Wheels on the Go

Now we are in Livorno, which is the port city closest to Pisa and Florence. As we are going to be visiting both of these cities after we leave the ship in Rome, we decided to take a HAL trip to Cinque Terre where we will see the historic villages on the rugged Italian Riviera coastline. So first we boarded a bus and traveled north from the Tuscany region, for 90 minutes, to the Liguia region and to La Spezia where we boarded a boat to take us to the first village, Riomaggiore. Cinque Terre is a string of centuries-old seaside villages. In each of the 5 towns, colorful houses and vineyards cling to steep terraces and harbours are filled with fishing boats and trattorias turn out seafood specialties along using the Liguria region’s famous sauce, pesto. There is a cliffside hiking trail that links the villages and offers sweeping sea vistas along with a local train service. After Riomaggiore, we again got onto the boat and travelled for about an hour past the next 3 villages, with one of them up high, finally arriving at Monterrosso al Mare, the 5th and final village, where Andrew had a spot of wine and we had lunch prior to some shopping time and returning to La Spezia via train and then onto the bus back to the ship. It was a 9 1/2 hour day and I was really looking forward to the next day – at sea!

Wow – what a mouthful to say! Basically Ville Franche-de-mer is the city in the bay just east of Nice. So lets just call this Nice as that is actually where we went! So with our cruise we were given three $100 Excursion credits to use and one we used on a trip to Nice and Eze. Actually, the stop was supposed to be in Monaco, however just like Gibraltar, that got cancelled for some unknown reason, so “Nice” was the replacement stop. When going to Monaco, we were going on a HAL trip to Eze and another village in France, now we are touring Nice and Eze. So those on this tour (2 busses worth) plus 2 other tours were taken by tender directly to Nice where anyone who wanted to go ashore on their own were taken to Ville Franche-de-mer. Our tour started with a walking tour of Nice – which as it was a Sunday, was the antiques market instead of the flower market that operates the rest of the week. We walked through the market (but I did not touch or buy anything!) and then went to a very interesting wine tasting where the vintner/owner explained the wine industry in France very well – even for a person who does not drink wine! He also linked in what has happened in the USA, Australia and Canada which was a surprise! I had a lovely l’eau sans gas vintage 2022. Andrew had the 2 white wines and 1 red wine and he enjoyed them with some bread and cheese. I was full with my l’eau so I passed on the “le pain”. After that we were back on the bus to Eze, which is a small village on the top of a cliff. I knew it was small, I knew there were shallow stairs to climb to get up to the village however what blew me away was how small and compact the village was on this cliff side! The bus trip there was very short and then we started the climb (I was using my crutches and not my walker) which is done in 3 parts. I made it up the first 2 parts (which surprised the guide quite a bit) and then she said the last part people could do on their own – it takes you to a garden. I decided to call in quits as I knew the next day we also had a long walking excursion to Cinque Terre in Italy. It is very hard to explain this village other than it was like a cinnamon bun sitting on top of this cliff – you start walking at the bottom of the bun and circle around and around through the middle of the bun going up until you get to the top of middle peak which is where the garden is. Then you have to come down… There are two ways to come down we found out – the way you came back up OR the back route which we mistakenly found which is LONGER and goes past all the kitchen back doors! It is also more slippery as they keep the tourist steps area cleaner than the kitchen access it seems. On our way down, we left with plenty of time to get to the bottom (after all going down a hill you can walk faster) and we were going to take some pictures of the bridge and instead we were the last people to make it to the bus! Oh well it was a fantastic experience and not one we would really do on our own – which is how I pick the Excursions to do generally. Here come the pictures now!

