Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

June 15, 2019

It was our first time to visit Bilbao which is in the north of Spain in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. 

We arrived just before 10 AM and the harbor and the view of the countryside were beautiful.

Our plan for the day was to visit the world famous Guggenheim Museum and Bilbao.

Our guide was Igor.  He told us that the Bilbao area has 1 million people and 2 million visitors!  They speak Basque and are very proud of their heritage.  Basque is the oldest spoken language in Europe and is totally unlike any other language. 

We had a bright sunny day which was lucky because they get 220 days of rain a year here.

It was a short ride to the museum and Igor told us the history of the area.  In August of 1983, Bilbao suffered extreme flooding due to heavy rains.  The water rose more than 15 feet and destroyed buildings and bridges in the city. Before this, the city was highly industrialized and many of those industries were devastated.  In the 1990’s the city began a transition to a service economy.  The Guggenheim Museum was a huge part of this transition. The area used to be lucrative with the shipyards using the iron extracted from the quarries – which was once the city’s main source of income – but were now decrepit. Igor said that it was a highly controversial project at the time, the cost to the city was 84 million Euros.  It has turned out to be such a prime tourist attraction that it is the landmark of the city.

The museum was designed by famed architect Frank Gehry and is clad in shimmering titanium. There are nearly 257,000 square feet of exhibition space and it feels cavernous inside.

The building and architecture are impressive on their own.  You weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the museum exhibits.  They were mostly very modern art, some I liked and some I think I might have done myself as a child!!

Here are some views of the outside of the museum and inside the lobby.

There is a permanent Jenny Holzer exhibit and also a temporary exhibit.  The permanent one is a cascade of words in English, Spanish and Basque.  Her work is all in words and can be quite provocative.  We couldn’t take pictures of the ones inside the galleries but the permanent one is in the lobby of the museum.

There are sculptures outside the museum and it is right along the river.  It is meant to look like a ship on the water.

Here are some of the outside sculptures as well as the “guard puppy” which is completely made of flowers.  There is also a steam feature near the river.

The courtyard area outside of the museum is full of activities.  There is a dancing fountain and many activities that delighted kids and adults alike.  Bubbles, music and more.

We enjoyed the visit and also liked just watching the river activities!

After the museum visit, we had a tour of the city and ended at the Old Town (or Las Siete Calles – the 7 streets) where we had a walking tour and free time to explore the medieval neighborhood with its hundreds of shops, churches, restaurants and taverns.

Here are some of the sights from our tour around town and then the Old Town.

The picture above is the Tentro Arriaga – the theater that is modeled after the Paris Opera House.  It was inaugurated in 1890.

The church below is the Catedral de Santiago, known in English as the St. James Cathedral.  It was built in the 14th century and is the oldest in the city.

The path of the Camino de Santiago passes here.

Lots of archways, painted ceilings and beautiful architecture adorn the old city. Many bars and restaurants are under the archways. 

Yes, there was a Five Guys. We didn’t go.  But we did find gelato. It’s a good lunch, no?

Our last stop was at the top of the Artxanda Mountain which features a beautiful park and wonderful views of Bilbao.

Here are some pictures of the beautiful homes we passed on our way back to the ship.

We got back to the ship past the time we were supposed to be on board, but it was an Oceania tour, so they did wait for us. And we had just a short time until the scheduled Around the World event – tapas and magic.

As usual, chef Mario and his team did a wonderful job.  Sangria and lots of wonderful food.

Yum…  Last day in Spain and we will miss it for sure.  On to Bordeaux tomorrow.

June 13, 2019

The English word is Oporto, but it is still pronounced Porto.  We see it written both ways. It is the country’s second largest city.  It has a population of 220,000 in the city and 1.7 million if you include the surrounding area. It is the birthplace of port wine and in fact, if the wine is from anywhere else, it can’t be called port.

First of all, here is last night’s sunset as we left Lisbon.  Beautiful days and evenings here.

This morning we sailed into Porto.

It is our third trip to this city and today we opted for a tour to Guimaraes. Our guide was Nunu, and he said it is his real name, not a nickname!

The port building where we docked is quite new and it has 1 million of these white tiles that are placed at angles.
Very interesting.

As we left the port, we saw a sculpture that Nunu says was placed to honor the 152 fishermen who died in a boating tragedy in 1947.  It depicts the women wailing as they wait for the return.

The trip to Guimaraes was a  pretty drive through the countryside.  Nunu told us a lot about the country and one thing he mentioned as a problem is the low birthrate – with not enough births to keep the population growing.  He hopes the government will make it easier to provide for families.

It is said that Guimaraes was the first capital of Portugal, but Nunu said that is not true, that it was the capital of a region of Portugal, not the whole country. But it is considered the birthplace of the country. In any case, the city has preserved many of its medieval structures and its historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Some of the buildings we saw as we entered the town.

