Marseilles - December 3, 2014

Today’s tour was another all day tour. First, we drove from the port approximately 1 ½ hours to a town called Avignon. This medieval town was the home of 9 Popes during the years 1309 – 1378 when they moved back to Rome. Here we toured the medieval town seeing the Cathedral, the Palace of the Popes and the gardens. Afterwards we were able to find a place for lunch and wander through the town. Once back on our bus, we drove another 45 minutes to Le Pont du Gard – the bridge of the river Gard.

This “bridge’ is a world famous ancient Roman aqueduct that used to carry approximately 44 million gallons of water daily along a distance of 30 miles from Uzes to Nimes. This aqueduct is an absolute marvel in engineering. It has 3 levels, however the water itself was carried along the uppermost level.

All of this amazing beauty and more is found in Provence, a spectacularly beautiful area of France which boasts fruit orchards, vineyards and olive groves. There are 2 olive trees at Le Pont du Gard which have to be more than 1,000 years old.

Livorno - December 2, 2014

Livorno is the port for the cities of Pisa and Florence and today we went to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, about an hour outside of Livorno.

The church in the town of Pisa was built in what is now called the Field of Miracles. It was once the port for the region. Over time the port silted up and moved farther and farther away from Pisa. It was decided that it would be an excellent place to put the town’s beautiful new church and indeed, the church and the baptistery are there in the Field of Miracles. The bell tower was built, but before it could be raised to the roof of the church, one side of it started to sink into the soft silt. All of the buildings in the Field of Miracles lean somewhat, however none as dramatically as the bell tower.

Over time the tower’s angle of tilt has increased to the point where it was no longer safe for anyone to climb the tower and it was closed while the town decided what to do. Ultimately, they ended up draining the Field of Miracles and replacing the water with soil. Then they attached cables on the side away from the lean and gradually shortened the cables. There was never an intent to completely straighten the tower (as our guide said, “Who would come to see the Straight Tower of Pisa?” What they were able to do though is to stabilize the tower at the same lean that it had 2 centuries ago and which is considered safe for people to visit and climb.

The Vatican - December 1, 2014

Our final day in Rome and our day to join the Ocean Princess.

Our day today at the Vatican is all about the Vatican museums, Raphael’s rooms and the Sistine Chapel. The art work here is absolutely amazing.

Firstly, Raphael’s rooms are a series of rooms where Raphael painted many religious pictures. The walls in these rooms are completely covered with his work. Then we come to the Sistine Chapel and what a work of art, but not the work of art that I was expecting.

Michaelangelo lived in Florence where he sculpted. Being a sculpture was all that he ever wanted to do, but suddenly he was being told by the Pope that he had to come to Rome and paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He obeyed the summons of his Pope and it took him 4 years to paint the ceiling, but, it is not a continuous painting. Michaelangelo broke the ceiling up into “chunks”, each of which he painted with a different picture from the life of Christ. In between these pictures, though, he painted lines and angles that make the entire ceiling appear as if it is sculpted in three dimensions – an amazing feat.

To make the room even more impressive, 30 years later, Michaelangelo was called back to Rome to paint the Last Judgement which is painted on the entrance wall of the Sistine Chapel. By this time, he was an old man who just wanted to remain in his beloved Florence, so, he painted the picture that he was asked to paint, however, every human figure in the painting was painted naked – scandalous in that day and age! It wasn’t until after Michaelangelo’s death that another artist was commissioned to paint clothing on all of the human figures.

After spending the morning at the Vatican, we took the 2 hour ride to the Port of Civitecchia and boarded the Ocean Princess where a wonderful surprise awaited us. During lifeboat drill, Graham’s keen eye spotted some familiar and unexpected people. Our friends, Peter and Lynne are also aboard this ship – a trip that they decided to take at the last minute.