Travelogue—Mediterranean cruise— 2000
這篇2000年地中海遊記和相片檔原來已從我的電腦不慎遺失，但上週玉麗從過去列印的文章中再發現，趕緊打入電腦儲存。自己讀完，發覺我都早已忘卻當時旅遊時的詳情，其實連寫過這一篇的事實也忘了，再度覺得一個人的記憶力不可靠。從小就有寫日記的習慣，雖然是斷斷續續的，還是會對我的退休生活有增添彩色的作用。
For us, I and Yui-li, the exciting Mediterranean cruise started when we left Dallas for Rome on 2000/9/14 . This was our first cruise ever.
The first day when we arrived at Rome airport around noon on 9/15, we were picked up by a bus and sent directly to the cruise ship with other guests. Most of them came with us on the same airplane, and majority are in their 70 -80’ s. We did not have a chance to see any scenery in Rome even though Rome was mentioned as one of the places that we would visit in the cruise brochure.
The ship was twin-hulled, relatively small, 20,000 ton, with three floors for guest rooms. Despite its size, it only rocked a little when sailing at night. The number of guests was also petite, 350 maximum, with 230 crew members from 30 different countries. There was a group of guests, about 120 in all, recruited by NY area WOR TV food critic, Arthur Schwartz. Some of them are much younger.
Everyday during the day, we had either a half or a full day tour of different Mediterranean cities we visited, sailed at night, and had a 6-course dinner in a rather classy atmosphere, with a comedy or song-and-dance shows following the dinner, in a lounge. There was a small casino, but nobody seemed interested in it. We ate breakfast and lunch daily, in contrast to our no-breakfast-light-lunch pre-cruise routine, and, sure enough, we gained weight rapidly. And you know what we were trying to do desperately after the cruise.
I took about 70 photos with the digital camera almost everyday and stored them into my laptop at night. This kind of camera allows you to have as many pictures as you like, as long as you prepare extra sets of batteries and the batteries are recharged diligently. Also, you can view the photos right away without the hassle of having to wait for films to be developed by the photo shops. The best part of it is the ease in its filing and storage. [The worst part is that the whole file could be lost permanently if not saved in another hard drive, as happened in my case later!!]
The stateroom, or the cabin, was rather spacey, with floor-to-ceiling window that face the sea, and shower and bathtub in the washroom. The room was made up by a stewardess a couple of times a day as in any 5-star hotel, with supplement of fresh fruits. Four small, about 250 mL each, complementary bottles of liqueur were also in the room. We did not open them, but took them home when the cruise was over!
The cruise started by sailing to Sorrento that evening. There, we took the tour of the lost city, Pompeii . The city was built 5-6 centuries BC with a population as many as 20,000 people. It was destroyed by the Mt. Vesuvius volcanic eruption in 79 BC, and unearthed in the 17th. century. With plethora of wines and women, Pompeii was considered a sin city and was not supposed to be remembered or mentioned in earlier times. That was probably the reason for this delay in its discovery. There were public bathhouses, and sauna for the rich. They were separated into those for men and women.
The highlight of the tour was a house for the oldest profession of mankind, prostitution, with various postures for pleasure painted on the wall. The reason for these pictures to be painted like a menu for the restaurant was, scholars speculated, that this city was visited by sailors from different countries at that time. They would be attracted to these houses, yet, they might not be proficient in the language of this great metropolis. These sailors could then point to the menu on the wall to request certain form or forms of services.
The question came up in my mind was that, were there sexual gratification by mouth during this period of time. There were none in the several paintings discovered on the wall. The excavation is still continuing after 3 hundred years. For a cosmopolitan port city of 20,000, one bordello might not be adequate. It was most regrettable that, amidst the fascination I was overcome with, I did not think of taking pictures of these menus.
The scenery along the seashore highway was breathtaking. Because my digital camera had a major deficiency of requiring 15-60 seconds between each photo to recharge the battery, I could not take more of those wonderful sights. There was a black tie or dark suit dinner that evening. I brought only one dark suit. My tuxedo was made more than 10 kg ago, and I do not need tuxedo in Taiwan . I also forgot to bring the nice jacket I bought in LA for these occasions.
