Days 23 – 30 – Bavaria

We caught a 9:30 AM flight on Alitalia from Rome to Munich, arriving at 10:45 AM where we were met by our friend, Karin. We met her a number of years ago at Saddlebag Lake near Yosemite, where we all helped Debbie’s Aunt & Uncle at their little fishing resort. Karin is related to Debbie’s Aunt by marriage, and helped at the resort for several summers. Anyway, we visited her in Germany in 2005, and have wanted to come back ever since. In 2009, Karin married Wolfgang, a landscaper by trade, and an extremely talented man.

Karin drove us to her mother’s house in Bernstadt, about 1.5 hours from Munich, near the city of Ulm. She had a delicious lunch ready for us as soon as we got there. In Germany, it is traditional to have the largest meal of the day at noon, which is really quite a good idea. After lunch, we had a nice visit with Mom, and then traveled across the small village where she lives to Karin’s brother, Wolfgang’s, home. We met Wolfgang his wife, Margret, and their three children, Tabea, Leoni and Philip, six years ago, so it was great to get to visit with them, again. Their daughters are now 15 and 16, and are quite grown up. Their son, Philip, is now twelve, and is struggling with his English. In Germany, everyone takes English as one of their regular classes, so young people all understand the language, and most can speak it quite fluently. Margret fixed us a great dinner and we spent the night at their home.

The next morning after breakfast, Karin took us on a walk along a meadow trail next to the woods. The walk was about 4 kilometers or almost 2 miles. Once we returned to town, we were ready for another lunch at Mom’s. We were joined for this meal by Wolfgang and Margret, as well as by Karin’s other brother, Ralf.
After lunch, we got in the car and traveled to Karin & Wolfgang’s (the husband, not the brother) home in Poppenricht, a small village near Amberg, about 2 hours north of Munich. The closest large city is Nürnberg, or as it is known in America, Nuremburg. Poppenricht is a village of 300-400 homes located at the edge of a large patch of woods. Karin & Wolfgang’s home backs up to the woods, so no one can build behind them. Because Wolfgang is a landscaper, his yard is a mass of color. He has extensive rock gardens both in front of and behind the home. In addition, he has a greenhouse that presently houses a rabbit hutch, as well as a chicken house that contains several chickens and turkeys. Behind the back fence, in the edge of the woods, Wolfgang has several beehives. He also has a large woodworking shop as well as storage for his landscaping equipment and supplies. The roofs of the shop, storage barn and carport are all planted with herbs and flowers.

Debbie met Wolfgang in 2009 when he and Karin were in the US for their American wedding reception and honeymoon, but Tom was delayed with a motorhome problem and missed their reception, and with it, the chance to meet Wolfgang until now. Wolfgang has two children, Hanna, who is 22 and is currently in Paraguay working with the local people, and Jonathon, a 17 year-old who lives with Karin and Wolfgang and attends ‘gymnasium’, an advanced high school.

On Friday, we traveled with Wolfgang and Karin to Flossenbürg and a nearby Nazi concentration camp. The camp first opened in 1935 because it was adjacent to a granite quarry and workers were needed to cut the granite for use in building Nazi monuments. The first prisoners were political opponents of the National Socialist Party (Nazi), but once Germany was at war with other European nations, prisoners from those nations were brought into the camp. My understanding has always been that the concentration camps were primarily for Jewish prisoners, but at least this camp held prisoners of war from as many as 25 countries as well as Jews. At one time the population of the camp was about 100,000, but when the camp was liberated by the 90th US Infantry Division on April 23, 1945, there were only about 1,500 critically-ill prisoners remaining in the camp. All of the others had been driven out of the camp in the so-called death marches in early April.

Portions of the camp have been maintained as a Memorial to those who died as prisoners. A chapel was built with the stones of demolished watch towers; a remaining watch tower serves as the church spire.

The ‘Valley of Death’ starts at the camp gate and leads down to the crematorium, execution area and pyramid of human ashes.

Most of the buildings were wooden, and except for the rock foundations laid by the prisoners, nothing remains. Several concrete buildings remain, including the camp laundry and prisoners’ shower area.

In the late 1950’s a Cemetery of Honor was constructed in the area where the isolation blocks and the disinfection building were previously located. More than 5,500 people were reburied in individual graves in the cemetery.

From Flossenbürg we traveled a few miles to a very large nursery where Wolfgang selected a number of plants that he needed for his current jobs. We had time to wander around the nursery and look at the beautiful garden displays before returning home.

On Saturday, Wolfgang harvested honey from his hives, and with help from Tom and Jonathan, spun the honey out of the honeycomb into three large tubs. This harvest totaled over 80 kilograms, or about 190 pounds.

After the honey drips through fine cloth filters, it will be put into jars for personal use and for sale.

On Saturday evening, they had a party to celebrate Wolfgang’s birthday which had occurred several days earlier. It was combined with a birthday party for a friend and neighbor, Martin, and about 25 friends were invited to the celebration. We felt very honored to be included, and after a wonderful dinner of Osso Buco prepared by Karin and Debbie, the laughter and beer continued into the wee hours.

