Salerno

Salerno May 29th 2013 Today, we pulled into the industrial port of Salerno. Plans are underway to build a cruise dock facility, but I'm guessing that will be a long time coming. This port is one of the areas which support Naples and the Amalfi Coast. Our shore excursion started with Herculaneum. Most people are aware of the city of Pompei which was covered in ash following the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD. Herculaneum was also destroyed by the same eruption but was located much closer to the volcano and was covered, instead, by a pyroclastic flow of mud was less and, being totally buried, the homes are very well preserved (more so than Pompei) The homes have some amazing fresco walls & ceilings and mosiac floors that are just wonderful to see. I had never heard of this town, but now you should not visit this area without seeing the city. It gets less than 10% of the visitors than Pompei but we all consider this the more interesting city. We then went to the source of the problem - Vesuvius. You can drive about 3/4 of the way up and then can walk to the top. It was very cloudy, so we did not get the views of the area, but we did get to see the crater. And we conquered ! After the climb, we were starving so we hit a little restaurant and got a Napoli pizza. Different. We all liked it and the crust was wonderful. (the bread on the table was also great) Then on to Pompei. Much larger ruins and a more commercial city. LOTS of people. The streets themselves were of interest to me. Basalt blocks and raised blocks in the corners so one does not have to step in water when it its raining. Probably the "creapiest" (says Shar) are the bodies that were entoumbed in ash concrete, preserving even facial expressions on some. Death came fast.

Santorini

Santorini May 27th 2013 I've read about Santorini. I know it is a collapsed volcano caldera. I know it is perched on top of volcanic cliff. I know it is supposed to be picturesque. Nothing you read will do justice to this place. The ship pulls into the center of the caldera and uses it's thrusters to stay in place because the ocen floor is 1,200 feet down, much too deep for an anchor. Village ships come to tender you to the island's dock, (note, the tender is small and rocks A LOT which might make some of us have motion sickness) From the dock, you have 3 choices of you wish to visit the village of Fira up on top. Walk 600 stairs (approx 900 vertical feet), ride a donkey up (yummy smell) or take the cable car. We took the easy way up. The village is very photogenic. Everything is crushed into such a small space. The "roads" are often not as wide as our sidewalks. Nearly every building is white, with some blue tossed in. I've never seen a town that screams for a photo like this. We went north to another town, Oia - pronounced EE-Ah. It is even more amazing. WOW takes on a whole new meaning. This place has been a cruise ship destination for a thousand years. The crusader ships used to stop here for supplies on their way to Jerusalem. Ever wonder where the term "cruise ship" came from ? Like Crusader ship ? Our guide was a local who had a lot of info about the place. Put this on your list of places to visit someday.

Turkey

Kusadasi May 26, 2013 Kusadasi Turkey (pronounced Kush-a-DA-si) is the port city for a visit to Ephesus. We had pre-arranged a tour to the ruins, but we were a bit surprised when Shar & I were the only ones on the tour! We had the micro-bus and tour guide all to ourselves. It meant we could move faster or stay longer at spots as we wished. The ruins are about 30 miles from town. In ancient times, Ephesus was a sea port but for a variety of reasons (mostly earthquakes) it is now miles inland. Enough earthquakes and the city was finally abandoned and earth covered it for 1,000 years until the mid 1800's when they started uncovering it. It is a neat place to visit with very nice ruins and good preservations. The floor mosaics were amazing to see after 2,000 years. The tour starts at the top of the city, the "city hall", parliment, etc, then goes through the cultural part of the city, thru the market area and the big ampitheater. Between the parts that were buried & preserved or reconstructed, this is great example of an ancient city. And the ties to the New Testament make it all the more interesting. Following the ruins, we stopped by a Turkish rug "manufacturing plant". Everything is hand make. They showed us the silk cocoons, how to start pulling the threads off, make silk thread, then how they tie the carpets (rug) by hand. (combination of weaving and knots) Some pretty amazing artistry. Back in Kusadasi, we walked through the marketplace. And found a BAKERY! I love trying foreign baked goods. Not near as sweet as baked goods in the US. Put Kusadasi on your list of great places to visit.

Athens

Athens May 26th 2013 The Acropolis (top of the polis (city)) has several temples including the Parthenon, which is the best known. Law says no building can be taller than the Acropolis, so no skyscrapers to speak of. We spent time on the Acropolis (met a BYU english professor who recognized my BYU T-shirt), Ancient Angora (the old marketplace), Mars Hill ( think apostle Paul), National Gardens, Hardrian's Arch, Temple of Zeus (HUGE), Panathion Stadium (1st modern Olympic games), climbed to a small church that is the highest in town (on the highest hill), and watched the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Worthwhile day