We first walked to the castle which is high above the city.

Next to the castle stands a small Romanesque chapel where the first king of Portugal was baptized.

The 15th century Palace of the Dukes of Braganza is notable for its unusual chimneys.

There are many small squares in the city center and we had the time to explore them.  Here are some of the buildings, shops and other sights.

The symbol above is on the sidewalk and it marks the Portuguese “Way of St. James” (13 days, 260 km).

Very fun shops and art.

This pastry is called Tortas de Guimaraes and it is only found here.  Only 2 families have the recipe.  It resembles a croissant, but inside there is a kind of sweetened spaghetti squash. Delicious.

The old city walls have been incorporated into the buildings.  Most of them can’t be seen, but the one below is an example of one you can see.

This is the Church of St. Mary of the Olives.  The clock is the mechanism from the bell tower.  There was a man playing the magnificent organ.

More fun art!

Lots of bars, cafes and restaurants.

There were lots of young people doing drawings of the building.  Nunu said that they are architecture students, and he feels sorry for them because there are no jobs available.

When we got back to the port, we joined Ray, Steve, Tricia, Sukey and Randall at a great restaurant (O Valentim) for lunch. They grill the fish right on the sidewalk outside the restaurant.  Good wine (vinho verde), food and company.

June 6, 2109

Our plan for today was a tour to Eze and Nice, France.  Unfortunately we got word a couple of days ago that it was cancelled. So we were just going to go out on our own and perhaps catch a taxi to Eze.  It turned out that Norm was feeling a bit under the weather, and at breakfast we sat with Mike and Maralyn, and she was also a bit under the weather.  So they had an extra ticket to the Monaco excursion and I accepted it with pleasure!

We haven’t been here in many years, so I was pleased to go.  Here is the view as we sail in.

Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco widely known for its casino and Riviera location. It is home to the Circuit de Monaco on which the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix takes place.

Our guide was Gloria. 

She told us about the Grand Prix as we traveled on the same road that the race is held on.  The cars travel at a speed of 150 K/hour and go around the road track 78 times. It was just held on May 26. They are still taking the viewing stands down.

We also learned that Monaco is the second smallest country.  The Vatican is first.  It is 2 square kilometers (1 1/2 square miles) or 486 acres in size.  To put this into another perspective, the whole country would fit into London’s Hyde Park.  They are adding almost 15 acres in reclaimed land and are working on it now.

The population here is 38,000 of which 9,000 are citizens.  Citizens don’t pay any income or property tax but French Nationals do pay tax to the French government. Everyone pays the VAT tax of 19.6% which Gloria says contributes 52% of Monaco’s income.

People who work here cannot afford to live here.  They live in close by Italy or France.  Gloria is from Italy which is 20 miles away.

She said that housing can cost up to $70,000/square meter which is just over 10 square feet. She is asked why, if you pay that much, wouldn’t you buy a castle instead?  She says when you pay that much, you already have a castle!

They have the largest number of yachts in the world and indeed the harbor is full of them. 

There is an interesting sailing yacht called the “Sailing Yacht A” which cost 400 million Euros to build (that is 20 million/guest!!) It is owned by the Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko.

Our first stop was the Grand Casino. It was established in the mid 19th century by Prince Charles III and is the most famous casino in the world. It was established to fund the small principality of Monte Carlo.  The façade is neoclassical with an array of angels along the rooftop.

You must be appropriately dressed even when the casino isn’t open (and it is open for slots at 10 AM and tables at 2) and you have to pay a fee of 17 Euros just to enter. We were informed that video and photography are always prohibited but when we got there we learned that we could take pictures since a conference was taking place there.  What a bonus because the interior would otherwise be hard to describe and if you go, you most likely wouldn’t be able to take pictures!

Here are the rules and the map of the interior.

Here are just some of the pictures.  There is a guided tour recording to describe the art, etc. Amazing, like no casino I have ever seen!  No time to stay for gambling but I would probably be too intimidated anyway.  These have to be HIGH rollers.

 The old elevator, still working.

In case you need a jacket…

The building is connected to the Monte Carlo Opera House and the noted Hotel de Paris is just across the street.The opera house entrance.

The Hotel

And the front view of the casino.

The beautifully landscaped grounds

The conference is the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the year.  EY is celebrating the inspirational journeys of 60 entrepreneurs from 51 countries at the 14th World Entrepreneur Of The Year here at the Grand Casino. Here are some of the signs and sidewalk sayings.  Very coach-like!

I visited the Saint Nicholas Cathedral (Cathedral of Monaco) where the first church was built in the 13th century but had to be torn down due to deterioration.  The new church was built by Charles III in 1875.  Here are some views of the interior, including the tombs of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier. They were also married in this church.

