MEDITERRANEAN
ITALY
We arrived in Italy by ship from Greece and traveled the length of the Boot from South to North. The first three days were spent on the Isle of Capri on Italy's East Coast near Naples. This mountainous island offered delightful swimming lagoons such as this one, spectacular views and heart stopping bus rides to our accommodation at the top!
We stayed a few days at a hillside retreat overlooking lovely Sorrento and the ominous volcano, Mt. Vesuvius. We scoured every inch of Pompeii, the ancient city buried under volcanic ash over a thousand years ago. Then a week in the fantastic city of Rome gave us time to visit ancient sites like the Coliseum and Hadrian's villa in the countryside. Excavation is constantly underway, in the center and the outlying areas of Rome.
It took a full day to tour the Vatican City, its museum and see the Sistine Chapel. This tiny sovereign state within the city of Rome is filled with breathtaking art, sculpture, and unbelievable historical artifacts. Above the altar in St. Peter's Basilica, this fabulous gold dove bursting from the sun represents the Spirit of God on Earth.
North of Rome lies Florence, the true center for art, sculpture, and museums in Italy. It seems that all the major artists of the last millennium studied here. Every church is a museum as well. They were all built, painted and decorated by the masters. This great hall was built specifically to house Michaelangelo's magnificent statue of David. The trip here (and the long waiting lines) are well worth it, just to see this one piece!
A short distance to the east is the small town of Pisa. This photograph shows the recently restored cathedral with its famous tower leaning over behind it. A great effort is going into steadying the structure with counter weights and cables. It will never be straight, but the engineers believe they can keep it from leaning too far and falling over.
Traveling north again, we decided to stay in Genoa, a lovely old seaport town that doesn't get many tourists. These two towers mark an ancient gate to the city. The fascinating thing about it is that 500 years ago, the gatekeeper was none other that Christopher Columbus' father. The family lived in the house on the right, now covered with ivy and greenery. Here young Chris learned sailing and developed his 'earth shattering' ideas.
SPAIN
This incredible Temple Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is still under construction after 85 years. It's an example of the Art Neuvelle style created by Gaudi and his life's work and obsession.
This spectacular view of the Mediterranean Sea is looking south from the cliff garden of our castle in Spain! Both Spain and Portugal have made fabulous tourist accommodations out their castles! In Spain they are called Paradores. This one is named for Christopher Colombo.
From Barcelona, Christopher Columbus points the way he thought would lead to China & the Orient, instead he discovered the New World!
This Gothic Cathedral in Seville, Spain was built into an existing Moorish Mosque. The architecture of two warring religious factions has been woven seamlessly into harmony. Christopher Columbus and his son are both buried in this church which was the site of the signing of his agreement with King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella to provide ships for his voyage.
To commemorate 500 years since discovery, these full scale copies of Columbus' ships were placed on display at the site of his departure from Huelva, Spain. There is also a wonderful museum and a full scale Caribbean village to depict what the explorers found when they (actually) landed on the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas.
A modern staid arch bridge links Spain and Portugal across the mouth of the Rio Guadiana. Many goods and people still make the crossing on the traditional ferries, as few have their own vehicles.
PORTUGAL
Portugal's rocky cliffs form the southwest tip of Europe. Here you see beaches on the Mediterranean and glimpse the Atlantic Ocean in the distance. This was the primary training ground for navigators in the Age of the Great Discoverers. We launched a note in a bottle not too far from this site. It should be landing on a Florida Beach any day now.
This is Henry the Navigator, the fourteenth century monarch who founded a school here for navigational training. As a result, the Portuguese had colonies all around the globe.
The bustling city of Lisboa is a delightful place with many historic sites. It also has beautiful inlaid mosaic sidewalks of black & white slate, with a different design on every street! Most everyone in this small nation of 10 million people speaks some English, because their movies have not been dubbed, they use subtitles.
This fabulous glass train & bus station was built for the 1998 World Exposition at Riverfront Park, just outside of Lisbon.
Within an hour's ride from the city, you can walk along the remains of this castle wall built by the Moors in the 13th century. Like in Spain, Portugal boasts quite a number of fine castles that have been converted to guest accommodations. We visited such a castle inside one of Europe's last wall enclosed cities.
The beautiful 500-year-old cathedral and monastery is near Leiria and Fatima, a town now famous for recent sightings of the Virgin Mary.
FRANCE
Not far from the Moulin Rouge, in Paris' steamier section, the beautiful white Mont Martre Cathedral stands high on a hillside overlooking the city.
In the center of Paris, near the Eiffel Tower is the Hotel Invalides, where Napoleon is entombed in red granite under a golden dome.
This is one of the smaller gardens at the Grand Palace, Versailles. The afternoon sunlight stretches the palm trees and makes them look even more vibrant in their reflection! We're walking in the foot prints of Kings & Princesses!
Is this a Palace? The Opera House? No! It's a department store! The fabulous Galleries La Fayette in downtown Paris!
Ahhh! The fantastic French Cuisine! This is not even at a gourmet restaurant, it's the snack bar at the public swimming pool in Evian, France! Of course, the pools are filled with none other than Evian water! As Mark Twain said, the French have solved the problem of how to Live!
Disneyland Paris, a place of modern day wonder in the midst of European History. Most of our fairy tales about Princesses & Knights-in-Shining-Armor originated in Europe as folk tales.