A huge gothic style cathedral with the largest “Rose” window in Europe…..is.95sq. Metres. in Palma.

2700 windmills on island of Majorca or Mallorca…. 2000 water, 700 grain.  Flat base is for water, conical for grain 

Extremely busy airport ….3rd largest in Spain …….planes landing and leave every single minute.

Control on mountain ……controls the  airspace from North Africa to south of France.

8 kilo of olives to produce 1 litre of olive oil.

Ca’n means house of is language particular to Mallorca instead of Casa as in Spanish.  There are no apostrophes in Spanish language.

Grow almonds and grapes too.  Almonds bloom in January and February.  Crazy weather here like the rest of the world is affecting most crops and esp almonds.  Not enough water especially, like California where they were importing almonds from. Probably will affect the price.

Most towns are built on hills as in Italy and Greece but our guide mentioned that the church is on the highest point and that they are built as a fortresses for the protection to women and children in case of outside aggression.

An amusing story our guide told us after pointing out a monastery sitting high on a solo hill was that a monk or priest asked if she knew why the church built on such a high spot?  To be closer to God?  To be in peaceful place in which to pray and meditate.  Well he says……no, we haven’t been telling the truth, that is what we all say is the reasons.  But really it is because the monks have been making wines and other alcohols for years but the ruling Romans or whoever wanted to tax the product.  So by being high up, they could see for miles and miles  the armies coming in lots a time.  Before the armies got there, there was no alcohols to be found.

Callas mean coves.  We travelled to the Caves of Drach (dragon). Many caves on the island but only 5 open to public.  This is the biggest.  It has the largest underground lake  (Martel) is 177×33 metres.  It is 118 steps to the lowest point inside the caves with more steps coming up.  

This cave with all the stalactites (the ones coming down from roof) and stalagmites ( the ones coming up from the floor), is massive…spectacular, the best cave I have ever seen.  Once at the bottom, we sat down to listen to about 5-6 musicians playing chamber music……on a boat being oared around.  The acoustics of this space made it sound as if it was a full orchestra playing.  Amazing! 

Not much has changed here since I was last here.  It still has that wow factor.  Opulence abounds with the extreme yachts in the harbour, the posh cars, Mazzeratis, Porsches, Rolls, yadda, yadda, the somewhat modern buildings (compared to most areas of the Mediterranean) that climb the mountain side of this extremely small principality.   There are quite a number of cranes indicating that they are still erecting more buildings. There is so much money here that it is almost vulgar.  To enter the famous Monte Carlo Casino, first you have to have to be wearing “proper” attire, show government ID such a passport and pay the entrance fee of 10€….. Just to go in to take a look around.  Several of our couples brought tuxedos, top hats, formal gowns and facinators planning to walk in the casino, putting on the dog.  I believe I posted a picture of them waiting for the hop on hop off bus in their fabulous outfits.  Funny!  Good for them.  Most people though, wouldn’t want to or didn’t have space in their luggage to carry all that gear all the way from home.

A number of us didn’t hang around in Monte Carlo but traveled by train to Nice, France.  The closest I had ever got to Nice before was from the inside of a bus high on the hillside.  That was back in 2011.  Anyway, the train was an adventure.  One has to buy a ticket at a selfserve kiosk that only has instructions in French.  It was a struggle for sure.  Then it was down lots of stairs only climb up the same number to get to the other side of the tracks.  We get there and find out from another of our travelling 42, that we were on the wrong side to go into Nice.  So back down and up the other side.  If you know me you know I have a real hard time with stairs.

Nice, especially the Old Town which is really just older than the rest of the city.  It’s all old by our standards.  We visited the flower market that I understand is everyday., walked through the narrow pedestrian streets….immaculately clean, stopped for lunch on a plaza restaurant, took the hop on, hop off bus where we drove along the seaside street where all those people were killed by the man driving a truck during celebrations a few months back.  Part of the tour was along an area overlooking the water, much like driving along Dallas Road in Victoria.  Only here the roads are more narrow and more twisty.  We returned to Monte Carlo by bus……a charge of 2€…. Cheap!  The drive back was quite beautiful.  It is much more scenic than the train.