Wolfgang and Karin are very involved with their church, so they were gone all Sunday morning, while we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and some quiet time. On Sunday afternoon, we were thrilled to have a visit with friends we’d met in our earlier visit to Karin’s; Peter and Marion, and their two sons, Timon (17) and Silas (15).

They had been in Weissenburg on Saturday for a wedding, and stopped to see us on their way home. It was great to have the chance to visit with them again.

Monday was another day at home, but in the afternoon, Karin decided that we should go elderberry blossom picking in the nearby woods.

That was much fun, but also a long walk; at least 4 kilometers, mostly up and down hill. They use the blossoms for making elderberry tea, or sometimes, elderberry syrup. In the fall, they pick the berries themselves, and make a fruit drink that is tasty and supposedly very good for you. Tom’s had a cough since early in the trip, and an elderberry drink before going to bed seemed to suppress the cough through the night.

On Tuesday morning we traveled to the nearby town of Sulzbach-Rosenberger to catch a train to Nürnberg.

The trip took about 45 minutes and ended in the center of the city. A short ride on the Metro, or as it is known in Germany, the U-Bahn, brought us into the old city, dating back to medieval times. The Danube River runs through Nürnberg, so the city has been a commercial center for many centuries. We spent some time in the central square which hosts a daily farmers market. As in Italy, this market is the source for most fresh fruit and vegetables for the local population. We took a walking tour of the old city with commentary in English. Karin and us were joined for the tour by two young Australian girls in Nürnberg for a few days. Our local guide was very knowledgeable and spoke beautiful English.

A church in the central square has a clock and ‘glockenspiel’, built in the 1500’s, that strikes and plays every day at noon. In the square there is also a tall water fountain that was first used to provide water for the entire city.




We walked to an old protestant church, built in the 1100’s in a Romanesque style. It was soon found to be too small, so an addition that doubled the size of the church was constructed, this in a Gothic style. It is interesting to see both styles in one building.

From there we walked up a block or so to see the City Hall, then through a small brewery, the only one still operating in Nürnberg, on our way to the Imperial Castle on the top of a hill.

The castle, first constructed in the 11th century, was built as a traveling home to the Kings of the Holy Roman Empire who moved around the various cities of the Holy Roman Empire. Like the church mentioned earlier, the castle was originally built in the Romanesque style, while later additions and renovations were done in the Late Gothic style.

At the conclusion of the tour, we retraced our steps to the brewery, the Hausbrauerei Altstadthof.

It is a small brewery, serving just in their own pub and brew garden, and it has been in existence since the 1500’s. They make several varieties of beer, and also beer schnapps. We tried a red beer and a black beer, and both were superb. From there, we went back to the city center for lunch and a little shopping before returning home on the train.

Our last day in Bavaria was a lazy one. It rained most of the day, so Tom spent the day working on the blog, and Debbie slept in for most of the morning. She and Karin went shopping in the afternoon, and Wolfgang’s mother and father came over for dinner in the evening. Wolfgang is very happy that it rained, watering his whole garden at once.

Tomorrow is our getaway day. Karin will take us back to the Munich airport in time for an 11:30 AM flight to Washington DC, where we’ll have a couple of hours before boarding our flight to SFO. It will be a very long day, since we’ll pick up the nine hours we’ve lost since leaving home, as well as the actual flight time. Hopefully with the help of a sleeping pill, we’ll be able to sleep at least part of the way home.

Days 15 – 22 – Rome

The Star Princess docked at the port of Civitavecchia, about 45 minutes from Rome, at around 5 AM. We had packed the night before and sent our luggage off to be ready for unloading. At about 7 AM, passengers began getting off the ship; most of them with early flights back to the US. We had asked to disembark at 8 AM, as we had a car scheduled to pick us up and take us to our hotel in Rome. Not everyone got off of the ship; many were continuing on to cruise the Mediterranean for another 12 days, with stops in Egypt, Turkey and the Greek Isles. Ten of our party of fourteen had chosen to take the extended cruise, so just our friends, John and Judy, and ourselves, got off in Rome.

We only had to wait for a few minutes until our car arrived to take us to our hotel. We had booked rooms at the Hotel Golden after reading reviews on Trip Advisor. It is ranked in the top ten for small hotels in the city, and it is located in the central part of the city. It is family owned and operated, and it is located on two floors of a larger building. There are fifteen rooms on the first floor (which is really the second floor) and a few ‘family suites’ on the floor above. One of the family members is always on duty at the desk, and they went out of their way to see that we were comfortable and had everything we might need.

We decided to take a hop-on, hop-off (ho-ho) bus to get oriented to Rome on our first day. We’ve been to Rome twice before, but John and Judy had never been there, so we took on the role of tour guide, which was fun for us. Once we had completed a loop of the city, which included the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, Circus Maximus, the Vatican and St. Peter’s Cathedral, we hopped off for the short walk to the Spanish Steps and then to the Trevi Fountain.

