Donald Fink and Bonnie Fink

31
Jan
2018
Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and Spa

Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and Spa

What’s the difference between a cruise and an all-inclusive resort? That could be a question that has a great deal of importance for some of us, so we checked out an all-inclusive Sandals Resort and Spa on the island of Antigua.

Sandals, as you may know, is a relatively well known and popular destination resort that owns and manages resorts all over the Caribbean and even into the Mediterranean. They feature all-inclusive destination stays in a luxury style that can only be approached by luxury cruise ships. Let’s see what they have to offer:

What are the Rooms Like?

Caribbean Premium Honeymoon Room at Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and Spa

The rooms are comfortable at Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and Spa. Photo by Donald Fink.

There are several kinds of rooms at the Sandals Grande Antigua. Our room was called a Caribbean Honeymoon Premium, but you could get others with a variety of features. There was a tower that provided more hotel-like rooms, but there were also beach front rooms called Mediterranean one bedroom butler villas that featured their own private plunge pools and butlers. Pretty much any level of comfort was available. 

Our room was a single room with a patio overlooking a garden view. It included a king size bed, a fridge stocked with drinks, and a coffee maker as well as a kettle for heating water. There was an air conditioner and a fan, so controlling the temperature was not a problem.

It was central to the amenities, about a minute’s walk to the lobby and even closer to the beach. There was a covered porch too. Overall it was roomy and comfortable.

If absolute luxury is on your mind, there are rooms available that include a bedroom, living area, private plunge pool, private spa, and a butler. The butler seems to do all kinds of things, including serve drinks and meals, and making reservations at restaurants, or securing lounge chairs at the beach. The experience is of course more expensive, but the treatment appears to be world class. And if you don’t mind being pampered, why not?

What’s Included?

Bayside Restaurant, Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and Spa

Guests enjoy breakfast in the open air Bayside Restaurant; a comfortable covered setting with the waves lapping at the beach as you enjoy your meal. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

Pretty much everything is included. At Sandals Grand Antigua, there are over 10 restaurants, and all of them are included in the price. Actually, they mention 11 restaurants, but one of them is a hot dog stand near the main pool. But if you like hot dogs, that should count too, right?

All drinks at the resort are included. Yes. All of them, and that’s where Sandals seems to get really competitive with cruising in terms of price. An average drink package on a cruise ship can cost $55.00 US per day per person. At Sandals, that’s part of the experience. And while we don’t have firsthand experience with the quality of the alcohol, the people in our group didn’t appear to be complaining. Beer was mostly local, but many of the wines were from the Napa Valley in California, and the hard liquor seemed to be labels we recognized. Coffee and tea was available too.

Our room had both a coffee pot and a kettle for heating water, as well as a completely stocked fridge with water, soft drinks, and juices. Some of the rooms had a mini bar included too.

Are There Beaches?

Beach view at Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and Spa

At Sandals Grande Antigua Resort and spa, the white sand beaches stretched the length of the resort. Beaches here are public, but Sandals provides chairs and umbrellas exclusively for Sandals guests. Photo by Donald Fink.

There are indeed beaches. The Grande Antigua Resort is situated on a white sand beach overlooking the Caribbean Sea. As you sit on the beach in the included Sandals lounge chairs, you’re either in the sun or under a grass shade. The choice is yours.

Off shore, there’s a small barrier reef that seems to help keep the beach quiet most of the time. We noticed the reef as we were headed out for some diving. You can see the waves breaking on the reef, making the waters calm closer to shore.

How’s  the Food?

When we travel, we judge the food we encounter based on the food we see on cruise ships, and the food at Sandals is very similar to some of the better offerings we see. If we had to name a brand, we might say that the meals at Sandals was in line with the quality we expect on Royal Caribbean, maybe a little better.

Our main, go-to restaurant for this visit was called Bayside Restaurant. It is a buffet style offering for breakfast and lunch, but converts over to table service for dinner.

The wait staff is good here in that they are friendly and competent, but the service was less formal, even in the specialty settings. In other words, while the food was really good, no one came around and removed the crumbs from your table between courses. And most meals were three courses, with appetizer, main course, and dessert.

It should be mentioned that not all restaurants are open all the time. At Grand Antigua, for example, there’s a restaurant called The OK Corral that features Tex-Mex, but was only open a couple of times in the week we were there. There’s another Italian styled restaurant called Mario’s that was open every night. And another British Pub called the Drunken duck that was open too. We enjoyed a couple of seriously good hamburgers there, by the way.

On Wednesday nights, there’s a beach bar-b-que that probably goes down as one of the included restaurants. It looked like a fun meal.

Another restaurant down by the main pool is called Barefoot by the Sea. This open-air restaurant is nearly on the beach, with rustic tables, comfortable chairs, and sand on your feet. They’re open every day for lunch and most nights for dinner.

There’s a dress code for the restaurants at Sandals. The two designations are Evening Attire, and Resort Casual Attire. As you might guess, Resort Casual Attire means, “come as you are.” And Evening Attire means long pants for men with no T-shirts. Shoes or elegant sandals are required. For the ladies, the expected dress is evening pants, skirts, elegant top, sundress, with sandals or shoes. And to be clear, the above description is not verbatim from the Sandals guide. Be sure to check the dress codes directly with sandals before you pack for the trip.

What Else Is There to Do?

