Spices, Pizza, Pasta, Wine and Lots of History

Since my previous post, we've spent two days in Istanbul, a day in Malta, enjoyed two joyously lazy sea days and had five days in Rome.

Istanbul

Entering Istanbul via the Dardanelles was particularly beautiful, with the unexpected bonus of a distant view of the World War I memorial.  The western side of the Dardanelle Strait is formed by the Gallipoli peninsula. 

Istanbul is the only city in the world that spans two continents: Asia and Europe. The Golden Horn divides old Istanbul (Constantinople) from the new and we walked from one side to the other via Galata bridge, from where it was a huge contrast in such a big, busy, bustling city to watch the local men fishing.  

Here we enjoyed delicious Turkish cuisine, climbed Galata Tower for a 360 degree view of Istanbul, visited the Spice Bazaar and enjoyed bargaining in the Grand Bazaar which has over 4000 shops.
  　

The Grand Bazaar

During our two days in Istanbul we enjoyed some delicious Turkish cuisine, climbed Galata Tower (constructed in 1348) for an amazing 360 degree view of Istanbul, visited the Spice market and enjoyed bargaining in the Grand Bazaar, one of the most famous markets in the world, with over 4000 shops.

Resting in Istanbul

The Spice Market

In the middle of one of Istanbul's main streets

We also visited the Blue Mosque built between 1603 and 1617, and known to architects as one of the great marvels of the world. It has six distinctive minarets, which no other mosque in Istanbul possesses.

The Blue Mosque

Malta

In Malta, the most bombed place on earth during WWII, we berthed in Valetta the capital, on a very quiet Sunday. Malta's very distinctive sandstone buildings differed greatly from those in our other European ports as the architecture on the island, whilst European, has an Arabic influence.  Geologically, the island is composed of limestone, therefore, all buildings on Malta are constructed of the sand coloured stone, creating a unique blending of man made structures and the surrounding landscape.

Malta's Unique Architecture

On a bus trip across the island to Endina we saw the hospital that housed those wounded at Gallipoli and the unusual low stone walls that divide properties. We were astonished at how hot and dry Malta was. It's a pity we weren't there on a Monday, to see the everyday life of the Maltese as the place really does go to sleep on a Sunday.

Rome (the Eternal City)

After our last sea day we disembarked in Civitavecchia at about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday 20 September, caught a taxi into Rome and picked up the keys to our apartment. Our apartment was at Via Tolemaide 15, not far from the Vatican and out of the busy tourist area. It was a lovely two bedroom Italian apartment, complete with bidet, shutters and double glazed windows that thankfully shut out the evening hustle and bustle and the morning light. Unbelievably, we awoke at 9:40 one morning!!

There was a local bakery downstairs where they sold the most delicious pizzas (about three foot long) and pastries, and everything we could possibly need was at our fingertips within a couple of blocks. I looked out our shuttered bedroom window each morning at the local businesses with their roll-up shop fronts and got a real feel for daily Italian life.

Cooking the l-o-n-g pizzas

Each morning I would stand and look out our shuttered bedroom window at the local businesses with their roll-up shop fronts to got a real feel for daily Italian life.

We ate pasta, pizza, veal scaloppini, antipasto and gelato and shopped at the local supermarket for our daily supplies including the local beer and our favourite local wines, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Bianco. These cost just under three Euros a bottle.

One of the many cafes close to our Rome apartment

Our first full day in Rome was spent at the Vatican which has been an independent state, called Vatican City, since 1929. There's so much to write about, but I'll try and keep it brief. We commenced with a guided tour through highlights of the Vatican Museum, rooms of Raphael and the Sistine Chapel, where I used my mirror to enjoy Michelangelo's magnificent frescos on the ceiling. The tour then took us through St Peter's Basilica (now the greatest church in Christendom) where we stood under Michelangelo's famous dome which he designed and started to build it at age 70.

St Peter's Basilica 

My personal highlight in St Peter's was Michelangelo's Pieta, which he sculptured when he was only 23. I became very emotional when I first saw it, most likely because I'm the mother of sons and have lost Mark.

We went under the church to the “Vatacombs” containing the underground tombs of former Popes, and later in the day I was the only one brave (young) enough to climb to the top of the dome (over 500 narrow winding steps - but with a lift for the first 200 steps. My reward was an unforgettable 360 degree panorama of Rome. Ray and Desley waved at me from under the obelisk in St Peter's Square.

View of St Peter's Square from Michelangelo's majestic silver-blue dome

including Bernini's open semi-circular wings & 140 statues of saints

 

The subterranean passages on the inside of the Colosseum  (more correctly Flavian's Amphitheatre)

built 72 A.D. to 80 A.D.

During the next three days, we revisited attractions from our 2002 trip, including the Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain (this time a night visit to enjoy the lighting), Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Vittorio Emanuele II monument with its Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (two guards on duty year round). This building is very controversial with the Italians as it is completely out of character when compared with older Roman architecture. It looks rather ostentatious and Italians refer to it as “The Wedding Cake“. We also crossed Hadrian's bridge over the Tiber in front of Castel Sant' Angelo (the Mausoleum of Hadrian) and visited Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidonglio (now the Mayor's office).

