ROME (JUNE 5, 2012)

On June 4th, we were scheduled to dock in Porto Venere but due to high winds, the ship was not able to dock and tender us in.  We did dock at Porto something else but I was so exhausted from my day in Florence that we decided to stay on board and not go out and fight the winds.

Rome was wonderful.  Everything that I expected in Florence, I found in Rome!  I thought on leaving Florence that I would never want to see another church, statue  or ruin but all of that changed on arriving in Rome.  It was somewhat sad to leave the Serenity but we basically were ready.  We docked in Civitavecchia which is about an hour and a half from Rome.   Another bus ride but it included a very nice tour that covered a visual of the highlights.  This was helpful in deciding what we wanted to explore on our three day stay.  We had great views on a drive-by of the Colloseum, the Pantheon, the Forum, the Borghesi Gardens etc. and probably half the monuments and statues that are in public spaces.  The traffic is unreal.  Mostly motorcycles and mopeds and they do not follow the rules of the road.  Apparently their feeling is they would drive a car if they wanted to be stuck in traffic.

On arriving at our hotel in Rome, we arranged a tour to the Vatican Museum, the Sistene Chapel and St. Peters.  We wanted a guide to get us into the places we wanted to see without waiting in lines.  There were only ten of us in our group (put together by Crystal).  This worked quite well except for the Chapel.  No ones fault.  They average 20,000 visitors a day and one needs to go through it slowly to try to take it all in.  It was so beautiful, the fact that we were crammed in that Chapel like cattle, did not bother us much except that you lose the ambience of being in a sacred place.

We also visited the Trevi Fountain.  Not like you see in the movies.  There were no movie stars frolicking in the water and falling in love in romantic Roma! It was packed with people.  Reminded me of the Blue Lagoon in Iceland!   

Overall, Rome is one phenomenal city and we love it!  If I had the chance (and the energy because it took lots) I would go back.

As this wonderful trip comes to an end, we must admit there is a feeling of wanting to be back home to familiar things and places.  We’ve met some lovely people and we have had such a good time.  We will remember many things from this special cruise but home is where the heart is!  

Arrivederci, Roma!

Trevi Fountain.  I tried to block the people out of my photo.

A typical Roman street.  You can see why so many folks drive bikes, scooters/mopeds.

FLORENCE, ITALY (June 3, 2012)

The ship docked in Livorno which is a one and a half hour drive from Florence.  We had to take a bus which cost us $123.00 r/t each.  The bus let us off a good 20 minute walk from the old city of Florence.  This is due to the fact that buses cannot fit or park on the streets that are any closer to the old city.  It was a very hot day and the bus did not go back to the ship for seven hours!  This may have clouded my impression of Florence!  There is no denying that the Galleries and churches are beautiful but seven hours?  There was no place to sit that was in the shade and every cafe and restaurant was packed with people.  There was even some sort of social protest and parade going on and that  added another few hundred local protestors to the already congested streets!  They must have anticipated problems with the protest because polizia were everywhere (with sirens going).  My mind had envisioned something much more romantic like violins and Italian love songs!  I did take some photos of some of the more interesting and picturesque sites although we did not enter some of the galleries that we would have liked to see.  The lines were like Disneyland on a summer day and each church and gallery wanted many euro to enter.  I hope when I look at my photos at a later date, I will have fonder memories of Florence.  We were exhausted when we got back to the ship and so was everyone else. I understand not many showed up for the ships evening entertainment!

Couldn't get into this church as it was Sunday and masses were going on.  It is an active local parish located in the main square.  I took this when we first arrived before the masses converged on the square.

This bridge takes you over to the old city and has designer shops actually on the bridge.

This mime was in the Uffizi Gallery.  Yes, this is a real person.  Absolutely amazing.                        

