Western Mediterranean Cruise on Symphony of the Seas

Itinerary: Barcelona - Palma de Mallorca - Marseille - La Spezia - Civitavecchia - Naples - Barcelona

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27 April. Barcelona. . After a very early start, we got to our hotel around midday. After leaving our bags in the room we strolled along to Las Ramblas. We wandered up to the Hard Rock, back past the Mercado de la Boqueria and down to the port. On the way we picked up some flowers for our cabin, they cost €7.

28 April. Barcelona. We boarded the ship and explored. She’s a big girl!

29 April. Palma de Mallorca. A cool day today, so no shorts in town! We walked from the ship to the Cathedral via the Hard Rock Cafe. As it was a Sunday, the cathedral was closed to non worshippers until 13:00, so we didn’t go in. We then strolled through some of the small streets and alleys to one of the main squares where we caught a bus back to near the port. Back on board we managed to grab a couple of the last tickets for Hairspray. We then just mooched about the ship. After the show we walked through Central Park then bed. According to Barbara’s Fitbit we walked 17 kilometres today!!!

01 May. Marseille, France. . Another fairly cool start to the day although it warmed up in the early afternoon. We were docked a way out, so we took the shuttle bus into town. We walked along by the marina looking at some of the interesting buildings. We had been warned that there would be a demonstration in the town and we saw the start of it. We wandered past the Opera House and Palais de Justice before walking up the steep hill to Notre-Dame de la Garde. We went in and it was very ornate inside. There were some very good views of Marseille from the church, including of L’Orange Velodrome. On the way back, we passed through a square where we had a lunch of cheese and wine. Back on board we saw the ice show, 1977.

02 May. La Spezia, Italy. Today was wet. We took a ships excursion to Ravello, Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino. First stop was Ravello. We had a snack in a cafe then had a short meander through the alleys behind the cafe. We saw a man cutting cheese in a shop window and he saw us looking and gave us a piece. Divine. Then a short drive to Santa Margherita Ligure. We went into the church and strolled around a bit before taking a boat to Portofino. We decided to have a light lunch first. A bowl of minestrone soup and a glass of wine each, plus a bottle of water between us. €84!!! I don’t pay that for a 3 course dinner! As we arrived in Portofino, we saw a rhinoceros hanging in a park. Apparently it's the symbol of Portofino. All three places were very pretty but the rain didn’t help.

03 May. Civitavecchia, Italy. Another visit to Rome today. First stop was Augustines Arch and the Colosseum. We didn’t go inside. Then we went to the Trevi Fountain where we each lobbed a coin into it. After that, we walked round a lot of Rome. We saw the Pantheon, the Brazilian embassy which is in the Palazzo Pamphili, various obelisks and squares. Finally, we went to the Vatican and saw the outside of St. Peter’s. A long, tiring but ultimately fulfilling day.

04 May. Naples, Italy. Yet an other wet, sometimes very wet, day. A trip to Pompeii. It was very interesting and hard on the feet. We saw quite a bit, but I’m sure we only scratched the surface. We saw the theatre, Forum, various shops and houses and a bathhouse. A very interesting place. There were some plaster casts of people and dogs and that really brought home the fact that this happened to real people.

Chilli stall	Drinks	Finished!	Symphony	Sculpture	Art work

Royal Promenade	Sculpture	Sculpture	Stairs	Cabin	Solarium

Central Park	Funnels	Sculpture	Art work	Slides	Sculpture

Windmill	Cathedral	Ship	Door	Street	Captain

Aqua show	Solarium	Candy floss	Cocktails	Artwork	Central Park

Town Hall	Church	Building	Demonstration	Court House	Church

Velodrome	Church	Church	Building	Church	Building

Harbour	Rhinoceros	Meerkats	Church	Arch	Colosseum

Colosseum	Colosseum	Trevi Fountain	Galleria	Pantheon	Opticon

Pantheon	Palace	Swiss Guards	St Peter's	Theatre	Street

Shop	Painting	Plaster cast	Bathhouse	Forum	Ship

Swan	View	Basilica	Basilica	St George

Page created 9^th May 2018