BARCELONA AT LAST - 9 AM!

Of course, the hotel room  is not ready but the lobby is available to us so we can update the blog while most of our friends at home sleep.  It is 12:18 AM in Tucson -- 3:18 AM on the east cost. So we are 9 hours ahead of Tucson.

What follows are random postings written up as we crossed the Atlantic.

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SUNDAY, APRIL 6 – EMBARKATION

The trip to Fort Lauderdale was long but uneventful. After a good night's sleep, we stocked up on wine for the cruise (4 bottles of “14 Hands”, and boarded the ship, Holland America's 'Nieuw Amsterdam,' with no trouble. Our inside

cabin #1049 has no windows, of course, but is much larger than most, with a separate living area, good for reading and happy hours. Down the hall to the left is a small corridor—our “private” entrance to the ship's well-appointed theater. Turn right down the hall, go up two flights of stairs, and you're at the promenade, which is wider than the ones on most ships. Three laps equals one mile, so twelve in an hour matches what we do every morning at the Morris Udall track in Tucson. Instead of overlooking a basketball court, however, we have the wide, empty sea.

Counting our day of embarkation, we have seven—count 'em—seven days at sea before stopping at a port—time for lots of naps, reading, and leisurely dining. Fortunately, our two table-mates at dinner, Will and Linda Smith, are liberals—former teachers from Pennsylvania, living now in—of all places—a Del Web community in Bluffton, South Carolina (The Haven). Talk about fish out of water.

Days at sea blend one into another. The two lectures series, one on globalization and one on European history, are so bad, we stopped going, and the nightly shows featuring such delights as songs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s are even worse. That leaves reading plus breakfasts, lunches and dinners as the highlights of the days. The ship changes the floor mats in the elevators to help people keep track of the days.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9 – JUST WALKING!

Finally, something to write home about. As I was completing

my third mile of speed walking on the deck today, I fell, cut my head on a cabinet they store life jackets in, and landed on my back in a pool of blood. A ring of anxious faced hovered over me, and three men stayed with me until the medics arrived. Under the command of Dallas, a nurse of unquestioned authority, I was gently slid onto a stretcher, my head supported by a stiff collar, and wheeled to the Sick Bay, where Dr. Alderdice, a just-retired regional director of a northwestern organization of emergency physicians, cleaned me up, determined I had no broken bones, and proceed to mend my wounds with no fewer than 25 stitches. I was discharged into Bob's care looking like Johnny Carson's soothsayer, Carnak. Happily, no blood clot has appeared, and I appear to be on the mend, but I should have scars to invent stories about for the rest of my life.

SUNDAY, APRIL 13 – HORTA, PORTUGAL

About all one can say about Horta on Palm Sunday is that it does not pitch, roll or vibrate under foot.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16 – MONKEY BUSINESS

In Gibraltar, I could say we rode the funicular to the top of the rock, admired the view all the way to Africa, watched the Barbary Apes frolic, and explored the caves. The ship did not dock until 1:00 pm, however, and by the time we arrived at the ticket booth for the cable cars, the line stretched around a city block. We stood in it for half an hour before deciding we'd much rather explore the small botanic garden nearby. I cannot imagine why Spain wants this place back.

SATURDAY, APRIL 19 – AN ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY

In the Provincial Archeological Museum of the delightful city

of Alicante, Spain, is a reconstruction of a 2500-year-old Roman sailing ship filled with amphora. You can view it from ground level and look down into it from a walkway, as a lucky diver might see it at the bottom of the ocean. No matter how much wine it carried, though, I'd far rather cross the Mediterranean in our cruise ship.

The esplanade, made of millions of small marble pieces, gives a 3-D impression of a wavy walkway. We took advantage of the stroll to photograph our shipmates, the Smiths, the anomalies of South Carolina.

I should add that this morning Dr. Alderdice removed the last of the adhesive strips on the major three-quarter tear over my right eyebrow. My other wounds are mostly healed.

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Now we are in Barcelona on Easter Sunday. Our understanding is that the city now begins two days of massive partying...celebrating the end of the high holy season. For us, our flight to Prague leaves at 7:45 tomorrow morning so, like our last stop in Barcelona with Karin, we will be up and off very, very early. Till then...

