Valletta, Malta

January 31, 2017

Monday was a day at sea which is usually a relaxing, uneventful one.
Not on this cruise. We had three events that made for a special day.
1. We took a tour through one of the two galley/kitchens on the ship.
The galley we toured was on deck 1 and services three restaurants,
two specialty restaurants on deck 1 and the main restaurant on deck
2. We were shown the various prep areas where everything is prepared
for the evening's service. The servers take orders on a smartphone
which immediately sends the order to the kitchen where a ticket is
printed and preparation of the meal begins. Servers use a stairway to
go down to the kitchen and up an escalator to take the dishes back
up to the main restaurant on deck 2.  During particularly busy times
runners are used to help take dishes up to the servers.  The cafeteria
and Pool Grill on deck 7 have there own galley/kitchen.  There are 96
cooks working the five different dining venues. 2. Mid-afternoon the
captain was able to take the ship within two miles of Stromboli Island,
one of three active volcanoes in Europe.  Even from a considerable
distance we were able to see the plume of steam coming from the
volcano. 3. Monday night's show in the theatre was "Opera Fantasy"
advertised as a mix of opera and Gilbert and Sullivan with a bit of rock
'n roll.  Without much enthusiasm we attended this show.  What a nice
surprise. It turned out to be one of the best productions we've seen on
any of our cruises. There were eight entertainers, four men and four
women. Six of them were obviously professionally trained opera
singers.The other two were an accomplished dance team. The mix of
songs was imaginative, computer generated displays on the backdrops
were visually stunning, and having "Bohemian Rhapsody" as the finale
to the show was pure genius.  We hope the rest of the productions are
as good.

We awoke Tuesday morning at 7:00 to find we were already docked in
Valletta, Malta. The harbor where our pier was located was picturesque.
Malta is one of the smallest countries in the world. It is an island
nation of about 110 square miles with a population of approximately
425,000. Malta received its independence from Great Britain in 1964
andis a member of the European Union. Over its long history it has
been controlled by many different countries and cultures, both
Europeanand Arabic. As a result there is quite a diversity to the
architecture. Theone constant is the honey colored limestone-type
rock used in theconstruction of these buildings. We first visited Mdina,
the old capital of Malta. Mdina is a walled fortress sitting atop of a hill
that we couldsee in the distance as we left our ship. The layout of the
city was designed to withstand an attack by invading forces.  Mdina is
also famous for its glass works that are very similar to glass we have
seen on the island of Murano in Venice. Our guide pointed out as we
looked at one of the fortress walls the different shapes of rock used by
the different civilizations in control of Mdina.  One culture built on the
previous culture.  From Mdina we went to Valletta, the present day
capital of Malta. While still a relatively old city, because it is where
everyone goes to shop there was considerably more "buzz" to Valletta.
A high point in Valletta was the St. John Co-Cathedral. The cathedral
sits right in the middle of the main shopping area and from the outside
is not impressive at all. However, the interior is decorated in the
immensely ornate High Baroquestyle with gold playing an important
role in the decor.  Also of interest was a painting by the Italian artist
Caravaggio titled "The beheading of St. John, the Baptist."  It is the
largest painting Caravaggio ever produced. No one ever explained why
it is called Co-Cathedral.

We spent the afternoon on the ship, reading on our balcony and enjoying
the views around the harbor. While this blog post would suggest there
is not much to see in Malta, there were enough varied tours offered by
our cruise to suggest otherwise. We also don't think we have
adequately conveyed the beauty of the unique architecture highlighted
by the same colored stone in all of the buildings. We enjoyed Malta. It
was a good start to the cruise.

Tomorrow will be a long day.  We have a seven and half hour tour in
Tunis, Tunisia that also includes a trip to Carthage. We may not have
the energy to blog tomorrow.  We'll see.  Check back just in case.

Valletta, Malta harbor 

View of Malta from our balcony

Valletta

Mdina, Malta

When in Rome . . .

