The Last Few Ports

The Final Days

 

We were scheduled to visit Corsica following Rome.  That did not happen. We saw Bonafaccio, Corsica from the sea side on Tuesday morning.  The seas were high and it was windy even though there was no rain. Captain Palmieri decided that it was too rough for the tenders to take passengers from the Silver Wind to the shore.  He made alternative arrangements within an hour or so.  The Silver Wind went instead to a sunny resort in Sardinia for the afternoon. It was a typical rich person's playground full of expensive yachts and ostentatious condominiums.  Most of the expensive stores closed from one p.m. to four p.m., the time coinciding with the time we were anchored there.  Many of the women on the ship complained loudly because they had been denied a shopping opportunity.  I couldn't see why they wanted to pay extra high prices for merchandise they could purchase in any large city or other up-scale resort.  There is no accounting for taste.  Michael and I took a walk around the boat bay, looked at the shops and returned to the Silver Whisper for cocktail hour.

 

Wednesday we arrived at our final port of call – Portoferraio, Elba.  Elba is an Island not far off the Italian coast most famous as Napoleon's place of exile following his forced abdication in 1814. Napoleon stayed there less than a year.  He spent most of his time plotting his return to France and world domination.  Those dreams were shattered when his armies were defeated at Waterloo in 1815 and he was permanently exiled to St. Helena in the South Atlantic. While in Elba he renovated an decorated a large house in the small city of Portoferrario facing the sea and another in the countryside.

 

I didn't expect much of Portoferrario.  I was pleasantly surprised to find it a charming walled city surrounding a small port filled mostly with pleasure boats and fishing trawlers.  Michael and I saw most of the sights during a morning excursion.  We returned in the afternoon to enjoy the city and it's laid back ambience. Today, Elba is a summer tourist destination for northern Italians. Elba, like most parts of the Mediterranean I saw, has stony beaches.  The beach was well filled with sun bathers and frolicking children.

 

We spent the some time exploring the house Napoleon occupied during his stay in Elba in 1814.  The house is now a museum for all things Napoleonic.  I enjoyed the furniture and decorations.  I even bought a Napoleon tee shirt.  We took lots of pictures. Michael and I were there as soon as the museum opened.  As we were leaving a large tour group from our ship arrived.  The historic house was immediately full of noise and crowds. We met a large family group, the Petersons, also from our ship, at the front gate debating whether or not to pay three Euro each to see the house.  One of them asked Michael "Is it worth it?" Michael replied that it would depend on one's interest in Napoleon or in houses and furniture from that era.  We later found out that they went back to the Silver Wind and insisted on renting motor bikes instead.  I guess history just isn't exciting enough for some people.

Michael and I enjoyed a beautiful departure from Elba as the sun set.

After the Cruise

 

The Silver Wind arrived in Monte Carlo, Monaco on Thursday, July 7^th.  My impressions of that small city-state are blurred.  We admired the palace, the casino and the other buildings on shore as we docked.  Soon enough we were in a van headed for Nice and the French Riviera.  Except for short glimpses, we barely saw Monaco as we entered a highway of many tunnels leading to the airport at Nice.  

 

Shortly after 9:00 a.m. the van dropped us off at what the escort thought was our airport hotel. We were at the Novotel Nice; we had made reservations at the Suites Novotel Nice.  Half an hour later, the Suite Novotel van arrived and took us to the correct hotel.  The Suite Novotel turned out to be nicer than the more expensive airport Novotel hotel.  More importantly, we had direct access to the local train station for the Nice airport.  We had only to cross the street and walk under a viaduct.  We stashed our luggage and took the next train into Nice to see the sights while waiting for check-in time.

 

Nice is a typical French Rivera city.  We walked from the Nice central station down the main boulevard to the "Old Town."  We wandered through the famous flower market and its overpriced cafés.  We strolled along the beach and took pictures that were identical to some we later saw in a travel brochure.  We took the elevator to the top of a  cliff that is a public park and site of a former chateau.  The best part was lunch in a small café on a back street in the "Old Town." No one spoke English but Michael's high school French and our menu French sufficed. We spent a pleasant three hours exploring Nice.

 

Later, after we checked in to the hotel, we took another train to Villefranch sur Mer. Villefranch is a tourist stop for cruise ships.  The town dates to the sixteenth century and is most charming except for the inevitable tee shirt and gift shops and bars serving the universal pizza and mojitos filling the first few blocks near the cruise terminal.  We walked the tiny narrow back streets from the train station to the old castle that now serves as town hall and art museum.  The cruise ships Disney Magic, a Princess ship and a Royal Caribbean "…of the Seas" ship were anchored in the bay.  The little town was overrun by about five thousand tourists.  Fortunately for us, they were beginning to depart shortly after we arrived in the late afternoon.   Michael and I were able to find a small café on a back street where we enjoyed a glass of local wine and watched the people walk by. Very pleasant.

 

We returned to our hotel for dinner in the adjacent Italian restaurant.  Before retiring early, Michael and I repacked our luggage for the flights home the following morning.

 

The luggage was a problem when we arrived at the air terminal.  Michael had called Lufthansa before we left the U. S. to verify that we could take four pieces of checked luggage free.  The ticket agent made us pay 60 Euro for a third checked bag. Later we discovered that the rules had changes July 1^st while we were still on the cruise.  At the time it was a hassle, as was the Star Alliance partner club's refusal to let us in even though we should have been eligible. When we arrived home Michael filed complaints and got credit toward future flights from both United Airlines and Lufthansa so it all worked out in the end.

 

The cruise was altogether a fabulous experience.  It was hectic; a new port almost every day.  But what wonderful ports!  I have thousands of memories and nearly 3000 pictures.