PADI Dive Center at Sandals Grande Antigua

There’s a pool behind the dive shop that’s dedicated to scuba instruction and “check-out” dives. Here, Don is entering the water to prove he still remembers how to dive. Divers are required to demonstrate basic skills if they don’t have signed log books indicating recent dives. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

Aside from the pool time, the walks on the beach, and lazing away the day watching the waves patter on the sand, what else can you do at Sandals?

This particular Sandals had an active scuba dive program with dives nearly every day. There were mostly single tank trips, but a couple of two tank trips were also thrown in, presumably when the dive site was close by. All dive equipment is included. You can see a quick video of one of the dives below, where we went to a site called Billy’s Reef.

Snorkeling was available every day. They discourage snorkeling directly off the beach because of the amount of boat traffic, but dive boats left daily to other destinations where you could get your snorkel fill. All equipment is included.

Sail boats are available on the beach. To take one out, you simply walk over to the dive shop, get a life jacket, and grab a boat. We noticed four or five small catamaran sail boats available. Those things are fast, by the way, but easy to sail.

There are jet skis available too, but at an extra cost. We noticed two jet skis on the beach, but with all the included activities, we didn’t have the time to take one out.

Horseback riding is available at an extra cost too. Not being avid riders, and with so much else to do anyway, we didn’t take a ride.

There’s an area marked out for general swimming in case you felt the need to cool off.

Final Thoughts

We’re mostly cruising people, so we naturally want to compare this new all-inclusive resort idea with our cruising experiences. What we came away with is that the cost versus benefit was very close. The Sandals stay was a bit more expensive than a typical Caribbean cruise for the same period of time, but you need to factor in the free alcohol, free snorkeling and Scuba Diving, and an impressive beach-front.

Would we stay at a Sandals again? Sure, we would definitely return. But more likely, we’d visit one of their many other resorts in the Caribbean or even in the Mediterranean.

The question we asked at the beginning of this post was, is a stay at a Sandals Resort as good as a cruise on a luxury cruise liner? For many people, the answer has to be, “Yes, a stay at a Sandals Resort is as good or even better than a luxury cruise.” The high-quality restaurants, the included drinks, and the many recreational activities that are already included is a powerful draw. Did we mention the included drinks? And yes, we mean the alcoholic drinks, the soft drinks, and coffee and tea. Just to be clear.

Still, for us, we’re drawn to the ship where we wake up in a different place every morning, but we see the advantages of Sandals too. Everyone is different, so we encourage you to take a look for yourself.

Posted by Donald Fink and Bonnie Fink in Blog, Hotels, Travel, 0 comments
18
Jan
2018
Oasis of the Seas – Seven Days on a Royal Caribbean Oasis Class Ship

Oasis of the Seas – Seven Days on a Royal Caribbean Oasis Class Ship

Not long ago we ventured out on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas for a seven-night tour of the Western Caribbean. We made only three stops along the way at Labadee in Haiti, Jamaica, and Cozumel, Mexico.

An Oasis Class ship is huge. It can accommodate 6,780 guests. But the funny thing is, you really don’t feel crowded. We’ve read countless posts from potential cruisers saying that they absolutely hate sailing on these “monster” sized ships, citing long lines and big wait times because of the overcrowding. Truthfully, we don’t see it. A ship like the Oasis of the seas has 24 guest elevators, 9 complimentary restaurants and 8 specialty restaurants. There are 11 bars and lounges on board, many of which have entertainment at night or even in the afternoon. When you think about it, a town that size wouldn’t have all of these services. There are even 3 doctors and 5 nurses aboard.

Service is generally good aboard this and other Oasis class ships, and the entertainment is what we consider to be above average in the cruise business. The great thing about Royal Caribbean is that they have so many ships, they employ a large number of entertainers. If you make several voyages, you’re likely to see different shows each time. With the exception of the main stage shows and ice performances, you’ll even see different performers each time you sail on the same ship since they tend to rotate through the fleet. The ice performances and main stage shows, of course, are often specific to one particular ship because the sets are complex.

So, what makes an Oasis class ship so much more than other ships? Let’s take a look:

Royal Promenade

Promenade aboard the Oasis of the Seas

The Royal Promenade aboard the Oasis of the Seas is located on Deck 5. It’s the central part of the ship where you find many of the shops, pubs, and cafés.  Photo by Donald Fink.

When you enter the Oasis of the seas for the first time, you enter on deck five and are presented with the Royal promenade. This is like the Freedom class ships in that it’s a central area designed to look like a street; maybe a typical small town in western Europe, or so it seems to us. There are shops and cafes, bars, just about everything you could need if you were visiting a small town on vacation.

Our favorite haunt was the Café Promenade. It’s a small café centrally located in the Royal Promenade that we used for our daily “people watching.” We would usually head down to the Café Promenade in the mornings after breakfast for another cup of coffee and a bran muffin. They serve up complimentary muffins and pastries, with sandwiches at lunch and dinner. Coffee and tea are also on the house, but you can buy specialty coffee drinks too. It made for some good competition for the local Starbucks that was located towards the forward end of the Royal Promenade.

Boardwalk

Carousel on the Boardwalk, Oasis of the Seas

Closeup of one of the horses on the Boardwalk Carousel. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

Johnny Rockets is a hamburger chain that also has restaurants aboard the Oasis class and Freedom class ships. There’s an extra fee for lunch or dinner here, but aboard the Oasis of the Seas, breakfast is complimentary. We recommend Johnny Rockets if you’re looking for a burger that takes you back to mid-twentieth century America. They’re pretty close to the real deal as we remember them. Try the Peanut Butter Milkshake. If it’s not on the menu, ask for it anyway.