The next day was a 2-hour tour of Port Cervo. But the sea was so rough, that after I got onto the tender and while waiting for other guests to come aboard, I became so nauseous from the rocky boat that I had to get off quickly. We just enjoyed sunbathing on the ship deck and the view from the sea, which was just as pleasant.
The several miles of sea coast from Portofino to St. Margherita to St. Paolo that we saw from a tour boat on the following day was one of the most beautiful landscape on earth. Green hills and mountains right by the sea, with many elegant houses scattered and hidden among trees! No wonder many rich people, like Frank Sinatra and Lisa Minnellli bought houses there. One regrettable discovery in this visit was that the statues or other decorations we saw on all the buildings of these towns are just paintings by art students from the area. That was quite disappointing. I felt like being cheated by their tourist bureau.
At the city of Livorno the next day, the ship docked on the port. Some went to the Tower of Pisa . We chose to visit Florence one-hour drive away. The city was ruled by the art-loving family of Medici form 14th to 17th century, and attracted geniuses like Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Dante, Galileo, and the like during the Renaissance. (I believe that the geniuses are produced in crops because of the societal influence. Geniuses, or potential geniuses, have always been around, only that the majority never had the opportunity to grow, to exhibit, or be recognized. That was probably the reason that there were so many poets during the Tang and Song Dynasties but few in other periods of time in the Chinese history.)
This tour of Florence was a near ten-hour feast treated by the cruise ship free of charge. However, we could only see small part of this town, which is so rich in culture and history. The old, narrow, stone-covered streets, European-style houses and buildings, roadside café with flower pots surrounding it, statues in city squares, the history of Renaissance, and the world-famous paintings and sculptures! The whole town is filled with the artistic and romantic flavors.
The city was swarm
ed by tourists, because there was another huge cruise ship visiting. September is the nicest season for tours in the Mediterranean areas because the weather is so mild. To enter a museum, if you have to wait in line, it might take two hours. Because of the previous arrangement between the tour agencies and the museums, we did not have to wait, we walked straight into the Academy of Art . In this Academy, some of the most famous works of Michaelangelo, statues of David and Prisoners, are kept. One thing noteworthy was that in these museums, which contain numerous priceless artifacts, the entrance is no larger than that of an ordinary residential door.
For the next two days we visited Cannes and Monte Carlo . I started to feel numb and unmoved by the picturesque scenery or the ornaments and decorations in churches or the Palace of Monaco . After seeing paintings and sculptures by those historical personalities, like Michaelangelo’s David, those in the Palace appear, unfortunately, like rather rough imitations even though they were works of famous artists centuries ago.
In Cannes , there was a perfume factory, Fragonaud, in an outskirt village, Grasse. However, in this factory, we just saw idle machines, sales persons but no workers. The perfume must be made in other places. Once inside the perfume factory, or it should be called a shop with atmosphere of an factory to attract customers, every woman tourist looked so excited and got busy buying boxed of perfumes. It is amazing how much women spend on perfumes and cosmetics!
The guide’s introductions surprised me that it takes 700 kg of flowers and three months of work to make one liter of perfume. We smelled several perfume samples and they do smell different, some like flowers of various kinds, some smelled like cakes, and some like fruits. The strange thing was that they did not show us mountains of flowers or green houses, which should be another spectacle. At least some pictures would help us understand the amount of flowers needed and the work it takes to make perfumes.
We then went to a Medieval town, St. Paul de Vance, which is located on top of a hill and said to be the most visited town in France , 20,000 tourists a day. The houses, shops, an old fountain in a small town square, and narrow street covered with stones! They were just like those seen in movies of old European towns. Despite all those tourists, I could still feel centuries of European history permeating throughout this village. But we ran so short of time as we did in all other cities. We had only 20-40 minutes of free time at each city. It was important to stick to our schedule, otherwise the ship would sail without us. We also became wet from a rather heavy rain at St. Paul de Vance by the end of the day. However, I did not feel that I missed much by not having enough time to ourselves. The streets, shops, and restaurants all started to look similar by then. Nothing appeared appetizing for us to buy. I could not find any bola tie (called loop tie in Japan ), which I thought must be very commonly used in Europe .
