5 June, 2005

 

Day 1-Rome – The Journey Continues…

 

We had such positive responses from our almost daily e-mails last year as we cruised from Athens to Rome; we have decided to e-mail a travelogue again this year as our journey continues from Rome to London aboard the ms Rotterdam. The travelogue was also very helpful to us in organizing our pictures and mementos when we returned home after three weeks of travel. This year we will be spending three days in Rome prior to the cruise, four days in London at the end, and visiting six countries and 10 ports in between. We have added some additional addresses to our e-mail list from last year and if this starts to get too boring for any of you, please use the delete button or e-mail us and we will take you off the list and promise not to have any hard feelings either way.

We left our rainy home in Satellite Beach for the Orlando airport at 9:00 a.m. 4 June 2005; 17 and one half hours, plus a six hour time zone change later, we arrived in sunny Roma, the beautiful city of romance. Our luggage arrived on the same flight we did which is always a welcome sign. Our year’s worth of planning started coming together when a driver holding a sign with our name on it met us it the reception area next to immigration and had a car ready to take us to our hotel. Forty five minutes later we were checked it and taking showers to recover from the long flight. After we freshened up we took a three hour walk of old Rome to stay awake with plenty of liquid refreshments along the way. The hotel receptionist made us dinner reservations at a great street side restaurant about a 30 minute walk from here. She said it was real Italian and she was right we were the only ones speaking English in the place, but you could hear the Italian Accordion Music playing on the street for the tourist at some of the other places but it also added great ambiance to our meal of which many of the items we will be trying to figure out what they were for days to come.

     Our bodies have no clue what time it is so we believe we will crash at this point. Of course Holly has already set up tours for the next three days including the excavations under St Peters Basilica, the Forum, Coliseum, Circus Maximus, and the Catacombs plus we have a papal audience on Wednesday morning before we depart for the ship. This will be my opportunity to convince the Vatican that they made a mistake in their last selection of pope when they overlooked me but I will be ready for the challenge when Benedict VI’s term expires.

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

6 June, 2005

 

Day 2 -Rome – Ancient Rome (Better known as old rocks…very old rocks)

 

Today we toured ancient Rome including the Colosseum, didn’t see any Christians put to death but it was surrounded by souvenir salesmen that probably should be fed to the lions. We also toured the Forum and Palatine which consisted of a lot of very old rocks, but extremely interesting. We took a private tour arranged by the receptionist where we are staying and the guide was extremely knowledgeable. He could probably tell you what time the Caesars retired at night and if they wore jockey shorts or briefs. The one thing we have discovered is that most guides are extremely passionate about their subjects. We tried something new for our stay here in Rome and are staying at a Bed and Breakfast. We picked it for location because it is right in the center of Rome and walking distance to most of the sights with a lot of great restaurants near by. The staff is extremely friendly, even provided us with a cell phone at no charge with their night and day numbers preprogrammed in case we get lost. Luckily we haven’t had to use it yet, but time will tell. The Bed and Breakfast is extremely clean and served a great breakfast, provides free internet usage, arranges tours, and makes dinner reservations and cost a lot less than any of the hotels in the area; however the room, especially the bath room is a little small. We have to step outside the bathroom to change our mind.   The shower cannot be described in words so will have to get a picture, but I will tell you that it is a good thing I have been trying to lose weight or else I wouldn’t fit. Tomorrow we have a 9:15 appointment to visit the excavations under St. Peters Basilica in Vatican City and see St. Peters tomb. Should be very interesting. 

 

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

7 June, 2005

 

Day 3 -Rome – Beneath St. Peter’s Basilica and beyond

 

After a full day of touring we had dinner at another restaurant and wine bar recommended by the great receptionist where we are staying. Had wild boar loin as an antipasti starter followed by ravioli as the pasta dish and lamb chops as a main course. Never had wild boars loins before but Father Flanagan I don’t think they are like the fish that swim side ways and got me into trouble in Scotland. Only time will tell. Every restaurant  recommended by our receptionist so far get five stars from Holly because they have accessible bathrooms which seem to be very rare, although tonight she had to share it with the men, but they did have two sinks to wash his and her hands. The tables are very close together in the Italian restaurants because the buildings are so old and small, so we got talking to the English couple next to us, a lady brought to Roma by her son for her birthday. After a couple of bottles of wine the conversation flowed. She recommended the Tiramisu to Holly for dessert because it is an Italian classic and won’t taste like any other in the world. It didn’t even look like any other Teramisu in the world and the taste was fantastic. Went for a romantic walk around Trevi Fountain listening to accordion music, think I need to pull the old accordion out of the closet and warm up my fingers, there might be a retirement job for me here in Roma. The next morning we had to be at the Vatican for the Sacvi Tour by 9:00. After convincing the Swiss Guards that we had reservations they let us into the excavations office for the tour. The Vatican gets over a thousand requests a day for the tour but limit the number allowed to not more than 80 per day. We went in a group of 12 and were really lucky to get tickets, advance planning and writing 11 months in advance for tickets really paid off. The necropolis is a cemetery built in Nero’s time and is called the city of the dead because it is made up of a city of mausoleums built in the shape and size of a house. The size of the mausoleum was dependent on the size of the family to be buried within it. It was like walking through a city with very narrow streets and there was Plexiglas on the sides of the various tombs where you could look inside. The mausoleums had two stories and the Romans would have picnics on the second story and pour wine through holes in the floor to the dead. Sort of like Finnegan’s wake. The excavation area starts 40 feet underground and is kept very damp and cold to preserve the 2200 year old brick and dirt walkways. It could also be very claustrophobic if that sort of thing bothered you. Photos were absolutely not allowed. The cemetery was on a hill and the hill was cut down to the top of St. Peter’s tomb by Constantine when he built the first St. Peter’s Basilica. The tour ended at St. Peter’s tomb where some of his bones are visible. We then exited through the grotto where the Pope’s are buried and were able to get a picture of Pope John Paul II’s internment where many pilgrims were kneeling and praying. St. Peter’s tomb is directly under the dome of the Basilica. They are 100% certain that the tomb is St. Peter’s tomb substantiated by the archeologist and many items and writings found on the tomb. Since DNA was not around during St. Peter’s time and they have documents talking about the body being moved twice, once from the original tomb to be buried with St. Paul and once back to the original tomb, they are only 98% certain that the bones they found in the tomb are his. An amazing and informative tour that we will probably contemplate for many years to come. We spent the rest of the day going through the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and very other parts of the Vatican and then picked up our tickets for the Papal Audience tomorrow morning. After the Papal Audience we will head for the ship, but now I have to take a shower and get ready for dinner at our receptionist’s favorite Restaurant, we have reservations for 8:00 pm, normal eating time in Rome, and the letter she left us confirming our reservation said that this is a very “Roman” trattoria with traditional pastas and second courses such as grilled lamb and coratella (a stew of various organs that is considered a traditional Roman dish). This one sort of worries me. She said not to miss the goose breast bruschetta and they have a good wine list and good house wines. Might take a lot of wine tonight. Holly’s only concern is she going to be able to walk one more step. We have probably walked 60 miles in the three days we have been here.

