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Last update 10/25/06
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Our
week-long vacation will be over in just a few hours, but it was
nice while it lasted. The two oldest kids flew in a week ago
Saturday, and I picked them up at the airport in the early
evening for the three-hour drive home. We spent several days at
the lake, skiing, fishing, and riding in the boats and several
days just relaxing at the house, so the pace was a bit slower
than our last vacation. And a lot less expensive.
back
the way we had come instead of finishing the loop I like to
take. Alas, no pictures of birds as I had hoped. We did find a
nifty spider back at the lake house though, and son threw it a
grasshopper as it stood waiting like a statue on its web. In
just a few seconds, the spider wrapped it up and injected it to
kill it. Next day, that food was gone and the spider was waiting
for another meal, so we obliged again. And of course there were
more common creatures like squirrels and turtles to watch. Son
spent some time toying with a snake that had slithered into a
hollow under a cypress tree root. Although it was tempted by the
worm on a fish hook in front of its face, it managed to avoid
getting hooked but got the worm anyway. This time the snake won.
Monday, July 31 - We booked what would be our only guided tours
of the trip to see the Herculaneum ruins in the morning, and
Pompeii in the afternoon.
The tours, which include bus transport
and radio headsets and a live guide were a bit pricey, but it
seemed like the best way to go. Each time, the bus stopped at a
cameo jewelry factory before arriving at the ruins so we could
have a potty break and contribute some Euros to the local
economy. Hand carved cameos are a classic regional art/craft
form.
The morning guide was pretty good, but on the afternoon visit to Pompeii, the constant yapping of
the guide while we were all standing somewhere in the shade
wasting precious time became so annoying, we finally went off on
our own.
The
guide was very determined that we all absorb her knowledge of
the history
of the place, but we already know the history.
We
came to explore! After the tours, we boarded the ship and were
enjoying a casual dinner as the ship sailed out of Naples Bay, with the
graceful slopes of Mount Vesuvius dominating the skyline - easily one of
the most beautiful and recognizable profiles in the world.
Wednesday, August 2 -
We docked at Dubrovnik, Croatia. A shuttle bus transported us
from the ship to the ancient walled city for a nominal charge,
and we spent the day walking along the streets paved with marble
and all the way around the 1.25 miles of 30 ft high ramparts.
None of us had any idea that it would be such a beautiful and
amazing place. This being our only stop outside the European
Union, we had to change dollars into Kunas to buy souvenirs and
have lunch at one of the ubiquitous sidewalk cafes.
Thursday,
August 3 - We arrived at the entrance to Venice in the early
afternoon. The captain slowed the engines to a crawl, and we
meandered into the city as the sound system on the big sun deck
blasted Pavarotti singing Italian opera standards. In a voyage
of superlatives, this was truly a lump-in-the-throat experience.
The people onshore and in the water-taxis returned our waves as
virtually everyone on the ship stood at the starboard rail to
take in the magnificent spectacle.
Venice
is a walking and boating town, so we used the main local public
transportation, the vaporetta (water buses), to get around. We
had our first rain of the trip while looking around in St.
Mark's Square, but there was plenty of cover under the arcade
that encircles the square, with hundreds of shops to look for
souvenirs. We walked through the narrow alleyways, stopping for
dinner in a small restaurant off the beaten path, where we had
pasta and wine, of course. The ship stayed in port overnight,
and many passengers partook of the Venice nightlife, but we
returned to the ship at sundown.
Friday
August 4 - We made our way to Piazza San Marco once again by
vaporetta, and we got in line to go inside the cathedral. The
entry rules forbade shorts and tank tops, and we were prepared
for that, but
M was carrying a backpack, and they were on the list as well, so
three of us went in to marvel at the inside, which was as ornate
as the outside. When we exited, we took the backpack and snuck M
back in the exit to do the tour in reverse. Next up was a visit
to an outlet for glass made on the Venetian island of Murano we
had spotted the day before.
