2004 Europe
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Europe 2004 - Strait of Gibraltar Adventure
Diana & Rod with Mt. Hecho, Tangiers
April 30 – For some reason I woke up early and so I went to breakfast about 7:30AM. This morning we had a presentation by Obelio, the port lecturer, and one by Heather, the shore excursion manager, about our next ports. The ports are: Ceuta, Spanish Morocco; Mahon, Spain; Barcelona, Spain; Sete, France; Ajaccio, Corsica; Livorno, Italy and then to Rome.
Well, there’s been a change of plans. It’s too windy for the ship to safely enter Ceuta so we are heading to Gibraltar for an unscheduled stop there. Ceuta is a small port and only has a little tugboat that would not be able to safely handle our ship getting to the pier. The Noordam is an older ship and the thrusters that can move the ship sideways are not very strong, especially the forward one. The captain explained that, after discussions with the port pilot, they decided that if the ship went through the breakwater fast enough to avoid being pushed onto the breakwater by the winds, it would be going too fast to stop before slamming into the pier. This, of course, was unacceptable to both the Moroccan government and HAL and therefore our stop in Ceuta is cancelled.
We have been sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar for some time. It’s been weird to look to starboard and see Tangiers and to port and see Spain and the Rock of Gibraltar. They’re only a little over 14 miles apart. At its narrowest point the Strait of Gibraltar is only 7 miles across. The ship is in contact with the port agent at Gibraltar to see what arrangements can be made for a stop there. We're all heading back to the Admiral's Lounge to hear in impromptu presentation on Gibraltar by out port lecturer, Obelio. Considering the short notice, he gave a very good explanation of what to see and do.
Oops! Another change of plans. The Gibraltar officials informed the captain that it would be not wise to land in their country. As you may or may not know, Gibraltar is under British control and Spain has been trying to get if back for a long time. They held a referendum in Gibraltar a few years ago and the citizens voted overwhelmingly to remain part of the UK and rejected Spain. Well, when the Socialists cowards took over after the recent elections they passed a law that any ship landing in Gibraltar may not land at any Spanish port. If we had gone to Gibraltar when we couldn’t get into Ceuta, we would not have been allowed to land in Mahon, Minorca or Barcelona our next two stops. Apparently Spanish socialists are no better or smarter than socialists in the US. I don’t know why that surprises me; the alternative spelling for socialist in the OED is IDIOT! A few little bombs go off on their trains and the cowards are cringing in fear, another main attribute of socialists. If it’s not clear to you yet, I have no respect for socialism in any of its various incarnations.
So, off we go back to Ceuta to get customs clearance so we can land in the rest of our Spanish ports. Back across the Strait of Gibraltar we sail. The captain will anchor off shore and an immigration official from Spanish Morocco will come out on the pilot boat to go through our passports and clear the ship into Spain. One side effect of this situation is that everyone on the ship is talking about the situation. It’s like a big party with groups forming and moving apart only to reform with new members. This is unusual behavior for a Holland-America cruise. The passengers on HAL tend to form smaller conversational groupings and the groups are usually more stable. This is more like what I envision as the style on a Carnival cruise. I guess a little excitement can get these older more sedate people revved up. It will be interesting to see if this will carry over to tomorrow.
One good byproduct of all this confusion is that I carried my cameras with me on the ship to get pictures of Gibraltar and Mt Hecho in Tangiers. These two geographical features make up the ‘Pillars of Hercules’ past which ancient mariners were afraid to sail. While I was roaming about I ran into K.C. and had one of the engineers take our picture.
Tonight’s entertainer was Jon Courtenay, a Brit. He’s an excellent pianist and his show included some humor, singing and a little magic. Tomorrow we have a day at sea, much like today except that it was scheduled to be one and we won’t be sailing in circles.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
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Europe 2004 - Mahon, Minorca, Spain
Fornells, Minorca, Spain
May 1 – Well its May Day and I guess Socialists all over the world are having a great party. The mindless twits need to have at least one day to be happy. Today we’re at sea steaming toward Mahon, Minorca, Spain. I guess ‘steaming’ is not a good choice of words since this ship is diesel powered. It’s just that ‘dieseling’ doesn’t have quite the romantic sound I’m looking for. The Noordam is one of the two ships left in HAL’s fleet that still use a shaft to transfer power from the engines to the screws. All the newer ships are diesel/electric and the connection between the two is just a power cable. The diesel engine drives a generator; the electricity then turns a motor attached to the screws. The motor turns at a constant speed and they vary the pitch of the screw to adjust the forward thrust.
I have mixed emotions about spending any time or money in Spain since they have chosen the easy way out in the fight against terrorism but I guess I’ll have to set that aside this one time. I’m using the sea day to do some laundry and just lounge around. We did have a shore excursion lecture on what’s available for the remainder of this cruise and out port lecturer gave a presentation on Minorca.
Tonight’s another formal evening. There are only two on this ten-day segment. I actually don’t mind getting dressed up occasionally, but four in fourteen days was one too many. Of course nothing will probably ever match the Transatlantic on the QE2. Six days at sea and six formal nights. Yikes!!!
May 2 – Today we are in Mahon, Minorca, Spain. We got up early, ate breakfast and joined a ship’s tour to Fornells, Monte Toro, Port Ferraris, Son Martorellet, and Sant Patrici. Fornells (left) is a small fishing village on the northeast coast of Minorca. It has the deepest natural harbor in the world after Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and a very small natural inlet. It’s Sunday so everything is closed except for small cafés. The town is very picturesque and has a good view of Monte Toro, the tallest mountain on the island and our next stop.