It was a good day……especially since the weather cooperated.

Not much has changed here since I was last here.  It still has that wow factor.  Opulence abounds with the extreme yachts in the harbour, the posh cars, Mazzeratis, Porsches, Rolls, yadda, yadda, the somewhat modern buildings (compared to most areas of the Mediterranean) that climb the mountain side of this extremely small principality.   There are quite a number of cranes indicating that they are still erecting more buildings. There is so much money here that it is almost vulgar.  To enter the famous Monte Carlo Casino, first you have to have to be wearing “proper” attire, show government ID such a passport and pay the entrance fee of 10€….. Just to go in to take a look around.  Several of our couples brought tuxedos, top hats, formal gowns and facinators planning to walk in the casino, putting on the dog.  I believe I posted a picture of them waiting for the hop on hop off bus in their fabulous outfits.  Funny!  Good for them.  Most people though, wouldn’t want to or didn’t have space in their luggage to carry all that gear all the way from home.

A number of us didn’t hang around in Monte Carlo but traveled by train to Nice, France.  The closest I had ever got to Nice before was from the inside of a bus high on the hillside.  That was back in 2011.  Anyway, the train was an adventure.  One has to buy a ticket at a selfserve kiosk that only has instructions in French.  It was a struggle for sure.  Then it was down lots of stairs only climb up the same number to get to the other side of the tracks.  We get there and find out from another of our travelling 42, that we were on the wrong side to go into Nice.  So back down and up the other side.  If you know me you know I have a real hard time with stairs.

Nice, especially the Old Town which is really just older than the rest of the city.  It’s all old by our standards.  We visited the flower market that I understand is everyday., walked through the narrow pedestrian streets….immaculately clean, stopped for lunch on a plaza restaurant, took the hop on, hop off bus where we drove along the seaside street where all those people were killed by the man driving a truck during celebrations a few months back.  Part of the tour was along an area overlooking the water, much like driving along Dallas Road in Victoria.  Only here the roads are more narrow and more twisty.  We returned to Monte Carlo by bus……a charge of 2€…. Cheap!  The drive back was quite beautiful.  It is much more scenic than the train.

It was a good day……especially since the weather cooperated.

Well now……..it was a rough night sailing and especially rough come time to anchor.  We were unable to anchor because the winds…..55+knots or 57+ mile per hour were wicked with pretty good sized swells….3 metres or 10 feet high.  It’s a big problem because if we anchor it means we would be tendering.  Not!!!  The ship’s captain attempted to have us dock somewhere else along the coast but as they say, “there was no room at the inn” so onward we proceed, bobbing along.  I have never been seasick in my life but I must admit I am feeling pretty nauseous.

Manarola is first stop on Cinque Terre, Veranazzi is second and  Monterosso is the last stop. 

We go from Livorno that is the port for Florence, (called Firenze in Italian ….on the Arno River) which is in Tuscany to the Cinque Terre which is in the Liguria.  

We passed by Camp Darvy,  a US military base near Livorno…..I never knew they had bases here.  The Medicis built a canal that connects Florence/Livorno to Pisa.  Pisa was originally on the coast but now is quite far inland.  In 1174 it completed.  It had been worked on by 3 different architects over a period of 200 years.

There is a huge marble industry  in this area that we travelled through.  You can see where they have quarried in the mountainsides…….the whole mountain is being cut away block by block. 

 La Spezia is a major naval base and port.

Cinque Terre means 5 villages or lands. Developed in Middle Ages ….1400s.  There 7000 kms of dry wall terraces, as long or longer than the Great Wall of China.  It is preserved as a world heritage centre.

All this info was on the ride there.  

