Canne, France and Florence, Italy

From what I was told, Canne, France is a wonderful city. However, I wouldn't know because our ship did not go there. We were informed shortly after we left the port of Barcelona that they had 50 to 60 mph winds along the French Riveria coast and that the port of Canne as well as a number of other ports had been closed. The captain tried to find another port we could go to for the day but we were on a 113,000 tonne vessel so you can't just park it anywhere. Genoa, La Spiza and Liverno - our final port of call - were the only options and they were all full. So, we spent an extra day at sea which was nice too.

After our extra day at sea we arrived in Liverno, Italy. Most of use went from there to Florence for the day. We had a public guided tour which was different from our other excursions which were private just for our group. A private tour allows you to interact with your guide more. You can ask questions, slightly alter how long you stay at a site and so forth. The public tour is generic and pretty boring. So, after our guide talked about a bridge for 10 minutes of a 3 1/2 hour tour I decided that was enough of that. I simply left the group and wandered the city. We had been told to meet at Piazza St. Croce at 3 PM so I had 6 hours to explore.

Florence is a beautiful and very pleasant city. I spent much of my time visiting their churches. I spent a few minutes in the Blessed Sacrament chapel of each church which was very moving as well. I also had a very wonderful experience in the Church of the Annunciation. Just after I entered the church a group of religious sisters had gathered in a side chapel to pray the rosary. As they began I realized they were praying the rosary not in Italian like I assumed they would but in Latin. So, I joined them. It was a very awesome experience.

That evening we left for Rome and flew back home that next morning. Overall it was a wonderful experience. I got soe see some places that I doubt I'll ever see again. I have to give the glory and praise to God for giving me this opportunity. It really makes you realize what wonderful blessing He bestows on you.

I am going to have to comtemplate what direction the blog is going to go next so until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 19:13 | link | comments |
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Barcelona

Wow...it takes just as long to catch up as the number of days of your vacation. So after finally catching up I realized that I never talked about Barcelona, Canne or Liverno. I'll combine them into a two blog entries and you'll see why in a moment.

Barcelona was indescrible! It was such a beautiful city and the countryside was breathtaking. We began by visiting the Old City walls. Their cathedral is there so we got to visit it too. Unfortunately, they were doing a lot of construction work so you couldn't get the full beauty of it. Then we drove through the city and our guide pointed out a number of buildings designed by Gaudi. The masterpiece however was Sacra Familia church. It is a private church, owned now by an organization, and it is almost overwhelming. It is an immense structure and the designs and carvings on the outside of the church are so intricate and detailed. The Nativity scene takes up the whole front side of the building. The Passion on the back side includes scenes of his passion and death. The detail is unreal.

After touring this magnificant church we were taken to Montserrat. This is a mountain northwest of Barcelona. There is a Benedictine monestery at the top of the mountain that hosts the Black Madonna statue of Montserrat. Tradition says they tried to move the statue but could not and that Mary wanted the monestery built there around the statue which is what they did. We returned to Barcelona and visited a garden designed by Gaudi before returning to the ship.

I'll cover our trip to Canne, France and Liverno, Italy - really Florence - in my next blog. Until then...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 09:44 | link | comments |
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Mystique of Sicily

I'm making a rare double blog entry because I didn't get the Venice post up yesterday like I had wanted.

Sicily was to be my relaxation stop. Our group was fragmented at this stop with some going to the top of Mt. Etna, which was nearly $250 and out of my range to afford. Others went to Taramino to shop. Others went on the "Godfather" tour that took them to some of the major places of the film. I chose to simpy go out on my own.

Messina is a nice city but my thoughts about it are mixed. It has some beautiful buildings such as their Municipal Building and the Mary of the Assumption Cathedral. There were also some beautiful parks in the city that I enjoyed. However, mixed in with these beautiful buildings were many rundown buildings, abandoned buildings and a lot of graffiti. I know enough Italian to know that those writing the graffiti are very creative writers.

Another disconcerting aspect of the city was the rudeness of the people. The Sicilians, for the most part, were friendly enough but many were not. For example, I was looking for some nice cheese and not finding any small grocery stores I went into a wine shop. My logic was the concept of "wine and cheese" so I was hoping to find something. As I entered the shop a gentleman came up to me and asked, in Italian, if he could help me. I said, "Parlo un po' d'italiano" which is "I speak very little Italian." I could tell right away that it wasn't going to go well because he got a grouchy look on his face. So, using the little Italian I DO know I said, "Avete qualcosa formaggio?" (Do you have cheese). He shrugs his shoulders with a blank look on his face and I take that as meaning he didn't understand me which I can sympathize with because my Italian accent is very poor. So I repeated my question and he says, "Formaggio vino?" asking if I wanted cheese flavored wine. I said no and tried again. He again seemed to think I want cheese flavored wine, which to my knowledge there is no such thing. I was about to try a third time when he waved his hand dismissively and said, "Se ne vada Americano idiota!!" which means "go away you American idiot!!"

So, while the city had some attractive buildings, the people negated that. It was a good experience overall but it would have been much better had they treated their tourists, which I suspect brings in a large amount of their income, with better respect. We're at sea today and will be coming into the port of Barcelona tomorrow so until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 20:55 | link | comments (3) |
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Voluptuous Venice

I spent Sept. 28th and the 29th in Venice as our ship was docked overnight. What can I say about the city of Venice? It is beautiful and charming in many places.

We took a waterbus from the cruise ship to the waterfront which gave us a wonderful view of the city. There was a balcony on the back end of the waterbus where I sat and took a number of great photos. We saw dozens of churches, historic buildings, domed structures and just the beauty of the waterfront.

The canals and bridges along the waterfront are very picturesque. Once you leave the waterfront, however, the scenery isn't as beautiful. The bridges are in more disrepair, houses show signs of the salt water and there is the odor that is missing along the waterfront - the fact that the canals are also their sewer system.

But along the waterfront it if beautiful. St. Marks Square and the Cathedral are like going back in time to the Renaissance. The Ducale Palace is a fascinating place. The artwork and detail of each masterpiece is unreal. Our guide was one of the best we've had at any site. He is a historian turned tour guide so he gave an in-depth and wonderful history and insight into the works of art and the history of the Dulcale who governed Venice to the end of the 1700's. It was quite an experience.

Venice was a wonderful experience. I thought it a fascinating city and very different from anything I have experienced. We are at sea today having just left Messina, Sicily. I will post again tomorrow about my adventures in Messina. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 20:49 | link | comments |
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