Month: December 2007

Our final destination in our journey was to the French Riviera.
This first image is from the cinemagraphically famous city of Cannes. The Vieux (Old) Port was quite pretty and the yachts and sailboats docked there were very enticing because a number of them were for sale. Of course, the prices weren’t listed for some reason. Perhaps one day…

This is an image of the quaint hill-top village of Eze. Since it wasn’t tourist season, nearly every shop was closed down. No matter, it allowed us to wander the empty (but pretty) streets at leisure. One thing we did pick up was a little cologne for me. Since the nearby village of Grasse purportedly produces a significant portion of the world’s essences, and there was a factory right there, we decided to sample some of the fragrance.


As you can see, Liz and Ash also enjoyed wandering the empty streets.


We arrived in Nice in the late afternoon. The hostel we stayed at was quite nice. 🙂 Not only was it inexpensive, it had a great vibe and there were predominantly English speakers there. This is the view
from our balcony.

The city of Nice itself is very enjoyable to stroll through. This is the Quai des Etats-Unis. So named for the USA after WWI. It’s a great place to watch the sun set from.

You can see Ash was jumping for joy too.

Anna, Liz and Ash strolling along the promenade.


Such an interesting contrast. Beach and Christmas. It doesn’t matter where we are, if there is a fusion of beach/tropical and Christmas, it just doesn’t seem right. I know many many people grow up with this seeming juxtaposition, but it just always strikes me as a little strange.

The traffic wasn’t the best either.

Next, we wandered through the old city.

The ice rink was set up right next to the Christmas market. Apparently, this phenomenon is becoming more and more popular throughout Europe … a market of predominantly hand made goods with roughly a Christmas theme.

More of that juxtaposition.



Happy Holidays!

With that, we bid Liz and Ash a very fond farewell. We hope to go visit them in Melbourne sometime in the future. We’ve heard it’s the best Australian city to visit. We really enjoyed Sydney and Townsville when we visited last time though. So, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Then, we hit the road again and drove most of the day to get home to Germany.
Over all, it was the best trip we’ve taken in a long time. It was so nice to take a real vacation to fun, and exotic locations. Plus, to have enough time to truly relax. Being on a cruise really enables one to slow down and chill out.
So, until the next adventure…
–Jim

The final destination for our cruise was to the southern Spanish city of Málaga. We only had 5 hours, so our tour was brief … but long enough.
We began with this 16th century cathedral.

Don’t know who took this one…

These images are from the Moorish alcazaba (from the Arabic word for fortress), which was predominantly built in the 11th century




This is a view of Málaga from the fortification.

Two famous sons of Málaga are Pablo Picasso and Antonio Banderas. We decided to visit the large museum dedicated to Picasso. It was interesting to see so many of his works, but sadly we still do no appreciate his art as much as we are supposed to.
Finally, we walked back past the church and out to the boat.

After Spain, we spent another two days on the ship. Although we had some rough weather coming back to Italy, it was a great way to finish up. We had a great time.
This is the view that greeted us when we woke up the final morning before we disembarked. Savona was quite pretty in its own right.

After we got off the ship, our friends Liz and Ash accompanied us on the next leg of the voyage. We all piled into our little car (with bags stacked to the roof) and headed west.
Next stop was to Monaco, the most densely populated country in the world (and second smallest, after the Vatican City). There are only 32,000 residents, but the size is merely two square kilometers (485 acres).


This is a view of the palace of Prince Albert II. The country has been a constitutional monarchy since 1911. His father, Prince Rainer III was married to Princess Grace Kelly. Prince Albert II ascended to the throne in 2005 after his father passed away.

These guards are from a company of 112 soldiers that patrol the country in addition to guarding the palace. There are only 2 companies in the Monaco military which consists of about 240 people.

The mirror reveals the very famous Monte Carlo Casino.

It was a short visit to the very pretty country, but well worth it.
Next stop was just down the road. We explored several villages on the French Riviera.
–Jim

The next stop was to Tenerife, the largest of the seven Canary Islands.
Not only are the islands part of Spain, they also have the highest mountain in the country. You can see how the volcanic mountain rises out of the sea. It’s quite dramatic landscape. This is also a chance to see the outside of our floating city/home.

We and our Australian friends, Liz and Ash decided to rent a car and drive around the island. We docked in Santa Cruz on the eastern side and these next three images are from the west side.



Two very pretty ladies with the Teide Mountain in the background.

We decided that the mountain was so pretty that we wanted a closer look. So, we drove to the center of the island and took a gondola up to near the top of the 12,188′ peak.

Here is Ash.

The volcanic rock formations were quite beautiful. This volcano is the third largest in the world. Fortunately it’s been almost 100 years since the last eruption (1909).

As you can tell here, Ash was quite chilly. The temperature drop and wind increase was expectedly significant coming from sea level.

Another view of the peak.

Two rugged mountain men…

More of those rock formations.

Some random photographer.

This is a picture that Liz and Anna requested. Can you tell who was supposed to be the subject?

