All the bible stories are depicted from Creation to Last Judgement.

Zoomed in on the centre of the cathedral

I bought a bag here

I love the streets in Orvieto. And the ladies with their shopping carts.

The view from outside our restaurant

The Umbrian country side

See...all roads lead to Rome

The hillside town of Civita di Bagnoregio - magical! The only way to get there is to cross the pedestrian bridge.

There are a lot of vineyards around here.

We made it across the bridge and up the hill!

One of the many cats in Civita di Bagnoregio

So enchanting - it feels like another world

Another cat in Civita di Bagnoregio. Don't tell our dogs I was taking cat photos!

The wisteria smells wonderful

Tourist in front of the church

Looking out to the valley

I think this statue is to warn you about the wind crossing over the bridge!

Gelato treat when we crossed back over to meet the group

Following a Costa ship sailing away from Civitavecchia

i heart palermo

Sun, 10 May 2015 01:57:15 GMT

Palermo, Sicily, Italy - April 22, 2015

Happy birthday to James, Alana and Uncle Daryl!

Palermo was a port that I had a tough time planning. James borrowed some videos about Sicily from the library that were horrible and really didn't get us excited about the port at all. We did watch a documentary about the mafia which was interesting.

But then our new friends Karen & Paul posted a walking tour of Palermo with Jackie Alio on Cruise Critic and they were looking for people to join. Perfect! And it was.

Jackie is an amazing guide - very knowledgeable, passionate about Sicily and friendly. She customized the tour to what the group wanted to see and do. There were 8 of us on the tour and exploring Palermo by foot is definitely the way to do it.

First of all the Sicilians consider themselves Sicilian - not Italian. Like Sardinia, Sicily is an autonomous region of Italy. And also like Sardinia they have an intriguing and unique history which blends many cultures over thousands of years.

Right off the top, Jackie addressed the mafia. Jackie was born in the US but moved to Sicily with her parents when she was in high school in 1985. She lived in Palermo through the height of the mafia. Sicily has worked hard to get rid of the mafia. Jackie said the mafia is now stronger in Naples and Calabria. In an effort to demystify and change the mindset about the mafia, school children learn all about the history of the mafia, who all the players were, what happened and when. We did pass by the home of a judge that has 24 hour police protection on it. If there is no mafia, I'm not sure who the judge is being protected from. Hmmm...

We walked to the Theatre - Polieamo Garibadi and then the opera house, Teatro Massimo - the biggest opera house in Italy. The opera scene from Godfather III was filmed here.

We headed to a street market which was fascinating. It was chaotic but at the same time organized. It was full of all sorts of fruits, vegetables, fish, bread, olives and chocolate. We bought some Sicilian modica chocolate. It is an ancient Aztec technique where only the natural ingredients - cocoa beans and sugar...and a flavouring - are used. The beans are ground and sugar added at a low temperature so the sugar doesn't melt. It produces a grainy, flavourful product - very different from the highly heated and processed chocolate that we are used to eating.

There are religious posters and statues everywhere. We went through a church on the market street that had a lot of marble. Jackie told us all about cloistered nuns. There aren't many around anymore but when there were, their place in the church was at the back behind a screen. The nuns would make and sell marzipan, cannoli, almond cookies, etc. In order to sell them , they used a large turntable type thing that would go from the outside world to their quarters - people would write down their orders, add the payment, spin the turntable, the nuns would fill the order and spin it back. No cloistered nun seen in the process.

On our way to the cathedral we stopped by the workshop of a traditional Sicilian painter, Franco Bertolino. He is a fifth generation cart painter and his work is so colourful and fun. It is great to see the traditional folk art being kept alive.

We arrived at the incredibly large cathedral with many different architectural styles - Normand-Arab-Gothic, Baroque,Neo-Classical...and it is being restored. Audi is sponsoring the restoration. Fr. Guiseppe Puglisi, the priest that spoke out against the mafia and was killed by them in 1993, is buried in the cathedral. The cathedral has a heliometer - there are zodiac signs inlaid in the floor and a small hole in the ceiling which acts as a sundial and projects the sun on the floor - tracking the movement of the sun through the sky. This dates back to the 1600's. We visited the treasures, the crypts with vaulted ceilings and the tombs of Frederick (and family).

