The exhibit was held in the Monument
to Vittorio Emanuele II building (also known as the Wedding Cake Building). It was a terrific plus, as we got to walk
around this very impressive building and went out on the terrace overlooking
Rome. The Italian flag flies next to an
impressive statue of Vittorio Emanuele, the first King of a United Italy
starting in 1861. As our guide said, “Contrary
to popular belief the Italian Flag colors of Green, White and Red do not stand
for basil, mozzarella and tomatoes but the colors represent hope (green), faith
(white) and charity (red)”.
Mediterranean Splendour - Post #2
At sea – just departed Vigo, Spain – 5/10/18
Starting in Italy to Athens, Greece 4/21/18 – 4/27/18
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| Mt. Stromboli with Volcano Eruption Smoke |
We left Rome and sailed past Mt. Stromboli… who knew there
was a mountain named after that wonderful stuffed bread? Well, I don't think that is where the bread
got its name, but it was interesting to see the active volcano billowing
smoke. It is called the Lighthouse of
the Mediterranean due to its bubbling lava which is visible at night. So on the way back to Rome (later in the
trip) we stayed up to 1:00 AM to get a glimpse of it, but unfortunately that
night it was quiet and we didn’t get to see “ The Lighthouse”.
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| Port of Dubrovnik, Croatia |
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| Buggy Safari - Dubrovnik, Croatia |
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| View from the Mountain Top - Dubrovnik, Croatia |
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| Street in Dubrovnik, Croatia |
First stop was Dubrovnik, Croatia… a lovely, lively city
with winding streets and café’s everywhere.
We took a cable car ride to the top of the mountain and from there we
took a Buggy Safari tour which took us to the hillside above the city. Mike had fun driving the buggy, it was beautiful
scenery but VERY DUSTY. Of course whose
buggy wouldn’t start after we made a stop to view the scenery… yes, it was
ours. We had to get a new buggy and
catch up with the group, always an adventure within an adventure.
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| Cyrillic Letter "P" - Budva, Montenegro |
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| Ballerina Bronze Sculpture - Budva, Montenegro |
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| Town of Budva, Montenegro |
The seaside town of Budva, Montenegro is the place to
vacation if you are one of the “ Rich
& Famous”. We didn’t stay there
(we’re definitely not in with that crowd),
just visited for the morning.
There is a plaza where poets have gone throughout the years to do their
readings and is noted with a beautiful marble Cyrillic Letter “P” for Poets. A nice walking path along the coast leads you
to a lovely bronze sculpture of a ballerina perched upon the rocks. Sitting looking at the sea is a great place
for a cold drink or coffee… nice morning visit.
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| Clock with Pyramid of Shame - Kotor, Montenegro |
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| Orthodox Church - Kotor, Montenegro |
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| Kotor, Montenegro |
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| Two Small Islands off the Coast of Kotor, Montenegro |
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| Celebrating our 52nd Anniversary |
The tour of Kotor, Montenegro starts inside the city wall with
the “Pyramid of Shame” located in front of a large clock tower. In the past when someone had to confess a
wrongdoing they were made to stand next to the pyramid and repeat their
transgression all day long. Please note
in the picture the gentleman with his head down next to the Pyramid… might
someone we all know be confessing? There
were beautiful Orthodox churches and even a church where in the past two
religions shared a single church.
Religion played a large part in this town including several churches and
also two small islands with churches on them.
That night we celebrated our 52nd Anniversary on board the
ship with the dining staff presenting us with a cake and singing to us in their
local Indonesian language... Bahasa.
Sounds nothing like our classic celebration song but the crew had so
much fun singing to us that it brought a special joy to the occasion. A terrific way to celebrate our anniversary....
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| Hera's Altar - Olympia, Greece |
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| Virtual Images of Hera's Altar - Olympia, Greece |
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| Temple - Olympia, Greece |
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| Virtual Images of Temple - Olympia, Greece |
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| Virtual Image of Statues in the Interior of Temple - Olympia, Greece |
We decided to take a virtual tour of Ancient Olympia in
Katakolon, Greece. We arrived at the
site where the Olympics were originally held.
The ruins covered a huge site but with some very clever technology,
virtually you were able to recreate on an IPad, what the original buildings
would look like. There was a Monk who
traveled extensively back in the day when the Olympics where held and noted all
the aspects of the area in great detail.