At the very back of the ship is the Aquatheatre. This is a pool that is close to thirty feet deep. You can take SCUBA lessons in this pool, and yes, there’s a five-star PADI dive center aboard the ship for this purpose. But the real reason for the Aquatheatre is for the show.

The Aquatheater presents one of those kinds of shows that you should plan to see early in your cruise, because you’re probably going to want to see it again. It’s hard to categorize, but the show you’ll see here involves water, high-divers, acrobats, and arial performances. Think of a circus-like stage show with a large swimming pool that is sometimes a pool and sometimes a stage, and even both. The stage raises above the water to provide dry land for performers, then lowers into the water for swimmers and divers.

There are also two rock climbing walls aboard the Oasis of the Seas, and they’re located at the Boardwalk.

Central Park

Seating in Central Park

You can find several very quiet and private areas to sit at Central Park, on Deck 8. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

Up on deck 8 is Central Park. This area is also open to the outside, but is located in the central part of the ship. In other words, it’s open to the sky with stateroom balconies along each side, but the front and back are closed. The unique thing about Central Park is that it’s what you might expect by the name. it’s a park, complete with lush greenery and trees with walkways. And yes, the plants are real. Along the walkways, you can encounter a number of shops and restaurants, including the Royal Caribbean signature steakhouse, Chops Grille. There is also a restaurant called 150 Central Park that is elevated even above Chops Grille. For a complimentary lunch or dinner, there’s the Park Café, which is very popular.

There are three and a half bars in Central Park. We say three and a half because the rising Tide Bar is on a hydraulic platform. Part of the time it’s in Central Park on Deck 8, and part of the time it’s on the Royal Promenade on Deck 5. When it’s in the Central Park location, there are fountains below it in the Royal Promenade.

Deck 15 and 16

Swimming Pools and Hot Tubs

Looking down on the swimming pools and 4 of the hot tubs on Deck 15. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

Decks 15 and 16 are where you might expect all the regular outdoor activities to be on a cruise ship. The pools, golf course, zip line, and the two Flowriders for our surfer friends are located up top. There are four pools and six whirlpools aboard this ship.

There’s one pool designed primarily for the youngsters with bright colors and water features, but there’s also an area set aside for the more mature crowd, meaning guests sixteen and older. This is called the solarium and is located in the front of the ship on Decks 15 and 16. There’s a couple of whirlpools, a café, bar, and plenty of areas for sunbathing and relaxing. It’s a quite oasis on an otherwise lively ship.

Deck 16 is also where the main buffet style dining area is located. It’s called the Windjammer Marketplace and it’s located towards the aft part of the ship, with views of either side of the ship, the basketball court and golf course and the zip line that spans the Boardwalk below.

Normally, Decks 15 and 16 would be the main attraction on a smaller ship. And if this was a normal ship except with over 6,000 guests, this would be an overcrowding situation without a doubt. What makes the Oasis class ships different is the other areas mentioned above. The Promenade, Boardwalk, and Central Park and significant areas of interest by themselves, and they certainly draw a large number of guests away from the usual sun-bathing by the swimming pool activity that seems to be the standard on smaller ships. The existence of these other areas is how we can justify saying that crowds are not really an issue aboard these massive ships.

Studio B

Frozen in Time

Several times during your cruise the show Frozen in Time will be offered in Studio B, Deck 4. Photo by Donald Fink.

The Oasis Class and Freedom Class ships have an ice rink. It’s called Studio B. This is another of those shows that you’ll want to see early on in the cruise if at all possible, because each time we’ve seen the show, we wanted to see it again.

If you want to try your hand on the ice while at sea, there are times when guests can take to the rink too. On our last cruise, there were two distinctive times for skating; one set aside for skaters who needed skates, and one for guests who brought their own ice skates onboard with them. Normally we’d think that bringing ice skates along on a Caribbean cruise might be a classic case for overpacking, but not aboard the Oasis of the Seas.

View of the Boardwalk

View of the Aquatheater and back of the ship. This is also the view you have if you have a boardwalk balcany. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

This is not close to a complete guide to all the Oasis of the Seas has to offer. We didn’t mention the theater, the gym, the great walk and running path on Deck 5, or even the three level main dining facility.

There’s no question that one of our favorite cruise lines is Royal Caribbean, and it’s no secret that of their massive fleet of ships, our favorite class of ship so far is the Oasis class. We’ve been sailing on Royal Caribbean since the 1990’s and they’ve always presented interesting ships with the “right” design. We must be in the middle of their target demographics, because they always have just the right amount of bling, the right amount of opulence, with surroundings that both wow us yet make us feel comfortable while we’re on-board.

Posted by Donald Fink and Bonnie Fink in Blog, Cruising, 0 comments
11
Jan
2018
Visiting Culzean Castle

Visiting Culzean Castle

During one of our last visits to Europe, we were fortunate enough to make a British Isles cruise. We were aboard the Caribbean Princess, a Princess Ship that we’ve sailed before, surprisingly, in the Caribbean. This time the ship was the same, but the setting was different.
 
One of our stops along this cruise was in Glasgow, where we jumped off the ship and boarded a bus for a day out in the Scottish countryside. We made a couple of quick stops along the way, but ended up at the Culzean Castle (pronounced Kul-LAYN) around noon.
 
This is one of those kinds of ship tours we like, where we get basic transportation to and from a place with some explanation along the way. Once we get there, we’re turned loose to find our own way, which is what we did here.