Next up a cannoli break! The only thing I wanted to do in Palermo for sure was to get a freshly made authentic ricotta cannoli. I did. It was delicious!

The streets in the old town are narrow - scooters, bikes, cars and pedestrians all share the same tiny passage. I captured a bit of it on video. We visited the Jewish area and then on to the Eastern Rite Catholic church - Chiesa Della Martorana with its amazing mosaic tile work. The Fountain of Shame - named because when it arrived from Florence in 1557 with it's naked nymphs, gods and goddess the public was outraged. It didn't help that it was put in the square with a bunch of churches and a nun's residence. It is said that the nuns used to make clothing for the statues. Right around the corner was the 4 corners intersection (video). Each corner has a three story baroque sculpture depicting one of the 4 seasons. Exquisite.

We had lunch at a fun sports bar. Palermo's football team is pink. The group decided to share a bunch of different dishes. It only cost us 9 euros each including wine. It was great and I learned I don't like anchovie meatballs. Too fishy.

A quick trip through the arts & crafts area and we had to get back to the ship.

We squeezed a lot in to a short port stop. I highly recommend a walking tour (bit of video) in Palermo with Jackie. The surprise of turning a corner and having something uniquely unexpected in front of you is truly exceptional. Palermo is chaotically charming and there is beauty in the grittiness. Thanks again to Karen for finding the tour with Jackie!

Back on the ship we went for birthday happy hour, walked the deck and got ready for dinner. We ate at the Tamarind (delicious of course) and after our meal James got a very large piece of cake with a very formal birthday greeting and the staff sang to him (video). It was great.

Another perfect day...and another port I want to go back to!

Warning there are a lot of photos. And I wanted to add more.

I do!

The opera house

At the market - love the cigarette!

In the market

The modica chocolate in the market

Some of the painted items by Franco Bertolino - more below

One side of the cathedral

The float for the St. Rosalie celebration. It changes every year.

Fountain of Shame

4 Corners

Chiesa Della Martorana - so many gorgeous mosaics!

The streets of Palermo...this is an area they are going to work on restoring. I think it's charming the way it is.

James with Taurus - his zodiac sign in the cathedral

Monument to the victims of the mafia

Happy Birthday Mr. James Morrissey!

exploring the italian riviera

Sat, 09 May 2015 22:43:29 GMT

April 24, 2015 - Santa Margherita Ligure & Cinque Terre

I was up early and sat on our verandah to watch the sail in to Santa Margherita. It was such a beautiful morning I shot a little video. I am feeling very grateful for the opportunity to see so many fabulous places. It has been a wonderful vacation - relaxing, exploring and meeting new friends.

We decided to take the Travel with Alan tour today to visit the Cinque Terre and Portofino. We met the very large group, about 100 people, and left the ship to tender in to Santa Margherita. Once onshore we were split in to 4 groups of about 25. In hindsight, I'm not really sure why we were split up as we didn't do anything with our designated guides.

I knew we would have to take a boat to get to the Cinque Terre because it is only accessible by train or boat. We all got on a large boat - it actually looked like a party boat from the Caribbean complete with pirate flag. We were only handed bottled water so there was no partying on the boat. Though, there was often a line up for the bathroom. I thought the boat ride would be about 15 minutes. Wrong. It took more than an hour. It was interesting to see all the seaside communities but I was ready to get off the boat when we finally reached Vernazza.

Cinque Terre means 5 lands. The 5 villages, the coastline and surrounding hillside make up Cinque Terre National Park and it is a UNESCO site. The 5 villages are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Monterosso, and Vernazza. We visited Vernazza and Monterosso. It is amazing to see buildings and farm terraces clinging to the side of rugged sea cliffs. Lemons, grapes and olives are the major crops. The area is colourful and picturesque. There is a hiking trail that used to be a mule trail and it links the villages and I would like to come back to hike the trail. I'm not sure if the trail is completely open now. Part of it was damaged in October 25, 2011 floods and mudslides.