Monte Toro is 1,181 feet high and has a small chapel on top dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Fable has it that some nuns were going up Monte Toro to pray and found their way blocked by a large boulder. A huge bull came down the hill and pushed the boulder aside allowing them to go up to pray, hence the name Monte Toro. While they were praying the Virgin Mary came to them and asked them to build a chapel to her on the top of the mountain, so they did. Inside the chapel there’s a rock behind an iron grate that is said to be where they were praying when they got the vision. An interesting aspect of the chapel is how they have done the Stations of the Cross. (One of my more esoteric hobbies is collecting pictures of the Stations of the Cross from the churches we visit.) They appear to be tapestries, but are in fact painted cloth. I have never seen the Stations of the Cross done this way anywhere else we’ve been. They are very elaborate, not just showing the station, but also various Saints, decorations and other events in Christ’s life. The Station of the Scourging of Christ (right) also shows Him in the Garden of Gethsemane praying, some cherubs between the two main pictures and some unidentified saints along the sides. Very beautiful. There was also a statue of Christ with outstretched arms at the top.
Next we went to Port Ferraris, a very picturesque city on a small bay. Very nice homes on the cliffs overlooking the city. I was looking in the real estate office window in Mahon. The houses there sell for about 500,000-900,000 British Pounds. Pretty expensive even by SoCal standards.
After viewing the bay we went to Son Martorellet to see a show by Minorcan horses. They are a mix of Arabian and British horses. That produces a medium sized horse that is mild natured and easy to train. It is recognized as a separate breed. They are mostly black with a small white blaze or stockings. They are trying to breed the white completely out of them. The show was great. Three riders, two men and a woman. The woman was the owner of the ranch. They rode several gates and dressage. These horses specialize in rearing up like the Lone Ranger on Silver. They can do it for extended periods of time and many repetitions. They have a parade here once a year where the horses parade form miles taking two steps and rearing up for a step and repeating that over and over.
Sant Patrici was our next destination. Here they make the Menorcan Cheese. (I keep going back and forth between Menorca and Minorca because the maps have one spelling and the spell checker likes the other.) Here we sampled the cheese, both Curado and Semicurado. The Semicurado is aged for six months and is very creamy with great flavor, almost like a blend of Swiss and Cheddar. The Curado is aged for at least a year and is like very hard, crumbly, sharp cheddar but tastes different, very tangy. I liked the Semi so much I bought a pound. At 7.75 euros to the kilo, about $4 a pound, the price is very reasonable. We pay $3.50 at home for regular supermarket Swiss. The grounds were nicely landscaped and very pretty.
Then it was back to Mahon. We ducked onto the ship to drop off our stuff and then walked downtown. We stopped in a harborside café and had coffee and Pescadito Frito, English translation, ‘Fried White Bait’. That was actually on the English translation of the menu! They were small, whole Smelt, lightly battered and fried. They were great!! While eating in the sidewalk café I saw lots of passengers and crew from the ship. Two members of the cruise staff, Rachel (Miss Mississippi, 1997) and April saw me and asked what I was eating. I told them and they wanted to try it. I don’t think either of them were big fans of the little fish, but they did pose with me for a picture (above). Everything in town was closed except the Cafes and some ceramic stores. Diana and I walked up the stairs to downtown, about 140 steps in three sets. Very wide and not steep at all. We walked around and took pictures of the buildings and streets. Typical of medieval towns, Mahon has very narrow streets that are all one-way for cars.
Then it was back on the ship to get ready for sail away. This port has a long natural inlet and I want to get some pictures going out. For the first time we skipped dinner in the dining room and ate at the lido buffet. Dinner was great, lamb medallions, broccoli, stewed cherry tomatoes and shrimp cocktail. Might eat there more often.
Tonight’s entertainer was Frank Berry. He lives in Orange County, Irvine actually. We’ve seen him before at least 3 times and he’s always funny. Tonight was no exception. His style is hard to define. Mainly he’s a storyteller. He interacts with the audience, telling individuals to ‘Look at me!’ as though you wouldn’t and uncross their legs so they won’t cut off the circulation and fall down when they try to give him a standing ovation.
Tomorrow, Barcelona. We’re going to the Montserrat Monastery and Codorniu. I’ll see you then.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Diana & Rod on Mt. Toro with Fornells Harbor on the right.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Rachel, Rod and April with Fried White Bait
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Europe 2004 - Barcelona, Spain
Diana at the Cordorniu Winery.
May 3 – It’s raining today in Barcelona and it doesn’t look like it’s going be any better in Montserrat. An early start for the tour at 7:45 AM. It’s windy, rainy and very cool (most would call it cold). The first stop was at the Cordorniu Winery, the largest maker of ‘Champaign’ style wine in Spain. Since the French got even more snooty than usual several years ago and said that only their sparkling wine could be called Champaign, the Spanish now call theirs Cava, after the caves in which it’s fermented. The winery opened in 1551 but it wasn’t until 1851 that Senior Raventos married into the family and introduced sparkling wine to Spain. He learned how to make it by working in France. They have 4 levels of caves in which they ferment the cava. We toured parts of all the levels, but since they have almost 18 miles of caves we decided not to see them all. After the tour of the bottling area we had a taste of their ‘Codorniu Cuvee Raventos’ their most traditional cava named in honor of both families. That’s Diana above with the large bottle.
