March 24th
Here's an update on what the last few ports have been like.
Agadir is a great port with beautiful beaches. It seems to be more or less a tourist beach resort town, and the beaches are amazing. There is a boardwalk full of restaurants and such right on the beach, and me and a few others from the ship stopped there for some coffee and free wifi, before walking along the beach. All in all Agadir reminded me of a more European flavoured version of a Carribean island. Except in Africa. All in all a great port, if not particularly exciting on a cultural level.
The City of Las Palmas on the island of Grand Canary is another great port. It is a huge city - I think 350,000 people or so, making it the biggest European city outside of Europe. It is quite a thing to see a full size city like that on such a seemingly small island in the middle of nowhere ( well, really not that far off the coast of Africa I guess). As a rule I dislike any port which where their only significant Industry is tourism, since they're usually devoid of any culture, and Las Palmas is clearly not one such of these. While it does have spectacular beaches and shops to offer tourists, it clearly has a thriving downtown core which supports multiple industries.
Today we were in Funchal, on the Island of Madeira - A Portugese colony. Funchal, along with Valetta, are probably the two most picturesque towns that I have seen in the Mediterranean so far. Funchal is a beautiful old medieval looking city situated in a valley overflowing with lush greenery. I went on a tour today which took us on a cable car up the mountain, presenting many breathtaking views of the city below, and it was incredible to behold.
The tour itself was a very good one. Before the cable car, we were taken to a wine store to sample some famous Madeiran wine, which was excellent though not entirely to my taste. Still, nothing starts of a good tour like free wine.
Next the cable car took us up a good portion of the mountain, where we then walked a ways to meet up with our transportation to take us down: toboggans. I've never been on a toboggan that slides on pavement, and it was a pretty cool way to descend the mountain, being pushed and guided by Portugese men clad in white, wearing straw hats. Upon descending the mountain, the bus took us back up and much further, to virtually the very top of the mountain. The view, as much of it as we could make out through all of the fog, was spectacular. We were then taken down to the ship, which was an uneventful trip but full of many more spectacular views.
Tomorrow is a sea day, and then we are on to our last port of this cruise, the last port that I will get to see in the Mediterranean that I have not yet already seen - Malaga.
March 26th
I went on a tour yesterday in Malaga, which was generally excellent, if somewhat predictable - the more tours I go on, the more they seem to be the same sorts of things. However, there were a few things that stood out in Malaga to make it more unique.
The first stop was a Castle at the top of a hill called Gebralfaro (Gebral means "mountain", like in "Gebralta"), which provided an excellent view of the entire city. From that view we were able to see the stadium where they hold bull fights, a good view where the locals can go watch if they don't want to pay the exorbitant price at the stadium (something like 70 euros).
We walked through the town a little bit as he showed us the older parts of town with narrow streets, stopping to show us a 250 year-old fig tree, a recently excavated Roman Amphitheatre, and the cathedral. The Cathedral in Malaga was magnificent, a huge building built between the 16th and 18th century. The paintings and sculptures inside were awesome, portraying such biblical episodes as the angel Gabriel coming to Mary, the supper where Jesus' feet are washed and dried by a woman's tears and hair, the beheading of St. Paul, and various others. The massive organ they had in the church was beautiful. I am not much of a museum person, but as far as old churches and cathedrals go, I am always amazed and this was no exception.
At the end of the tour I intended to go out into the city again as it was only 1pm, but I ended up napping for a good four hours after which there was no time. In the evening we played a relatively traditional big band set, featuring lots of Glenn Miller tunes (String of Pearls,
The audiences on this ship, as compared to the dawn, are much more appreciate of big band music, and the dance floor was completely packed to every tune we played, making it much more enjoyable.
Today was a sea day. At four o'clock in the afternoon we played a set of the music of Burt Bacharach, transcribed by our sax player AJ. I enjoyed playing set, and I think the audience appreciated it too even if they were quiet because the music is calm and relatively non-energetic. I, being used to playing shows without much audience applause, was not perturbed by it, but the others in the band were - this ship tends to spoil musicians in that respect, as every other show we do is extremely well received, though in no small part because the musicians in the band and the bandmaster are very talented, and the arrangements are all very good.
