8 April 2016
Ciao e benvenuto from Civitavecchia

April 8, 2016 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

We bid arrivederci to friends from our cruise from Barcelona, and prepare to set off on a new adventure.

Sailing from Civitavecchia, the ancient and modern port of Rome, we’re off on a cruise to some classic Italian ports, a quick jaunt to Malta, and then back to the mainland of France.

We sail south to lovely Sorrento, where we can go ashore there to explore that city or head to always-intriguing Pompeii or Herculaneum in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.

Or we can cross over by ferry to enchanting Capri.

From Sorrento we continue south between Scylla and Charybdis into the Strait of Messina and on to a port call at Taormina on the island of Sicily, the football kicked by the toe of Italy.

On Monday we are due to visit the spectacular city of Valletta on the island of Malta.

From there we will head north for a stop at Trapani in Sicily, and then to Olbia on the Italian island of Sardinia, and then Calvi on the French island of Corsica.

This cruise will conclude on the mainland of France at Nice.

I hope you’ll join me here for photos and observations.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Uncategorized

7 April 2016
Livorno, Italy: Just Passing Through?

April 7, 2016 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Livorno is Italy’s second-largest port, after Genoa.

It’s a city of some interest, although most visitors just pass through on their way to some of Italy’s most resplendent inland gems.

The Mercado of Livorno

From Livorno you can easily reach the great city of Florence (Firenze) or visit one of the world’s iconic sites, a certain tower in the town of Pisa.

Or you can head to beautiful Tuscany, Siena, and Lucca.

Livorno’s canals

One of the many splendid sights of Florence is this old bridge, the Ponte Vecchio (which means, old bridge).

It’s lined with shops and tourists.

It’s also an easy way to cross over the River Arno to the Oltrarno, (Beyond the Arno) the Left Bank of Florence, the south side of the Arno.

Pisa is on the right bank of the junction of two rivers, the Arno and the Serchio, a city of about 87,500. It is a city with many impressive buildings, but truth be told almost everyone comes to see the one that is almost falling down: The Tower of Pisa.

Construction began in 1173. Almost immediately, the tower began leaning to the southeast. The reason was quickly apparent: an insubstantial foundation on loose and wet soil.

It took five years, until 1178, for the tower to reach the third floor.

Then construction was halted for almost a century.

The Pisans were unsure how to proceed, and they were distracted by wars with Genoa, Lucca, and Florence.

This was actually a stroke of good luck, since it allowed time for the underlying soil to settle. Otherwise, the tower would almost certainly have toppled.

In 1272, construction resumed. To try to compensate for the tilt, engineers built upper floors with one side taller than the other.

The tower began to lean in the other direction.

Because of this, the tower is actually curved, banana-like.

The seventh floor was completed in 1319, and the chamber with seven bells added in 1372.

In modern times, several efforts have–we hope–halted the continuing tilt and even straightened it up, just a bit.

We will return to Livorno on April 28 and I will have additional comments in my blog entry for that day.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Uncategorized

6 April 2016
Portofino, Italy

April 6, 2016 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

No one would ever blame you if thought the name of this lovely town and harbor meant “Fine Port.”

Alas, that’s merely a coincidence.

Portofino is truly a fine port.

But according to Pliny the Elder, the great Roman chronicler of the first century, Portofino was founded by the Romans and they named it Portus Delphini, or Port of the Dolphin, because of the large number of dolphins that inhabited the Tigullian Gulf.

Silver Cloud at anchor offshore of Portofino today

The dolphins are mostly gone now, replaced by swarms of tourists who come to see the fine harbor, its nearby Paraggi beach, and the surrounding area including Camogli and Rapallo.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Uncategorized

5 April 2016
Monte Carlo, Monaco

April 5, 2016 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Monaco has all the ingredients for adult fantasy.

A seven-hundred-year monarchy in a country smaller than New York City’s Central Park.

MONACO FROM ABOVE

A view from above Monaco, with Silver Cloud tied up at the dock.

The romance and heartbreak of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly.

The other royal wedding of 2011, between the playboy prince and a lovely and nervous Olympian bride.

A prestigious Formula One automobile race through its winding streets.

A major tennis tournament.

A major jewel heist by the Pink Panther gang, still unsolved.

Sandy beaches, spectacular yachts, don’t-ask-the-price shops, don’t-look-at-the-bill restaurants, and a fabled casino where—in our mind’s eye, at least, the men are all dressed in tuxedos and the women are dressed to kill.

And us.

Inside the Grand Casino

We’ll also be back on April 25 and 26, and I hope you’ll check out my blog post then.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Uncategorized

4 April 2016
Cannes, France: Strolling La Croisette

April 4, 2016 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Cannes has the film festival and its red carpet, fabulous hotels and casinos, tres cher shopping…and a piece of the Grace Kelly story as well as tales of modern jewel thieves.