Monte Carlo

MONTE CARLO, MONACO (June 1, 2, 2012)

If Geiranger was the highlight of our first voyage, then Monte Carlo so far is highlighting this voyage.  As lovely as Bordeaux was, Monte Carlo is a completely different kind of beautiful.  Having seen only glimpses of this city in James Bond and other movies, what we saw was not what we expected.  On our first day we were docked at the pier and had the most perfect view of this beautiful city built on the side of a mountain.  I did not expect high rises and hotels all built on top of each other and yet still be incredibly beautiful.  We didn’t see much sun so my photos will not do this port justice.  Our ship was completely surrounded with yachts of every size.  Each more beautiful than the other.  The yacht owned by the crown prince of Saudi was docked next to us.  Our american dollars at work!  I’m having trouble wrapping my brain around how there could be so much money  in one three mile stretch of coastline!  The entire country can fit into half of Central Park.    We sat and watched yachts sail in and out of the harbor for a couple of hours and we were mesmerized!  Jetsetters and glitterati surrounded us and we felt as though we were in some sort of fantasyland.  We also strolled around the streets today, people watched, checked our the rolls, jaguars, mercedes and lamborginies, (sp?) on the streets.  There are no Toyotas or Fords in this town.   We then browsed the windows of the designer shops.  It seemed most of these shops required an appointment to go in and buy something.  Designer jewelry shops and boutiques were everywhere with the most fantastic gems in their windows.  (Maybe they weren’t real but I would imagine in this city,  they were!)

On day 2 we visited the casino.  We were too early to enter the Casino Royal as it did not open until 2:00pm so we had to go into a somewhat lesser casino.  It didn’t matter, we still lost our money but it’s just fun to know we gambled in Monte Carlo.  We had planned to go to the Casino Royal the evening before but our group was just too tired by the time dinner was over and coats, ties and cocktail dresses are required after 8:00 p.m. This is no place to be seen in baggy jeans and a hometown t-shirt!  Even today we had to show our passports to get into the casino.  Apparently, locals are not permitted in any casino in Monaco.  I have no idea why.  

An incredible two days that we will never forget.  Another very lovely sail-away this afternoon and we are now off to Livorno and will spend the day in Florence tomorrow.  

GIBRALTAR, UNITED KINGDOM (May 30, 2012)

We have arrived at the gateway to the Mediterranean,  a 1400 foot high rock, that is emphatically British!  Some caves, a castle, and some apes up at the top.  I don’t love trams so we did not see the antics of the apes but others have told us we didn’t really miss anything.  From the sea it looks very familiar after seeing the “Prudential” commercials my entire life.  We did go into the little town (this rock is only two square miles) to check out the duty free and tax free shopping.  Prices didn’t seem much different than at home so why lug things back with us.  Guess I’m just way too practical because others did come back with arm-loads of purchases.  

The history of this rock is what makes it interesting.  It seems in 1967, 12,138 Gibraltarians voted to “Keep the Rock British” while only 44 proud-but-outnumbered citizens voted to allow the rock to revert back to Spanish rule.  It has NOT  been under Spanish rule since 1713.  It was strange to see the Union Jack flying in the windows of high-rise apartment buildings.  Yes, there are many of those on the Rock.  A very interesting day!  Looking forward to a sea day tomorrow.

LISBON, PORTUGAL (May 29, 2012)

Took a look at the highlights of Lisbon today.  First a drive through the really old part of the city.  I thought it was quite dilapidated and hadn’t been well maintained or restored as many of the other old cities we have visited.  However, Portugal has no money, so we hear.  They are spending three million euro to build a new museum to replace their current “carriage/coach museum though.  Go figure.

We then went to an “ancient” pastry house for a taste of the sumptuous Portuguese pastries and coffee.  Yum!  Following that, we took a look at Jeronimos Monastery.  We are getting to the point where all of these old churches start to look alike but it was quite lovely and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   It is the resting place of Vasco de Gama Of course, there were more monuments that tour guides seem to think we all want to spend 30 to 45 minutes looking at.  

There is a beautiful bridge in Lisbon which looks almost identical to our Golden Gate in San Francisco and we had a chance to drive over it and have a look at the other side of the river which was much more modern, clean and up-to-date.

