As there aren't many total eclipses visible in Europe in what remains of my lifetime, we wanted to make an effort to see the eclipse on 12th August this year which mainly tracked across Spain. Having looked at various options, in the end we opted for an eclipse cruise and booked it well over two years ago (they sell out fast!). We normal sail with Azamara but all the cabins we usually book with them were already sold out so instead we went with Holland America as a cheaper option (their ships are generally bigger, so the cost per cabin is lower). We've been with HAL before to Alaska and eastern Canada, so had a pretty good idea what to expect.
Anyway the itinerary for this one was Lisbon, Alicante, Barcelona, Ajaccio, Bari, Kotor and Athens with some time bobbing in the sea off Majorca on the 12th along with all the other eclipse cruises. Some places I've been to before, some not and some a very long time ago. I was particularly excited to visit Ajaccio and have a couple of days in Barcelona which I've not visited for well over 30 years.
Anyway, some pictures of interest I hope. As usual I'll mainly focus on military history stuff.
We only had a couple of days on Lisbon and mainly stuck to the city centre. I didn't go up to the castle, but there was this nice traditional fishing boat down by the water front.
I do like the Rio style Jesus on the far bank of the Tagus.
Anyway, off we went to Alicante. passing through the Straits of Gibralter. I've not sailed the straits since the mid 1980s en route to Morocco , but unfortunately the inbound shipping channel hugs the Moroccan coast, so there is a rather blurry Gibralter in the misty distance.
Rather like Malaga, Alicante is one of those places people fly into and then leave to go to the beach never to return, but it has a charming old city centre, a castle on the hill etc. I didn't have a chance to get up to the castle but had a good look around the town. Alicante was one of the last Republican cities to fall to the Nationalists in the civil war.
Down by the harbour is a memorial to Captain Archibald Dickson who ran the Nationalist blockade with one of the last rescue ships to pick up 2,600 refugees in 1939.
The main reason we'd come down here was for the eclipse. I don't have solar filters for my phone, just an improvised one made from a spare pair of eclipse glasses. So this is totality! It was actually much darker than this, the shadow reaching to the horizon is is the moons shadow, with light on each side. All very wierd and creepy.
We were treated to an amazing 'banana' sunset as the partially eclipsed sun set, it was like being on Tatooine. Rather more spectacular irl than with my crappy phone camera, but you get the idea.
Next stop, Barcelona. I last came here in the late 1980s although my wife visited about ten years ago for work. When I last came, you could just wander into the Sagrada Familia, but now it is all timed tickets etc. which we booked before we came.
It was pretty amazing though, and with the blazing sunshine you could really see Gaudi's vision of a virtual forest within the cathedral come to life. Great stuff.
Our travels took us past the old customs house down near the port and I noticed it was peppered with bullet holes.
We took the cable car up to Montjuic and the castle. Here is a rather fine 32cm rifled howitzer pointing out over the harbour. Designed to drop (very big) shells on ships decks.
More big guns, this one is straight our of the Airfix coastal gun emplacement set. There were four of these supplied by Britain during the SCW. Vickers 6" coastal guns.
Me for scale.
The view from one of them over the port.
There was a very interesting special exhibition down in the catacombs about the International Brigades in the civil war. There was a particular focus on how language tuition was carried out!
Next stop, Ajaccio, Corsica. The home of the beast! Really a charming little town and lovely to walk around.
There is a not very well preserved citadel on the headland which has been there for hundreds of years. The moat now seems to mainly be used for storing sporting equipment!
It does have some good views from the bits of rampart which are still accessible.
Battle honours of the the 137rd Infantry Regiment, starting with Fleurus in 1794. Presumably stationed here at some point.
A statue to General Pierre Lelong, onetime CO of 1st Free French Brigade in North Africa.
You cant go far without coming across monuments to Napoleon. Here is a typically understated one in Place D'Austerlitz.
Boney on top of a huge pyramid incscribed with various victories.
Round the back is this cave (le Grotte D'Napoleon) where he supposedly used to go to cogitate about things.
The nearby gift shop has lots of toy soldiers etc and a very grumpy owner who shouts if you take pictures.
Napoleon as Emperor down in the Place du Foch in Ajaccio.
Highlight of Ajaccio for me, Napoleones family home! There is a long queue for this, so if you ever plan on visiting, expect to wait quite a while.
A very young Napoleon in the garden opposite.
Inside is a beautifully preserved late eighteenth/early nineteenth house. Typical of the well to do landowner, but not aristocracy or royalty.
Various weaponry from the struggle for Corsican independence.
Miniatures of the Bonaparte family.