Although both were crowded locations, we enjoyed them and all of us threw coins in the fountain, so we’ll be sure to go back again.

There are large posters of Pope John Paul II all over the city. He was beatified, one step on the way to Sainthood, in early May, and the Romans, indeed all of Italy, are celebrating that happening. He was a much-beloved Pope.

We had dinner at a restaurant close to our hotel, Il Pomodorino, or Little Tomato. Dinner in Italy starts at around 9 PM, and this restaurant was recommended by the Hotel Golden because they open at 8 PM. We had a very good meal and good, inexpensive wine. A typical Italian meal begins with appetizers and or salad, followed by a pasta course, then a meat or fish course, then dessert. Whoof! Too much for us! We found that we did better on a salad and pasta, or a salad and pizza. Pizza is great in Rome; thin crust with a light coating of tomato sauce, cheese and one or two other ingredients. There’s only one size, about 12” in diameter, and it is intended to serve one. We usually ended up splitting one between two of us.

The next day we started with a visit to the Borghese Gardens and the world famous Borghese Gallery. It’s not a large art museum, but it contains some of the best art, both sculptures and pictures, found anywhere. Scipione Borghese was the nephew of Pope Paul V, and he was named by the pope as a Cardinal of the church, and shortly after, he gave Scipione his “vineyard” just outside the walls of Rome. Scipione had his villa built in 1612-13 to house his collection of sculpture and paintings.

Works housed in the Gallery include sculptures by Canova and Bernini and paintings by Caravaggio, Raphael and Titian.

John had reserved tickets for us at 9 AM when the Gallery opened. Each group of ticket holders is allowed two hours in the Gallery, and then they must leave before the next group can enter. The Gardens probably encompass 50 acres or so, and includes a zoo and many shaded paths to walk. It’s located about 50 yards from our hotel, so we didn’t have much of a commute.

Once we left Borghese Gardens we hopped back on the ho-ho bus (our tickets were good for two days) and traveled to the Coliseum area.

Tickets are required to get in, but they also allowed us access to Palatine Hill, where the homes of the early Roman Emperors were located, and to the Roman Forum, which, 2000 years ago, was the center of Roman life and government. It is fascinating, particularly to Americans who tend to replace any structure that is more than 30 years old, (think Candlestick Park), to see buildings that are centuries old. It was a hot day, as turned out to be typical during our stay, which, of course, required several beer stops during each day.

On Day 3 in Rome, we took a train to Florence for the day. It takes 1.5 hours by fast train, and they run every 20-30 minutes all day long. We arrived in Florence at about 9:30 and walked several blocks to the Galleria Accademia where we had reservations to enter at 10 AM. In the Accademia can be found several sculptures by Michelangelo, including his most famous, David. When looking at it, it is hard to realize that it is made of stone. It is breathtaking to see it for the first time.

We walked through a street market that sells beautiful leather goods, but even the finest leather can be found in the shops that line the streets. Debbie bought a purse and Tom purchased a wallet and a belt from the street market. From there, we walked to the cathedral or ‘Duomo’ which has the third largest church dome in the world, smaller only than St. Peters in Rome, and the Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. It is a very beautiful building, as is the adjoining Baptistry and Bell Tower.

We stopped for lunch (and a beer) then journeyed on to the Medici Gallery where we had reservations for a 2 PM entry. The gallery has rooms and rooms of beautiful art, but by the time we had spent a couple of hours there, we were about done with art. We finished our visit on the third floor, and decided that we should take the stairs down to reach the restrooms.

Judy decided that she didn’t need a restroom stop and that she would take the elevator down and meet us. What we didn’t realize was that the stairs and the elevator do not meet; they are in different buildings. So, when we got to the gallery entrance we couldn’t find Judy. An attendant took us across the street to where the elevator stops, but still, no Judy. We waited a while and looked up and down the street many times, but still, no Judy. Finally John found her near the entrance to the gallery. She had realized that she was in a place that we couldn’t find her, so she went back into the entrance to wait by the room where John had checked his backpack when we entered. What she didn’t know, and we didn’t either, was that the check-out counter was in a different room than the check-in counter.

We all had worried some, but everything turned out OK. After that, we had time to visit the Ponte Vecchio, an old bridge over the River Arno, which has been home to gold and silver shops for centuries. Fortunately, the ladies didn’t see anything they couldn’t live without. A walk of a few blocks brought us back to the train station for our return to Rome.

Saturday was kind of a ‘kick back’ day. Our only scheduled activity was a tour of the Vatican Museum and St. Peters cathedral and that didn’t start until 3 PM. So, while John and Judy headed for Vatican City in the late morning, we waited until about 12:30 to start our sightseeing day. We traveled by Metro from near our hotel to the Vatican Museum. Because of the traffic in Rome, the Metro is the best way to get from one area to another. It moves a lot of people though, so the Metro is usually very crowded. There are only two lines in Rome, although they are currently building a third line. As you can imagine, Rome is such an old city that there are underground ruins everywhere. This has caused long delays in the building of the Metro.

