Cobh, Ireland

April 19, 2008

We arrived in Cobh, Ireland, a city which we had visited last year on a vacation in Ireland. Since we had visited the cities in this area before, we decided to explore Cobh in greater detail. This port is that last port that the Titanic left on its voyage across the Atlantic. They have a memorial area here to tell more about this event and also a memorial for the Lusitania oceanliner. A cultural center here depicts events in Ireland’s history, the potato famine, emigration and the events of the Titanic and Lusitania. The city also has a very beautiful cathedral, St. Colman’s that is known for its carillon.

It was quite cool, about 50 degrees, today with slight rain and wind. Due to this, we were limited some in our exploration. We had a typical Irish luncheon of Shepard’s pie and Guinness for Tin. In the afternoon we enjoyed the best Irish coffee ever in Kelly’s pub.

When we came back to the ship, we were treated to Irish folklore singing and dancing. Later in the evening, the show was Dorothy Bishop, who is an opera star from New York. Both shows were very enjoyable.

We have been experiencing rough seas with swells up to 15 feet for the last two days. Again thanks to medication, we have done well. It is quite busy these last couple of days as we prepare to come home with forms, questionnaires, farewells to fellow passengers, one more tour in Le Havre, etc. We, however, are very excited to be coming home to see all of you.

Gibraltar and Lisbon, Portugal

April 15, 2008

We arrived at Gibraltar early this morning. Since we had visited this area before, we did not take a tour today. This area came under British rule a little over 300 years ago and was a strategic point during many wars. Today there still is contention as Spain would like to again regain control but it is said that the local inhabitants of Gibraltar wish to remain under British domain. The famous inhabitants of this area are the Barbary apes. They are considered the national animal. Popular belief here is that as long as the apes remain, Gibraltar will be under British rule. Back during WWII in 1942, the population was as low as seven apes, so Winston Churchill ordered that the number be increased by getting more from Morocco and Algeria! The population has steadily increased to this date.

I think that we mentioned that we have been taking bridge lessons. I have included here a picture of the wonderful couple from Australia who are the instructors and some of our fellow classmates for the classes.

We set sail for Lisbon, Portugal this evening and as we sailed out of this area, we could see the African continent on our port side.












April 16, 2008

We arrived in Lisbon, Portugal at 10 a.m. Since one of our table mates was originally from Portugal, he gave us several tips for sites to see and a good restaurant. We also needed time to mail home a couple of packages so our suitcases would not be overflowing. After the post office, we took a city tour with an open bus and saw the old part of the city as well as many of the beautiful wide boulevards and monuments that are abundant in this city.

After this tour, we went to a wonderful restaurant and enjoyed a 3 course Portuguese meal. We enjoyed some local seafood, since the city is known for its love of seafood. We also tried the local port wine for which this area is also well known.

As we left the city, we enjoyed a beautiful journey down the river toward the Atlantic Ocean viewing marvelous architectural structures lining the banks of the river and passed under the longest suspension bridge in Europe. We will be at sea for two days as we make our way to Cobh, Ireland. This long journey is fast coming to an end.

Barcelona, Spain

April 13, 2008

We arrived at Barcelona, Spain today at 12 noon. We had arranged to tour the Picasso museum and Guadi’s La Pedrera, since we were in Barcelona about 4 years ago therefore we skipped the city sightseeing. The Picasso museum is very large and encompasses four buildings that used to be mansions in the old part of the city. The part of the museum we viewed was only the early works of Picasso. This was quite interesting in that we saw paintings and drawings he had done as young as 9 years old. It was also interesting to see how his artwork evolved from very detailed portraits to the cubism that he is well-known for today.

The second part of the tour was the apartment building La Pedrera that Antoni Gaudi, a famous architect in Spain, designed in the early 1900s. His style is based on nature, hence his buildings are very ornate with the use of flowers, vines, animals, and plants. This apartment building was very unique for the times with the inner courtyard being open all the way to the top of the 8 story structure and a most unusual roof top terrace. We had seen many of his buildings on our last visit including the Sagrada Familia Temple. This grand church still has not been completed, but is very unusual, grand, and beautiful at the same time. He has had many critics over the years who do not like his creations, but Tin and I find them most fascinating.

After our tour, we embarked on a stroll down the La Rambla, which is a wide pedestrian thoroughfare. It is lined with shops, street mime artists, and many restaurants. We stopped for tapas and local wine before returning to the ship. The weather was a little cool, but it was a beautiful sunny day and when we returned to the ship we were treated to a local folkloric show of flamenco dancers. Tin was also happy as we went to the late night buffet and they had Paella. It truly was a fun-filled day.

Tomorrow we will be at sea and then arrive in Gibraltar on Tuesday morning.

Rome, Italy and Cannes, France

April 11, 2008

This week has been flying by since we have been in a port every day since Sorrento and Pompeii. On Friday we arrived in Civitavecchia. At 7 a.m. we embarked on an overland tour to Rome. We had been in Rome 31 years ago and visited many of the places we decided to tour this time, but were very surprised at how crowded all of the sites had become. We first visited the Vatican museum with all of its wonder paintings, mosaics, and tapestries. After this we saw the magnificent Sistene chapel that was painted by Michelangelo. We marveled at his paintings and sculptures in the chapel but also all of the other paintings, sculptures, and architectural designs that are attributed to him. We also visited St. Peter’s Basilica with its marvelous sculptures, mosaic pictures, alabaster windows and the statue of Mary and Jesus that was done by Michelangelo at the age of 25.

