FLORENCE, ITALY DOES AN ENCORE!

Florence

Aboard Regal Princess
Stateroom C512
Friday, November 18, 2022
70F, sunny

 Even though Viator, the tour company, never called to give us directions about what to do about our scheduled tour from Livorno to Florence and Pisa from the new port, La Spezia, I finally got through to their office by phone this morning to find that we needed to be at the bus in 45 minutes and that the stop in Pisa was cancelled.  Of course, we were ready in time and off we went to Florence!

Along the 2 hour ride to Florence, the guide pointed out a mountain that looked as if it had snow. That's not snow, it is carrera marble! After we saw this wondrous sight, we saw several factories with huge marble blocks outdoors.

The white on these mountains is not snow!! 

Carrera Marble!!

 After the half hour walk from the bus stop into the inner city, I was on the hunt for sfogliatella. We found the perfect little café that had a cake plate full of this delightful pastry. Coffee “Americano” is not quite like American coffee, but it is certainly tolerable, and we needed a strong dose to wake us up.

Sfogliatelle and cannoli

Sfogiatelle--only 2 euro each!!

You probably have the idea that we love this pastry!!

We stopped at another shop and bought two more

 

Another goal was taking photos of the gilded bronze “Doors of Paradise” on the Baptistery of the Catterdrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. They were created in the early 1400s by the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti. It over 21 years to make them. The original doors are now inside the cathedral. The current exterior doors were made from casts of the original in 1990 and installed on the outside of the Baptistery.  Several incidents motivated the church to protect this precious work of art.

Ghiberti's "Door of Paradise"
A view of the whole door

Close up of one panel

Another panel

Another panel

Who can resist photographing this church--

Catterdrale di Santa Maria del Fiore

Another view 

Since I planned on actually buying things during the 2^nd trip to Florence, I lucked out.  I found my favorite leather shop and some other items. TK likes the market (mostly meats, fish, vegetables, wines, breads, pasta, and some eateries), so we visited there again.  Outside this market is a straw market with mostly leather goods (purses, bags, belts, pashmanis, souvenirs, Florentine stationery, all in gorgeous colors). The straw market is 3 streets, stretching about 3 blocks in each direction.  One year we were here during the Christmas market—that was wonderful too!

 

Shopping wore us out, so we looked for somewhere to eat.  There are many choices, but TK was ossobuco, so we were looking for that.  We found Trattoria Antellese, a small restaurant waiting just for us.  By the way, the port lecturer told us restaurants had two price levels, one if you dined outside and another if you dined inside the restaurant.  Since it was a beautiful day, we dined outdoors.

Trattoria Antellesi

Janie's fresh macraroni and meat sauce

TK -- I do not yet have a photo of his ossobuco 

Too soon it seemed we needed to head to the bus pick up area for the two hour ride back to the Regal Princess.  Everyone was sleepy.  We arrived back at the ship at 6:15, which meant we were late for our usual table, not a big deal.  Immediately after dinner we returned to our room—I worked on the blog till after 11 p.m. We are both exhausted, but tomorrow is Genoa!  Here we come!

ROCKY MOUNTAINS--MONTSERRAT!

Hotel Pulitzer
Room 506
Barcelona, Spain
Saturday, November 5, 2022
Sunny, High 60s  

Marcel, from Viator Tours, arrived to pick us up at 8:30 a.m. for our trip to Montserrat with three other couples.  As we left Barcelona, I noted balconies full of plants, palm trees, boutiques, department stores, car dealerships, mini marts (Supermercat), gas stations, Burger King, Aldis, Five Guys, Starbucks (I swear every block) sycamore trees, parks, the Olympic Stadium that seats 56,000 people (1992) even sex shops.  

As he drove, Marcel filled us with information. He explained that Barcelona has natural borders that limited its size, the sea, the mountains, and a river. Even so, the population is 1.6 million and 3 million in the surrounding area. 

Outside of the city, we could see the mountain range serving as a border ahead of us, about an hour away from Montserrat.  Montserrat’s tallest peak is about 4000 feet high. Lots of climbers take up the challenge of this peak and others.

Montserrat--not the peak

Santa Maria de Montserrat is an abbey of the order of Saint Benedict located on the mountain of Montserrat, about 30 miles north of Barcelona.  The monastery was founded in the 11^th century, though some say area caves were inhabited by hermit monks who lived a solitary life and built 4 chapels as early as the 9^th century. 

In the 19^th century Montserrat was destroyed by Napoleon’s army (1811-1812). The monks returned and in 1858 reconstruction began.  The monastery was completed in 1905.  About 70 monks live there today. 

The top of Montserrat

Entrance to the church itself

Opposite the monastery and church

Another view 

The nave--above the altar

The Black Madonna

Hanging lights in the church

One of several stained glass windows

Looking toward the altar and the Black Madonna

Note: I was not allowed to use a flash on the camera

Vaulted ceiling

Stained glass window

Closeup of the altar

Right of altar

Left of the altar

Catalonian girls performing outside the church/monastery

The Faithful delivering fruits and vegetables from nearby villages

So beautifully arranged--there were about 6 carts full of these donations

Nearby is a Benedictine Abbey that houses about 30 nuns. I admit that I did not understand all that Marcel reported—he spoke of the Black Madonna of Montserrat, and I wasn’t totally understanding the history.  Information on the Internet was scarce. Thousands of people make a pilgrimage to the Montserrat Abbey to touch the Black Madonna.

