4 April
The last sea day before land again. I woke at 8:30 for a change. I was all geared up to go to the talk at 10 when the cruise director came on and told us it would be moved to 9:45 and the cooking demonstration would be cancelled but a Q&A session would take place instead. Since I was feeling queasy I took 2 pills and crawled back into bed with a few saltines.
George and I spent most of the morning looking at the map of Israel. We are going to see friends when we dock at Haifa and wanted to know what to do. We’ve opted for a tour of Jerusalem when we dock in Ashdod so that takes care of that and we can spend more time with friends. Sadly, the Dead Sea excursion was cancelled because of "operational issues". Yeah right. We will be there at the height of Easter season. Add to that the fact that the Israeli authorities are now coming on the ship to COVID test everyone and we have lost 1/2 the day at least. Because of this, we have opted to just take one of the ship tours to Jerusalem for the morning.
We spent the afternoon playing cards in the Terrace Café with friends. Dinner was as usual. It was just a day to wait for the winds to die down. I’ve been in the Mediterranean many times, but never on it on a ship. The winds were terrible. The pool was drained and everything was removed from the deck. The veranda outside the Terrace Café was closed as were the 10th and 5th floor walking decks. It was some serious wind outside.
5 April
Today we chose an excursion to the ancient city of Nora. I studied ancient history for so many years and simply love going to see ruins. I don’t care where or what they are, if I can go, I will. George vetoed churches and museums when we got married but said nothing of ruins. I’m betting by the time this trip is over he will try to retroactively veto them as well.
Nora was reportedly the first city in Sardinia. It was probably formed in the 6th century B.C. The city was first Phoenician, then Hellenistic, and finally Roman. I don’t remember the guide speaking about the Carthaginians. When looking into ship tours, I had actually missed this one and was going to just do a walk around the town. Something made me look it up and I am glad that I did. It was well worth the hour drive to get there.
When you first enter the area, the very first thing you see is a lighthouse in the distance. We walked up to the main area and took a few more photos of it and heard a bit of a talk. I honestly don’t remember what she said. The talks and the ruins all start to blend together just as the sea days…
Next up are the outer walls of the thermal baths. We also saw a couple of people unearthing more ruins to the side. The baths are well spread out and cover a great deal of territory.
The forum was the second main location of all Roman business and life’s pleasures (outside of the baths that is.) This city was no different and had a well laid out area. Sadly, all that remains today is rocks on the ground but one can imagine how spectacular it was. Today the only speeches that can be heard are those of tour guides and the gulls.
As in every city in ancient times there was a temple dedicated to one god or another. It is presumed that this was linked to the cult of the Emperor Alexander Serbius (another thing that was common at the time). This building has a monochrome mosaic in parts of the floor and one lone pillar.
The reason I really wanted to come here was for the mosaics that are in situ. They did not disappoint. These are really worth the trip to Nora. The first we came across was at the back of a theatre which in itself is a marvel. The entrances are intact on both sides of the stage. The steps or seats were in remarkable condition considering the age. At its heyday, it would hold around 1200 people. The upper part of it is mostly gone. This is the only example of a Roman theatre in Sardinia. This one was built around 40 AD. There are two vases used to store grain that have been placed in front to the theatre, but these are more to educate visitors rather than for any practical reason. The back of the theatre has the standard cubby shops that surround most theaters and amphitheater’s of the time.
The highlight of the visit was the Tetrastyle Atrium Domus (the house with a tetra style atrium. This was a Roman residence for a very obviously wealthy person. The floors have been wonderfully preserved and the mosaics there are outstanding. George stood as he always does and analyzed the shapes inside the mosaic. We found triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons and octagons, there were no heptagons. This is what you should go there to see. My words fail me so I’ll let the photos speak for me.
Next we walked a short way to the Terme a Mare (seaside thermal baths). These are in quite good condition given the age. One can see the mosaics of the Apodyterium (dressing rooms), the marble in the frigidarium (cold bath),and the two calidaria (hot baths). One can also see teh public latrines or so we were told, but by this time the guide began rushing. The ceiling is a long vault dome structure that has collapsed in parts.
We moved along and saw the ancient equivalent of lower income housing and the shopping district of the city. There is still a well that has been covered and as is usual, it was filled by a local fountain that was fed through the aqueduct system.