It seems Lisbon is rapidly losing its population over the last 20 years.  They were at 1.2 million and now less than 600,000.  All of the younger people are leaving for better job opportunities.  Unemployment is about 18%.  Even their college grads are not able to find work.  

Ourship-board entertainment for this evening was a couple of young Scottish lads who were the 2006 finalists in Britains monster television show, X Factor.  They come from Ayr which is not too far from where I was born in Rutherglen and they were quite talented and have now released albums in the UK, Australia and now one for Asia is in the pipeline. They are the MacDonald Brothers and were probably the best part of our Lisbon visit.  They will be on-board until Rome so I’m hoping to have a chance to meet them.

BORDEAUX, FRANCE (May 26, 2012)

Today we sailed 60 miles up the Garonne River toward Bordeaux.  We sailed past what are apparently some of the worlds finest vineyards and most celebrated chateaux.  We then docked in the French city of Bordeaux where we stay for two days.  On day one we took off on our own and headed into the city by foot.  Found it to be very lovely and quite unlike any we had seen before.  Despite the cobblestone streets and old buildings it was certainly a mecca for designer shops and shopping.  We strolled the streets and took in a few of the historic monuments, took a seat on a nearby park bench and tried to people-watch the locals but it was hard to tell who were the locals and who were passengers from our ship (again we are the only ship in port).

On day 2 we took an excursion to the wine country and spent the day in St. Emillion.  This is probably highlight number 2 of the trip thus far.  The only place I can think of that is at all similar would be Old Quebec.  Our motor coach took us past “the hill with a thousand chateaux”   The town is enclosed within 13th century walls and a moat carved out of solid rock.  We went into an underground church built between the 9th and 12th centuries.  As interesting and amazing as it was, it creeped me out.  It was very, very dark and there were bodies buried down there.  Just amazing though that it was scraped out of the rock with a hand tool.  It took 300 years to build this underground church.

Every street in this lovely little village is  extremely narrow and so hilly that many have stairs to help you up and down (no funiculars).  The small streets were lined with wine shops and wine tasting rooms.  I have to say it was exquisite and quite what I envisioned Old France to be all about.

We ended our visit with a cafe au lait at a sidewalk cafe.  You just can’t skip that while in France.  While we were on this tour, our ship relocated to the port of Le Verdon so our trip back was a 2 1/2 hour ride through the french wine country.  It allowed us a great opportunity to see the surrounding countryside so we didn’t mind the drive at all.  The vineyards are lovely but I can honestly say, they do not top our own Napa Valley which is very rolling as opposed to the flatness of this french wine country.  All-in-all a great two days.

I have to mention an entirely different ambience on this second part of our voyage.  In Dover we unloaded a “senior population” and picked up a mainly Asian “younger population”.  This ship has become more crowded (totally full) and I’m not loving the noise level.  We can’t hear each other at our dining table and so have a tendency to slip off to the specialty restaurants and to deck for a quieter atmosphere.  Must be a sign that we are “aging”.

DOVER, ENGLAND  (May 23, 2012)

Most everyone on the ship disembarked in Dover today.  We said goodbye to the folks we met on our transatlantic voyage.  They were all envious that we were staying onboard.  To pass the time while we waited for the new group of passengers to embark, we took a shuttle up to Dover Castle.  (London was just too far to drive to and get back before sailing.)  The castle was lovely but we have seen so many British castles we didn’t spend too much time there even though the weather was lovely.  We strolled around the square in Dover, going in and out of shops, and picking up some essentials.  I had some british sterling from a previous trip but when I tried to use it, I was told it was
“too old”.  Off to a bank we went where they were happy to “update” my pounds.  We spent the rest of the day enjoying the Crystal Symphony.  Tomorrow will be another sea day. Such a life. 

