I Am A Celebrity!

Sunday, November 26, 2023

Sardinia and Sicily

The Italian Islands of Sardinia and Sicily split the Tyrrhenian Sea (part of the Mediterranean Sea)

LOOKING ON a map, it would be easy to conclude that Sardinia and Sicily were two independent nations. And at one time they most certainly were. But in modern times, they are what are known as "autonomous" regions of Italy. They each have their own history, culture, and even linguistic backgrounds. But their official languages are Italian. They each have representation in the Italian main seat of government. They are essentially part of Italy. These two back-to-back stops were probably the least eventful, and probably shortest of all of our stops. This was such a full agenda, that it actually was nice to have a bit slower time. Because they were less full, I will cover them both in one post.

Sardinia was new for us

SARDINIA WAS new for us (all of us). Four of us opted for a short walking - food tour of the city we were ported in: Cagliari. A reasonably large city of over 150,000, the city center felt small and compact to us. We learned a bit about the history of the city and sampled some of its food and wine.

Our tour and guide in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
Copyright Andy Richards 20220- All Rights Reserved

AN IMPORTANT and protected harbor and Sardinia's largest and most important seaport, the time we spent in Cagliari's city center was mainly near the harbor.

Caglieri, Sardinia - Italy (Celebrity Edge docked in the background)
Copyright Andy Richards 20220- All Rights Reserved

FOR PART of our tour, we walked into probably the coolest wine, meat and cheese shop I have ever been in. We tasted some of their wine, savory meats, and cheeses. I bought a smoked pecorino cheese that never made it home (I am pretty certain we would not have been allowed to bring it through customs anyway, but we pretty much devoured it during our 3-day stay in Venice, later in the trip). I also have a bottle of their extra-virgin olive oil in the cabinet here at home, just waiting for the right "occasion."

Savory Shop - Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

WE SEEM to find quiet spaces in every one of the Mediterranean towns and villages we visit. In addition to the old, classic architecture, it is becoming more and more common to find street art adorning some of the walls.

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
Copyright Andy Richards 2022- All Rights Reserved

OUR STOP in Messina, Sicily was the second visit for my wife and me. Our first trip there was in 2017, with our friends, Paul and Linda. On that trip, we took an excursion to the interior of Sicily, up to the Mt. Aetna volcano, and to a mountain town of Taormina. The town is noted, cinematographically, for some scenes from the movie The Godfather, and there is a monument to Francis Ford Coppola there. This time, we originally planned a food tour for the 6 of us. But plans changed. My wife and I ended up doing the food tour in Messina, and the others took an excursion up to Taormina. I am glad they got to see it, as it is a magnificent slice of old Sicily.

Messina, Sicily - Italy
Copyright Andy Richards 2022- All Rights Reserved

WE ENJOYED the food tour, which was led by our guides, a local couple who were trying to establish themselves as food guides, and with a cooking school in their home for day-tourists. We found them charming hosts and enjoyed seeing a bit of Messina. Unlike many other European cities, Messina has very little classical, old architecture. This is because most of the city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1908. New building codes required buildings to be earthquake resistant and forbade multi-story buildings. Hence most buildings are only 2-story. It makes the city appear quite modern. Indeed, our feel from the city was that it was much like one of our mid-western U.S. cities.

Messina, Sicily - Italy
Copyright Andy Richards 2022- All Rights Reserved

BOTH OF these stops were relatively short in-port days. It was relaxing and gave us some time to spend outdoors on the ship enjoying the wonderful Mediterranean sunshine (and in my case, a cocktail and a cigar). We had one more stop on the cruise before disembarking in Civitavecchia. That stop: Naples. And it would prove to be a very full, but very fulfilling day.

Sunset from the aft deck of the Celebrity Edge - Messina, Sicily - Italy
Copyright Andy Richards 20220- All Rights Reserved

Sunday, November 19, 2023

A Return to Barcelona

Montserrat - Barcelona, Spain
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BARCELONA WAS our next stop, and it was the third time we had been there. It had been a long stretch of stops without a break, and I think each of the 3 couples traveling together had different thoughts on what they wanted to do in Barcelona. One couple ended up getting off the ship, walking around in the Gothic Quarter of the city for a short time, and finding a nice, beachside restaurant for a bottle of wine and some seafood. The other couple went on a private, day-long tour.

View (monochromatic) From Montserrat - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

MY WIFE and I had had a trip up to the Montserrat Abbey cut short on our last visit (due to some Catalan demonstrations). We wanted to return and complete the things we missed. We went on our own to Montserrat, where we saw the Abbey, the Basilica, and spent some time in the quite impressive art museum. We then went to a Montserrat vineyard, where we had a tour, and a tasting.