We met J & J at a café across from the entrance to the Vatican Museum and we joined them in quaffing down a beer (Did I mention that it was hot in Rome?). We had a great conversation with our waitress who had immigrated to Rome from Romania seven years before. She has friends in Walnut Creek and visited America last year. We exchanged email addresses and asked her to let us know when she returns to the US. After finishing our beer, we walked around the neighborhood until it was time for our tour.

Debbie had found a tour company through recommendations on Trip Advisor and we had booked tickets several weeks earlier. We met our guide, Bruno, outside the café where we had our beer earlier, and he led us into the Museum. There were long lines of visitors waiting to enter, but we bypassed the lines and got in through a separate entrance. Bruno told us that it would take days to see all that is in the museum, but he would show us anything we specifically wanted to see. Otherwise, he would show us what are considered to be the highlights. Bruno also stated that he was “allergic” to large groups, so he would try to avoid them as much as possible. That was great with us, so off we went.

The original entrance to the museum was up a circular ramp that took visitors from the ground floor to the third floor to begin their visit. Five years ago, for the “Jubilee” celebration that happens every 25 years a new entrance was completed by Pope John Paul II, but the circular ramp is still open for those who wish to use it. We saw many beautiful pieces of art, but with the crowds and with limited lighting, it was difficult to get pictures to share with you. The walls of one long hall were covered with early maps of the known world.

It is amazing to us that the maps, done in the 12th to 15th centuries, are quite accurate. The richly decorated ceiling of that hall appears to contain picture frames and statues in 3-D, but it was all just paint and talent.

The highlight of any tour of the Vatican is a visit to the Sistine Chapel and its incredible frescoed ceiling done by Michelangelo for Pope Julius II. The frescoes were cleaned and restored in the 1990’s so the colors are bright and vivid. A small area, maybe 2 feet square, was left unrestored in each corner of the chapel so that visitors can see what an incredible difference the cleaning made. We had brought binoculars so that we could see the ceiling figures more clearly, but the lighting was so dim that the binoculars were not much help. After 30 minutes or so in the chapel we followed Bruno out of the museum to St. Peter’s cathedral.

Again, large crowds, and again, a special entrance so that we didn’t have to wait. St. Peter’s is the largest church in the world, capable of holding several thousand people. Again, the lighting was such that we didn’t get pictures, except for one “shaky” photo of the interior.

After completing our tour, we got back on the Metro and returned to the area near our hotel where we grabbed a light dinner before calling it quits for the day.

Our hotel host had told us about a small electric bus, No. 116, which stopped a block from the hotel and made a loop around the central area of Rome.

So on Sunday morning we caught that bus and traveled to Piazza Navona, one of the largest squares in Rome. During Roman times it was a racetrack or ‘circus’, and today it is a large public gathering place. In the piazza is a large fountain, I believe it was sculpted by Bernini, called ‘The Four Rivers’, named for the four largest rivers of the known world.

There are a number of street vendors selling handmade art in the piazza. It is very good and we were tempted to buy some, but the difficulty of packing it for the trip home kept us from it.

From Piazza Navona, it is only a couple of blocks to the Pantheon, the oldest church in continuous use in Rome.

It was built as a pagan temple, and then converted to a Christian church in the 3rd century AD. It has a large, free-standing dome that was an architectural marvel at the time it was built. It has a large hole at the peak of the dome to provide light inside the church. I believe the hole, or ‘oculus’ is about 10 feet in diameter.

From the Pantheon, we returned to Bus No. 116 and traveled to a nearby Metro stop. In Rome, a bus ticket can be purchased from a Tobacco Shop (they are everywhere) or on the bus. Once on the bus, the ticket is validated in a machine that stamps it with the date and time. From that time, the ticket can be used as many times as needed, during a 75 minute period. So, you can get on the bus, transfer to the Metro, get on another bus, etc., until that 75 minute time period has expired. It’s basically on the honor system, but there are inspectors who check tickets randomly. We didn’t ever get checked during our stay in Rome.

Anyway, we traveled by Metro to a large cathedral, St. John Lateran, next to the City Wall.

The cathedral is the home church for the Bishop of Rome, who, incidentally, is the Pope. He says mass at St. John at least once a year, including his first mass after being elected as Pope. Incidentally, the main altar is only used by the Pope. The church is adorned with very large statues of the disciples. When we were in Rome in 2001, we stayed in an apartment just a few blocks from St. John Lateran, so we visited the church at that time.

From St. John Lateran we walked a few blocks to St. Clement church to see the underground area of the church that our Vatican guide, Bruno, had told us about. The Church of St. Clement was originally built during the 2nd Century AD as a ‘domus ecclesiae’ or house of worship within the private home of Clemente. A church was built in the 4th Century over the original structure. In the early years of the 12th Century, the early church, which by that time was about 5 meters below street level, was covered over, and a new Basilica of St. Clement was built on top. It is still possible to visit all three levels of the facility.