 

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

7 June, 2005

 

Day 4 -Rome – Arrivederci Roma

 

A real quick e-mail, just got on the ship and are awaiting luggage to unpack. Internet seems to work great. Dinner last night, even the Goose Pate was wonderful, have really become accustomed to this Roman cuisine. Went to the Papal audience this morning, got there an hour and a half early, so we were one of the last lucky few to actually be able to see the Pope close up. We were within five feet of him as you will be able to see in one of the photos posted. Also check out the sea of people behind us in another photo. What an upbeat experience, people of all ages were singing playing instruments and really in a festive mood. For all of you who gave me items to be blessed, they are now blessed by Pope Benedict XVI. They told us when to get ready to have out items blessed. Every gift shop yesterday, during our visit to the Vatican Museum, had signs all over stating that it is against Catholic Doctrine to sell blessed items so now it is against the law for you to sell these items. At least you can rest easy knowing that we will bring them back to you and the Pope has automatically extended his blessing to you as well. The Pope said so himself, even in English, so that makes it gospel. We are invited to our first cocktail party so need to get ready.

            Love to all Holly

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

9 June, 2005

 

Day 5 -Florence – Holly’s thoughts on St. Peter

 

    I had no idea what to expect today, but I knew going down into the scavi must be something because we had to book it months in advance and only twelve people go down at one time. Considering today I saw more people in St. Peter’s Square than one normally sees in a lifetime, twelve is an extremely small number. Twelve, isn’t that the number of apostles? Interesting thought! Our guide also told us that the Vatican never plans to advertise it’s available, and Tom told you how many people they turn down. None of us twelve, according to me, looked like weirdoes, so my guess is that we were heavily screened without our knowing because just to go into St. Peter’s one must walk through all the airport security garbage that we have all become unfortunately familiar with these days. Our guide was wonderful. Tom gave you a feel for the site and the walk down into the dampness of the tombs that lie below.

  Now for St. Peter. We all know the famous quote that Jesus said, “Upon this rock, I will build my church.”  I have always interpreted that quote figuratively, meaning of course that Peter was the strength and the person Jesus most depended on to continue his work. I never once literally interpreted it, yet that is exactly what St. Peter’s Basilica is a about.  It is the most magnificent and largest church in the world built directly on the “rock” of St. Peter, his tomb.

   A little history – St. Peter was crucified upside down in the great Circus Maximus, which we saw. Caesar Augusta could watch the circus, whatever event was held for the day, from his house called the Palatine, which we also saw. (By the way, Ceasar had 500,000 slaves to keep it up for him. Kind of gives you a feel for the size.) After Peter died they took him outside the circus and buried him in the dirt – no tomb. The early Christians asked for his body so they could bury Peter properly in a tomb. The wish was granted, so his body was removed from the dirt and buried half way up the cemetery hill called something close to “Vatican Hill.”  The Christians decided to build a small shrine over the tomb with marble columns that stood about four feet with a small marble altar on top. The Christians worshiped there in the cemetery. This is where the first Christian Emperor, Constantine, decided to build a basilica. It was a very strange place in its day to build a basilica because it was a long way from town and very hilly, but it was Peter’s tomb. To accomplish this task the cemetery had to be leveled and because Peter was half way up the original hill, the top was removed and leveled the hill to where his tomb was. Constantine realized that when more leveling was necessary to build a more spectacular basilica Peter’s tomb would be destroyed. Therefore, Constantine built a marble box around Peter’s small altar with two pillars holding up the altar. Marble is a rock, right?