BERGEN, NORWAY (May 22, 2012)

The city of Bergen, Norway’s second largest city is our last port of call for this first part of our voyage.  It is a wonderful city for sightseeing and we hopped on a tour bus that took us to all the highlights and several viewpoints for picture taking.  This town, as with every town we have visited on this voyage, has at one time burned down and had to be rebuilt.  There are several original remaining buildings and they have been moved to a more “fire safe” part of town and converted into shops, restaurants, and galleries.  I believe the big fire hazard in this part of the world is because everything was built of wood and all very close together so if one home went on fire, it quickly spread to the entire town!  This was the first port that had lots of shopping and the tourists seemed to be taking advantage and buying items you might get thrown in jail for in the states (i.e. shoes and handbags made of seal skin).  And no, I did not buy anything like that!  The other interesting tidbit is all the underground tunnels that connect the city to the nearby Islands thus eliminating the need to ferry back and forth to town for many folks.  I think it was in Alesund that we also saw and drove through some of these tunnels.  Tomorrow will be a sea day and then most all of the passengers will be disembark the following day in Dover.  We’re planning a relaxing day of doing nothing except of course the usual eating and drinking.

Hellesylt/Geiranger - Land of the Fjords (May 21,2012)

This was most definitely the highlight of our cruise so far and we really can’t imagine any other place in the world that could match the beauty we experienced here.  As we cruised into the nine mile inlet, the blue water was as smooth as a satin sheet.  There were sheer cliffs of jagged rocks still capped in white snow and ribbon after ribbon of phenomenal waterfalls cascaded down the sides of the cliffs.  Our weather was actually balmy and we didn’t even need jackets by noon.  We had an incredible bus tour up the mountain.  The road was a single lane with no barriers on the sides and included eleven hairpin turns before we reached the top which was called Flydal Gorge.  .  However, the scenery was so spectacular, I forgot to be afraid after three or four of those turns.  We stopped for picture-taking at several lookouts.  We could have stayed for hours.  After coming back down, we started up the other side of the small village of Geiranger (population 200 but soon to be 203).  Several more fantastic lookout  points were enjoyed as well as a stop at a lovely little hotel on the side of a cliff for tea and cake.   I wish I had the words to describe the beauty.  I don’t think I have ever looked at scenery so incredible it could actually bring tears to your eyes.  Being so early in the season, we were the only cruise ship anchored and are truly thankful for that.  In summer there are as many as five ships anchored in a day.  I think that would really take away from the serenity of this incredible site.

ALESUND, NORWAY (MAY 20, 2012)

Another tiny slice of Norway that makes you wonder how folks survive here  I can’t imagine the long, dark, cold winters in these little fishing villages.  We have been incredibly fortunate to have beautiful weather with bright sunny skies well into the midnight hour.  We took a tour around Alesund which seems to be a vacation spot for some people.  We stopped at a little village on a very small beach.  The tour guide told us not to miss the woodcutters home.  Well, all of the bus got on line for the outhouse (literally).  I’d rather die so I went off on my own to find the woodcutters house.  I came upon what I thought was the house and the door was open.  I went inside but lo and behold I found myself inside a family’s vacation cottage!  The lady was cooking in the kitchen and I’m walking all around the house before I discovered her and she discovered me!  I apologized profusely.  She greeted me but escorted me to the door and promptly closed it.  I was terribly embarrassed but an experience to remember.

All-in-all, it was another picturesque fishing community and not much more to say about it so I will just post some photos.

TORSHAVN, FAEROE ISLANDS, DENMAK (MAY 19, 2012)

Spent my birthday in the Faeroe Islands which lie halfway between the Shetland Islands and Iceland.  Tlhere are 18 islands in total and has a population of about 50,000 total.  Not a whole lot to see there except for birds although I still haven’t seen any puffins.  It’s quite a windy island with very little farming.  I guess the land is just way to rocky and hilly.  A few sheep here and there.  About the only thing going on there is fishing.  There is only about 4,500 people on this particular island.  The younger generation are finding opportunities elsewhere.  Most interesting to us was the fact that most houses are either black or white and most have grass roofs.  It is very alien to our way of life but we enjoyed our visit and the people that we had a chance to talk to.