Places to visit next time include the Oceanographic Museum which was the vision of Prince Albert I.  The museum is a repository for Jacques Cousteau’s original equipment.  He was the museum director for many years. The yellow submarine that he used is outside the museum.

I also didn’t go inside the Palace of the Prince – not enough time to appreciate it.  It was the target of many attacks over the centuries.  The Grimaldi family had to act diplomatically to maintain the tiny kingdom and they are still the royal family although it is now a constitutional monarchy.  In the 17th century Prince Honore II began transforming the castle into a palace. The part that looks old is actually the newest addition.  ??? Why??

We did see the changing of the guard at 11:55 which is a 10 minute ceremony.  The flag was flying but Gloria says that even though it traditionally meant that the Prince Albert II was in residence, he doesn’t want people to know if he is or he isn’t so we can’t go by the flag!

Here are some scenes of Monte Carlo.

Many expensive cars too.

These two homes belong to Princesses Stephanie and Caroline.  Only Caroline lives here now.

Lots of great food and gelato here!

This is how you call a taxi here?

Norm was entertained all day from our balcony – the “yacht police” control traffic into the marina and boats are in and out all day.  We spotted these sailors late in the day.

Nice visit and more to do next time!  Including Eze I hope.  We loved that place when we were here many years ago.

June 5, 2019

Livorno is located in central Tuscany and is the gateway to Pisa and Florence.

Today we chose to go on a tour to Florence called “Fascinating Florence”.  It was a 10 hour tour and we were delighted to find out that there were only 10 people on the tour!  That made it a terrific day since the group was so small.

Here’s our sail in and the port.  There are a lot of ancient towers and walls in all of these cities.  Most of the walls have been destroyed but some pieces of them remain.

Our guide was Antonella. The trip to Florence took about 90 minutes and she gave us a lot of information about Tuscany and Florence, which is the capital of this region in central Italy.

Approximately 3 million people live in Tuscany and about 350,000 of them live in Florence.

The area is well known for agriculture, especially wine and olives and also for tourism in Florence,  Pisa, Lucca, Siena and San Gimignano.

We have been to all of those cities before on our trip to Italy with the family back in 2001 and really enjoyed them, so it is time to do some of them again. 

From the 13th to the 16th centuries, this era of creative freedom encouraged the genius of Dante, Donatello, Michelangelo, Giotto, Botticelli, da Vinci and Machiavelli to create some of the world’s most noted masterpieces.

Our first visit in Florence was the Galleria dell Accademia which contains the masterpiece – Michelangelo’s David.  Antonella encouraged us to study some of Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures which are in the same gallery.  Some were to be created for the Pope at the time, but they were never completed. The David is the only fully completed sculpture.

Here are the unfinished ones – which are genius in themselves.

And the David is just amazing. Michelangelo studied cadavers to get every detail just right.  Antonella was so helpful as we studied this sculpture – she pointed out aspects such as the facial expressions that we might not have noticed in the same way. The sculpture was outside for 300 years before it was moved.  There was damage to one finger and a wrist which was repaired. There is now a replica in the spot outside where this original once stood.

Another sculpture in this gallery is the Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna. Other paintings by Botticelli and Renaissance masters are in the gallery as well.

Here is the copy that is outside.

The Accademia was first a school, so there is another whole area of sculptures that were done by students.  Some of them have holes in them because the students were studying proportion.

Antonella took us on an extensive walking tour of the main sights in Florence.  She explained the influence of the Medici family who were bankers that gathered influence in Florence in the 15th century.  They were great lovers of the arts and of architecture and were wealthy so could contribute to the city in many ways.  They ruled as a political family and were the most powerful families in Florence.

This is their family crest which is found on many buildings in the city.

Florence is called the “City of the Lily” and it gave birth to the Renaissance and changed the way we see the world.  The churches, medieval towers, Renaissance palaces and museums and galleries contain some of the most outstanding achievements of Western history.

Here are some examples.

These are the famous  golden Gates of Paradise on the Baptistery of St. John.  You can’t get too close to them but even from a short distance they are impressive.

The many churches are just amazing in the detail of the frescos, stained glass and paintings that adorn the inside and the statues on the outside.  The Duomo is the reddish dome in the first photo.

And the Church of Santa Croce contains 270 tombstones that adorn the floors of the church along with the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and others. It is a huge place.

Of course we had a wonderful lunch in Acqua Al 2 which was recommended by friends on the ship. Then we had gelato at Antonella’s favorite shop.

Here are some other sights from the city, including the ones from the terrace overlooking the city on our way back to the ship.

This is the famous Ponte Vecchio  over the Arno River.

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Amazing day.  On the way back we went through the countryside – lots of vineyards and beautiful landscapes.