Afterwards we continued to the Montserrat Monastery (below). Founded in 1025, it’s high on the mountain more or less clinging to the side of the hills. It has a beautiful church the highlight of which is the black Madonna and Child. It’s about 60’ off the ground behind the altar. There are stairs that go up behind the altar and about 2 hours worth of people were standing in line for the chance to go up and touch it. The story behind the Madonna is that when the Moors overran Spain the local people hid the Madonna in a cave on Montserrat. After the Muslims were driven from Spain they recovered it and built a shrine to the black Madonna at the site where it was hidden. Eventually the monastery was established and a basilica was built to honor one of the only pre-Moorish Christian artifacts to survive. The black Madonna is in the alcove about half way up the front wall in the bright area with the arch (below). Sorry the picture is a bit blurry. It was fairly dark in the basilica and that shot was handheld with a ½ second shutter speed. Not easy to hold steady for that long a time. The wind was really blowing up on the mountain.
At 1PM the Escola, a boy’s choir, sang two songs with the pipe organ. They only perform five times a year outside the monastery so this was a treat. They are very talented. After the concert we had lunch the monastery. Enchiladas made of ground meat with a very creamy cheese sauce; they were very good (unusual because I’m not usually a fan of enchiladas) for the first course; followed by chicken and French fries with ice cream for desert. Of course there was red wine and bottled water to drink. They served us at tables European style, a large platter of food carried by the waiter, served with a fork and spoon used like tongs.
After lunch we drove through the mountains on the way back to Barcelona. At times the bus was above the clouds. The road was very winding and narrow and that seemed to scare some of the passengers. When we got back to the ship we found out that, due to bad weather, we would not be able to get into Sete, France. It’s a small port with inadequate tugs to handle our ship in the high winds. We are stopping at Marseilles, France instead. Bigger port with better tugs apparently. The water is fairly rough tonight. We’re heading into the rollers this time and occasionally we hit one pretty hard. It’s not really rough by North Atlantic or North Pacific standards, but the ship is moving enough to make you walk carefully.
Well, early start again tomorrow so I’d better get some sleep.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Basilica Altar with Black Madonna and Child
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Europe 2004 - Marseilles, France
Arles Street
May 4 – It was a pretty bumpy night, but not uncomfortably so. Mostly pitching with a little roll and not much in the way of yaw. This morning we docked in Marseilles about an hour late. We were heading directly into the swell so they had to hold the speed down to lessen the impact.
Our tour left only ½ hour late and headed off to Arles (above). Arles is well known for its Roman monuments. In the center of town stands the Roman arena Les Arènes, which is well preserved. Arles supported Julius Caesar in 49 BC and so it gained in prominence after the sacking of Marseille. Marseille had supported Pompey. Arles became an important port and throughout its early history took advantage of any downturns in Marseille’s fortune. For a brief time under Constantine’s rule in the 5th century, Arles was the capital of Gaul and a major trading post for the Roman Empire. Not much has happened in this area since the Romans because of the isolated location between the Carmargue (an area of wetlands and swamps) and Rhone River.
Arles is in the Provence region of France. They grow grapes, olives and, believe it or not, rice. It’s the olive oil that is their greatest source of pride. They have olive oil tasting rooms, just like wineries have wine tasting. They make soap, lotions and all sorts of things out of the stuff. I’ll have you know that I myself, yes I said, ‘I myself’, bought 150 ml, that’s milliliters or one thousandth of a liter or about 5 ounces, of Extrait d’Olive, Baume Apres Resage. I’ll bet you’re saying to yourself, ‘What the heck has gotten into Rod!’ Well, I’ll tell you. Driving to Arles our guide, a French lady, started talking about Provence and its development. When she discussed the region of Paris she said, ‘We find them so irritating and rude (the Parisians that is).’ I could have kissed her right then and there. But I digress. Back to my purchase. It’s after-shave lotion with olive oil. I’ll try it some night just before dinner and if I don’t like it I can use it as salad dressing. (Ed note: I have been using the olive oil aftershave lotion when I shave with my blade razor and it’s really great. Very soothing!)
The Roman amphitheater is currently used for French style bullfighting and opera concerts. Quite a combination if you ask me. It can hold about 20,000 people. The amphitheater has wonderful acoustics, just like the one we were in Beit Shean, Israel, part of the Jordan Valley system. That one was about one-third the size of the one in Arles. The old roman theater is still there as well and is currently being restored. The streets are narrow and there’s evidence of every era since 100BC in the architecture.
Van Gogh was in the hospital here for some physical ailment and did quiet a few famous paintings here including one of the courtyard of the hospital he was staying in. You can find reproductions of his art works displayed around the city in such at way that you can look past it to the perspective Van Gogh had when he painted it. Very weird knowing that he must have stood right where you are standing to make his sketches or do the painting. His painting ‘The Courtyard of the Hospital at Arles’ is in the foreground in the picture below. The trees are gown larger but you can still see the arches and the roof on the far wall are the same ones in his painting.
We tromped around town like an invading Vandal army, at times completely blocking the small streets to traffic. The drivers waited patiently for the odd tourists to get out of the way and then waved at us as they drove by. No horns beeping and very polite. It was refreshing. My opinion of Frenchmen may be changing, emphasis on the ‘may’. We’ll be back to France on our bus tour and I’ll reserve any attitude adjustment until that’s over.
Next stop was Les Baux de Provence. It’s a medieval city on top of a hill that is still home to about 350 people. The old chateau is up on the very top. The bus couldn’t get anywhere near the city so we had to hike up the hill. Nothing in the city is on the level. You’re either going up or down. The streets are not drivable even if you could get a car up there. They are extremely narrow with tight turns and twists. It was difficult to get far enough away from anything to take a picture. The one exception was the Plaza of St. Vincent where the church of the same name is found (picture below) as well as the Chapel of the Penitent (on the left).