A glass blower was in residence to
demonstrate the art to the tourists, and we watched him make a
vase and a horse figurine. He was amazingly fast, as master
artisans always are. As we walked around the showrooms, I knew I had
found M's birthday present, one day early. With many glass
colors and designs to choose from, we ended up with a red
baroque style decanter and set of glasses with 24k gold decorations
on a mirrored glass tray. My guidebook had warned that real
Venetian glass is outrageously priced, and they were correct.
But it will become an heirloom for us to enjoy and the kids to
fight over when we're gone. Sometimes, when I spend a lot of
money, I feel a little sick, but not on this day - real art is
worth the price. They will be shipping the set to us within a
couple of months. With
financial restraint now completely abandoned, we made our way
out to the main canal again and engaged a gondolier for a tour
of the city. He was a pleasant fellow, and between our
rudimentary Italian and his rudimentary English, we communicated
surprisingly well.
He didn't sing much, but he did teach us
about the more famous buildings we passed. After the ride, we
strolled a bit, then rested at a sidewalk cafe with a cappuccino
on the main promenade, before returning to the ship to set sail
at 5 PM. As the ship made its way once more through the city on
its way to the sea, we, along with most of the passengers,
donned Carnival masks we had purchased in Venice for a big deck party.
Sunday,
August 6 - We arrived in Messina, Sicily at 7AM. Having been
less than enthused with the group tour to Pompeii a few days
before, we opted to just wing it and go ashore to see what there
was to do on our own. Just outside the port gate, a local man
came up to me to offer to drive us from Messina to Taormina and
back for a set price, with "panoramas" included for free. At first, we said no,
but he persisted. So, for €120, we hired him and his car
for the day. In a mixture of Italian and a little English he
explained that he had 8 children and 5 grandchildren; thus he
needed the extra income. How could we refuse such an offer?
So
the four of us piled into his little red fiat, and away we went.
When he got on the autostrada, the little car was able to do up
to 85 mph as we went over bridges and through tunnels. Messina
was mostly quiet, this being a Sunday, but the old seaside town
of Taormina, perched up on the cliffs, was open for business.
The little town dates back to the height of Greek power, so it
features narrow stone paved pedestrian streets and alleyways
like the other old towns. Judging from the languages used,
people from all over Europe seem to want to come here. Our
erstwhile guide dropped us off at the archway entrance to the
old town, and we agreed to meet him back at the same
spot at undici quindici (11:15). After strolling about for a couple of
hours, we met our driver for the trip back to Messina, just as
agreed. We
paid our driver, found a cafe on the main piazza, and had a
local beer, then set off walking around Messina. It was a nicer
town than the cruise director had led us to believe, but he was
trying to sell motor coach tours. It would have been nice to go
see Mount Etna, but alas, it was too far away. When the ship
sailed out of the
straits, the captain took us very close to the
volcano island of Stromboli, and once more, all the passengers
got up on deck to see if the volcano would give us a show. Just
as we were right beside the volcano, it suddenly shot up a red
spray, and the ship erupted in cheers and applause. The loud
rumbling sound reached us after just a second or so. What a way
to cap off our day!
Tuesday,
August 8 - We were prepared for our day in Barcelona, since a
coworker who had spent some time here prepared a one-page guide
and map for
me - "Barcelona in 12 hours". The taxis were lined up waiting
when we got off the ship, and we asked a driver to take us to
the Temple de la Sagrada Familia. We arrived before opening
time, which allowed us to walk around the outside before the
throngs of tourists began to arrive by the busload. Like the
great cathedrals of old, this best known work of the Spanish
architect Antoni Gaudi has been under construction for over 100
years - since the
1890s. Although
it retains
some of the basic forms of the traditional gothic
cathedral, it is stylistically all Gaudi - a work of artistic
genius. We finally were allowed in, and though the interior is
not far along, it is worth seeing. As a bonus, the basement is a museum
of Gaudi's concepts and models. When we left the cathedral (it
is not actually a church sanctioned building, but it is clearly
a spiritual place), we caught a taxi to Parc Güell,
another creation of Gaudi.