On the way back, we were taken past a local church that has some connection with Buenos Aires. We did not go inside, but managed a few photos from the bus window. After this, we were taken to a lookout on a hill above the city. The views on one side are of the salt flats that are still in use today. The views to the other though are spectacular. It is a quintessential Italian town that covers the entire hillside. The bus driver was amazing in that he handled the s curves returning down the hill without any problems.
George and I had planned to go explore the town upon our return, but we were in the lucky bus that was being inspected twice. We all showed our ship cards when we went through the gate. 10 feet later the bus stopped, we all disembarked leaving our bags on the bus and walked through a metal detector to show our ships cards yet again. Pointless. If we were carrying any contraband, it was left on the bus. But the main take from this experience? We had no time to go into the city proper. Our ship left port 1/2 an hour later. Just another reason to return to Sardinia.
6 April
Trapani, Sicily. We chose to go to the ruins of Selinus as I had gone to the ruins at Segesta in 2016. As I’ve done before, I will show photos of both places for your viewing pleasure.
Unlike in Nora, the first thing one sees when they pull up is a small temple in the distance. Selinus has a total of 4 surrounding areas but time was not on our side. This city is huge, and one needs a full day at least to wander the ruins. Sadly we were only given a few hours and all of that was guided. (More on that later).
We were located on the eastern hill which was thought to be the first area to be developed. The first temple we went to was called Temple E. This was thought to be dedicated to either Hera or Aphrodite, but as no inscriptions have been found, it is not certain. The building hales from the late seventh century B.C. It was destroyed by a number of earthquakes over the years, but was able to be restored to its current state in the 1950’s as all of the 'pieces' were found near each other so it was like a big Lincoln Logs set to reassemble.
The next building is called Temple F, thought to be built between 550 to 520 B.C. Its original deity is also unknown due to lack of inscriptions. This one is smaller than Temple E.
Temple G was thought to be dedicated to Zeus. This is the largest temple of it’s kind in the island and is one of the most colossal in the ancient world. In fact, only two buildings were said to be larger. One thing of note here is that there are no plans to even attempt to restore it. One of the temple capstones that was on the ground was 4 meter square! It is almost unimaginable to determine how they built these temples. The temple was being built for over 100 years according to our guide, and at the of the cities abandonment had not been completed as the columns were (mostly) unfluted.
After a short introduction to the temples, the guide took everyone to the museum. I did not want to go as I had been to the museum in Palermo and had no desire to go see this one. We went around the outside of the temple to see all that we could. Along the back wall one can see one of the giant columns that toppled over. It reminded me of a set of dominoes that a child had pushed down. One can only imagine the crash that was heard during that earthquake.
After we had our fill of this, we joined the group at the museum. We wandered around a bit looking at some of the artifacts-the ones I enjoyed the most were the macaroni temples of school children. I’m sure this was some teachers demonstration of how difficult it must have been to erect the buildings. I saw a lost wax cast for some rings and had to bring George over to show him. Somehow he missed it.
End of tour. The guide gave us 20 minutes to shop and get back to the bus. Not us. I had read about the golf carts and I ran over to hire one to take us to the acropolis. First we had to run back to the main entrance and buy tickets. Then they would take us over. One other passenger thought it was a free service to get back to the entrance so we took her along. She stayed with us all the way to the acropolis. I’m sure she felt as though she had been kidnapped. When the driver asked me how much time I wanted I told him truthfully, 5 minutes so I could go grab some photos. That is exactly what we did. George and I jumped out, ran to the temple ruins we could see and ran back to the awaiting golf cart. I came here to see ruins and by god I was going to!
As we left the acropolis area, we were able to see the city walls in great detail. Surprisingly, they are still the same walls without any restoration!
I don’t mind a guided tour, but to have a guide spend a great deal of time reading the placards that are placed around the area. This is not a guide, it is an audio book to me. I wish she would have told us how long she was going to talk about what is in the Palermo museum because I would have used that time to go to the acropolis. But having said that, I’m glad we went and it gives me yet another reason to return.
The other temple ruins are those at Segesta. I was fortunate enough to have worked with a number of amazing academics in my prior life. We all went to Palermo for a conference in 2016 and took a day to see some of the local sites. We chose this set of ruins for its intact theatre. My friend Michelle did her PhD on theatre and language and this had particular significance to her (I chose the catacombs for my side trip together, but as we didn’t have that option on this cruise I’ll keep my photos to myself.) There is even an old castle at the location now.
Basically, Segesta and Salinas were arch enemies and were fighting amongst each other until the Athenians and Carthaginians came in and destroyed both civilizations.
