Tangier

 

The Beach where waters of the Atlantic Ocean met those of the Mediterranean Sea

Our private tour was another organised in a hurry at the last minute via Expedia. Despite the initial pick up time confusion, our family had a good time in Tangier. It helped a lot that we didn't read the fine print and "all-included" meant entrance fees, camel rides, cave entrances and lunch was included. Bonus as we weren't aware of this! We did pass on the camel rides as the camels didn't look happy...

Tangier had a completely different feel to Casablanca. The city felt cleaner, and was more pleasant to the eye, perhaps because it was built on hilly slopes full of greenery. We were taken to beautiful viewpoints and given a city driveby tour. Perhaps it was because our guide, Ahmed, was more enthusiastic and relatable. We definitely needed him to navigate the way to the Casbah and then around the souk. We had fun in the stores looking at various goods and given demonstrations. Having done it before in Turkey, we knew how it worked. The Moroccans were just as hospitable as the Turks, and we stocked up on cashmere and argan oil. 

Lunch was at a touristy restaurant, complete with music. The food was not bad. For us, it was "free", we were tourists and we had to eat somewhere, so the experience was fun. Understandably, not all the other tourists taken there felt the same way. 

Tangier gave us a taste of Morocco. One of the earliest versions of this trip was a land based tour of Morocco complete with desert stays. It evolved into a cruise to accommodate the grandparents and we're glad we came, albeit very briefly. Here is to next time!

Original walls built by the Portuguese

It was too hazy but if clear, you could see Gibraltar across the water

Sometimes it seems not much has changed...look a playground! Must play...

That mentality applies to all the kids...

Practising for instagram

The master

Hercules Cave. Legend has it that this was where he rested before his 11th labour

Hand carved

Not sure what my camera was doing...but it made us look like intrepid explorers so let's keep it

Up next the old town

Original gate

This kid loves the free tea! This time mint

Oma loves the shopping and bargaining

The mosque that our guide went to for prayers while we were at lunch. Friday was their holy day

Loom demo. Men did the work here

The very friendly shop owner

Refugees? Movie extras? Ninjas?

It was a fun day. Our guide Ahmed on the right

Lunch. The verdict was that our family were not cous cous people

This pastry was hard to describe. The white stuff on top was sugar! But the inside was savoury

Our lunch

The musicians

Desserts and tea

All Aboard

 

Super relieved to have everything back together and be onboard the ship!

Another early start to another crazy travel day that I don't normally advocate...flying on the morning of embarkation day of a cruise with the family taking 2 flights from different cities and countries! The scenario was the best we could pivot to after 1) NCL cancelled our very excellent cruise to redeploy their ship to Florida so they could make more money 2) Jonah's school changed his tour schedule to finish at a different date in a different city to the original plan. 

Our flight from Rome to Barcelona went smoothly and even arrived 30 minutes early. For those interested, FCO participates in both fast track lanes for AMEX platinum charge card holders, as well as the select CLEAR program where you can pre-book your security time slot. There were 3 priority pass lounges in Terminal 1 and all allowed 2 extra guests on the priority pass associated with the Australian AMEX platinum charge card.

The other half of the family flying from Istanbul encountered a minor snafu. A couple who was on the wrong flight somehow got onto the plane and refused the get off! Their flight was hence delayed by around 30 minutes. Fortunately we built some leeway into our pick up and got to the port by 12:30pm as planned and enjoying lunch by 1pm! By this point, the overwhelming emotion was relief. We were finally together as a family. No more crazy separate travel plans from here on!

Mission accomplished! Jonah retrieved successfully

The Primavista lounge

Squeezing in the last of the Covid related benefits...status matching with ITA!

We were on the Celebrity Infinity as it was the only cruise that fit our dates after NCL cancelled. The ship itself is old and dated and it showed. Our cabins were tiny but we didn't have a choice as the selection was limited by the time we booked. The children were somewhat disappointed by the lack of amenities which we agreed with. Even my parents though the ship was meh. Oh well, we would have to focus on the itinerary of Morocco and the Canary Islands and make our own fun!

Jonah showing off his Michelangelo souvenir....

Finally we get to board the ship

We made it!

Um...this sleeps 4?!

