Salerno for a Cruise Ship Tour to Pompeii

MSC Sinfonia docked at Salerno

At last I could fulfill a long-held dream, to visit Pompeii. Ever since I took Latin at high school and learnt about that doomed city I had wanted to go there. And now, on a half day ship's tour, I could. 
The coach picked us up on the dock right beside the ship and whisked us the 30 kilometres along a motorway to the ruins. It was an early start which was good as we could explore the site before many of the hordes of sightseers arrived.

Near the entrance to Pompeii

I was amazed at the size of the archaeological site - it's enormous - and still so much has yet to be excavated. There are dozens of store rooms full of amphorae, bits of broken statues, roof tiles, carvings and who knows what else tied up in plastic bags that look the worse for wear. The sheer scale of the site and the overwhelming number of artifacts is mind-blowing.

A store room at Pompeii

The layout of the city is typically ancient Roman with straight streets in a grid pattern. Huge raised paving stones sit in the middle of the streets so you could cross the road without getting your shoes wet. These stones are spaced exactly so carts could trundle by. Their wheels have left grooves in the roads' surfaces.

A typical street at Pompeii

The amphitheater has been restored. As you walk around Pompeii it is easy to look into the rows of houses and apartments and imagine them with their roofs on and their walls intact. Some of the houses are named, indicating who lived in them at the time of the eruption.

Pompeii's amphitheater

Beautiful mosaic wall features and pavements are still fresh and bright despite having been buried under mountains of ash for centuries. Some bronze statues have been restored and replaced in their original positions. 

A mosaic floor featuring doves

A word of caution: the site is huge, the ground uneven, the tour guides set a cracking pace, you walk several kilometres. With my mobility issues I found it exhausting and very painful to keep up with the group. It was sheer stubbornness that kept me going! And not wanting to miss out on somewhere that I was desperate to see.

Visit Olbia, Sardinia, Cruise Port of Call

Arriving in Olbia on MSC Sinfonia

This was a new port of call for us - Olbia, Sardinia, an Italian territory. Our ship docked at the working port so a free shuttle bus ran every 10 minutes, taking passengers on the five minute ride from the wharf into town, to stop outside the information centre.

A flower-bedecked restaurant on Corso Umberto, Olbia

Corso Umberto is the main street with some grand old buildings, cafes and a few touristy shops at the harbour end. The side streets were so quiet they almost had a 'village' feel.

In Olbia

Across the road from where the shuttle bus stops is a little island where the museum is situated. Olbia was an important port in Roman times and when the harbour was being dredged for the modern port expansion, several Roman era ships were found. They have been restored and according to my guide book, were on display in the museum. We looked all round the museum but couldn't find them, so I asked the man on duty (who doesn't speak English & I know only a few words in Italian) where they were. He beckoned us to follow him & we went out the back, through several locked doors to a huge climate controlled room where the remains of the vessels are displayed. 

Roman trading ships found in Olbia Harbour

So, another interesting port visit on this Western Mediterranean cruise. We are enjoying it so much!

A Day Ashore in Mao (Mahon), Menorca

MSC Sinfonia dwarfs the quayside houses and shops in Mao

Mao, or Mahon (depending which brochure you are reading!) is another picturesque Mediterranean town easily accessible from a cruise ship. By that I mean the ship will dock right beside the township. However, most of the town is up on a plateau, accessed by flights of stairs or a zig-zagging road. I have a few mobility challenges some days, so really had to take my time to get to the top.

It is quite a steep walk from the dockside up to the township

Once at the top of the stairs you'll find, on the left, a big church and beside it a market in the old cloisters. On the right, streets lead into the old town with its narrow lanes lined with houses several storeys high, many with wrought iron trimmed balconies. It is a lovely place to wander.

At the market in the cloisters

A typical street scene in the older district of Mao

We were lucky the day we were there. The weather was beautiful and there was a Festival of Flowers on. Many properties had decorated their balconies or shop windows with lovely floral displays.

Celebrating the Festival of Flowers

At sail away we went out on deck and watched as our ship slowly passed along the second longest harbour in the world. On the shores of the narrow waterway, houses (some with direct water access, jetties and boat sheds) were gleaming white in the sun. At the entrance to the harbour is a huge complex on the headland, the old fortress called La Mola. It's a forbidding looking place, even in the sunshine.

La Mola, the fortress at the mouth of Mao Harbour

So where to next? Tomorrow we'll be in Olbia, Sardinia, another new port for us.

