Rome

Rome!

We traveled from the port city of Civitavecchia into Rome on the Roma Express (a special train from port to Rome run for the cruise lines). Once in Rome, we were on our own! The train station was very near St. Peter's Cathedral, so we gave that a quick glance and promised ourselves to be back later in the day to see that last; worked out well!

BTW, here's a handy, interactive online map of Rome.

We visited (in this order if you're following the photos):
Castel Sant'Angelo
Piazza Navona
Saint Agnes of Agony
The Pantheon
Trevi Fountain
St. Peter's Cathedral

Then back to the port by Roma Express return.

We had very good luck with chiantis bearing the black rooster. And, Jamie had to try a carbonara in every port available, about 6 or 7 in total by the time we were done. All very good, all quite different with their own twist.

All the day's photos are here.

Roma Express

Castel Sant'Angelo

Piazza Navona and St. Agnes of Agony

Inside the Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Approaching St. Peter's Cathedral (in the distance center top)

Roma Express return

Florence (and Pisa)

It's Tuesday, so this must be Florence and the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

The leaning tower is in the Field of Miracles (Piazza dei Miracoli) which includes not only the leaning tower, but also the Baptistry and the Pisa Cathedral. The leaning tower is the bell tower for the cathedral.

Once in Florence, we did a guided walking tour of the historical center and visited the Accademia Gallery where Michaelangelo's David resides as does a very cool collection of old instruments, the Cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiore (very interesting colors of marble used: green, pink, white), then some more strolling around and a stop at a cafe.

All the day's photos are here.

They tried their best.

Instruments at the Accademia Gallery

Cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiore

Happy Hour on the boat with much of the gang.

Monte Carlo

Next stop: Monte Carlo, Monaco.

After a leisurely breakfast on board, we headed out for the medieval village of Eze. It's built on a rocky promontory overlooking the sea. The first stop was the ruins of a 12th Century fortified castle. And in the castle area is the Jardin Exotique (Exotic Garden).

The second stop was the Fragonard perfume factory.

Then on to the Principality of Monaco, the second smallest country in the world (Vatican City is the smallest). There we strolled around the old town, visited the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and then on to the Palace Square to see the Prince of Monaco's residence.

All the day's photos are here.

Monte Carlo from our docked ship.

Walking the cobblestone streets of Eze.

View from the Exotic Garden.

Smell testing at Fragonard perfume factory.

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Palace Square

That's our boat at the pier, M/S/ Sirena.

Cannes

Cannes, France was our next port of call. We chose to do this day on our own with Bob and Sandy (and not join one of the organized excursions). The first thing we stumbled on was a huge Farmers Market right in the middle of the old town down by the water. And just a block or so off that path was a quaint little cafe where we had some wine and a charcuterie board for lunch. It was Jamie's first shot at conversing in French, and we didn't starve.

We decided to climb the mountain (hill) to visit the fortified tower where the Chapel of St Anne houses the Musée de la Castre. We didn't go in the museum, but did enjoy strolling around the grounds and visiting the old church up there.

And then back to the ship in time for... That's right: high tea, happy hour, and dinner!

All the day's photos are here.

Farmers Market

The proprietor of our cafe fixed the omelets right behind us.

High Tea on the ship.

Dinner on the ship.

Provence

Our first stop on the M/S Sirena was Provence (Marseille), France. And we got right into the rhythm of the trip: enjoy a wonderful breakfast on board looking out at the new location, head out on a land excursion, and get back in time for lounging around, high tea, happy hour, and dinner. What a life!

This was a Van Gogh day! Or as our guide kept saying, Van Gog. (That's not to be critical, just got a giggle. Our guides for the entire trip were generally fantastic.)

The town we started in was Saint-Rémy, an ancient Roman town. In it is the Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole where Van Gogh was treated from 1889 to 1890. Today's outing also included the Carrières de Lumières in Les Baux-de-Provence. It was a magical art show inside a huge cave system where all the images were projected onto the cave walls. C'est fantastique!

All the day's photos are here.

Van Gogh's room at the monastery.

Carrières de Lumières

Rob and Vickie at a little cafe in Les Baux-de-Provence.

A string quartet was with us the entire boat cruise.

Lynn and one of her best artsy buds.

Barcelona

This post is about our days in Barcelona, ending with boarding the ship. It was during this period that I lost quite a few pictures somehow in the process of trying to copy them to a USB stick for back up. Among other things we visited was the Gaudi House and Museum for which the pics are gone.

Turns out most of our time in Barcelona was all about Gaudi, including much of what we ran into around town. We visited the Sagrada Família (pictured below), a basilica he designed and started in 1882, and is still being finished today. Fascinating story, and even more fascinating basilica. It's definitely not like your typical basilica. Get tickets ahead of time online: https://sagradafamilia.org/

All the photos from these Barcelona days are here.

We stayed at a great place that Paul Hess found: Gallery Hotel. It was right in the best spot for us to explore Barcelona a bit (up a ways from the main tourist area by the water). Another cool spot turned out to be Dry Martini. A watering hole, actually.

Dry Martini

By the end of the day on the 11th we were aboard ship and took advantage of one of the specialty restaurants on board: The Red Ginger.

Red Ginger

Ryan at Seven Falls

Ryan visited Fina for a few days this weekend. So among the many things that happened, including seeing Fina in Little Shop of Horrors, was a trip to Seven Falls.