The time had finally come! We booked this cruise over a year ago, with hopes Covid would be over and we'd be able to go. Well, it happened with no pre/post Covid testing necessary!
This being cruise #20, we wanted it to be GRAND, so we booked on MSC Grandiosa. We were joined last minute by my sister and her husband, Lynnette and Bill, and my cousin and his wife, David and Katherine (their first cruise). We hope they all liked it, as we sure did!
This being our 2nd European cruise, we were well aware it's different than a Caribbean cruise. Our last European cruise was full of port days and lots of planned tours and outings, with little time on the ship, mostly spent relaxing. Since it's so far away, you want to get the most out of your time and out of the ports, so you feel like it was worth it flying 12-13 hours each way. A lot of planning went into each port, what to do, what bus/train to catch, where to catch them and how not to get lost. That planning all paid off.
We started the cruise in Barcelona, Spain, and then visited:
Cannes (France)
Genoa (Italy)
Cinque Terre (Italy)
Rome (Italy)
Palma de Mallorca (Spain)
We flew to LA and then boarded "Level Airlines" through Iberia non-stop to Barcelona. I was a little hesitant flying and booking with two airlines I've never heard of, and this was my first time using credit card points for such a big trip. With my new knowledge of how to best use points, and booking upgraded seats for less points for us to go to Florida, I was nervous that it wouldn't work. I booked the flights in April and kept expecting them to be cancelled or changed because I did it wrong.....well, it all worked out.
Since the airline is based in Spain, and Spain is one of the few countries still requiring masks on public transportation, we had to find our masks
Our seats in premium economy gave me lots and lots of legroom. So worth it!
Our 11 hour flight started at 8pm our time, and we landed at 4pm Barcelona time.
They fed us several meals and snacks that were actually pretty tasty
After some sleep, multiple movies, reading and sitting too long, we finally arrived.
Our hotel was one of the tallest buildings in the city
VIDEO OF ROOM:
Top floor, #32 view
There was a park with walking trails next to the hotel, and we found this very old church
...... and interesting art sculptures
The next day, we left early for a tour to Montserrat. I saw photos of it and saw it was pretty close and decided we had to go. Wow, we were not disappointed! It's a monastery way up in the mountains about an hour from Barcelona, and was built in the 11th century. Legend says about the year 880, some shepherd boys were hiking around the area and heard celestial music and saw a light shining down from the sky. The went back and told their parents who came up and heard and saw the same thing. The convinced the local bishop religious leader to come see and they found the statue of Madonna and Jesus. It's now called the "Black Madonna" because of the color - from soot over the years being in a cave. It's made of wood. Legend says it's able to heal and bless those that touch it. Hitler wanted it and came to find it, but was unable to find it, even when he found the place where it was hiding. Today, the monetary still is in operation with about 70 monks residing there.
Look closely, at the bottom of the V in the pics and you can see the monastery
We rode the funicular here in the pic to the top, where the view was amazing and even several hiking trails
Here's the church with the Black Madonna top center
And here she is
It got very busy very fast. We were so glad we got there early
Going UP!
I got really lucky to have the bells playing when I took this video:
We rode the cog-wheel train down the steep mountain
We made our way back to Barcelona and to the port and boarded the ship.
We had macaroons and champagne (which we gave to our room steward) to welcome us
View from our room
Messy room...I should have taken the pic before we unpacked
The next morning we woke up in Cannes, France. We took a tour to a little mountain village named Eze, and then visited Monaco.
Eze is on a hilltop mountainside above the Mediterranean Sea and dates back to the Middle Ages. It so happened when we visited, the town was having a chef's cooking competition with over 50 chefs coming to participate.
Shelley talking to our tour guide
This is where horses would have been tied up
There was a 5 star hotel and restaurant called the Golden Goat, so of course, they had this on the roof. We saw many hotel porters carrying guest's luggage up and down the stairs and steep walkways. The village and hotel, were up about 1400 feet above sea level - there were no elevators - just narrow alleys and lots and lots of steps
All the street signs were like this
This was the view from the Golden Goat restaurant with breathtaking views
These were some of the hotel room. They were scattered all around alleys and through small spaces
We then headed to Monaco, the 2nd smallest sovereign nation, with the Vatican City being the first, is considered the most wealthiest and most expensive city in the world. Monaco has a prince and a palace, but they do not have royalty. To live in Monaco, you used to have had to be born there or family ties. Now, you can live there if you have millions and millions that you put into a local bank account.
