Today’s stop is the Italian Island of Sardinia. Our Port City today will be Olbia, a city of approximately 60,000. There is a variety of sea ferries leaving from this port to several destinations on the Italian mainland. No tours booked today. We are only here till 2:30 this PM. We are taking a shuttle bus into town. It is only a 10 minutes ride to the drop off point. You would ask, why didn’t you guys walk? The reason we have to use the bus is, because we are not allowed to walk on the port property because of moving container trucks and fork lifts. After we got dropped off we walked up the main street, stopping to check out the inside of the church and peeking in the odd store. After walking for a couple hours we stopped for a cappuccino break accompanied by croissants. After coffee we followed the street down back to the harbour, making one stop for Gelato Ice cream, before we are to leave Italy.
For the afternoon, there is a 3PM announcement by the CEO of HAL cruises, announcing the program for the 2027 Grand World Voyage. Interested??
This was a very nice smaller City to visit. It was well appreciated after dealing with the crazy crowds in Rome.
Overnight we moved from Naples to Civitavacchia, which is the port City for Rome. Rome is the Capital of Italy with nearly 3. 8 million citizens.
We had an early morning to catch our bus to take us to the City of Rome for an all day trip. We left the ship at 7:30 this morning. The bus ride to Rome was roughly 1.5 hours. Our first stop would be at the Vatican. Our meeting with the Pope was cancelled, because he died yesterday. JD Vance beat us to it. So we visited the Vatican without Pope . There was a long line up to get into Saint Peter’s Basilica. We decided not to wait for that, but instead take a look around the area.There was a lot of Police around and the Press was busy setting up for the upcoming funeral. I noticed tv crews from all over the world. I wonder how they got there that quick. By the time we were ready to leave, the crowds started coming in steady. After our Vatican City the bus took us to our lunch spot, a restaurant along the Tigre River. Our lunch was not spectacular.(the tiramisu was slightly frozen). After our lunch we got on the bus for a short ride to the City center for a 2.5 hr walking tour. When we got off the bus, there were a lot of people in the streets. We stopped at the Trevi Fountain, The Forum, The Colosseum and the Basilica of Maxentius. All this time we were steady dodging crowd of tourists. We had to be on the look out for pickpockets all the time. There are over 900 churches in Rome, that will take years to visit them all. After our walking tour our feet were getting pretty tired. We were a happy bunch when we sighted the bus coming down the street to pick us up. On the way out of the City we saw a bunch more historical buildings. A person can easily spend days to take in the history in this City. During our ride back we were fighting to keep our eyes open. Around 6:15 we arrived back on the ship. We were surprised to find that the crew had prepared a fantastic Italian dinner. This time the tiremasu was not frozen.
This was a fantastic day in Rome. I suggest re-reading your history books from high school before you plan to visit.
Overnight we cruised from Greece to Italy. Last night we cruised through the strait of Messina, with a view of the volcanoes Edna an Stromboli. Apparently Stromboli squirted out some lava later that night. That’s why it is called the lighthouse of the mediterranean.
For today we are anchored in the city of Naples. There are toomany things to see in Naples to cover in 1 day, so we settled on the ruins of Pompeii. Pompeii got buried in a 20 foot layer of ashes in the year 79AD. At the time of the volcano eruption there were 5000 people living in Pompeii. We got on the bus for our 1 hour trip to Pompeii. After we got there, things went smoothly getting our tickets and we started our trip up to the ruins. We found the city with its buildings and streets in remarkably good shape. Because the city was covered in ashes instead of lava, it made it relatively easy to excavate. Most people suffocated due to the exposed gasses. The eruption went on for 3 days straight. The city was located 6 km away from the volcano. We toured the city streets for about three hours before we regrouped at the bottom of the hill and we walked back to the bus. We didn’t leave, till we got our hands on an authentic gelato ice cream cone (they are very good). When we got to Napels we had a late lunch before we went back on board. The remaining part of the City has to wait till our next visit to this City.
Good Morning, Overnight we moved from Turkey to Athens in Greece. Athens is the country’s capital. The urban area is home to 3,6 million citizens.