SENDING A MESSAGE OF SUPPORT - US!

S P R I N G   2 0 1 4                Barcelona to Oslo

Apr 6 - 20:  Holland America, Nieuw Amsterdam, Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona

Horta (Portugal), Gibralta (Britian),

Motil, Alicante, Palma de Mallorca (Spain)

Apr 21 - 24:  Prague, Czech Republic

Apr 25 - 28:  Vienna, Austria

Apr 29 - May 1:  Budapest, Hungary

May 2-3:  Oslo, Norway

While the Russian bear continues to make threatening noises in the Ukraine, we'll be signaling our support of the Czech Republic, Austria, and Hungary this April/May.

After rushing to Fort Lauderdale, we'll catch a two-week cruise to Barcelona. From there, we'll fly to Prague and work our way down to Vienna and Budapest. That should give the Russians pause. On our way home, we'll fly Norwegian Air, which stops in Oslo, where we'll visit our nephew and his family for a couple of days before returning to Tucson via New York.

See the map above for our route in case our boat, planes, buses, or trains mysteriously disappear. You can then alert officials where to search. However, do not expect blog entries during our time at sea. We should begin around Easter-time (April 20th).

NOVEMBER OCEANIA CRUISE - 2013

VENICE TO BARCELONA

Fall 2013

by Steward LaCasce

with Photos by Bob LaCasce

(Note:  Click on photos for larger views)

What follows, is a summary of our trip on 

Oceania's Marina, from October 29 – November 10. 

Our accommodations were somewhat more 

comfortable than we'd had on previous cruises, and the food was better. 

We traveled with our good friend 

and winter neighbor, Karin Lanham, and visited no 

fewer than six countries in twelve days!

Venice, Italy

We'd all been to Venice just a year ago, so this was like coming home. There were the usual photogenic canal scenes and more from the Rialto, the most famous bridge going over the Grand Canal. Karin just gazed and gazed at the busy traffic below including the usual gondolas and the working ships that bring everything the City needs into port . We also stocked up ourselves on wine and prosecco for our pre-dinner get-togethers.

Kotor, Montenegro

This beautiful city, surrounded by mountains, has a couple of small islands in its bay. 

The old city is surrounded by an ancient wall, while the new one spreads outward from this core. Karin and I could not resist Bob's plea for a photo of us entering the gate of the old city.

Corfu, Greece

Bob and I had been here before, so the view from our
balcony was familiar. This time, we visited the old fort and the beautiful church that the British built in the 19^th Century to look like a Greek temple. Later, I insisted on a photo of Bob sitting, appropriately, between Greek columns.

Naxos & Taormina, Sicily, Italy

None of us had been here before, so after arriving in the port of Naxos, we immediately took a cab up the steep slopes to the resort town of Taormina. It is most famous for its Roman

Amphitheater that was built of brick over a Greek original and situated so that the view beyond the stage includes Mount Etna. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, Etna had disappeared behind mist and clouds, some of

which it created. The view from there looking down at the Naxos harbor was stunning, and I had a hard time tearing Bob and Karin away from it. 

On the way back to the ship, Bob and I bought our memento for the trip, an

oversized plate by one the many artisans in the area. It barely fit in my suitcase, but made the trip home safely.  

As we sailed away that evening, Bob could not resist one more photo of this most photogenic city.

Naples, Italy

While Karin took a tour of Pompeii, which Bob and I had

seen a dozen years earlier, we went back to the Naples Archeological Museum with its famous Farnese collection of antiquities, including that of Antinous, who, for a couple of centuries AD, competed with Jesus as the favored deity of the ancient world. We also viewed may artifacts recovered from Pompeii after Mount Vesuvius covered it in ash in 79 AD. One was a portrait of a lady done in mosaic. What we had not realized was that wealthy citizens also had columns covered in mosaic as well.

Lucca, Italy

Somehow, this Medieval walled city managed to survive Italy's many wars over the centuries. Its central “square” is actually built over a Roman Amphitheater, and hence is round. 

Among Lucca's many surprises was this most unusual church.

Monte Carlo, & Nice, France

From our balcony, we took a photo of the Monte Carlo's

famous casino, but we did not stop in the Principality long enough to visit it. Instead, we took a half-hour trip to Nice to visit the Matisse Museum. Housed in his former home is the world's largest collection of his work. We agreed, though, that his best pieces reside elsewhere, including The Hermitage in St. Petersburg.