By the time we left St. Clements, it was starting to rain, and in Rome, an unusual phenomenon appears whenever it starts to rain; dozens of Pakistani street vendors appear, selling umbrellas. Since we had neglected to bring our umbrellas from the hotel, we dodged raindrops for a while, and then succumbed to the offer of two umbrellas for 5 Euros (maybe $3 each?). Thus equipped, we made our way back to the Metro and home.

On Monday morning we took Bus No. 116 again, this time to Campo del Fiore, a large piazza where there is a daily street market selling primarily fruits, vegetables and flowers, but also selling a large number of craft items. Like markets we’ve seen in many places around the world, this market is a primary shopping area for local residents.

Everything is beautifully displayed, and the quality of the fruits and vegetables appears to be first rate. Our ladies did a little shopping for costume jewelry, both for themselves, and for gifts.

John and Judy took off for gift shopping for family and Tom took the No. 116 back to the hotel. Debbie took the No. 116 to the Metro and hopped off at the stop for Santa Maria Maggiore. Debbie spent time wandering in and around the church and took pictures. St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Clement and Santa Maria Maggiore are four of the five “pilgrimage” churches in Rome. We didn’t find a chance to visit St. Paul Outside the Wall. Maybe next trip.

On our final day in Rome, we journeyed by bus to the Trastavere district of Rome. It is across the Tiber River from the central area of Rome, and is a quaint neighborhood of small shops and restaurants.

We crossed the river on the Fabricius Bridge, built in 62 AD to join the left bank of the Tiber to Tiber Island. It is about 60 meters long and about 5.5 meters wide. Once across the river, we walked several blocks, following a walking route suggested in a Rick Steves’ guidebook of Rome.

We stopped at several churches, including one with the oldest bell tower in Rome, built in the 5th Century. We stopped for a beer, of course, and also for some gelato which had also become a habit for us.

Then it was home to pack, since the next day John and Judy were to fly home, and we were to fly to Munich to spend a week with our friends, Karin and Wolfgang, in their Bavarian home.

Day 14 – Livorno

Livorno, Italy is the gateway to Tuscany. From here, ship’s tours went to Florence and Pisa, as well as to Cinque Terre (Five Lands), five little villages perched on the mountainside above the Ligurian Sea, part of the Mediterranean. We visited this area ten years ago with our friends, Sam and Jeanine, and Chuck and Katie.

Our bus ride to Cinque Terre took us along the northwest coast of Italy and past the white marble mountains of Carrera where Michelangelo and many other sculptors got the stones for their marvelous artwork.

These five villages can be reached by train or boat, and two of them can be reached by road. The only village we didn’t visit was Corniglia, which is perched on the mountain without a harbor. It can only be reached by train.

Our journey began in the village of Manarola where our bus dropped us off. We walked through the village, then down a paved trail known as ‘Via dell’Amore’ (Lovers Walk) to the village of Riomaggiore, about two kilometers away.

After exploring that village, we caught a boat for a short ride to Vernazza, where we had about 45 minutes to see the village.

Then, we caught the boat again to the village of Monterosso where we spent a couple of hours before boarding our bus for the return trip to Livorno and our ship. These are charming villages which, when we were here previously, were ‘off the beaten track’.

Well, someone has beaten that track, because everywhere we went, there were people, people, and more people.We thoroughly enjoyed our day, but it would have been better if it were less crowded.

On our trip back to the ship, we passed the city of Pisa and we could see, in the distance, the famous leaning tower. The ship sailed at 7:30 PM for our final destination, Rome.

Day 13 – Marseille

After an overnight sail from Barcelona, we docked in Marseille, France at 7:00 AM.  Marseille is the largest port in the Mediterranean, and is also the second largest city in France.  Marseille was founded 2600 years ago by the Greeks, who called the city, Massalia.  It was later ruled by the Romans.  Marseille is in the heart of Provence and the Rhone River.  As such, it is a major agricultural and wine growing area.

We chose to take a bus trip into Provence and visited two small villages; Loumarin, known as among “the most beautiful villages of France”, and L’Isle-Sur-Sorgue”, a village known for its canals and waterways.  Both villages are very picturesque and full of charm, and the countryside we traveled through was just as beautiful.   Of course, one of our first stops after being dropped off in the village of Loumarin was to find a bakery for a cup of caffé and croissants.  Yum! 

After leaving the village, we stopped at an old bridge which was built in the 1^st Century AD by the Romans. 

Arriving in L’Isle-Sur-Sorgue, our first order of business was lunch.  Unfortunately, neither our guide nor our bus driver was quite sure where the restaurant was, so we had about a 30 minute unscheduled tour of the town.  Once found, the restaurant was great; lots of good food and an unending supply of wine.  The French drink their Rosé wine with ice cubes.  How could it get much better???

