Cruising on huge floating hotels has become a popular
vacation activity combining a luxurious lifestyle with leisurely travel to
exotic destinations. My wife and I had first ventured on a cruise in the
Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale travelling around but without touching Cuba to
several ports and decided to repeat the experience with the same cruise line in
the Mediterranean Sea. Our recent voyage was during the first week of July 2012
on the MSC Musica, a sister ship of the MSC Poesia we travelled on the last
time.
A cruise
ship is typically very long and narrow with many decks and is confusing during
the first few days on board. We thought we would know all about it based on our
previous voyage but it was still confusing. The cafeteria, pools, bars and
sporting facilities are on decks 13, 14, 15 and 16 while the dining rooms,
lounges, shops, casino and theatre on are decks 5, 6 and 7. Most cabins are on
decks 8 to 12 all connected by four banks of elevators and stair cases. The
ship is 293 meters long and 32 meters wide at 89000 tons and carries about 2550
passengers with nearly 1000 people in the crew.
Our
cabin with balcony was on deck 10 located towards
the bow on the starboard side just above the lifeboats between decks 7
and 8. The
cabin steward, a very nice Filipino, kept our space ship shape when we
were on
other decks. On sunny days when we were at sea the population on the
upper desks was dense
to say the least as hundreds of people congregated in bikinis and
speedos all
grabbing a rays from the brilliant, hot sun. The entertainment teams
kept
busy animating people to dance, exercise or play games accompanied by
loud
music. Many of the bronze bodies are attractive but most of the older
gentlemen
are not pretty in their speedos. On this voyage the majority of
passengers were
Italian and Spanish with a smattering of Australians, Germans, other
Europeans
and some from Canada and the USA. There were many children of all ages.
We often took the occasion to sit on our balcony and escape the crowds
on deck 13 and 14.
The ship was scheduled to stop at ports in Italy, Greece and Croatia. We decided to go on tours to see Olympia, Mykanos, Athens, Corfu and Dubrovnik and didn’t go ashore at Bare and Santorini. Our first visit was at Katakolon, Greece on Ionian Sea with a bus to Olympia, a few kilometers away. Once there we were guided through a beautiful museum where many artifacts found on the site were housed in striking displays. We then walked to the site where the Olympic facilities and games were played. Many columns and pillars have been erected where they had been at the time. The Olympic torch used to light flame at summer and winter games today is lit here from the sun’s rays. The ancient games were stopped when Christianity supplanted the Greek and Roman gods because sport was considered a heathen practice.
The ship
arrived at Santorini the next morning and most passengers were ferried ashore
to climb the high cliffs to the towns looking like snow on winter hills of home.
We stayed on board to enjoy deck 13 to ourselves. It was wonderful until the
crowd came back for lunch and the restaurant became a zoo as the ship sailed to
Mykonos for the evening. We went ashore at Mykonos to visit a Greek restaurant
out in the country to enjoy local food, dancing, wine and a good time. Mykonos is
where Shirley Valentine was filmed for those readers who remember the 1989
chicflik.
Piraeus
is the port for Athens. I boarded the bus for a tour of Piaka, the Acropolis
and the Archeological museum under the guidance of a wonderful woman who told
us the story of Athens and the Parthenon. Athens goes far back before the
Athenian society we know evolved. It was not a peaceful place and Athens was
conquered, raped and pillaged by the Spartans, the Persians and Romans,
Crusaders, the French, Venetians, the Ottomans, Britain, Germany and others.
The city always rose up again and when it became wealthy new invaders arrived
to steal what they could. The British were among the thieves taking as many
artifacts as they could carry to London. The Parthenon had been destroyed by
the Venetians fighting for control against the Muslim Persians so the British
easily collected remnants from the Acropolis. Athenians are quite bitter about
what the British did and make it known to everyone who will listen.
We
climbed the Acropolis with the crowds of tourists to see the restoration of
the Parthenon and other temples on the top. It provides a spectacular view over
the city. After the visit we walked to a beautiful new museum where many
artifacts the British miraculously didn’t find are displayed. The artistry of
the ancient culture is wonderful to see. On the other hand it was Athens where
I first encountered hordes of mopeds driven by crazy fools without concern for
cars, rules of the road or seemingly their personal safety. It repeated even
more so in Rome. I don’t know how the bus drivers manage to get through the
narrow crowded streets with cars parked almost anywhere and mopeds darting in
and out of traffic. At every traffic light a horde of probably a dozen or more
mopeds gather in front of the cars waiting for the light to change and then
dash across the intersection before the first car has moved.
The Acropolis and Parthenon
The Parthenon
Athens from the Acropolis
Athens was the mid-point of the cruise and the ship began
the voyage back to Venice. Entertainment on the ship was generally good. There
is a huge auditorium in the bow on decks 6 and 7 where musical, magic,
gymnastics, and other colourful shows are presented on most nights after
supper. Meals on the ship were, in my opinion, good but not spectacular. There
were several choices for each course and service was usually fast. Our table
partners were fun, a couple from Toronto and a couple from South Carolina. We
enjoyed joking and teasing during the meal particularly concerning the beer
choice. I had bought a voucher for draft beer but I didn’t know they served
only Heineken. It isn’t my first choice but complaining didn’t help and I got
used to it. I enjoyed a birthday celebration with a special cake Lil had
arranged and the waiters did the Happy Birthday thing. We also celebrated
Canada Day and the Fourth of July. Not many other dinners in the room had any
concern for either of these special days. We were all surprised by the water
policy. The only water served was in a liter bottle when ordered at a cost of
2.30 euros. No free water in the restaurant but there was a source in the
cafeteria on deck 13. I think water is a commercial product in Europe because
it was the same in Rome and other places we visited. Prices of other beverages
at the bars on board were in the 5 to 6 euro range plus 15% service charge.