Yachts filled the harbor
This was by far, the largest yacht in the harbor. It's owned by Sir Phillip Green, a British billionaire who got his wealth by a grocery store empire. His wife is a Monaco resident. This is one of the largest yachts ever built and the selling price was around 150 million.
Monaco is squeezed into a small area - they even increased the size of the city by 25% by "making land" in the ocean with sand and dirt. The palace is completely on a solid rock and with nowhere to build roads, they built roads through the rock. This photo isn't very good, but it's like the bat cave. Roads wind all around through the solid rock
This is the palace. They do a changing of the guard, which is very similar to the one we have at Arlington cemetery
VIDEO:
Inside part of the famous "James Bond" Monte Carlo Casino
Back to the ship.......
The next day, we were in Genoa, Italy, or Genova as the locals call it.
This was the view from our balcony, as we were in the back of the ship
Video at sunrise:
Last time here, we rode a mountain train to a small little village and it was wonderful. This time, we decided to go hiking to some abandoned forts. We started by walking 15 minutes to the Zecca-Righi funicular. Genoa is full of funiculars - they are used to go up/down steep mountainsides. They usually are either cogwheel trains, or pulled up/down with cables. This one was cables. There were about 7-8 stops and we rode it to the very top of the line - about 15 minutes.
We were pretty high up the mountain!
Genoa advertises these trails with these markers - each symbol was a different trail. Well, it started out well, but the symbols eventually disappeared. Good thing I downloaded offline maps!
The trails wandered all over the mountaintops........
There were several huge fort walls we were walking by.....the idea was that we would be IN FRONT of the forts, not behind them! The walls were so high and long that we couldn't get around them, as we were on the other side the wall!
This original cobblestone led between to large forts.......
This was our next stop.........
The trail was getting less and less used........
We finally made it to this one.......
This was amazing......originally there was a mote around this fort, and this was the drawbridge to get into the fort
The original drawbridge mechanisms still there.....
Time to go explore!
This fort was HUGE!
We were the only ones here.....pretty much we were the only ones on ANY of the hike!
We could have spent much much more time here....but we had to get back down as we had a bike tour booked......
VIDEO:
Another fort we passed going down, but this was locked and partially being restored
After a few moments of hoping we were on the right trail to catch a different funicular back down, we found the right path.....I knew it was there somewhere from the research I'd done, we just had to find it
That's the fort we were just exploring
This funicular was a cog wheel train....notice the cog track in the middle
Why didn't I move my backpack before I took the pic?
We then met David and Katherine for a "tricycle" tour through Genoa's numerous and maze like alleys. There are so many, most who don't live there get lost.
This was the original entrance to Genoa
VIDEO:
Caught David in the act of giving his driver a little something, something.......
Back on the ship, we went to a cirque de soleil type show which was amazing!
Our next stop was Cinque Terre (Five Lands) in Italy. The 5 small towns are along the coast and the entire section is a UNESCO Heritage site. Each small town is 3-5 minutes apart by train, so you just hop on/off the train to each one. You can also hike between a few of the towns, or visit each one from the water on boat. We did the train, and hiked (2.5 miles) between two of them.
We first stopped at Corniglia, which is the only town out of the 5, that isn't along the coast. It's high up the mountainside on cliffs. After taking a bus up to the top (or you can walk 400 stairs up, which we did not do), you arrive at the small town overlooking the ocean.
We started the hike here, and hiked to the next town - Vernazza. It took us about 2 hours and the hike was a little more uphill than we'd though, lots and lots of stairs, cliffs and amazing views every step of the way
We saw this little roller coaster that went down into the olive groves....we wanted to ride it, but didn't feel too comfortable
We reached the summit and there was an amazing view area with tables, and "instructions" to send your strongest person down the path to order from the bar
This was the bar. David and I went down the stairs and we all got fresh lemonade slusshies - oh my - they were by far, the best slusshies any of us ever had. We kept thinking about them the rest of the trip!
