Ashore In Gibraltar

   After 8 days at sea we finally landed in Gibraltar.  On past

Pat, Rick Judy

Throught The Gate

crossings we have always stopped in the Azores (or Canary) Islands but this time we sailed right by.  In any case we were ready for shore by 9:30.   Having been to Gibraltar twice before we had already done all the "must dos" like see the Monkeys, the caves, the view from the top as well as the Great Seige Tunnels and the 100 ton gun.  This time we just decided to wander with Pat and Rick.  We did not have any real destination.  After passing throught the main gate and wall, we just walked down the main street trying to find interesting things to photograph.  We stopped at  the "Trafalgar Cemetary on our way to the lift to the top.  When we got there the line ups were too long so we decided to go to Europa Point - the site of the Gibraltar lighthouse.  We were going to walk but decided it was too far so we hopped on a local bus.  It was a good decision because it was quite far and the  road was hilly and narrow.

Lighthouse for the Straits

   The area of the lighthouse (and mosque) are quite well kept and you get nice views of Africa although there was a yellow hew in the air.  I suspect the wind was blowing from the Sahara out to sea.  We spent a bit of time there just enjoying the sunny weather and the time ashore.  There were plenty of picture opportunities there as well.
     We were going to walk back but opted for the bus again, getting off about where we started earlier in the day.  From there we just wandered along some of the back streets and then decided to walk up the rock to the old Moorish Castle.  We were on the main stairway up but it was still quite a climb.  After a short visit we made our way down to the main street where we both decided to go our own way. 

Judy and I opted for the Catherine of Aragon pub, a place that

Moor Castle

Europa Point

we had stopped at in the past.  It is in an alleyway off the main street.  We could sit and have a beer and watch the people wandering down the main street as well as the side street.   Afterwards it was the 2 mile walk back to the ship.
      They had a sailaway party at night so we did go up and joined the fun.  There was some line dancing type dances for about 20 minutes, then the cruise staff left.  However the band kept playing so we stuck around.  Patti knows a lot of dances

Gibraltar At Sunset

so we spent the next while dancing.  A few other people tried to join us but most just watched and drank!   It was a good time.
        Dinner was good as always with a healthy discussion about the day's activities.  A production show was the last thing for the night.  We were pretty tired after all the wandering!  Next post will be for Alacante!

  Almost finished packing and the car ready to go.  We will be off again on Thursday.  First stop is Toronto for an overnight with Chris; then Air Canada Friday morning to Fort Lauderdale for an overnight stay there.  On Saturday 21 April we Board the Crown Princess for the 8 days at sea before we finally land in Gibraltar.  After that it will be 5 ports before landing in Civitavecchia.

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      Once ashore it will be a train ride to Siena for 2 days - we have never been to that part of Tuscany before - then on to Pordenone.  It is a smaller town just north of Venice.  While there we will be meeting relatives of both my mother and father.  It should be an interesting 3 days.  Finally we will move to Venice for 2 nights before flying back to Toronto.
  It is hard to believe that we are going again after just getting back from Florida but we try to keep moving.   
   One of the hardest things was trying to decide on the weather in the Mediterranean.  With our normal spring and fall sailings we need warmer clothes but we hope that it will be warm there.
     We have already sailed 174 days plus on Princess (stuck in a rut?) but now that we attained Elite status we can hardly pass up the perks.  The mini bar and free laundry are just a few of the things that go along with the staying with one line.
       We will try to post daily (?) if we can.  We always find that sailing is an adventure and this should not be any different.  Pasta and vino here we come!  We made it safe and sound to Fort Lauderdale.  The trip to Toronto was easy , the Thai food tasty (except perhaps that strange thing floating on the bottom of the soup bowl) and the bed was good.
     The trip to the airport was fast but I was one of the lucky ones that had been flagged by the airline for extra screening in securty.  Why Me! I go the speed limit!  U.S. customs were very nice and the extra screening went well.  The flight was smooth and the hotel pick up fast.

    Since we arrived at the hotel in the afternoon, we decided to take a

Sailing At Last

On Board

taxi downtown and then walk around the river walk.  A bit of a disappointment as we expects shops, pubs, etc.  No such luck.  We did pizza for dinner, found a CSV that sold wine and then back to the hotel for a very good night's rest.    Now we are waiting for the shuttle to the Crown Princess.
     So our trip to Itlay finally begins.  More later...

