Month: November 2016

The old city of Palma de Mallorca is dominated by the 13th century Cathedral. You could not miss it as we sailed into the harbor.

The shuttle bus took us from the port right over to the Cathedral. We decided to make it our first stop.

The cathedral was founded in 1229 on the site of a former mosque. Due to some unfortunate architectural decisions it took until the end of the 16th century to get it finished. Even after that there have been numerous earthquakes and fires which have necessitated rebuilding and redecorating.

It was a breezy day on the sea shore as can be seen by the fountain.

This metal tree inside the entrance depicts the saints and blessed of Mallorca including some martyrs from the Spanish Civil War of 1936.

The nave is pretty impressive. This is one of the tallest Gothic churches in the world.

The canopy of the main altar was designed by Antoni Gaudi around 1910.

This side chapel of the Holy Eucharist was decorated in 2007 by Mallorcan artist Miquel Barcelo. It is definitely something that takes getting used to. It’s a Terra Cotta cave with a marine theme and a cascade of skulls at the side. Rather spooky if you ask me.

Contrast the work of Barcelo with this Renaissance altar of Corpus Christi.

This rose window is magnificent – one of the largest in the world.

In the cloister is a statue of  St. Ramon Llull – 13th century monk, theologian, writer, mathematician, martyr. Quite a guy.

We got a nice view of the harbor and the Silhouette from the steps of the Cathedral.

We left the Cathedral and walked up past the Palace. It was the original residence of Jaime the Conqueror who took Mallorca back from the Moors in 1229.

This street is one of the major shopping areas. It got busy later on.

Eventually we found ourselves on La Rambla – Mallorca edition. Just as nice as the street in Barcelona.

Anybody fancy a carriage ride?

Back near the Palace we walked through the King’s Garden area.

A delightful way to go back to the shuttle pickup.

Back on the ship we were ready for a couple of sea days after 3 days in Rome and 4 ports in a row. We really enjoyed our visit to Palma – sacred and secular both were great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We docked in the port of Toulon on the morning of November 7. The cold front had passed through the area, and it was a cool but bright morning.

Since we had had a busy day in Florence. we opted for a quieter one today. The ship had docked on the opposite side of the harbor from Toulon and although there were options to take a ferry to the city itself, we decided to stay on the shore where we docked and to visit the smaller village of La Seyne sur Mer (within easy walking distance of the ship.)

Once outside the secure port area we got our first full view of the ship since we embarked in Civitavecchia.

Our first impression of La Seyne wasn’t too favorable. We walked past these grotty factory buildings which I suspect were part of the old shipbuilding yard that closed in the 1980s. There were signs indicating that this area was going to be redeveloped. I would anticipate that these buildings will be demolished and you won’t recognize the area in five years’ time. The buildings don’t look like they have much architectural significance but you never know.

Things improved markedly once we passed the old factory buildings. We saw a nice park and a casino built on the former shipyard grounds. Then we approached this interesting structure – La Seyne’s version of the Eiffel Tower. What it actually turned out to be was a former railway bridge (built 1916-1920) that enabled steel and other material to be brought over to the shipyard from the other side of the harbor. It was closed in the mid 1980s, locked in its upright position , and turned into a 40 meter high observation tower.

Admission was free, we rode the elevator to the top and came down on a steel staircase.

We got a nice view of La Seyne from the top.

And an even nicer view of Toulon across the bay.

The bridge machinery building is now glassed in and you can see all the cranks and gears needed to raise and lower the structure back when it was in service.

After leaving the bridge/tower we went into the village to immerse ourselves in the culture of Provence. La Seyne has lots of little narrow streets like this one.

Maria was looking to get a sewing kit and some thread to do some clothing repairs. La Seyne is more of a real life village than a tourist area so we found a “2 Euro” store just opposite this cafe which had everything she needed.

Next we walked up to the village church which has the entirely appropriate name (for our circumstances) of Notre Dame de Bon Voyage.