Then back UP the stairs to the seating area, carrying the slusshies without spilling them!
Going down still.....getting closer to the shoreline
Finally we see it!!
They terrace everything with rock terraces......Lots of vineyards and olive trees here
Waiting for the train to take us to the next town - Monterosso
Monterosso is the only town of the 5, with a dedicated sandy beach
We have a very fresh and tasty lunch here on the beach
Catching the train to Manarola
OH MY! Each town was getting PACKED!!
The last stop was Riomaggiore. So crowded!!
Once off the train, just follow the crowed. No need for maps
The view was incredible. These pics aren't even close
A FEW VIDEOS:
Back on the train headed back to the port
That night we had Teppanyaki for dinner - always a crowd pleaser
VIDEO:
The next day was Rome. Since we were there a few years ago, we wanted to do something different. I found the City of Bagnoregio - it sits on a hilltop and the only way in, is on a narrow walking path. Here's a pic:
This is an actual photo - it really looks like this. Isn't it amazing? Well, we had a tour booked - it's about a 90 minute drive away. A week before we left, the tour cancelled because not enough people booked. So I saw the ship had a tour there too, so we booked with the ship. The night before we arrived in Rome, we got notice the tour was cancelled due to not enough people booking it. Twice we got cancelled! So we had to hurry and find something to do. The next morning we got off the ship and found a bus tour/walking tour of Rome's "sights". So Bagnoregio will have to wait until next time.
We had some time at St Peter's Square.......
Saw this pyramid that most tourists don't see because it's not in the city center. It's an actual tomb....some important guy liked the idea of how important people in Eqypt got their own pyramids as tombs, so he had it done to him when he died
This monument was added as a tribute to 9-11
The Pantheon was so crowded!!!
VIDEO:
Ok, everywhere in Rome was crowded
Back on ship..........
Anyone up for an all chocolate octopus?
Like all newer MSC ships, this one had a large chocolate making area
If you've been on Carnival, you know their trademark dessert is the chocolate melting cake. Bill was craving it and he found it here in the chocolate store - watch this video:
The next day was finally a day at sea - we could sleep in, as every other day we were up at 6 to get going.
We went to the dining room for breakfast and got a good window table
Shelley asked for just a few pieces of extra crispy bacon......well, I think she got 1/2 pound
I got the kids waffle because it came with berries and whipped cream
Then we just explored the ship more, relaxed on deck reading, napping and playing games which of course, I didn't get any pics of. Note: Next time take pics playing games!
Shelley recreated this pic that Marissa recreated of Hannah doing the same pose
Not to be outdone, I found a new friend too
Dinner dessert
Dinner dessert
The next day was Palma de Mallorca, Spain. All 6 of us took a bus tour to a mountain village called Soller, and then another one called Valldemossa.
This extremely large cathedral is in downtown Palma. We didn't have much time so we didn't go in, but just walked around it. It was built by King James of Aragon (isn't that in Lord of the Rings?) in 1229 but wasn't completed until 1601.
Our bus ride was about 30 minutes to Soller. We drove mostly through Almond trees. Palma has 4.5 million (yes, million) almond trees and many of them have a fungus from Italy and are dying. As we got closer to Soller, the scenery turned much greener and filled with lemon and orange trees
Dreamcatchers were everywhere
This is where we had lunch. The sandwiches looked and were so good!
Then we were back on the bus about another 30 minutes on an extremely narrow and windy road with a cliff on one side. The bus was big, and took up the entire road. The road was not made for a big bus
This is just one of the times we had to go slow to pass a car going the other way
Here's a little video too:
VIDEO:
It was a big bus!
Weird....every stop sign we saw in Barcelona and Palma, both in Spain, had STOP in English
We made it back to the ship in time for dinner
Well, the cruise is now over. We flew from Barcelona to Paris (2 hours) and easily found our hotel just a 10 minute bus ride from the airport. We were looking for an Uber, but couldn't find where to get the uber and then saw the city bus and knew the hotel was just a short ride on the bus.
We were on the top floor of the hotel (32nd floor) and this was our view in floor to ceiling windows
That night, we headed downtown for a night bus tour
VIDEO:
As we were walking to the bus pickup point, we passed by this square where everyone was just dancing and having a good time
Here's a little video of the dancing:
Tower of Terror ride?