Basilica at Montserrat - Barcelona, Spain
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WE FELT like we had completed that circuit. It was very foggy up there when we arrived, and I got some nice photos of the fog, and of the facility as the sun broke through. "Serrated Mountain" is the rough English translation for Montserrat. You get a pretty good idea of why it is so-named as you approach the Abbey. But when we traveled to the other side of the mountain and sat on the patio of the local vineyard sampling some wine - following our "formal" tasting, the backlit shot (even though the range is washed out), gives the best impression of the serrated mountains.

Montserrat, silhouetted by backlighting - Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

WE ARRIVED back at the ship after a nice day and made our - now-customary - way back to the Sunset Bar/Deck to a now-familiar view, to watch the sunset and the sail-away, headed next for two islands that are part of Italy.

Port of Barcelona, Spain
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

Sunday, November 12, 2023

How about Toulon?

Parc naturel regional de la Sainte-Baume
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THE NEXT stop was Toulon ("for Provence"). Our ship seemed to be docked in a pretty out-of-the-way location. According to our guide for the day (Franck), it was. I am sure there were bus-tours sponsored by the ship, but we didn't see them that day. There was a gated entrance that seemed to be on the back side of the port. We met Franck outside that gate. His comment was that we were fortunate to find him, because most of the tour guides would not come out to this port. Marseille, about 35 miles away, is a much larger cruise port, and presumably, a better spot for business. But find him, we did (my sister-in-law found him well prior to the cruise - and she made a great choice). Franck was a good guide.

Climbers - Parc naturel regional de la Sainte-Baume - Provence, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2022 - All Rights Reserved

IN FAIRNESS to the Toulon port, much of what we would see for the day was right there. We would have had to drive there and back from Marseilles. Though we actually would likely have done so either way, as a highlight of the excursion was a visit to Aix-en-Provence, a really nice city and popular tourist destination in the Provence region. But we began our day high up in the adjacent national park: Parc regional naturel de la Sainte-Baume. There were some spectacular views of the valley and the sea below from up there.

PHOTOGRAPHERS HAVE a saying: "f8 and be there." F8 is a measure of the lens opening (aperture), that is pretty much in the middle of things and more often than not, the technically correct aperture. "Be there," means you have to be there to make the image. And sometimes, that is just a matter of serendipity. The rock climbers' photo was totally unplanned - either by Franck, or by me. I didn't know, until we got up there, that this area was a popular climbing spot. Franck did know that. But he didn't know there would be anyone doing it where we stopped.

AFTER SPENDING some time in the park, Franck took us to Aix-en-Provence, where he gave us a short tour and then free time on our own. He had made reservations for lunch. We had been to Aix in 2015 but had been on our own (our excursion was a couple vineyards, and then free time for lunch in Aix). We found our way back into a very cool little courtyard and had a really nice lunch. I made the mistake, however, of drinking the local tap water (instead of bottled) and while I cannot guarantee it, I strongly believe it was responsible for some significant intestinal issues a couple days later. For the most part, my advice since then has been only drink bottled water!

FOR THIS trip, Franck took us back into the city again, with a short, guided tour. He then left us to be on our own and wander the area for a while. He had an issue with his vehicle, so he went to attend to that. We were to be at our restaurant, which was just next to the Cours Mirabeau on the Rotonde, with its iconic, large, 1860 fountain in the middle. Cours Mirabeau is a wide, very popular street in the city with many restaurants, shops, and street vendors. I had photographed the fountain some years back, with a view of a couple, arm-in-arm, sitting on a bench viewing the fountain. I have it in my Stock Photo area on my LightCentricPhotography website. There are some quiet, beautiful spots on the back streets, with fountains, piazzas, and some impressively majestic architecture. We also found the Roman Catholic, Aix Cathedral, originally built in the 12th Century and reworked a few times over the next couple hundred years. The exterior is impressive, with a mix of Gothic, Romanesque and neo-Gothic elements. But my favorite memory and takeaway from this church was inside, in a little baptistery off to the side right after entering.

OUR LUNCH was nice enough, but just average in terms of memorable dining experiences; particularly compared to the place we had lunch in Monaco the day before.

OUR FINAL stop for the day was back toward our cruise port, in the very quaint little village of Le Castellet.

THE VILLAGE is a quaint, pretty little spot high up in the mountains above the Cote' Azur. It has medieval origins but is today a favorite spot of vacationers hoping to spend a day or a few in such a quaint environment.