 The rocky mountains were intriguing and the road was steep with winding switchbacks. At least there were guardrails!  There were several religious gift shops, two cafeterias, and about 5500 visitors a day!

TK opted to take the funicular to the top of one of the peaks—he wanted to do something different. My leg told me no.  More in TK’s Takes!   TK's photos:

 

The Pyrenees--the border with France

TK's ticket/funicular

Steps to the funicular

Looking up the funicular

Looking down from the funicular

Can you see the camel?

Apparently many visitors climb this rock formaton for a photo op

When we returned to our hotel, TK and I walked more streets and visited more shops—we thought we might eat at the gourmet cafeteria at El Corte Ingles, but it was extremely crowded.  We walked back to Hotel Pulitzer and ate at their restaurant. 

Best oil and vinegar!

Salad of course

Gnocchi 

Hazelnut cheesecake--very creamy

The meal was good, 25 euros each. We both had gnocchi, but TK had a croissant drizzled with chocolate and ice cream for dessert. 

Now it is time to get into a cruising mindset.

TK’s Takes:  There were more people at Montserrat than he thought there would be. By the time we were leaving, the parking was so limited, someone had to leave before another car could be let in—that meant that cars were backed down the mountain at least a mile.  He said he did not think things would be so crowded this time of year.

He had no sensation that he was riding straight up the mountain, the funicular must be leveled just right.  The car held 62 people, so he did not see much, it was like riding in a subway.

There are so many people walking around Barcelona, he thinks it must be like New York City on New Year's Eve.

 TK: 11,000 steps

Janie: 9,300

PLANNING AND PACKING FOR A MONTH!

At Home

Erie, Pennsylvania
Saturday, October 29, 2022

60F

Dear Readers,

Believe it or not, this is my 402nd post on "Exploring The World!"  I started the blog in 2008, thanks to the advice of Julie B, librarian at Erie East HS.

Today I thought you would like to know more about our planning and packing process. As you have already read, this trip has been sort of booked since 2020. TK has become an expert at finding good deals, good staterooms, and the right ports (Janie needs to go to Aix en Provence, France, as often as possible!)  This cruise is called the "26 Day Western Mediterranean Grand Adventure and Transatlantic, November 6-December 2, 2022" and we have at least 14 ports to visit.

Most recently TK has been using Best Price Cruises (https://www.bestpricecruises.com/), but his planning goes way beyond booking.  He studies the size, layout, and location of the stateroom. For example, we don't want to have a dining room on the deck above our room (scraping chairs), nor do we want to be by the laundry room (lots of activity). Ideally, our staterooms are not far from the elevators so we can make quick trips to wherever what we want to go.   Most of our cruises in the past several years have been with the Princess cruise line, and balcony staterooms.  

TK also plans the flights, hotels, airport transfers to the hotel, luggage handling, transfer to the ship from the hotel, and so much more.  We are staying at the Hotel Pulitzer in Barcelona again this trip--3rd time there. We like this clean, neat, modern hotel, and it is located half a block from Las Ramblas, Barcelona's most exciting street.

So what does Janie do?   

When I knew what ports and dates, I started planning what we might do in each port. We have been to the Caribbean so many times that we rarely plan a tour there (and you know I will always be shopping in St. Thomas), but the Mediterranean Cruise is very different.  It is imperative to figure out what we will do in each port before we leave. Not all ports  are located in the city we want to visit. For example, the port city for Rome is Civitavecchia, about 45 miles away, an hour's drive. That is not walking distance. Plus, we have to be aware of when the ship arrives in port and then departs -- we often book private tours and we sure do not want to miss the ship. The comedians always say one can take a great photo of the ship as it sails away if stranded!!

To plan what we are going to do in the ports, I use many resources, like the Princess tours offered for each port, Toms Port Guides (https://www.tomsportguides.com/), Viator (https://www.viator.com/), Rome in Limo (https://www.romeinlimo.com/), Trip Advisor, Cruise Critic, word of mouth, and of course, Google.

Each port has a tour envelope filled with tickets, money needed to pay if the tour is not paid for yet

and any correspondence, maps, names of those on our tour, etc. We will be in Livorno twice

and will be traveling to Florence twice (why not?). The Princess tours are in one envelope.

We both have the Verizon Global package with 

Internet, calls, and texts ($100 for each cell phone for the month)

PACKING

I did not start packing until the ports were planned. TK started packing as soon as we returned from our New England cruise.  I have no idea what TK's thought process is when he packs, nor do I know why it takes a month.   He is taking two large suitcases. Admittedly, we will never break records for least amount of items in a backpack like some people on this cruise.

TK's luggage is ready to go. He will also have a carry on.

He broke the man purse barrier years ago--great to carry passports in

Janie tries to pack light--and my list is very precise. If it weren't for pounds of makeup and hair products, I could surely pack lighter. My clothes are color coordinated, black and navy pants, and solid black and blue tops.  I take minimal "formal" wear and one swim suit (TK thinks we will be warm on the Transatlantic part of the cruise--southern route).  I label all of my packing cubes and other bags, too (e.g. day makeup, night creams, day meds, night meds, etc--I like to do that)

Janie's luggage, but I am not finished yet.

I will admit I am taking another smaller piece, 

as well as my carryon. And purse.

This is a lot of information for one post--stay tuned!