Last Day of Cruise

The last port of call for the cruise was Palma de Mallorca. This day we went to the beach and just relaxed. It was a much nicer beach and much less crowded.
The next day we disembarked in Barcelona. We stayed there all that day and enjoyed the city. Barcelona is a beautiful city and we had a great time. They had beautiful streets,
and very interesting architecture.
One place we visited was a church the La Sagrada Familia. This cathedral was started in 1883 and still is in ongoing construction. It had not been finished yet. There is so much to see. Each side is different looks. It is really a unique building with many very interesting features. This I believe is the front entrance.
This is some of the very interesting work on one face of the building.
Here is a closer view of the above work.
On one side there was lots of different carvings of animals. Here are a couple.

Pompeii

The fourth day of our cruise we visited Pompeii and Sorento. We decided to join a shore excursion, so we chose one that visited the ruins and also went to a beach.
Pompeii was very interesting. We were really surprised at how large it was. Even though it seemed that a lot of the city was uncovered there were was still the majority left to be explored. Here are a few pictures of the city. This first couple are as were were approaching the entrance.
This one is the amphitheater.

These next three show the street construction and also the ruts from the wagons.

Most all of the houses had mosaics painted on the walls at one time. Here is an example of a couple that have survived.
This next picture is the bedroom in a brothel. Over the doorways were paintings of different activities that could be requested. When a man entered he only had to point to a painting as to what he wanted. Then they entered these small rooms.
Here is a picture of Mt. Vesuvius in the background.
This next picture shows how the walls were constructed. They used bricks for the main construction, then they covered them with a layer of plaster and finally marble or some polished stone. They must have been very beautiful in their day.
Here are pictures of a couple of the cast from where people died in the eruption.
After leaving Pompeii we went to the beach. This place was beautiful but very, very, very, very, very, (oh well, you get the idea) crowded. We were given seats under umbrellas and sat down to people watch and relax. Dad even went for a swim in the Mediterranean.

Saint Peters Square

Day Four: Our port of call was Civitavecchia, Italy. This is the port of call for Rome. We chose to visit St. Peters Square and the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel. Here are some of the pictures from this day.

This is St. Peters Cathedral from the central court outside.Here is a close up of some of the statues on top of the cathedral.
This is on the steps of the cathedral looking across the square.
Next we visited the Vatican Museum. These next two pictures are of the trompe l'oeil painting on the ceiling of one hallway. These paintings are actually flat, but the style causes them to appear raised. Very Beautiful.
After many more hallways and rooms in the Museum we finally got to the Sistine Chapel which is the end of the tour. Pictures and words do not begin to do justice to the beauty of the place. the paintings are amazing. Here are a few pictures I was able to get. Many people were told not to take pictures, but because I did not have the flash on I was able to steal a few pics. Here is an overall of the ceiling.
This is one end wall.
A close up of part of the ceiling.
Finally probably the most famous fresco, the creation of Adam.
After leaving the Sistine Chapel, we then entered St. Peters Cathedral. This is a picture of the Pieta sculpture by Michealangelo.
This is the ceiling of one of the domes.
Here is looking toward one of the altars. The next picture is a close up of the stained glass window seen in behind the altar in the middle of the picture.
Finally theseare a couple of pictures of the sunset from on deck on the third day. One is a sailboat in the distance, and the other is one of the cruise ships leaving at the same time we did.

It was another great day that we enjoyed very much.

IT LEANS! ! !

Our port on the second day was Livorno, Italy. This is the port closest to Florence and Pisa. Since we had seen most there is to do in Florence when we went in 2002, we decided to go to Pisa. We again chose to go on our own instead of taking an organized tour. I have always wanted to see the tower anyway. This picture is the view as we were walking up the street towards the tower. It really is amazing how much it does lean.
Here I am in the traditional picture trying to push the tower back up.
Mike on the other hand chose to push the tower over.
As we walked around to the other side of the tower we couldn't resist this picture of all the people taking pictures holding the tower up. It really was quite amusing.
This is the baptistry (sp). This building was very beautifully decorated on the outside. the inside was quite simple but the accoustics were amazing. While we were inside they has a sound demo, which is done every hour. This man walked into the center of the main floor and sang a note. It hung in the air for the longest time I have ever heard. He then preceded to sing each note of the cord, which stayed and sounded like a full cord being played. It was really beautiful.
This is a view of the cathedral from the window of the basptistry. You can see the leaning tower on the right hand side behind the building.

Here is the detail work on the door of the cathedral. It was raised iron work, very detailed. Very beautiful and amazing to see.
Here is the final view of the tower as we were leaving.
It was really an enjoyable place to see and visit. I even found a mosaic on the tower that I might turn into a quilt pattern.

Cruise Day 1 - Monte Carlo, Monaco

In August we took a week long cruise of the Western Mediterranean. These next few days I will be posting some of the pictures from that trip.

First port of call, Monte Carlo, Monaco. It is a beautiful city, built on a hill. We decided to explore on our own instead of taking a guided tour. We had a great time. This first picture is across the port as we were leaving the ship.
We had to stop and get a picture of Mike in front of the Yacht Club. The old structures in the background are where we ended up heading next.
Of course before we got too far Mike had to study the map to see where we wanted to go. Because the map wasn't that great or clear we walked farther than we intended, but enjoyed seeing the sights.
We climbed the hill on a very long ramp to see the Prince's Palace. This picture is a panaromic view of the harbor from part way up the path.
Here is another view of the harbor. The day was simply beautiful, clear. Just perfect to enjoy the city.
When we got to the Palace at the top this was the guard walking infront of the entrance.
After leaving the entrance area we came upon this beautiful church. We sat in the shade for a drink and to enjoy the view.
While at the top, Mike had to try to get one of the cannon balls. There were cannons and these stacks of balls along the wall.
The is the path going back down. As you can see it was fairly steep.
And finally, this is sunset as we were leaving port that night. If you look closely you can see another cruise ship on the horizon.