The Pantheon - Rome's only architecturally intact monument from  classical times - built 27 B.C.

and changed from  a pagan temple to a Christian church in 609 A.D.

Our last full day in Rome was spent living a bit like locals. Ray went off to the supermarket. Desley shopped and visited the Internet cafe with the crazy keyboard and I had some 'me' time to fiddle with photos and trip notes. We went out for coffee and strolled along the streets.

Dublin

Yesterday Desley started her 25 hour trip back to Australia and we flew to Dublin. We‘ll miss you Desley! After picking up our hire car, we drove around in circles on and off the M50 for about an hour :-( and eventually made it to our exchange home in Tullamore in the Midlands (half way between Dublin and Galway). Angie and John (who will be using our home for a week at the end of November) met us on the outskirts of town (yes we discussed Ireland beating Australia in the rugby) and we are now comfortably ensconced in our beautiful exchange home on a country road outside Tullamore.

John lived here before he met Angie and after they married, they moved into Angie’s home, hence its availability for a home exchange while they are waiting to sell it. It is a very large four bedroom home with ensuites in two of the bedrooms, a jazucci, which I’m going to soak in today, and three bidets (apparently John has spent some time living in Europe). Most importantly of all, it has a computer and printer and wireless Internet. Ray and I are both madly catching up on correspondence etc and having a down day today to soak up the atmosphere out here in country Ireland. As I write this Fleetwood Mac is playing in the background and the sun (yes, the sun) is streaming in the study window.

Tomorrow we will start exploring southern Ireland before heading up north next week, to spend some time with Breege and Seamus (my niece’s in-laws) in Irvinestown in County Fermanagh.

First Blog - From Istanbul

I have written this blog to record my 2011 European trip. The trip consists of two Mediterranean cruises (18 days), five days in Rome, a week and a half in Ireland and a month's home exchange in France. We are cruising aboard Mariner of the Seas, the ship our son Phil dances on. My friend Desley Melrose is with us for the earlier part of the trip.

 

Desley in Foyer of Porticciolo Hotel, Fiumicino - Near Rome Airport

The Beginning

We flew Emirates to Rome via Singapore and Dubai (25 hours) and after overnighting in Rome, we boarded the ship on 2 September in Civitavecchia, the seaport for Rome.  We celebrated being reunited with Phil over a champagne lunch. 

Waiting for the waiter to bring our champagne

Our first port of call was Genoa, the capital of the Liguria region on the north-west coast of Italy,. The signature dish of this region is pesto. Genoa is the principal seaport for Italy and the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. It is one of many cities surrounded by walls built countless centuries ago to protect it from invasion.

Santa Margherita

From here we took a bus tour to the famous resort town of Rapallo, and then on to Santa Margherita, one of the most popular beaches on the Italian Riviera where we caught a motor-launch to Portofino. We climbed to St George's church on the top of one of the surrounding cliffs and I lit a candle for my nephew Daniel. I took loads of photos of the charming streets of these towns nestled amongst the beautiful backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian architecture, with the colours of yellow, orange and green specific to this region, made for some very pretty shots.

Portofino

The next day our ship arrived in Cannes in the French Riviera where we travelled an hour by train to Monte Carlo to visit Monaco and the Grimaldi's palace.

The view from Monaco's palace

We had a wonderful day drooling over very large expensive yachts and enjoying the passing parade as we sat in an outdoor café opposite Monte Carlo casino.

Enjoying a Beer in Monte Carlo

On Monday 5 September we woke up in Ajaccio on the west coast of the French island of Corsica. Corsica has a long history of battling foreign occupation and was the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. Yet more large expensive yachts were moored here in the Mediterranean Sea and I stopped and spoke with a staff member from one of them.

Ajaccio - Corsica

It was a private 175 footer on which there was a crew of ten looking after only two people – everything I looked at dripped money!!!! In the open air markets we saw the world famous Corsican cheese (from ewes and goats) and interesting looking cooked pork meats (from wild pigs living in the chestnut forests). One of the merchants was also selling mortars and pestles turned from olive wood, so we took some photos for Ron Melrose.

That night we enjoyed Phil's first show with us aboard. It was wonderful to see him perform again! Everywhere you go around the ship, there's live entertainment – piano music in bars, dancing in lounges, guitar, drums & harmonica and other great shows. Headliners also come on and off the ship at ports to offer world class entertainment in the theatre each evening.


On Tuesday 6 September we berthed in Barcelona where two of Phil's cast joined us on an open-top bus tour. Our first 'hop-off' was to wander through Barcelona's Old Gothic Quarter complete with gargoyles. We then 'hopped-off' at the 1992 Olympic Stadium followed by a stop to catch the cable car to the top of Montjuic.

