Arrived in the port of La Spezia early this morning and we had to set an alarm as we had an early tour to Florence. Our tour was basically bus transportation back and forth to Florence (a 2 hour ride each way). We had both been to Florence before, so our plan was just to walk around and experience Florence, plus have a nice lunch. On the bus we learned that because it was the first Sunday of the month, admission to all the museums were free. This meant that the lines were very long to get in. Also, as we arrived and were walking from the bus drop off point to the Piazza Santa Croce, we encountered the Florence half marathon. The Piazza was the finish point of the half marathon and it was very crowded. We had to dodge runners to cross the course at a few locations. Fortunately, the bulk of the runners had finished before we got there and crossing was relatively easy. Our first stop was along the River Arno to take a picture of the Ponte Vecchio. After we got our picture we browsed through the shops on the bridge.

Band greeting us (and the half marathon runners)

Piazza Santa Croce and the half marathon finish

Ponte Vecchio and the river Arno

Bill on the Ponte Vecchio

Linda on the Ponte Vecchio

After looking at all the lovely gold jewelry on the Ponte Vecchio, we made our way to the Piazza Mercato Nuovo where we saw the Bronze Boar and did a little more shopping. After that we went to the Piazza Della República where a small group of street performers were playing.

Piazza Mercato Nuovo

Performers and carousel in Piazza Della República

By then it was time for lunch. We had booked a table at a small restaurant that we knew served gluten free pasta, Il Ricettario. It was located on a small side street near the Uffizi Museum. It is a small place and because we had a reservation we sat upstairs with a view of the street. The food was excellent with service to match. Linda had home-made Florentine pasta, a large flat noodle, with tomato sauce and I had gluten free penne with pesto. We also had a glass of Rosso di Montalcino, this is similar to but much less expensive than the famous Brunello di Montalcino.

Interior of the restaurant

After lunch we set out for the Piazza Della Signoria where there are a lot of statues and a replica of the David (the original is the Accademia Gallery).

The Palazzo Vecchio and the Piazza Della Signoria

We then wandered around the area near the Piazza until it was time for gelato (we definitely travel on our stomachs) and then on to the Piazza Santa Croce to meet our guide to go back to the bus. We did have time for one last Italian Cappuccino.

Santa Croce church

On the bus ride to (and from) Florence we passed by Carrara, home of the famous marble used to carve the David and other statues. The mountains are very distinctive and the white you see is marble, not snow.

Mountains near Carrara (white is marble, not snow)

We are now back on the Sun Princess and packing up for our travels home tomorrow via Frankfort, Germany.

One last lighthouse picture as we sailed out of La Spezia

We arrived in Genoa this morning and had a wonderful view of the very famous Genoa Lighthouse. The cruise terminal in Genoa is very close to the city, so we could walk off and book the Hop On Hop Off bus. From the information about Genoa, we were expecting a very beautiful and interesting city. We rode the Red (Historic) line completely around to get an overview of Genoa.

Genoa Lighthouse (St. George Cross on the lighthouse is the symbol of Genoa)

We got off the bus at Piazza Caricamento with the intention of having our morning Cappuccino and walking thru the old part of the city following the walking tour. The Piazza was full of stalls with a wide variety of items. We browsed thru them and then found a place for our coffee. The Piazza was the first stop on the walking tour and the second stop was a very famous and beautiful building, the Palazzo San Giorgio. On the facade were murals of St. George killing the dragon. St. George is the patron saint of Genoa.

Palazzo San Giorgio

The third stop on the walking tour was the Piazza Banchi. Again there were sellers in the Piazza and the church there was very interesting. This plaza was where the grain traders bought and sold grain.

Church of San Pietro in Piazza Banchi

The next stop of the walking tour were the narrow alleys of Genoa, the Caruggi. These confusing and narrow alleys were part of the defense of Genoa in medieval times. The alleys were easily barricaded and the maze helped attackers and us to get lost. We did find a very nice store selling local olive oil and other things including a lemon marmalade. If you have been following us, you might have figured out that we travel on our stomachs and many of the souvenirs we purchased involve food in some fashion. With the help of Google Maps Live View (highly recommended) we found the Piazza San Matteo and then Piazza de Ferrari, where we were intending to have lunch.

Church of San Mateo

Piazza de Ferrari (no Ferraris in sight!)

Linda at lunch in Piazza de Ferrari (they had gluten free focaccia) The pesto was wonderful!

After lunch we got on the Blue (coast) line of the Hop On bus. This took us past some of the same places as the Red line but also went out along the coast. The Blue line stop was also closer to the cruise terminal.