January 29, 2017

...do as the Romans do.  Eat pasta and go to church.  Friday morning our flight to Rome landed right on time.  Thank you, Delta Airlines.  We went directly to our Airbnb apartment, settled in quickly and went exploring. Our apartment is wonderfully located just two blocks from the Pantheon.  In Rome, as in most cities in the United States, as you explore a city you pass many churches.  In Rome we actually go inside these churches because they are large, ornate and old.  We went inside three different churches this morning.  We never cease to be amazed at how beautiful catholic churches in Europe are compared to protestant churches in England and the states.  After a nap we returned to one of our favorite tratorria's in Rome located near Trevi Fountain, about a 5-10 minute walk from our apartment.  We both had delicious pasta dishes;   Lynda's with a lobster creme sauce and Tim's with a truffle sauce.  

We were determined on this trip to find a site in Rome we had never visited before.  Saturday morning we took a bus to Scala Santa, the sacred steps.  Scala Santa consists of 28 marble steps that Jesus ascended when He faced Pontius Pilate for His condemnation.  The steps were brought to Rome in 326.  In 1723 the steps were brought to their present location and covered in wood to protect the marble and were made available to everyone.  Worshipers ascend the steps on their knees, stopping on each step to pray, as part of the Sacrament of Penance. There are openings in the wood where one sees dark stains that are thought to be the blood of Jesus.  No one is allowed to walk up these steps and no photos are allowed.  We took a separate staircase to the 2nd floor to see the chapel. There is a room next to the chapel that is preserved as it was in Medieval times, containing the original gold mosaics on the wall and ceilings and the original alter piece made of silver and gold.  We were quite overwhelmed by it all.  Across the street from Scala Santa is the Basilica of San Giovannini. While not as large or ornate at St. Peter's, it was still much more impressive than the churches we visited yesterday.  These two sites were an amazing find.

The only way to follow up the morning's sojourn was a lovely lunch of pasta.  After lunch while Lynda napped Tim continued to explore.  He found a small art gallery containing a dozen or so contemporary pieces.  Interestingly, the artist took sections of discarded canvases or paintings he did not like and overlayed them on another canvas.  Near the gallery was a pedestrian only street with many varied and interesting shops that ended at a small piazza where an open air market was in full swing.  The majority of the stalls were fresh fruit and vegetables, the rest being souvenirs and cheap clothing and household goods.  This was Rome as the locals live.

Saturday evening we found a pizzaria near the Piazza Navona.  Wood fired pizza in Italy is like nothing we have in the states.  Piazza Navona is one of the most famous piazzas in Rome.  It is very large, rectangular in shape, and surrounded on the outside by mo

stly restaurants and few shops. It is also famous in Crandall family lore because on our first trip to Rome in 1984 we stayed in a hostel, run by Dutch nuns for non catholics, located just behind Piazza Navona. During tourist season the piazza is full of artists with their easels set up to do portraits of the tourists.  These portraits are either life-like or caricatures.  In 1984 we had life-like portraits done of both Jil and Jeff.  More recently, we have brought Madison and Jocelyn to Rome and had similar portraits drawn.  Gives something for Cole and Kelsey to look forward to. On this chilly Saturday night there were few tourists and no artists in the piazza and most of the restaurants were closed.  Fortunately, Tre Scalini, Tim's favorite gelataria in Rome, was open.

Sunday we took a small bus to our cruise ship, Viking Cruises, the Viking Sea.  Viking is well known for their river cruises and has started ocean cruises during the last couple of years.  Having enjoyed a river cruise with Viking last spring we are looking forward to this cruise.  Our ship leaves port tonight and we cruise all day tomorrow, arriving in Malta on Tuesday morning.  Check back then for our next post.

Ciao and Go Green!

P.S. This post was to have gone out on Sunday but problems with our website have delayed its publication.  Sorry.

Entrance to our Rome apartment

Ceiling of St. Ignatius of Loyola chapel in Rome

Basilica San Giovnnini

Piazza Navona