VIDEO:
Ok.....we thought Rome was crowded? Oh my. Paris so much busier! And 10 at night even! Every cafe was full..people everywhere
The bus stops are fancy. Not just little signs......full lit up signposts with a countdown of minutes of when each bus will arrive
We took the subway everywhere....
Crowded at 10:30 pm
Back at the hotel.....
The next day was another early day, as we were headed to the Palace of Versailles, about 12 miles south of Paris. Back in the day, the current Louvre used to be the King's palace. King Louis XIV however, used to go hunting as a young man away from the city. When he was king, he wanted to be away from the busy city and moved the palace to the hunting lodge - in Versailles. His entire court had to move with him, so he had to add on to the hunting lodge, multiple times. He even charged all of his court rent to live there. Over time, he made Versailles what it is now - an extremely over the top display of wealth, which eventually, got him and his wife, Marie Antoinette, beheaded in Paris.
More than 15 million people visit Versailles making it one of the most visited placed on earth.
The palace has 2,300 rooms spread out over almost 700,000 square feet!! The gardens, fountains and paths are an additional 2000 acres! This place is HUGE! There were some devastating storms in 1999 that destroyed much of the gardens, but it's been restored in the past 20 year to what it would have looked like when the King lived there.
We had to take two trains to get there and as you can see, the "yellow" line can be a little confusing as it doesn't just go from point A to B, but also points C, D E and F!
We made it right on time for opening
This isn't a mirror - it's a hallway with room after room after room after room
This is the Hall of Mirrors - looks like something in Harry Potter. It's the most famous room in the palace. It's between the King's Room and the Queen's Room. It pays tribute to the successes of France. There are 357 mirrors and 17 arches opposite of the windows. The light comes in from the windows and reflects off the mirrors. The Treaty of Versailles, which ended WW1, was signed here.
This is the Gallery of Great Battles - it has over 30 paintings spanning over 15 centuries of great battles the French won. Of course only the ones they won are displayed here
Time to go outside now. There are over 50 fountains and 620 water jets (there 1600 back in the day), fed by almost 25 miles of pipes. King Louis was a master at accomplishing the impossible. Not since the Roman Empire established aqueducts and pipes to move water, was something done more impressive with water. King Louie wanted this to be the most impressive place in the world. No water? No Pipes? No fountains? Doesn't matter - he found a way. Many of the pipes are original still and many fountains still operated manually. They built underground reservoirs, and artificial lakes and used gravity and windmills and horse drawn pumps to move the water around. During the summer, there were weekly "shows" which of course charged people to attend- 50-60 thousand would come to each show.
If all the fountains were running at the same time, it used 1.5 million gallons of water per hour.
Eventually, the king's engineers found a way to bring water from the Seine River to Versaille - using huge paddlewheels, hydraulics, dams and pumps outpacing 2000 years of water knowledge.
King Louis would often walk around the grounds, demanding that as he approached each fountain, it would be running before he saw it.
VIDEO:
VIDEO: Fountain
The Queen's Hamlet - Ok this place was like a fairytale from where Hobbit's live. It was about a 15 minute walk from the main palace and was built in the 1700's. It was patterned after villages in Normandy and was to signify the quiet rural life. When King Louie's wife - Marie-Antoinette wanted to get away from the busy palace atmosphere, she came here with her children and friends. There was a working dairy here as well.
After walking about 9-10 miles today, we headed back to the hotel.
This pizza for dinner was so good!
As was this fresh basil pasta
The next day, our last day, was the only day that was cooler weather, cloudy and windy. this was our Eiffel Tower day. We had tickets for right when it opened.
We took the elevator to the 1st stop with our guided tour. It was very cold and windy, but no rain.
We then went to the top on our own, which was enclosed, so that was good. We stepped outside on the balcony and lasted about 20 seconds it was so windy and cold
We then took a little river tour that was relaxing and warmer
On the way home, we flew over Iceland and the North Pole. I think I caught a brief glimpse of Santa's workshop
We had an amazing trip and saw so many amazing things. We were blessed to be able to have taken such a trip. Gotta get all we can in while we still can!
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