Leo, Jaaon, Phil and Desley on top of Mountjuic in Barcelona

The view from here stretches 360 degrees across Barcelona out to the Mediterranean Sea. The other seven dancers and four singers joined us for dinner at their favourite side walk taverna for tapes and the biggest glasses of Sangria I've ever seen. After dinner we roamed through Las Ramblas with its living statues while we ate yummy gelato. Our 'all aboard' wasn't until 10:30 p.m. enabling us to have a very memorable day and night in the wonderful vibrant city of Barcelona.

The next day was a very welcome 'sea day' and after a wonderful sleep-in we joined a small group who were invited to tour the bridge. The First Officer was a woman – sitting there steering this huge ship – go girl!

Our Second Cruise Commences

We were then back in Civitavecchia to off-load most of the passengers and pick up another cohort to start our next cruise, which this time covered the eastern Mediterranean. We spent much of the day in a café with free wi-fi, drinking café latte, eating, reading email, checking bank accounts etc.

The first port of call on the second cruise was Messina in Sicily. Phil put his name down to be a tour escort to the very beautiful town of Taormina, about 70 klms from Messina.

Taormina

It's perched on high cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, enabling me to take some beautiful photos while we roamed the narrow cobblestone streets. We visited its open air Greek Theatre with its wonderful views of the area surrounding Taormina and Mt Etna. Elton John recently played here and commented on the 'perfect' acoustics. Mt Etna, the world's most active volcano, dominates the Sicilian skyline. I made a mental note to try and seek out a home exchange in Taormina some time in the future as I loved its ambience and could just imagine living as a local villager.


After a sea day spent enjoying everything the ship had to offer, we then arrived in Pirius the seaport for Athens. Desley gave me a DVD to watch on ancient Athens before we left home, and it was great to recall some of the history of this great city as a background to my visit. We hopped on another open top bus and 'hopped off' first at the Acropolis of Athens and the architectural marvel of the Parthenon, all constructed nearly 2,500 years ago.

The Parthenon

I've long wanted to visit here so it was wonderful to have the time to walk around and take it all in. Here was the home of Perikles and modern day democracy. Here in the golden age of the 5th century BC lived, almost all around the same time, Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Socrates, Pythagoras, etc. They spawned monumental achievements in architecture, medicine, literature, maths, science, philosophy and even medicine.

It was a real climb to the top of the Acropolis, but well worth it. The view across Athens was fantastic. After all the walking and climbing, we 'hopped back on' the bus taking in many of the other sites in Athens, e.g. Temple of Zeus, before 'hopping-off' in search of a Greek restaurant. After talking with one of the locals we found a beauty – Ithaki BBQ Restaurant across from the Cathedral of Athens in a garden setting, which I found unusual in the concrete dominated city. Here we enjoyed Arti Greek beer and yummo Greek food before heading back to the ship.

One of my favourite ports was next – Kusadasi – a popular seaside resort on the west coast of Turkey. Our ship berthed across from yet another example of a castle/wall built to defend a city from enemy attack through the ages. Phil was again a tour escort and we headed off on that tour to explore the magnificent ruins of the ancient buried city of Ephesus, home to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (one column is still standing). Our tour guide was fantastic and spoke perfect English. Her knowledge of the history and geography of Turkey was excellent and I learnt so much from her including the fact that The Virgin Mary lived the last years of her life in a small cottage near Ephesus (we could see it from the bus).

Phil and Desley take a break amongst Ephesus ruins

It was a very hot day and there was a lot to take in, including a short guided tour by a former archaeologist, of the excavated terrace houses which reminded me of a previous visit to Pompeii in 2002. Again it was all Roman architecture. After touring the ruins, we headed back to a carpet weaving display in Kusadasi followed by yet more yummy beer and food, this time Turkish. This left us some time to have fun bargaining in the bazaar in Kusadasi and at some of the beautiful jewellery stores. The Turkish people 'do' textiles, jewellery, carpets and 'genuine fakes' very well. As Turkey is the first Muslim country I have visited, I immediately noticed the start of the 'call to prayer' late in the afternoon before we re-boarded the ship.

Yesterday was Tuesday 13 September and we were once again back in Greece. This time we were on the beautiful island of Rhodes where we hired a car and Ray drove five of us to the beach at Lindos.

 Lyn (who still can't believe she is visiting all these places) ;-)

Desley, Henriette (from Berlin), Lyn and Ray in the Mediterranean

We stayed in until our skin was like prunes.

The Mediterranean Sea was absolutely perfect and I just couldn't get out of the water. It was clear, very blue, warm, calm and everything you see in movies and read about in books. We all stayed in the sea until we were starving and then ate another lovely Greek lunch in a beach-front restaurant. After the one hour drive back to the port, we shopped in the Old Town area for a few more bargains.

Today is a sea day and my main goal has been to type up my blog to date. As I've been doing this I have been able to look back on all the things we have done in just 13 days. It's been a marvellous trip so far, with wonderful sunny weather and all things one expects from cruising the Mediterranean. Tonight is a formal evening and tomorrow we arrive for two days in Istanbul. I can hardly wait!

I hope all family and friends at home are well and happy and that someone from my family will print this out for Mum to read.

Ray, Phil and Desley all send their love.

Take care everyone.

Much love