HEIMAEY, ICELAND  (May 18, 2012)

A tiny Island with a very big story to tell!  The island is very  beautiful and I love it.  Only five square miles in size (it has grown by two miles since the volcanic eruption in 1973!)  It is one of the archipelagos and is known at the Westman Islands.  It’s the only island in the chain of 15 that is inhabited.  It translates to Home Island.  The Island had to be completed evacuated in 1973 when the volcano erupted.  Within one week of the eruption the town was buried under 12 feet of ash.  We got to visit a museum site were we actually walked on what used to be the rooftops of some homes.  They showed photos of the original homes and the view that was seen from the homes.  The view is no longer there as new land popped up and was much higher than the original homes were.  1.5 million tons of ash apparently fell down on this island.  Amazingly, no one died as a result.  The town is now rebuilt and is quite beautiful.  The surrounding mountains and glaciers are breathtaking.  With a population of now only 4200 (800 people did not return after the volcano) you can imagine there was not much more to do or see.  I was quite disappointed not to see the millions of puffins I anticipated.  This is the time of year for them and I saw only one!  The cliffs were, however, covered in other beautiful white birds (don’t recall their names but no, they were not seagulls!)  Hopefully, I will see puffins in the Faeroes.  If not, I will be forced to purchase a stuffed one.  

I will post photos later when I am in a mindset to spend time uploading from my camera.  Right now, were are just having too much fun and keeping way too busy!  I’m so glad we are not leaving the ship in Dover as most passengers are.

Reykjavik, Iceland (May 17th)

We have had a geologist on board who is a native Icelander.  Although he gave us much information on the land, people and history of the Island, we were still not prepared for a city as modern as Reykjavik.  We were surprised to see so much modern architecture and high rise  buildings and sophistication.  Our tour took us outside of the city center, however, and there we saw a bit more of what we were expecting which was a land of volcanoes, hot springs, mountains, and glaciers.  We were hoping to see northern lights but we are at the wrong time for that and also the sun never set while we were there even though we did not sail away until 11:00 p.m.

Our tour started us out in a small, picturesque town built on an ancient lava flow.  We followed alongside a lake until we reached the geothermal fields where we had  the chance to see powerful jets of steam escaping from deep below the earth’s crust and multi-colored pools of boiling mud.  It was fascinating.  (Jim got in trouble with the tour guide for going off the path and getting too close to the mud pools!)

We then travelled through a fishing village on our way to the famous Blue Lagoon.  It was like being at a very large spa with blue-tinted waters that come from a nearby geothermal plant.  The waters are supposedly rich in minerals and have healing properties.  I suppose it must be true as it was very busy there and busloads of locals arrived while we were there.  Folks were taking a dip on there way home from work.  There had to be at least 200 people in the water while we were there and maybe about half were tourists.  We did have enough time to go in but I don’t know how they keep it clean so I was a bit nervous about that.  As pretty as the color was, I couldn’t see the bottom and it has lots of white colored mud in the water that people were rubbing all over their faces!

Then it was on to a Viking Museum to see a replica of a fully seaworthy Viking ship.  It would have carried a crew of about 70 across the ocean.  About half of these ships actually made it to their destinations.  That’s no surprise as our three day journey across the north Atlantic was very rough even in a modern-day ocean liner.  The waves were wild and even Jim needed to wear the sea bands on his wrist one evening.  I had mine on for a couple of days.  They really do seem to work.