History

Cluzean Gardens

The gardens in front of Culzean Castle. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

Culzean Castle was built in the late 18th century, between 1777 and 1792, by the then 10th Earl of Cassillis. The Earl was the head of the Clan Kennedy, and the castle remained in the Kennedy family until 1945, when it was turned over to the National Trust for Scotland in order to avoid inheritance taxes. There was one stipulation when the property was turned over, and that was that the uppermost floor was to be held for the use of General Dwight D. Eisenhower for as long as he wanted to use it, in recognition of his contribution to the efforts of World War II. And indeed, General Eisenhower, and later President Eisenhower, visited the apartment four times, beginning in 1946.
 
Local folk lore says that there are at least seven ghosts present in the castle. One of which is a servant girl who has been seen on the grand staircase, and another is a piper, who has been heard playing his instrument in the caves along the cliff walls beneath the castle.

Hotel Eisenhower

Something we don’t get to enjoy from a ship’s tour are some of the more exclusive things that come with a place like Culzean Castle. There’s a hotel located on the top floor, which are the rooms of General Eisenhower’s apartment. After President Eisenhower’s death, the apartment was converted into the Hotel Eisenhower, a small hotel capable of accommodating up to 20 guests.
 
There is a restaurant that serves an upscale dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, and breakfast is served daily.
 
Prices to stay at the Hotel Eisenhower are surprisingly moderate, considering the exclusive and luxurious nature of the surrounding. Of course, the definition of our use of the term “moderate” may not be the same as another’s idea. For some it might be out of the question and for others, the price might be trivial. Only you can decide if it’s right for you. Reviews of the hotel seem to indicate that most folks regard it as a good value.

Deer Park

Llama

There’s a deer park on the Culzean Castle grounds. There are several deer and llamas as well as other animals. This is, of course, one of the Llamas on the castle grounds, and the annoying little insects flying around. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

Across the main parking lot from Culzean Castle there’s a large fenced area where you can view several different species of animals. There were various deer herds, llamas, a few goats, and so on. But one of the most interesting animals we found was the pheasant we found walking in the grass among all the ungulates. The bird was certainly a wild animal since he was clearly capable of flight, but probably learned to hang with the Deer Park animals, mainly for the food.
 
The purpose of the Deer Park at one time might have been to demonstrate some of the animals that might have been hunted on the property back in the last part of the 18th century, when the Castle was new. That is, of course, until the Llamas showed up. And there might actually be a purpose for the Llamas that we’re missing, so we can leave it at that.
 
The Deer Park wouldn’t be a reason to come to Culzean Castle in and of itself, but it was fun to watch the animals as they went about their business, mostly ignoring the tourists.

How to get there

Culzean Castle is on the coast of Scotland overlooking the Firth of Clyde, which is a body of water between Scotland and Northern Ireland. It’s about 50 miles southwest of Glasgow, and 430 miles north of London. The two ways that make sense to us for visiting is either from a British Isles Cruise like we did aboard the Caribbean Princess, or from a plain ol’ road trip. We flew into London and rented a car a couple of years ago and drove up into northern Scotland for a little over a week. We had a great time visiting the sights. Culzean Castle could have easily been on the list had we known about it at the time. Actually, we would have strongly considered spending the night, had we known about it at the time.
 
Another way to visit Culzean Castle is to consider a train to Glasgow, then use a tour company from town to get out into the countryside. We’ve found these advertised at modest prices. 

We’ll no doubt make another road trip into northern Scotland at some point in the future, and Culzean Castle will be on the list. We would like to spend more time there, perhaps staying the night and walking the beaches below the Castle along the cliffs. Who knows, we might find the ghost of the piper.

However you may prefer to travel, if you find yourself in Scotland, this is a place to see. In the meantime, here are a few of our images:

Posted by Donald Fink and Bonnie Fink in Blog, Europe, Travel, 1 comment
27
Nov
2017
Schwerin Palace

Schwerin Palace

We’ve talked about Schwerin before, and we’ve mentioned the iconic Schwerin Palace, but we’ve never given the Palace the attention it deserves. After all, it was Schwerin Palace that originally drew us to this northern German town in the first place.

Schwerin Palace sits on a small island in Lake Schwerin. It is, of course, near the town of Schwerin in northern Germany near the Baltic Sea. Our first visit here was during a Baltic Sea cruise aboard a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship. We stopped in Warnemünde for a day and caught a bus into Schwerin. Our first stop was the Palace where we did a walk through its interior and the grounds.

Like so many other buildings in Europe, Schwerin Palace has a rich and interesting history. While people have been living in the area for many thousands of years, the generally accepted year that the palace was established is 1160, when a famous medieval lord Henriech der Löwe (Henry the Lion), Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, conquered a group of Slavic tribes who had occupied the fortress of Schwerin since 960. As it is, Schwerin is one of the last true residence palaces to be built in Germany.

From 1945 through 1989 it was used as Mecklenburg’s parliamentary seat, an educational college, a museum of prehistory and early history, and a polytechnic museum. In 1990, after the reunification of East and West Germany, Schwerin Palace became the seat of the regional parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, one of sixteen federal states in Germany. Extensive restoration work also began and continues to some extent today.

For us, as tourists, there’s a large area of the palace that’s open for tours. You can see re-created rooms as they probably were in the 15th century when royalty lived here. You can also see a regional parliament in action if they’re in session, but you’ll of course want to brush up on your German.

