Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Venturing in Venice, Italy

Our arrival in Venice signified the beginning of our independent travel. No more cruise ship to go back to. Just us in Europe on our own. The guide books were right about one thing – it is difficult to navigate in Venice by street name and is much easier to use major landmarks. Our first task was to find our hotel. Luckily, we had been given a free map when we caught the vaporetto (the public water taxi, no yellow cabs here) from the cruise ship terminal. We got lost only a few times while walking past restaurants, shops, and people through the narrow alleys and open squares to our hotel. We stayed at Casa Boccassini, which ended up being much cuter than we expected with 10 guest rooms, friendly owners and their cat, and a courtyard garden draped in fresh lavender. Once we dropped our bags off, we headed out to explore the city. Our first stop was the Rialto Bridge, the most famous bridge in Venice, built in 1521, and one of only four bridges that cross the Grand Canal. The Rialto Bridge was much larger than we expected and was crawling with tourists speaking different languages and shopping in the little shops on the bridge. We watched as gondolas rode under the bridge and we were surprised that the gondodliers seem more like New York City taxis drivers – talking to and joking with one another as they squeezed past each other under narrow bridges – than romantic tour guides. As we strolled through the crowded streets of Venice, we stopped to take photos, looked in shop windows, dodged the cigarette smoke clouds of the locals, and ate Caprese sandwiches (tomato, mozzarella, and fresh basil on pita-like bread), panforte (a dense Italian cake with fruit and nuts) and gelato – Kim’s favorite Italian treat (like ice cream but creamier and better). Our next stop was Saint Mark’s Square, the most famous square in Venice which contains Saint Mark’s Basilica, Doge’s Palace, and the Clock Tower. Like the rest of Venice, Saint Mark’s Square was overflowing with tourists and kiosks selling Venezia hats and tee shirts. In addition to the two major tourist sites, we also walked through the Jewish ghetto, wandered around the fish market and the Sunday market randomly set up in a square near our hotel and spent entirely too many Euros buying bottled water from the shops in the tourist areas. Our favorite thing to do in Venice was to wander away from the tourist areas to find quiet bridges all around the city where we watched boats and gondolas floating by and took tons of pictures. Venice is definitely a pedestrian city which we explored on our two very tired sets of feet.


Lorenzo with all his bags in front of Saint Mark's Basilica


Kim walking in the narrow Venice streets in search of the hotel


The courtyard garden outside our hotel room


Kim and Lorenzo in front of the Rialto Bridge


An example of the crowds in Venice


A group of gondolas under a bridge


Saint Mark's Square


Lorenzo sitting next to an Italian woman taking a rest in St. Mark's Square


Kim sitting in front of one of Venice's many canals


Kim buying a necklace at a local market


A caprese sandwich - our favorite!


The Grand Canal at night


Kim eating spaghetti with mussels


Kim's favorite canal picture


Africans selling fake purses - reminiscent of New York or Washington, DC


Lorenzo enjoying the view from a bridge


The Gem leaving Venice

Malaga, Spain

Though many may have never heard of Malaga, Spain, it is actually a somewhat large city with a very large port that the company Maersk ships from. We began our journey of Malaga through its typical narrow shop lined streets. Malaga is heavily marketing itself as the center of the upcoming cultural festival “Malaga 2016” and has literally laid out the red carpet for this event and covered the sidewalks in red. After walking around the shopping area, we walked over to the bull fighting arena before heading to the man made beach for a break from all the walking. It was a little cool, so the locals were not out tanning as they were the last time we were here. We then made our way back to the city center, on foot as usual. By this time, our feet were killing us, but we got a great workout. Despite our fatigue, we toured a beautiful church that had recreated particular scenes from the life of Jesus Christ in life size figures in the windows. Although we intentionally skipped a few of the main sites because we had seen them on our last trip, we soon came across a familiar and exciting shop (and Aunt Linda’s favorite), Dunkin Coffee. It’s the same company as Dunkin Donuts back home, so we had to get a couple of treats for nostalgia’s sake. We continued to roam the streets and take in all that the city had to offer before heading back to the cruise ship. We have three more days at sea until we arrive in Venice, Italy where the next part of our trip will begin. Adios for now.


The red carpet in the shopping area


Kim in front of a fountain


Dunkin Coffee


Kim admiring the flowers in the shop window


The Malaga beach


Lorenzo outside the bullfighting arena


The Last Supper on display in the church

Cadiz, Spain

Once we arrived in Cadiz we headed straight for the famous beach. We took the long route and walked along the coast through the meticulously sculpted gardens, multiple theaters, and the University of Cadiz. It took a while, but we saw many interesting sites along the way, including discovering the Santa Catalina Castle, which we did not see the last time we were here. We explored the Castle which sat on the beach and provided a perfect backdrop for us to take a ton of beautiful pictures. We walked along the sidewalk that ran parallel to the beach and passed an elementary school as the children were getting out for the day. We were beginning to get hungry and hot from being in the sun, so we decided to head back toward the center of town. On the way back, we took a short cut through narrow streets full of locals. We saw men selling bags of oranges out of the back of a van, small cars and motor bikes speeding by us, shop owners cleaning the outside of their shops, children walking by in school uniforms, and men joking loudly with each other in Spanish. We eventually reached one of the main squares in Cadiz that has a Cathedral on one side and numerous restaurants on the other. The city of Cadiz also provides free wi-fi in the square and we took advantage of the connection to send a few emails. After a quick trip back to our ship to eat and rest (gotta take advantage of the buffet), we headed back out to the city for some shopping. Following Lorenzo’s memory, we found the main shopping street and ended our day with window shopping and buying a few Spanish snacks from the grocery store.


