Monthly Archives: December 2024

When your port is Civitavecchia you go to Rome. Well if you are the Batsons you go to Tarquinia. Since we had been to Rome several times in the past AND since it was 2 hours on a bus in each direction we chose to do a tour closer to the port.

Some general history, Rome is said to be the birthplace of western civilization. It is built on 7 hills. Mythology says that it came to being from the birth of twins, Romulus and Remus. Trivia fact, Remus is the older of the two. This all took place along the banks of the Tiber River. The Roman culture focused on the arts and community.

Civitavecchia is an old military port for Rome, approximately 2,000 years old. The city was bombed in WW II because of its importance as a port for Italy. It is one of the most important ports on the Mediterranean for tourism. There were only 3 cruise ships in, but this is also not the real tourist season for the Mediterranean.

Tarquinia was also a large port for Rome in the day. Today it is inland but that is because all the marshlands have been drained. The local economy is based on farming, fishing and a small amount of tourism.

Our tour was of the Etruscan Necropolises of Tarquinia. About 2,600 years ago the Etruscans were the rulers of Italy. They had a very sophisticated lifestyle and had a sophisticated culture. Although the Etruscans used the Greek alphabet, any writings left cannot be read.

Our first stop was at the Necropolis. The Etruscans buried their dead in limestone houses buried deep in the ground. They believed in a second life so were buried with items they would need. Some were buried as a corpse, but many were cremated. I think it was the peasants who were cremated and put into small boxes and then into mushroom looking structures.

There have been 6,000 of these tomb houses discovered and about 14 are open for tourists to see. The ones of the very rich were ornately painted and these are the ones we saw on our visit. We had to walk down about 16 steps to an observation area. The actual tombs were behind glass and there was a button to push to illuminate the actual tomb. We were able to see 3 different ones.

They believe the artists who did the paintings came from Rome. These paintings are actually frescoes.

Our second stop was in the museum dedicated to the Etruscans. Most of the artifacts were thought to be around 2,700 years old. There were sarcophagus, statues, pottery and jewelry. The art was amazing to see. Our guide had been an archaeologist at one time and he was able to give us very good and detailed information on what we were seeing. The museum was in the palace of the bishop built in the 14th century.

It was a very interesting day and we learned so much.

Corsica is the 4th largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and is part of France. The main language is French but there is also Corsican. Ajaccio is the largest city on the island with a population of 16,000. Corsica was originally part of the Republic of Genoa but was ceded to France to settle a debt in 1769.

The island is 83 million years old. The surrounding waters of the Mediterranean are very deep, more than 1400 meters. There are 432 mountains on Corsica. It was a port way back in history because it has abundant sources of water. During WW II it was bombed accidentally by the Americans. As payment for this accidental bombing, the Americans helped rid the island of its huge mosquito problem. This allowed the inhabitants of the island to move off the mountainsides and down closer to the shore. Although this is an island, they do not have much industry using the sea. They farm and have tourism as their main industries.

The island was invaded over history 14 times. Almost every civilization around the Mediterranean invaded Corsica. The island originally had no trees but each conqueror brought trees from their country of origin.

We heard about 2 famous Corsicans: Pasquale Paoli, a statesman and military leader who wrote the Corsican constitution and who was friends with Jefferson and gave him inspiration for the American constitution. The second famous Corsican was Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon was born on Corsica on August 15, 1769. He left the island at age 9 and went to live in Paris. During our touring we saw his birth home, the family chapels, the cave he went to, to write and many statues.

We learned about the many things that Napoleon did; he moved doctors from universities to buildings used for sick people creating hospitals, made education mandatory, created garbage services and originated the numbering of houses. These were a few noted by our guide. The statues and pictures of him were done in such a way to make him look bigger than he was.

There was a lot of cleaning up and painting going on during our visit because the Pope was going to be there on December 15 to have mass for 35000 people. The Pope was invited to have mass at the opening of Notre Dame in Paris, but chose not to go there, going to Corsica instead. The people were pretty excited about this.

Marseille, France is the country’s oldest city. It was founded by the Greeks around 600 BC. It has always been a port city. We were docked in the new port, where the passenger ships and ferries go. The old historic port was a short distance away. The commercial port, which is where most of the goods coming into France land is farther down the coast from Marseille proper and covers almost 55 miles of coastline.

The entry to the harbor area has several small islands. One had a jail on it and was the setting for the story of the Count of Monte Cristo. The old port has 2 forts protecting it. Marseille is the entry way for the French region called Provence. It is said that the French national anthem was originated here. The population of Marseille is around 860,000 with an area about 3 times the size of Paris. The area away from the harbor is hilly.

Our tour was to the town of Avignon and the Palace of the Popes. When we got on our bus, our guide told us that the taxis were striking and blocking the highways. She indicated that she and our bus driver had mapped out a route to avoid these blockages and get us to our destination promptly. Unfortunately this did not happen and we spent over 3 hours for our 1.5 hour ride. About the taxi strike. Apparently here in France doctors can have patients transported to emergency rooms or hospitals by taxi, if an ambulance is not available. The strike was because the taxis were having to wait a long time for the government to pay them and they wanted the client to pay and then the client would be repaid by the government.

On our ride, we passed many lagoons that were fresh water but eventually connected to the sea. Many had bright pink flamingos, which are the same species we get in Florida. The Rhône river is in this area and we saw it as we traveled.

In 1208, the Pope Innocent III had a crusade to eliminate the Cathars and make the area more Catholic and was also approved by the King of France Louis VIII. The crusade lasted until 1226 and at that time all the land of the ejected Cathars was divided up. None was given to the Pope although he had helped in the crusade.

There was a period of over 200 years when the Pope was not in Rome, as he is now. In 1348, the Pope purchased the land in Avignon with the intention to build a permanent residence. During the 200 years there were 7 Popes all who built on to the structure. Some were Pope for only a short while and some for lengthy times. Why were the Popes in France, well, apparently one Pope was traveling and died in France. When a Pope dies there is a conclave to elect a new one, AND it is held wherever the prior Pope had died. So, one Pope died in France the next one was elected there and chose to stay and so there was a succession of Popes in France. One of the last Popes decided to visit Rome, died there and the Italians elected a new Pope from Italy and made it impossible for the Pope to live anywhere else, which is why the Pope is now found in Rome.

We toured the Palace of the Popes, which was built over almost 200 years. It is mostly huge rooms that we saw. There were many preserved frescos and ceilings. There were no furnishings.

The trip back was much better. No blocked roads and the correct amount of time.

All of our flights were on time and we made it to Barcelona around 1:30 in the afternoon. There was a pretty long line at immigration but it went quickly. Our luggage arrived on the conveyor belt almost as soon as we got past immigration and our driver was there about 10 minutes after we picked up our bags.

Our room was ready when we got to the hotel. After washing up, we went out walking. We had no real plans for this visit since we had been to Barcelona several times. We just needed to move our bodies after two long flights. We opted for an early and light dinner at a tapas bar.

We really felt our ages this time and were ready for an early night. I think we both had our reading lights out by 8:30.

The next morning after breakfast we walked in the Gothic quarter to see an old synagogue.

We also were near the Gothic Cathedral.

And there was a small Christmas market that we wandered through.

Then it was off to our cruise ship, Viking Saturn.  And now we are truly on our way.