I’m sorry that I can’t tell you more about the trip back to the ship in Marseille, but for some reason, my memory is a bit vague about that part of the day.  It must be from drinking too much good Rosé wine!  I can tell you that we got back to the ship in time for the departure at 4:30 PM, for Livorno, Italy.

Day 12 – Barcelona

We arrived early in the morning of day 12 in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, a region in eastern Spain.  The local population wants to believe that they are Catalan, not Spanish, although they are clearly a Spanish province.

Since we had visited Barcelona on our trip in 2005, we chose to take a tour out of the City, to a mountain sanctuary called Montserrat.  The name means ‘serrated mountain’, because the rocks that form the mountain are tall and sharp, like the teeth of a saw.  It is located about 20 miles northwest of Barcelona at a height of about 3,800 feet above sea level.  There have been chapels on the top of the mountain since the 9th century, and the first monastery was built in the 11^th century.  The monastery and the entire mountain-top sanctuary are dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.  In the main church there is a sculpture of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, carved in the 1800’s.  The faces of Mary and Jesus have darkened over the years, and the sculpture is now known as “The Black Virgin”.  Pilgrims flock to the mountain to pray to the Virgin.

The monastery can be reached by a steep, winding road from the valley below, by cable car or by train from a nearby town.  The sanctuary is known throughout the world, and visitors come from many countries.  The complex is a complete community with a hotel, train station, church, museum, gift shops, a restaurant and parking for many, many cars and buses.  When we visited, there were hundreds of people, mostly of school age, that had just completed an overnight hike from the bottom of the mountain.  At the conclusion of our visit, we reboarded our bus and traveled back to Barcelona.

We asked to be dropped off in the city, and we did some exploring on our own.  We wandered along “La Rambla”, a major shopping area in the heart of the city.  We stopped for a beer (of course) and ice cream on a broad avenue that faces the waterfront.  There were many street vendors, and since it was Sunday, also many people strolling along the avenue.  At the conclusion of our walk, we caught a shuttle back to the ship, and in the early evening, we set off for our next port-of-call, Marseille, France.

Day 11 – Alicante, Spain

We’ve finally got the perfect weather. It was obvious the minute we opened our balcony door and found clear skies and a temperature of around 72°. We docked in Alicante, Spain at about 10:00am. Alicante is on the Mediterranean coast about half-way between Gibraltar and Barcelona. The Romans called it Lucentum, or City of Light, a reference to the sand and bright sunshine.

The Romans established an irrigation system of aqueducts and waterways to move water from the mountains to the arid land along the coast. Olive, citrus and almonds were established first, and now wine grapes and hot house tomatoes are also grown in abundance.

The Arabs, or Moors, invaded this area of Spain in 718 AD, and expanded and improved the irrigation system. They also brought date palms from their native lands, which have flourished in the area. They were driven out by the Christians in the 13th century, but the water system and a number of Moorish castles and fortresses remain today.

We took a bus tour to the Canelobre Cave, about an hour out of the city. It is the largest cavern in Spain, and it was discovered in the 9th century. It was used as a machine shop to rebuild aircraft engines during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39. Unfortunately, they blasted a tunnel into the heart of the cave and the concussions caused many of the stalactites and stalagmites to crumble and fall. It’s still an impressive place to visit.

From the cave, we returned to Alicante and the 14th century Castillo de Santa Barbara which rises high above the City. It was originally built by the Moors, then after they were driven back across the Mediterranean, the Christians rebuilt and added to the fortress. It’s built on the edge of the sea, and overlooks the entire City. Our bus took us up a steep hill into the fortress, but then we had to walk further on a steep path to reach the top and its spectacular views.

From there we traveled into the old part of the City and for a guided walk. When the bus returned to the ship, we remained behind to further explore the area. We walked along a broad esplanade next to the waterfront and found a sidewalk café for a light lunch and a beer or two (of course). After a couple of hours we returned to the ship in plenty of time before our 5:30pm departure for Barcelona.

Day 10 – Gibraltar

After leaving Tenerife and the Canary Islands, we enjoyed another restful day at sea. By restful, I mean that we slept in and missed breakfast… again. The weather was very pleasant, just not very sunny. We tried our hands at Trivia once more, and again we were discouraged at our lack of knowledge. Oh well, I guess we won’t try out for Jeopardy any time soon. One of the featured entrees at dinner was lobster tail, so we each had one, then another one. Shipboard service is too generous for our own good!

We docked at about 9 AM on Friday at the Rock of Gibraltar. It’s only about three square miles in size, but its location at the western entrance of the Mediterranean has resulted in its development as a military strong point over the past 1000 years.

Europe and Africa are only eight miles apart at Gibraltar so whoever controls Gibraltar controls the passage between the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters.

The ancient Greeks called the two sides of the straits the Pillars of Hercules. In 711 AD, a Moorish army crossed from North Africa and took control of Gibraltar as they began the conquest of Spain for Islam. Over the next seven centuries, the Moors and the Spaniards fought for control several times. Finally, in 1462, the Spaniards recovered control.

