Europe #9 - Pass Me Another Gravol, Please!

As I write this chapter, the sun is coming up on the calm sea that stretches from my window to beyond the horizon.  These two weeks on board Holland America's Noordam have been a fascinating experience.  This is my first cruise and has provided a little of everything!

Alicante, Malaga, Cadiz and Funchal

Alicante Promenade

Our first week was spent travelling through the Mediterranean and out to Madeira Island in the Atlantic.  Alicante (Spain) was the first port of call.  We all trooped out of the ship and took the port bus to where the port meets the town.  Like many Mediterranean cities, Alicante has a gorgeous promenade along the shoreline.  We found it just delightful.  Paved in a a wavy pattern of tiles and lined with mature palms trees and hedges, it is an oasis of beauty surrounded by all the typical trappings of a busy city -- wild traffic, shops, restaurants, hustle and bustle.  We strolled a few blocks along the promenade and then walked a couple of streets into the city before heading back.  Although we would love to have explored further, we were actually pretty tired from our three weeks of sightseeing and just didn't have the energy to do any more walking.  We did come across a small museum I'd read about - the Museum of the Nativity.  It was a collection of nativity sets from around the world.  We found it enchanting.  We ended our visit to Alicante with a gelato stop on the promenade and watched the world go by for a few minutes.

The next day, we stopped in Malaga (Spain).  Unfortunately, it was pouring rain all day, so we just enjoyed the peace and quiet of the ship.  That night we passed through the Straits of Gibraltar.  I would love to have seen this in the daytime, but I did wake up as the ship rolled and rocked through the stronger currents of the Atlantic. 

Our stop that day was in Cadiz (Spain).  The rain let up for a few hours while Dad, the Kid and I headed out to explore this ancient city.  The ship was docked right at the edge of the oldest part of the town, so we had only a short walk before we were surrounded by tall buildings and walking through a largely pedestrianized area.  Our first goal was to visit the city market.  Quite easy to find, it consists of an area of semi-enclosed buildings.  Two main aisles run the length of the market and are filled with nothing but fish and seafood.  We've never seen so much!  There were huge piles of shrimp, octopus and squid, all kinds of fish.  We even saw the head and part of the body of a huge tuna.  Nothing tinned here!  Most of what we saw, we couldn't identify.  The other aisles of the market had fresh vegetables, meat and cheese.  But, by far, the main product offered was fish and seafood.

After perusing all these food items we couldn't buy (as if the ship doesn't have enough sustenance for all), we walked a few blocks to the northern shore of Cadiz.  There we strolled through a beautiful coastline park.  It holds many exotic plants, representing the flora found by Spanish explorers during their world voyages.  The park was pretty damp because of the rain of the last few days, but it was a beautiful walk.  We followed the park almost back to the ship where we joined Mom on board for lunch.

Two days later we reached Madeira Island (Portugal) well into the Atlantic Ocean.  The  ship docked before we were up so we were greeted by the beautiful sight of the town of Funchal, climbing up the mountainsides.  I had been looking forward to visiting the hilltop parks above Funchal, but the shipboard staff had warned us that recent weather in Madeira had fostered an increase in mosquitoes that carried the Dengue Fever virus.  None of us cared to risk catching such a disease, so we stayed on board again and watched the rain and clouds close in on the town.  Oh, well.  We'll just have to come back for another visit.

Our sunset departure was the beginning of nearly four days of severe weather.  Argh.  We passed through a strong gale that just didn't quit.  Our poor ship rocked and rolled, dipped and wallowed through the waves.  We passed through short periods of rain, but most of the time it was just high winds and waves.  During this time, we watched Hurricane Sandy on television.  It was very strange to see the storm on the screen and then to look out our windows at the wild seas we were in ourselves.  During a couple of these storm days, I spent most of my time just lying on my bed.  Although I never became seriously seasick (a steady dose of gravol helped!), I usually felt woozy from the constant rocking.

We were so grateful to see the gales finally subside, although we continued to go through some heavy swells that the Captain said were part of the Sandy storm system.  When we first boarded, I had noticed the handrails in every corridor and room.  "How nice," I thought.  "They really look after all the seniors on board!"  Silly me.  By the time rough weather hit us, we ALL needed those wonderful railings!

Life on Board the Noordam

Since this is my first cruise, I don't have much to compare it to.  Mom and Dad felt this facilities and dining experience was excellent, compared to their previous very short cruise experience.  We enjoyed amazing care from all the staff.  Krista had a great time schmoozing with the staff and guests.  She got to know all the shop staff very well!