From those notes and the remains left at the site, they have recreated
what the area should have looked like back then. You look at the IPad, pan around the site and
you will see what the original buildings looked like. Then an orange dot appears on the screen and
after you click on it you are brought to the interior of the structure. The Olympic Flame Torch is still lit at Hera’s
Alter for the Summer and Winter Olympics.
It was totally awesome to see the ancient remains and then look at the
IPad to see what it would have looked like.
I included several pictures of the site and also the IPad screen shot.
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| Temple of Hephaistos in the Ancient Agora - Athens, Greece |
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| Temple of Hephaistos in the Ancient Agora with Shifted Pillars - Athens, Greece |
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| Child's Pottie Seat - Ancient Agora Museum - Athens, Greece |
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Image of Child in Pottie Seat - Ancient Agora Museum
- Athens, Greece
|
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| Giraffes in Athens, Greece ??? -- Ancient Agora Museum - Athens, Greece |
We have been to Athens and previously visited the Acropolis
so we took a tour of the Ancient Agora (marketplace). On the site is the Temple of Hephaistos, one
of the most intact temple buildings of Ancient Greece, retaining its original
structure through the ages even after several earthquakes. The components of the pillars on the building
have shifted during the decades but the structure still remains standing even
with its off center pillars. The museum
has many of the artifacts from the site; vases, coins, weapons, etc. but the
most unusual was a child’s commode (pottie seat). There was also an ancient drawing showing its
use. There was a statue that our guide
said was a “horse”, it really looks more like a giraffe to me. So maybe there were giraffes in Ancient
Greece???
Mediterranean Splendour - Post #3
Home in New Jersey – 5/19/18
Starting in Greece 4/27/18 – 5/5/18
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Dinner on King's Day - Dressed in Orange to Honor
King Willem-Alexander's birthday
|
We sailed away from Olympia, Greece on the Koningsdam on
April 27, which is King's Day, a national holiday in the Netherlands in honor
of King Willem-Alexander's birthday. Holland
America, with its company's deep history and roots in the Netherlands, asked
that guests honor the holiday wearing the national color… orange. We decided to comply, so before we left I was
off to the outlet stores to get clothing that wasn’t too expensive in a color
we don’t usually wear but as they say, “When in Holland do as the Dutch do” and
we did.
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| Champagne & Strawberries Overlooking Santorini's Caldera - Santorini, Greece |
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| Oia, Greece |
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| Someone has to Paint those White Buildings - Oia, Greece |
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| Black Sand Beach - Santorini, Greece |
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| Black Sand Beach - Santorini, Greece |
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| Wine Branch Growing Wreath - Estate Argyros Winery - Santorini, Greece |
We have been to Santorini before and wanted to do something
different. Mike went on Cruise Critic
and met some people from New Orleans who were doing a private tour and were
looking for 2 other couples to share it with.
We joined them and had a terrific day starting with Champagne &
Strawberries after a private van (Mercedes) picked us up at the top of the
mountain (after taking the tram to the top).
We went to the lovely town of Oia… beautiful views, lots of small
boutique hotels, restaurants & shops.
A nice walk around town and then we were off to the Black Sand Beach, the
volcanic sand retains the heat and makes the sand very hot to walk on. We had lunch at a beautiful seaside café with
our new traveling friends. There I
discovered wonderful tomato marmalade, made only in Greece from their special
cherry tomatoes… found it in a local store and brought some home. Then it was off to a Monastery at the highest
peak of Santorini with beautiful views of the area. The Argyros Winery was next on the agenda
with a great wine tasting and information about the very different wine growing
techniques in Santorini. Due to the
heavy winds and ground level moisture, the grape vines are not on the typical
metal frames but the vines are wrapped around forming a wreath sitting close to
the soil. The grapes grow inside this
growing wreath. This allows the moisture
from the soil to irrigate the vines in the evening when the weather is cooler and
therefore almost no watering is done at this vineyard.
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| We clean-up pretty good… Gala Night |
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| Grotto - Capri, Italy |
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| The Three Sirens - Capri, Italy |
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| Lemon - Capri, Italy |
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| Sunset leaving Naples, Italy |
We again joined our Cruise Critic travel mates for a private
trip to Capri. We left Naples in a mini-van
that took us to Sorrento to board a private 38 foot boat to take us to
Capri. The water was very rough and we
bounced around a bit but made it to Capri for a tour by water around the Isle
of Capri viewing several grottos and exquisite scenery. We spent the afternoon on Capri, eating and
shopping. Capri is known for its
extremely large lemons used in making their famous Lemoncello. A beautiful place to visit and enjoy the
local food and scenery.... We left
Naples as the sun was setting and birds were traveling at the side our ship so
they were eye level, a great ending to a fabulous day.
