Monthly Archives: April 2023

Today was a do-it-yourself day. We had decided that we would need a down day after so many port days in a row. We slept in a little later and headed into town.

Our plan was to go to the top of the rock where the Oceanographic Museum, Royal Palace and Cathedral were located. It took a long walk, followed by several escalators to get to the top. We walked around and then headed to the Palace. We bought tickets for a self guided tour. The rooms we were able to see were beautifully restored. We were told that the palace has been under restoration for several years and the areas we were seeing had just been opened recently. Actually in some of the rooms restoration of the wall paintings were still in progress. There was a short video which showed how the restoration was done, using lasers and fine scalpels.

The rooms were lavish and the explanations were very interesting. When we finished our tour we were able to see the changing of the guard in front of the palace.

We stopped by the Cathedral to see the burying places of Grace Kelly, the wife of the Prince and Prince Rainier. We then walked back down the hill and through the area being set up for the Grand Prix race that will be held in a few weeks. Walking back we got to see some of the huge yachts that are berthed in the area near our cruise ship.

We enjoyed our d-i-y day, especially since we were not on a bus!

Although our port today was Marseille, we had a tour to see St. Remy de Provence. Marseilles is the capital of the region known as Provence Côte d’Azur. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe, founded in 600 BC by the Greeks. Around 100 BC the Romans came to this area.

Marseilles served as the gateway to the orient in the 500s. It has always been connected to sea travel and trade. The area has many harbors and is surrounded on 3 sides by limestone mountains. The area has 70 kilometers of coastline.

St. Remy is the patron saint of Provence. The area produces olive oil, perfumes and lavender. They also do colorful pottery in the region as well as colorful cotton clothing. There are about 300 sunny days, but 200 have strong mistral winds. These winds blow down from the Rhône valley and cleans the air. Because of this it has been a favorite destination for painters because of the good light. Van Gogh came to St. Remy in 1889 to paint. Other famous artists have also come to this area in Provence to paint.

The famous mathematician and astrologer, Michel de Nostredame, Latinized to Nostradamus, was born in St. Remy in 1503.

Provence is considered the garden of France. The town of St. Remy de Provence was very charming. The streets were cobbled, there were many shops selling lavender and olive oil products. There were many small boutiques and lots of cafes. We had a short tour and then got to walk around and do some shopping.

Today we were supposed to be in Port Vendres, France. However, due to the weather there we came to Cannes, France. Because of the very last minute change there were no tours for the ship.

We rode the tender into the city and after getting a map we were on our way. We walked first to the Palais de Festivals et des Congrès. This is where the Cannes Film Festival is held. They were actually starting to put up bleachers and walkways for the next festival which starts in early May. There are hand prints of famous stars and I am by Meg Ryan and Bob has his hands on Angelina Jole.

We next strolled along the Boulevard de la Croisette. This is the street that runs along the beach area and has all the big name shops. It also has the big hotels and resorts. Lots of window shopping, no buying.

We then went to Rue d’Antibes, a pedestrian street with more shops, not so high end and lovely old buildings. We next climbed Suquet Hill to see Notre Dame d’Esperance, Our Lady of Hope Church. The church is Gothic and had some nice interior features. We got a nice view of the city because we were up on a hill.

We then returned to the ship for a cocktail in honor of my birthday. Dinner was in the Japanese restaurant on the ship, but the birthday cake they served was pure chocolate. When we got back to our room, the bedroom was decorated with about 20 balloons. A lovely surprise from our butler and housekeeping staff.

Today was the day that Bob was looking forward to the most. Unfortunately the hike he was to go on was cancelled due to low participation. We figured he was the only one signed up for it. So instead he went on the excursion I had signed up for – visiting Valldemossa. It unexpectedly turned out to be one of the best tours we have had so far.

We first went to Castell de Bellver. It was a view point above the city of Palma. The building was started in 123 BC by the Romans. It was taken over by the Moors in 902 and held for more than 300 years. In 1229, James I, a conquistador, invaded and the castle was captured. The name means castle of the nice view. It sits 100 meters high on a hill and is currently a museum of the history of Palma.

Palma is the capital of the Balearic island group (4 islands). Palma’s population is around 400,000 while all the islands are about 1 million. There are 3 official languages – Spanish, Catalan and a local Mallorcan dialect. Tourism is the main industry with the season going from April to October. It is a short flight from most of Europe and is popular with Germans and British for a vacation spot. It was a cool, windy day but in the summer the temperatures can go up to 107 degrees. They have a small agricultural industry growing almonds, olives and carob. They have 70 vineyards and citrus is grown in the mountains. Most things need to be imported because they can’t grow enough to support the population.