Nice

As I expected, internet on the ship is expensive and quite touchy. Sad story about how I learned, maybe another time. Ship boarding went well. We still had the rental car from our Andorra ride, so I took Shar & all our bags to the cruise terminal. Then to the airport to pick up Timm & Megan. Took them to the cruise dock about the same time they began to allow people to board. Then I went back to the airport and picked up Kelli & Allen and took them to the dock. Back once again to the airport to pick up Erik & Angela and take them to the dock. I am now quite comfortable in the route in Barcelona from the airport to the cruise dock. Erik joined me in taking the rental car back, catching a subway and the last mile walk to the cruise dock. We boarded with an hour to spare. The bad news. Mid evening the captain announces on the intercom that the weather forecast is for 35 mph winds. The next day we had planned to stop in Ville-franche France but because of the winds the tendering was unsafe so the port of call was cancelled. Bummer. The ship that was there that day could not get 1,500 passengers safely back on board so they had to buss everyone to the next port of call. That does not sound fun. So we lost France and spent the day at sea. If you have cruised, you know a day at sea is filled with games, quizzes, etc. to try to keep the passengers occupied. Some folks are content to just sit around all day but some of us are busy-bodies. But with family here it is easier to find things to do.

Pyrenees & Andorra

18 May 2013

Got a rental car for a road trip.   I've often read about the Pyrenees mountains separating France & Spain so it was time to see for myself.
The mountains aare a lot larger and more rugged than I imagined.  Some parts reminded me of Idaho & Utah mountains.  Some of the Cascades.   A late snow storm had (& still was) hitting the area, so we got to drive through a snow storm.   We first went to a little midevil walled city Mont-Louis.  It apeared that the tourits season is either winter or summer (or both) but not the spring, Everything was locked up tight.   No stores open, the visitor center was closed and nobody around.   Since it was snowing hard, we just kept driving.
Driving through a small French villiage, Shar saw the name of a restaurant and HAD to stop. Crapahuteur's.   I think the name my best describe my meal!

As we drove toward Andorra, we got to drive up one of those switchback roads up over the pass.   It was amazing scenery (what we could see around the clouds)  I don't think Shar was impressed.  The capital is crushed into a very narrow valley with a fast moving river.   The length seemed like 20 miles long but few areas with more than 2 blocks wide.  Andorra is a tax & duty free country so lots of tourists there to buy junk.  Lots of high end stores.

(note - I can't seem to get photos to download.  Maybe Allen can help)

Barcelona

May 17  Friday

2 tired people arrive in Barcelona.  The announcer says it is 5 pm but my body thinks it is 9am and I just stayed up all night.

Much greener than I had expected.  But it's spring so I should have expected that.   Lots of farming all around.   Many fields of artichokes.

Free airport shuttle to the train station.   Train into town.
They have a nice transportation system here.
Shar starts to smile when she hears, then sees, a jazz combo working through the train.  String Bass, sax and accordian.

Our hotel is very near the Sants station and we get checked in so we can quit hauling all these bags around.   Then around 3 blocks looking for a place to eat.

SHAR decide on a Morroccan restaurant across the street.   Just kabobs but pretty authentic.  To hotel.  Collapse.

Jet lag

Let me try again.   Yesterday I typed up a report and just before I finished, this stupid machine disappeared the whole thing.   (Probably the operator and not the machine, but it won't complain if I blame it.

Jet Lag
I understand it but that doesn't mean I like it.   After spending a restless night before we left Port Angeles (too excited) we fly from PA to Seatac then board our 6,20PM Airbus headed for Amsterdam.  Shar & I agree, the seats are not the most comfortable.  But every seat has a screen in front of it and an assortment of decent movies to watch to pass the time.   Mine is working fine so I watch the Life of Pi,    Or at least I start the movie.    Several people complain that their screens won't work, so they announce that they are going to reset the entire system.
My screen never worked again.
I did get to read 400 pages of my book.

A direct flight from Seatac to Amsterdam uses the polar route.   It was sun for me to watch out the window as we passed over WA, British Columbia, Alberta, etc and saw the landscape changing until it was just white and frozen over.  By the time we went over Ellesmere Island and Greenland, it was totally overcast.
Our brain was telling us it was night time (flight time was 10 hours) but it never got dark at all outside. (summer over the arctic)
As we passed over Iceland, the clouds were gone and I had a great view.  Spring has not come to Iceland yet, so it was white and brown everywhere.   But I could see some towns, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, volcanos and glaciers.   OK, I thought it was cool.

Approaching Amsterdam on time.  So far so good.
Then we get an announcement that there is an emergency with another airplane and we will be delayed landing 15 minutes.  Oops, there goes some of our 65 minute connection time.   Off the plane to the passport lines, then security screening and we have 5 minutes to make it from Concourse E to gate C12.   Many of you know how much Shar loves running through airports to make a flight.   2 sweaty people are the last few on the plane.

Almost

Less than one more day.   Hard to keep ones mind on work.
Going through mental checklists of things to pack and things to do before we leave (remember to turn off the hot water heater, etc.)

We've done a majority of packing last night and, as to be expected, we are overweight.  What to remove and not take.   Decisions.

BTW - males are much lighter in their packing than females :)

Anticipation

I think that the anticipation of a trip (and learning about it) is part of the fun of travel.    Others do not feel so !
We have 6 days and 5 hours.  My head keeps running around and around trying to think of anything I've forgotten in my planning.