The dining was unfailingly excellent.  We took breakfast and lunch in the Pinnacle Grill.  This buffet dining room filled a good part of the Lido deck.  The varied food stations offered a great selection, sometimes with dishes cooked to order.  We always enjoyed the gorgeous orchids sitting on each table.  Every time I see an orchid now, I think about our cruise.

We enjoyed dinners in the Main Dining Room.  When I had booked the cruise, our travel agent assumed we would want a table for four.  "Oh, no," I said.  "Dad and the Kid need people to talk to.  The more the better!"  So, we were assigned a table for eight.  We wondered what these people would be like.  We were very surprised to find that all our co-diners were Canadian!  I would have enjoyed meeting people from other places, but this offered us a unique opportunity to visit with people from other parts of Canada.  Carole and John were from the Niagara Peninsula.  Earl and Jan were from New Brunswick.  They were all delightful and we thoroughly enjoyed their company.

The dinners in the Dining Room were fabulous.  Mom and I particularly enjoyed the cold fruit soups that were offered each day and the many fish dishes that were on the menu.

The Noordam docked at Cadiz.

What did we do all day?  It was really very relaxing.  We snoozed.  We watched TV.  We watched those nasty swells outside the window.  We took in a few afternoon movies and evening shows.  We read.  We snoozed some more.  We attended the daily Bible study.  We shopped.  We explored.  Dad went to a variety of computer classes.  I came to the conclusion that life on board ship is really a matter of putting in time between meals.

With all the rain we had,
we were also blessed
with many, many rainbows.

Finally, after two weeks of gravol, we entered Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  We had booked a hotel for the night and weren't flying home until the next day, so we weren't under any pressure to leave the ship quickly.  Once on the dock, we were really happy to find a porter who was able to help us through the handicapped service line and get us on a taxi right away.  That was a huge relief.

The End of Another Great Trip

The next morning we headed home to Toronto.  It's always good to get home after a long trip.  Even a wonderful trip like this one.  In the following days, everyone I saw mentioned how rested I looked; I think the cruise was responsible for that!

We've had a wonderful time driving through Europe and then paddling across the Atlantic.  Our brief stops in Spain have encouraged me to look at visiting that beautiful country in more depth on another trip.  We were able to manage every challenge that came along (mixing up airports in Milan and getting lost in Malta spring to mind).  We didn't have any major health issues (Thank you, Lord!).  None of our reservations proved to be unreliable or inappropriate.

We discovered that Malta is an absolutely extraordinary place and we'd love to go back.  Our taste for Tuscany has only been whetted; we must go back there!  Even in the rain, Switzerland is spectacular.  And the Atlantic?  Well, yes, it's full of water!

Until next time (no, we don't have anything planned at this point) -- thanks for reading!

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Alicante, Spain

Bird of Paradise blossom in Alicante.

Alicante shoreline - notice the clear water.

There's a castle ruin on top of the hill, looming over Alicante.
I'd love to go back and tour it.

Dad and the Kid on the promenade at Alicante.

A close-up of the Alicante promenade.

Leaving Alicante at the end of the day.

Cadiz, Spain

Europe Report #8 - Surprised by Tuscany

Autumn in San Gimignano, Tuscany

It is early morning -- well, half-past eight.  I'm sitting on our patio in Tuscany, watching the sunshine edge up over the fields of grape vines, olive groves and forested hills.  Periodically, I hear gunshots in the distance and sometimes closer, followed by the sound of tracking dogs barking frantically. This surprised me at first, but I suppose it is October.  They must have autumn hunting here as we do at home.  The only real difference is the temperature.  Sitting in the shade here, I'm wearing a light sweater; at home, I'd be bundled up in woolens.

Our accommodation is
in a renovated barn/farmhouse.

We were only able to squeeze two nights and one full day of Tuscany into our schedule and it is turning out to be a wonderful place to visit.  We have just been knocked out by the beauty of this place.  Everyone talks about Tuscany in superlative terms and they don't exaggerate.  The rolling hills are dotted with fertile fields and rustic farmhouses.  Various hilltops are dotted with walled medieval villages like San Gimignano which is is within sight of our cottage.

We wish we could explore this region for a much longer time.

We are staying in what was once a farm.  The current owners bought the farmhouse and farm buildings in the 1970s.  They remodelled everything from sheds to barn to create a group of apartments for visitors.  One of the largest units, our two-bedroom apartment is in what was once the ground-level barn under the farmhouse.  The grounds are beautifully landscaped and, sitting on the brow of a hill, the entire property has the most beautiful views of the surrounding fields, homes and San Gimignano itself.

San Gimignano was clearly visible from our accommodation.

