Cruisin’ the Med Part II

Day Four: Barcelona

We arrived in port in the morning and started our day as usual in the Windjammer cafe. We decided that we wanted to do a bus tour to see Barcelona. Disclaimer: we were a little disappointed with the tour we selected. We thought we had a selected a tour where we could get off and get on whenever we liked, but that was not the case. We also weren’t very thrilled with our guide. There was a very specific route that we followed. We started the tour by driving to the National Art Museum of Catalonia to see a very beautiful view of the city. From there we drove to the drop off point for the Sagrada Família. On the way we passed the city's bull fighting ring that’s now been converted to a mall, since bull fighting as been outlawed. We also passed two of Gaudi’s private residence he was commissioned to build - located in Passeig de Garcia. We really wanted to get out to get better pictures but were not able to stop.

Sagrada Familia

Upon arriving at the drop off, we walked to the Sagrada Família. The basilica is huge and is still not finished. Construction began in 1882 and was designed by Gaudi. There will be three facades that deal with the life of Christ: the nativity, the passion and the glory. Only two of the three facades have been completed: the nativity and the passion. The nativity is the side the you see Gaudi’s work the most as it was started while he was still alive. It tells the story of Christ’s birth. It is really beautiful and detailed as well as colorful. It is the facade that I liked the best. The passion is based on Gaudi’s design but was started after his death and it highlights the Cubist period more than the Art Nouveau period exhibited by Gaudi.

The building was declared a World Heritage site in 2010 and is expected to be completed in 2026. If you don’t want to do the math, that’s 144 years after it was started. Gaudi devoted his life to building the basilica and is buried within the building in its crypts. I have included a link to the basilica if you would like to read more about the design of the church and it’s history.

Old Roman Town

We walked back to the bus and drove to the old Roman part of the city. We walked passed a lot of the main shopping areas to see the old cathedral that is there.

Fun fact: the old Roman City was called Barcino. Upon entering this older part of the city you are greeted by the remains of the old Roman aqueduct.

The cathedral is the first thing you see as you begin to walk through this section of Barcelona and you can appreciate the different stages of growth the city has seen throughout history. On the side of the church there are sword marks where place guards used its walls to sharpen their swords. The old palace is next to the church and you can walk through one of the courtyards for free. We then wove through the streets to see all that remained of the old Roman temple to Augustus.

We then headed back to the bus and to the ship. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around the pool. Our evening was pretty uneventful, dinner and putt putt.

Day 5: Palma de Mallorca

When we were planning our cruise we hadn’t decided what we wanted to do at this stop. When we were in Rome we met a couple who had just been there and the suggested a bike tour but for us that was out because of Ken’s sprained ankle. When we got on board the ship we looked at what tours they offered and decide to do a combo of bus tour/walking tour.

Our first stop was Bellver Castle. This gave us a panoramic view of the city. From there we went to the walking portion of the tour. We went to the old part of the city. Along the way we saw the two remaining windmills on the island.

Our second stop was The Cathedral of Saint Maria of Palma. We had to walk a couple of blocks along the waterfront to get to it and the views leading up to it were spectacular. Upon entering you are washed in a rainbow of light. The stained glass windows throughout the cathedral bath it in the most beautiful array of colors. We walked to the center of the cathedral and looked at the alter. Even here Gaudi made an appearance. He designed the canopy at the front. He designed it in the shape of a crown to represent the Crown of thrones and there are 27 lamp hanging down. It is light for five minutes every 20 minutes. He also made the iron candelabras around the central nave. As well as the angel candelabras at the front and the sounding board on the left. And he made the iron railing at the front.

There was so much to take in within the church. One of the pieces of art that I particularly enjoyed was to the right of the main alter. It was created by Miguel Barthelo the piece tells the story of Fishes and Loaves on the sides and at the front the Canaan wedding of water to wine. It is so unique and definitely adds a refreshing take on art to communicate scenes and stories from the Bible.

After we left the church we walked to a small shopping area, where we were given about 40 minutes to shop. Along the way we walked through the Royal Gardens. After we shopped, it was back on the bus to our next stop.

The last stop on this tour tour was going to a pearl factory and walking through the bull ring of Palma. On our way to the factory we learned that Mallorca is known for its pearls. Some of the items they sell are guaranteed for up to 15 years. When you enter the factory you see the process of how they create their pearls and it ends in their showroom. We thought it was reasonably priced and purchased some earrings for me and the girls.

Across the street was the bull ring. Unlike in Barcelona, Palma still has bullfights. The arena was relatively small. Not sure how big I thought it would be but it definitely was smaller than I would have thought. The architecture was beautiful and of course we took our picture like all good tourist do.

