Tag Archives: cruise ship

November 15, 2013 · 5:35 am

Lovely Lucca

Lucca Panorama

If it’s Wednesday, this must be Lucca . . . or maybe Pietra Santa. Or perhaps both. We arrived in the port of Livorno on October 30. From there we were once again on tour — this time to Pisa (more on that next Monday), the ancient walled city of Lucca, and the quaint artist community of Pietra Santa:

Pietra Santa

Now a riddle: What does my butt have in common with Gina Lollobrigida? Yes, there really is a connection, which I’ll get to in a moment. Meanwhile, back to Lucca.

Lucca

Lucca is a great example of an early walled city, with many narrow streets lined with charming cafés and quaint shops.

Lucca

As for Pietra Santa, it’s just simply charming everywhere you look. Even the local cats put on a show.

Sharpening Claws in all the Wrong Places in Pietra Santa

After our lengthy tour of Pisa, Lucca, and Pietra Santa our guide took us to a great little restaurant for lunch. It is here that you will find the answer to the above question. After we settled into our seats for lunch, the waitress pronounced that just one day before they had hosted Gina Lollobrigida. She then pointed to me and stated most emphatically that I was sitting in the very seat as had the Italian screen legend.

So much for my brush with one of the most famous butts of our time. Here below is today’s photo gallery. Click on any image to bring up the slideshow.

Pietra Santa Art

Pietra Santa

Lucca Bicycles

Lucca

Lucca Kiosk

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Filed under Photography, travel

Tagged as cruise ship, Holland America, Lucca, MS Ryndam, photography, R. Doug Wicker, taly, travel

November 13, 2013 · 5:35 am

La Maddalena Madness

La Maddalena

It had been an extremely busy first week aboard MS Ryndam. Thankfully we finally got a day of rest after leaving Palermo on the way to Olbia, Sardinia. But our time in Olbia was very short, for Ursula had us booked on a tour of La Maddalena, which we reached after a short ferry ride.

Ferry to Maddalena

Our tour of La Maddalena began with a circuit around the island. Along the way we enjoyed great views from high above, as well as close-ups of water that was unbelievably clear.

La Maddalena

After the island circuit we returned to the main city and spent some time taking in the sights. Here are today’s photo gallery shots of this enchanting little island:

La Maddalena

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Filed under Photography, travel

Tagged as cruise ship, Holland America, Italy, La Maddalena, MS Ryndam, photography, R. Doug Wicker, Sardinia, travel

November 11, 2013 · 5:35 am

Patrolling Palermo

Palermo, Sicily

Civitivecchia is the port city serving Rome. We’d been to Rome several times before, and this trip was going to be a short one between docking and departure so we decided to sit in Civitivecchia rather than roam through Rome. More on that in a moment, but this is for Randi Brewer (she loves these things):

Citrôen 2CV

Alas, there’s not a whole lot in Civitivecchia so this blog also covers our brief stay in Palermo. But before we go there, here’s two more for Randi:

Citrôen 2CV

Fiat 500

Most of our time in Civitivecchia involved a brief foray onto the main streets and a stop at a local WiFi-connected café to allow us to cruise the ‘net on our iPads. Back on the ship I captured a couple of pictures of passing boats:

Civitivecchia, Italy

Palermo on the other hand was quite a walking adventure — at least eight miles on foot through all kinds of streets. We reached Palermo on Sunday, October 27. We’ll get to those photograps in a moment, but first I was to share what I captured on the way into port.

The first is the roof of the passenger terminal:

Palermo Passenger Terminal

The second is an interesting shot of the mooring for the MS Ryndam:

Docking the Ryndam in Palermo

The following is today’s Palermo photo gallery, which includes a colorful and vibrant food market as well as some great buildings and more neat balconies and other architectural details (Click on any image below to bring up the slideshow):