Fantastic, Fantabulous, "Treasurely" Trip to Mediterranean

Gala night on board ship, Magica.





Magnificent sculpting work around and above the rustic, thick wooden exterior door of the Cathedral in Mallorca.






















Top of the road that winds dow to the sea in Sorrento.





On the plaza in front of one of the Cathedrals in Palermo, Sicily.
From one of the Plaza's looking out over Palermo from the highest hill on which another Massive Cathedral stands watch.









Ship docked at Naples. Kris, before she realizes she left her camera in the taxi.









Pointing west along with the statue of Columbus in Barcelona, Spain One of the streets in Genoa with our driver, Maritcio
Atop one of the mansions, now a museum, overlooking the harbor in Genoa.
On the top deck as we pass by the Isle of Capri.
This past week could have been a dream. Definitely it was like those times when I begin to awaken from a deep slumber to realize I'm in a engaging experience so I retreat into myself trying to recapture the sleeping state of wonder? It never works. Reality won't be stayed. But this time, this time it's still alive, all my senses were captivated and enlarged from the experience. I've never been more grateful to see, to hear, to smell, to move. Wow!!!

On April 8th I left Boise with Devin's perfectly compartmentalized luggage and practically every outfit I own so I'd be prepared for any type of weather and formality. At 4:00 o'clock Friday morning I drove to Kurt's and Becky's to drive with them to pick up Kris and then Karla and then to the airport.

We flew U.S. Air to Chicago then Philidelphia. Once in the air after Philidelphia, I took benadryl and was asleep better than ever for the whole night. When we landed at 8:00 a.m. Barcelona time (12 midnight MST). I was wide awake and very ready for our first day.

We lugged our bags with us to the train and then up and down into the subway (I may be forever sorry for that because my hip now feels "odd") and finally found ouselves at the Dock in Barcelona. After a much too brief walk through the city where we enjoyed the wide boulevards with the tall sycamores and an open market market that was beyond belief; fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, nuts, olives (of every kind), candy, smoothies, and on and on and on. The red sweet peppers were the size of footballs and the celery was at least 24 inches long! I enjoyed my first gelato which I'd been thinking about from the first mention of our trip. Saturday we saw Marseilles and its Notre Dame of the Guard set high on a hill. Our driver was able to go way up above the bus parking and deliver us practically at the door to the cathedral. The wind was blowing so hard that if we jumped we were carried along on tiptoes for a moment, but we ignored the wind and enjoyed pastries--(France and pastries are synonymous--yum!). At Aix En Provence I bought a white three tiered wrinkle skirt with a wooden belt for 15 Euros (about 24 American dollars) and some lavendar soap. We visited Cessanes studio. The still life items he recreated on canvas are still there. In Casis, a charming little seaside village at the base of terraced slopes of grape vineyards, I enjoyed another gelato. Our accommodating taxi driver, Andrew, stayed with us for 8 and a half hours and graciously tutored Karla with French. Happily, I found I was understanding much of what was said by the end of the day.

Sunday we docked in Savonna and then drove an hour or so with our driver Maritcio through several tunnels all along the seaside to Genova, where he determinedly found our church, so we enjoyed Sacrament meeting in one of the two wards in Genova. The missionaries kindly translated for us but even without their words, we felt the strong spirit of the testimonies that were born. Families went to the pulpit together to give one another support. We walked down Garibaldi Ave, according to Rubens the most beautiful in all the world, so I was surprised to see that it was stone from side to side and void of any green. I equate foliage with beauty. The tall palaces were three and four stories high and about 20 feet across from each other. The facade of each mansion was highly decorated with scuptures and/or painting. We were fascinated by the size of the rooms, and the courtyards in those which are now museums. The nobility's clothing was encased in glass for protection. We saw embroidery and lacework done with astonishingly minute detail. I really don't know how they could thread a needle with such fine thread, or have eyesight once an article was finished. We stood on the steps to Christopher Columbus home and marveled at how tiny it was especially considering the size of the mansions. Maritcio took us to an old, old building with a small restaurant on street level where I had minestrone soup that looked nothing like I expected, > but was delicious with its tiny round pasta, a variety of small cut veggies and a dollop of pesto sauce under a splash of fresh parmesan cheese.