We had lunch in a restaurant there. First course was quiche with a small spring salad. The quiche was tomato, zucchini, olive and squash. It was the most colorful quiche I have ever seen. The squash and the tomato gave it an overall orange color with red highlights. The olives and zucchini provided small dots of green and white sprinkled throughout. I know that sounds odd, and in fact it did look a little odd, but it was very good. We were sitting at a table with about 8 other people and no one was entirely sure what it was although several of us guessed that there was pumpkin involved. Since pumpkin is a variety of squash, I’m taking credit for being correct on that score. Diana was of the opinion that it was a quiche and when we inquired of the waiter, she was proven to be right. The second course was a sort of chicken and tomato stew with rice followed by crème Brule for desert. I am not much of a fan of non-chocolate deserts but it was pretty good. After roaming around the town for about 1.5 hours it was back to the bus and then on to the ship.
Decorators Note: If you feel the need to include cicadas in your wardrobe or décor this is the place to come. Apparently the people of Provance have a fetish for them. The stores are full of them in all sizes and types. From gold pins barely one-third of an inch long to ceramic wall hangings that are at least two feet long. The five in the picture below can be seen hanging along the top of the door on the left in the next picture. They made them of wood, clay, ceramic, plastic, paper, silver, gold, pewter and stone. They appear on dinnerware, lamps, clothing, hats, cards, paintings, paperweights, wall hangings, jewelry and any other item you could name. They are a veritable plague on the shelves of the shops. Some of the ceramic wall hanging types have motion detectors built into them and they emit a very realistic cicada sound as you pass by. I asked several locals what the significance was and all they could tell me was that they liked them.
Tomorrow we’re in Monaco. It’s a tender port so we’ll be anchored off shore and taken in by the ship’s tenders, always a tedious but fun process.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Van Gogh, Courtyard at the Hospital in Arles
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Europe 2004 - Principality of Monaco
Nice Flower Market
May 5 – Well here we are, in Monaco, on Cinco de Mayo and ‘Surprise, surprise, surprise!’ there’s not an enchilada in sight. Today we hobnob with the ‘rich and famous’. We had to tender into the port and the process took a long time as the sea was rough and it was difficult for older people to get on the tender as the ship and the tender were often moving in opposite directions at a fairly high rate of speed and as much as four feet up and down.
After arriving on shore we boarded the bus to Nice, France. Crossing the border between Monaco and France is easy. In fact it’s hard to know when you are in one or the other. We drove south out of Monaco on the lower cornice. There are three roads connecting cities on the north coastal area, the upper, middle and lower cornices. The lower passes right through Monte Carlo. In fact, we got on it just south of there. Each of the cornices is built right into the cliff face between the towns they go through and the lower and middle are very scenic. We passed through Bealeau (‘Beautiful View’, and it was) and Villefranche, one of the most protected cities on the coast. It was very picturesque but we didn’t stop.
Nice is a large city and we are here to see the morning market. It has stalls with fruit, flowers (above) and miscellaneous goods, like candy (below) etc. It was very colorful. In fact it was hard to say if the flowers or the candy made the most colorful display. All the major French impressionists have painted here as well as most of the other well-known artists. Monet, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec, Marc Chagall, Degas and Delacroix all painted here. After visiting the market we spent an hour or so just walking around enjoying the sights. Diana, of course, did some shopping. Post cards and guidebooks are her weakness.
We drove north on the middle cornice to go to Eze. The old city portion of Eze is on the top of a hill again. Cars can’t get up there so we had to hike it. Essentially is perched on a rock 1,400 feet over the sea. The city was founded in the 14th century as a Guelph stronghold (the Guelphs were a middle-class merchant party that supported the Papacy during the struggle in the middle ages between the Catholic church and the emperors of Europe). In 1706 the castle was blown up by Louis the XIV because Eze resisted becoming part of France. The city remains as it was and is well restored/preserved. The streets are even narrower and steeper than Les Baux. Its church square was the only place where you could get far enough from the buildings to have a reasonable pic but even there it was a problem. Below you can see Diana with the Eze cat. The town is now a tourist attraction with lots of boutiques and souvenir shops. The buildings remain largely unchanged although they did finally add running water to the old town in 1954.
After scrambling down the hill we drove back into Monaco. The Principality has four sections: the old fortified town of Monaco-Ville (aka The Rock); the Condamine (the port area); Fortvieille (the new town) and Monte Carlo (Mount Charles).
We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking The Rock. The menu included a chef’s salad, the ham was good but the cheese was outstanding, followed by beef and mushrooms with potatoes. The desert was a thin layer of cake under they yellow, French style, vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate sprinkles. A good lunch in a beautiful location. The maitre d’ from the ship, Yerko, and his wife Liliana were at the restaurant (below). He was the maitre d’ on the Volendam on our Asia-Pacific cruise in 2002 and his wife was traveling with him on that cruise also. When we met in the Lido we immediately recognized each other. I asked if she cruised with him all the time and she said that this was the first time she had been on board since then. That’s The Rock, Monaco-Ville, you see over Liliana’s left shoulder.
Epicurean Note: They use chocolate sprinkles a lot here. They’re no different than the chocolate sprinkles you get at any Baskin-Robins in the States. They were on the crème Brule yesterday too. Unfortunately I associate them with goofy deserts like frozen yogurt and other items more for children. It’s hard for me to take any desert that uses them seriously. I think one of the reasons I don’t like them is that they hold the promise of a dark chocolate flavor experience but the reality is that they have very little flavor at all.
