survived the cruise ......part two

So then we're off to the beautiful island of Sicily. To Palermo to be exact. It is situated on the  northern-western part of Sciliy, an area we hadn't been to. We had visit the island decades ago, but on the eastern side, at Catania. The city proved to be bigger and more populated than Catania. It hosted some very nice architecture, but had that island vibe to it. Sicilians are proud to call themselves such, more than Italian. Kinda like how Texans are: Texans first, then Americans...
Here again, we opted not to do the tour, but maybe we should have. At night, before each port, they leave a map in your room. I think it gives the false hope that you can tour yourself. The problem is, do you know what you're looking at? WE wandered around the pre-layed out course on the map and stumbled down some side alleys. WE found the big attractions, but had no real idea of what they were. Somehow it never occurred to us to take pay the fee and tour the buildings.....

Palermo has that Moorish influence that much of the western Med has in it's architecture. I wish I had read up more on the area before we went.

The next day was spent at sea while we were transiting west to Palma de Mallorca. This is somewhere I really wanted to see. But since we had a day at sea to kill, why not lay about in the sun. Easier said then done. The ship is steaming along, in the sun, but that breeze made it a bit nippy. In the end we found some sunny chaises aft, out of the wind. Then, we were told to move. The deck was being cleared of people and yellow caution tape was put up on ladders to prevent people from occupying the area. Then it expanded, not once but twice more. The port side rigged lighting was coming down too. Ok what's up?? At first I thought they were doing maintenance and needed the area clear for that. Then we thought maybe there was a fault in the lights and they needed to bring them down for repair. Well, turns out there was a medical emergency on board (after  PA announce "Tango India" earlier) and we were slowing so a helicopter could come and air lift a passenger off. This also meant we had to alter our course, returning eastward closer to Sardinia so the chopper could reach us. Then we wait, while barely moving. Now I feel bad for someone whose vacation really has gone off.  But we see if medical chopper fly away and it's "full steam forward". We've lost a few hours now and we need to get back on schedule. Engines are cranked up to near , if not  full throttle. It causes a lot of buffeting especially in the aft. So, guess where the dining room is? Aft. Dinner was a bit of a choppy  time with much rattling of dishes. I'm glad I grabbed a black cocktail dress at the last minute to cram into my case. Turns out we had three nights of Gala, or special dining. SO this night was the Italian feast. Had I known I would have brought my camera to dinner. The waiters were dressed in special aprons, the food was more native and then, about salad course ( after the main) the lights dim, and we get serenaded by the Italian tenor on board. There is napkin waving, conga lines, everyone's up ( at least on our level) dancing. Too fun.

our view of the Ceres restaurant

There were other dinners with themes: the Captain's Gala, regular gala and just the plain fine dining. All so enjoyable. Any meal we don't have to cook and clean is fabulous with us. And the gluten free was brilliant.
Now we're in Palma. Oh my. What a great place. I already want to go back. truly an interesting city, which I will have to read up on. Such a huge influence int he architecture - Moors, Gaudi ( on the cathedral), art nuevou, art deco. Everywhere you looked there was something beautiful to see. And interestingly, there was a lot of street art ( graffiti) but it was done with intent not just tagging. It also was placed in such areas to be decent. Unused doors were targets as well as small access panels, but main walls were left untouched. And tidy!! Oh my after most of Italy which can be very dirty and littered, Palma is spotless. Either people have better respect for their neighborhoods or they have some wickedly good street cleaners!

Cathedral with Gaudi  additions

moorish doorway

public garden

Gaudi influence

more Moorish styling

random side street

ditto

View from Cathedral wall

And no, I didn't get any Mallorcan pearls. I think I need a moratorium on pearls. Though I was very tempted.