Marsaille, France

To help mark its designation as Europe's City of Culture this year, it built a new museum of Mediterranean Culture.

It's most interesting architectural feature is a lace-like covering that conceals a parking lot. We did not visit the famous cathedral that overlooks the City, but we did note a most interesting one near the new museum.

Barcelona, Spain

This was Karin's first visit here, so we selected two of our favorite sites for her to visit. The first, Gaudi's basilica, Sagrada Familia, which is still being built after the Master's death in 1926. He personally oversaw every detail of its construction during his lifetime including stunning stained glass windows and staircases that wind upward like vines. 

But the most awe-inspiring feature has to be the towering

tree-like columns best seen down the central aisle toward the high alter, under which he is buried.

Then, after a great lunch of tapas at a restaurant that our friends, the Kesslers, discovered a couple of years ago, we visited Gaudi's apartment building, Casa Mila. Finally, we strolled back to our ship down Passeig de Grassia to the City's famous walking street, La Rambla.

I won't describe our 4:30 am departure from the ship the next day or any of the 24-hour ordeal it took us to fly to Phoenix, where we collapsed for the night before we drove home the next morning. It would take the glow off the whole trip!

Home to Tucson

We made it safely back to Tucson, where our neighbors, the Brucatos, met us at the airport. The trip was relatively uneventful and "only" 21 hours or so door to door. Air travel is becoming such a trial that we're planning on taking only this one airline trip this year. Happily, it was a good one.

On the Town and on our Way

This morning, all four of us--Karin, Susan, Bob, and I--walked to the Wallace Collection, a nearby museum that I last visited nearly fifty years ago. It has aged much better than I have. Almost all the rooms in the mansion have been refurbished with period cloth wall coverings and gold accents on the elaborate moldings. If only grants from large trusts and wealthy donors

could do the same for me, I might get over my distaste for fund raising.

The collection houses a lot of romantic and sentimental paintings I don't care for, but then you notice a Velazquez portrait, Hals' The

Laughing Cavalier, Fragonard's naughty The Swing, and, of course, half a dozen or so Rembrandts including an early self-portrait and one of his son Titus.

Like most museums in the city, this one is free, and always, you run into small groups of school children on tour with note pads and teachers. Despite the economy, England still treasures its art.



Unfortunately, it no longer treasures theater the way it used to by underwriting ticket prices, but on this trip, we did not let that stop us. Already we've seen Sondheim's 'Merrily We Roll Along' (magnificant), 'Billy Elliot' (tired), and, tonight, Alan Bennet's 'Untold Stories.'

For lunch today we were guests of Sandra Soriano, a friend of Karin's, at a restaurant in town, and tonight, our friend of almost fifty years, Tosh Lee, is joining us for dinner and the play. Sadly, we'll have to say goodbye to Tosh tonight and tomorrow morning to London itself. We leave for the airport fairly early, so this may be our final post on the blog--or maybe I'll add a P.S. when we're back in Tucson.

London Lessons

Karin's friend went on her own today, so that left her to go with Bob and me.  The three of us have traveled together to St. Petersburg, Berlin, Rome, Florence, and Venice, but none of these provided the lessons she needed in London to fit in.

First, get used to the London tube. It feels as if you're headed to the center of the earth. Then, when we buy tickets to West End shows at the discount ticket office in Leicester Square, be sure to queue up. Wait your turn. We picked up tickets for tonight to "Billy Elliot." Karin got tickets for tomorrow night's "The 39 Steps."

We then went to the National Gallery to visit some old friends--Rembrandt, Velazquez, Caravaggio. Then, after a quiet lunch in the crypt of St. Martin in the Fields Church, we stopped by the gelato shop that Bob discovered yesterday where he found his Holy Grail of flavors, frutti di bosco. Thus fortified, we headed to the National Portrait gallery to visit some more old friends--Elizabeth I, Winston Churchill, Samuel Johnson, E. M. Forster.

On the way to the second museum, Karin, now properly trained, saw another queue and promptly joined it . . . until the headmistress said,

"Terribly sorry, no more room on the bus."