The drive to Valldemossa was through the mountains. They are protected since 2011 as a world heritage site. Saint Catherine, the only saint from Mallorca, was born here in 1531. Frederic Chopin and George Sands lived in Valldemossa in 1838. They came to the island to help him get better from tuberculosis and stayed for 3 months. Unfortunately it did not help him, but during that time because of the isolation he composed many of his works. We toured the old and new charter houses. The old one was from the 1300s and the new one was from the 1800s. These building were originally part of a monetary. The outsides were very plain, but the insides had gardens. The rooms were small. During a financial crises in 1835, the government took the buildings from the monks and sold them in pieces to wealthy individuals to raise money. Those areas had been converted to homes and that is where Chopin stayed. Those areas were furnished very lavishly. We had a surprise at the end of this part of our tour, a piano concert.

We then went to a store to learn about Mallorcan pearls, which is one of the famous industries on the island. We then returned to the port, passing the huge main cathedral.

The port is composed of 3 sections. The small boat area – the kind you would see in a marina in Florida. The large boat area – think huge mega yachts and the working port for cruise ships and ferries and cargo ships. Docked across from our ship was Jeff Besos new yacht called the Black Pearl. It cost 200 million dollars and is 145 meters long. It was beautiful and amazing to see.

Although, this was not the tour Bob had planned to do, we were both happy to have done it.

Today we were totally on our own. We left the ship around 9, catching a bus from our terminal to the World Trade Center at the beginning of the port area. We then walked to the metro and took a subway to Sagrada Familia, the famous Gaudi church. We have been here several times. The church has been under construction for over 100 years and it is always interesting to see the progress. The first time we were here there was only concrete floors and scaffolding around the massive pillars. Now the floor is marble and the pillars beautifully decorated.

We had bought our tickets on line and only had to wait 15 minutes to go in. We had downloaded the audio tour and walked around and then sat while someone played the organ. It was very crowded.

After, we walked back towards the ship. We stopped on La Rambla for lunch. We had 2 tapas – tomatoes on bread with olive oil and roasted potatoes with olive oil and mayonnaise topping. Both were delicious. Then we had vegetable paella, I was nervous about ordering seafood in a small sidewalk cafe. It too was tasty and topped it all off with sangria.

We finished our walk and returned to the ship. With all the walking my Fitbit says I had almost 16,000 steps today.

Another beautiful day in a lovely port. Alicante is the second largest city in the province of Valencia. The waterfront is full of lovely buildings, esplanades and lots of cafes. The city was founded by the Romans who named it Lucentum, city of lights. It was incorporated into the kingdom of Valencia in 1308. The current population is 340,000. The area is mountainous and in the summer the temperature can reach 100 degrees. There were some pretty beaches with white sand.

It was held by the Arabs for 500 years from the 8th to the 13th century. It was a busy port starting in the 1800’s. The fort we visited was built in the 11th century by the Arabs. It is called Castillo de Santa Barbara.

After leaving the fort was did a walking tour of the old city center. We went to the city hall and learned that the first step there is elevation zero for all of Spain. Also in the city hall is a Dali sculpture of St. John the Baptist. When we were in the city hall there were lots of staffs filled with rosemary sprigs. On the next day there were going to be upwards of 300,000 pilgrims walking from Alicante to a church 8 kilometers away in honor of some saint (did not get the name).

Our last stop on the tour was the cathedral named for St. Nicolas de Barre, the patron saint of Alicante. The organ is from the 18th century. The interior of the church was very plain, but the altar was ornate. No columns or stained glass.

We next made our way to the promenade. It had mosaics that reminded me of the walkways in Rio, wavy. They are in 3 colors, red, black and white, and represent the Mediterranean Sea. Along the walkway were tall palm trees. There are exactly 365. During our free time we went to the Ocean Race museum. It was very interesting. The Ocean Race is an around the world race in huge sailing yachts. It always starts in Alicante and this year will end in Genoa. The videos about the people who do this race were amazing to see. Here is a link about the race. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ocean_Race

All in all a very interest day and it was Bob’s birthday. He got a special cake at dinner and the waiters and staff sang to him.

The port we were at was Motril, but we went to Malaga. It was the longest tour we booked, 8 hours, and we were kind of leary about committing to this, but it turned out to be a good choice. The other main option for this port was Granada, but we had been there just 4 years ago on a land trip to Spain.

The city of Motril is small, around 60,000. It is in the province of Granada. It is mostly an agricultural area with several rum factories. This area is the “costa tropical”.