    In the 1500’s St. Peter’s Bascilica was to once again be refurbished. Each time the church had been altered over the centuries, the main altar of the church remained on top of Peter’s tomb. The workers knew that there was building sites beneath what they were doing because they would occasionally break through the floor of the old cemetery below. They were told to keep going and just plug the holes. We actually saw some of the patched holes when we were below in the cemetery. Good thing they did not excavate in the 1500’s because the science of archeology was not advanced enough and the cemetery would have been destroyed. In 1930’s, when a few other world events were taking place, Pope Pius the XIII decided to reaffirm if Peter was really buried under the altar of the Basilica.  The digging was unique because they went from the bottom upwards. After finding many of the houses of the Necropolis, city of the dead in the buried cemetery beneath the Basilica, they finally found a marble box. They carefully started to open the box and inside of it read, “Here is Peter.” There was graffiti on the outside which was also used to confirm that was indeed the marble box that Constantine had placed around the tomb in 386 A.D. They opened the marble box and sure enough there was one of the pillars so accurately described in many pieces of literature. They opened the tomb inside of the marble box and sure enough there were the bones of a man, heavily built, feet missing (they cut people down from the cross, who were buried upside down by cutting off their feet, first buried in the dirt, and who was approximately 70 years old.  It all fits Peter. There is absolutely no doubt that it is Peter’s tomb, and without DNA who knows on the bones. Amazing none the less! To me the amazing part is that fact that the famous artists, Bernini and Michael Angelo never questioned the fact if they were building on top of Peter’s tomb. They had faith that yes indeed, St. Peter was buried beneath. Bernini would build his incredible altar and Michael Angelo would build the great dome. They literally believed that, “Upon this rock, I will build my church.” That is a lot of faith. Our guide emphasized to us loud and clear that without this belief, that St. Peter was buried beneath the great altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, there was no reason to have built it in the first place. Now you know that both interpretations are correct. St. Peter’s Basilica is built upon a rock, Peter and his marble tomb.

 

This is too heavy for Tom; he is off getting ready to go to the Ocean Bar for a Martini before dinner. Today we just returned from a full day in Florence and saw the original of Michael Angel’s David. It was really magnificent. Tonight we sail for Monaco.

 

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

 

11 June, 2005

 

Day 7 -Marseille – Chateau Neuf Pape & Avignon

 

   Have been gone exactly one week today and just returned from a most fascinating eight hour tour of the Chateau Neuf Pape Wine District, wine of the popes which Tom thought was fitting for his future employment, and Avignon. We brought some wine from the vineyard back with us for tonight’s dinner. The Popes chose Avignon as the papal city for political and geographical reasons during the early fourteenth century. Rome was politically unstable at the time whereas Avignon offered peaceful serenity. In all the Popes ended up living there for 80 years before they returned to Rome. It still is extremely peaceful today. There were very few people, little traffic and after Rome and Florence where cars, scooters drive everywhere it was very nice. I believe I would love to visit again someday and spend more time. Lunch was very different but actually delicious. The photo of Tom with all of the wine makes the food look better than it really appeared. What Tom has on his plate was called eggplant cake. It was thinly sliced eggplant wrapped around lots of different veggies. They must have been boiled first because they were very mushed and very brown. That puts them in the “very interesting” category. Of course as Tom said, enough wine and one can eat anything. Actually it was delicious; it was just the look of it.

    Also there is a photo of the bridge of Avignon. I have sung the song about the bridge since I was very little and always wondered why it was special. Now I know. The flowers behind me are lavender that grows everywhere and smells delicious.

  Thanks Sabrina for the Avery update and Dad be careful of the bears. Oh, they celebrate a bug that look like a cockroach to me. They have them everywhere in glass, in brass, on plates, drawn on towels etc. I asked the significance of this creature and they said it heralds the coming of summer. So Sabrina guess what we are bringing you?

 

Typing this on our verandah where the weather is beautiful, the seas are flat and the pilot just got off as we cleared the harbor so it is time to get ready for dinner. Last night was our first formal night and we had a ball at our table, were the last ones to leave the dining room. Tomorrow morning we arrive in Barcelona.

 

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

 

12 June, 2005

 

Day 8 -Barcelona – Codorniu Cellars and Montserrat Monastery

 

Awoke this morning as we were docking in Barcelona and started the day off right with some Champagne at 9:30 at the Codorniu Cellars. Tasted so good we brought a bottle back to the ship. Fantastic winery. Next we went to the Monastery at Montserrat up in the mountains overlooking Barcelona, what a view. There are hiking trails all over the mountain and a small hotel connected to the Monastery were you can come and stay with the Monks and meditate and commune with nature. It seems like we have been in a church of some sort almost every day and every time we go into a church I make an offering and light a candle, don’t know if it is going to do any good but figure it can’t hurt. Now I’m really confused, I don’t know whether to be an accordion player in a piazza in Rome, a Montserrat Monk or the Pope when I retire. I guess time will tell. We are spending the night in Barcelona and tomorrow we are doing more cultural sort of things by visiting a number of Museums in Barcelona including the Maritime Museum next to a huge statue of Christopher Columbus at the entry way to the port. As a side note, a monk from Montserrat went with Christopher Columbus. Holly can’t wait to start spending money in the museum gift shop for items she can use in teaching.

  

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

Montserrat – Holly’s Thoughts

 

   Mount Montserrat is 38 kilometers from Barcelona and rises 1,236 meters above sea level. I didn’t realize that this tour would require my ear plugs, that I use to keep my ears protected when I descend on airplanes. I did make it, however, without them. During the Tertiary Period (that was a long time ago) a river ran through this area and when the continent sunk, it left these really bizarre shapes. You can kind of get a feel of the unusual shapes of these mountains in the photos. Archeological finds show evidence of human presence as far back as 3,000 B.C. and they call the people Montserratina because of the unusual nature of the artifacts.

   Towards the end of the 800’s, people started to develop this area with scattered churches and shrines and one of these became the start of what would become the current monastery. The area was so remote that a group of monks took it over. It was a perfect place to be a monk, I guess, because it was remote to say the least.  About this time, legend has it that a shepherd in the area found a wooden statue covered in silver of Mary and baby Jesus in a nearby cave. He brought it to the monks, and the monks placed the statue in their small church.  They would soon need a much larger area, and the small church would become a very large basilica.