The interior was lovely in its simplicity – quite a change from the Baroque architecture in Rome.

There was a nice little square outside the church.

And the church tower gleamed in the late autumn sunshine.

We walked down past the local cafe. A few locals were hanging out enjoying the fine weather.

And Maria discovered the Public Library (which unfortunately was closed.)

We finished our tour of La Seyne and on the way back we passed the former main entrance to the La Seyne shipyard. It now serves as the entrance to the casino, and inside the gate is a War Memorial with the names of the shipyard workers who died in World War I.

La Seyne shipyard was in operation for more than 150 years and built ocean liners, battleships for the French navy, and lots of cargo vessels. A couple of yacht builders remain but otherwise it’s all gone now.

A final view of the “tower” from Parc de la Navale.

Toulon is still a naval base and service port, so once back on the ship we could see lots of French navy vessels anchored not far away. This one looks like some sort of marine assault ship.

A last look back at Toulon in the afternoon sunshine as we prepare to sail away. It was a quiet day here, but a most interesting and enjoyable one.

 

 

 

It was a bumpy first night on the Mediterranean and as the ship pulled into La Spezia, the day dawned rather gloomy and damp. Not a good omen.

But no matter. We had booked a three hour “Florence on Your Own” shore excursion so we grabbed the umbrellas and headed out to join our tour.

The ride to Florence took about 90 minutes. The countryside looked lush and green and our guide informed us that they had had a lot of rain in Northern Italy in October.

The weather wasn’t too bad when we made our pit stop about halfway there. Maybe things would be OK after all.

Our bus had facilities for folks in wheelchairs, so we were able to get in and park closer to the center of Florence than usual. We ended up near Santa Croce, and walked down to the Uffizi Palace.

We would have liked to go into the Uffizi Gallery but unfortunately this was a free admission day in the city museums. They were lined up wall to wall at the Uffizi and we couldn’t spend an hour in line. So we decided to move on.

We went to the Piazza della Signoria where I always enjoy looking at the statues that are wired up electrically to zap pigeons.

Then we had a brief walk through the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio. It was free after all so why not? We decided to avoid the crowds at the Museum though and continued our walk up to the Duomo.

The Cathedral itself is looking pretty good. Just a tiny bit of scaffolding on the side, which I was careful to avoid photographing.

And the Baptistry looks pretty fine also.

And what can you say about the “Gates of Paradise?” Michelangelo got that name right.

We went to Ponte Vecchio and although all the jewelry stores were open the crowds were smaller than we remembered. Maybe everybody was over in line at the Uffizi.

The Arno was swollen and muddy where it passed under the bridge.

Another view of the muddy Arno. You can see what’s coming.

We walked along the river past the Uffizi again (the line was now really massive.) Then we bought some focaccia bread at a bakery. At this point the skies opened up. A highlight of our trip was standing in a side alley in Florence under our umbrellas, gnawing on a piece of desiccated foccacia while the lightning flashed and thunder crashed around us. A shopkeeper took pity on us and let us stand in his doorway while the worst of the rain came down.

We made it to Santa Croce but like most churches that Sunday it was closed to tourists. Maria held our umbrellas while I took a photo.

One last soggy photo and our time was up. We headed back to the bus. So ended our “three hour tour.”

On the way back we stopped at a leather factory (what tour doesn’t do that?) and Maria got some nice little change purses as souvenirs. Earlier on I had picked up a little leather credit card case to hold our Sea Passes and it gave great service all the rest of our journey. Nothing like Florentine leather.

We rode back to La Spezia, got back on the ship, and as we prepared to sail away the clouds started to disappear. A good sign for our next port of call on the French Riviera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Rome woke up on Saturday morning and we got ready for our taxi ride to the ship, I stepped out on our postage stamp sized balcony for a photo of the street in front of the hotel.

Arrivederci Roma! We had a lot better time than we expected, since we were just here waiting to go on the ship.

