Sorrento and Capri, Italy

 

May 8th;

The ship anchored just off Sorrento, Italy early this morning.  

Sea side cliffs and buildings built right up to the very edge of the cliffs greeted us as we went ashore on the ship’s tenders. 

      

After a thirty minute ferry ride to Capri, we arrived in the island harbor.  .

      

Our tour included twenty five of us piling into a bus with seating so tight that we were looking forward to a airline coach seat on our return trip home.  In all fairness, the roads would not accommodate “normal” buses.

After a short stop at a shop to get an explanation of how inlaid furniture is made, we walked to the Villa San Michele Museum and gardens.  The museum was a former home of a physician who held the position of Physician to the Swedish Crown.  After the doctor died, he willed the estate to the Swedish government with the proviso that the home and garden be open to the public.  As our tour guide explained, we technically were no longer in Italy while we were in the home or in the gardens, but in Sweden.  The gardens were beautiful but the view from them to the coast of Capri was breathtaking. 

       

The photo below on the left, is from the garden walkway looking out to the Mediterranean Sea; little is visible due to the haze.  The photo at the right is looking over the railing down to the port of Capri.      

               

After lunch we walked across the island to view the other coast line, the Gardens of Augustus and some “low priced” homes.  Low in this case is a relative term…….

       

This view gave us a taste of the beauty and grandeur that attracts visitors to this area.

Portofino, Italy

 

May 6th;

It is hard to believe that we have are at the end of our world cruise……all 107 days of the cruise.  January 17th…the date we left home seems just like yesterday. 

Portofino is the little group of buildings on the right hand side of the photo below.

We didn’t take a tour today nor did we venture outside of Portofino.  Italy was experiencing a public workers strike today and we were told that many public services including the train and bus services were being disrupted.  The ship reminded us of the two passengers that were left behind in Barcelona because they missed the sailing time.  

Portofino is a really picturesque village.  Yes, it is touristy but the people were friendly.  We were able to view a few preliminary sailing races.  The main races were scheduled for the Saturday and Sunday.

       

We sampled the local cuisine.  Anne settled for some gelato.  Wayne had mussels and wine.  As we returned to the ship, we saw two sail boats testing out the course before the weekend race.

Now we are moving forward to meeting new passengers, table mates and a chance to see the Holy Land;  as well as several places we have seen before and a few new stops.  Follow us along this next and last segment of our long voyage

Toulon, France

 

May 5th:

Today, we did two different tours.  Anne went to Sanary Sur Mer and Bandol and Wayne went to Bormes les Mimosas.  Both tours showed the beautiful country side of Southern France.  Anne’s tour stayed along the coast.

We were the only ship in port today.

Sanary  Sur Mer was a quiet, clean little area.  For us it had one interesting and little known fact the granite for the base of the Statue of Liberty came from here and it is supposed to be the hardest granite available. The countryside has beautiful views and marvelous vineyards.   

     

In town we sat at a little cafe and just enjoyed the view of the people and the harbor.  I was able to visit the little church which had recently completed a renovation of the inside and contained beautiful paintings done in the Russian style. The center of town had a small carousel and it was fun watching the little ones enjoying the sun.  

     

Wayne’s tour traveled to the foothills above the coast of southern France.  Bormes is a 17th century town tucked into the hills near a long gone castle.  The quaint nature of the town remains with many steps up and down as we did a walking tour of the town. 

Besides the main drive through town (which was just a narrow byway) the it had numerous walking paths between the buildings.  Luckily some of the shrubs were still flowering to add to the enjoyment of the tour.

                 

Barcelona, Spain

 

May 3rd:

We wanted to revisit  Gaudi’s famous buildings and projects including the La Sagrada Familia Church and Parc Guell.  Enroute to the park, we were given a short tour of the city including several of Gaudi’s buildings.

As we traveled through Barcelona, our guide pointed out this one in the photo below.  The building on the right won early recognition for Gaudi.

       

Parc Guell is filled with Gaudi structures, buildings and art and jammed with tourists and locals enjoying them.

             

But the highlight of the tour was our visit to La Sagrada Familia.church.  This is not the Barcelona Cathedral.  It is just a church.  During our visit five years ago, the inside was a series of barricades, scaffolding, and construction debris.  Our tour guide told us the Pope’s visit last November gave the construction effort a significant push and put the focus on the interior.  What a change!!!!  The outside doesn’t appear to have changed much over the past four years.

 

The inside certainly did.  An altar was installed with a number of interesting enhancements.  The inside actually is more impressive than St. Peter’s in Rome!

    

Prior to our departure from Barcelona we were treated to a folkloric show by the Famenco Jose de la Vega performers.

Casablanca and Rabat, Morocco

 

April 30th:

Our tour plan for Casablanca was an all day tour to Marrakech, Morocco.  On April 28th, terrorists attacked a cafe frequented by tourists killing 18 people.  Princess canceled our tour so we substituted a tour of  Casablanca and Rabat.  We were disappointed that we couldn’t visit Marrakech, but believed the cancelation was the right decision.

In Casablanca, we toured an old section of town and the King Hussan Mosque.

      

The mosque is the second largest in the world.  Only the mosque in Mecca is larger.  This is the only mosque in Morocco that allows non Muslims inside.  The mosque is impressive.  The capacity of the mosque is 20,000 inside with an additional 80,000 outside on the paved areas.

 

Men worship on the main floor and women on the second floor. 

The minaret is the tallest in the world.  It is also square. Other mosques outside Morocco are round.  One corner of the mosque is aimed at Mecca.

One hour and one half north of Casablanca is Rabat.  Rabat is the capital of Morocco and one of the four royal cities in Morocco.  The royal palace in Rabat is the home of Morocco’s King and Princess.  While the king has a residence in the other three royal cities, he normally resides in Rabat.  We were not able to visit the inside of the palace.

After the palace, we visited the site of the King Mohammed V Mausoleum.  We toured the interior and the site.

               

The site of the mausoleum was also the site of a partially built mosque.  The minaret and masque was never completed because the King who started construction died and subsequent kings choose not to complete the construction.

Dakar, Senegal

 

April 25th:

After docking at Dakar, Senegal, we boarded a harbor ferry and sailed to the Ile de Goree.  This was an island shipping point for black slaves in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s.  While other ports in Western Africa on major rivers were more significant in the slave trade business, the Ile de Goree has been the best maintained and is now a World Heritage Site..

Surprisingly, the USA was not the major recipient of black slaves.  Only 5% of the estimated 15 to 30 million slaves exported from Western Africa were destined for the USA.  40% of the slaves were sent to Brazil and the remaining 50% ended up  in the various Caribbean Islands. 

Like the rest of central Africa, unemployment is high.  It runs near 50% right now.  About 1/3 of the population live below $1.25per day poverty level and the average age is only 19.

The Ile de Goree was picturesque.

  

          

A local woman with her (we assume) child arranges produce for sale along one of the local streets.

On return to the ship, we were treated to a performance by the Senegal National Ballet Company,  For season ticket holders to the Arizona Ballet, we can assure you this is no ballet we ever saw in Phoenix.  The performance was entertaining and fast paced.