   It is a very unusual looking statue. Anyway, after the statue arrived, word started to spread of miracles that were preformed there and people started to come from all over. They still do! Little did I know that it is now the fourth most visited site by Christians in the world. Shows how much I know about my religion. They allow you to stand in line and touch the statue if you are so inclined; however, I would still be there alone and the tour would have been back on ship hours ago without me, so I had to pass. Next time I visit, I will stand in line. There is no charge to do this. In fact one does not pay to enter the monastery’s beautifully landscaped grounds either. The monastery has a boys choir, but we missed hearing them sing because there was a huge festival going on. That will be next time too! There was a large group of people visiting the site and some of them were facing the church where the statue is enshrined, taking off their shoes, raising their arms, holding their head back, and closing their eyes. They would stand in this position for quite a while and then another small group or individual would repeat the process. We learned that they were Russian Christians who believed that it was a scared spot, and if you stood in this position, you would be re-energized. I passed that opportunity also. Oh dear!

   The whole place was absolutely beautiful and walking some of the mountain paths would be utterly awesome. You can even walk to the cave where legend has it that the statue was found. The monastery now has a small hotel for the Christian worshipers who flock there by the hundreds daily and the nature worshipers who love peace, quite and the commune with an incredible environment. What a place! Just think it was all started with a legend and miracles. When we asked where did the statue of Mary come from in the first place? Well, you guessed, no one knows. 

   Yes, indeed, Montserrat is on my list of places to visit again.

 

Love to all my family and friends back home. Holly

 

 

 

 

 

Day 9 -Barcelona – Gaudi, Maritime Museum, plus 10 Euros of Experience

 

Today we had a half day tour called “Gaudi’s Barcelona.” The tour guide’s take is that

Antoni Gaudi’s work is admired by architects around the world as being one of the most unique and distinctive styles. His work has greatly influenced the face of Barcelona Architecture and his works are all over the city. Gaudi’s work was greatly influenced by forms of nature and this is reflected by the use of curved construction stones, twisted iron sculptures, and organic-like forms which are traits of Gaudi’s Barcelona architecture. Gaudi has adorned many of his buildings with colored tiles arranged in mosaic patterns. He was put in charge of the “Temple of the Sacred Family” in 1882 and supervised the project for 40 years until his death in 1926. Construction still isn’t done and is not expected to done until 2020 although you would never know it by the crowds visiting the site. My take on Gaudi is that he probably was the inventor of LSD and then became the Architect. His works are definitely unique and although the tour guide never said it, I have got to believe that the word we use “gaudy” comes from “Gaudi” because that best describes his works. After the tour Holly and I set out on our own and went to the Barcelona Maritime Museum which is housed in a very old ship yard, in fact the ship yard where Christopher Columbus’s ships were built. The ship yard looks almost the same today as it did back in the mid 1400s only now it is a museum. After that we headed back to the ship and received a 10 Euro lesson in foreign travel. We went to the taxi stand to catch a taxi to the ship which should have been a 6 – 8 Euro fare.  We told the driver Porto for the Port. He said “Si” and immediately whipped the cab around the round about and up on to the free way which we knew was the wrong direction. We look up and the sign says Aero Porto. I tapped his shoulder and start pointing the other direction, and sort of shouting, and he says “Oh the Cruise Porto,” which I am confident he knew all along. So by the time he got to the first exit of the freeway, turned around and got us to the ship the fare was 17 Euro. Oh well our life’s lesson for the day. I know he knew we meant the Cruise Porto by the way we were dressed, and the things we were carrying in our Holland America Bag, plus the camera, but at least we got him turned around before we got to the Aero Porto or BFE, and a 10 Euro lesson is pretty cheap compared to some of the horror stories we have heard. Tomorrow is a very welcome sea day after 9 days of continuous touring on every full day tour Holly could book us on, we or at least me will welcome the opportunity to kickback and do nothing. Tomorrow we hope to post some pictures of the ship, which is really gorgeous, and write a little about our experiences on the ship. We had a little light drizzle on and off today but now the sun is out and overall the weather has been next to perfect, the seas flat and life is good. 

  

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

 

14 June, 2005

 

Day 10 – At Sea – Finally a Relaxing Full Day at Sea

 

It is great to finally have a day where we can enjoy the sights and sounds of the ocean and didn’t have to get up for a tour, and it really is a beautiful sunny day with flat seas. We can see numerous fishing boats from Spain in the distance. We were able to sleep in to 8:30 and get up and have a leisurely breakfast in the dining room reserved for guests staying in suites. The ship we are on is the ms Rotterdam built in 1997 as the flag ship for Holland America Lines. It has a length of 780 feet, gross tonnage of 59,652, carries 1,300 passengers and was originally designed to be used for around the world cruises. They found out that they couldn’t fill up a ship this size for world cruising, so they are now using the ms Prinsendam, the ship we were on last year, for world cruising because it only carries 700 passengers. The Rotterdam is beautiful with numerous art pieces throughout the ship and in the public rooms. There are 16 public rooms plus a large show room and a variety of entertainment including a string orchestra playing in the Explorers Lounge every night after dinner where after dinner drinks, coffee and desserts are offered. The ship is constantly doing different itineraries and does about 4 Trans Atlantic cruises a year.  The ship was designed for the rough seas of the North Atlantic so most of the time you have to look outside to realize you are even on at ship. We were fortunate to get a suite (pictures posted) which is a large and spacious room with a large private verandah and it carries with it numerous perks such as free laundry and dry cleaning, numerous cocktail parties, and a private lounge with a concierge to take care of our every need. The free laundry was especially useful after spending four days in Rome prior to the start of our cruise.