The ghost of Schwerin Castle, named Petermännchen, is said to be no more than four feet tall. One legend says that this little guy is a spirit servant of a pagan god. When the pagan god was driven out of Schwerin by Christianity, Petermännchen remained behind, refusing to leave his post.

There’s a ghost at Schwerin Palace called Petermännchen, or, Little Peterman. This good-natured spirit is said to be only about four feet tall. There’s a statue of him at the Palace. He’s described in a couple of ways. One is that he’s occasionally seen wandering the vaults and tunnels under the castle. He carries keys, unlocking doors as he goes along. Another legend says that he patrols the grounds with a lantern and a small sword or dagger, guarding the Palace against thieves. He rewards good behavior and plays pranks and tricks on others. He makes banging noises at night, and has been known to awaken sleeping guards to keep them from being punished.

In our wanderings around Germany, we’ve now made two stops at Schwerin Palace. Below you can see some of the images we brought back. You can also see an article we recently posted about Schwerin here along with a post about our favorite hotel in Schwerin, the Weinhaus Uhle.

Enjoy.

Posted by Donald Fink and Bonnie Fink in Blog, Travel, 0 comments
01
Nov
2017
Pompeii – The City Frozen in Time

Pompeii – The City Frozen in Time

Why is Pompeii so fascinating? We know that it was an ancient Roman city that was destroyed in a volcanic eruption when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. We also know that it was a city frozen in time at the instant of the eruption because the volcanic ash covered everything as the blistering hot gas cloud killed everything alive, then burned all that stood above the ash. And that, in a nutshell, is why we find it so fascinating. Not considering the agonizing death and destruction that rained down on this relatively large and sophisticated city, it’s our chance to observe something as it was, without the effect of time interfering with our interpretations of how things were. We’re reminded of our first visit to the famous ghost town of Bodie in the Eastern Sierras of California, where you walk through this gold rush era mining town that looks as if the residents simply walked away and left the city as it was.

You may see reference to Pompeii as “Pompei” because that’s the proper spelling of the new, more modern city of Pompei. The original city that was destroyed in 79 AD was spelled Pompeii. It’s also spelled Pompeji, depending on the language you’re viewing your Google Maps in.

The Volcano

Vesuvius_(erupting),_Brooklyn_Museum_Archives

Mount Vesuvius erupting. By William Henry Goodyear – Brooklyn Museum, Public Domain, Link

Mount Vesuvius has erupted many times in the past and continues to be a dangerous volcano. Our tour guide told us that there are at least 1,200,000 people living in what the Italian government calls “The Red Zone”, which is the area that needs to be evacuated in the event of an imminent eruption. And what’s the likelihood it will erupt again? Here’s a quote from one Wikipedia article that talks about past eruptions:

“Mount Vesuvius has erupted many times. The famous eruption in AD 79 was preceded by numerous others in prehistory, including at least three significantly larger ones, the best known being the Avellino eruption around 1800 BC which engulfed several Bronze Age settlements. Since AD 79, the volcano has also erupted repeatedly, in 172, 203, 222, possibly in 303, 379, 472, 512, 536, 685, 787, around 860, around 900, 968, 991, 999, 1006, 1037, 1049, around 1073, 1139, 1150, and there may have been eruptions in 1270, 1347, and 1500. The volcano erupted again in 1631, six times in the 18th century (especially in 1779 and 1794), eight times in the 19th century (notably in 1872), and in 1906, 1929 and 1944. There have been no eruptions since 1944, and none of the eruptions after AD 79 were as large or destructive as the Pompeian one.”

Condos and Mount Vesuvius

These structures are thought to be homes like our condos, with Mount Vesuvius in the background. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

It’s thought—based on core samples of sediment and carbon dating—that Pompeii was originally founded between 800 and 600 BC. In its present location, it was originally much closer to the ocean, but we’re not sure if the distance it now sits away from the ocean is a result of lower ocean levels, sediment from nearby rivers filling in the Bay of Naples, or volcanic ash covering the shallower depths of the bay. The original Pompeii, while it was on the shore of the Bay of Naples, is only five miles from Mount Vesuvius.

The population of Pompeii was between 11,000 and 20,000 people, depending on which account you read. The first number is based on the number of households in the city and the second number seems to account for the transient population as well. Pompeii was a major commercial center and probably had a great many non-permanent residents within its walls at any particular time. There were hotels, restaurants, baths, marketplaces and exchanges, and even brothels that all catered to the large transient populations.

At the time of the eruption, approximately 2,000 people died, which suggests that much of the population heeded the initial warnings from Mount Vesuvius and fled the city. The eruption took about 24 hours to run its full course, and evidently started with earthquakes and a large ash cloud exploding about 20 miles into the sky, giving people an indication of what was to come. In the interest of accuracy though, we should point out that the 2,000 number is an estimate of the people who died within the city itself. Our reading also tells us there is a substantial number of bodies located along the area that was once the shoreline of the Bay of Naples, and most of them have not been excavated. This suggests that an unknown number of people were trying to flee but were caught up in the eruption and unable to escape by land. They met their fate waiting, hoping for rescue from the sea.

Plaster Cast

A plaster cast of one of the many bodies found in Pompeii. The plaster casting was made by locating a cavity in the underlying volcanic ash, indicating a place where a person had perished. The cavity was then pumped full of plaster, revealing the shape of the person as they were when they were overcome during the eruption. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

Archeologists were able to make several plaster castings of the people who died in the eruption by locating the cavities in the ash where people had died, and injecting those cavities with plaster, creating the shape of the people as they were at the moment they died. It gives a very clear picture into the life in Pompeii during the time. It also shows the agony that these people—and their animals—must have suffered in the last moments of life during the eruption.