Visit Palma de Mallorca on a Cruise

View of Cathedral at Palma de Mallorca from the Cruise Port

After a sea day we were looking forward to docking in Palma de Mallorca, a new port of call for us. We were overnighting here so had plenty of time to look around the old town with its historic buildings, quiet laneways and bustling plazas.
  The cruise ship docked at the port, about 15 minutes by bus to the centre of the city. A continuous shuttle ran all day at a cost of 12 euros per adult and 8 euros per child, round trip.
  In the huge square below the cathedral there is a tourist information office and lots of street entertainers and buskers to keep you amused and smiling for quite some time! 'Living statues' of men dressed as Shrek, a Zulu warrior, Charlie Chaplin, an Aztec prince and a cowboy added to the mix of cruise ship passengers, (3 ships in port that day), locals and other tourists.

I snapped this photo before the street performer put his 'head' on!

  Some people wanted to see around the historic town centre in a horse and carriage.

Waiting for passengers outside the cathedral

But we preferred to wander the maze of back streets that fan out from behind the cathedral, finding unexpected delights in little squares and peeping into beautiful courtyards and admiring ornate doors and balconies.

An entrance courtyard to a property in Palma

  Of course, the massive cathedral -La Seu- was on our 'must see' list of local sights.  It truly is magnificent, both inside and out. As we entered the nave, a ray of sunshine struck one of the stained glass windows and cast a reflection onto one of the pillars. Serendipity!

Sunshine 'lighting up' a cathedral pillar

 I love this photo - a case of being in the right place at the right time!

Part of the ornately carved exterior of La Seu cathedral

 We did enjoy our time in Palma de Mallorca. I would like to have stayed longer as there was so much more exploring to do.

Cruise the French Riviera to St Tropez

Cruise the French Riviera

Our first port after leaving Genoa was the town of St Tropez, long associated with movie stars and rich heiresses and celebrities. Our ship anchored offshore and we were transported to land by tender. 

The streets of St Tropez were decked out with banners

It was very pleasant wandering round the edge of the marina where artists painted the yachts and picturesque buildings that line the boat harbour. The Tourist Information Office is located right by the famous bright red cafe-patisserie called Senequier and next to the fish market building.

Cafe Senequier, the place to people watch

What's to buy at the St Tropez fish market

After stopping at the cafe for the second most expensive coffee of my life (the most expensive was at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore!) I wandered along the narrow twisting streets of the old town to the market.
  The market was huge, set out in a tree-lined square. Goods for sale ranged from bric-a-brac to Provencal specialties to clothes to just about everything else. Colourful local ceramics caught my eye as did the lavender products that would make lovely gifts for friends.

Local ceramics at the market

All in all it was a pleasant day out in beautiful weather but did I see a movie star? No!

Genoa, Italy, Cruise Port

View from MS Sinfonia over Genoa Port

We hadn't been to Genoa before so we were looking forward to exploring a bit. We stayed the night before the cruise at Morelli Palace, right in the picturesque Porto Antico area. It was wonderful - candelabra and crystal glasses, sumptuous breakfast, antique furniture and wall hangings - all for a very reasonable price. 

Our room at Morelli Palace

As we sat in the breakfast room we could see our ship arriving at the cruise terminal.
  On looking at the map, we had thought we could walk from Morelli Palace to the cruise terminal but the reality was a bit different - roadworks and construction sites meant a large part of the area was blocked off to pedestrians. So it was a short taxi ride that took us to the ground floor embarkation area of the cruise terminal.
  Embarkation went without a hitch. At the time we arrived there were no queues of passengers waiting to be processed, so before we knew it, we'd had our photo taken and were walking up the gangway, ready to start our cruise.

About MSC Sinfonia

Swimming Pool on Deck 11 of MSC Sinfonia

First impressions on boarding MSC Sinfonia? How spotless it is, both inside and out. Gleaming white paintwork, shiny brass and chrome, and sparkling mirrors really impressed us!
  Throughout the ship the clever placement of mirrors, along with the shine of chrome fittings make the interior spaces seem much larger than they are. For example, in this photo the library seems to stretch the width of the ship - it doesn't!

The library

The decor throughout is pale woodwork with burgundy and green upholstery and carpet. All pleasant enough, but without the 'wow' factor that some other ships I've been on have with their art work in public spaces.
  Sinfonia can carry 2087 cruisers over 9 passenger decks. Our captain is Pietro Scarpato and over the course of the 7 night cruise, round trip Genoa, we'll have 6 ports of call in the Western Mediterranean.
  So it's all aboard for the cruise!