In 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession, a British naval force captured the town and the fortress. Gibraltar has remained in British hands ever since, in spite of many Spanish and French attempts to recapture it. The most dramatic effort was the Great Siege of 1779-83, during the American Revolution. A large force of Spanish and French ships and soldiers attempted to bombard and starve the British into surrendering. The British tunneled into solid rock for safety and built cannon emplacements to shoot down on the attacking troops.

During World War II, the tunnel system was vastly expanded and fortified by British Royal Engineers, who expected a German attack several times. That attack never came, but the Rock became a major naval and air base for the allies.

We decided to skip the ship’s tour offerings, and instead, hired a taxi for a two hour tour of the Rock. We traveled through town and out to Great Europa Point, the far eastern edge and the closest point to Africa. While there, we first encountered the Barbary Apes, tailless monkeys that are native to the area.

There are about 600 apes on Gibraltar, and they roam freely over the rock. They love tourists, so they can be a bit pesky at times.

We stopped for a tour of St. Michael’s Cave, a natural cavern within the rock. It’s beautifully illuminated and has a large underground amphitheater.

From there, we drove the length of the rock to visit the Great Siege Tunnels. Blasted into the rock by the British in 1782, the tunnels are over a mile in length, with many gun emplacement openings, ammunition storage rooms and crew staging areas. From the tunnel opening, we could look down on the airport, which separates Gibraltar from Spain. The road to Spain crosses the runway, so traffic is stopped when an airplane is landing or taking off.

Our taxi dropped us on Main Street in downtown Gibraltar. The street is closed to traffic, and is filled with shops and pubs that are very British in every respect.

We found a likely pub and had a bite to eat and a couple of beers. After lunch and a bit of window shopping, we walked back to the ship, about a kilometer or so. We sailed again at 3:30 PM, on our way to Alicante, Spain, our next port. From this point until the end of the cruise, we’ll be in a different port every day. I believe we’ll be pooped by the time we get to Rome.

That’s all for now.

Day 8 – Tenerife, Spain

After seven days at sea, we finally put our feet down on solid ground, in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Tenerife is the largest island in the Canary Islands, just off the coast of Morocco, but belonging to Spain. A large expedition from Spain seized the islands in 1402 from the natives, known as Guanches, tall, light skinned people of unknown origins. Columbus visited the islands on each of his four voyages to the new world. The British attempted to capture the Islands in 1797, but were driven off by cannon fire from the Spanish. Admiral Lord Nelson lost his right arm during the gun fight.

The classic question is, “are the Islands named for the yellow birds, or is it the other way around?” Actually, the ancient Romans noted the large number of wild dogs on one of the Islands, and called it Insula Canum or Dog Island. Later, when the little yellow finches were discovered there, they were called “dog island birds, or canaries. 

We took a shore excursion from the ship and traveled across a range of volcanic mountains through the Orotava Valley, a lush garden valley, and one of the oldest settlements on the island.

From there, we drove to Puerto de la Cruz on the northwest shore, which has been the island’s premier family resort area since the turn of the 19th century. We had time for shopping as well as a mid-morning coffee at a sidewalk café. 

While there, we stopped to visit a beautiful orchid garden and had time to sample some of the local beer. That was so enjoyable, that I think we’ll make it an event in each port we visit.

The weather, which has been very good to us, left something to be desired today. Although the sun came out as we were docking in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, as we started over the mountains to the Orotava Valley, the fog closed in, and it was misty for most of the rest of our journey. Once back on the ship, it was warm and pleasant, although not very sunny.

We sailed at 3:30pm for Gibraltar, but we’ll enjoy our last day at sea before reaching our next stop on Day 10.

Crossing the Atlantic

It's day seven of our fifteen day cruise to Rome, and we're about done with the Atlantic Ocean crossing. When we left Ft. Lauderdale, we had 3700 nautical miles to go to our first port in the Canary Islands. This morning the navigator announced that we had traveled 3300 nautical miles, and had less than 400 miles remaining. We're due to arrive at the port of Tenerife, Canary Islands tomorrow at 7 AM, and should be leaving the ship for sightseeing by 8 AM. We'll sail again at 3:30 PM and have one more day at sea before arriving in Gibraltar. Then the busy part of the cruise will begin. We'll visit six ports in six days before arriving in Rome. Or maybe, what's left of Rome. We heard on the news this morning that a long dead seismologist had predicted a devastating earthquake for Rome this Wednesday. Apparently, this prediction has worried some Romans, as a number of people have left the city. The predicted date will have long passed by the time we get to Rome, so we're not concerned.

So, what have we been doing during our week at sea? Sleeping, eating, drinking, reading, chatting, and other strenuous activities. We've celebrated two wedding anniversaries, 54 years for Herman and Annie, and 50 years for Lu and Joe.