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| Steps Leading Down to a Tomb |
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| Wall Paintings - Tomb - Tarquinia, Italy |
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| Wall Paintings - Tomb - Tarquinia, Italy |
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| Wall Paintings - Tomb - Tarquinia, Italy |
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| Archaeological Museum of Tarquinia, Italy - Perfume Jars |
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Archaeological Museum of Tarquinia, Italy
Slanted Steps for Horse Traffic
|
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| Street Scene in Tuscania, Italy |
We were back in Civitavecchia, Italy again, as we took back
to back segments on this cruise, both starting near Rome. We definitely weren’t going to travel back to
Rome so we opted for a trip to Tarquinia where Etruscan burial grounds have
only recently been found, some as late as the 1950’s. The burial tombs (over 6,000) date back from
the 6th to 1st century BC with beautiful painted frescos
adorning them. They are behind glass
wall entrances so they can be preserved for future generations to see these
amazing painted tombs. Apparently the
people from this era believed in an afterlife and a special tomb was needed for
their resting place. They are on the
same par as the tombs in Egypt… a final resting place that is beautifully
decorated for the next life. The Archaeological
Museum contains the remains of this mysterious Etruscan population. The museum is housed in Palazzo Vitelleschi,
a former residence where the steps were fashioned in a brick pattern that gradually
slanted each step so that horses could climb the steps. It was the tradition in that period for
visitors to have their horses bring them to the upper level of the
palazzo. The afternoon brought us to
Toscania, Italy with its small streets and beautiful churches.
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| Mountain Top Monastery - Montserrat, Spain |
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Monastery Church with Black Madonna
in the Alcove Above the Crucifix - Montserrat, Spain
|
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| Black Madonna - Montserrat, Spain |
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Statue of Christopher Columbus at Las Ramblas
Barcelona, Spain
|
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| Street Performer - Las Ramblas - Barcelona, Spain |
Next stop Barcelona, Spain… we started the day off with a
trip to Montserrat, the home of the famous “Black Madonna”. Montserrat is a town at the top of a beautiful
mountain range, jagged with stunning views.
The entire town was founded upon the worship of the statue of The Virgin
Mary, patron-virgin of Catalonia. Legend
has it that when the shepherds found the statue in a cave, they tried to move
it, the cart got stuck and they took it as a sign that she should stay on the
mountain. There are varying views as to
why the Madonna is black, some say it is the wood that has aged while others
say it is the smoke from the candles that have burned over the years. Montserrat is home to a Benedictine community
with 80 monks, and has served the shrine for almost a thousand years, dedicated
to a life of prayer, work and welcoming pilgrims. We then went back to Barcelona, started at
the famous statue of Columbus (not pointing to America as most believe) and walked
Las Ramblas with its many street performers, human statues and restaurants.
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| Oceanografic (Aquarium) - Valencia, Spain |
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Red Star Fish & Sea Cucumber
Oceanografic (Aquarium) - Valencia, Spain
|
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Largest Octopus I Have Ever Seen
Oceanografic (Aquarium) - Valencia, Spain
|
Valencia, Spain – We were in Valencia before
and knew there was a world class Aquarium there, actually the largest in
Europe, so we had that on our list of things to do while there. We spent several hours at the Oceanografic
site and were so impressed with the various different buildings that comprise
this incredible site with great exhibits.
A really different, wonderful day….
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| The Virgin of La Fuensanta - Murcia, Spain |
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View of the City of Murcia, Spain
From the Monastery of the Virgin Of La Fuensanta
|
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| Walking Path - Murcia, Spain |
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| Casino/Club For the High Society to Meet - Murcia, Spain |
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| Steel Safety Gate Painted to Fit in with the Beautiful Architecture - Murcia, Spain |
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| Geranium Flower Wall and Garden - Murcia, Spain |
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Festival With Locals Wearing Traditional Clothing
Cartagena, Spain
|
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| Honoring "The Festival of The Cross - Cartagena, Spain |
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Festival With Locals Wearing Traditional Clothing
Cartagena, Spain
|
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Festival With Locals Wearing Traditional Clothing
Cartagena, Spain
|
From the port of Cartagena, Spain we took a
tour to Murcia, Spain starting on the mountain top at the Monastery of the
Virgin of La Fuensanta. The statue of
the Virgin is used to process from the mountain top to the town below on feast
days. The statue has a wardrobe of
clothing with special attendants who dress her for these special
occasions. If you stand at the top at
the mountain Monastery and look down at the town you cannot imagine how people
can carry the statue and process that far.