Vernazza is very cute and it was busy. We didn't have very much time to explore but we were able to climb up a bit and see some of the views from the top. The stairs through the buildings are steep. It is really amazing that everything is built in to the cliffs. We saw where the walking trail connects to the next village.

We got back on the boat and went to Monterosso. First on the agenda was lunch but we had to trek up the hillside to get there. James got nudged by a vehicle check it out. I was actually surprised that the group (of 100+ people, many with mobility issues) was walking up a steep incline for lunch. We reached the 4 star Hotel Porto Roca and it was worth the trek. We ate outside and the view was stunning! The food and wine was really good - except the tiramisu for dessert. Is am not a fan of anything with coffee flavour so James ate mine. He said it was delicious. After lunch we had a bit of time to look around Monterosso. I love the striped buildings and there are lemons everywhere. I regret not having limoncello while here!

We sat outside on the boat for a bit of the hour long trip to Portofino. It is a beautiful day! Portofino is definitely an Italian riviera resort town. The colourful painting buildings and the yachts in the harbour add to the feel. It's pretty small so we were able to tour around and get a gelato before we had to get back on the boat for our return to Santa Margherita - only about a 5 minute boat ride.

This tour was ok but I really prefer smaller more intimate tour groups. I was really excited to see the Cinque Terre but there wasn't enough time on this tour - we only got a taste of the area. You need a couple days at least to hike and absorb the atmosphere.

All aboard isn't until 10.30 pm so we decided to stay in Santa Margherita for a few hours. We walked around and admired the painted buildings. By painted I mean they paint the buildings amazing colours and they also paint on fake windows and detailing on the side of the buildings. You have to look closely to determine if they are real or painted. All the colour is so refreshing. The hotels in Santa Margherita (like the 5 star Imperiale Palace Hotel) look magnificent and old.

We stopped for some pastries and James had a coffee. There are more high end stores here and it is very clean. We spotted a wine bar perched on a hill over looking the water by some sort of tower. We ordered a couple glasses of wine and it came with an odd assortment of appetizers. The view was picture perfect. Here it is.

It was now about 8.30 pm and it was starting to get chilly. James was wearing short sleeves while many of the locals were wearing thin, puffy, ski jackets. We caught a tender back to the ship, had a snack and watch the lights of Santa Margherita fade away in to the dark as we sailed toward our next (and final) port.

Our boat to the Cinque Terre

Vernazza

You see a lot of number 5 references here

Lemon trees and terraces in Vernazza. This also where the hiking rail leads...and where the train comes through

Lots of steep steps in this villages

Striped, painted building in Monterosso

We'll have to look for Cinque Terre wine at home

Too cute to not take a photo

Lemons everywhere!

Stairs to someone's home

The resort town of Portifino

The painted buildings in Portofino on the waterfront

Painted building in Santa Margherita

These were tasty - especially the lemon cookie

Wine and snacks by the water

Some real windows and some painted

You can wash your clothes and your dog!

I love colour!

cagliari & megalithic ruins

Thu, 07 May 2015 13:31:11 GMT

Sunrise as we sail in to Cagliari

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy - April 21, 2015

Sardinia was added to our itinerary instead of Tunis, Tunisia. According to our guide, Sardinia is much better than Tunis. I've never been to Tunis but I can confirm that Sardinia is pretty special.

Our group of 8 - people we connected with through Cruise Critic - met our guide Gillo from Sardinia Dream Tour and we're off to Barumini to see the megalithic Nuraghic complex of Su Nuraxi. It was about an hour drive and Gillo kept us entertained and informed. The drive was very scenic and we saw a lot of sheep for the production of pecorino cheese.

Licensed tour guides in Europe are very educated and passionate. Typically they have at least 4-5 years of university education and they can speak a minimum of 4 languages.

