Adventures..
Valetta, Civitivecchia, Monte Carlo, Marseille and Barcelona. OY!!! I'm exhausted!! I think I REALLY felt it yesterday in Marseille. This itinerary is busy and my purse is getting lighter by the day. It's also been a week or so since my last post and within this week of traveling I was stuck on board in Athens and Kusadasi. 
Valetta was a wonderful day. Malta is THE most expensive isle in the Mediterranean. I didn't buy much, but I enjoyed sipping ale and having a nice cheeseburger alongside the waterfront in this sand castle port. The whole town looked like a huge sand castle. Architecture galore. When you enter the port it's like being in a playground with all the fascinating side streets and places to get lost. There's history in every corner. Beautiful landscapes and picturesque views are in abundance. The sights that were offered to my eyes here that only the 100 or so pictures I took could explain better overtook me. In Civitivecchia we had a relaxing day in the sun with our friends from the Noordam. Several people went on expeditions to the city of Rome, but we stayed in town to catch up on good times with a fellow Zaandamer from last contract. The sun was pouring down and we all enjoyed a fabulous Chinese dinner. Yup, Chinese in Italy. How interesting eh? 
In Monte Carlo I went off on my own expedition to avoid the trials and tribulations of those who wanted to shop. I knew there were sights I wanted to take in and with little time to do it in. I was meeting my good friends on board for an exquisite dinner in the Pinnacle Grill and wanted to get as much in my day as possible. I was going to take a train to Nice, but I was glad I opted not to since my camera decided to have a little glitch I had to run back to the ship to fix not more than 10 minutes after leaving the train station. I would've been in Nice and not have been able to take a single picture. By the time I got the glitch fixed, there wasn't time to go to Nice. Oh well. I started my day off by visiting the Royal Palace situated high above the city. There were beautiful gardens, little French side streets, and of course the beautiful palace to see, and I was just in time to see the changing of the guard. A marching band and a whole ceremony heralded this process with a government official watching from a window across the way. I wandered through the many side streets trying to use as much French as I could muster. Lo and behold I didn't succeed too much. I can't believe how quickly 5 years of honors French just slips through the cracks. I guess practice makes perfect and in the 14 years since I last studied the language, I had the opportunities to use it maybe 5 times. Not enough to keep any phrases in the forefront of my language speaking skills. Ah, c'est la vie. I took a stroll back down into the valley and went over to the lavish side of town where the casino stood. I wasn't able to go inside since I was dressed in shorts, T-shirt, and sandals AND I would have to check my bag. I have a hard time leaving my camera behind. It just wasn't meant to be. Later I found out that you had to pay $10 EU to get in before you even gambled. Good thing I didn't need to go in. No need to gamble like that. I passed through many of the chic stores in the area including Bulgari, Lacoste, Lalique, and MANY other high-end facilities. I even passed about 2 Ferraris, saw about a dozen or so BMWs, and saw a car that looked straight out of a James Bond film. The Grand Prix had just ended about 5 days before that so all the stands were up and I think all the rich that came to see it were still in town soaking up it's beauty. I strolled back down to town and had a lovely crepe with some cider. Yum. 
Afterward I went over to the Princess Grace rose garden for some more photo taking. Needless to say I walked about 20 miles and I was exhausted. It was show time the next day and I was going to need some rest. Did I take that into consideration? For about 10 minutes. I was off in Marseille the next day during a show day. I was just exhausted by then. Marseille, France wasn't as impressive as I thought. The town was very old and European, yes, but we had SO LITTLE time in this port before our show AND we had 2 shows to perform. My hardest one as well. Yuck. It was still a lovely day of strolling around France and having a lunch where my friend Trisha and I had to use our French to our best ability. 
The menu was in French and the waitress only spoke French. I didn't really know what I ordered, but it was good and filling. The other day we were off in Barcelona. Off bright and early we rented bikes for 3 hours and pedaled around town. Good thing too, because everything we got to see was so spread out and we would've never been able to see it. It was so much fun scooting around town and seeing all the beautiful places. One in particular was this cathedral built in 1882. It's STILL not finished. 
The Temple de la Sagrada Familia. It's SO ornate that it's taking quite a while to construct. It's amazing how this structure just towers over the city. We went inside the structure and I hope I get to see it finished before my lifetime closes. It was just breathtaking to imagine all the stained glass windows that could light the cavernous temple up with the sun that Barcelona gets. Afterward I enjoyed paella and Sangria on the main strip. Paella is something I thought I would never eat, but I thought I'd give the special a try since it was a small portion and it came with Sangria and espresso for only $12 EU. The paella was a rice dish combination of mussels, whole shrimp (heads, feet, tails and all) and chorizo (a Spanish sausage). It was actually very tasty. It was right on the main strip and just as we were all finishing dinner, a nudist happened to be walking by. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A man (who looked about in his 60s or so) just walking down the strip naked as the day he was born and some other people filming him as he walked. I don't know if it was a demonstration, a documentary, or just what's considered art. It definitely caused a sudden burst of laughter and conversation amongst the crowded streets and you could hear the topic being discussed for a good 20 minutes after he passed from the strolling crowd coming from his direction. It was so interesting to walk this strip because all these entertainers were lining the inside walk way, and every 10 feet or so you'd run into a new performance piece. Today was very eventful with all the sights that I took in and the bicycle riding. These memories are going to last me a lifetime. I got another 65 or so pictures from this port. Already I think I tallied about 1,000 plus pictures so far. Digital is so fantastic.