   We requested and got a round table for eight in the aft center of the upper dining room. It is always a crap shoot on you will get for table mates, but we have always lucked out and have been seated with people wanting to have a good time. This year there are two men at our table, including me, and 6 women. Two of the women, Barbara and Claudette, are mid to late forties and travel frequently together to have a good time. They are real party animals. Barbara got lost in the Vatican and was actually brought back to her hotel by Stephen, a member of the Swiss Guard. He offered to show her Rome the next day but she had to leave. I think in after thought she thinks she should have skipped the cruise and spent two weeks with the Swiss Guard. Our conversation is wide and varied and one night while talking about the tattoo artists in Florence, Barbara informed us all that her lipstick and eye makeup were tattooed on. Sure blew me away. The other two women traveling together are a mother and daughter, Stephanie and Sandy. The daughter is early thirties and works in the music publishing business in LA. The mother is twice divorced and decided she needed Mother/Daughter bonding time. They are having a ball and the daughter won 3,000 Euro’s in Monte Carlo and blew most of it on jewelry in Barcelona. The four women close the bars on the ship every night long after Holly and I are in bed. The other couple at our table is from Philadelphia and between Holly and I and the four women we seem to overwhelm them a bit, but they are fun loving people and a good time is being had by all. We are always the last ones to leave the dining room at night even though we are usually the first ones served. Having to finish the wine might have something to do with that, but I think it is primarily because we are having so much fun. Our waiter plays along well with us. Tonight is our second formal night and the Captain’s Champagne Reception.

    We will clear the Straights of Gibraltar sometime early in the morning and dock at Cadiz Spain at 7:00 tomorrow morning. We are taking an all day tour called Cadiz, Sherry and Horses. Sherry for me and horses for Holly!  After a tour of Cadiz, we are going to a local cellar for some sherry tasting and then on to the Royal Andalusia School of Equestrian Arts and watch them rehearse. Well it is time to go to lunch and then on to a wine tasting.

 

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

My thoughts to date on day 10 of our voyage:

 

     To this point it has been absolutely awesome adventure! What a fabulous trip! We went to Rome with an agenda to see the tomb of St. Peter, the new Pope, Pope Benedict XVI, the Coliseum, and the Forum. We did all of those things and more. Each of those was an adventure in itself and I would have felt fulfilled if I had gone home at that point. The dinners in Roma were quite a pleasant surprise and each one unique and most memorable. Each of them was an adventure in itself – thanks to Mimi, the receptionists of the Dalphine Bed and Breakfast. Interesting fact! The first night she sent us to a “restaurante” with Italian and English on the menu clearly visible.  The tables even had their own space. The next night was also a “restaurante” but the English was not quite as visible (however the waitress spoke fluent English). As we wrote, the tables were not spaced according to our American bubbles or space we covet, but wonderful just the same. That is the night I had wild boar. When Mimi learned that we enjoyed each progressive submersion into Roman culture, she sent us to a “Trattori.” That is were the Italians eat and there is no eating on the side walk. Both of the other “restaurants” had outside areas. This “Trattori” did not have any outside space and there was very little English on the menu, plus the waiter, who was half owner since 1947, spoke very little English if any. The “Trattori” is even closed on the weekends so proves they are not there for the tourist. However it proved to be an awesome dinner. I ate gnocchi and it did not taste anything like gnocchi that I know. The night before I had had spinach ravioli that was not the American version either – just like the pizza. Of course the pizza is different in every place that you go.  I did have pizza blanco (simply the bread with olive oil) which was written up in Gourmet Magazine. It was good but certainly not something I will crave. Another thing always written up in magazines is gelato, which is a specialized ice cream. I must admit they only use fresh ingredients that are currently in season. We ate gelato in supposedly the best place, and it was ok but not something that will make me return to Roma. This place won’t even put their gelato in a cone because they believe that the cone ruins the taste. On the other hand, we had crème brule and tiramisu neither of which in America will ever be as wonderful again.  I do love American pizza but the difference between ours and Roma’s is that we have to load it with stuff and the Italians hardly put anything on it at all. They only add cheese if it is a cheese pizza. It is not automatic like in America.

   

15 June, 2005

 

Day 11 – Cadiz – Cadiz, Sherry and Horses

 

     Well Tom may have his doubts about what he wants to do when he grows up, but I found my job today. It would be a job at the Royal Andalusia School of Equestrian Arts. The school is in the middle of town with an enormous wall surrounding it. There is a large indoor area that seats 1,600 spectators. The arena is connected to a circular barn with spokes of stalls coming out from something that looks like a round-a-bout. Each one of these spokes probably has 10 to 12 stalls. The barn area is immaculate. Outside there is an outdoor dressage ring, many other large barns, another very large area that they were working horses with buggies, long winding tree lined riding paths, etc. etc. It is a horse lovers dream. They only have the shows two days a week and we missed seeing one. However, we got to see a rehearsal and that was neat too. We also saw the horse that won the gold medal in dressage during the last summer Olympics. In the museum, I had an opportunity to see a video of his performance at the Olympics, and it was very moving. What a magnificent animal! We picked up one of the school’s guides there but her English wasn’t very good, but it really didn’t matter because I felt right at home and was ready to go to work. However, I am back on the ship because I think if I stayed my biggest problem would be the language barrier. However, there was a time in my life, and definitely if I lived in Spain, I would have been a part of this amazing place.