View from the Castillo


Lorenzo and Kim enjoying the sun and ocean views


Small fishermen boats along the coastline


Kim taking a stroll through the streets


Locals selling fresh oranges in the street


Lorenzo on the cathedral steps sending emails on his ipod via free wifi


Lorenzo shopping for a few snacks at a local supermercado

Lisbon, Portugal

We were really excited to get to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. We came here in 2008 and really enjoyed it. The last time we were here, we were mistaken for locals and this time was no different. Portugal is the only Portuguese speaking country other than Brazil, and Lisbon has a decently sized black population. Once we got to Lisbon, we took a shuttle from the cruise port to the city’s main square where we stumbled upon the end of a local road race. After watching the runners, we wandered around the Alfama area of Lisbon. We stumbled upon the Lisbon Cathedral and headed inside to watch mass. Lisbon is very hilly and we did some extreme hill walking that reminded us of being in San Francisco. Toward the tops of the hills were some amazing views of the ocean, the cruise port, and the red tiled roofs and white washed walls of thousands of homes below. Further up the hills and at the top of the city sits a fortress which was built in ancient times to protect the city. We toured the fortress for 5 Euros and walked along the narrow stone walkways and slippery staircases. While here, be sure to watch your step, but also be sure to pay attention to what’s around you, because these are the best views in the city. Other than the view, the best part about the fortress is being at the top of the hill so the walk was all downhill from there. After visiting the fortress, we made our way back down the hill, through the winding streets and past extremely small European cars and the street car, picturesque windows with clothes hanging on the line, and other tourists trying to take it all in. After spending hours visiting one of our favorite European cities, we made our way back to the port and walked along the waterfront. The waterfront was lined with authentic restaurants serving Portuguese favorites and it also had a great view of the statue of Jesus that is the sister statue to the one in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The Lisbon statue stands near a bridge that reminded us of the Golden Gate Bridge, which we thought was very fitting for a city nicknamed the San Francisco of Europe.


The early morning road race through the city


Kim walking one of the many hills


Lorenzo stopping to admire the view


Lisbon Cathedral in Alfama


Kim taking a much needed break on the Cathedral steps


Overhead view of the city


Arch of Augusta

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Upon arriving in Ponta Delgada, the western most isle of the Azores, we perused the small fisherman’s town full of intricately laid black and white narrow cobble stone streets. We toured the town’s main church, peered in the windows of local shops, and watched the locals in their daily routines, like the teenagers mingling in the courtyard of a high school and playing soccer. It was surprisingly cold outside, and the cloudy sky that just made everything seem that much colder. After wandering the island and people-watching, we made our way to a shopping mall where we were able to pick up a wifi signal that enabled us to email our family and let them know that we are safe and sound. After all, it has been 5 whole days at sea since they’ve heard from us. They are just as happy to hear from us as we are to finally see land. Overall, Ponta Delgada is a very charming town where everything moves slowly and is stress free. Maybe we can bottle some up and bring it back to the States with us. After boarding the ship again, we spotted two whales, which are very common in the Azores. Our next port is Lisbon, Portugal.


Lorenzo and the Azores sign. The island chain where Ponta Delgada is loacated.


The perfect view of the island


The island's main church


Street view of the small city


A Carolina blue building. You know we had to take a pic.


Kim enjoying the day, with our ship in the backgroud.

Bon Voyage-First a 14 day cruise to Venice, Italy followed by 5 weeks throughout Europe.

We left Virginia around 5am for the car ride from Charlottesville to New York City with Lorenzo’s Dad, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Ira. We had a lot of fun laughing and joking (and napping) as they took us to NYC and dropped us off at the cruise port in Manhattan. We were excited to start our two week voyage towards Venice, where our Europe adventure would begin on land and by train, but we were sad to see them go. Next time we will have to plan a long trip for the entire family. As we sailed away, we passed downtown New York and the Statue of Liberty. Right away we noticed that the average age of our fellow cruisers was quite a bit older than us. Later we found out from the cruise director that the average age on board was 62, and our daily cruise planner listed available activities of knitting, grandparents group, bridge playing club, and yes, even an arthritis seminar. Wow!!! We’ve been on four cruises now in different parts of the world, and never have we seen anything like this. Nonetheless, we will have to occupy ourselves with the beautiful scenery, port stops, movies, and the sports court. Bon Voyage, and off to our first cruise stop, Ponta Delgada, Portugal.


Kim boarding the cruise ship


Lorenzo on the way to our stateroom on the ship


Our home on the sea, for the next 14 days


Kim and Lorenzo enjoying the outside deck and preparing for sailaway


The outside Lido deck on the cruise ship.


Great view of downtown NYC from the cruise ship


View of the Statue of Libery as we sail away


The majority of the people on the cruise. Average age of 62. Reading, knitting, etc.


Kim admiring one of many towel animals left by the cruise staff


Kim and Lorenzo relaxing in the hot tub on the ship