April 29, 2013- It is late afternoon and I have returned from a day in Rome. Our ship is docked in Civitavecchia at the Port of Michaelangelo. Civitavecchia has about 500,000 people. (The port is a powerful maritime engine that fuels Rome's Lazio region.*) Today there are 5 cruise ships in the port and there are also commercial freighters that are loading and unloading. The train station is about a 20 minute walk along the seaside promenade. The ride into Rome took about 60 minutes and the traffic did not seem congested. Once there I was blown away by the buildings and the areas that are preserved from milleniums ago. The Vatican was very busy but our tour did not include a walk through it. I did take some pictures of it and we had a nice lunch across the street from it. The Colosseum was the most impressive building to me but at just about every turn a different structure appeared. Our tour was a leisurely drive around Rome except for our lunch and some shopping time. We saw the Roman Forum , various temples to Kings, and an inauguration of the new Italian President on the front stairs of the government building with all the guards dressed in their regal clothing and holding flags. The Circus Maximus sits below the Palatiine Hill and is 664 meters by 123 meters. Efforts to landscape the area have been fruitless as they have not been maintained. The structure was established under the Etruscan kings who transformed the village of Rome into a monumental city. As time passed the Circus Maximus slowly had additions made to it as a new conquering king came into power. It grew from seating 50,000 spectators to almost 250,000 who watched the chariot races. We saw king Hadrian's Mausoleum, the Roman Forum, the window Mussolini used to speak from and St. Peter's Square. We saw where the Baths of Caracalla were and so many other interesting buildings : some have been fixed and maintained while others are still in a destroyed condition. We did not see Trevi Fountain or the Pantheon. We crossed the Tiber River as we entered the historic center of Rome. Rome is the largest city in Italy with 3.5 million people while Italy has about 55 million. I found Rome to be a facinating city with its history easily seen. The Vatican sits on 108 acres west of the Tiber River where about 1000 residents live in an independent nation under the terms of the Laterna Treaty which was signed in 1929 between the Vatican and Mussolini.
* taken from Holland America Brochure
April 30, 2013 is a day in the history of the Netherlands as the queen stepped down and her son took over. We can keep up with all the news here on ship if we choose. Today was a relaxing day as the captain made a decision not to tender into Sardinia. I had a tour of the island and was disappointed to not have seen it. There is no dock for large cruise ships so it meant that tenders would be used. A tender is a small boat used also as a lifeboat if necessary. The swells around Sardinia were about 5 meters or 18 feet which would cause a tender boat to rise and fall some distance making transfers from the ship to the tender quite difficult as people step onto it and since 90% of our current passenger load is over 60 years old the captain decided to not take chances with the safety of the crew or the passengers. Usually on tour days little happens on board so the staff hurried and put together some of the sea day activities so the guests could keep busy. I decided to take a nap and to read a book on Rome that I had purchased yesterday at the Vatican store which sits across the street from the Vatican. Mez had a tour that had taken him to the Sistine Chapel and he saw Michaelangelo's paintings. That chapel was completed in 1484. As with all of the Mediterranean history, conquests, and groups of people come and go and those remaining asimilate into the conquering culture. We have found that English is spoken by many in the tourism industry so I always ask " Do you speak English? ". Some say "no" others say "a little". So you know where you stand. Every annoucement is in English on the ship. Tomorrow we are due to dock in Mahon or Mao on the island of Minorca (or Menorca).
May 1, 2013 we awoke docked in the Port of Mao. Menorca or Minorca is governed under Spain. It is the 2nd largest island of the Balearic Islands located off the southeastern coast of Spain. The island has a permanent population but the summer brings in tourists and visitors. Our day there was wonderful making getting around interesting and it has an esthically pleasing design to the town. Prinsendam was right across the street from a main square where kiosks sat and sellers sold. A set of white stairs went up the hill to the upper part of the town but the road coming down curved around crossing the crosswalks for the stairs. I had not booked a tour but had a great experience riding the train express around the town. I picked it up on the curving street at the bottom of the hill. The train drove on the road but had a clanging bell and a toot-toot horn. For 6 Euros the train went along the beach and then climbed to the older section of town where it stopped to allow us to take pictures. A great female tour host collected the fares and made announcements about Mahon and the various old buildings as we drove by. Many streets are one-way crushed between high walls and old buildings making picture taking a challenge as there was a great deal of shadowing along the narrow streets. Mahon was under British control for most of the 1700s so Georgian architecture still lingers here. Menorca came under Spain in 1802 when the Treat of Ameins was signed between England and Spain. People are most responsive as the train goes by. Some yell "Hola" ( we say "Hi"), others wave and some just watch this train with two coaches drive by. Ferries service the Mediterranean between mainland and the islands. We saw Grimaldi ships at many of the ports. Private yaucts and sailboats are seen here from Norway as the jet setters make their home here in the winter. Menorca is part of the UNESCO World Biosphere Preserve. No fertilizers, contaminents, or pollutants are allowed on the island. They have a large amount of fresh water and they look after the surrounding sea habitat. The ecological system is very delicate that both the land and the sea needs protection. The people are easy going, there seems to be no one in any hurry. I found traffic around the island very peaceful as people stopped and talked to each other as they drove opposite directions. Along the harbour road were many restaurants, stores and places to visit. I enjoyed seeing my traveling companions out and about as I rode the train express. An overnight sailing will take us to Barcelona, Spain where we will be able to spend two days.
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