After lunch we went over to Monte Carlo and spent an hour on Casino Square and at the Grand Casino (below). It costs 10 Euro to just get into the casino but I had to do it because I wanted to walk into the main gaming room and say, ”The name is Bond, James Bond!” While I was in there I decided that a chip would be a nice thing to take home, so I went to the cage and asked the cashier for ONE chip of the smallest denomination. His eyebrows went up and he gave me a puzzled look until I said, “Souvenir.” He laughed and said what a novel idea that was. The chip is actually very nice. It’s a plastic disk about two inches in diameter with imbedded gold glitter throughout and a little 5 in the middle. 5 Euro is the lowest denomination they have. That’s about $6 at the current exchange rate. Pretty inexpensive for a Monaco souvenir.
While we waited for the tour to reassemble we walked around looking at the preparations of the Monaco Grand Prix. The time trials start in 10 days and they’re busy putting up the barricades and bleachers. Lots of the advertising is already in place. After a while we decided to have a coffee and sat down in the patio of the Café de Paris. Quite the chic thing to do on the Grand Casino Plaza in Monaco. Diana had a café latte and I had a mocha. The coffees came in cute little cups with two straws of sugar and a glass of water for 10.50 Euro. Now I’m here to tell you that the coffee was good but Dietrich’s is just as good and you get 5 times more coffee for about half the price. At Dietrich’s Diana and I get two medium mochas and two of their giant scones for $10.15, that’s only 8.60 Euro and either of the Dietrich’s coffees are larger than both of these, not to mention the scones. Monaco is definitely more expensive than SoCal and by a big margin.
Next we boarded the bus for the trip across the new city to ‘The Rock’. That’s what the locals call the area of Monaco that is situated on top of a large stone outcropping. No schlepping up the hill here, these people know how to live. First you ride up an escalator, then take an elevator and then another escalator and ‘viola!’, you are at the top. The first building you see when you get off the last escalator is the Oceanographic Institute of Monte Carlo (OIMC), a building of special significance to me. One of the heroes of my youth was Jacques Cousteau. I read his book ‘The Silent World’ as a kid. It’s the story of how he and Philippe Gagnon, for whom Philippe Cousteau was named, invented SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) gear and revolutionized underwater exploration. He lost some of his appeal for me when he turned into an eco-freak in his dotage but I still admire his spirit of adventure. Anyway, a lot of his early exploration was financed by the OIMC and he was the Director of the organization for many years.
Next we strolled along the Ave Saint-Martin, where Princesses Caroline and Stephanie have their villas to the Cathedral where all the Grimaldis are buried. The Grimaldis have rule Monaco since the 15th century. They are buried in a semi-circle hallway behind the cathedral’s altar. One grave had lots of fresh flowers on it. It turned out to be the grave of Princess Grace, the former Grace Kelly. Apparently Prince Ranier has flowers brought there every day. Next we walked over to the cliff face to look down on the new and old cities of Monaco, as well as the port area. We could see all four sections of the Principality from there. I asked a man standing there if he would take our picture with Monte Carlo in the background and it turned out that he was a tourist from Russia. I took his pic with his wife and he took ours (below). We’re sitting on a wall on the eastern edge of The Rock, looking at Monte Carlo across marina. The blue structures to my immediate left are temporary grandstands for the Grand Prix. The track is laid out on the cities streets and runs right along the ocean from just behind our heads, past the blue grandstands below us and then loops back through the city.
After crossing the Plaza of the Palace, what should we find but the Palace itself. It’s not an imposing building on the outside but I was impressed by the fact that Monaco arms its troops with good old American M-16s. I wonder if it was because the Prince is half American and had an American wife. After watching a mini changing of the guard we had some time to stroll around and take in the sights and sounds. The building I liked best on The Rock currently houses the Monaco Museum (below).
After that is was back down the hill and back to the ship. Because the swell was very large tendering in the morning had been a very slow process. During the day the ship moved south to more protected waters in St. Jean Cap Ferrat. We drove south on the lower cornice again to get there. When we arrived at the entrance to Cap Ferrat we had to park the bus and wait for a police escort to the harbor, as tour busses are totally forbidden to drive on the Cape. We did get some very unusual looks from the locals as we drove through the very scenic city in our bus, led by the more than noticeable ‘Policia’ car with all it’s light flashing. We arrived back to late for dinner in the dining room so we ate at the lido BBQ. It was a nice relaxing dinner and somewhere these guys learned to make excellent pork ribs. The grilled shrimp were great too!
The weather was pretty bad through the night with a lot of motion on the shop. Nothing violent but large movement in the pitch and roll aspects.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Diana & Rod with Monte Carlo in the Background
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Monaco Government Building on Palace Square
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Europe 2004 - Ajaccio, Corsica
Ocana Village, Corsica
May 6 – Today we are in Ajaccio, Corsica, France the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. Corsica is the third largest island in the Mediterranean. It is very hilly and rocky. We’ve signed up for two tours today, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The tour we originally wanted in the morning was cancelled due to the depth of the new snow in the mountains. They said we wouldn’t be able to get to the spots we were supposed to visit. Heather, the Shorex manager selected another tour that she thought would be close to that one but it did not go as high. The captain told us he had never seen snow on the mountains of Corsica in the month of May.