Columbus flower beds in honor the unknown soldier. The ship beds will be planted with flowers soon.

Christopher Columbus Statue

We are back to the ship and ready to sail to La Spezia, where we will hop on a bus that will take us the Florence tomorrow.

We docked in Marseille just as the sun was coming up. We decided to take the ship’s shuttle bus to the Old Port area, the Vieux-Port. This is the location of the city’s fish market and also home to lots of restaurants. The Vieux-Port was the area where the earliest settlers of Marseille, the Phoenicians and then the Greeks and Romans had their ports. Now the area is home to fishing and recreational vessels. As we walked to the port area, we passed by Fort St. Jean and the Mucem, a Museum devoted to all civilizations of the Mediterranean.

Fort St. Jean on the left and the Mucem on the right

We decided to take the Train Touristique tour to the Notre-Dame de la Garde church that dominates the Marseille sky-line.

The Marseille Little Train

Open air fish market at Vieux-Port

Islands in the Marseilles harbor. One of these housed a prison that was featured in the Count of Monte Christo.

Notre-Dame de la Garde

Cathedral La Major

We had a wonderful seafood lunch with some white Provençal wine at one of these restaurants

We are now back on the Sun Princess and getting ready to sail for Genoa, Italy tomorrow.

Because we had spent a number of days in Barcelona, and had seen most of the major sites, we decided to take the ship shuttle to town and walk around La Rambles. It is still Easter week and there were a lot of people in Barcelona. We walked the length of La Rambles and had coffee at Cafe Zurich, one of the older restaurants in Barcelona that is located next to Placa de Catalunya.

La Rambles with a small portion of the crowds

Placa de Catalunya

After coffee we returned back down La Rambles and looked for a place to have tapas and a sangria. We stopped at the Seventy Tapas Bar and had plates of cheese and meats, plus two punch bowls of Sangria. We drank about half of the Sangria as it is very strong.

Linda at the Seventy Tapas Bar, look at the size of the Sangria!!

After our lunch we walked down La Rambles toward the World Trade Center where we could catch the shuttle back to the ship. At the foot of La Rambles is the Columbus Monument.

Columbus Monument (minus Columbus at the top, sorry)

Got back to the Sun Princess and unfortunately they were still refueling. This meant we could not go out on our balcony and take pictures. We were docked very near one of the container ports and we enjoyed watching the dance of loading and unloading the containers.

We are on the way to Marseille. We are taking the shuttle to the Old Port and will tour around that area.

We arrived in Palma this morning just as the sun came up. The day dawned clear and the weather was about as close to perfect as you can get, clear skies, light winds and temperatures near 70. The Sun Princess docked about as far from the center of Palma as you can get. Fortunately, there was a shuttle bus from the ship to near the very famous cathedral, known as La Seu. We decided not to visit the cathedral, but instead wandered down the main shopping and restaurant streets of Palma. The shops looked a lot like Rodeo Drive in LA. However, there were some very nice souvenir shops and a shop where we got some local olive oil.

The La Seu Cathedral

Plaza Reina fountain

Tree lined street in Palma

Linda enjoying a cappuccino

Lighthouse in the port from our balcony

Coast of Mallorca as we sail towards Barcelona

We are now on the way to Barcelona where we will visit tomorrow. As we have been to Barcelona before, we will likely do a little touring and enjoy the ambiance of the city. More tomorrow.

We got to Cartagena before the sun came up this morning. The cruise terminal is very close to the town and it was an easy walk into the main shopping and restaurant district that is also part of the old town. We decided to take it easy today as I am getting over a cold and Linda still has sniffles and is sneezing from time to time. Right in the downtown area, they recently discovered a Roman amphitheater.

Downtown Cartagena from our balcony

Sun from the top of the city walls

Roman amphitheater

We walked into the main shopping area and bought a few souvenirs. We stopped for a light lunch along with some local red wine. After lunch we had gelato and cappuccinos for dessert.

Local cheese, almonds and olives

Grand Hotel in Cartagena

The tight port in Cartagena

Old fortification and Red Light showing the rough coastline

We have left the port and are now on our way to Palma in Mallorca. We will probably have a light day of touring tomorrow as well. More from Palma tomorrow.

We arrived in Gibraltar about 7:00 this morning. The weather is supposed to be very nice today and the people in Gibraltar are happy to be drying out after 4 days of rain.

We had an early tour to the top of the “Rock.” It was still a little dark when we boarded our minibus for a short trip to the cable car to the top. We were in the second cable car and we had an opportunity to see the sun come up over the sea east of Gibraltar.