Each was celebrated with good times, good friends and a great deal of hilarity among the 14 in our group. Special cocktail parties, balloons and rousing versions of "Happy Anniversary" accompanied each celebration. 

The weather has been great.  I expected to encounter cold weather and rough seas, but I guess I was thinking of the North Atlantic.  This crossing, at 28 degrees North Latitude, has been calm and warm.  The air temperature has remained in the 70's with the sea temperature just a few degrees warmer.  We did get a couple of brief showers and periods of cloudiness, but we've also had a lot of sun.

We've participated in shipboard Trivia games most afternoons, but our knowledge and skill are seriously lacking! Our highest scores were 14 right out of 20, and one day we got only 9 of 20. I think the humiliation is catching up to me; I'm losing interest in the game.

The food has been terrific, but we're skipping the hearty breakfast and lunch options available on the ship. Instead, we're grabbing small bites for breakfast and lunch, saving our calories for the sumptuous dinners in the dining room. Last night along with John & Judy and Lu and Joe, we ate in one of the specialty restaurants on board, Sabatini's Italian Restaurant. Wow! It was spectacular! And huge! An appetizer course of about 8 items, a salad course of 4 or 5, a pasta course of 3 items, a main course with a choice of about 8 items and a dessert course with about the same number of choices. Needless to say, we waddled away from that meal.

About the only thing that's bothered us so far is the fact that we've had to change our clocks ahead five times in the seven days we've been aboard. This, of course, is because the time in Europe is five or six hours ahead of Eastern Time. We're now on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or as it's now known, Universal Time Constant (UTC) and we'll only change once more during the cruise. Hooray! Maybe our body clocks will catch up!

That's about it for now; we'll tell you more about our visit to the Canary Islands in a day or so.

Voyage to Europe

We’re traveling again; this time without someone else to write a travel blog. So, here’s what’s happening.

We left home last Monday morning to catch an 11:30 AM flight from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale. Because we were flying against the sun, we arrived at 7:30 PM, Florida time. Our friend and travel advisor, Lu, had found us a hotel that provided shuttle service to and from the airport, as well as to and from the nearby cruise dock. That was particularly handy, ‘cause on Tuesday we boarded the ‘Star Princess’ for a transatlantic voyage to Europe.

The weather in South Florida was typical for this time of year; cloudy, warm and a bit muggy. After a short walk to a sports bar for dinner, we turned in for the night. Tuesday morning we caught the hotel shuttle to the pier where we were quickly able to board the Star Princess. Princess Cruise Lines tells its embarking passengers that boarding is between 1 PM and 4 PM with sailing at 5 PM. But, as we have learned from previous cruises, the boarding process is usually set up by 11 AM, and if you board early, you avoid the crowds. The ship carries 2,600 passengers, so boarding can be frustrating process.

We sailed on the same ship to Antarctica in 2010, so we knew the layout and quickly found the hot dog stand where we enjoyed a hot dog & a beer for lunch. I have vowed that on this trip, I’ll not overeat; I know, I’ve said that before, but this time I’ll try harder!

We sailed about 5 PM, and after a couple of turns to get out of the harbor into the open sea, the ship set a course almost due east (87°). We’ll maintain that course for seven days and 3700 nautical miles, until we come to the Canary Islands which will be our first port of call.

So far, and we’re now three days out of Florida, the seas have been calm and the weather mostly sunny. The air temperature is in the mid 70’s, and the sea temperature is in the upper 70’s; just right for sunbathing, as long as you can stay out of the wind.

We have an easterly headwind of 5-10 knots, combined with the ship’s speed of 20 knots, which makes for quite a breeze.

Our daily activities, so far, have included sleeping late and missing breakfast, working a little on a suntan, reading, and joining other passengers in a trivia game each afternoon. In the early evening, we join our traveling friends, John & Judy, for a cocktail or two followed by dinner. Our travel advisor, Lu and her husband Joe, join us for dinner, as well as four other couples that Lu is shepherding on this trip, who are seated at an adjoining table.

Debbie and I haven’t attended any of the shipboard shows as yet, but a couple of nights ago we went to “Movies Under the Stars” on the pool deck and saw ‘Avatar’.  

It was a much better movie than I had expected, but also longer than I had expected. We didn’t get to our room until almost 1 AM, which is at least partly responsible for causing us to miss breakfast.

So, where are we going on this trip? As said earlier, our first stop will be Tenirefe, the capitol of the Canary Islands. The islands, which sit a few hundred miles off the coast of Africa, are owned by Spain. Our next port will be Gibraltar, followed by Alicante and Barcelona Spain, Marseille, France, Livorno, Italy and finally, Rome.

We’ll leave the ship in Rome and spend a week sightseeing in Rome and Tuscany with John and Judy. They’ll return home, and we’ll fly to Munich to spend a week with our good friend Karin and her husband, Wolfgang in Bavaria. We finally head home on June 2nd, after what we expect will be a fantastic vacation.

We’ll keep you updated on our fun as we go along.