Prices in bars on shore were about half the on board price.
The next
stop was Kerkyra, Corfu where I went on a tour and visit to Achilleion Palace,
a large house built by Queen Elizabeth of Bavaria (known as Sissi), said to be
the most beautiful woman of her time (early 1800’s). The place was dedicated to
Achilles, the Greek god, and has a lovely outlook on a high hill under the gaze
of a huge bronze statue of Achilles. It became the summer residence of Baron
von Bismark, the German ruler in WW 1 and there are many of his personal
effects on display in the house. Corfu
is a very pretty place for summer vacations and tourism.
Sissy, the Queen, notice her waist
Eat your heart out, shw worked hard for that
Hercules on Corfu
Our last stop was the city of Dubrovnik where we met a man
who guided us around the old walled part of the city. He described the history
of the city and spent a lot of time talking about the war with Serbia in 1992.
The Serbs had attacked the city with aircraft, missiles and artillery
destroying most of the infrastructure and many buildings. They were finally
driven away by the Croatians when the international community under pressure of
the Pope took a stand against Milosevic and his army. There is a great deal of
bitterness among the Croatians. The old
city was pleasant to walk through and I found an outdoor restaurant with beer
that tasted so much better than the stuff on the ship. Lil came with me on this
tour which was nice. Her feet had become swollen and painful so the touring in
the next few days would be a challenge for her.
Dubrovnik Street Scene
It's not Heineken, thank goodness/
The ship entered the Grand Canal of Venice about 7 AM and
cruised slowly to the pier. I had watched the voyage out the week before and
watched the inbound trip for a while but we had to assemble in the theatre in
preparation for disembarkation. Everyone had a colour code to ensure an orderly
exit from the ship and to identify where our bags were in the terminal
building. Our plan was to take a cab to the railways station but it turned out
the cab could go only to a foot bridge over the canal and then a walk along the
canal to the station. This was not a fun part of the trip but eventually we
were on our way to Rome.
The Foot Bridge Across the Canal to the Station
The train went through a series of long tunnels under
the mountains before arriving in Florence for a stop and then on to Rome. Our
hotel was close to the Rome Termini (station) so we dragged our bags through
the city streets and after a few false starts found it and checked in. Whew!!!
The area is full of hotels. The buildings are quite plain but the insides are
interesting and our hotel was a surprising place, definitely not a Holiday Inn,
but very well appointed and comfortable.
What to
do now? We found a place nearby to eat. It was a sidewalk café and we
immediately learned about the Roman pizza (see last picture). After consulting brochures from the
hotels we decided to visit Rome for one day and then a tour to Pompei the
next. After eating we walked along the street and Lil found a corner stall with
purses and bags. She found one and bought it. It seems bags and some clothing is
good value in Rome unless you chose the name brand stores.
The next
morning we were hustled onto a ‘hop on-hop off’ tour bus. It turned out to be a
good hustle and we got off to an early start with a nice drive through the tree
lined streets before the tour actually started. After a few stops we hopped off
at the Coliseum to join the throngs of people clustered in the plaza around it
but it didn’t take long before we were on a guided tour of the structure.
Several steep flights of stairs led to the upper level where we looked down
over the arena and the open chambers that had been covered by the original
floor. It is large but not overwhelming. Our guide told us how the games were
run and we learned a lot and not as portrayed in Hollywood films.
Trevi Fountain
We hopped back on the bus and continued the ride past the
Vatican and across the Tiber a couple of times. It was hot and crowded in the
city but we stopped at the Trevi fountain area where we joined another throng
of people gathered around it. It is a beautiful fountain and famous for the
movie at least to older people. By now it was mid-afternoon and we needed a
rest so we hopped back on the bus and it eventually arrived at the Termini stop,
near our hotel. It was cool in the hotel. We could have done more trips on the
bus but that was enough.
The trip
to Napoli and Pompei left early from the Green Bus
Tour office. We were guided there by a pickup guy and fortunately it was close
to the hotel because we walked. The road to Napoli is called the highway of the
Sun and goes from Milano to Napoli, almost the length of Italia. It passes
through farm country, vineyards, mountains, past Monte Casino (location of
vicious fighting in WW2) and on to Naples with a refreshment stop along the way.
Naples or Napoli is an important city on the coast. We stopped at the yacht
harbour for a stretch and looked across the hundreds of private boats, large
and small, toward Mount Vesuvius not far away. A quick bus trip through the
main section of the city past a number of huge cruise ship and we went to new
Pompei for a typical Italian lunch.
A tour guide from Naples joined the group and took us to the
ruins while explaining the story of Pompei and the archeological findings. The
first location was the amphitheatre which required climbing another steep stair
case but after that everything was on the same level. We walked along the
ancient streets past houses and shops, the baths, the house of prostitution, the
forum and so much. It is a remarkable place to see under the not very
distant cone of the still active Vesuvius.
It was a typically hot day and we were happy to get back on
the bus for the three hour ride back to Rome where we arrived just after nine
PM. We found another sidewalk restaurant and enjoyed a last Roman pizza before
our journey ended. Our flight home was the next day and there is nothing
interesting to say about it.