Today was a nice sunny morning, with a predicted high of 22 deg C. For today we were going to be engaged in a city tour with a visit to the Acropolis. First we went on the bus for a tour around the City showing us a variety of historical buildings including the Rebuild Olympic stadium. After our City tour we ended up at the foot of the Acropolis. it was quite a hike to get to the top. There were an enormous amount of tourists out today. Being a long weekend and 3 cruise ships in town, made it very busy everywhere. You had to be extra careful following the pathway and stairs up the hill . Eventually we made it to the top , hung around for a while, took a bunch of pictures from the ancient structures and the views of the City. Carol and I decided to start our descent down the mountain, meanwhile dodging tourists all the way. When we got to the bottom of the hill, we had an extra half hour for some souvenir shopping and bathroom break before the rest of the group showed up. When we got back on the bus, we proceeded with our city tour till we got back to the ship. After we did our hike up to the Acropolis, we decided not to go out again.
After a relaxing day at sea, we had a chance to recover from our exciting day in Egypt. This morning we arrived in a new country, Kusadasi , Turkey. Kusadasi is a beach resort and a major cruise port. The population is approximately 140,000 people. The shores are lined with sandy beaches and numerous hotels and nice restaurants and not to forget carpet stores. The Turkish salesmen are very skilled in selling you a carpet. No we didn’t buy one. The sea water was still a little cool for a dip(20 C) The good news, no jelly fish or sharks to worry about. Kusadasi is also the jump of point to visit the ancient city of Emphasis.
For today we have a trip to the ancient city of Ephasis. It is about a half hour drive along a scenic coastal highway overlooking the Aegean Sea. In the old days Ephasis had a large harbour and had a direct access route to the Sea. Over time the Harbour silted in, to the point that at this time it is 8 km from the shoreline. After arriving at the site, we were given our entree pass into the archaeologic site. We followed our guide into the site, who happened to be very knowledgeable about this area. The site is basically an 2500 to 3000 year old townsite , which at one time was home to 500,000 inhabitants. Through time and having endured multiple regime changes and losing the access to the Meditaranian sea, made the people relocate elsewhere. The rebuilding of 2500 seat theatre is nearing completion now, and is scheduled to be opened in July this year. After wandering through this enormous site with partly finished buildings, we ended up at the site called the terrace houses. This site is covered by a roof structure while the rebuilding is going on to protect the workers from the elements. Eventually we ended up at the area where our bus was parked. The bus took us back to Kusadasi, and dropped us off at a Carpet shop. Here we were shown how the silk carpets are made by hand. After the show was over , the high pitched sales guys came out from all directions to persuade us to take home one of the carpets for lots of $$$. Slowly we were able to find our way back to the exit . Meanwhile it was well past lunch time. We found ourselves a nice Turkish eatery right on the water, where we had ourselves a nice meal. After our late lunch, Carol and a friend went to the Turkish Bazaar Market and I found my way back to the ship.
Today we are having the visit many travellers are talking about for weeks. As many as 800 guests and 280 crew are going to be off board, most are going to be on their way to visit the pyramids of Giza.
For ourselves, we are booked on a tour to visit the pyramids and have a boat cruise on the Nile River. The day started at 5:30 AM breakfast call. We were loading busses up at 7:30 for our 3hr bus ride to Cairo. It took us a while to get out of the port compound area. The port of Alexandria is enormous, stacks of sea containers as far as the eye could see. Eventually we made it through the checkpoint into the City of Alexandria. Soon we were greeted by very old apartment buildings in this City of 5.6 million. I also noticed large blocks of new apartment buildings, it looks like they were finished but not occupied. On the outskirts of the City there were a few large oil refineries, followed by stretches of wetlands, being part of the River Nile Delta. Eventually the wetlands started to turn to agriculture land till the outskirts of Cairo. As we were traveling along the highway, we passed many small trucks loaded with tomatoes and other varieties of produce. When we travelled through the outskirts of Cairo, we could see the Pyramids in the distance. Not much later, we pulled in through the gates of the pyramids of Giza. We were allowed to drive the bus very close to the pyramids, which was a bonus.