We headed back to the boat for lunch and afternoon around the pool.

Day 6: Marseilles

We didn‘t do a tour at this stop. We were there on a Tuesday and museums in France are not open. So we took a bus from the dock to the center of the city. We decide to walk to the old harbor and do a little shopping.

Ken wanted to find some hand crafted soaps and Marseilles had it in abundance. We picked up some for ourselves and my bonus mom. The shops in the harbor also had some nice linen dresses and hand made jewelry.

From the harbor you could see Notre-Dame de la Garde. You can tour the basilica but we had seen a lot of churches and just wanted a quiet day.

After strolling a few more streets we went back to the boat. We did our usual, lunch and pool. If you have ever sailed on a Royal Caribbean cruise you know they have a white night. In the Caribbean it is when you leave Mexico but on this cruise it was Marseilles.

White night is a fun night. Guest dress in white and they have a sail away party around the pool. We didn’t go to the party but we did participate by wearing white.

After dinner I did something so outside my comfort zone. Ken and I love the game shows the cruise has from the Marriage Game to the Battle of the Sexes and the Scavenger Hunt, they are fun and hilarious to watch. However on this trip I somewhere lost my mind and volunteered to participate in The Battle of the Sexes. Six women and Six men compete in small challenges like a key drop, number challenge, sing off and balloon popping. It was a lot of fun for me. Not sure I would do it again but I did have a great time and of course the ladies won!

Day 7: Florence and Pisa

Florence

Our last day of the cruise before we returned to Rome was spent traveling to Florence and Pisa. We actually arrived in La Spazia and drove an hour and half to Florence. Along the way there were scenic views on the mountains in the north. Along one stretched it looked as if it had snow on it but it was actually marble that has been mined for hundreds of years. It felt like in no time at all we were in Florence. This tour was a walking tour and didn't include going into museums. So we meet our city guide and walked to The Duomo. The dome was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and it is a spectacular sight to behold. The building is so colorful and picturesque. Standing in front of the cathedral you appreciate the craftsmanship of the sculptures and exterior art but you have to walk to the side of the building to truly appreciate the dome.

After we saw the dome, we walked to see the old bridge of Florence. Along the way we walked through a square that contained the replica of the David as well as other sculptures. The actual David is in the museum in Florence, so this was a good as we were going to get. After leaving the square we walked along a courtyard of sorts between the two wings of the museum and lined along its path were sculptures of famous men from the Renaissance period. When we arrived at the river we were treated with a beautiful view of the bridge. We snapped our pictures and then walked to the lunch that was included.

Our lunch was lasagna but it was a very different lasagna than I have ever had before. It had all sorts of vegetables in it and it reminded me more of a pot pie with lasagna noodles than a traditional lasagna. We also had a salad with bread and the dessert was tiramisu. This restaurant catered to all of the tour groups from the boat so it filled up fast and got very warm, very fast as well, so I decided to wait for the rest of the group outside. As I was waiting a I noticed a sign that had some graffiti on it and found it quite humorous.

I decided that someone wanted to let us know how they felt about all the visitors. I can only imagine what it is like to live in a city like Florence, Venice or even Rome and have to deal with all the tourist. I remember our guide in Venice discussed how he would love to live there again but it is so expensive and some of that was due to the tourist. It must be hard to be grateful for the business it brings but also to deal with the negative of that too.

Anyway after lunch we walked to a leather factory. Leather and gold jewelry are key items to buy in Florence. They are well known for the quality of the products and they like to make you pay that at the factory. Some of the bags we looked at were upwards of $500, too steep for us, but we did have fun looking at the small shops in the square to see if we could find a quality bag that wasn't going to break the bank. I was able to find a bag that was a three in one for about $50. It is a large tote, that has an inside bag that can be detached and turned in to a crossover bag and then it also had small wrist bag as well. Perfect for me. Outside of the factory we went to was the Basilica of Santa Croce. It is here that Michelangelo is buried as well as Galileo and Machiavelli. You could pay to go in and see their tombs but we didn't have enough time to do that on our own.

Pisa

After the factory we walked back to the bus and drove to Pisa. The main attraction here to see is the leaning Tower of Pisa. It was a short walk to the tower and I think I expected it to be much taller than it was but despite that it was still beautiful. We waited our turn among the hundreds of tourist who were all vying for that Instagram worthy shot of the tower. We saw people who wanted to hold it up, hold it in their hand or even look like they were eating it. We each opted for our version and here are our results.

We then went back to the boat, packed, went to dinner. We made it an early night because we were looking forward to all the activity we had planned for our last two days in Italy.

Overall this cruise was one of the best I have ever done! Be sure to spend some time on the Med when you can.