The theater is very impressive, and it even has remains of seats with backs. Even more impressive is the Doric temple that is still standing today almost as it was when it was created. The temple columns have not been fluted so this may indicate that it was never completed.
We returned to the city buy bus, and decided to wander into the town to see some of the architecture and to have a bite to eat. Unlike many people on social media platforms, I have come to the point where I no longer enjoy the food on the ship. After all, it is the same thing over and over and over again.
We wandered around for a while looking at a few churches and the external structure of the buildings. It occurred to me that the higher you go, the only people who can see the beauty are those at the top. But then I realize that one does not have to make beauty for others but only for oneself. I simply love the old buildings and cannot get enough of them.
One of the things that struck us was the wind. The Sirocco winds come out of Africa and reach a peak in March. The winds can get up to 100 km/h. We didn’t have that strong of winds, but we did feel the gusts. They were strong enough to shift us a bit and to feel the bite of the cold. I’m glad we weren’t here when they were stronger. When we returned to the ship later in the day, I noticed that our veranda furniture had all been blown into one corner. I’m glad I took the cushions in, we might have lost them.
After a while, George and I sit for a light lunch and local beer. The meal did not disappoint; nor did the beer. We returned to the ship after lunch.
I had no luck with the puzzles, but did manage to find the Pocket Coffee. Even better, I found Cipster chips! My all time favorite. I bought a few boxes and headed back to the ship.
What a hoot. The girl behind the counter didn’t know how to open a wine bottle so I had to do it for her.
Back on the ship, I changed quickly for dinner which we had with two couples we had met previously. We enjoyed the company and good conversation and laughter surrounded the table. One of our dinner companions mentioned that she was also tired of the food in the grand dinning room and we made plans to eat in one of the specialty restaurants on Saturday.
When we returned to the room we were given a paper telling us to fill out a health document for Israel within the next 24 hours. Fine. Easy enough. They gave us a walkthrough of how to do it the next day after lunch with step by step instructions. But here is the catch. Oceania has known about this requirement for quite some time as it has been on their webpage for ages. The concierge kept telling me there were no requirements, and when the cruise director came on and told us about this, I called BS.
7 April
Malta is not to be. I knew it. I just knew it when they bunkered for a much much longer time than usual. We were told it was high seas and winds that caused our cancelation and I’m sure it was, but one has to wonder. Again, it’s just another reason to come back.
We had a lazy morning and later had lunch. When I returned to the room I filled out the information for the Green Pass and was rewarded within minutes for doing so. I wonder though, when is Oceania going to tell us about the requirements for other countries. You know the ones, those that they list on their webpage. This is getting old.
Around 4:30 the cruise director came on and told us "they just found out" that we needed a PCR test at least 72 hours before landing. Again, I call BS! It’s right there on the page when you log in to get the Green Pass. It was also on Oceania’s webpage, and on one of the papers they sent to our staterooms. This magical mystery tour seems to be run by incompetents. I vaguely remember (you know I’m going to look it up now) that Italy, Malta, Spain, and Israel all need additional online forms to be filled out. More hoops to jump through that could have feasibly been done before the initial embarkation. The implied threat at lunch though was that if everyone on the ship did not fill out the forms, no one will be able to get off the ship. They need to be more proactive than just an announcement repeated with a sterner voice. I am unimpressed with the handling of this aspect of the cruise. For now, we wait for our room to be called so we can go get our nasal…
Oh well, at least we are not Adrift.
I hope we land. We have friends we want to see and I know there are many on board that will be terribly disappointed if we don’t dock. There are many I’ve spoken to who, like us have never been to Israel. This part of the changed itinerary was a highlight for many of us and for many, the reason they stayed on.
But on a happier note, the laundry is no longer putting tags on the back of the neck on our shirts, or on the waistband of our slacks. They are now on the shirttails and on the front near the zips. Every time I put on clothes, I tore off the tags because they itch. Our room steward asked us not to, but neither of us want to be uncomfortable for the sake of a tag. I am happy to keep these where they have been placed.
As planned, we have 2 sea days coming up before landfall. We have cards planned for one of them, the other will be just a day to relax. We have a few movies we want to watch that will take up a great deal of the time, but more importantly, the Masters start tonight. I know where we will be at 9 pm!
Until I have something interesting to write about again, Happy Puzzling and Smooth Sailing.
So great travel ^_^ Will you come to France and visit French Riviera ?
ReplyDeleteThose frescas are amazing!
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