EUROPEAN VACATION – WEEK 4

 

We started our second week on the MS Rotterdam in Ajaccio, Corsica, the main city on the large island that belongs to France.  It is, of course, the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte (not Sylvère Napoleon’s father, for those readers from Wellington; the other Napoleon; the guy who was defeated by the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo).  Confused?

Anyway, we took our first excursion that day and travelled by coach across a mountain pass – part of the 2013 Tour de France – to the village of Cargèse.  The community was founded over two centuries ago by refugees from Greece, fleeing a Turkish invasion.  The village itself is beautiful, perched as it is high on a hill overlooking a beautiful bay.  Our guide explained to us that many inhabitants still speak Greek, and we visited their Greek Orthodox Church.  Greek Orthodox adherents are Catholic in most ways, except they don’t recognize our Pope, and they touch their right shoulder before the left when making the sign of the cross.  Whatever!

The next day, we debarked at the port of Livorno, on the Italian mainland, and drove to the village of Portovenere, the southern gateway to Cinque Terre.  After a stroll through the quaint old quarter, located inside an old fortified castle, we boarded a boat for the trip to our first stop, the village of Vernazza, one of five hamlets that make up the region of Cinque Terre.

 

Our guide explained that these villages would challenge our understanding of the vertical and the horizontal.  By this, she meant that the people who settled there many centuries ago learned to eke out a living on slopes that would challenge a mountain goat.  They built terraces by hand using dry stone walls, filled them in with whatever soil they could find, and grew grapes and olives on them.  One of the settlements, the one shown in the photo below, is accessible only by sea, after climbing over 1,000 steps.  The people who live there have no electricity or running water!

Our last stop of the day was Monterosso, the largest of the five villages.  We had a delicious lunch there and walked around a bit, climbing above the settlement to get a better idea of its layout.  The villages of Cinque Terre have been accessible by train for some time now, but by road for only about forty years.  There’s one main street to get in and out.  Most residents access their houses on foot, climbing steep steps to get from place to place.

 

We could have gone to Pisa or to Florence from Livorno, but are glad we chose Cinque Terre.  Many people experience the area by walking from village to village over the well-established trail system.  The coastal region has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the uniqueness of the villages and the preservation of certain aspects of the traditional way of life; seeing it from the water made it very special.

Speaking of Pisa, Galileo developed an understanding of one of the fundamental forces of nature, gravity, by dropping objects of different weights from the leaning tower.  He learned that gravity applied equally to all objects, regardless of their mass.  This got me thinking about what our tour guide said about redefining the horizontal and the vertical…

Europeans are far more liberal that North Americans when it comes to displaying their bodies.  We first noticed this on Spanish beaches, where many people sun themselves in various states of undress.  Alas, I’m sad to report that there are as many bottomless men as there are topless women!  But some would be better off clothed, owing to that afore-mentioned fundamental force called gravity, and this applies equally to both genders!

Elva was somewhat taken aback by one particular gentleman in Barcelona, who made a point (no pun intended) of exhibiting his naked body while surveying the beachscape from a standing position.  A lady in front of us, a 250-pounder in a too-small string bikini, was obviously enjoying the sun, not in the least way inhibited.  While I admired both of them, I was not about to imitate either one.

My curiosity was piqued by a nearby twenty-something topless girl with implants.  They reminded me of Madonna’s ‘bullet bra’.  When she lay down, they stuck straight up, and when she sat up, they stuck straight out!  I wonder what Galileo would have thought of these masterpieces of the plastic surgeon’s art?  So much for gravity!

After Livorno, we sailed to the island of Sardinia.  Instead of an excursion, I’d decided on a meal of porchetto arrosto, roast suckling pig.  The Sardinians specialize in the dish, and I was not disappointed.  The city where we landed, Olbia, is small but does a good job of catering to cruise ship passengers; it reminds me a bit of Charlottetown.  Elva found a nice little shop where the owner makes sandals, and she had a nice pair custom made for herself at a very reasonable price.

 

The next day was taken up by our journey from Sardinia to Malta.  Malta, an independent country consisting of two main islands, is a very interesting place for those who like history.  I’m guessing its land area is a bit larger than Andorra’s, and it’s very densely populated.  We toured part of the main island by hop-on-hop-off bus and spent the rest of the day walking around the capital city, Valletta, another UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From Malta, we sailed to Sicily, landing at the port city of Messina.  From here, we took a tour to Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe at 3,000-plus metres.  Our tour took us up to the 2,000 metre level where we walked around a couple of inactive craters and were able to capture some amazing views of the upper part of the mountain and the plain of Catania below.  The 25-km. road up the mountain would be a great climb on a bicycle!

Next it was off to Naples, through the narrow Strait of Messina, and northwest along the Italian mainland.  From Naples, we took another excursion, this time by ferry to the Isle of Capri, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen!  It’s right up there with Les Saintes, an island we visited off Guadeloupe, and the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, two of our favourites.  But at $15 for a coffee and a tea, I don’t think we could afford to stay very long!

 

Today, we’re docked at Civitavecchia, the port city which services Rome.  This marks the end of the voyage for many passengers, and a new group will board for the next leg of the voyage.  Since we’ve decided to spend time in Rome after our cruise, we’ll spend the day in port and on board the ship.

Life on the MS Rotterdam is like staying in a four-star hotel every day: nice room, steward service, choice of restaurants, well-stocked library, good fitness centre, and entertainment every evening.  Everything is included in the price, except drinks, excursions, wi-fi service, and purchase of items on-board.  I don’t have to drive anywhere, and we don’t have to pack and unpack.  Our steward, Bali-born Wayan, makes us an animal from towels every evening when he turns down our bed: the photo below features his most ambitious creation.
 

The passengers are an older crowd, averaging over 70 by my estimate.  There are very few young people.  The oldest we’ve encountered is an 88-year-old lady from San Francisco.  We overheard her saying this was her forty-third cruise, including three that were of the around-the-world variety.  An 84-year-old gentleman from Missouri told us he’s visited 120 countries and isn’t done yet!

Many have mobility issues but seem determined to enjoy the experience nonetheless.  There is a good mix of Americans, Canadians, British, Australians, New Zealanders, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese.  Most people appear to be enjoying themselves.  It’s quite entertaining to observe those who are not: the chronic whiners; couples who don’t agree on things; and guests who complain about every aspect of service one can imagine.

This evening, the ship will leave Civitavecchia and round the southern tip of Italy.  We’ll spend tomorrow in the Adriatic and land on Tuesday morning in Dubrovnik, Croatia.