For those interested (or those having trouble sleeping), this is a post about our recent European cruise on the Oceania Riviera ship. We flew from Charlotte to Rome Italy and then sailed From Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy visiting Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy >> Portofino, Italy >> Monte Carlo, Monaco >> St. Tropez, France >> Marseille (Provence), France >> Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands >> Barcelona, Spain. I hope to just make mention of some thoughts and a few things I learned. A two year old luxury liner; food is outstanding and you pretty much order what you want. For example, I love seafood and managed to eat lobster at least once per day every day. Also had escargot (snails) and by golly I really liked them. We think something is old here in the US if it makes it to 100. Over there, we have 2 and even 3,000 year old artifacts and buildings. So very beautiful. BTW, are you aware of the superiority of Roman concrete stands after 2000 years in great shape while our concrete has a max lifespan of 50. We do not use the superior Roman concrete because our manufacturers would have their production cut and the unions oppose this as there would be less work (and money) for them repairing buildings and roads. All of the harbors we went to had beautiful break-water sea walls for protection and all in excellent shape. We were told that some of them had been built 2500 years ago. As the ship, (with a max occupancy of 1250, relatively small compared to the big liners., yet still huge and very slow to maneuver), approached any port, a boat races out from the harbor with a pilot on board who jumps to our ship. He steers the ship in, knowing exactly what path to take. Then these wonderful tug boats take over, expertly pushing or pulling the ship into its berth, so smoothly that it is impossible to tell unless youre looking. You have options of what you would like to see and do or take tours at each port of call. The ship sails overnight and leaves you all day in port to do what you want. The crew and staff are all multilingual speaking 3 or 4 languages. However, that does not necessarily mean they speak English well and I am just a tad hard of hearing in certain circumstances. We ate in a French restaurant and the menu was in French. So, I said some things in French adn the waiter complimented me on my accent. Of course he was a liar. Anyway, by mistake I ordered two entrees when I thought I was ordering an appetizer with an entree. Great mistake however and hog that I am, I managed to eat them both with the assistance of a little wine to wash it down. No embarrassment or regrets here, Ill tell the world. I am aware that most of you do not like classical music and while I am not an aficionado I do love to listen with live music. On the ship they had a wonderful string quartet and I really enjoyed their music. BTW the bass viola player would take off his belt, put one end under his chair leg and use the belt to set the end of his instrument to keep it from sliding away on him while playing. His notes were fantastic and I wish my son Ken McConnell Jr. could have heard him (he plays bass). Near Monaco, one of the highlights for me of the entire trip was our going to the Chateau Eza of Eze. This was built on top of a mountain and we had a fantastic luncheon there. Spectacular view. In France most all the roads and plazas are lined with sycamore trees. It is said they were all planted by Napoleon so that his troops could march comfortably in the shade. We pulled into Toulon, France where the French Navy ships are berthed. Most were in horrible disrepair with a few looking ship shape. Obviously their navy is not a priority. We all have individual likes and interests. Mine are museums and antiquities and I will not bore you with all of them we visited but they were wonderful. A bit more crowded than I like but nothing can be done about that. At the isle of Majorca I saw from the ship this cemetery built into the rock cliff. Crypts all had these windows at the front. Do you look in to see the departed decomposing? Wave and see if they wave back? A great trip tho jet lag is a killer. I posted some pics. I tried not to post too many but it looks like I did anyway.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 11:24:13 +0000
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