Monday we sailed along the Isle of Capri to Naples from where we took the express train to Pompeii with it's amazing remains after being covered in 20 feet of a ash when Mt. Vesuvius blew.
The train then took us to Sorrento, another small village on the sea with narrow cobblestoned streets with small shops all along, the propriators standing at the doorways to invite shoppers inside. I bought Jordan Almonds, Kent's favorite -- in memory of him. He would have loved that place -- well, he'd have loved every place. There was a long switchback cobblestone road with high retaining walls on either side down to the sea. It would have been an adventure to walk down because it was narrow and buses and trucks used it right along with small cars and pedestrians. We didn't have the time for it, so that was probably a life saver.

Tues we sailed to Sicily and enjoyed driving with Giovanni through the bustling city of Palermo, seeing big cathedrals, the kings palace which is now the house of government. It had some major cracks from an earthquake in 2002, so renovation is actively going on. We went to the catacombs and saw hundreds of mumified bodies in varying degrees of atrophy. We drove past beautiful, citrus groves all up through the terraced hillsides (called conquerdor meaning it's been conquered over and over again for it's wealth in 'gold' citrus) Sicily is known as the home of the Mafia. WEll, it certainly seems to bea place worth fighting for. Another magnificent cathedral was at the top of the highest point. It was covered, walls, ceilings, even floors with tiny mosaic tiles. We drove for about an hour along the coast to a beautiful fishing village, .
Cefalu, where we had an expensive lunch that only Italians know how to make. My dish was tiny shrimp in a wonderful cream sauce and baby finger size pasta. Soooo good, and once the big prawns with their antennas and buggy black eyes garnishing the dish were removed, the squeamish feeling left and I ate heartily. We also were fascinated by the ancient laundry where stones were placed to be used as scrubbing stones under which water would run out to sea.
Our driver, Giovanni was, as our other drivers had been, graciously solicitous. He gave me a business card when we stopped to see the government buildings in case we should get separated, so when Kris discovered her camera was missing , the ship people contacted Giovanni giving us little hope of seeing the camera again. He returned it to Kris.

Wed we sailed to Tunisia and found ourselves entrapped by a hasty bus driver who took us to the Souks (market) where we had to practically pull the sellars off of us. We were directed to an upper room to be educated about carpets and have some tea. Karla was the only one to accept the tea. Well, I've been in that spot before and started calculating just how I'd break away, but it didn't happen before we saw a couple dozen carpets. Becky quickly 'needed a restroom' and Kurt followed so they had their out. Oh, well, I said "sincerely I'm not interested in carpets at this time and left the owners dejected and scornfull. I did end up with a necklace and bracelet I did not want, but also some lovely perfumed oil and for a hoot danced a fun Samba-- with musical accompaniment-- with one of the dashingly gregarious shopkeepers.

Thursday we saw De Palma, Mallorca with its' Cathedral which took 500 years to build and one alcove in it created by Gaudi of an undersea scene, dramatically different from the other artwork. The broad boulevards, the sophisticated peolple, the outdoor cafes, especially Tapas where Kurt, Becky and Karla tried some new food, huge flower pots filled with enormous hydrangeas, palm trees and the waterfront where hundreds of sale boats as well as yachts and motor boats bobbed in the water, enticed our senses. I stopped twice at gelato shops for another cone, one pistachio and one hazel nut. Oh my how I enjoy gelato!!

My leg was getting fiesty with me, so Kris had had enough also so we cut our visit in the city short. We walked a fair distance until we found a bus stop. We learned while waiting for and then getting on the bus, the Italians don't much care for queueing up. They just crowd in. We had been warned, but it still seemed rude.

Our evenings were dazzling with food and more food, Scum, All Play Scrabble, and lots of laughter. . . Simply scrumpdilliumptious!!!!!! In fact, as I write this, I'm savoring the last of my Turkish Delights bought in Tunisia which I have eaten selfishly all by myself!

Friday morning we were off the ship by 10, into a taxi and onto the plane by noon and at 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning (MST) (10:30 A.M. Barcelona) I collapsed into my bed at 1177 Ash Ave.

The dream is over, ended too soon, but thankfully it's one I can recall, so much better than the ones I sleep through. 'Chow' to my treasurely trip.