We took our bus down and walked through this charming town with pathways
and arches lined with flowers, squares filled with geraniums and beautiful
architecture. One of the outstanding buildings
is called a Casino, not actually for gambling but a meeting place for the high
society of Murcia. Back in Cartagena,
The Festival of The Cross was in progress with the local people dressing in the
traditional Spanish clothing and partying on the streets. We left Cartagena in
a very festive atmosphere.
Mediterranean Splendour - Post #4
At Home –
Memorial Day 5/28/18
Starting in Gibraltar – 5/6/18 – 5/13/18
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| The Rock of Gibraltar - Gibraltar, British Territory |
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| St. Michael's Cave - Gibraltar, British Territory |
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Our Fearless Taxi Driver with Her Wooden Sword
to Fight Off the Monkeys - Gibraltar, British Territory
|
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| The Great Siege Tunnels - Gibraltar, British Territory |
Next port was Gibraltar… on the ship you have to be on the
look-out to get the first glimpse of “The Rock of Gibraltar” as the port is an
hour away and you can’t see “The Rock” after docking. We met some lovely people on board and
decided to venture out together and take a taxi rather than a traditional
tour. Great decision as our taxi driver
was so funny and fought off the Barbary Apes with her wooden sword (no animals
were injured, just a funny way to disperse the apes). At “The Rock” the apes are famous; known to be
pesky, sitting on the vehicles and stealing anything you dangle in front of
them, so no shiny jewelry, etc. We went
to beautiful St. Michael’s Cave and the Great Siege Tunnels. The Tunnels were built during WW II, a
labyrinth of passageways and rooms running through the rock carved out of solid
limestone creating an extraordinary defense system.
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Plaza of The Ibero-American Exposition of 1929
Seville, Spain
|
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| Hotel Where Don Juan Frequented - Seville, Spain |
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| The Alcazar - Seville, Spain |
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| The Alcazar - Seville, Spain |
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| Exterior Alcazar- Seville, Spain |
We then went to Seville, Spain with first stop at the
beautiful plaza where The Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 was held, a world’s
fair. There are beautiful mosaics
throughout the Plaza with fantastic architecture… buildings, bridges and
columns. Along our walking tour we passed
the famous hotel where Don Juan frequented.
It is said on a bet he was prodded to seduce a nun and the story goes…
he won the bet. Now we were off to the
very impressive Alcazar with amazing arches and mosaic work. The Alcazar is still the official residence of
the King of Spain while in Seville. It
is a UNESCO site and the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe.
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| Santa Justa Elevator - Lisbon Portugal |
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| Bottles of Port - Lisbon, Portugal |
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Paving Stones
- Tribute to those who Worked in the Stone Industry
Lisbon, Portugal
|
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| Beautiful Tile Work - Lisbon, Portugal |
Lisbon, Portugal was a city we visited on our very first
trip to Europe… many, many years ago.
Lisbon is built on very hilly terrain and elevators, trams and funiculars
are used to transverse the city. The
famous Elevador de Santa Justa was designed by Raul Mesnier de Ponsard,
a student of the great iron craftsman Gustave Eiffel who built the Eiffel
Tower. Ponsard, after studying under
Eiffel, returned to his home city of Lisbon to design his iron masterpiece. The streets are adorned with intricate stone
patterns for which Lisbon is known. There
is a beautiful stone pavement and monument dedicated to the hard working stone
masons who produced these intricate street patterns. Of course the area is known for its Port Wine,
it is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the northern provinces of Portugal. There are shops
with bottles dating back to the 1930’s with price tags in the thousands… we did
not
bring home a bottle! There are lovely
tiles displayed in shops throughout the town with many patterns to choose from. Unfortunately the transportation systems were
not working well on the day we visited and we were unable to use the funicular
or tram but were able to ride the beautiful, historic elevator.