The roads to Malaga were great. There were many tunnels through the mountains which made the travel time less. Before the roads were improved because of the World’s Fair in Seville in 1992, it could take 4 hours to travel from Motril to Malaga. Now it is just over 1 hour.

Our first stop was at Alcazaba de Málaga. It is like a mini Alhambra. It has served as a fortification for the town as well as a royal residence. It was built in the 11th century. We had a guided tour and saw the different courtyards and rooms.

Malaga means Queen. Picasso was born in Malaga and when we got into town we saw the building where he was born and the church where he was baptized.

We thought we would have lunch on our own, from the tour description, but our next stop was a lovely restaurant, partially owned by Antonio Bandares, who was not there to greet us. We had a lovely tapas lunch with lots of sangria and ended with a glass of the local wine. We were a small group so it was a nice way to have a meal that was very typical of how the locals eat.

The Cathedral was huge and beautiful. It was built between the 16th and 18th centuries. The organ was from the 18th century.

We are on our last sea day. Slept in, did some laundry, played bridge and went to tea.

Starting tomorrow we will have a port every day until we get off the ship. Glad we have been able to have some lazy days so far.

Today’s weather has been very windy with lots of waves and rocking and rolling. Had hoped that when we neared the Straits of Magellan near Gibraltar Rock it would be daytime. However the captain announced this morning it would be around midnight. Would have been interesting to see, but we will be sleeping, I hope.

We have had some very good evening entertainers. A wonderful pianist, very funny comedian, a duo – he played the violin amazingly and she was a dancer, mainly flamenco. Last night there was a magician who did his whole show in mime. Looking forward to what will be coming next.

After another sea day, we arrived in Funchal, Portugal on the island of Madeira. We arrived before sunrise and the hills of the town were lit in orange. The city of Funchal is surrounded by mountains in a semicircle and the sea. The city was founded in 1421 by João Gonçalves Zarco. Because of all the fennel found growing the place was called Funchal. Funchal is the capital with a population of 110,000. All the islands in the archipelago (4) have a total population of 250,000.

It was always a stopping point when explorers were going from Spain and Portugal to the new world. It has been famous for Madeiran sugar and wine.

Our first stop was at Pico dos Barcelos. It was an overlook with nice gardens. The famous soccer player Rinaldo is from this part of the island.

Our next stop was deep in the mountains to Eira do Serrado. We were on a very narrow twisty turny road. It was recently built to replace the very twisty turny steep road. Many of the villages have a road leading to them, but no road into the actual village. To get to a home you park and then walk. The view of the valley and small villages was interesting. We also had a wine tasting of a cherry cordial which was just ok. Someone asked our guide how the old people got around with all the steep walkway and streets. She said that they either stayed at home or if they could afford it go to an old folks home.

One thing we noticed was that the hillsides were terraced, both for homes and for the agriculture. Every where we looked they were growing bananas. The plots of land could be small, but full of bananas. They also had vineyards and sugar cane areas. Other than tourism, agriculture is the way the people earn a living here.

Our next stop was at Cabo Girão. This is a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and up and down the coast. It is one of the highest cliffs in the world at 589 meters. The view was wonderful and looking through the glass observation platform gave you a real feeling about how high you actually were.

Our last stop was at a small fishing village where Winston Churchill used to come to vacation and paint. It was charming with lots of cafes lining the waterfront.

All in all a very interesting day.

We finally arrived across the Atlantic to Ponta Delgada in the Azores. We are still about 1,000 miles from the coast of Portugal. Although they have their own government, the 9 islands of the Azores (pronounced ah-zor-ess) are part of Portugal.

The islands are all volcanic and are clustered in 3 groups. The island we were on was the biggest and the town is the capital of the islands. The total population of the islands is about 250,000 with San Miguel, where we were having about 150,000. Because the islands are volcanic the beaches all have black sand.

Besides tourism, the islands grow pineapples, tea, bananas and passion fruit. They export most of these. There are huge herds of cattle and their dairy cows produce milk which is made into amazing cheeses. Our guide told us they have 2 cows for every person on the island.

Our tour was called Off the Beaten Path. We were in 4 wheel drive Land Rovers and we were on lots of back roads. We went to Lagoa du Congro, a small lake. To see it we had to hike down a path through a beautiful forest. After a stop for cake and the bathroom we went to a lookout where we could see all of the island and a small waterfall.

We returned to the ship, had lunch and then walked into town and saw some of the sights there. All the sidewalks were made of black and white mosaic tiles. The main buildings were white with black trim. We went to the main square and saw the 3 arched city gates and the main church. It was nice to get onto land and walk without swaying.