2016 Cruising Europe

This was a double-barreled adventure, starting with a western Mediterranean cruise, and a river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. Both were spectacular, with food and service to die for. Ship Sirena 600 pax in the Med. Amastella on river 150 pax. Read more

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Trip start
June 19, 2016
2016 Cruising Europe Richard n Sheila Travels
Hairini
June 20, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
Bags packed, most things done, bye little Home we'll see you soon.

Very pleased to have a great house sitter looking after the place. Many thanks Simon and Nat...
Have a fantastic trip & look forward to your photos xo
6/22/16Reply
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Pukekohe
June 20, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 12 °C
A night with Mum before we leave.
Richard n Sheila Travels Mom looking very much herself. Sending us off with a Bundaberg Ginger Beer!
6/24/16Reply
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Departure point NZ
June 21, 2016 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Relaxing in the Emperor Lounge at akl airport. Flight in an hour or so...
Richard n Sheila Travels Someone's pleased to be heading off on holiday!
6/24/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Golly, a selfie.
6/24/16Reply
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2016 Cruising Europe Richard n Sheila Travels
Singapore Airport
June 22, 2016 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Half way there ... another 5 hrs here and we leave for Istanbul.
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Istanbul
June 22, 2016 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
A day and night here. Off to see the city sights now...

Caught the BigBus hop on/off and saw some city sights. Crossed the Bosphorus strait (?) which runs through Istanbul and separates the two continents it's built on ... Asia and Europe. Toured Hagia Sophia museum, which was a church from Byzantine era, now a museum. Mosaics inside amazing. It's the 3rd rebuild and many of the original ruins are visible. Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) the mosaics and decor is fabulous. Shoes off head covering on, this is a functional Mosque and closed for prayers an hour after we went through. Minarets everywhere ... 3000 mosques nearly 2000 churches, synagogues - seems the various religions exist peacefully together here.

Huge city 20 million population, housing and buildings as far as the eye could see. Modern, old and ancient...of particular note the remains of the old sea wall all the way round the waterfront.

Everything is "$$ normal price, for you I reduce it to $$" seems bargaining is a much loved game by the locals. We probably paid too much for everything. .. ah well, kiwis not so practiced at the art eh.Read more
Watch out for p and o they are there 2.
6/25/16Reply
From j logan
6/25/16Reply
Richard n Sheila TravelsYeah we saw a post or two from O ... probably only missed them by a km or two one day. 😕
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Athens
June 23, 2016 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C
2 days here. Booked an evening tour and a day tour tomorrow to see the acropolis and archeology. Can't wait.
Ross SmithSounds like you guys are have a great time already. Hopefully you are starting to relax now and enjoying you awesome holiday. Ross
6/24/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Beautiful view of the Parthenon from down below in the street we walked as part of the evening tour.
6/24/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Us outside the new Acropolis Museum. Note the glass floor panels in the courtyard behind...
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Greek taverna in Plaka
June 23, 2016 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 30 °C
on a tour sampling melt in your mouth lamb n salads. too meek to join the dancers on stage though!
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Acropolis Museum
June 24, 2016 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C
Visited this magnificent Museum today prior to visiting the Acropolis itself. An excellent idea as we then knew what we were looking up top without having to figure it out along the way. Our Tour Guide gave us much info...

The museum starts below ground, seen through glass courtyard and walkways. Ancients ruins apparently lie beneath much of this area...

Ground floor houses items found around the base of the Acropolis, mainly items used and owned by the folk who lived in the area surrounding this huge sacred site. Photos prohibited.

Second floor houses more archeological items, statues, panels, marble structures. Photos allowed in part.

Top floor laid in the shape and size of the Parthenon, with panels and sculptures laid out in the positions they occupied around the roof of the Parthenon. Ingenious, and very engaging.

A bit sad to see the number of replicas on display (identifiable due to being white, rather than yellowed as the genuine items are...) as a result of the plundering by the Brits and others a couple hundred years back. Many items are housed in the London Museum and there's quite a push by Greece for their return.Read more
Richard n Sheila Travels White panels left (replicas of artifacts held elsewhere), yellowed panels right are the actual original artifact. Almost all of the statues at right are replicas just a few original fragments among them.
6/24/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Statues from left end of the west frieze of the Parthenon.2 horse heads are actual items, white are replicas. The detail and finish of marble statues are remarkable. These are a little larger than life size.
6/24/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Another look below ground...
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Acropolis, Athens
June 24, 2016 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C
Then a walk up the Acropolis to the structures on top ... the Parthenon WOW!!!!! There's also the Erechtheion, the Temple of Nike (yep, that's where they got the name from), the Prohylaea, the Beule Gate and more. All in varying states of ruin and restoration. Views from the top are breath taking 360deg overlooking the city of Athens, where 5m people live.