     First we went to Tio Pepe Winery where they make Sherry, Brandy, and vinegar. Our guide at the Winery was excellent and this place was incredible. We posted a photo of the mice drinking the wine. Legend has it that since the winery’s conception, the original owner looked to see if the mice running around the grounds were drunk or sober. If they were drunk, then he knew that one of the barrels in that complex was leaking. The “mouses,” as our main guide called them, became a famous and continuous part of the winery. We actually saw the glass of wine with the ladder leaning against it. We did not however see any mice. Interesting, I also did not see one cat anywhere in Cadiz. Mice have become an important part of business, so no cats allowed.

     For your trivia! I was just certain there was nothing religious on this tour, but I was wrong. I guess one cannot go to Europe without being inundated with religious information. They are very religious people. Anyway, in one of the areas they had this enormous barrel that held something like 33,000 liters of wine. They called it the Christ barrel and on each side there were smaller, but still very large barrels with a golden name plate of each of the twelve apostles in the order that Leonardo set them in his painting at The Last Supper. However, there are two barrels named for Judas. The winery says that if Jesus could turn water into great wine then Judas still has a chance to change. These barrels are in a very large hall where many weddings and other receptions are held. Now the number 33 was all over Barcelona in every capacity and they kept talking about the number like we all knew why it was important, and here today was that number, 33, again. I, of course, missed why it was important, but now I know. Jesus was 33 when he died. Religion is every where one looks in Europe. It is just part of the culture. On the Basilica of the Holy Family, designed by Gaudi, near the entrance there is a mathematical square which consists of four smaller squares across and four smaller squares up and down. There is a number in each of the squares and no matter whether you add them across or up and down they equal 33. I wondered what a math puzzle was doing on the façade of the basilica but now I know.

     Our guide was from Germany and spoke four languages. He kept mentioning that he liked structure and wanted everything just perfect. The Spanish on the other hand just don’t hurry or worry.  Once we were in a huge traffic jam, and you could tell our guide was getting frustrated and our bus driver stopped and exchanged jokes with one of the other drivers. Our guide said he should learn to just relax and definitely we cause our own stress in life, but not the Spanish. No stress with them.

 

Love to all my family and friends, Holly

 

 

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

 

16 June, 2005

 

Day 12 – Lisbon, Portugal – Lisbon, Sintra & Cascais

 

   We awoke this morning as we were sailing into Lisbon Harbor. What a beautiful view. After breakfast and the ship clearing customs we departed on an 8 hour tour that covered the high lights of Lisbon, then went to Cascais, a small fishing village on the outskirts of Lisbon and then onto Sintra, a quaint little village in the mountains. Of course we stopped at a church because we have found out that no tour in Europe is complete unless you go through at least one church on the tour because religion was so important in the evolution of Europe and the world. I have made it a point to light a candle in every church we enter for a special intention, and so far I have lit enough candles to light up New York City. While shopping in Sintra, we hit the momentous occasion that occurs sometime during most cruises. As of today we are going to have to start throwing clothes overboard to make room in our suitcases for all of the priceless items we have purchased along the way because we just couldn’t live without them.

          Tomorrow is another welcome day at sea so we are hosting a small get together in our suite before dinner for our six table mates. This will be our last formal night and being in a suite the concierge will deliver free hot and cold Hors d’ oeuvres, all we have to pay for is the wine and champagne. I am not sure this is such a great deal but our table mates have been goading us into doing this ever since they found out we were in a suite, so I guess it is time to pay up. As a whole the weather and seas have been near perfect. Last night the seas roughed up a little bit in the middle of the night and I could feel our bed drop out from under me a few times, but by this morning they had flattened out again.

 

      

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

 

17 June, 2005

 

Day 13 – A Second Welcome Day at Sea

 

   Well the seas are not exactly flat any more. One can certainly tell that we are now in the Atlantic Ocean and brings thoughts of why in Columbus’s time they called it the Sea of Darkness. You cannot see land, and it is not calm like the Mediterranean.

    Some of my thoughts to date: On our tours of Spain and Portugal, all of our guides talked about the “Times of the Discoveries” with great reverence and awe. The “Time of the Discoveries” is the time of the great explorers. From now on, I will try to add more of this reverence when I teach about the explorers to my students. We saw a huge statue dedicated to Prince Henry the Navigator, who started the time of exploration by sea. He is standing on what looks like a ship holding a caravel, which is the type of ship he invented. The caravel was much more maneuverable than the previous ships. Columbus’s Santa Maria was not a caravel and the reason it was ship wrecked. The Nina and Piñata were caravels. We saw Vasco da Gama’s tomb which in the huge basilica next to the Lisbon Maritime Museum. I am sorry I missed going inside of this museum. Vasco da Gama was the first explorer to reach India by going around Africa. I knew this was a big deal because people had been trying to reach India for years. They even called pepper, Black Gold. However, I thought it was interesting that they did have salt. We saw how they made salt today, which is the same as they made it back in the day of the discoveries. The Mediterranean spills over the banks and the water slowly evaporates leaving the salt. However, no other spices were available, so led the quest for the spices of India. This is so evident in the church we visited because the tombs of the kings of Portugal are buried along side Vasco da Gama and a famous poet who wrote about the discoveries. Many of the tombs in this church are resting on elephants. Keep in mind that the elephant is a pagan symbol of India but is placed in a Catholic church. The reason you see this is to emphasize the importance of reaching India.

    Another point - I knew that Magellan was the first person to circumnavigate the world. I knew he lost all of his ships except one and ended with only a handful of his crew. What I didn’t know is that even with this great loss of life and ships, the spices brought back were worth more than three times the cost of the voyage.

    By the way, I am sort of getting used to the European thing where one has to pay to use restrooms. Tom continues to faithfully wait while I find them. This was the reason for the gelato break yesterday.