After all of this walking, we were treated to a scrumptious lunch at one of the best restaurants in Rome. The rest of our day was completed by seeing the Roman colosseum ruins. It is difficult to imagine how large this structure is until you stand inside and marvel at how it was constructed. It is the largest arena every constructed. Our day finished by seeing the fountain of Trevi and the Spanish steps. As our tour guide said, this was a week’s tour all compressed into one day.

We were exhausted when we returned to our cabin and were happy that tomorrow we have an easy tour along the coastline of France.

April 12, 2008

We arrived at Cannes, France this morning but are taking it easy today with a drive along the French Riviera coastline from Cannes to St. Raphael. In the morning before our tour, we strolled the sidewalks of Cannes enjoying the local market with all of its fresh produce, seafood, meat, and flowers. We also enjoyed seeing all of the restaurants. We saw the Palais des Fetivals, which is home to the Cannes Film Festival. We opted for a small lunch in Cannes before embarking on our tour. The drive along the coastline was truly magnificent with high cliffs, beautiful homes, and clear blue sea.

When we arrived in St. Raphael, we just enjoyed an hour of people watching and having a gelato before boarding the bus for our return. On the way back to the ship, we stopped at an area that is famous for the point where American troupes came ashore to overpower the Germans who had overtaken this area of France during WWII. It was an area of steep terrain, but at that time was filled with woods that gave the troupes good cover.

We set sail at 6 p.m. on our way to Barcelona. The weather was mild and comfortable. It truly was a very relaxing and enjoyable day.

Sorrento and Pompei, Italy

April 10, 2008

Today we arrived at Sorrento, Italy. What a lovely view from the ship. The city sits high above the sea level. We had chosen to take a tour to Pompei. This was a very interesting site. It is the 2nd most visited historical place in the world. It was so interesting to see how the city was so completely preserved in some areas especially marble inlay and tile floors in the homes. It is very fascinating how the archeologists were able to discern so much about the culture. It was also interesting that no other towns had been build over the same site as of some other ancient ruins. This city was covered by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and covered with lava and volcanic dust in 79 AD and not discovered until 1748 by a farmer who was going to use the land.

After our tour, we returned to the city of Sorrento, which is a very charming city with many beautiful buildings and shops built on the hillside. By the time we arrived back in the city, it was the lunch time, which is from 1-5 pm when the shops close and they all go home for their lunch. Restaurants luckily do stay open for the most part. We had a brick oven pizza and some local wine, which was most enjoyable. When we finished we were able to do a little shopping and found some inlaid wooden boxes for which Sorrento is famous.

It we be a short rest time for us now as tomorrow we will go to Civitavecchia port tomorrow, which is the port closest to Rome. We will then take a bus ride through the countryside to Rome, where we will have an all day tour. We have visited Rome, but it was about 30 years ago, so we are looking forward to another visit.

Athens, Greece

April 8, 2008

We arrived in Athens at about 7 am today. The city was very beautiful to see from the ship as it is quite hilly. We toured the city and went to the Parthenon and walked the Acropolis, which was built about 500 BC. There have been many restorations undertaken of this area and it is still an ongoing process. The entire structure is composed of tall columns of marble that were removed from a quarry that is several miles away. The tall columns are made of several disks of which each weighs 5 tons. The Greeks had an ingenious method of transporting the columns to the mountain top by putting each disk on a cart pulled by horses and they stacked the pieces on top of each other using a wooden crane. The whole project has resulted in a very beautiful structure that has been visited by millions over the centuries. We then visited the Olympic stadium. We learned about the origin of the Olympic games and that Marathon racing also originated in Greece. We also saw lots of historic sites and governmental buildings, museums, and hospitals, one of which was donated by Aristotle Onassis, the shipping magnate, and is known for cardiac care.

After the tour, we decided to have an authentic Greek luncheon. We walked along the pier area and found a lovely local restaurant named Gato Mediterrano. They specialized in seafood. We had a delicious whole fish, giant shrimp, and a nice salad along with Greek bread and mussels as an appetizer. After the fish was presented to us for our approval, it was then filleted and the head and the tail of the fish were presented to us on a separate plate to demonstrate that the complete fish was being served. At the end Tin had a cup of espresso and Sue had a cup of green tea. It was fun to eat along with the local people and the wait staff seemed to enjoy our being there. Everything was very good, but expensive for us as the dollar and the euro exchange rate has increased with the rate now 1.69 US dollar equaling 1 euro on the day of our visit.

All in all the city is nice and clean and the people were very friendly. Greece along with Egypt, Malaysia, Australia and Singapore are the five most visited countries by tourists of the world. So far we have not been disappointed with any of these locations we have visited.

Tonight we look forward to watching the final of the NCAA basketball tournament. They are showing it for us at 8 pm. This is better than at midnight as they did the semifinal games. We will be at sea for one day and then arrive in Sorrento, Italy.