As we walked through the restored areas of Pompeii, our first impressions were of a place that, given the level of sophistication and civilization, we could have managed a life here in 79 AD. The streets were paved, there were pipes that carried water to various places throughout the city, and while the sewer basically ran down the street, there were sidewalks and stepping stones to get across. Yes, civilized as Pompeii was, the Romans hadn’t quite worked out a sewer system yet. Chamber pots were basically thrown out in the street, and everything ran downhill. And of course, those pipes that carried drinking water throughout the city were made of lead.

With all the death and destruction in Pompeii, and with the virtual certainty that it will erupt again, the question is, are we going back? The answer is, absolutely. With a town as well preserved as this one, it’s a window into how the Romans lived, worked, and played. Many of the paintings on the walls are as they were in 79 AD, the building ruins for the most part are easily worked out in terms of their purpose, and much of life around the city was well documented, either through careful examination of these ruins, or other documentation from the time. With the certainty of eruption, it’s still hard to pass up a chance to see this place. After all, what are the chances? Right?

Posted by Donald Fink and Bonnie Fink in Blog, Travel, 1 comment
27
Oct
2017
Florence – City of the Renaissance

Florence – City of the Renaissance

On our recent cruise in the Mediterranean, our ship stopped at La Spezia, a small port along the western coast of Italy. It was in close proximity to Pisa and Florence, and having been to Pisa once before, we elected to take a ship’s tour to Florence. The bus ride was about two hours through the northwestern parts of the Tuscany Region of Italy and we had the opportunity to see a good deal of the Tuscan landscape. Florence, of course, plays a big part in a great deal of our modern world, but it’s almost staggering how big that part really is. It’s said that the Renaissance began there, and with great minds like Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, Dante, and Galileo all hailing from this one place, it’s hard to argue to the contrary.

Florence is the capital of Tuscany, which is a Region of Italy. A Region, in case you need a refresher, is like a state, or a province. Of course, just to confuse things, a province is an administrative area inside a region, sort of like a county in the U.S. Cities are referred to as Communes for Italian administrative purposes. Got that? We’ll move on then.

Tuscany Landscape

The Tuscany Landscape is not unlike that of California. Image by By Lucía García González – Tuscany, CC0, Link

The countryside in Tuscany, based on our trip from La Spezia to Florence, is not unlike California. Sort of a southern California meets the Napa Valley kind of place. With Marble Rock quarries located in the hills in the backdrop. The climate looks to be kinda dry, and there was evidence that Italy suffers the same forest fire problems that much of the western United States does. The trees tend to be smaller, but the fire danger seems to be very real. This was even more evident on our visit of Pompeii, but we’ll talk about that more in a future article.

The History

Florence goes way back. More so than many European cities, but it got its start to stardom with the Romans. When Rome took responsibility for the area, they brought in roads, aqueducts, sewers, and constructed a number of public and private buildings. The city was established in 59 AD by Julius Caesar as a military post for the Tuscan area. With the improvements from the Romans for largely military reasons, it didn’t take much time until the city began to flourish as a major commercial area too.

Rome fell in the Florence area around the 5th Century, and Tuscany reverted back to Kingdoms, but Florence continued to thrive, serving a growing travel business as a major stopover point for people traveling from Rome to France.

Giovanni di Bicc _de' Medici

Giovanni di Bicc de’ Medici, founder of the Bank of Medici. By Cristofano dell’Altissimo – Palazzo-Medici.it, Public Domain, Link

More or less concurrent with the Renaissance—which began in Florence—was the rise of the House of Medici, also from Florence. The Medicis were a family of bankers that, while considering themselves “citizens” rather than royalty, were far from ordinary. They were responsible for much of the progress in Europe from the 15th century, when Giovanni di Bicci de Medici (c. 1360-1429) founded the Medici Bank. The family has a colorful and convoluted history as they intertwined their family into the most important circles in Europe along their rise to power. They managed to produce three popes, two queens, and a number of other local royal figures. Also, the family, through their bank, financed much of the progress from the Dark Ages through the Renaissance in Italy and a great deal of Europe in general.

 

What to see in Florence

Where do we start? First, the idea that we could come to Florence and see any significant part of the sights in an afternoon from a cruise ship was just plain silly. Florence was ground zero for the entire Renaissance. Much of what we hold as important in terms of art, music, literature, and especially science, originated here in Florence at the end of the Dark Ages. Some really important stuff happened here. And if the whole Renaissanceidea isn’t important enough, some of the most influential ideas in banking and commerce originated here in Florence with the rise of the Medici family and their world bank. 

Dante

A statue to Dante who also lived in Florence sits in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce. Photo by Bonnie Fink.

Some of the important sights include the Uffizi Gallery where several important paintings of the Renaissance are displayed, or the Accademia Museum where you can see Michelangelo’s David. We enjoyed the Museo Galileo, a science museum near the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) in the heart of Florence. It wasn’t the most popular museum in town judging by the fact that there was no line to get in, but science is our interest above art, so it was a good fit. And it was very interesting to learn that of the scientific discoveries being made as the world emerged from the Dark Ages, Florence was in the middle of the action.

Did you know that when the Church placed Galileo under house arrest for life for claiming that the universe did not revolve around the earth, he chose his home in Florence to spend the rest of his life? That’s because he had his main observatory at his Florence home, and since he was going to be under house arrest, he wanted to spend his time continuing his studies in astronomy.

