Magic Of Sicily - Background

 

 After cruising for the last 20 years we decided it was time to see more of an area rather than just the ports areas of all the places that we have visited. We settled on a 17 day all inclusive tour with a company called Senior Discovery Tours. They are located in Toronto and everything is conducted by phone. We were a bit skeptical about not using a travel agent but it has worked out great.

      The thing that we liked about this company (I am sure there are others) is that the price they quote is all in – air fare, transfers, meals, all tips, tours, taxes, etc. One price done! We know of others who have used this company and you get what is advertised.

This land tour has only 3 hotels for the 15 days that we are in Sicily. There are local tours every day with a few days of at leisure which suites us perfectly. The first 3 days are in Palermo, then 5 nights on the western side in Mazara del Vallo followed by 7 nights in the resort town of Taormina. The last 2 hotels look like seaside resorts. There are two optional side trips (one to to Mt Etna) that can be booked as an extra tour on one of the at leisure days.

With the central Mediterranean location, Sicily has been at the crossroads of the many cultures that have controlled the region. The area has seen many rulers from different cultures including Greeks, Roman, Norman, and Arab. This has resulted in a variety and mixture of ruins and architectural styles. A visit to the “Godfather” town, wineries, beaches, fishing harbours, islands, etc. are all on the tour list. It should be fun.  

•    We fly out on Sunday October 20^th for the flight to Rome and then transfer for the second leg to Palermo. We retrace the route from Catania on November 5.  I hope to report on each day. I try to post in the late evening each day. Sicily is 6 hours ahead of EST which means the posts should arrive some time in the evening.

Going Back To Tampa: 23 March 2023 The Final Leg

   Going home after a cruise is never the easiest of days. We were up early and expected to be off the ship by 7:30. We headed down to our assigned lounge and heard the announcement that we were already called about 20 minutes before. Actually a good thing because the crowd had moved on by then. We cleared Spanish arrival immigration; found our luggage in the few that remained and were on the bus in very short order. It was probably the best departure from a cruise that we have ever ha porters all over the place. At the airport all the luggage was taken off the bus and ready to go.

  The delta check in was quick enough as I had done all the getting ready stuff a few days ago. Then the wait which did not seam that long. Then the 9 hour flight to JFK. The food was probably the best we have had on a flight in a long time. Of course on international flights they serve wine, then refill. Always a bonus. We settled in to watch movies or sleep.

   Next up was the arrival at JFK. We were on time getting here and tried for an earlier flight to Tampa. No luck so we settled in for a few hours. About an hour before we were scheduled to go they cancelled the flight because they did not have a crew. We had to rebook for the next day. That took a bit but they did give us a food voucher and a room voucher for the Crown Plaza. Boy this airport is huge. We finally got the shuttle stop ( by sky train) and made the hotel by 8. Easy check in and then quickly to bed. The shuttle for the morning flight left at 4:30. We could not sleep anyway. We tried again for the direct flight but it was oversold by 5 seat so no chance of getting that one. Back to the flight to Atlanta and then to Tampa. Got “breakfast on the voucher”. Ready and boarded on time. Should be in Atlanta with 90 minutes to spare,

 This is the point where it becomes a flight from hell. We sat on the ground for just short of 2 hours with not chance of making our next flight. First it was loading luggage and then it was a mechanical problem. SURE! Then we had to contend with rebooking to Tampa, We finally arrived in Atlanta. Good thing they rebooked us on standby and then a definite seat on a later flight. We made the earlier flight and finally arrived in Tampa around 4 pm. Charlie was waiting and got us home quickly. So about 40 hours after we started, we were home.

 The cruise was very were not expected. CHANGE. However we will be ready to go when we find a good cruise to take. Maybe Alaska!

Last Port: Palma de Mallorca: 22 March 2023

   We are at the last stop before heading home tomorrow from Barcelona. Needless to say going ashore for some sight seeing and then packing was the order of the day.

  We did not schedule a tour today. This is the first time we have been to this city and we always like to just travel on our and get a feel for the city. Again today we started with breakfast in the dinning room for a very nice no hurry since we had plenty of time to go ashore.We did not schedule a tour today. This is the first time we have been to this city and we always like to just travel on our and get a feel for the city. Again today we started with breakfast in the dinning room for a very nice no hurry since we had plenty of time to go ashore.