The ship did have some nice public and outdoor spaces

Comfortable library

Kids now loving pickleball

Disembarkation Day

It was a sad day today as we had to disembark our floating home for the past 11 nights. We enjoyed our very last table service breakfast dreading having to make our own breakfasts very shortly. As concierge guests, we had the flexibility of disembarking at our own timing with our suitcases placed in a special VIP area for easy pick up. They very kindly offered the same privileges to the rest of our family so we were able to disembark together. The disembarkation process was quick and easy. There was no customs or immigration. It was off the ship, gather your suitcases and go!

At this point, the family split up. My parents, aunt and cousin made their way to Asia. My brother headed for a week in Paris, and the rest had a day left in Italy before our flights home. We said our goodbyes, hopped into our respective vans and went on our separate ways. Malcolm's parents joined us for our day tour of Civita di Bagnoregio and Orvieto. We were reunited with our driver Andrea, one of the driver guides who took our family from Florence to Rome. I liked his geeky quietness and kindness. He must have been one of a handful of Italians who doesn't follow football! Instead he is into goofball American movies and science.

The "dying town" of Civita di Bagnoregio

Virtually an "island" in the valley with the edges of the town having fallen off over the centuries

Anyway, I digress! Andrea drove us through the beautiful countryside to Civita di Bagnoregio. It was a scenic and peaceful drive with hardly any other traffic around us. The first sight of Civita di Bagnoregio was breathtaking. It literally looked like an island in the middle of a valley. First founded by the Etruscans over 2000 years ago, it was the birthplace of Saint Bonaventura. The town's population has since dwindled over the years to a mere 10-15 today! The reason? The town is virtually crumbling away at the edges. Out of seven original roads into the town only one remain, and a modern entry built to be able to reach it. The walkway was quite high off the ground and very steep as it neared the perched town. It also was not too wide! With the strong winds blustering, it made for some scary moments. But it was worth the walk, the town was charming and largely spared from the influences of modern life. We spent some time walking around the tiny town and then sat down to try its specialty, bruschetta.

It was a steep walk up the modern ramp. The original roads had long been victims of erosion

The only kind of vehicle allowed in. Those for supply and small enough to be able to manoeuvre the sharp turns and narrow roads 

Entry into the town just past the main gate

Just a gorgeous town

Birthplace of Saint Bonaventura, whose home had fallen off the cliff edges LONG ago

The edge of the city. You could see the existing wall which had cliff face directly on the  other side!

We then moved on to Orvieto, another hill top town. The first attraction was the amazing piece of engineering that was St Patricks well. Built in the early 1500s, it was a 50m deep well with a double helix stairway around it so as to enable people and donkeys to collect water in an efficient one way traffic flow. The presence of steps automatically meant a trip down for this particular family...all 496 of them. With that task accomplished, we moved on to see the Cathedral of Orvieto. The cathedral, which was built in the late 1200s, had a beautiful facade which was an explosion of colour and detail. It was a grey and rainy day and unfortunately my photos simply did not do justice to the Cathedral.

Unfortunately, we did not have time to do a tour of the underground tunnels of caves. We had to be content with a simple lunch and walk around the town to do some shopping. We then had to make the long drive towards Fiumicino airport. We dropped off Malcolm's parents at a hotel near the airport. They were staying the night before their afternoon flight to Doha the next day. We arrived at the airport by 4pm as there was surprising no traffic! We were very early for our 830pm flight but we didn't mind.

We have had the most wonderful time in Europe. We have been blessed in so many ways. Whilst it was sad to head home, we are most grateful of the opportunity that we had been given. We hope that our journey can somehow be used for a greater purpose. We really look forward to our next "big" trip to the USA! So stay tuned for more Albany adventures...

Looking down into St Patrick's well

Down we go on a path once traversed by donkeys

Windows lined the stairwell at regular intervals for natural light

Looking up from below

Woohoo, we made it to the bottom crossing to the stairwell that led us back up

The water within the well was surprisingly very clear

And we're out!

Orvieto

Beautiful charming streets everywhere

Cathedral of Orvieto

Detailed mosaics

Intricate carvings and reliefs

The pretty piazza in Orvieto

Lunch stop!

Very rustic inside. We were served simple but tasty food

Yummiest tomatoes ever!