Valetta was a wonderful day. Malta is THE most expensive isle in the Mediterranean. I didn't buy much, but I enjoyed sipping ale and having a nice cheeseburger alongside the waterfront in this sand castle port. The whole town looked like a huge sand castle. Architecture galore. When you enter the port it's like being in a playground with all the fascinating side streets and places to get lost. There's history in every corner. Beautiful landscapes and picturesque views are in abundance. The sights that were offered to my eyes here that only the 100 or so pictures I took could explain better overtook me. In Civitivecchia we had a relaxing day in the sun with our friends from the Noordam. Several people went on expeditions to the city of Rome, but we stayed in town to catch up on good times with a fellow Zaandamer from last contract. The sun was pouring down and we all enjoyed a fabulous Chinese dinner. Yup, Chinese in Italy. How interesting eh? 
In Monte Carlo I went off on my own expedition to avoid the trials and tribulations of those who wanted to shop. I knew there were sights I wanted to take in and with little time to do it in. I was meeting my good friends on board for an exquisite dinner in the Pinnacle Grill and wanted to get as much in my day as possible. I was going to take a train to Nice, but I was glad I opted not to since my camera decided to have a little glitch I had to run back to the ship to fix not more than 10 minutes after leaving the train station. I would've been in Nice and not have been able to take a single picture. By the time I got the glitch fixed, there wasn't time to go to Nice. Oh well. I started my day off by visiting the Royal Palace situated high above the city. There were beautiful gardens, little French side streets, and of course the beautiful palace to see, and I was just in time to see the changing of the guard. A marching band and a whole ceremony heralded this process with a government official watching from a window across the way. I wandered through the many side streets trying to use as much French as I could muster. Lo and behold I didn't succeed too much. I can't believe how quickly 5 years of honors French just slips through the cracks. I guess practice makes perfect and in the 14 years since I last studied the language, I had the opportunities to use it maybe 5 times. Not enough to keep any phrases in the forefront of my language speaking skills. Ah, c'est la vie. I took a stroll back down into the valley and went over to the lavish side of town where the casino stood. I wasn't able to go inside since I was dressed in shorts, T-shirt, and sandals AND I would have to check my bag. I have a hard time leaving my camera behind. It just wasn't meant to be. Later I found out that you had to pay $10 EU to get in before you even gambled. Good thing I didn't need to go in. No need to gamble like that. I passed through many of the chic stores in the area including Bulgari, Lacoste, Lalique, and MANY other high-end facilities. I even passed about 2 Ferraris, saw about a dozen or so BMWs, and saw a car that looked straight out of a James Bond film. The Grand Prix had just ended about 5 days before that so all the stands were up and I think all the rich that came to see it were still in town soaking up it's beauty. I strolled back down to town and had a lovely crepe with some cider. Yum. 
Afterward I went over to the Princess Grace rose garden for some more photo taking. Needless to say I walked about 20 miles and I was exhausted. It was show time the next day and I was going to need some rest. Did I take that into consideration? For about 10 minutes. I was off in Marseille the next day during a show day. I was just exhausted by then. Marseille, France wasn't as impressive as I thought. The town was very old and European, yes, but we had SO LITTLE time in this port before our show AND we had 2 shows to perform. My hardest one as well. Yuck. It was still a lovely day of strolling around France and having a lunch where my friend Trisha and I had to use our French to our best ability. 
The menu was in French and the waitress only spoke French. I didn't really know what I ordered, but it was good and filling. The other day we were off in Barcelona. Off bright and early we rented bikes for 3 hours and pedaled around town. Good thing too, because everything we got to see was so spread out and we would've never been able to see it. It was so much fun scooting around town and seeing all the beautiful places. One in particular was this cathedral built in 1882. It's STILL not finished. 
The Temple de la Sagrada Familia. It's SO ornate that it's taking quite a while to construct. It's amazing how this structure just towers over the city. We went inside the structure and I hope I get to see it finished before my lifetime closes. It was just breathtaking to imagine all the stained glass windows that could light the cavernous temple up with the sun that Barcelona gets. Afterward I enjoyed paella and Sangria on the main strip. Paella is something I thought I would never eat, but I thought I'd give the special a try since it was a small portion and it came with Sangria and espresso for only $12 EU. The paella was a rice dish combination of mussels, whole shrimp (heads, feet, tails and all) and chorizo (a Spanish sausage). It was actually very tasty. It was right on the main strip and just as we were all finishing dinner, a nudist happened to be walking by. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A man (who looked about in his 60s or so) just walking down the strip naked as the day he was born and some other people filming him as he walked. I don't know if it was a demonstration, a documentary, or just what's considered art. It definitely caused a sudden burst of laughter and conversation amongst the crowded streets and you could hear the topic being discussed for a good 20 minutes after he passed from the strolling crowd coming from his direction. It was so interesting to walk this strip because all these entertainers were lining the inside walk way, and every 10 feet or so you'd run into a new performance piece. Today was very eventful with all the sights that I took in and the bicycle riding. These memories are going to last me a lifetime. I got another 65 or so pictures from this port. Already I think I tallied about 1,000 plus pictures so far. Digital is so fantastic.
posted by Chris | 3:51 AM
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