We decided to skip the shuttle and just walk to the old palace and the cathedral which is almost the height of St. Peter's in Rome. We thought it was a short walk from the ship. Actually is was over an hour walk. We could see it but the harbour is very large and we had to walk around the whole thing. Our first stop was the Almudaina Palace. It was constructed as a Moorish fort in the 13^th century and became an official royal residence during the reigh of James 1 in the 24^th century. You could tell it probably was a fort because of the narrow passageways and thick walls.

Next to the palace was the cathedral know as La Seu but officially known as the Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca. They started building it in 1230 and finished it in 1601, It was a classic Gothis church with large towers, gargoyles, a bell tower with 9 bells, stained glass windows, high vaulted ceilings, etc. It has been updated many times so some of the areas in the interior are more recent. Gaudi worked on areas of it. We did come across more school kids on tours but the church is so big you hardly noticed.

  By the time we finished it was already early afternoon so we decided to just walk back to the ship. I think having 4 ports in 4 days begins to take its toll. We much prefur the fall crossing where you have all the ports early in the cruise and then have sea days to sit back and relax.

  After we getting back to the ship it was time to pack, always a thankless task but something necessary. Since we packed all our clothes, we had to wear travel cloths to dinner. Dinner tonight was surf and turf. We said goodbye to our dinner companions of the last 13 days nd then headed off to the farewell show. We left before it was finished as we have to be up early tomorrow. It will be a long day.

A Walk Around Cartagena: 21 March 2023

  Today was a day where we did not have to be somewhere specific. We started with breakfast in the dinning room since we had plenty of time to go ashore. We have been to Cartagena before and decided to just do a walkabout. We had planned to go see the fortress and the Roman Theatre but never got there. There was another cruise ship in today so the main streets were very busy. In addition it was school visit day or something like that. There were bus loads of kids all over the place ranging in age from kindergartner to high school. I think they all wanted to go to the Roman theatre. We decided to skip that.

We decided to head to the city market which is always a good place to soak up some local activity. This market was smaller than many markets that we have seen and basically sold fish. There were a few meat markets and a few stalls that had more varieties of olives than you can imagine. There was one very interesting wine store. There were 6 kegs with a tap. I guess you bring your own bottle and just tap off what you want. It was a very new experience.

From there we went looking for a portion of the original Punic Wall that surrounded the city. I think we found it but it was hard to tell. A stop at the military museum and we started back to the harbour. Judy wanted a chiros. However no matter how hard we looked, no chiros. She said there must be one like a chip wagon. We did find them the last time we were here.

However we did come cross the Archaeological Park. The excavations started in 2008 which probably explains why we missed it. It was an entire Roman set of ruins. They are probably the largest of this type that we have seen outside of Italy. They were very well reconstructed with plenty of signs in English explaining the buildings and the function of each area. Well worth the visit,

Not having found the chiros and a bit weary from the past few long days, we headed back to the ship for a refreshment and a bit of lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent with a short nap.

It was suppose to be a formal evening tonight but instead it was a Dress to Impress night what ever that means. I was going to wear shorts. We did manage to get to the lounge for a Manhattan for me, water for Judy. Dinner was good as usual but we still don't like it. The staff will tell you that they prefer the fixed dining in 1 dinning room, anytime in the other 2. We enjoy the same waiter every night but he seems to be run off his feet most nights. We notice the difference in a lot of little things. However Dexter, the area supervisor keeps us laughing and does visit every night. We hit it off the first night.  Dinner tonight was lobster which we have been waiting to have for a few nights.  Dessert was a chocolate journey one that is "special".  It was very good.  We did go to the entertainment but left because the singer was doing an Elton John Tribute but it wasn't very interesting.  We cut out early.

Tomorrow is our last port. We do not have a tour but will just walk around. We have not been to Palma Mallorca so that should be good. We may even take the shuttle into town but we will see. The weather has been sunny and pleasant.

Granada On A Full Day Tour: 20 March 2023

   Today's start time was a little better as we did not need to be ready in the Princess theatre until7:45. Everything went prety well and the bus was loaded and ready to go. Then we just sat! After we pulled out the bus stopped and 7 “late” passengers came “walking” to the bus like of course you would wait for us! The bus ride was suppose to be 2 hours but we were already 30 minutes late. On our way all vehicles on the highway were pulled over to the rest stop and the police were going through all the cars. One women was being swabbed! We simply got off the bus but the police talked to the bus driver. We had no idea what was going on. Exciting to say the least.