March 28th
Yesterday was a fantastic day. I rented out a bike, and went out into Barcelona around 10:30. My main mission for the day was to see as many Gaudi pieces as I could. First of all I biked to the La Padrera, which was a residence built by Gaudi for some wealthy Barcelonans in the early 20th century. The outside of it is curved giving the impression of waves, with some black metalic curved parts that look like spider webs. Inside everything was decorated in his signature style, conveying a flowing, organic quality that mimics nature while remaining highly functional. The roof-top was the most impressive, with statues rising like pyramids and waves, sometimes vaguely humanoid, connected by bridges that leads around two massive courtyards which you can look all the way down into. The rooftop also gives a fantastic view of the surrounding streets of Barcelona.
Next I biked to the Sacrada Familia, Gaudi's masterpiece, a grand cathedral that is the most recognizable icon of Barcelona, and is absolutely breathtaking. In typical Gaudi style, the cathedral is build around towers which try to replicate a forest, and it was engineered in such a sound way as to not need the support of extra buttresses, as are often required for such buildings 0One of many examples demonstrating Gaudi's talent for imaginatively combining aesthetics with function.
After the Sacrada Familia I biked all the way to the far north of Barcelona to Park Guell, a park designed by Gaudi on a giant hill overlooking the rest of the city. It was designed to replicate the English Garden City, and as such the english word "Park" is used in the name. It is filled with all sorts of buildings (reminiscent of gingerbread houses), bridges, columns, walls and paths all designed to mimic and be a natural extension of the surrounding nature. It provides some spectacular views of the city, and also has several squares that are hotspots for vendours, artists and musicians. I saw a great latin band playing cuban music; I was particularly impressed with the sound of the washtub bass.
Afterwards, I slowly made my way back to the ship, choosing a different main street from the one on which I had come down. This proved to be a good choice, as block after block was filled with amazing statues, a gate and then eventually a large park and the Barcelona Zoo (which I didn't enter). In the spirit of trying to see absolutely everything in one day, I decided to find the beach and see it just so I had been there at least once. On the way I found another great latin band, this time with a real upright bass. The beach itself was stunning, and I may try and spend more time there on my next (and last) visit to Barcelona.
All in all, an amazing day. To top it off, it was the orchestra's night off so I proceeded back to the ship, after a quick wifi stop, to go and relax for the night.
Today was a sea day, and being the first sea day of the cruise, started like they always do, with a polka set outside of the garden cafe, and then two shows of Shout. Yurie, a sax player I worked with on the dawn, has now joined the orchestra on the Jade, replacing AJ. it is always nice to have another familiar face from the Dawn on this ship.
Tomorrow we are in Civitavecchia, the port of Rome, and I am all signed up to go on an all day tour into the eternal city. It will be my first and last trip there while on this ship.
March 30st
Yesterday was I went to Rome.
I was on a passenger tour, and we left the ship bright and early at 7:45 or so, getting into Rome around 9:30.
Our first and longest stop was in the Vatican. On arriving to the Vatican State which is surrounded by a great wall, we saw blocks of people lined up to get in - considered to be quite a small line for here and expected to get much longer come summer. Luckily, being part of a tour with a reservation, we were able to skip the line and go straight into the Vatican museum.
The museum was overwhelming in every way - size, amount and quality of art, quantity of tourists. The main hallway went on for blocks, and every ceiling and wall was covered in stunning tapestries and mosaics. In addition there were scores of sculptures all around. The amount of people was similarly overwhelming, and there was a constant jam of people moving at a relentless slow pace through the museum, leaving little choice but to follow the flow. That one hallway alone would have been enough material to look at for an entire day, but we probably were only in them for 40 minutes or so.
The museum led straight to the entrance of the Sistine Chapel. Before entering, our guide gave us a lengthy explanation of what we would see upon entering, as there is supposed to be little to no talking once you are inside. The side walls depict the lives of Moses and of Jesus respectively, while the main wall out of which you enter depicts the masterpiece painting of the Last Judgement, in which Michaelangelo put a cameo picture of himself as well as his friends and enemies, being cast into heaven or hell respectively.