Napoleons bed. Not the hugest in the world, I cant imagine why!
A rather lovely eagle.
Joseph Bonaparte.
Typical furniture.
And beautiful hand painted ceilings. Napoleons mother did the place up after his elevation.
Napoleon III
Imperial Crown.
The man himself.
And looking rather more grand and Imperial.
A model of his residence on St Helena.
After Corsica it was off across the Med to Italy, and specifically Civitavecchia (or as many cruise lines optimistically describe it, 'Rome'). We've been to Civitavecchia before and really liked it, even though we did both have Covid last tine.
We set off early morning on a trip into the surrounding countryside, specifically around Tuscania (not to be confused with Tuscany). originally this was deepest Etruscia.
And the countryside was just fabulous, really beautiful. I can see why Italy was a must on the 'grand tours' favoured by the aristocracy.
Rolling hills, woods, rivers and hilltop stone towns. Lovely to look at, awful tank country of course.
I was very excited to find this Etruscan head re-used in an eighteenth century fountain.
This church (whose name escapes me) was established in the 8th century and has a fabulous naive representation of purgatory above the door.
After Civitavecchia we set off down south for the Straits of Messina.
A very nice treat was Stromboli, who put on a nice show of minor eruptions projecting rocks and bits of lava up into the sky.
I've been through the Straits of Messina at night but never in the day, sadly it was a bit less impressive in daylight.
Scylla. No six headed monsters I'm afraid, just a small seaside town of Scilla and supposedly a fearsome reef under the surface - we gave it a wide berth anyway).
And just visible off the headland is Charybdis - a swirling roil of turbulence but a bit less impressive than the ship devouring whirlpool in the film. I gather tectonic action has altered the seabed so the whirlpools and currents now aren't quite as bad is in Homers day, but I can still see how navigating through here in an unhandy galley would be a bit challenging.
Next stop, Bari on the southwest 'boot' part of Italy. In WW2 the (huge) port was the main supply depot for 8th Army, and was the infamous scene of the unfortunate detonation of a ship loaded with 2000 tons of mustard gas during a Luftwaffe raid. The presence of the gas was top secret, which rather hampered rescue and medical efforts.
Bari was delightful, if oven temperature hot. This is the old 'pillar of correction' used to punish debtors plus a very ancient lion statue.
Bari is home to (most of) the relics of St Nicholas. One of the pair of oxen at the entrance to the cathedral, which reminded me of the Roman elephant in Syracuse.
Magnificent statue of St Nicholas.
His tomb. Some of his relics are in Venice, but most of them are here.
There is a not very exciting castle first established by the Normans and extended over the centuries. Barbary Corsairs seem to have been a real problem down here. The keep in the centre is Norman iirc.
Next it was a short hop over the Adriatic to Montenegro. A country which has been under the thumb of one empire or another for centuries but is now independant after the breakup of Yugslovia and the civil war. It is still very much a Serbo-Croat country though,
The old town of Kotor. A real tourist attraction amongst the Norway style fjiords, and absolutely packed as you can see. Not very pleasant in the blazing heat.
Cathedral with the surrounding mountains as a backdrop. There is a castle you can walk up to (a couple of thousand steps) on the ridge above the town, but I didn't fancy it in the heat.
There was a nice little maritine museum, mainly focussing on Montenegros actions against Barbary pirates and the Battle of Lepanto.
Nineteenth century Admirals uniform. I think this must be Austro Hungarian.
Various other more typical Montenegran uniforms.
Some of the fjiordland, which was very attractive, packed with pleasure craft and ringed with holiday apartments.
We went around the coast a bit to Perast, and visited The Church of our Lady of the Rocks on a small island by boat. This is actually the adjacent Church of St George.
The church is very, very old and has s mall museum attached. Display of arms (those pirates again!).
Greek pottery.
A very early Christian cross. 3rd century?
And some lovely medieval frescoes.
More fjiords.
Last stop was Athens, but as we've been a couple of times before we didn't hang around and just headed for the airport.
We did have a bit of time before our flight and stopped off at the base of the Acropolis en route for a walk and a coffee.
The final horror which awaited was the joy of trying to get out of the EU and the chaos caused by the new EES system. The airport authorities had turned it off to ease the queues, but they were still very lengthy and slow moving. Many thanks to British Airways for letting us check in three and half hours early so we actually had time to get through the queues.
And with that, we eventually got home. I don't think we will be rushing back to southern Europe in August any time soon due to the stifling heat but it was worth it for the eclipse experience and to vist some new places. Having said that, the 'eclipse of the century' hits north Africa and southern Spain on August 2nd next year....
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