As we are leaving La Spezia it is poring rain.  We are all hoping that it will clear before we get to the Manarola, the first village but it is just torrential. I so loved these villages and told everyone about it.  When we arrived we found no one could look around, take pictures and enjoy it.  We were all so soaked to the bone.  It was just miserable.  We never got to look around that first village.  Our guide made the decision to go take the ferry immediately.  We never got to visit the next one, Riomaggiore (I had visited previously) but went on to get off at Veranazzi.  When we got off the ferry(?), our guide was no where to be found.  What we found out later was that there were 4 passengers plus herself that were left behind because they were fully loaded.  This ferry incidentally carried 350-400 foot passengers.  I would never have guessed it but they just kept packing them on.  I am sure that there weren’t enough life jackets….maybe enough for 75.  When we arrived in Veranazzi atleast it had stopped raining but oh my were we cold.  When you are cold you feel miserable and can’t enjoy the town.  We stopped and had lunch….a great pepperoni pizza…..delicious and a salad with tomatoes and mozzarella …..yum!!!  Just as we were finishing, we found the guide and we were back in lineup for the ferry to the next town, Monterosso.  It was a lovely village but with cranky shop keepers.  That was the stop that we were to have lunch but we had had already.  Oh well!  I think the day was a bust.  All we wanted to do was get back to the ship and have a hot bath.  So disappointing for me.  On the previous visit to Cinque Terre, we walked through a tunnel to get to another town and also walked the “Walk of Love”.  The Walk of Love was a seaside walk along the cliffs where lovers had placed locks and notes proffessing their love.  Unfortunately that area was washed out the month after I was here in 2011 and still remains closed. I am so glad I Thad got to see it.  

Having been to Rome twice before so when there was a mess up with meeting our vans that were to take us into the city….a drive of around an hour and 15 min. each way, I chose to stay back.  I just went back to the ship to have a relaxing day doing not much of anything.  It was a must needed break.  Linda and 20+ others did go in.  They did Rome in 3 hours or less.  Too fast for this “cripple”.

It was a terrible rip off if you ask me.  There were supposed to be 5 vans to meet us……36 people.  Here we all are standing around in a group, no one saw any sign with “Pamela” written on it.  We then thought maybe they were at the entrance to the port so took the shuttle to the entrance.  We then hung around and waited.   Nothing.   We were to meet these vans at 7:45 with all leaving at 8 and now it is around 10:30.  Finally we got communication that they were at the pier waiting for us but would come to the entrance.  When they arrived there were only 3 vans.  They had sent 2 away so of course not all could ride in.  That’s when I chose not to go.  I also knew that the amount of time that we were to be in Rome was pushing it so to have it reduced a further 3 hours was going to be crazy.

Portofino is on the Bay of Liguria….is our first stop after leaving Rome where we left some of our passengers and picked up a new group.

Our tour us a boat tour of the Italian Riviera Out of Portofino.

Since 1933 Portifino and the coastline has been a regional park…a protected area. Another ruggedly beautiful coastline……with next to no houses.

 First stop was a beautiful bay with a monastery ….a two hour walk away from Portofino or the other closest town, San Roche. There are no roads. It is a very hard walk up the mountain, along the top and over. The monastery was built in 12th century. In the winter there are only three people living there because of the difficulty of getting I and out.

Camoglia is the next town.  It’s on the Bay of Paradise. Called the 1000 sailings.  There used to be 580 boats …..lmore than Hamburg, Germany

The houses are very tall and brightly coloured….the reasons are that it is less expensive because it is such a mountainous area and painted so the men, fisherman or sailors could recognized their homes from the sea as they were passing by.

Portofino is gorgeous as is Camoglia.  I would love to return to this area again.

As mentioned in the previous post, we docked in Naples as opposed to anchoring off Sorrento.  The reason being inclement weather…..which only occured during the night.  The day was beautiful and sunny, an absolutely gorgeous day.  It was perfect for visiting and viewing this spectacular coast of Italy.  Because we arrived in Naples instead of Sorrento, it was further to go so it looked like we not going be able to visit Positano, the one place I really wanted to see.  My friend Judie and husband Iain had stayed there for a week a couple of years ago and raved about it.  So you can imagine I was disappointed but, as it turned out, for an extra 7€ and cutting short our visit in Sorrento, we all got to see it.  Oh, it was well worth it.  Breathtaking scenery.  I had taken a boat ride along the Amalfi Coast from Salerno to Amalfi back in 2011.  That was oh so beautiful too but this, with a different point of view, driving along steep cliffs with hairpin turns on extremely narrow roads was, I would say, much more spectacular.  Apparently there are 24 plus lookout huts built along the cliffs to keep an eye out for pirates and such.  We did get to shop and look around Sorrento so it was a power shop for many.  Some bought leather jackets and purses and some linen clothing.  From there it was to the Lemon farm where Pam and Janie had stayed at a couple of years ago.  It was in a lovely location not far from Sorrento.  We were fed fresh homemade bread, mozzarella cheese, salami and proscruito.  And then came the limoncello in 3 different forms.  Oh my, there were some very happy people.  What a fabulous day we had!