We left the rain in the city of Ajaccio heading east. We followed the Prunelli River up the Prunelli Gorge. At first the vegetation was lush and green but as we climbed it gave way to dramatic granite cliffs with sparse vegetation. The road was very narrow and winding. That complicated matters for the vintage car rally that was heading west. Many times they had to back up to let the bus pass. There were old MGs, Morgans, Mercedes-Benz, Alpines, BMWs, and some cars I couldn’t identify. Most of the unidentified cars had Italian styling and could have been Alfa-Romeo’s. When we went through the mountain pass to the eastern side of the range, the rain stopped. We stopped in the small village of Ocana (above) for a break and had coffee. The houses are mostly made from blocks of the local granite. Corsica has 28 colors of granite but some are too soft and crumbly to use in building. The colors I saw ranged from green to red to gray to orange. A really strange one had a blue tint. We stopped at Lake Tola (below) for some pictures. A hydroelectric dam that produces a major part of the islands electricity created the lake.
In the afternoon we toured the city of Ajaccio. Our first stop was at the Napoleon Bonaparte Memorial (below). It’s a pair of marble staircases with wide marble slabs set in between. These marble slabs are engraved with Napoleon’s various events and accomplishments. There’s a list of his great battles won, no mention of Waterloo, of course. Two large eagles engraved with the year of his birth and death guard the foot of the stairs. At the top is a statue of him in his trademark pose with the characteristic hat and his left hand in his shirt. We left Ajaccio proper and went out to a point where we could view the Sanguinaires Islands. They are a small chain of islands just off Corsica to the west that form a protected nature reserve. Depending on which story you believe the name is derived either from the red plants that grow on the islands giving them a blood color in the summer or from the fact that watching the sun go down over them makes people happy. You pick ‘em. Also out at the point nearby were the remains of a watchtower that the Corsicans built in the 1400s to warn of approaching pirates or slavers. The guide said the towers used to ring the island, but now only a few remain.
Then it was back into town for a walking tour. The two most interesting places we visited were the house in which Napoleon was born and the Ajaccio Cathedral. He was born in 1769 and the chair his mother sat in while she was in labor is there as well as his bed. The cathedral (below) was built in the 16th century and is rather plain inside and out as funding was scarce in those times. The font that Napoleon was baptized in is there as well as the pew his mother was sitting in when she went into labor. The locals are quite proud of their connection with him and have preserved his home and relics very well. After that we walked through the old city streets to Charles deGaulle Plaza where there’s another statue of guess who, no not deGaulle but Napoleon, this time as a younger man when he was Proconsul. After some shopping around the plaza, it was a nice walk back to the ship.
This evening’s entertainment was Tony & Donna Buonauro. They sang a variety of styles from opera to Broadway hits. She was trained in jazz style; he has an operatic background and sings with various opera companies in the US.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Europe 2004 - Lavorno, Italy
Puccini Statue & Birthplace - Lucca, Italy
May 7 – Today we are docked in Livorno, Italy and the sky is clear but the wind is blowing a gale. The weather was so bad here that the ferry that goes to Corsica, where we just came from did not sail. Unfortunately, we were scheduled to dock at that pier so we are being held off the pilot station while they try to move the ferry to another pier. It’s not as big as we are and we won’t fit at the open pier. To say that the weather here has been unusual would be to understate the situation. Before we left the US I looked up all these ports on a weather history site and they are listed as only receiving 1-2 inches of rain in the entire month of May. I guess they get it all at once.
Last was the roughest night we’ve had this trip but not the roughest Diana and I have experienced. Both the North Atlantic and Bering Seas were much rougher on occasion.. The main problem is avoiding staggering people as you try to get from place to place. It wouldn’t be good to have a collision, especially since the average age of the passengers on this trip is probably in the mid-seventies. A water pipe broke in the main show room at 3AM.
Because of the delay our tour, which was supposed to leave at 7:45AM, did not leave pier side until almost 11AM. It’s sunny but the wind makes it pretty cold. Today we are in Tuscany and are headed up into the hills for which this region is famous. Only 10% of Tuscany is flat and the port of Livorno is right in the middle of that area so my first impression was that the area was pretty level. Turns out that this entire section of Tuscany was once a delta of the Arno River. It was very marshy and not very hospitable. Malaria was rampant and people didn’t want to live here. In order to bribe people to come here laws were passed that exempted anyone in the region from taxes and the port was declared a ‘free port’. All this happened before Italy was a country. It’s amazing how many European countries are younger than the USA. For example, both Italy and Germany didn’t exist before the 1800s. Italy, not unlike Germany, was originally a collection of city-states and principalities. Garibaldi all eventually united them sometime in the 1860s, I think. In any event putting in a matrix of canals eventually drained this lowland area and malaria was wiped out here in 1954.
In about 25 minutes we were in the foothills and a little later arrived in Lucca. Lucca is the birthplace of Puccini (above) and the famous meeting between Caesar, Crasso and Pompey took place here in 56BC. Luccans are proud to be the only city-state not conquered by Florence in the whole of Tuscany. As a result the people and attitudes are a little different that the rest of the region which lived under Florentine rule for years. They are a little less open but when approached are just as friendly. People have been living on this site since the Paleolithic era but it is most likely that the Ligurians or Etruscans founded the current city. The Romans were here big time and are probably responsible for the size and shape of the old town.
Since the old city is walled and, once again has very narrow streets, the bus had to drop us off at the wall and we went on a walking tour. The most impressive things we saw were St Michael’s on the Forum, and St. Martino’s Cathedral.
St. Michael’s on the Forum (below) gets its name from the fact that it stands on the site of the old Roman Forum. The church was built in the 13th century and is Romanic is style. It has a whimsical; fantasy style with the various courses of arches supported my many styles of columns. In the top two sets, every column is different. In the lower courses there are several columns that are just round but most are unique.