Walked down to Plaka (historic old-city centre) which is a bit of a tourist trap, had lunch (beer, calamari, beer, cold nibbles, and beer. Yum.). Then walked back the hotel, only 30 min and through interesting streets and sites, but in nearly 40deg heat, so now we need more beer.Read more
Richard n Sheila TravelsOdeon of Herodes Atticus. Magnificent amphitheatre used in modern times for concerts by such as Yanni & Andrea Bocelli.
6/24/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels The Erechtheum. Second largest structure on the Acropolis. The most sacred and mythical temple in Athens.
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Richard n Sheila Travels The Parthenon. Temple of the goddess Athena. 70m x 30m x 20m high, it's HUGE. Being lovingly restored now.
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Rome airport
June 25, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
Landed here 10.30 local time, onto a bus with some fellow cruisers and head to Civitivecchia to board ship. 31C. Oleanders along the highways here and in Greece are in full flower quite a spectacle.
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Sirena pool deck
June 25, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
Richard just lounging around chillaxing, finally!
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Olbia, Sardinia
June 26, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Docked before daylight for a visit to Sardinia. Brekkie on the dekkie, super service even at the buffet. Going up to 34C they tell us...what beautiful blue water and scenery.
Richard n Sheila Travels Near the dock in Olbia, from the open top deck of our bus.
6/27/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Very rocky terrain with only scrubby growth. Driving north from Olbia...
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Richard n Sheila Travels Very typical street in Sardinia...
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Our magnificent home afloat!
June 26, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
This is a beautiful ship, with 5 star plus service and meals. Never crowded, just 700 passengers.
Richard n Sheila Travels Small cruise ship compared to some these days, but not exactly a modest lunch either (see the size of people boarding).
6/27/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Pool deck. Pool is salt water, 2 hot tubs. fitness track above the deck chairs. That's Olbia in Sardinia in the background just after we arrived in the morning.
6/27/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels A flight in the rear staircase, which id the plainer of the two (will post some more pics of the Sirena later...).
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Livorno
June 27, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Docked here this morning. The port that gives access to Florence, Pisa and Tuscany. We are on a Florence/Pisa tour today.
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Florence (Firenze), Italy
June 27, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
So famous. Especially if you read Dan Brown 😉

Nearly 2 hrs on the bus through typical Tuscan countryside - well tended, with countless small groves of Olives, vineyards,

City centre still laid out over old Roman roads. Many of the buildings and facades are 700+ years old. Michelangelo's David sits in a large square/piazza with maybe 20 other equally ancient but less famous statues. This David is an exact replica from the same exact same marble ... original is in the museum to help preserve it not your mention the security risk if it was out in an open piazza.

Il Duomo is just incredible ... separate post.Read more
Richard n Sheila Travels A gallery of other Statues in the same Piazza della Signoria as David. The blue/green is of Perseus holding the head of Medusa ...
6/27/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Michelangelo's David stands in the Piazzo della Signoria. This is a replica though, the original is housed in the Accademia Gallery in Florence for security. Carved from a single piece of marble from the same quarry, it's an exact replica in every way. It's 5m tall and took 3 carvers 3 years to complete
6/27/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Neptune also stands in the same piazza.
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Il Duomo Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore
June 27, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Richard n Sheila TravelsIl Duomo...features in The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Pretty much every person in the pic is a tourist. All that white and green and reddish colour is pure marble. Diff colours from diff locations. The entire building is finished in marble and you get an idea of the scale looking at those people. The third largest Cathedral in the world I believe our guide said.
6/27/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels The Baptistry out front of the Cathedral. Again, all marble finish. In early times, only those baptised here could enter the church. Many tourists, thank goodness tourism is so depressed here right now!
6/27/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Front of the Cathedral. Look at the detail...above the doorways, those big circular windows, the figures in the alcoves, it just goes on and on.
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Pisa
June 27, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
What, other than the Leaning Tower? Not much...