After the mountain, we headed to the beach. Unfortunately, the island is quite large and it took a little longer than we hoped to get around. That meant we had very little time to enjoy the black and white sand beach. It was still a welcome change from the chill of Northern Europe.
After a great day on Tenerife, we hopped back on the boat and sailed north. We came to more volcanic islands, this time owned (at least politically) by Portugal since the early 15th century. These are the Madeira Islands. We pulled into the port of Funchal.
Our intent was to go SCUBA dive, but the currents were too strong. So, we adapted the plan and decided to go up into the mountain and explore the botanical gardens. We heard that it contained all the flora of the islands in one place. Since we only had a day, we thought that might be a good way to experience the island.
This is another view of our home, Costa Serena.

These are a few pictures of the flowers. This flower is Anna’s favorite.

My personal favorite.




Then we met some friendly (or at least hungry) friends.



This guy didn’t appear to be quite as hungry.

Then, we took another gondola up higher on the mountain.

After we got to the top, we took a bus that careened down the steep, windy road back to the city.


On the walk back to the ship, we came across a carnival. Although the rides looked like lots of fun, we decided that watching would be enough.



That concluded our time on the Atlantic islands that are politically and economically tied to Europe, but geologically tied to Africa.
We enjoyed our time there.
Next up, return to Europe.
–Jim

After a very enjoyable day at sea, cruising through the Strait of Gibraltar, we arrived at the Moroccan port of Casablanca. It’s a major city, but from what we saw, not terribly interesting. So, instead, we decided to catch a train and go three hours South to the base of the High Atlas mountains. There we found the most colorful, vibrant street life and market we’d ever been to. It was the city of Marrakesh.

As you can see, there are a number of types of food available. Although we didn’t try the sheep’s brain, cooked in its own skull, we did enjoy some very tasty local fares.


More tasty options for the adventurous palate.

This is the epicenter of the amazing street life … Djemaa el Fna.

The square is filled with all kinds of people… fortune and story tellers, juice vendors, henna tattoo artists, ornately dressed water sellers, trained performing monkeys, and snake charmers.
These men were intently watching a snake charmer and his group of snakes.



We also found out that as soon as you point a camera in their direction, these performers will immediately come ask for money (much like western street performers). So, of course, I offered a little compensation. Once I did that, I immediately became the focus.

I heard these snakes have their mouthes sewn shut (or fangs removed), but nonetheless, they still looked the part and I saw no stitches (but no fangs either).

The snake charmer didn’t show any fear of this Egyptian Cobra, also known as Naja haje and reputed to be the method by which Cleopatra committed suicide.


Perhaps the snake wasn’t quite as docile as this man thought. This was his reaction when the snake almost bit him.


This one is probably my favorite image. This snake is very handsome and I wish I could have seen him in the wild. I know giving his charmer money promotes this destructive habit, but I guess I couldn’t help myself.

Here are a few more images of the Djemaa el Fna.


We also stopped for a quick break at this cafe, which also offered a great perspective on the market.

The real show happens when the sun goes down. Unfortunately, we had to leave and get back to the ship. So, all we got to see was the preparation for the nightly festivities.

There were people from all over as well.



When we got back to Casablanca, we stopped by the Hassan II mosque. Here you can see its minaret, which is the world’s tallest at 210 meters.


North Africa was something of a sensory overload, but it was without question our favorite stop on the whole trip.
Next up, the Canary and Madeira Islands.
So, until then…
–Jim

For our anniversary this year, we decided to take a longer journey than our usual weekend trip. After our honeymoon cruise, we planned to take a cruise every 5 years. I don’t know if we’ll keep it up, but we’ve kept the streak alive…
So, we set out on another journey. I have to admit, I was much more excited than I thought I was going to be. Another real adventure. Our first stop was only a few hours away in the Black Forest. But, we arrived at night and left before the sun. So, I don’t have any pictures to share. The best part was real spicy Thai food! Then, down to the tiny country of Liechtenstein for a lovely lunch.
Next, we stopped in the Italy Lake District of Como. This is the lake where a number of films have been made, most notably Star Wars Episode II (the scene of Padme and Anikan’s wedding on Naboo). We didn’t actually visit the Villa, but Lake Como is a great place to stay.
This is the view out of our hotel room.

We also had a great time wandering the streets at night.


Sadly, the next morning, we had to continue on (although we plan to go back and visit the lake(s) again soon). The next stop was to the commercial and perennial fashion capital of the world, Milan, Italy. Our first art museum of the trip was at a converted Dominican Convent, Santa Maria delle Grazie. This unpretentious location was, like many important European buildings, severely damages in WWII. However, one wall was protected by sandbags and spared. That wall has the very famous painting, The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo chose to use tempera, instead of fresco to create this masterpiece. Although it was an instant success because of the realism and emotion it conveyed, the paint did not share the same indelible quality that the painting had. So, although it was spared from falling bombs, gravity and humidity have wreaked greater havoc. Over the last 20 years, much more extensive work has been accomplished to try and stabilize/restore the artwork. However, this piece has always been controversial and the restoration has been no different. Unfortunately, like the fresco in the Vatican City, we were not allowed to take pictures. However, the Last Supper was the only piece to see and each group is only allowed 15 minutes… Oh, and you have to make reservations just to see it. Since the painting was prominently featured in “The Da Vinci” code, it has gotten a lot more attention. It was worth it though. A stunning piece of art with so much emotion and so much lost through the centuries, it’s fun to ponder just what it all means.
Then, we headed over to check out the main square and do a little shopping. After all, we were in a great place to find clothes.
This ornate shopping center is named after Victor Emmanuel II, who was the King of Italy. Interestingly, this is also one of the world’s first modern shopping malls (it was built in the 1860’s).