The Cathedral of St. Martino stands on one face of Plaza St. Martino. It was completed in 1204AD but the inside was redone in the 14th and 15th centuries. The front facade would be taller but funding ran out and it was never finished. No pictures were allowed inside so I can’t show you one of my favorite paintings. It’s the ‘Last Supper’ painted by Tintoretto in 1590. In my opinion, it’s far better than Leonardo’s. I bought a post card of it that is reproduced below. The colors are all wrong but you can see the composition.
The table is set at an angle towards the viewer, sloping down and to the left. I may be reading too much into this but here’s why I like it. At the top is heaven, the angels observing the activity below. The 12 disciples are gathered around the table, Christ at the head, 6 disciples on each side and the end toward the viewer empty as though inviting him or her to join in. The way the table appears to slope towards the viewer implies that the blessings here will flow downward to him. There’s even an loaf of bread perched right on the table’s edge waiting for the viewer to come and eat. One of the disciples is eating bread from Jesus’ hand, showing the personal nature of both the sacrifice and the gift. In the foreground, at about the viewer’s level, seated against two stairs leading up to the table, is a woman nursing a child. To me, this indicates the life giving aspect of the sacrifice that is symbolized in the Eucharist, the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. Tintoretto painted the last supper at least two other times. One of them, a more traditional view painted in 1594, is more famous than this one. Even though that one is more formal, it is still more lively than Leonardo’s.
Leonardo’s Last Supper, with it’s horizontal table and everyone seated on the one long side, has always had a cold, uninviting feeling for me. It’s almost like he’s saying, “You are not invited.” The tribunal form of the dais reinforces this feeling. It looks more like a panel of judges than a celebration of the greatest sacrifice ever made. I don’t think this feeling is accidental. Leonardo was no great fan of the gospel or the church. The latter was probably justified, keeping in mind what was going on in the Roman church at the time, but the former was a big miscalculation on his part. To be fair, Tintoretto painted his canvas 100 years after Leonardo. Leonardo’s version is the first great figure composition of the High Renaissance. He chose to capture the moment when Christ announces that he will be betrayed by one of the apostles. Tintoretto’s was painted in the Mannerist-style and captures the moment when the Communion was instituted. The Cathedral had many other fine works of art, but for me they all pale in comparison to the Tintoretto.
After the walking tour we left Lucca and headed higher into the mountains and the farm where we are having lunch. The European unification has had a terrible effect on the small farmers of Italy so the government has created Agri-tourism. They provided funds for the farmers to update and modify their farmhouses to become B & Bs. The farm still works but they receive supplemental income from the tourists.
We arrived at Maionchi Farm just after 2PM at the result of our late start. We ate in rooms that were in the half basement floor of the house. It had half windows high up on the rough stone walls. When we arrived there were three bottles of wine on the table, one white, one medium red and one dark red and a bowl of small green olives. We were seated with Joan & Ian from Scotland and Gloria from NoCal (below). The guide told us that the climate in the area allows them to grow olives but only small ones. These are not exported but are all consumed in Italy, mostly in Tuscany. She said we should eat the olives with the bread and the white wine. Of course, being of German extraction, I followed her instructions exactly.
Next came a Tuscan vegetable and bean soup served in a large pottery crock. Soup here is a little different. It’s more like a stew in the US. They make the soup the day ahead and then reheat it when they want to eat. They line the crock with bread then spoon in a layer of soup, then more bread followed by more soup, until the crock is about 2/3 full. As the result of this process there is no liquid remaining after the crock is filled, the bread has absorbed it all. The weight of the whole thing becomes quite impressive. When the server brought ours, for a table of 6, she reached past Diana to hand the crock to me. When I took it I understood why. The soup had broccoli, zucchini, carrots, a medium sized purplish bean I didn’t recognize, and some other things I couldn’t identify. It was flavorful, delicious in fact, but not spicy. With this course we were advised to drink the medium red wine and they went very well together.
Next came three plates of various things we would associate with antipasto, cheese, various meats, beans, olives, etc. With this course were advised to have the dry red wine. As we were eating this course several plates of bread came out. The first one had melted cheese on top. The second was something like the garlic bread we have in the States. The third was like Pennsylvania Dutch bacon bread. After frying the bacon, the skillet is brought to the table and everyone takes ¼ slices of bread on a fork and sops up the grease. (It just occurred to me that this is actually a grease fondue) Their version is prepared in the kitchen and is slightly saltier, but very a very nostalgic flavor for me.
Then came almond biscotti and slightly sweet raisin bread with a mildly sweet white (straw colored) wine. The biscotti and the wine were a perfect match. Since the wine did not come in a bottle I asked what it was. It’s called Aqua Sancta (Holy Water). Apparently they take the best grapes and hang them in a dry place until they become raisins. They then mash the raisins, hoping that there are natural yeasts forming on the skins, put the whole mess in a barrel and age it for five years without any further attention. Then they open the barrels and see what they have gotten. Sometimes there was no yeast and therefore no fermentation. Sometimes there is too much fermentation, but they find that out early when the barrel explodes from the pressure. Most of the time they find Aqua Sancta. There is very limited production and it is not generally exported. It is also very expensive, which explains why they served it in the glass and not the bottle. That was followed by strong coffee. Just when I thought I’d escaped and was making my way out of the restaurant the momma came up with a tray of glasses and a bottle of grappa. She seemed like she would be insulted if I didn’t accept some so I took a ¼ inch serving. It’s clear 100 proof Italian firewater. I’m sure the local arsonists use it as an accelerant in starting their fires. It did not have a bad flavor or really much flavor at all but you could feel it all the way down.