I did not have a tour today so myself, Pam, Heather and the two Shellys hired a taxi to go to and from (with a 3 hour stay), Taormina.  Cost 200€ for the 5 of us.  I was here last year.   It is a absolutely beautiful town built on a hilltop like so many others in Italy.  This one is extra special though.  They were built on the tops of hill for protection.  It is just that more difficult to attack a place if that place is above you.  The first place that I wanted to see was the amphitheatre that I had heard was fully intact.  Last time no one had told me about it (and I hadn’t read any notes on it) until we were almost ready to catch the bus.  Well I got to see it this time.  Unfortunately, I had seen one in Alanya, Turkey that had marble seats built all the way to the top.  The stairs were rock too.  Not this one.  I would say that the rusted metal frames and cement steps were not from the 3rd century BC (Greek) to 2nd century AD (Roman).  What I will give credit to is the breathtaking views from it of Taormina and the Sicilian hillside.  Wow!!!  Again Taormina is one place that I would recommend to anyone …..to visit this lovely, lovely city on the hill.

Before leaving the ship, there was an announcement that they were expecting rain here today.  The cruise director also joked that if you take an umbrella that the pattern is tha it won’t rain.  I took my umbrella.  Just as we were getting into the cab to return to our ship, the skies opened up.  It absolutely poured buckets.  Then as we got back to port, it had stopped.  The timing was perfect.

Apparently they are expecting rough seas tonight so will not be dropping anchor in Sorrento but will be tying up in Naples. I wonder how that is going to affect our private tour tomorrow???

Paleokastritsa  and Caves Expedition.  Our tour will be about 4 hours. 

Marilyn and Diane are with me today.  Linda went to the Palaces of Corfu.

 There are two ships in port today…..us, the OceaniaRiviera and Costa Riviera….same names. What are the chances of that???  Greece is 51,000 sq. miles.  Corfu is the 5th largest island in the Med.   It is the most northerly and westerly of the Greek Islands. It is very well treed, unlike most of Greece that is barren…roads are not wide but well cared for.

80% of  Greece is covered by mountains.  Greece has the longest coastline in the world   1500 islands but only 400 are inhabited. Corfu is 60 by 40 kms.  We go from sea level to Bellavista …the mountain being 3000 ft high.  We drove through the village of Lakones….where there is the traffic light (I remember that from last time) cuz the street is max 3 metres wide and wanders….not in a straight line.  OMG!  You have to give these drivers credit let me tell you.

Oozo is  40% alcohol or 80 proof.   

The strait that seperates Corfu and Albania is only 1 nautical mile at its narrowest point….where a lot of people escaped the communist regime of Albania.

That concludes your geography leason for the day.  There was a great deal mentioned but it becomes a little tedious and difficult when you are trying to take pictures, enjoy the places you are visiting not to mention if you want to visit with your seat mate.

First we drove through Corfutown…..clean, neat and seemingly well cared for.  From there we went to the  6 bays of Paleokastritsa.  It is in the shape of a cloverleaf.  We explored the rugged shoreline by boat including sailing into some of these caves.   They are not very deep but very beautiful. There were lots little fish in the clear turquoise water.  After coming back to where we caught the boat, we had about 40 minutes of swimming in the clearest water you can ever imagine….so unlike our waters at home.  Then back onto the bus to drive up the mountain….switchbacks galore on this humongous bus which was almost running out of room on the corners before turning.  We arrived at the Bellavista for absolutely spectacular views of the bays of Paleokastritsa from where we had just come…..and Greek snacks and a choice of wines or oozo……  It is a wonderful place to visit.  I probably said the same thing the last time I was here in 2011.  I would love to come back here and stay for an extended period.  Yes I would recommend it.