Florence, and David

Pictures from Venice

Venetian Rainbow Row

From our Gondola ride through old Venice

 Beautiful moon over Venice (it seemed larger in person)

 A glassmaker in a VERY hot glass factory in Merona, Venice.

I was a bit disappointed not to be going to the leaning tower of Pisa, until we spotted this tower in Venice. Who knew there was more than one leaning tower in Italy?

From Dan

Civitavecchia, Venice, Verona, Florence, Rome, Naples, Dubrovnik: Words, which have always served me well, are insufficient to describe the experiences I have drunk in (no misinterpretations, please). The best I can muster is that I’m stunned, awed, and overwhelmed.

Veni, Vidi, Venice!

As I try to recount our 5 day whirlwind tour of Italy, I am sitting on the deck of the ship, the M.V. Explorer, with Sicily on the right and the “tip of the boot “ of Italy on the left, a 3 mile wide passage. It is hard to recollect where you’ve been when you want to keep looking where you are going, especially when it looks like this.

We took a train from the port to Venice, where we could have wandered around for days, especially in the evening when it is cooler, or at least not unbearably hot, but am not about to complain to you all about the heat! Venice stretches out for kilometers, 100 islands and 400 bridges. It is very crowded in the tourist areas, but mysterious and almost deserted where the real Venetians live. It’s not easy to live there, as its expensive having everything brought over from the mainland, and they are constantly repairing their homes from the 100 days of flooding each year. Our guide said that she couldn’t survive without her wading boots. Most of the homes have abandoned their first floors. They have their schools, their fresh food market, St. Mark’s cathedral, some more churches, and hundreds of souvenir shops and cafes. There are no cars whatsoever, but the canals are bustling with water taxis, tour boats, water buses, delivery boats and private boats, oh, and gondolas on the small canals. Will try to put a video clip of this up, but don’t hold your breath.

The first people to settle here 1500 years ago were fleeing Barbarians, who must not have seen any point in chasing after them into the marsh. The settlers used over a million trees as pilings on which they founded their city, and they  prospered with trading goods between the East and West, and they kept building. And they are still building, mainly barriers to keep the water out. Good luck with that Venice!

Barcelona in pictures

The wide pedestrian-friendly street.

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                                                    Lovely balconeys

                                                           Don't have to wait until Italy for pizza.

                                                   Dan underneath Park Guell, designed by Gaudi.

                                           Dan demonstrating the spaciousness of Barcelona.

                                                          Mary posing with statues.

Mary, Danny, Barcelona

         We LOVE Barcelona. Walking the old streets, stopping for café con leche, or wine and bread, or gelato, or gazpacho, whenever you feel like it is luxurious. The center of the wide streets is for pedestrians, with big trees shading both sides. Every 3 feet there is an outdoor café. We walked down a narrow alley, lined with cafes and shops, to a large open square, and guess what we found…more cafes, all around the perimeter of the square. Above all the shops are several stories of apartments, each with a balcony  overlooking the square or street.                                                                                                           

From our first café con leche and croissant to our last sip of wine and gazpacho, we were trying to figure out how we could come live here for several months. There is so much food, we need more time! Will have to do a whole separate group of pictures on the food market. The Spaniards like everything fresh and as local as possible. Here it is all about the food. I think we would fit in nicely. 


 The Barcelonans also appreciate their public spaces and architecture (one needs a place to eat, after all). Every intersection is octagonal, making it very spacious. There are narrow lanes for cars, and wide spaces for people, and cafes. The buildings are all beautiful. The pre-eminent architect is Antoni Gaudi, who designed a magnificent park overlooking the city. We climbed to the first level, took pictures of the amazing view, then climbed some more, and had to take more pictures of the even better view. Then we climbed some more, and you get the picture. We could just barely see our ship in the distance from the highest point.  

We didn’t get a chance to really interact with any local people (other than our hundred or so waiters), but “por favor” and “gracias” was sufficient survival Spanish for our purposes. We are now safely back on the ship, after one last dash through the market for wine, cheese, and bread for the voyage to Italy…Ah, Italy!

Cafe Con Leche In Barcelona: Sublime

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Behold what architect and art professor on the ship, Marthe Rowen, saw in the Freeport, Bahamas industrial port. I posted a picture of it, mainly because I thought it a shame  to spoil such an idyllic spot with that dock and the cranes. Marthe, however, saw the color and lines, the beauty in the scene, and put oil pastels to paper to share it with us: 

From Dan: On Entering the Mediterranean

Mary will spin her narrative magic soon, but I wanted to post at least once before I get too busy.

In about 30 minutes we cross the Prime Meridian. Last night the excitement was palpable as we entered the Straits of Gibraltar and saw the north African coastline through an ebbing sun and building fog. The Atlantic crossing was generally calm, and both of us survived without medicinal aids. I hope no one reading this blog views this as a complaint, but I have never worked harder in my life. I’m teaching back-to-back 75-minute classes that start at 12:30, meaning today’s class will be my eighth day of doing so. I feel bad for the students, who get mixed signals of expectations of academic rigor on the one hand and socializing/sunbathing on the other. A good night’s sleep has been elusive for many of us voyagers.

The Mediterranean is more stunning than I ever imagined. Dolphins spun out of the wash from the ship this morning, and tuna leapt in the distance. The rocky Spanish coastline beckons us, and we will exuberantly step off of the gangway tomorrow in Barcelona.

Dreams tonight of café con leche, tapas, & red wine. And good thoughts about all of our family and friends back home, whose earnest enthusiasm for our trip has been, well, touching.

Freeport, Bahamas

Freeport, Bahamas

     The Bahamas, as you already know, consists of beautiful water in varying shades of intense blue, interspersed with low, green islands, with a constant sea breeze. That’s about it, and it’s quite enough. They are, however, being invaded by large resort hotels, including the floating Carnival species.  We could see the big Atlantis resort looming in the distance.   I was mesmerized by the numerous container ships in and out of the port, and how quickly they could load them, though have no idea what the Bahamas exports. Will get back to you on that. Danny and I walked from our ship past the trinket stands and bawdy T-shirt shops, and found a lovely rocky beach with the clearest water I’ve ever seen out side of a swimming pool. It was very inviting, but for the “shark feeding area” sign!

       We left Freeport yesterday afternoon, 24 hours ago, and are now at 70 degrees longitude, 28 degrees latitude, give or take a few minutes. It is amazing to look out on blue ocean in all directions, just amazing.  

Again?!

Here we go again!  I can’t believe that abelscontinentaldrift  is continuing! No offense to the captain, I certainly don’t mean to imply that the ship in any way drifts, only that at least one of us on it is a drifter.  But before we leave I need to summarize thoughts from the last voyage… of the damned lucky.  I had naively thought that 1 trip around the planet, visiting 10 countries and taking a few of classes, would give me a good understanding of the world. HA! It actually made me more confused, but as the dean from that voyage said, “Yes, but now you are confused on a higher level.” Would that that were true.  I did realize that I had been looking at other countries through very near-sighted American eyes ( though my taste buds are partial to India.)  And, as much as I love my country, I love the whole world more.  So, it’s off  across the Atlantic!