After lunch we boarded the bus to go to a French country villa from 1500, the Villa di Camigliano. It was the summer residence of a wealthy Luccan family. In 1636 it was bought by the Marquis Nicolao Santini, ambassador of the, then, Republic of Lucca to the court of Louis the XIV. The family still lives in the villa in the summer so we couldn't take any pictures during our tour. The ceilings were all done in elaborate frescos in the 1600s. They have never been restored, only cleaned, and the colors are vibrant and the detail mostly perfect. The furniture and decorations are all original except for some family pictures in frames on desks and tables. There were some great pictures from the 1920s & 30s of the owners in their finery. Some of the furniture was nice but the highlights for me were the ceilings. While we were touring the house a thunderstorm swept down the valley. It was awesome. One bolt of lightning would produce about 3 minutes of thunder as the sound echoed off first one set of hills then another. I managed to turn my video recorder on after one flash fast enough to record the sound. We walked through several of the gardens on the way back to the bus while it rained and thundered. It was great!
Then it was back on the bus for the return trip to Livorno. We arrived back at about 7:30PM and had dinner in the Lido at the buffet. They were serving an Italian style dinner that included crab legs and claws. I love crab claws, easy to eat and lots of meat. Yummmmm!! The show for the evening was Jon Courtenay. He does a very good variety show, some magic, some singing, some comedy and a lot of very good piano. He was just as good this time as he was the first.
During dinner we had an announcement by the captain that he was going to remain at the dock in Livorno so the ship would not be bouncing around in the night. I was little disappointed as I find the motion very soothing but I seem to be in the minority. The ship’s movement has not been at all violent, more of a pitch and roll motion. Tomorrow’s at sea and I’m looking forward to the rest. All this hiking up to medieval cities is tiring.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Europe 2004 - Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
ms Noordam & Garabaldi Jump Carrier, Civitavecchia, Italy
May 8 – Ahhhh, A day at sea! Woke up fairly early and went to breakfast. Not much planned for the day. I’m catching up on labeling my picturess and writing this narrative. There’s a disembarkation speech this afternoon for those leaving the ship in Rome. The purser told me that only 40 people are staying on for the next cruise. Another performance by the Noordam cast this evening. KC gets another chance to sing her favorite style, Jazz/Blues. Tomorrow all our tablemates leave the ship and we get a whole new set. This has been a very different table. Bernard and Sheryl (below), a retired judge and his wife from Iowa, and Bella and Linda (below), a Roma from Hungary and his wife, and of course us. The Iowans could not be more Iowa. Bella, the Roma, could not be more gypsy and his wife could not be more East Coast. It makes for an unusual table dynamic. The Iowans don't get to say much, Bella regales us with stories of his exploits with the police and other authorities (very entertaining), the Linda talks so softly that Diana and I can't hear her very well. It's a riot. They are all very nice people and we enjoy them, it’s just that the mix is so diverse it can be distracting trying to shift gears.
May 9 – You can tell that the cast is getting used to each other and more comfortable with the shows because they keep getting better and better. In last night’s show, Jazzmatazz, they sing blues and jazz songs from several eras. KC got to sing part of Patsy Cline’s ‘Crazy’, a song very suited to her voice. It was great! The captain says we will be at the port of Civitavecchia by 9PM this evening but they won’t put the gangway down until about 6:30AM to begin disembarkation. Sure enough, when we got to the room after the show, we were already at the pier.
True to his word, at 6:30AM passengers were heading to Rome and home. We’re staying on one more cruise so we didn’t have to pack last night. I got up at 7AM, started two loads of laundry and went to breakfast. As usual on days when we don’t have to be off the ship early, the Princess slept in. In fact, by the time she was up and moving, breakfast was over and the laundry was done. It is tradition that I do the laundry when we are on ships. The laundry I used was on the upper promenade deck just inside the doors to the deck that runs completely around the ship and they have all the wooden deck chairs. After I put the laundry in the dryer I sat out on the deck, watching the former cruisers scurry for their transportation to the airport.
Once Diana was up and about, we rode the free shuttle provided by the port to downtown Civitavecchia. It’s a smallish city and it’s Sunday so everything except cafes, cyber and other, is closed. We stopped at a small snack shop and Diana had some pizza for breakfast. If we had just walked a little further, the railway station café had much better-looking pizza. They had pepperoni pizza in combination with several things I couldn’t identify. Some sort of veggies and who knows what else. The pizza that caused me to video the pizza counter was most unusual, cheese, sauce, hot dog slices and French fries!! I’m not kidding, I have the video. I was filming sub-rosa so I didn’t want to take a still pic.
We were trying to get some Euro, but we couldn’t find an ATM that would work. Apparently they turn them off on Sunday. Italy, what a country. We finally found one that worked right at the port building. I guess maybe that’s a ‘tax free’ zone and not subject to the usual rules.
Our new tablemates are a couple from Calgary, Canada, Mary and Seldon and Father John, a chaplain at St. Paul’s Hospital in Dallas. Everyone seemed very friendly and outgoing. We spent some time discussing the ins and outs of Beautification and Canonization. You never know what will come up at dinner. I told Father John that I was one third of the way to getting my 3 miracles to qualify for the process. All my high school teachers said it was a miracle I graduated much less complete college and pass the CPA exam on the first sitting. Come to think of it maybe I already have the 3 required miracles.
Well we’re passing the Stromboli volcano tomorrow morning early and I want to get up just in case the thing is going off. See you later.
(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
Bella & Linda
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(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger
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