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| Church of St. James with Incense Burner in Front of Altar - Santiago de Compostela, Spain |
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| The Botafumeiro (Incense burner) in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela |
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Markers on the Pilgrimage Trail & Symbol of St. James
Santiago de Compostela, Spain |
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| Pilgrims at the End of the Trail - Santiago de Compostela, Spain |
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| Mussel Farm - Vigo, Spain |
The port was Vigo, Spain… but my
trusty research assistant, a/k/a Mike suggested the town of Santiago de
Compostela would be a great place to tour and he was correct. It is a very old town dedicated to St. James
(Santiago) which is the final stop on the Camino del Santiago pilgrimage trail.
It is a 500 mile trail going from France to Santiago de Compostela and pilgrims
can start anywhere along the trail sometimes meeting others along the way
completing their pilgrimage together. We
saw a jubilant group of people who celebrated in the square upon their
completion; none of them started together but built a bond along the way and
experienced the joy of finishing together.
There are bag pipers playing, celebrating the completion of these
pilgrimages… it is awe inspiring (though not inspiring enough to want to do it). It is a very sacred town honoring St. James
and the Cathedral houses his tomb. The
altar piece in The Cathedral of St. James has a statue of St. James that you
can walk behind and embrace while saying a prayer. The Cathedral also has one of the largest Botafumeiros in the world, it
is where incense is burned in this swinging metal container, the name "Botafumeiro"
means "smoke expeller" in Galician. We then went back to the port of Vigo, Spain
which is known for its mussels grown in the estuary. Bateaus, Galician mussel farms, are rafts for
cultivating mollusks. There are neat
rows along the coast of big wooden platforms with ropes hanging from them where
the oysters and mussels grow. Very
interesting to see....
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| Omaha Beach with pieces of WW II Floating Bridges - Normandy, France |
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| American Cemetery - Normandy, France |
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| Flags Flying over Omaha Beach - Normandy, France |
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Mosaic Ceiling in Chapel at the American Cemetery
Normandy, France
|
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| A Giraffe Park Brochure - Normandy, France |
We knew when we were in the port of Cherbourg,
France that Normandy would be where we would spend our day. We assumed it would be emotional to be at
Omaha Beach; the place where so many Americans died to help turn the tide of WW
II, but we were not ready for the overwhelming sadness that we experienced. The rows and rows of crosses marking the
grave sites of young Americans is so overwhelming and sad to see… most of them
were so young. Omaha Beach is pristine
but pieces of the landing bridges leave the mark of war on it. We were glad we went to honor all who served
to preserve our freedom. The only smile
we had that day was a brochure for a children’s adventure park called “Girafou”…
we don’t speak French but we got the idea.
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| Lincoln Center Stage on the Koningsdam - At Sea |
The ship was very nice and the food terrific but
the outstanding part was the entertainment.
The production shows in the theater were different and choreographed beautifully
with surround LED scenes encompassing half of the room providing excellent back
drops for all the shows. Besides the
shows in the theater there were different venues for music at night… Billboard
featured twin piano players (lots of fun); BB Kings Blues Club (self-explanatory)
and Lincoln Center Stages (Classical music with strings and piano). We moved around enjoying all the different types
of music almost every night.
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| Canal - Bruges, Belgium |
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| Beautiful Architecture - Bruges, Belgium |
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| Food Shopping in Bruges, Belgium |
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| Moules & Frites - Bruges, Belgium |
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| Waffle with Chocolate & Strawberries - Bruges, Belgium |
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Our Last Vacation Picture - Enjoying our favorite place
Bruges, Belgium
|
Ahhhhhhh, Bruges, Belgium… we
love that place. If you followed
our Blogs in the past you know we have been to Bruges several times before, but
that didn’t stop us from going again. We
wandered around, enjoyed the unseasonably warm day; marveled at the beautiful
buildings; took in the locals doing their daily chores; ate some mussels &
fries in a sidewalk café (one of their specialties); enjoyed some chocolates; devoured
a Belgium waffle and loved being there.
There was no fountain to toss a coin in while making a wish to return… I
didn’t need the coin or fountain, I made the wish and with God’s grace we may
return someday again.
We disembarked in Amsterdam, but went directly
to the airport as we previously stayed there on another vacation and we were already
away for almost a month… so home we came.
A terrific vacation with great weather, amazing ports and good health…
totally blessed.
Study on Door Hardware – Bruges, Belgium:
As many of you know I love taking pictures
(you only get a small selection in the Blog, let me know if you want to see the
rest of them - LOL). I enjoy doing
studies of different things on vacation… I have done studies of doors, business
signs, brides and this time it is Door Hardware in Bruges. Scroll down if you’d like and enjoy….
