today we arrived at the post city close to Florence. Since we have done Florence on a previous trip, we decided to stay in the port city for the day. The port is between Monaco and Nice.
This is a tender port which meant the ship is too big to dock. The ship tenders are lowered from above the promenade deck and passengers are ferried to shore. The tender ride was about 10 minutes and the water calm.
The sky was very cloudy and it looked like it might rain. When we got into port we decided to hike up to a fort du Mont Alban at the top of the highest mountain in this town. It was only 1.5 miles to the top. How hard could it be? The Fort was built in 1560.
With all of the twists and turns, it took about an hour to reach the top. The Fort is not open but it offered spectacular views of the surrounding area.
We enjoyed the view and started our way back. Much easier going downhill. The streets are so very narrow and it is difficult to keep out of the way of cars, busses, and motorcycles. It is beginning to rain and we decided to take cover in a nice little restaurant on the bay. The French are the finest at preparing food. Even lunch tastes like a gourmet meal. We commented on the fresh fruit and how it reminded us of when we were young. So full of flavor. Fruit from home looks great but lacks the flavor we remember. When we come to Europe it is the first comment we make.
We decided to take the next tender back to the ship. The rain was heavier now and we were exhausted from the climb up to the castle.
The ship is about two thirds full. About 1200 passengers aboard with 500 crew. All of the crew are required to wear KN95 masks which makes it almost impossible to understand them. The Captain and his staff seem to be exempt from this requirement. Must be the uniforms. There is little complaining from the staff as they are thrilled to be back and working again. The lack of a full ship really takes a toll on the entertainment and other activities. A day full of activities with few folks showing up.
Tonight we have dinner at the Pinnacle. This is the high end restaurant aboard the ship. Guest can schedule dinner here at anytime with an up-charge. As part of a promotion, we have two dinners included. It is easy to forget that we are aboard a ship with all of the restaurants, bars, activities and entertainment aboard. It is more like being at a resort that moves from location to location.
Dinner was fabulous. It is nice to have this option available.
After dinner we went to the main stage. Andrea Amat was the entertainer for the evening. Andrea gave a performance on the flute. Her repertoire was well known tunes that were back up with images on the screen behind her.
Andrea is from Spain and her accent is quite prominent. She did a short tune that was popular with the Spaniards in the audience as they participated in singing parts of it.
The tune “Happy” was filled with images of animals doing funny things Tik Tok style. She even did a trio with two pre-recorded videos of herself. She was able to perform all three parts of Dance of the Mirlitons from the Nutcracker. The two videos and her performing live. The audio and accompanying videos were very well done.
She finished with the March from Carmen. Nicely done show. Nothing too difficult but very enjoyable.