The ceiling had pictures depicting the creation of the world, depicting the story of Adam and Eve, original sin, and the events that followed.
It was an amazing room and we were given only 15 minutes on our own to take it in. It was a smaller room than I had imagined, not in height but in depth and width, but it is a chapel so I guess that was to be expected. That in no way diminished the experience however - words fail to properly describe it.
The Vatican seems to have all of the important parts adjacent to one another, and so the other side of the Sistene chapel led almost immediately to the entrance of St. Peter's Basilica.
Outside the Basilica, in addition to the main entrance, there is another "Holy Door", which is walled off by bricks, and only on special religious occasions such as the year of Jubilee is the wall torn down and the door opened by the pope. it is then kept open for a year, and during that time people can enter through it, in the tradition of the year of Jubilee, and have their sins forgiven them.
St. Peter's Basilica is, on it's own, reason enough to visit Rome - to steal a quote used in wikipedia, "St Peter's Basilica is the reason why Rome is still the center of the civilized world. For religious, historical, and architectural reasons it by itself justifies a journey to Rome, and its interior offers a palimpsest of artistic styles at their best."
It is the largest church in the world I believe in every dimension. One feature in the church which I absolutely love is the placement of comparative markers of the size of other churches, measured from the far end, as if it's grandeur alone is not enough so they had to rub in just how much bigger they are than all other churches. Only in Rome, New York, and likely Toronto...
While photography, in particular flash photography, was strictly prohibited in the Sistine Chapel due to the damage of flashes to the paintings, there were no restrictions whatsoever inside St. Peters. This is because all of the pieces of art are mosaic, built into the plaster, and as such unaffected by the flash. Mosaics, sculptures, and decorations abound all throughout the mammoth structure. It is subdivided into smaller parts with various chapels, monuments and relics throughout. The centre piece of the church is a Baldachin, a kind of canopy, which covers the Pope's alter. Underneath this alter are stairs leading down to the traditional burial spot of St. Peter.
Nearby is a statue of St. Paul, and the foot of the statue has been worn after centuries of pilgrims coming to kiss his foot.
At the very back of the church is an elevated throne, 'The Chair of St. Peter', presumed to have been used by St. Peter himself, and symbolizing the apostolic succession from him down to the current day pope.
Another notable feature in the church is the preserved body of pope Innocent XI in a casket on display, covered in wax.
The church is extremely overwhelming, and I very much hope to visit it again.
Outside the church is St. Peter's square, a huge outdoor space surrounding by the church, the pope's residence, and a few other buildings. In the centre of a square is an Obelisk called "The Witness", originally from Egypt, which was present at the location of St. Peter's martyrdom. The square is used by the pope to address the public and can hold some 500,000 people.
After our visit to the Vatican, we were taken to a local restaurant and stuffed with pasta, salad, beef, wine and glorious cappuccino cake. From there we were driven to the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine for a chance for some photos, and then back to the ship.
That evening we had another dixieland set in the atrium that went extremely well.
March 31st
Yesterday was a sea day, which was pretty standard for the most part, except for the evening. We accompanied a guest entertainer named Nicola Loud, a virtuoso violinist.
The show was amazing. it's easy to get used to some pretty cheesy if well presented acts on cruise ships, but to play with such an outstanding musician as Nicola was a breath of fresh air. The material we played was very familiar cruise ship standards like Sway, Over the Rainbow, Sweet Georgia Brown, and a few classical pieces, but the arrangements, energy, and the mastery that she displayed on the violin made all of the difference. Not only wasthe music amazing, but she was very charming while talking to the audience, without speaking for too long - this is a sensitivity that many guest entertainers lack, and can make the difference between a good show and an excellent show.
It was a privilege to be able to play with Nicola. So far each guest entertainer we've played with on the Jade has been better than the previous one. We are playing with an opera singer in the next few days, and I hope but sincerely doubt that she will be able to outdo Nicola.
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