Herculaneum and A Lost Bag

     Although we have been home for a few days,   We have not

had a chance to complete a blog on our last day.   Needless to say it has been busy here getting the house and yard in shape after being away for almost 3 weeks.  I have posted a series of photos from the trip that roughly match up with the post for the day. You can view it at :"Del Col Travels".

    Our afternoon trip in Naples was to the buried town of

Last Sunset

Herculaneum.  We had been to Pompeii before and chose the other local town buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  Pompeii was covered in ash but Herculaneum was covered in mud.  The difference is that this city of about 2,000 people - the port of the larger city - is actually much better preserved.  Only a small portion has been reconstructed.  Most of it is under the current town.  As a result of the mud preservation, excavations revealed its well preserved Roman Villas.  After a slow start our guide turned out to be excellent.  At the end of the tour, we both think that we have seen enough ruins to last us a bit!
       Our trip home was long and although we had a direct flight, it took over 17 hours from the time we left the ship until we were picked up in Toronto.  Some of that was spent waiting for a bag that somehow was left in Rome.  One arrived, the other did not.  However we finally got our last bag today!   In all it was a great trip through the ancient worlds of the Mediterranean Sea region.

Morning In Naples

     Yesterday was our last sea day and we needed some time to rest after 4 heavy port visit days.  The ship has gone in code ? because of an apparent problem associatd with Egypt.  Talking to people and from the way I was a bit off for a week,  I think the problem existed earlier. Now if you want some butter for your roll, they give it to you.   We are told they are

serving everything in the buffet Although we spent most of the day in a relaxed mode, we did attend a line dancing session.  The instructor was very good and I had mentioned that I could give her a few new easy dances.  She did have some different ones already.  Later she found me and we did a mini-workshop near the elevators.  She did a quick video and seemed to appreciate the help.  In fact we talked about a "barn dance" that she knew.  I think she was referring to the "Barn Dances" that we attended while in Australia but the dance that she "worked out" while there reminded me of something that we did while we were there.
   

Yesterday also saw the last chanpagne auction.  We had attended the wine reception ( we received an invatition because we had aquired art in the past). Of course we entered the "free $2,000.00 worth of art giveaway".  Our name was called.  That makes 4 so far on Princess Cruises.  At least we had a selection of 12 pieces so we picked something that we can eventually have framed and put on the wall in the Florida condo.  We probably will paint the living room this next season and the print will already be there if our neighbour accepts it on our behalf.  We better call her when we get back to Canada.

     We arrived in Naples early this morning an since we gained an hour last night I was up just in time to catch sunrise directly over Mt Vesuvius.  I hope the photos capture the essence of the morning!  We have a tour this afternoon, so we went ashore to wonder the area.  First impression of Naples was not that good.  There was garbage all over the streets and it was certainly the dirtist city we have stopped at except for Alexandria.  As an aside, we are docked next to the Celeb Solstice.

     We wandered around but made our way to the Chiesa of Naples; another one of those wonderful old churches.   Service had finished so we had a chance to spend some time again in awe of the paintings and trappings of the church.  It did have the oldest baptismal font of any church in the west - whatever that meant.  Of course there was a church every 2 blocks especially in this older part of the city.   Judy had another of her near fainting spells so we came back to the ship and she is resting before we head out on the tour!

Athens On Our Own

     We just returned from a full  day in Athens.  The last time we were here (2003) the city was torn up as they we getting ready for the Olympics.  They also had one of those 10 year "rains".  It is fitting that as we leave Athens, it started to rain again but the entire day was nice.
     We took the ship shuttle to the city centre but would take a

cab the next time.  We had intended to do it on our own anyway and the ship simply provided transport.   Our first stop was the Acropolis Museum barely 3 years old and dedicated solely to the artifacts of the Acropolis.  It was a wonderful place.  The "floor" of the building has glass panels in it where you can see the restorers working on the ruins below.  A really well planned approach.  3 floors of artifacts with great models showing the changes over time.  A short movie also provided much information.  After the museum we really did not need a guide to the actual Acropolis.

      That was our second stop.  Again, they have continued to reconstruct the temples and it is in much better shape today.  We have all see the photographs of the hill with its various temples and a visit did not disappoint.  We then walked down to the Ancient Agora - literally meeting place but better thought of as the local market.  Wandering around we came across a church built in 1000 A.D.  A walk through a crowded Plaka

occupied the afternoon but we were not trying to buy anything so it was mostly a look and see type of experience except for a good gelato!  After having been to the Bazaar in Istanbul the place was a bit quiet.   On the way back to the bus meeting place we did get a picture of Adrian's Gate which marked the change from the old to the new city.  It is located very near the Temple of Zeus which we did not see the last time here. We had a short visit to this big temple.  We did have a bit of to kill so we did stop for a bottle of Greek beer and some spinich pie.
          Back onboard and headed to Naples now.  A sea day tomorrow is what we need after 4 days of going ashore!   Tonight's activities include the VIP Art reception (free wine) followed by a line dance party, dinner and then the Ultimate Deck Party - now being held indoors because of the rain.  It should stop later tomorrow, probably just when we are getting out of bed!