You can see more about Florence in the images we have below. But the problem is, how do you prioritize your time in Florence and see the things that are the most important to you? For many people, any number of museums displaying art from the Renaissance might be important. In our afternoon of free time from our ship’s tour, we found lunch, then made our way to the Museo Galileo because we had heard that Galileo’s original telescope was there. If it was, we didn’t find it, but we found nearly every other notable astronomer’s telescope from the period in the museum. We also found a number of other scientific instruments whose purpose escaped us. We’ll need to return to spend a bit more time just to ponder the things in this one museum.

Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio is a medieval stone arch bridge over the Arno River, built in 1345. When it was built it housed fish and meat markets. Today it consists of jewelry vendors. There’s an interesting story about the bridges over the Arno River in Florence. There are several versions of exactly why the Ponte Vicchio was spared destruction by the retreating German army in world War II, but the fact remains that it was the only medieval bridge to be left standing after the war. Photo by Donald Fink.

One way to see Florence might be to consider a private guide. We had a guide that took us from the ship and around Florence. Her name was Valentina Bassi, and we learned that she also has a private tour business, giving custom designed individual or small group tours of Florence and Pisa. Her web site is at www.florenceandpisatours.com. We plan to re-visit Florence one day in the future, and we think an ideal plan, at least for us, would be to contact Valentina and tell her what we want to see, and arrange for our first day as a private tour with her. We could then plan subsequent visits by ourselves as follow-ups.

The point in using a tour guide to show you the sights is not that we think we need someone to hold our hand as we make our way through the city, but rather, the fact is that a competent guide—as Ms. Valentina most certainly is—has literally years of experience seeing the sights. She has knowledge that would take us time to uncover, and she possess anecdotal stories that we might not ever discover on our own.

Florence today continues to be an interesting center for art, architecture, engineering, or just about any emerging field of study, but for us, that’s not the reason we want to visit again. The history is so full of colorful stories, and so many of the things we’ve heard about all our lives originated in this historical city, it’s rewarding and fun to be able to come here and see where many of them started.

If you have a chance to visit Florence, whether it’s a destination or just a day visit from a passing cruise ship, this is one stop not to miss.

Posted by Donald Fink and Bonnie Fink in Blog, Cruising, Travel, 1 comment
21
Oct
2017
Amalfi – A Coastal Oasis in Italy’s Campania Region

Amalfi – A Coastal Oasis in Italy’s Campania Region

Not long ago we spent a day touring the Campania region of Italy’s west coast. We’re sailing aboard the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas and stopped for the day in Naples. From there, we took a ship’s tour focused on a visit to Pompeii, but before the tour of the Roman city near Mount Vesuvius, we stopped in the small coastal town of Amalfi.

The bus ride to Amalfi was interesting. We were in an almost full sized tour bus and drove south from Naples along a coastal road that wasn’t more than 1 1/2 lanes wide, with cars parked along the side of the road here and there just to make things interesting for the driver. Much of the road was carved out of rock and cantilevered out from the side of the cliff. It reminded us of Highway 1 along California’s west coast, except in this case the road to Amalfi made Highway 1 look like a super highway.

When we arrived in Amalfi, we were surprised to see that there was quite a bit of room for what we thought was a little town. All along the coast on the way south there was barely enough room for the scores of small houses and hotels we passed by, but once we arrived in town, there was ample room for this small village to have a thriving life.

As is the case with many of the Ship’s tours these days, we were given “free time” to wander about the city before we headed out on the rest of our journey. We made a quick survey of the area and finally settled on a small café in the city center for some coffee, and to watch the people pass by, going about their tourist business. We also had a crepe that was interlaced with chocolate, ice cream, and cookies. It was the best crepe we’ve had so far this trip, which included most of Germany, Brussels, Disneyland Paris, and Barcelona. It was what we thought a crepe should be like; thin and light, and full of flavor. The ice cream and cookies was not the result of understanding enough Italian to order food, but rather, it was more or less random selection of something from the crepe menu, about halfway down the list and in the middle of the price range.

Cafe in Amalfi

We enjoyed a crepe while in Amalfi. It was filled with a cookie, ice cream, and chocolate. Sounds odd but it was very good. Outdoor cafes in Europe are also a great place to people watch, as was this restaurant, located in the central part of town. Photo by Donald Fink.

After thoroughly enjoying our coffee and crepe, we wandered around town a bit longer and grabbed some more images of the town.

Amalfi was first mentioned in written documents as early as the 6th century. In the 8th century, it began to rise as an important trading port, doing much of its business with ports in northern Africa. The town at one time was thought to have between 60,000 and 70,000 residents. They even used a financial system involving gold currency when the rest of Italy was still bartering for their commerce.

A tsunami destroyed much of the lower town and the port in 1347, and the town never recovered as a shipping center. In the 1920s and 1930s, Amalfi was a tourist destination popular among British elite. Now, it’s just popular with everyone.

This is a town that would be worth returning to at some point in the future. Renting a car and driving from Naples or Salerno-the two closest big towns-would seem to be a last option based on what we saw of the road from the tour bus, so we asked our tour guide how locals came to this little village to vacation. There seemed to be several great looking hotels in town and folks have to get there somehow. Our guide said that many people actually did ride the public transportation bus, but they usually took water taxis to get to any of the little villages we found along the way from Naples. For us, being people who usually gravitate toward a rental car as a first option, the bigger question would be finding adequate parking once we arrived if we brought a car.