We were supposed to anchor off Monaco the next day. But due to the rough sea, we had to anchor in the port of Villefranche (meaning free of taxes) miles away. We had to get on the tour bus and rode for 40 some minutes through a very scenic highway: blue seas and skies, azure bay with white sailboats anchored in it, and hilly green shorelines sprinkled with orange-colored roofs with yellow walls of the houses along the way. We passed by Nice and arrived at Monaco . Monaco has been an independent country for 700 years, now under the protection of France . It is divided into the old town on the hill by the shore where the Palace is located, and the Monte Carlo where casinos operate. A Prince Carlo built a luxurious casino there, and Monte Carlo became a gathering place for playboys and tourists. They became mesmerized and happily gave away their money in large or small amounts in just a matter of minutes. It is stupefying to watch how casino collects money from each bet. No wonder the residents in Monaco do not have to pay taxes.
We paid extra $7 for the entrance to the largest casino that was seen in the movie, “Casino Royale”, which is located next to the famous Hotel de Paris. We had already paid $50 for this “discovery of Monaco ” tour and that should have included the entrance fee. However, people who visited casino lose this amount of money in a matter of seconds that the casino probably thought these guests would never mind a mere $7.
On board the ship there was a small gift shop, which opened only at certain hours. I bought a polo sport shirt (that means “no pocket”) with a Radisson Diamond logo. It costs me $50, about 3 times I could have paid in Taiwan . And, surprise! We found that it was made in Taiwan !
At the formal dinner the first night, photographers took portraits of us, and pictures with the captain who was only 37 years old. (He said, “ I came here in place of my father who is not on the ship now…. I will try to run the ship so that it will not sail any lower than the current level.”) For these photos they charged $25 or $10. We still bought them. Luxury tour desensitized our senses of value of merchandise, not that the company of the captain is not worth that much.
On 9-22, the cruise ship docked at the last stop, Nice. We cleared out the room by 8 AM, got on the bus and were sent to the airport. We left around noon, reached JFK Airport and transferred to another flight, arrived at DFW airport by 8 PM the same day. The time in Rome and France is 5 hours ahead of Dallas .
It was our first cruise and the first trip to the Mediterranean cities. The trip was nothing short of memorable. It was really nice that we went with classmate Chan Teh-sheng and his wife, Lillian. They were both so considerate to prepare pen and papers to write down what we were talking about for Yui-li who is hearing impaired, when we were dining together.
I was particularly happy to have taken so many photos, which could be viewed anytime I wanted to by turning on my laptop. This was certainly going to help my memory. I also took pictures of other people whom we got acquainted with. I sent them the pictures by e-mail later. [Unfortunately, after I finished writing this travelogue, sometime during transfers of the content of my old laptops to the new ones, this particular photo file, that contained more than 400 cruise pictures, was lost!! I could salvage only about 30 back into my current file from those I sent out to friends and to Yui-li.]
On the last day of the cruise, I took pictures of the workers for meal services on the ship, and several of them came to me at the last dinner with a cake, saying “Isn’t it your birthday today?” and sang a Happy Birthday for me. My birthday is in October. I was certainly very pleased with this unexpected personal touch. This was probably the kind of ambience they wanted to show their guests on this rather expensive luxury cruise. This Mediterranean cruise is surely going to be the most unforgettable journey of my life.
I am attaching photo series (3): [These photos are included in my photo file: “2000 Mediterranean cruise” in my blog.]
1) Gate to Paradise in front to the St. Mary’s Cathedral in Florence . Each frame of carvings on the door represents a story in the Bible, which I do not know very well.
2) The Old Bridge in Florence that, I believe, Su Suu-Min was referring to.
3) Dante Alighieri’s statue in a city square in Florence . He is the father of poems in the Renaissance era/
4) This plain appearing door is the entrance to the Academy of Art that contains world’s art treasures.
5) The Prisoner, sculptured by Michaelangelo, in the Academy. It is also called Slaves, because part of the body is still locked in the stone.
6) Beautiful indigo bay along the French Riviera.