There were also Christmas markets setup around the main square.

Here you can see the Duomo di Milano (or Milan Cathedral), which is the second largest church in Italy (second after St. Peter’s in Rome).

Although there weren’t nearly as many as St. Mark’s Square in Venice, there were plenty of pigeons here too. I chose this picture of Anna because you can clearly see just how much she likes it when birds land on her.

After that thrilling encounter, we continued our journey southward. It was in the port city of Savona that we met our floating city we called home for the next 10 days. The ship is truly a self sufficient city (for a while at least). It carries about 3,700 passengers complimented by over 1,000 crew, displaces 112,000 tonnes and is 950 feet long. One unique (and expected) aspect of cruising in Europe is that although many passengers and all the crew speak English, very few do so as a native speaker. Less than 7% of people on board spoke English as a first language. We found the blend of cultures very interesting. However, for meals, we were grouped by language spoken. So, our table of 5 couples included 8 Americans and 2 Australians. We really enjoyed our dinner conversations each night and every one had such varied and interesting stories, it made for fascinating evenings.
Although the ship cost 450 million Euros to construct, and millions were spent on the 6,000 works of art, the thematic elements were often conflicting and often over-the-top. To give you an idea, here are a few pictures.
This is “L’Olimpo Spattacoloso” (Spectacular Olympus), with 16 “Sculpture Costumes” by Alberto Nodolini. Unfortunately, these sculptures look a lot like department store mannequins…

One redeeming design factor is the fact that there are four pools and a bunch of whirlpools. The pools were filled with refreshing sea water and with the sway of the boat got some nice sized waves. It made for an interesting swim.

There are also two large dining rooms, and each one offered an early and late seating. This is what the one we ate at looked like.

Here is a little more of that gaudy decorating.

These two musicians played every evening and although I wasn’t impressed with the quality of their music at first, I came to appreciate it. Plus, we were often the only audience in attendance. This is from one of the formal evenings where they played for the whole dining room.

The food itself was nothing to write home about (although in a sense I am doing that right now), but the service was excellent.

Finally, this is our stateroom. It was about 220 square feet and about twice the size of our last cruise ship room. Plus, there was a window this time. Consequently, we spent a lot of time just hanging out in our room. Of the 10 days, there were 4 days at sea. This was a welcomed, forced relaxation time. We had breakfast delivered to our room, often read for a while, watched movies (on the laptop), or just sat and watched the ocean. When we wanted a different view, we would go for a swim, sit in the whirlpool, or go for a run on the treadmill. Since we are planning on running a marathon in April (with Jen), we have already started our training regimen. That called for a couple long runs (8 and 10 miles). Which meant that we had a long time on the treadmill as the ship rocked and swayed beneath us. OK, Anna did pretty well, but I nearly fell off a couple times.


After getting settled and acquainted with our new friends at dinner, we had a very restful night’s sleep. The next morning, we awoke to the sunny city of Barcelona. We only had a matter of hours in the city, so we decided on a whirlwind tour. The ship offered a convenient shuttle to the start of Las Ramblas, the famous thoroughfare through the center of the city. It was lined with more vendors and human “statues” than we’d seen in a while. Still not sure what the point of dressing up in a costume and standing motionless for hours, while hoping that passing people toss money your way, will accomplish…
After a lovely stroll, we hopped on the subway and headed to see a few works of the city’s most famous architect, Antonio Gaudi (also interesting that we found the ships decoration gaudy, but apparently the word/name aren’t related).
The first stop was to an apartment called Casa Batlló (so named for the owner, Josep Batlló Casanovas). It was built in 1875, but in 1904 Gaudi was commissioned to renovate it. He turned it into the work of art we saw. Here are a couple images from the exterior.


Just up the road we also found Casa Milà, or as it’s better known, La Pedrera. This was a house Gaudi built from 1905-1907 for Roger Segimon de Milà and there is a large section of the building that has been kept (or re-created) to be just as it was when first built. From an infrastructure perspective, I found it fascinating … the electric lines and plumbing were just as it would have been 100 years ago.


This is an image from the roof.

She’s famous…

Here is Anna with arguably Guadi’s most famous work, La Sagrada Familia, which was the next stop on our itinerary.


Here are a few more close up of perhaps the most famous incomplete building in the world. It’s construction was begun in the second half of the 19th century and will probably not be complete until the middle of this century (at the soonest). The work continues by donation and some two million annual visitor ticket sales. So, we did our part to aid the construction with the tickets we bought.




That finished our all too brief tour of Barcelona. We jumped back on board and headed out to sea again. Next stop … North Africa!
So, until then.
–Jim