Well, the first “segment” of the cruise is over! For some people that means they are getting off the ship and for others they are excited to be getting on… For us that meant no In Room dining for breakfast – we had to patronize the Dining Room and then we had to leave the ship for the day so they could clean it. We were not allowed back aboard until 3pm, for a 5pm sailing time. Ted, Pat, Andrew and I had planned to take the Hop on Hop off bus service on both loops today and that is what we did! We took a taxi to the square where they departed from and hopped on! It was supposed to be a 90 minute to 2 hour ride on the Red Line which was the first one we saw… it ended up being 2 1/2 hours so that precluded us from going on the Blue Line in case the same thing happened as that would make us late for the 4:30pm all aboard. So instead we ate lunch at a lovely café called Café Vienna on the Las Ramblas street which is the main tourist drag in Barcelona. Also where pick pockets live – luckily none of us were their prey! After lunch we walked down Las Ramblas a ways, check out the hotel where Pat and Ted will be staying when they return to Barcelona and then took a quick taxi back to the ship. Off for the second “segment”, which for us was still the same cruise, to Rome now! Note: Not too happy with the pictures as they were taken from inside the bus – I will get better ones when we return to Barcelona in June for our tour of Spain!

Alicante was our next stop on our 7 days in a row of ports! Half way there and this was going to be a “walking” day. We met our tour guide, who Ted had found through Free Tours Alicante, who provided a custom tour for us (which was not free) of the Santa Barbara Castle and walk to the Old Town market of Alicante. Lucky for us, the Santa Barbara Castle’s elevator was operating – as it is a LONG winding road up the hill to the top. I do not say this often but I was impressed with the Engineering that took place to make this historic place accessible to everyone! Even with the two grades that it stops at, Andrew and I could not help going up the extra 500 feet or so to the very top of the castle, while Pat and Ted waited in the shade of a terrace. Once back down in the city, we walked through the town to the Market which was in a wonderful historic building! Similar to Granville Island but VERY European and it sure shows why Europeans go shopping every day or two for food rather than once a week or so like we do – the food is just so fresh it is better that way! On the top floor of the 2 floor market were cheeses, breads and wine and on the bottom floor (yes there were tiny elevators) there was produce, meat and fish. What a cultural experience! Then we walked quickly back to the ship to get there in time for all aboard!

Welcome to Malaga, Spain! This is the area of the white painted houses. Here we had booked another private tour, along with Ted and Pat, with a driver and tour guide. Our plan was to visit Mijas, a local town high in the hills known for its white houses and views and then return to Malaga for a short tour, which we proceeded to do.

Welcome to Ceuta, a Spanish Protectorate East of Morocco in Africa. We took a “Sea and Shore” Excursion from HAL that involved a one hour tour of the South Bay and then a walk around the city centre. As the Nieuw Statendam was located in the North Bay we took the 16th century canal to the South Bay and back to look around. Once we returned we walked around the town a bit and had some free time before returning to the ship. I was able to purchase 2 pairs of nice flat shoes, we had drinks on the side walk and then walked around the town looking at fountains until unexpectedly I fell off a step and went head over heals onto the side walk with my walker right in front of a café! Just bruised (both mentally and physically) and one broken hand brake and I was up and we continued our exploring of Ceuta – this time Lynda was under more supervision of where she was going and where bumps are in the road… After we got back on board the ship, we found out that this was the first visit by Holland America to Ceuta and that a ceremony was performed exchanging plaques etc. during the day. Probably explained the large police presence around and through the city too!

People don’t take trips, trips take people.” ~ John Steinbeck

Okay, two years of very little traveling (outside of many required trips to the Seattle area) and Andrew and I are off to check out Italy and Spain!

We are flying to Fort Lauderdale and boarding the New Statendam to take a Trans-Atlantic cruise which will take us to Rome in a comfortable 21 days! For more information on where we will go check it out here. I am really looking forward to the 6 days at sea – thinking of all the knitting and recording of Librivox books I can do! Oh and the walks on the promenade deck – the possibilities are endless!

Once in Rome, we will check it out for 5 days and then drive north through Tuscany staying in Siena and Florence with side trips to several places. On May 16rh it will be International Celiac Awareness Day and I will be doing my normal monthly webinar – GF101 for the Canadian Celiac Association – from Siena, Italy! What an awesome way to celebrate! Then we will take the fast train to Venice to visit the city again (this time not when flooded) before getting on the Oosterdam and cruising back to Barcelona. You can find that cruise itinerary here.

Now in Spain, we will be spending 5 weeks there checking it out – driving basically a “round” the country and skipping Madrid where we have traveled to previously. At the end, we will spend 5 days at a resort south of Barcelona and eventually sitting on our luggage to get it to close, prior to returning home in July! Let’s go travel!