     We are now getting ready to go to the Mariners reception for previous cruisers and have received our red pin which represents over 50 days traveling with Holland America. Our table mates will be receiving the 100 day medallion. (Now after the reception) There were two couples at the reception that have cruised over 700 days. That is a lot of cruises. After the reception, we went to a luncheon for suite guests. We asked the Captain the height of the seas, because everyone is having some difficulty walking. He said, “We have left the bathtub of the Mediterranean and are now in the Bay of Biscay known for its bad weather.” However, he added, “The current seas are ten feet, which is good. It is when they get twenty to thirty feet, that it can be really bad.”

     With that in mind, I am going to attempt a walk around deck to work off my lunch, which was fabulous, and hope I don’t blow off. If it is too bad, I will just have to let lunch settle on my mid section and take a nap instead. We tried to take a photo of the ocean but it did not do it justice.  We personally are enjoying the rock and roll. Lets us know that we are really on a ship.

 

Love to my family and friends, Holly 

      

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

 

18 June, 2005

 

Farewell until June 24

 

The seas clamed down as soon as we left the Bay of Biscay, and we hosted a party in our suite last night for our table mates. Last night was our last formal night, this afternoon we are in Guernsey Channel Islands, the only British territory controlled by the Germans during WW II. We are taking a tour called Sark – A Feudal State in Modern times. We have no idea what it entails but I am sure it will be interesting because all of the tours to date have been great. We are there until 6 pm tonight and then Paris until 10 pm on Sunday and when we get back to the ship we will have to pack up and prepare to get off the ship in Dover on Monday. We are staying in London four nights and have a lot of tours set up including tickets for “Mary Poppins” in the West End Theater District and are attempting to get tickets for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical “The Woman in White”  so we might not be able to e-mail again until we get home. If our hotel in London has internet access, and it doesn’t cost $50 a day to use as it did last year in Athens, we might get a chance to sign on again but are not counting on it. We arrive home late on June 24^th and will have 2 days to get back to reality before we both have to go back to work on June 27^th. By the time this trip ends we will have traveled over 17,000 miles, 3,500 of them by ship, sailed in 5 different seas, the Straits of Gibraltar, Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Biscay, and English Channel, visited 6 countries, and 15 cities. What an adventure this has been. We are now in the process of setting up next year’s trip which is leaning towards a river cruise through Central Europe from Amsterdam to Vienna. But whatever we do, we will try to, as we closed last year, to continue to live by the immortal words of Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor; Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.” It has been fun writing our travelogue and posting the pictures, thank you for putting up with our thoughts and nonsense. Hope all remains well at home.

Happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers,

See you soon,

Tom and Holly

 

19 June, 2005

 

Day 15 – Short Hello from Paris

 

    We just got back from Paris, what a wonderful city – definitely on my must do again list. We have a whole seven minutes left on our Internet time, and don’t want to give that up, so since we had a moment to write, here is a short update. Yesterday there was no time.

     Speaking of yesterday, what a difference a day makes! In Spain, I was certain I had found my dream job, and if I was younger and all of that stuff, the Spanish Equestrian School would certainly be the place for me. I must admit however, I think that dream may have passed me by. Oh, dear! However, I have found my job. In visiting the island of Sark, yesterday I found it. Yes indeed! Hard to imagine that places like Sark really exist. No cars on the island at all, only dirt roads, and only tractors and horses. We took a two hour carriage ride and our driver was a salt-of-the-earth type woman probably in her 70’s or maybe just ridden hard and put away wet so to speak. Her horse Monette was twenty-one and did not need Ann to direct her. She had done the route so many times she knew it by heart. She was definitely one of the slowest creatures on earth and had no intention of hurrying. We were even passed by a man in an electric wheel chair.  Ann’s wagon squeaked and groaned the entire two hours, but it didn’t seem to bother her. When a walking man passed us by, he greeted Ann and Monette with, “Oh, Ann, I hear your wagon is still groaning along.” She wasn’t too pleased because she had previously told us the noise had just started and she couldn’t imagine where it was coming from.

    No one hurried in Sark! The street signs told you how long it took to walk to a destination instead of how far it was. The entire island was one mile wide and three miles long. The beauty of it was breathtaking.

 

Love to all my family and friends and Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

 

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly  

 

20 June, 2005

 

Day 16 – Arrived in London

 

    We awoke this morning with the sun shining on the white cliffs of Dover.  Pretty cool! Once in France, after we bought wine, the sales person wrapped our bottle in corrugated cardboard and I said, “Pretty cool!” and she said, “No, cardboard!”  Anyways, sad leaving the ship today, now I know I am getting closer and closer to having to wait on myself. At dinner we have each been ordering our own dinner and then several other selections to pass around and share. We have also been doing that with desserts, two or three desserts per person. Well at Harrods Famous Deli in London today, that came to a crashing end. Lunch, which consisted of a roast beef sandwich on rye, one glass of wine, and a beer was ₤40 which equals almost $80. I don’t believe I have ever spent $80 for lunch before. Welcome to London. In the toy department at Harrods we saw Rocking Horses priced at over $8,000 dollars including the one in the picture we posted. So for dinner, we stopped in a local grocery store and bought wine, bread and cheese. We carried it through the lobby of this five star hotel just like it was the thing to do. The hotel is something! It even has a scale in the bathroom and at first, since I have been having two or three desserts a night; I thought possibly I should weight myself, but not to worry yet about that, because it only measures “stones” and “kg.”  Since I don’t know how that relates to pounds, I won’t think about that yet. I’m also not going to go on the Internet to figure it out because we bought the one hour, per time, plan, so don’t want to waste my minutes looking up anything that could prove to be depressing. The hotel is in a wonderful section of town. Very upscale and unlike Rome actually has a view. We rode the tube and walked all over London today including walking by Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace. Tomorrow the concierge booked us on a city tour of London which will include the Tower of London, West Minister Abbey, and Royal Mews, and on Thursday we are going out to see Windsor Castle, Bath, and Stonehenge.  Tomorrow we are going to see Mary Poppins and Wednesday we are going to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s newest musical Lady in White. After London, Tom and I will definitely both have to go back to work to pay for all of this, but we are truly having a ball.