Kusadasi And Ephesus

      Our day in Kusadasi and Ephesus was all and more than we expected it to be.  That is because it was always a place we wanted to go back to and having done that, we were not disappointed.   The other good thing is that unlike the last time we were here, we did not hit the dock and have to stay for an extra day!   They have built another dock and a big new termoinal building.

Mary's House

       We had 3 things to do today.  The first was a stop at the House of the Virgin Mary. The Vatican has recognized this small (now rebuilt) house as the finall resting place of the Virgin Mary.  A small shrine was found when the ruins were first discovered about 150 years ago.   It is known historically that John took Mary with him to Ephesus when they left Israel.   Ephesus was the 4th largest city in the Roman Empire and was known for religious tollerance.  In any case, it was a good visit.  We did not go to the ruins of St. John's Church as we have done that the last time we were here.
     The real highlight was the full tour of Ephesus.  We were last there in 2003 and they have

done a lot of reconstruction in the past few years.We entered from the top of the city (the Magnesia Gate) throught the government district then down to the socal district.   The city probably had 300,000 people at the height of its population all based on a good harbour which brought trade from all over the Roman Empire.  The Library was there the last time we visited but this time you could get into the reconstructed structure.  We did not visit the terrace houses  (some houses had 4000 sq feet).  This was a choice of tours that we had made.  However our table mates did get there and were suitably impressed.   The Ampitheatre was there the last time but they have added to the

Ampitheatre

structure.  It is where St Paul preached before he was driven out of the city as he was disrupting the sellers of the Roman gods trinkets.   The via down to the now silt filled port with shops and columns has also been filled out considerably.  The water is now 5 miles away and because of the silting, the city's source of trade was cut off and the city died.  However the running water systems, red light houses, roman baths, temples, etc made for a good day!
      We skipped the carpet demo and walked the bazaar but the merchants did not seem to be as agressive as the last time .  Perhaps with the number of ships that do arrive here on a constant basis (2 others this day) means that they don't have to hassle as much!  Next Stop Athens.

Exploring Istanbul

    I just returned to the ship after getting ashore shortly after 8 this morning.  We did not take a ship tour for this port because of the information that we had before we left Canada!   We did take the local shuttle although if we had had more time (we needed to catch a 3 pm shuttle back) we could have easily walked.  If we are ever this way again, we would take the tram and save the jam (traffic that is). 

Blue Mosque

     Our first destination after we were dropped near the Grand Bazaar was the Blue Mosque, so nammed because of the thousands of blue tiles that make up the interior.  We did remove our shoes and walked over the nice plush red carpet that is throughout.  It is the largest in the mosque in the world.  There is an enormous anount of room on the inside.  The only person beyond the barriers that kept the crowd on the outside was a cleaner vacuuming the carpet.
       The next stop was Saint Sophia a church that was converted to a mosque after the fall of

Santa Sophia

     As we walked to the meeting point we passed anothre landmark that I wanted to see so I did go inside myself.  This was the Yerebatab Cistern built in the 5th century.  This truly was a find.  It took about 20 minutes to walk the perimiter.  It has hundred's of colums in it, some that are very ornate.  It is empty and no longer in use but if was originally filled with fresh water supplied by aquaducts.  It is hard to describe but I think the most impressive thing was that is is 1500 plus years old.
      A slow walk from the Cistern got us to the meeting point. 

Grand Bazaar

Judy went back to the ship on her own and I wandered around the Grand Bazaar for about an hour.  It is very easy to get lost in it.  There definately is a pecking order to the shops.  All the gold and silver places are near the prime gate - the high priced places.  If you wander some of the side alleys (all covered of course) you find the "other" stuff like carpets, shoes, shirts, etc.   How there can be so many shirt shops, etc. is hard to believe. 
       The trip back was an adventure as is any ride in these cities.  How the drivers can get those buses around and up and down those streets is a mystery.  We are about ready to sail for Kudedasi where we do not arrive until noon tomorrow.   We have to make 300 miles by then.   At least we will get to see a bit of this historic waterway in the light as we transit back to the Mediterranean..