It requires more than a little bit of suspension of disbelief, but Cannes was once a small and humble fishing village.

It is no longer small, by no means humble, and today’s fishing is aimed at the wallets of visitors.

In the 10th century the town was known as Canua. Canua was probably the site of a small Ligurian port, and later a Roman outpost on Le Suquet hill, suggested by Roman tombs discovered there.

Most of the ancient activity, especially protection, was on the Lérins islands and the history of Cannes is the history of the islands.

In postwar times—since 1946—Cannes is most famous for its film festival, held each May.

Producers shop for financing or hope to strike distribution deals.

Actors come to see, but mostly to be seen.

Especially the actresses: from starlets like Brigitte Bardot who posed on the beach in 1953 and helped make herself—and the bikini swimsuit—famous.

We will be back in Cannes on April 25, and I’ll have more commentary then.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Uncategorized

3 April 2016
Alghero, Sardinia: Outside the Circuit

April 3, 2016 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

“Sardinia, which is like nowhere. Sardinia, which has no history, no date, no race, no offering. They say neither Romans nor Phoenicians, Greeks nor Arabs ever subdued Sardinia. It lies outside; outside the circuit of civilization.”

Those were the words of D. H. Lawrence in his book, Sea and Sardinia.

Very evocative.

Not fully true, although it certainly is an unusual place.

Sardinia is part of Italy, while its neighbor Corsica is part of France.

Although French Corsica is closer to Italy than France, and

Italian Sardinia is closer to France (at Corsica) or Tunisia than it is to Italy.

Oh, and in Corsica most would prefer to speak Corsican.

In Sardinia, the traditionalists are partial to Sardinian, although in Alghero many old-timers speak a dialect of Catalan Spanish.

Scattered around Sardinia are thousands of megalithic ruins known as nuraghes in Sardinian or nuraghi in Italian.

The name is believed to come from an old word meaning heap of stones, or confusingly, a cavity in the earth.

In any case, they are usually located in panoramic or strategic locations; about eight thousand have been cataloged. Historians say perhaps 30,000 once existed.

They date from the middle of the Bronze Age (18th-15th centuries BC). Many were in continuous use when Rome arrived in the 2nd century BC.

We don’t know much more.

They may been used for religious purposes or as military posts, or both.

And we know little about what are known as the Nuragic people.

Alghero was built around a fortress.

The port was founded about 1102 by the powerful and wealthy Doria family of Genoa; they ruled Alghero and other places for centuries.

We will be returning to Alghero on April 24; I’ll have more commentary in the blog entry that day.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Uncategorized

2 April 2016
Porto Mahon, Menorca

April 2, 2016 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

The Balearic Islands sit offshore of Spain, very attractive in many ways.

Possessed of rich and fertile land safe harbors, they were on the ancient trading routes for long-vanished peoples,

as well as for wave upon wave of empire builders including the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Vikings, the Spanish, and the English.

And right along the watery highway for incoming Islamic tribes, and then for outgoing Crusaders.

Today, close enough for invading holiday makers to hop on a ferry or a flight from the mainland to the beach.

There are four principal islands in the Balearics:

Ibiza, with its port of the same name.

Mallorca, Spain’s largest island possession, and its second-most populated island (after Tenerife in the Canary Islands.)

And then there is Menorca, and the place we are heading: Porto Mahon.

The fourth largest island is Formentera, and there is also the uninhabited island of Cabrera.

Porto Mahon, pronounced MA-own, is believed to be named after the Carthaginian general Mago Barca, brother to Hannibal, who was said to have taken refuge here in 205 BC.

We’ll be back in Porto Mahon on April 23 and I’ll have more commentary then.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Uncategorized

1 April 2016
Hola y bienvenidos from Barcelona

April 1, 2016 Corey Sandler

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Welcome aboard in beautiful Barcelona. We sail off tonight for a classic Mediterranean cruise.

A detail of Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia

Tomorrow morning we will call at Porto Mahon on the Spanish island of Menorca, the middle of the three Balearic Islands. From there we head east to Alghero on the Italian island of Sardinia.

And then we return to the mainland of Europe, calling at Cannes in France, then Monte Carlo in the Principality of Monaco. Moving to Italy, we are due to visit Portofino and Livorno (gateway to Florence and Pisa) before concluding this cruise in Civitacecchia, the port of Rome.

I hope you’ll join me here.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Around the World with Corey Sandler

Monthly Archives: April 2016

8 April 2016
Ciao e benvenuto from Civitavecchia

7 April 2016
Livorno, Italy: Just Passing Through?

6 April 2016
Portofino, Italy

5 April 2016
Monte Carlo, Monaco

4 April 2016
Cannes, France: Strolling La Croisette

3 April 2016
Alghero, Sardinia: Outside the Circuit

2 April 2016
Porto Mahon, Menorca

1 April 2016
Hola y bienvenidos from Barcelona

Cruise Photos and Stories by Corey Sandler