Soon as we departed the bus we were greeted by the Sahara sand blowing into our faces. Obviously the first thing to do was shoot pictures of everything in sight. These pyramids are massive structures built thousands of years ago and withstood all the elements of nature. One interesting scene was, that I went for a small camel ride and all of a sudden the price went up from $15 to $50 while I was on the Camel. The guy refused to let me off the Camel until I paid him. Meanwhile he was trying to get his hands on Carol’s phone, which she obviously refused. After some arguing we settled on 20 bucks for the ride and he let the Camel down, so I could get back on the ground. Luckily Carol shot many good pictures. These tactics are apparently very common. We heard from one of the ship’s crew members, they tried to charge her $110. (bunch of scammers to me) Following this episode they took us to a central plateau for more opportunities to take pictures. We got back on the bus for a short ride to see the Sphinx. What is the Sphinx you may ask?
The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. The face of the Sphinx appears to represent the pharaoh Khafre.
After arrival at the Sphinx we were let into several chambers adjacent to the Sphinx. Looking at the granite blocks they used for the chambers , they must weigh over 10,000 pounds. They transported the block from 300 miles away about 4500 years ago. After we were let out of the chambers, we shot a few more pics of the creature, before we were headed off to the bus for our short ride to the shores of the Nile for our boat ride and lunch.
Our lunch buffet was great, lots of Egyptian foods. During the lunch we were treated to a belly dancing show and a performance by a Egyptian guy whirling some kind of a colourful round carpet above his head. A variety of the larger hotel chains are located along the shores of the river. It is obvious that the people who are well off, made their homestead in this area. Compared to other residential areas in Cairo , where there seem to be lots of piles of garbage laying around. Many areas are not landscaped well , a lot of broken concrete and boulders laying around. It looks to me a perfect scenario to twist your ankle or break a leg if you’re not careful. After our 2 hour or so lunch we headed for the bus and started on our 3 hour ride back to Alexandria. When we arrived back on the ship near 7:00, we were greeted by a nice barbeque style dinner stations set up around the indoor pool deck. After our dinner we called’r the night. The end of a long good day.
Today Palm Sunday we are visiting Valletta, the Capital of Malta. Valletta is the smallest capital of all of the EU countries with only 6000 people. the country of Malta consist out of 3 major islands and several inhabited islands. Total population approximately 565,000.
Our entrance into the harbour of Valletta was quite spectacular, with its old ruines from the 16th century on both sides of the harbour entrance. Our mooring place for the day was lined with 16th century buildings. For today we are on a 4hr walking tour of the old Capital City of Mdina and the new Capitol City of Valletta. First we boarded the bus to take us to Mdina which is situated in the center of the island. The oldest building today dates back to the year 1233. Some older ruins of the city date back to 700BC. Today the historical buildings are being occupied by noble families. Only approximately 100 people are living in the old city, accompanied by a few souvenir and ice cream stores. The streets are all slightly curved, I was told that is in order to get away from the bow and arrow intruders in the old days. When walking through these streets it is really like going back in time to the Middle Ages.
After our visit to Mdina, the bus took us to the outskirts of Valletta. From here we started our walking tour through this historical city, dating back to the 16th Centurie. As it was Sunday today, there were a lot of families out today. We were lucky that it was only our cruise boat in town. I can see that it can be very busy here during the summer months with tourists. Today Valletta is much of a commercial center for shopping, bars,dining and cafe life, surrounded by beautiful historical buildings. We were lucky to be able to have a peek into the cathedral.
After the end of our excellent guided tour, we chose to stay in the City. As it was after 4 by now we stopped for dinner at one of the numerous outdoor patios. Carol decided on the Maltese specialty dinner of Rabbit stew, I personally settled for the fish and chips combined with the lager special. After our dinner we stopped at a few souvenir shops before we took the elevator to the lower part of the City. From here we walked toward our boat. Our legs were very happy when we gave them a break from all the walking we did today.
I surely recommend visiting this city if you have a chance in the future. There is so much history packed in such a small area. Great Stop.