San Gimignano was once a bustling hilltop town, filled with wealthy merchants and travellers on their way to and from Rome.  The walls protected it from intermittent attacks and regional wars.  In its heyday -- about 1300 -- the 72 towers it was known for were a symbol of the power and authority of the family groups that built and owned them.  Today there are just a handful of towers left, but they create a most distinctive silhouette on the horizon. 

Our one day in this region was dedicated to relaxing, laundry at the farm and a few hours of shopping in San Gimignano.  Too short by far, but so pleasant! 

On Sunday, we left early and started heading south again toward Civitavecchia where we were to pick up our cruise back across the Atlantic.  Driving along winding roads, around hills and through forests, we marvelled again at the beauty of this region.  There was mist hanging in some of the valleys.  Sometimes we saw distant plumes of smoke from an autumn fire.  Other times we'd have a glimpse of a hilltop village in the distance; sometimes eventually driving through the village after a long, twisting route.

Many of the hills are heavily wooded.  We started noticing the occasional car parked at the sides of the road.  At first we assumed they belonged to hikers or hunters, but as the next two hours wore on, we estimated seeing more than 200 parked cars.  They couldn't all be shooting up the forest!  Eventually, we also saw some of the drivers and passengers coming and going with baskets and bags.  Mushrooms!  They were all picking mushrooms!

Fumaroles

The ground was warm.

Tuscany is a volcanic region, but rather than suffer from the destructive power of volcanoes, it is spotted with thermal vents or fumaroles   These don't occur in our part of the world, so I wanted us to stop and see some of these up close.  

We were heading for Parco della Fumaroles near Sasso Pisano, halfway to Civitavecchia.  As we drove through the beautiful hills and valleys, we caught a glimpse of what looked like a pair of nuclear reactors -- those gigantic eyesores that provide our modern world with so much power.  We thought it was such a shame to have these things cluttering up the beautiful Tuscan landscape.  As we drew closer, I began to remember some of my research on Tuscany.  These weren't nuclear reactors.  They were collecting thermal energy from this volcanic region!  Then we realized we hadn't been seeing smoke from autumn fires in the valleys.  The smoke was really steam escaping from harnessed and unharnessed thermal vents in the earth!

We soon drove through the sleepy village of Sasso Pisano and up the hill behind town.  We pulled into a small parking area with a sign marked Fumaroles   There was a huge pile of barren earth beyond a small fence; it looked like it was a bit of landslide that had recently come down the hillside.  No plants grew on it and the colour of the rocks was different from the surrounding area.  As we approached, we could see tendrils of steam floating up from the ground into the morning air.  It was amazing.  It was hard to see exactly where the steam came out of the earth; it just seemed to be there above the rocks.  We felt the rocks themselves and found them quite warm, but not hot.

We drove about a kilometre further into the valley and walked into another park area.  It was closed off to visitors (it was still early on a Sunday morning), but we could see through the fencing that this was an even more active area.  There was hot, steaming water running through the valley with large plumes of steam rising in several places.  Hot, bubbling mud was also clearly visible.  Quite fascinating!  I wish we could have had a guided tour of the area.

Rome's Port - Civitavecchia

Port of Civitavecchia

We continued to head south and, driving along the coast, reached our hotel in the port city of Civitavecchia by early afternoon.  We unloaded all our luggage and left Mom and the Kid enjoying the sunshine on the hotel patio.  Dad and I still needed to drive another hour south to the Rome airport (Fiumicino) where we would leave our car.

When we arrived at the remote drop-off point at a very distant airport parking area, Dad and I again marvelled at the ease of the Renault Buy-Back program.  It took us less than five minutes (including chit-chat) to enter the Renault parking lot, park the car, sign a paper, turn over the keys and board the shuttle back to the airport.  They didn't ask us one question about the car and never looked at it themselves.  A great system!

The shuttle took us to the area of the airport where a train station is also located.  We purchased train tickets for Civitavecchia and immediately caught the train.  We travelled toward Rome for about eight stops, then changed trains.  It was a little confusing; I wasn't completely sure which platform we needed, but we followed some signs and other travellers also trying to reach Civitavecchia.  We thought that, if we were lost, we'd be lost together!  The second train arrived within a couple of minutes; that ride lasted about 45 minutes and did, in fact, stop in Civitavecchia.  Whew!  Our connections were perfect and far faster than I'd anticipated.  We didn't see any cabs heading toward our hotel, so Dad and I began walking.  Our hotel wasn't more than two kilometres away; we made it in record time, but were very hot and tired. 

Tomorrow we board our ship and start heading west.  Thanks for reading!

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