Europe, 2013: Thanksgiving and the western Mediterranean

Click here for more photos of Bormes, Barcelona, Montserrat and Orvieto

We're back to Toulon France, where we spent Thanksgiving Day. We had a nice day in Toulon visiting the hillside town of Bormes-les-Mimosa. What is left to say, it's yet another charming medieval town with narrow streets and lot's of flowers. Since the season is over, everything was closed making for a nice quiet day.

In between, we spent yesterday at Barcelona and the old Benedictine Monastery complex at Montserrat. It was the end of one cruise and the beginning of the second so about half the ship's travelers left us and we picked up a new set of passengers.

The extraordinary Gaudi designed cathedral. Scheduled for
completion in 2026

The view from Montserrat. Cable cars take visitors to the bottom

And the funicular takes travelers to the summit of the mountain

The interior of the Santa Maria de Monserrat

The monastery exterior. Montserrat has been a religious shrine since the time of the Roman settlements in Spain

The itinerary now has us backtracking from here to Livorno and Civitivecchia before moving on to our Atlantic voyage.

We had a great time visiting Orvieto from our port in Civitevecchia. It was a long drive from port but it was worth it. Orvieto is yet another beautifully preserved medieval village, but this one is a bit different. It was a Etruscan settlement Rome came into being but once the Romans conquered it, it was abandoned until medieval times. In 1300 they began construction on the cathedral, which they call the Duomo. I hadn't heard of it before, but it was breathtaking. The sculpture and fresco paintings were extraordinary. Unfortunately, no photographs were permitted inside the church but I did get some photos of the exterior. The miracle of the transfiguration happened nearby and the blood stained alter cloth is a relic displayed in the church. The frescoes are very famous and were used by Michaelangelo as a model for the Sistine Chapel. One can easily see where his motivation came from. They are vivid since they were recently cleaned and magnificent. It is amazing how much nudity is on view in this church! The murals show the story of the anti-christ and they show the results of sinful living. Risque stuff.