We crammed ourselves and our luggage into the tiny elevator – accompanied by another idiot who couldn’t be bothered to walk down one flight of stairs. Finally we got to the lobby.

When we had checked out, we were picked up by the same nice young man who drove us in from the airport. It was about an hour’s drive to the port – first through the streets of Rome and then through the country. As we got closer to Civitavecchia and entered the town itself traffic got very heavy again. Once we were on the Silhouette we figured out why.

There were three Costa ships in port.

Also Cunard’s Queen Victoria.

Not to mention a ro-ro ferry and our own ship. About 15000 cruisers coming and going. That is a lot, even for a busy port like Civitavecchia.

The weather – which had been nice in Rome – now threatened to turn rainy and stormy. In fact Celebrity Cruises changed our first port of call from Livorno to La Spezia – a snug harbor which was easier to get into if the sea was bumpy. This didn’t affect our trip to Florence much since we scheduled a ship’s tour. But those with private tours were scrambling to change their reservations.

We’d been here before but this was our first time embarking in Civatavecchia. The cruise terminal isn’t fancy, but they were fast and efficient. We were soon whisked through the lines and safely aboard.

Meanwhile the crew loaded up some last minute provisions.

We settled into Cabin 7312 and unpacked after Elroy (our friendly cabin attendant) delivered our luggage. This would be home for two weeks. Seemed a bit tiny after our nice hotel room in Rome but we soon got used to it.

Time to sail away. Civatavecchia isn’t the most butt-ugly port we’ve been in (Hello St. Petersburg!) but it isn’t exactly Sydney Harbor either. This familiar power plant looks a lot better at twilight than it does in the daytime. And so we began our journey.

 

 

Our first full day in Rome started with a short walk to the Spanish steps – just a couple of blocks from our hotel.

Then we climbed up the steps to the church of Trinita dei Monti – where we got this nice view of the city aand the Vatican. After a brief visit inside the 17th century church we were off to the Spagna Metro station. We wanted to visit St Paul Outside the Walls and that meant a ride on the Rome Metro. Even though it was midweek and after the morning rush, the Metro was absolutely jammed. When we changed at Termini things were even more jammed. It was a relief to arrive at the San Paolo Metro station and take a short walk to the Basilica.

The entrance to the Basilica is quite impressive.

 

And because it is a major basilica. St Paul’s had a Holy Door open in the Year of Mercy. So we went in that way.

The interior is also very impressive. St Paul’s is laid out like a typical 5th century Roman church, and the original Basilica was here since 380 or so. However the present church is a 19th century reproduction, since the old basilica was destroyed by fire in the 1820s. Nice job of restoration though.

And for all you Pauline fans out there, here is the tomb of the Apostle himself.

Back on the Metro we went, back to Central Rome. Since we were already being crushed, we stayed on to the Vatican for a quick visit. St Peter’s was even more crowded than St Paul’s so we just took a quick look around the square and then decided to walk back to our hotel. That’s when our mixup began.

It seemed straightforward enough. First we walked along a broad busy avenue to Castel Sant’Angelo.

Then we had to go across the Tiber. At this point the smart thing to do was walk along the river and go to Piazza del Popolo. But it’s been a while, we weren’t sure so we forged ahead straight into the bowels of Rome.

We were never that lost, but it was a longer walk than we thought. Maria stopped a couple of times to ask directions.

By the time we reached this famous church of Sant’Andrea we were within a couple of blocks of the Victor Emmanuel monument and the familiar Via del Corso. Up the well known del Corso we went.

We took a slight detour off del Corso to visit this strange fountain – which looks gorgeously restored by the way. Many people were busy throwing coins into it (don’t ask why.)

After that it was a pleasant jaunt through side streets to the Hotel Condotti. We took a foot resting break and after that we headed out to have dinner at Di Qua. We enjoyed some of the best gnocchi we have ever had and after that it was back to the hotel. Not a bad second day in Rome.