On a sour note some of our fellow travellers decided to take a ride on the Hop on Hop off bus for the day. Unfortunately the bus was involved in an accident, but after medical attention they were able to get back on the ship before our departure.
After a short overnight sailing, we arrived this morning in the picturesque harbour of Cartagena Spain. Cartagena is a City of approximately 220,000 on the south east coast of Spain. It has been home to the Spanish Navy fleet for over hundreds of years.Today Cartagena is a major tourist destination and cruise port. One of the major attractions are the unearthed buildings from the Roman era, including a 7000 seat Roman amphitheatre.
Today we joined a walking tour from the ship into downtown including a visit to the Roman theatre. The City has an abundance of old historical buildings. The streets are all paved with slate tiles, which makes it very nice to walk on. From the get go my camera was busy shooting pictures from all the old history all around us. We shortly came up to the entrance of the old Roman theatre. This site was not discovered till 1987 during the excavation for a new building. The excavation was completed and opened to the public in 2007. It is a very impressive site. All over the City are ruins of sites which still have to be excavated. It is literally an archaeologist’s candy store. The remaining part of our tour was visiting 5 different establishments for tapas and a drink of sangria or vino. We surely enjoyed all those treats. After our last tapa stop we returned into the city for some souvenir shopping. Our walk to the ship was easy, as we were docked right downtown.
When I woke up this morning, we were approaching the port of Gibraltar , nicknamed the Rock. Gibraltar is a British territory, with a population of approximately 38,000. The British sovereignty has been disputed by Spain on many occasions. Many people in Gibraltar speaking Spanish we noticed. Approximately 15,000 Spanish workers cross the border daily to come to work in Gibraltar.
This morning we booked a small tour to take us up the rock. The rock raises up 426 meter above sea level. Our small bus took us up the narrow roads , making stops at the most southerly point at the light house and Michels Cave. On the way down we spotted numerous monkeys on the side of the road. The monkeys love to get their little hands inside your backpack and take stuff. Luckily we were inside the bus. Apparently fellow tourists were chased by the creatures for food. After we were down the mountain we drove towards the border with Spain, did a U turn and drove through the new tunnel underneath the runway back to the city center. Before the runway tunnel was completed, the road was crossing the runway and traffic had to be stopped when an airplane arrived or was taking off. we had the bus drop us off in the town center instead of taking us back to the ship. The downtown was a lively plaza with adjoining shopping streets with cafes and stores . There seem to be a lot of Liquor stores , likely because of the tax-free status here in Gibraltar. Having spent a couple of hours downtown, taking in lunch and coffee, we started to walk back to the boat, which took us probably 25 minutes.
Gibraltar, really surprised us with all the historical places to visit and all the modern shopping streets.
Another port today. No Seaday’s in between ports to rest our legs. Today we are visiting the Canary Island of Lanzarote. The City we are visiting is called Arrecife. Population for the City is 68,000 . Population for the whole island is 163,000 .
As we are docked in the port area, a shuttle is provided to transport us to the local marina area in walking distance to the city center. It was a very pleasant walk into town, following the shoreline of the local lagoon. The lagoon is a mooring place for numerous small boats, you wonder if they are ever leave their mooring spots. A few noticable differences with yesterday’s visit in Santa Cruz is, all the buildings here are white. By building code, no high rises are allowed here. We spend the morning walking all the narrow streets, occasionaly peeking in the odd store.The old cathedral was open today, which gave us an opportunity to have a look inside. We ended up at an old structure on the foreshore, build out of nice old stone. After more walking we stopped for lunch at the shores of the lagoon. We had some Sangria, Cold beer and a dish called a varity of croquettes. It was so nice sitting on this patio overlooking the lagoon,with just perfect weather. After we returned to the shuttle pick up point we checked out some local vendors which had set up stalls selling leathers and linens. Shortly after , we boarded the shuttle back to the ship.
This was another great visit in a beautiful City, worth of spending more time.
For you who are interested, you can go back in the blog to April 4 2023 and read about the island tour we did at that time.