Sunrise from the Tob of the Rock at Gibraltar

Linda with the Sun Princess in the harbor

The “Prudential” view of the Rock

After we rode the cable car back down, we walked to Main Street, a shopping and pedestrian area of Gibraltar. We had coffee and tea along with a Spanish style light breakfast. We brought a few souvenirs and walked along Main Street on our way back to the ship.

One of the Gates in Gibraltar

Trafalgar Cemetery

Main Street Gibraltar

Gibraltar and the Rock with our fireboat sendoff as we are departing

Europa Point Lighthouse (southern most point of Europe)

Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar

We are on our way to Cartagena, Spain tomorrow. We will be going into the city on our own. Should be a relaxing day of sightseeing.

Today is the day the first part of our cruise ends. We had originally (before we looked at the calendar) thought about going into Rome. Because of the likely crowds for Good Friday, we decided to take a tour into the local country-side for a wine tasting and a visit to one of the volcanic lakes near Rome, Lake Bracciano. The ride to the winery was beautiful.

Vineyard on the way to the winery

At the winery we had a very informative tour of the wine making operation. One very interesting fact is that the wine is fermented in cement containers so that the wine breathes as it ferments and ages. We also had a light snack of Italian Meats and cheese with the two wines we tasted. The wine caves were very romantic.

Exterior of the winery

Lunch are in the wine caves

The selection of Italian meats and cheese.

After the winery we took a short drive to one of the volcanic lakes near Rome, Lake Bracciano and the village of Anguillara Sabazia.

Anguillara Sabazia

Lake Bracciano

Got back to Civitavecchia port in plenty of time to reboard the Sun Princess. We have two sea days before we begin touring the Mediterranean Sea with a visit to Gibraltar. More after Gibraltar.

We had a very long and tiring day touring Sorento and then the ruins of Pompeii. We had been to Pompeii before but it was a rainy day and it was difficult to see everything. We arrived early in Naples and the rain from yesterday was gone.

Naples Cruise Terminal

Our day started relaxing enough with a drive down the coast to Sorento. We had some time on our own to walk around the old town of Sorento. It was fun looking at the shops in the narrow streets. The smells coming from the leather shops was wonderful. We joked that they must have leather air freshener. We stopped for lunch at a sidewalk cafe and they of course had pizza on the menu. I asked if they had gluten free pizza and the answer was “of course.” We ordered a Margaretta pizza and it was wonderful. Very nice crust that was tasty and well baked.

Bill in Old Town Sorento

Linda at the sidewalk cafe. GF pizza here was great!

Italian Coast north of Sorento

After visiting Sorento we loaded back on the bus and headed to Pompeii. When we got there the ruins were pretty crowded. Our guide took us down some side streets that were less crowded and he explained the layout of typical houses. One interesting thing is that many houses had an area to conduct business. He explained that business was not conducted in the Forum but in homes. The mosaics and frescoes were beautiful. It is amazing that they survived the volcano and the years.

Plaza of the amphitheater. The theater is in the upper left of the picture.

One of the many preserved mosaics

One of the main roads in Pompeii leading to the Forum

The Pompeii Forum

Tomorrow is the Transit day where the current passengers leave and the next cruise passengers embark. We will be taking a tour out into the countryside to do a wine tasting and see some lake scenery. More tomorrow

Yesterday we visited Athens and rode the Hop-on Hop-Off bus to view the Tomb of the Unknown Solder, the first Olympic Stadium, and the Acropolis Museum. If you have ever visited Athens, you know that the Acropolis is visible from much of Old Athens, also known as the Plaka.

View of the Acropolis from the Hop-On Hop-Off transfer point

The 1896 Olympic Stadium from the Hop-On bus

Linda at lunch at a Plaka Taverna next to the Roman Agora

Bill at lunch at the Taverna

Tower of the Winds

Narrow street in the Plaka

We heard birds singing and turned around to see this

Steps that were part of our unintended detour on the way to the Museum

Acropolis from the Plaka

We walked from the Taverna to the Acropolis Museum. We used Google Maps to show the way. We did make one wrong turn and had an adventure up some steps that reminded us of our Portofino adventure many years ago. We also did a little shopping at some of the shops on the way

The Karyatids in the Acropolis Museum. These statues were columns from the Erechtheion on the Acropolis.

View of the Acropolis from the Acropolis Museum

View of the Piraeus (Athens) harbor from our balcony.

We are having a day at sea on the way to Naples, Italy where we are hoping to be at the Pompeii site without rain. If you have ever been there (we have), you know the footing is somewhat difficult and rain makes it worse. Last time we visited, it was raining and we spent so much time watching our footing, we missed a lot. More tomorrow after Naples.