 

Granada was the location of the Moor empire that lasted for 800 years so there was plenty of indications in the city itself. It was very disappointing that we did not have a chance to visit the Alhambra complex which I thought we would do. Instead most of the tour concentrated on the Catholic history of the area and of Spain. We visited a chapel that was built specifically for the king and queen who had the biggest impact on Spain in the 15^th century. The tour guide went into minute detail about all the paintings and paintings on the altar. Interesting but way too much detail. Next we went into the very large cathedral that took over 100 years to construct. We have been in many European churches and this was on the same level of the best. After that we did a walking tour of the oldest (Moor) part of the city. Lunch followed and then we were on our way back to Malaga. In all it was a very short visit.

We rated the tour guide as #3 out of the 3 tours that we took. On the walking tour she just keep walking (quickly) with some people finding it hard to keep up. After visiting the church one of the people on the tour pointed had to point out that we were missing 1 person. She did not seem to be concerned. The woman was quickly found bit it could have been a disaster. So we were not impressed with her.

We did manage to get ready in time to have a drink with people we have met on this cruise. We had a full table (6) for dinner and then we took in the production show. It is brand new and was very futuristic. It was probably the best of the 3 new shows that were designed for this new Princess ship.

 Tomorrow we are in Cartagena, a port that we have been to before. No touring, just some things we can see on our own.

Seville On A Full Day Tour: 19 March 2023

 We had to be in the Princess theatre at 7 am this morning to join our full day tour to Seville. We docked at Cadiz but needed a 2 hour bus ride to visit Seville. Needless to say it was a long day.

We had a good guide who got us to the Seville and the first stop which was the site of the 1929 world fair. Of course the architecture is completely different from what we are use to in Canada. We did have a chance to explore the complex. Most of the buildings are now used as government offices. Being Sunday everything was closed. However Seville was very crowded with many tourists. We were quite surprised to see so many tourist there so early in the season. Seville was a very important trading city receiving much of the tobacco and other goods that came from North America.

The next stop was a palace that was built withe the cross styles of Italy and the Moorish influence. We did have a local guide who used a fm system which made it very easy to follow the talk. The palace is located in the old part of the city. We then walked through the “old” Jewish section of the city. Most Jews were ordered out of the country hundreds of years ago as the king wanted Spain to be a Catholic country. It remains a very religious country today.

As we walked through the narrow streets we came across a “practice” for one of the upcoming parades. Easter is a very special time in Spain. Each church will carry a statue from their church through the streets to the main cathedral and back. The platform is very heavy and is carried by 25? men under the platform. They walk with someone calling the cadence. We just happened to come across one of the practices. There will be 61 of these individual church parades around Easter time. We did see the old wall of the city and the cathedral. It started as a Mosque built back when the Moors controlled Spain but was converted to a cathedral after they were driven out.

We had lunch in one of the downtown hotels. The best part was the bottle of wine on the table – the other 2 people did not drink. After we had some free time to walk around the main shopping area. We elected to walk down and along the river. the 2 hour ride back to the ship. It was a long day and the bus was quite quiet on the ride back to Cadiz.

Back at the ship we finally got some internet. That is why all the posts were done today. It took a bit of time to post all the posts since we started this cruise. A quick drink, dinner with another couple from California and then early to bed was the order of the day. We have another full tour tomorrow.

Last Sea Day Before Spain: 18 March 2023

 After a tiring day touring all day yesterday and then the time change last night we had a good night's sleep. We were able to get to the 9 am line dancing session. Same old stuff. The instructor again forgot some of the steps of the dances. We were doing the Cupid Shuffle. I think someone in the front row told him about the mistake. We ended the class with the Jerusalema dance, That is the one where he needed help.

It seems that for us there are not enough things to do. However that may be because we don't do trivia and avoid the bingo games. After the class we went to the special 3 hour end of season sale where they sell all the old t-shirts. Since they just left the Caribbean they usually have some for sale. This one had all the new ones on sale. They were about 80% more than the last time we were on a ship and no discount as on other items. I did get 2 and Judy did find a nice black one. A cup of tea and a destination talk on Barcelona rounded out the morning.

We did sit in on another Deal or No Deal game show. It is just another form of gambling run by the casino. I must admit they have a pretty slick presentation with the computer generated boxes, the banker, etc. My advice was always take the money. Everybody that we have seen (4) ended with very little. We did see the final cosmos talk. This one was on the sun. Always interesting with great pictures. After that is was nap time, then cocktails (Manhattan of course) and dinner. Our random couple tonight were from Detroit so they knew where Windsor was located. After we sat and listened to Static, probably the best band on the ship. A few dances and an early turn in were in order. We have a 6 am wake up call for an all day tour leaving at 7:30. Seville here we come.