In fact, we took a boat from Amalfi to Salerno, where we again met up with our tour bus and made our way to Pompeii. Expect more about Pompeii in the next couple of days. In looking for a ferry, we were able to find a scheduled boat from Salerno to Amalfi, but not a ferry from Naples to Amalfi, so a return trip might require some planning. Here’s a look at the ferry schedule.

Our brief stay in Amalfi convinced us that we want to spend more time in central and coastal Italy, including trips out to some of the Italian islands in the Mediterranean. The food was great, based on our crepe of a lifetime, the coffee was good, and we were thrilled to see that many of the buildings dating back to the days right after the Roman Empire are still there, still inspiring us to learn about the past. With towns like Amalfi, with their old world charm, friendly people, and spectacular surroundings, it’s hard to decide where the next trip will take us.

Posted by Donald Fink and Bonnie Fink in Blog, 2 comments
14
Oct
2017
Barcelona Again

Barcelona Again

We’ve completed our travels in Germany for this year. We’ve even made a trip to France to visit Disneyland Paris, and there’ll be more articles on all this shortly. But for the moment, we’re in Barcelona, Spain, waiting for our ship to come in. Literally. We’re due to board the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas on Sunday, October 15th. We’ll make a seven day trip around the Mediterranean, then head across the Atlantic for a re-positioning cruise back to Fort Lauderdale.

We planned to spend time seeing as much of the sights in Barcelona as we could, but two factors have kept us closer to the hotel this trip. First, the city is a bit turbulent at the moment. There was a terrorist attack just over a month ago, which has everyone on edge. Second, the political scope of Spain right now—Catalonia in particular—is one of unrest.

Barcelona is part of a region in Spain called Catalonia. Many Catalonians consider themselves apart from Spain and want independence from the Spanish government. In fact, the issue has been around since before Franco took power in 1939, going all the back to Franco-Spanish War 1635. But what’s been happening lately? Well, many of the Catalonians are still wanting independence, and the politics are heating up. Recently there have been demonstrations, mostly in the city of Barcelona, with tensions rising, causing these demonstration to be almost riots, but not quite.

From what we understand, the President of Catalonia has signed a declaration of independence, but has asked the Catalan Parliament to not vote on it, just yet. Apparently there are still negotiations in play behind the scenes that we, the foreign tourists, don’t have the sophistication politically to understand. Certainly there are issues on all sides that would take a far better understanding of Spanish political life in general, and Catalonian life in particular, for us to fully embrace. For that reason, we’ve decided that an opinion by us on the subject is pretty much worthless, so we won’t render one.

Hotel Continental

For now, we’re staying close to our hotel. We’re in our favorite haunt, the Hotel Continental, on La Rambla, near the famous Caltalan Square in downtown Barcelona. We’ve been here before and even posted about it here. The hotel is still eclectic. It comprises 40 rooms, 11 of which are balconies overlooking La Rambla. So far, we’ve only been able to book interior rooms. Never a balcony. So instead of the busy street life outside our window, we get the peace and quiet of an interior court.

Around La Rambla

La Rambla 1905

La RAmbla as it appeared in 1905. By Montse liz – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23260921

We’ve ventured just around the immediate area, strolling La Rambla from the Square down a few blocks toward the ship terminals. By the way, you may see La Rambla referred to as Las Rambles because it is actually made up of several different named streets. we went with “La Rambla” because that’s what it says on the street signs. Nothing like being there to verify.

La Rambla is a famous street in the Heart of Barcelona. It’s where all the tourists go first, and then spread out to see the rest of the city. There’s an underground train running down the length of La Rambla, so it’s easy to think that the street was made as it is in recent years because of the construction of the subway. In fact, the street used to be a combination seasonal stream and full time sewer in the 14th century. In 1377, construction of new city walls began, and in 1440, the stream was diverted around the new walls. From then on, Las Rambles has been evolving as a popular street.

La Rambla Street View Today

This is how La Rambla looks today. From a distance, not much has changed. Photo by Donald Fink.

The town actually looks quiet to us, for a busy European city. We see folks from all walks of life. Certainly the Spanish are about, but the streets are full of tourists from all over too. Remember that this is a major Mediterranean port. Folks come here to catch cruise ships as well as ferries to and from nearby cities in Northern Africa. As the weekend approaches, we see more folks from outside the area, possibly from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. It reminds us of shopping areas in San Diego, when the weekend approaches and folks come up from nearby Mexican cities to shop. It appears to be the same thing here in Barcelona. At least, that’s our view of what’s happening.

Barcelona is notorious for pickpocketing, but so is nearly every city along the Mediterranean. At least, that’s what we’ve read. We haven’t personally witnessed a single incident of any kind in this town. Of course, that might be in part because we’re in a big city, and as a result, we take precautions. Precautions in this case mostly amounts to not going places we shouldn’t go, not looking like victims, and paying attention to our surroundings.

La Rambla didn’t get our full attention on this trip, but we’ll certainly be back. Barcelona is quickly turning into a favorite town for us, partly because it’s where we tend to catch a ship for a cruise, but also in part because it’s just a fun town to visit. The weather is good and the streets are lively but still reasonably safe. What’s not to like?

Here are a few images of La Rambla from this visit:

And here are a few images we made of our favorite hotel in Barcelona, the Hotel Continental:

Posted by Donald Fink and Bonnie Fink in Blog, Cruising, 0 comments