This
immense park was the estate of a rich patron of the architect,
and he allowed Gaudi to build a house here, which is now a
museum of his life and design interests. Another brief taxi ride
took us to the Placa del Catalunya, a large traditional European
plaza, complete with fountains and pigeons. From here we began
our walk down the
Las Ramblas, a broad, tree-lined pedestrian
mall bordered by shops and cafes of all sorts, which continues all the way
to the statue of Christopher Columbus at the harbor. Along the
way, mimes of every description are doing their best to amaze
passersby in exchange for a few coins in their cup. Some stand
like statues, and some are available as posing partners for
picture takers. Somewhere along the way, we found a small eatery
that featured fresh baguette sandwiches and a selection of
bottled or canned drinks - not as romantic as a sidewalk cafe,
but the price was right, so we stopped for lunch. One more taxi
ride from the Columbus monument took us back to the ship,
leaving so many other parts of the city and surrounding areas to
explore another time.
Wednesday,
August 9 - The ship anchored out in the harbor of Cannes, as
they have no deepwater facilities, and we all had to wait our
turn to board tenders which carried us to land. The South of
France, the French Riviera, the Côte
d' Azur, or whatever you prefer to call it, was teeming with
vacationers, some sunning on the long wide beach which rings the
harbor, some shopping in the backstreets, and some
window-shopping in the designer boutiques which front the
Boulevard de la Croisette. The five star hotels form a
continuous backdrop. The only things we bought were some fresh
French bread (€.80 each) from a baked goods
market and canned drinks from a beachside food stand for lunch.
We
walked for a long way, resting now and then on chairs or benches
in the frequent little parks and green spaces. We had been
cautioned that topless and nude sunbathers of all ages and
shapes would be on the beaches, and so they were, but there
were other interesting things as well, like some amazing, huge
sand carvings. As you might expect in such an area, there were
some very exotic cars and fancy yachts for the jet setters that
frequent the place.
Thursday,
August 10 - Livorno was the only port that truly had little to
see within walking distance. It is a working class town, hosting
a large NATO base full of young solders (and all that comes with
that), but we struck a deal with a taxi driver to spend the
entire day driving us to Pisa and Florence, waiting while we
toured each place on foot, for a fixed price of €320. This would
be our most expensive excursion, but it was half the price of
taking the group tour by bus to cover the same territory. We
arrived in Pisa before the tour buses, so we walked around
without having to fight the throngs that would show up later.
When we had seen everything and bought a few souvenirs from the
ever-present street vendors nearby, we got back in our private
taxi to continue on to Florence.
Our
driver, who had no trouble navigating the backstreets in Pisa,
became lost and confused in Florence, so we drove in circles
through a sea of newer apartment buildings for what seemed like
forever. Nervous but undeterred, the driver stopped several
times to lean out the window and ask directions of a local, and
we finally crossed the Arno River and drove through an archway
into the Piazza della Repubblica.
It
didn't take long to figure out that there was way too much to
see in a few hours, so I bought a map and tour guide, and we
started walking. Florence is where the Renaissance flowered
after a thousand years of stagnation in Europe, in large part
due to the influence of the dominant Medici family, which
nurtured arts and architecture, and tempered the influence of
the conservative church Inquisitors who were determined to
prevent any progress in the rest of the world. Where many
historical cities have a handful of noteworthy buildings to see,
this city overflows with intricately carved massive wooden
doors, palaces, churches, statues, and monuments.
We
had a pizza and beer lunch at a sidewalk cafe, which included
much needed access to their restroom. We soon made our way to
the cathedral, an enormous and intricately decorated building.
Entry to the cathedral took only a few minutes wait in line, and
the rules were more relaxed than in Venice. Inside, it looked
even more immense than outside, and there was much more
uninterrupted open space inside than most gothic cathedrals.
Last stop was a copy of Michelangelo's statue of David in the
Piazza della Signoria - the original is in a museum that was not
within easy walking distance. Afterward, we met our driver in
the Piazza della Reppublica where we left him and began the long
drive back to the port.
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