BLUE LAGOON

Today is the first opportunity I have had to pull out the laptop!  We have been busy spending a day in Boston, a day in Newport, R.I. and a new port-of-call for us, St. John’s in Newfoundland.  It was lovely sailing into the port at St. John’s despite the rainy, cloudy weather.  It was a collection of “fishing type” houses clinging to the craggy cliffs or scattered up the surrounding slopes.  I was quite surprised to learn the Island has 6,000 miles of coastline!  Once on shore, I could clearly see that the ancestors were from the English west country, Scotland and Ireland.   The architecture reminded me of the small towns in Scotland and the multi-colored houses reminded me of those on the Isle of Mull.  I also saw similarities to old Quebec.  It certainly doesn’t give the appearance of being the largest city in a province or the economic hub of the province but apparently it is.  We met some local ladies who were very happy to share their knowledge with us.  They said St. Johns is the “most easterly-city” in North America and they seemed darn proud of that.  They told us all about the great fire of 1892 and how the city was destroyed and was re-built.  One lady showed us all around St. Johns Anglican Parish.  Once again, she was very proud of the fact that it was the oldest parish in North America.  Not the oldest church, as the structure itself burned in the fire and was rebuilt.

I cannot imagine living in this city.  As quaint and lovely as it is, I have no idea where they hide their population of over 100,000 people.  It felt very small and confined with narrow streets.  Because it is built on the side of the slopes, one must climb many flights of stairs to get from one street to another.  They must do lots of internet shopping because shops were few.  All-in-all it was a wonderful day and always great to see how others live their lives.  We loved the locals and found them to be extremely friendly.

Today we are somewhere on the north Atlantic and will be at sea for three full days before arriving in Reykjavik, Iceland.   I have to say we are experiencing lots of motion but handling it well.  This morning we had quite the treat.  We had breakfast with Dick Vermeil (NFL coach) and his wife Carol.  Don Shula’s sister, Jeanette, also joined us.  You can imagine that Jim was in hog-heaven with the opportunity to chat for an hour, one-on-one, with Dick.  We were also invited to visit his winery in Napa.  We will definitely do that.

Guest speaker today was Jim Tunney, the Dean of NFL referees.  Yesterday it was Don Shula.  I’m hoping Jim will have the chance to meet them later in the cruise.  They will be on the ship until we reach Dover.

We had an uneventful flight to New York City on Monday afternoon.  That’s always a good thing.  We spent the night at an airport hotel in Newark and boarded the beautiful Crystal Serenity on Tuesday at noon.  The ship is somewhat similar to the Symphony but slightly larger.  It is the newest of the two Crystal ships.  The staterooms are about the same size just a different decor.  The staff is equally attentive and the liquor is flowing freely!  On our return from dinner last night we found a bottle of Canadian Club, a bottle of Vodka and two bottles of wine.  It was quite a surprise.  The stewardess had asked me what we drink but we didn’t realize it was so she could deliver it to our stateroom!  This is Crystal’s first voyage with liquor included in the fare.    

We stayed in New York overnight on the ship so today is an excursion day in the city.  Since it is raining, and we have seen so much of New York on our last two voyages, we decided to stay on-board and explore.  We have already met some very nice people.  In particular, one couple from Boston and another from Seattle.  Tonight we will meet our dinner table mates.  Last night was open seating.  We sail away at 6:00 p.m. today so we will be up top taking in the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty.  I love the New York City harbor.  It gives me goosebumps to sail by the Statue, Ellis Island and the World Trade Center.  Tomorrow we will be in Newport, Rhode Island for about five hours then it’s on to Boston.  Internet time is at a premium on the ship so we will check in when we can.  I plan to be an expert on “cut and pasting” to the blog before long.

Our Ports of Call

PORTS

• New York City, New York, USA
• Boston, Massachusetts, USA
• Reykjavík, Iceland
• Tórshavn/Faroe Islands, Denmark
• Hellesylt/Geiranger, Norway
• London/Dover, England
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Monte Carlo, Monaco
• Porto Venere, Italy

• Newport, Rhode Island, USA
• St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
• Heimaey, Iceland
• Ålesund, Norway
• Bergen, Norway
• Bordeaux/Bassens, France
• Gibraltar, United Kingdom
• Florence/Livorno, Italy
• Rome/Civitavecchia, Italy