Cruising the Mediterranean 8 - Palermo, Sicily

After leaving Tunisia we sailed to Palermo on the island of Sicily.

Rather than doing an organised tour we decided to discover the city at our own pace.

We found the Politeama Theatre which was built in the late 1800s. It faces quite a nice piazza and is one of two theatres we found during our walkabout.

This is the other one - the Teatro Massimo, which is the largest opera house in all of Italy. These people are actually protesting about something to do with the theatre but because their signs were in Italian we have no idea what their protest was about.

This is one of the four faces of the very famous Quattro Canti which was built in the 1600s. Each building facing into the square is decorated with statues and fountains representing the four seasons and the four Spanish Kings of Sicily.

This is another very famous square in Palermo called Piazza Pretoria. Apparently, it is the exact centre of the historic city of Palermo.

We read that Sicilians refer to the Piazza as the Square of Shame due to the state of undress of all the statues.

Facing the Piazza is the Church of Santa Caterina. We have visited a lot of churches and while this one looks very plain on the outside you wouldn't guess the level of marble decoration on all the walls and floors inside or the number of beautiful chandeliers.

And this was the view of the harbour as we sailed away from Palermo at the end of the day!

Cruising the Mediterranean 7 - Tunis, Carthage and Sidi Bou Said

After two nights and a full day at sea, this is the view of Tunis (or more correctly the port of La Goulette) which we woke up to. Tunis is in North Africa and the capital of Tunisia.  

We chose to do an organised tour of the historic city of Carthage and the seaside suburb of Sidi Bou Said.

Carthage is on the top of a hill about 15 kilometres from the centre of Tunis and is a UNESCO world heritage listed site. It was founded in 800BC by the Phoenicians who used its coastal position to open up trade routes across the Mediterranean Sea. Of course this made it very attractive, particularly to the Romans but also the Greeks, who fought with them about who should have it. What remains at the site are the ruins of the ancient city.

Some fantastic Byzantine mosaics have been discovered here. This very famous one is known as The Lady of Carthage. She was discovered in 1953 and is thought to have been made somewhere between 500-600AD.

We also saw other artifacts such as this baby bottle and numerous statues in a museum that ironically used to be a Catholic Church. 

We also saw this ancient Roman viaduct when we were driving around.

Next stop was Sidi Bou Said which is a village about 20kms from Tunis, famous for its blue and white architecture.

There was a market on the day we were there and the small streets were filled with hawkers, locals and tourists. We tasted the local mint tea (which was served in cute glasses with pine nuts and was delicious) and some kind of donut.

I would have loved to have bought some of this pottery but it was quite stressful looking at things because of the hard sell. Besides that we wouldn't have been able to carry it!

On our way back to the ship, we passed what is alleged to be the oldest olive tree in Tunisia. 

Cruising the Mediterranean 6 - Palma de Mallorca

If you were following our itinerary you would have picked up that after Valencia we should have sailed  to Sardinia. Unfortunately, Sardinia had some very bad weather and subsequently their port was closed. Fortunately, we got to visit Palma, the capital of the Spanish island of Majorca, instead.

Palma is a very beautiful city and in some respects is very similar to Monte Carlo. Because of the change in itinerary we chose to wander around the city on our own.

The harbour is full of some seriously expensive and seriously big yachts. The building you can see on the hill is the Castle of Bellver which apparently was the home of the Kings of Majorca.

From the marina we walked through these beautiful gardens to Le Seu, the Cathedral of Santa Maria.

The cathedral has an interesting history and was built in the 12th century on the site of a pre-existing Arab mosque. It took 400 years to build - a few less siestas and it might have been done a bit quicker!

We visited the cathedral in the morning and the sun was streaming through a round stained glass window with the most brightly coloured red, blue and yellow glass. It left this beautiful rainbow on the pipes of the cathedral's organ.

In the early 1900's the cathedral was damaged by an earthquake. A forward thinking Bishop of the time commissioned Gaudi to redesign one of the cathedral's chapels and this is the result! It is quite a contrast to the rest of the gothic cathedral. There is no crucifix but can you see the image of a body pressed out of the plaster just below the central window.

This hanging, which is above the main altar in the cathedral, was also designed by Gaudi. It's meant to represent the crown of thorns.

This walk way connects the cathedral to the Royal Palace (we think)!

Palma was another city that we really loved and would happily visit again.  Sadly this was our last view of the cathedral as we sailed away in the evening!

Cruising the Mediterranean 5 - Valencia

Next stop was Valencia in southern Spain.

Valencia is a lovely city - relaxed and very clean! We really enjoyed wandering around the city and taking in the sights.

This is Torres de Serranos, one of the twelve sets of gates along the medieval city wall.

From Torres de Serranos we walked down the pedestrian streets toward the main city centre. In the distance you can just make out the bell tower on the main cathedral. 

This is Plaza de la Virgin which is a square in central Valencia behind the main cathedral and the Basilica of the Virgin. We visited both of these churches and given it was a Thursday we had no idea that mass would actually be on. Anyway, when we went into the Basilica it was during the consecration, so I made Stephen stay until after communion. We couldn't understand the Spanish but we definitely knew when to give the sign of peace - which we did!

Also in the Plaza is the famous Turia Fountain which represents the Turia River. The eight statues surrounding the fountain represent the eight canals which provided water for farming during medieval times.

We resisted the temptation of a ride in a horse and carriage even though it was a beautiful day!

This is actually the Post Office which is in the commercial area of the city. Initially we thought it was a bank but when we went inside to admire the glass ceiling we noticed a 'telegraphic' sign.

With the help of a security guard (who had no English) we actually managed to buy a stamp from a vending machine and post a card!

You can see from all the photos how clean and well kept Valencia is. We saw very few beggars and no scarf sellers! While we didn't see any police we found one of their police cars!

We would love to go back and spend more time in Valencia. 

Cruising the Mediterranean 4 - Barcelona and Montserrat

Our next port of call was Barcelona and rather than doing a tour of the city we chose to visit Montserrat!

Montserrat is a mountain about 50kms outside Barcelona and is very famous for its Benedictine monastery. To get there we travelled a very winding road by bus but you can also get there by train and cable car. 

Those making a pilgrimage to Montserrat usually hike to the top of the mountain which is more than 1200 metres above sea level. We were told that every young Catalonian (which is the area around Barcelona) will hike to Montserrat at least once in their life and it will take them about a day to get there!

The monastery itself is very beautiful and the church contains the most exquisite Spanish lanterns.

The monastery is also famous for its Black Madonna which unfortunately is kept behind glass so this photo is not great.

There is a story that Ignatius of Loyola visited the monastery in the 1500's and laid down his sword in front of the Black Madonna. (I put this one in for Daniel!)

After Montserrat we were shown some iconic spots in Barcelona including these buildings designed by Gaudi and their groovy street lamps.

To finish off the day we wandered down Las Ramblas, the main shopping precinct in the city, and enjoyed a feast of tapas, paella and a fishbowl sized glass of sangria!