Once at the site, we had a local licensed guide take us through the site. The site was rediscovered in 1950. It was absolutely amazing and one of the most interesting structures I have been in. First of all, the oldest tower dates back to 1500 BC. The stones that the towers are built out of are huge and made out of rock from the plateau 10 km away. How did they move so many huge stones so far? And how did they get them to sit on top of each other with no cement? To get in the towers we had to climb up, then squeeze through tight rock walls and go down very steep steps. The steps made Amsterdam stairs look like child's play. And it's dark (especially with sunglasses on). It was fascinating to be in something that old and actually touch the walls.

We visited the museum at Casa Zapata to learn more about the artifacts and the people. As Gillo put it, these were not were not the Flintstone's. They were highly organized, creative and intelligent. I loved this tour - it was so interesting.

We drove back to Sardinia and stopped at a high look out point. From here we had a good view of the lagoon with all the pink flamingos. Thousands in fact. They arrived in 1992 from Africa and they stayed. Good weather and crustaceans to eat.

We stopped for a picnic at a base area with spectacular views. We had a huge calzone and water bottle full of wine. Odd but perfect.

Gillo then demonstrated his superb driving skills by taking us down the narrow streets of the old town. We toured through the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Cecilia dating from around 1250. It is full of interesting art and stories of people buried in the crypts. One of the highlights is the 12th-century pair of pulpits by Master Guglielmo, originally sculpted for the cathedral of Pisa. It was taken to Cagliari in 1312 and placed in the nave - eventually it was split in two.

This was a fabulous tour. Sardinia has a fascinating history and there's a lot more to see and do in Sardinia and I would definitely come back!

Back on the ship we went to happy hour and then decided a quick dinner at the Dive In would be perfect. The evening show featured a very talented classical pianist, Julian G.

The island of Sardinia

From a distance

These are the areas where day to day activity took place

Steep stairs going down to get in the towers. That's Ken - he organized our Cruise Critic group for the tour.

Inside a tower - you can see how big the rocks are and they are just stacked

A lot of pink flamingos at the lagoon

The Devil's Saddle

Lunch - with a view

One of the pulpits by Master Guglielmo

The other pulpit by Master Guglielmo

The cathedral

Inside the cathedral

Our guide Gillo

In the old town - looks old

last sea day

Thu, 07 May 2015 02:46:44 GMT

At Sea - April 20, 2015
Today was our last sea day and it was perfect.

First things first - my missing laundry found its way back to me. Whew!

We decided to poke around the galley in the self guided tour of the galley. The floor is actually very slippery in there. We got a fact sheet before the tour which outlined what happens in each kitchen or prep area and the amount of food they go through in a week. Like 300 gallons of ice cream per week. PER WEEK! From what I saw last week, I believe it. They also go through 23,040 eggs and almost 12,000 pounds of meat.

We went to the port talk which was a whirlwind overview of the next 5 ports of call. We have private tours booked for all the ports except Monaco. We learned that we have to tender in to Monaco which is a pain in the butt so we are thinking about taking a ship tour. Tendering means we drop our anchor in the sea close(ish) to land and the tender boats have to take us back and forth to the port. We also have to tender at Santa Margherita but we have a long day in port there. Our Monaco day is pretty short.

We had lunch at our favourite restaurant - the Tamarind. Lunch is free at the Tamarind but it's hard to get a reservation. After lunch we walked the deck a bit and then we basically laid out by the Lido pool until happy hour. The sun was out and it was about 22. Tough life. I shot this video with my phone and at the end I made a prediction that came true on May 6, 2015

It was a formal night so we got glitzed up (as glitzy as we get) for dinner and caught the show after. We finally caught a glimpse of the new captain at the captain's toast.

I love sea days!

Demonstration during the galley tour

Lunch at the Tamarind

Relaxing on the Lido deck

The bow was open so we stood out front for a bit

This is odd. It was actually very warm out!

I know seagulls aren't the most majestic bird but when you zoom in, they look kind of interesting

Our verandah window selfie

Dinner menu

Captain Bart Vaartjes

alberta in may

Wed, 06 May 2015 16:40:15 GMT

At least the snow is pretty.

This is what we woke up to this morning, May 6. And an NDP majority government. In Alberta. For real. Good thing I left my snow tires on.

Alberta tulips are hardy