37 Mediterranean April 2023

Cruise in the Mediterranean

31^st March - 22^nd April 2023

Itinerary: Portsmouth - Málaga - Valletta - Limassol - Antalya - Rhodes Town - Heraklion - Palermo - Cagliari - Lisbon - Portsmouth

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April 04. Málaga, Spain. An early start for an excursion to Ronda. Once there, we strolled round the nice little town, which is high on a hill overlooking a plain. We walked over the new bridge (a couple of hundred years old). Then we visited the oldest working bull ring in Spain and the Santa Maria La Mayor cathedral. There were a few, very ornate, floats inside, waiting to be carried through the streets in a couple of days time. It is a very picturesque little town.

April 07. Valletta, Malta. Good Friday. All the flags were flying at half mast, because today is the day Christ died. I'd booked the included panoramic tour, with the intention of coming back, lunching on board and then strolling into Valletta. However, we docked across the harbour from where I'd expected, because of building work. So I just took the tour and then stayed onboard. Arcadia was also in port, so I contacted Phil and Yvonne who were on her, but unfortunately, we weren't able to meet.

April 10. Limassol, Cyprus. Another included panoramic tour. We drove along the island to Petra Tou Romiou, where Aphrodite was apparently born from the spume of the sea. Then we drove through the British military base at Episkopi and saw the view to Akrotiri. Finally we had a brief stop at the Castle of Kolossi. When we returned to the ship, we weren't allowed on for about 25 minutes, as the wind had moved it and they had to tighten the ropes and reset the gangplank. To be honest, we passed some sights I'd have liked to have stopped off at and inspected, but it was a pleasant enough trip.

April 11. Antalya, Turkey. A new port for me. It was a trip to Perge and Kursunlu Falls today. Perge is an old Roman settlement that was built on an older site. It was quite an interesting place to be guided round. Kursunlu Falls are a small set of falls in a picturesque setting. Pretty. The day on board was wet, the nearer we got to Perge, the sunnier it got. When we returned, we hit the rain again

April 12. Rhodes Town, Greece. Another new port for me. We moored a five minute walk away from the old town. It's surrounded by the old walls and inside them is a pretty little town full of winding streets. I just wandered off the ship and strolled around the town.

April 13. Heraklion, Greece. Yet another new port. Today I went to Knossos, the second most popular archeological site in Greece, after the Parthenon. We had a guided tour round the site and then went into Heraklion for a brief (very brief) walking tour.

April 15. Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Wow! Another new port for me. Today's excursion was a Palermo city tour and Cappuccini catacombs. First off, we visited the catacombs. These were first used in the 16th century and originally only used by Capuchin monks. Other people were also buried there, eventually. We saw lots of bodies. Quite macabre. After this was a panoramic Palermo tour. No photo opportunities until we stopped by a theatre. It was throwing it down, so I, like many others, stayed on the bus. To be honest I thought Palermo was a bit of a dump. No photos at all from this port.

April 16. Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. You'll never believe this, but another new port for me! Today was a quick drive around Cagliari, with a brief stop to look at the salt flats, followed by a walking tour of Castelo, the oldest part of the city, which despite it's name isn't a castle. We walked through very narrow streets, that had cars driving through them. I wouldn't have taken a bicycle, let alone a car, on them. We passed by the old Royal Arsenal, Santa Maria Cathedral and many other old buildings and squares.

17 April. At sea. Today I managed to get one of the invites to the navigational bridge. It was very high tech. Absolutely everything was run by computers. It's all touch screens and very Star Trek.

April 19. Lisbon, Portugal. Nope! Not a new port, this was my third visit in six months. All I did today was to walk with Sharon to the Praça do Comércio. Where we had Pastéis de Nata, coffee and a beer, before ambling back to the ship.