But the tower is breathtaking. To see it at last, after first learning about in maybe 50 yrs ago at school...wow. Truckloads of visitors, well, busloads I guess. Parking for maybe 150-200 coaches, but thankfully not full! (tourism is down a lot due to the economy and security concerns in Europe it seems...lucky us!). Many hawkers with all manner of relevant and irrelevant trinkets...from tower souvenirs to blingy rap-themed ball-caps...duh??? Just thousands of people but free entry to see the Tower and Cathedral (the tower was originally to be a bell-tower for the Cathedral. Oops!).Read more
Richard n Sheila Travels The Tower really does lean. About 4 deg right now after some stabilisation recently as the leaning was increasing past 5deg. See the Tower location relative to the church it was supposed to be the bell tower for.
6/29/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Happy us posing...just so you know we didn't just scan a postcard for the prev pic. The Tower took something like 300 years to build, and at least 3 major architects, 2 of whom had to give up. The first was of course building a correctly vertical Tower. Ahem! Don't know how long the church took, but it's a hugely larger building...
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Richard n Sheila Travels Gives a closer perspective of how much it leans. And how big it is. Quite astonishing really. And hot, as evidenced by the umbrellas.
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Portofino
June 28, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Anchoring here now, brekkie on board then tender into the port. Taking a bus trip today to Santa Margarita and Genoa as we saw Portofino last time...these pics taken in Portofino this trip. Still an utterly stunning place.Read more
Yanné Logan wow! so pretty!
6/30/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels No matter which direction one looks, it feels like we are here to shoot a calendar. So picturesque!
6/30/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Totally. Bouganvillea are in full bloom right now😆
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Genoa, Italy
June 28, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
An important political city historically, although not so much recently. Established by the earliest civilisations, centuries BC. Our tour focused on several museums and churches.
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Monte Carlo, Monaco
June 29, 2016 in Monaco ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Anchored up here for a day. No excursions booked so taking it easy. Sorry about the pics ... Internet is slow on board but will get them up soon.
Ross SmithYou can always go to the casino 👍
6/30/16Reply
Richard n Sheila TravelsHa, yeah we could. Just not sure we can afford the entrance fee 😀
6/30/16Reply
Richard n Sheila Travels Billionaire playground as they say...several private no-charter yacht in the 100m+ long category either docked, parked in the marina or anchored in the harbour. Not all of what you see is Monaco...it's apparently only about 2 sq km in area with just 8,000 residents, making it the 2nd smallest country after the Vatican.
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Marseilles, France
June 30, 2016 in France ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Enjoyed a day here and took a tour which visited Aix-en-Provence, a very representative country town. So French. More churches, French bakeries, produce markets, very picturesque...
Richard n Sheila Travels Built in 1849 to celebrate the arrival of water in Marseilles. It never rains according to our guide although about every 10th building did have spoutings...certainly no big lawnmowing opportunity here!
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Richard n Sheila Travels Two tiered carousel.
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Richard n Sheila Travels Churches and cathedrals everywhere even on the waterfront.
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Aix en Provence
June 30, 2016 in France ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Charming French village.
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Barcelona, Spain
July 1, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Brekkie done, time to explore! We visited Barcelona in 2002 so lots of changes now. Much busier, the port redeveloped with a new cruise ship terminal. Big football game so traffic was bedlam and we had to abandon the Touristica bus circuit halfway thru and hitch back with a Sirena tour group.Read more
Richard n Sheila Travels Another street so typical around the Mediteranean. Balconies, old buildings, these are homes from 2nd level up.
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Richard n Sheila Travels Building designed by Gaudi, the spanish artist from early 20th century. His mark is on lots of architecure in Barcelona and Spain. No straigh lines, everything8flows8.
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Richard n Sheila Travels La Sragrada Familia another Gaudi work, still under construction after nearly 140 years. Some parts are old and in need of a clean, while others look brand new. A NZer is the current Executive Architect and it's reportedly 70% complete. Just a massive massive project, costing about 25m Euros annually. Didn't get through it due to time constraints and a trillion visitors every day.
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Valencia, Spain
July 2, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
A beautiful city. Large area of modern architecture largely built on the old river bed and much due to recent events like the Americas Cup. Some old areas too, so, many contrasts here.
Richard n Sheila Travels Spectacular!
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Valencia Americas Cup park.
July 2, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Saw this on TV very cool to be here.
Richard n Sheila Travels See the team name in the centre?
7/2/16Reply
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