    Last night I forgot to tell you that Ann, on the Island of Sark, (you know, my new job) has been driving horse and buggy for 41 years.

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

 

  

21 June, 2005

 

Day 17 – Just a Little Bit of Sugar Help’s the Medicine go Down

 

   What a magical evening last night was at the Prince Edward Theater in the West End Theater District. Yesterday we toured West Minister Abby, saw Big Ben, Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, took a ride down the River Thames and walked all over London. After a full day of touring we hurried back to the Hotel, which we found out today was voted the top five star hotel in London for 2004 which I am sure will have an impact on our bill when we see it, and changed for the theater. The Prince Edward Theater is unlike any theater I have ever been in my life, simply gorgeous. All plush red velvet inside and our seats were in the 8^th row center. London theater district is incredible with over 50 theaters in about an 8 block radius all playing top rated shows. “Phantom of the Opera” has been selling out every night at Her Majesty’s Theater for over 20 years. I have never seen a show in the US that could compare to what we saw last night both in the performance and staging. Staging and special effects were incredible ending with Mary Poppins flying over the audience with her umbrella and disappearing into the center of the dome covering the theater, at least 8 stories up. Can’t stop humming music from that incredible performance. After catching a taxi back to our hotel, no easy task with all of the theaters letting out at the same time, we capped the evening with a cheese plate and a couple of glasses of wine at the hotel Piano Bar. Today we are going through the Tower of London, Royal Mews, St Paul’s Cathedral, can’t have a day without going through at least one church, last minute shopping at Harrods, and concluding the evening by attending Andrew Lloyd Webber’s newest musical  “The Woman in White” at the Palace Theater.  Tomorrow we have an all day trip to Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor Castle, you know Holly if it is there to see we will see it, and then will have to leave for the airport early Friday morning arriving back in Satellite Beach late Friday night. What an incredible journey this has been. Thank you again for putting up with our thoughts and nonsense.

 

Special thanks to you Judy for your Irie TLC, will call you from Atlanta.

 

 

Hope all is well at home-

More of the adventure to follow,

The Happy Wanderers,

Tom & Holly

 

Epilogue

 

   We have safely returned home with all flights on time, how awesome is that? We wanted to finish our travelogue for us, so decided to send it along with a few last photos of our adventure.

     As Tom told you, we saw Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “The Woman in White.” It was incredible. The scenery is all done with projection which has the ability to move the actors from one place to another quickly without scene changes. It will take a little getting used to for us old theater goers, but I suppose musicals must keep up with cutting edge technology. Tom always says that he cannot enjoy a musical unless he can walk out humming. We figured this musical was doomed because we had never heard of it before, even though we found out it has now been in London for just over a year. Weber plans to bring it to New York in 06. Well, we were wrong! We have both been humming the music ever since. That takes a great deal for Tom to admit that he is humming a new musical - a rather heavy one at that. There is no doubt that this one shows Weber’s genius because the music is stunning. I loved it and would return to see it tomorrow if that were possible.

     Windsor Castle was extremely interesting, and I wish we had longer for our visit. Between our tours and the morning English newspaper, I have become a royal groupie. I found it fascinating; the process one goes through, knowing that some day one will be king of England. The rest of this paragraph is rated PG-13. We knew that the royal family shops at Harrods, the place of our $80 lunch. The store is closed for the day, while the royal family shops. I guess they don’t want us peons running around shooting photos. Anyway, our guide told us that there is one item that the Queen cannot buy at Harrods. Only one mind you which gives you a perspective of the size of the store. Guess what that item is? Her bra. Yes, her bra. She buys them from the store next door. One goes and is measured exactly and then fitted with the perfect bra which cost £500. That is roughly $1,000. Ok! that really struck my imagination. What does a $1,000 bra do for one? Let me tell you that every video of the Queen I saw from then on, I tried to figure it out. She looked nice, but I didn’t see it.  If anyone out there wears a $1,000 bra, please let me know. I am most curious.

      Even though I loved the big cities we visited, Rome, Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, and London, I don’t think I am ready to move just yet. In Rome the drivers are absolutely crazy and “zig and zag” does not describe the scene. All of the big cities are heavily polluted compared to where we country folk live, and you can feel the grim on your body at night. Also noise pollution is - well it leaves you with that there is no doubt that this is a big city ringing in one’s ears. London has a congestion tax per vehicle and everyone has to pay £5 per day which will become £8 July 8^th. It must be paid by 10:00 p.m. daily or it becomes £50 fine and there are numerous stories of people having their cars repossessed. There are cameras everywhere, so Big Brother really is watching you. The camera will also give you a speeding ticket or whatever is needed. They say that the congestion tax has helped somewhat on the number of cars in London, and we did notice that Rome was worse. What probably got me the most is how everyone is in a hurry. I thought Tom was the “hurry king,” but he can’t hold a candle to the English chaps. Of course I realize that I was slowing him down tremendously. I have never hurried so much going no where and have decided to absolutely, positively not hurry anywhere for at least several days. 

       I must admit I would not trade this experience for anything. What a great time we had, Tom is now off busily planning next year’s adventure which looks as if it will be a fourteen day river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam.

 

 

Love to family and friends, Holly