The Mediterranean Trip – Our Trips Around The World

We Got Covid :-(

Well, about two weeks before our trip, we both came down with Covid after going two years without getting it! We were being careful, wearing masks in public etc. but I guess we let our guard down. So since this is our Covid 22 Trip, I should tell you a little about the experience we had having Covid.

Getting Ready for the Trip!

Well, we have about a week to go before the trip and we’re definitely getting excited to travel again. We were in Greece last October and enjoyed it so much we thought we had to return. Plus, I had wanted to visit Corfu, but in October the weather was too cold so we decided against it. This trip is all about the Mediterranean and associated seas that are less familiar like the Balearic Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, but for our purposes, we think of it all as the Mediterranean.

Leaving tomorrow …

Quick update on our trip. I started having sinus pain near my eye several days ago. Today I got concerned enough to call my doctor. Given that we are traveling tomorrow she got concerned as well and so prescribed a 10 day course of antibiotics. Hopefully that solves the problem. She also said to take Tylenol an hour before landing and taking off since the sinuses could become very painful.

Also today, a wacko judge eliminated the mask mandate with a single order throwing the industry into a scramble. Will be interesting to see who still wears a mask. We will!

Talk to you from Spain!

丢失的14个小时 The Lost 14 Hours

颠沛流离～～～用这四个字形容似乎太夸张了，但是足以表达我俩这丢失的14个小时。

Exasperated ~~ This word seems a bit too exaggerated, but still not enough to express the last 14 hours we lost.

现在是4月21号早上9点31分，终于安顿下来，坐在了巴塞罗那的酒店的床上。原本昨天下午的4点35分就应该到达巴塞罗那机场的我俩，终于在14个小时之后到达了目的地。

巴塞罗那第一个下午 1st Afternoon in Barcelona

睡到了下午两点多，我俩强迫自己，终于还是爬起床来，去所在的哥特区逛逛。哥特区是巴塞罗那的老城区，遍布着狭窄的鹅卵石街道和高层的古建筑，从1895年到1904年，毕加索在哥特区生活和工作过。

After our long exhausting trip, we slept until after two in the afternoon and had to force ourselves to finally get out of bed and go out for a walk in the Gothic Quarter.

阳光明媚的第二天 The Sunny, Second Day

今天天晴啦，早上快11点了才出门，先去酒店楼顶的平台上看了一圈，可以看到远处的那个举世闻名的圣家大教堂。这次先不打算去圣家大教堂，等5月份回来的时候再去。然后在哥特区的又逛了逛，看到了昨天没有看到的一些景色。

It’s finally sunny today. We didn’t leave until after 11 when we headed up to the roof of our hotel to take a look around. From there we could see the world-famous Sagrada Familia in the distance. Unfortunately, given our shortened visit, we don’t plan to go there this time, we’ll wait until we come back in May. Later we strolled around the Gothic Quarter.

去法国尼斯 Heading to Nice, France

今天要去下一个目的地法国尼斯，下午2点50的易捷航空的飞机，早上11点多从酒店结账，兰布拉大道附近给PJG买了一个新帽子，昨晚吃晚饭不知道怎么他的帽子丢了。12点多坐巴士直达机场。

Today we are going to our next destination, Nice, France. Our easyJet flight is at 2:50 pm so we checked-out of the hotel at 11 am. I bought a new hat for PJG near Las Ramblas. Why? Because somehow at dinner last night, the hat went missing!

在尼斯的第一个整天 Nice, First Full Day

早上一直在下雨，直到10点多雨突然就停了，然后就是阳光明媚，碧蓝的蓝天。先沿着盎格鲁街漫步了一个小时，这条街道是一条沿着地中海蔚蓝海岸的著名的海滨步行道。这里的浪潮很高，海浪拍打岸边石头的声音格外沸反盈天。这条街本来是英国人建的，1860年，尼斯才被并入法国。

It had been raining all morning until at 10am when the rain suddenly stopped, replaced by a sunny blue sky. We took a long stroll along the Promenade des Anglais, Nice’s famous seaside promenade on the Mediterranean Riviera. The tide was high here, and the sound of the waves dragging the rocks back into the sea is very alluring.

短暂观光摩纳哥国 A Trip to Monaco

某人说有几个旅游小记太长了，所以今天会分成两个写。

Someone complained that the blogs are too long, so I will write today’s in two parts.

滨海自由城 Villefranche-sur-Mer

4月25日，星期日 April 25th, Sunday

离开了摩纳哥，坐火车来到了海滨自由城，坐落在摩纳哥和尼斯之间，坐火车只有4站地。滨海自由城的天然海湾是地中海所有港口之中最深的海港，可供各种船只包括大型船只安全停泊。这里也有尼斯的五颜六色的建筑，蔚蓝的地中海，但是又比尼斯安静了一些。小镇很小，逛了一会儿我俩决定不坐火车，步行回尼斯, 一共用时1个半小时左右，开始的一段时爬山，一共有大概四百多个阶梯，让我俩回想起了在意大利阿马尔菲海岸那次的攀山。但是今天的天气要凉快很多，看不到某人大汗淋漓的场景啦，哈哈。

After leaving Monaco, we took the train to Villefranche Sur-Mer, which is located between Monaco and Nice. It was four stops from Monaco. The natural bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer is the deepest of all the ports in the Mediterranean, where all kinds of ships, including large ones, can be safely moored. Although we never saw any really large ships.

尼斯放松的一天 A Relaxing Day in Nice

今天的主要任务是洗衣服，上午11点多才出门去附近的一个自助洗衣店。有三个能洗不同数量衣服级别的洗衣机，我俩用的是20公斤的，费用是11.9欧元，烘干是10分钟1欧元。洗衣服加烘干用了75分钟，在盎格鲁海滨大道坐着看海潮等衣服。回到洗衣店去衣服，准备把洗好的衣服装回到背包里时，发现PJG的唯一一条长裤成了漏网之鱼！没洗它！气死我了，当时拿出衣服的时候把它给漏下了，还得单独再洗这条裤子！找了附近的越南饭店，饭店的旁边就是另一家洗衣店，决定在那里一边洗衣服，一边吃午饭。

Our main task today is to do the laundry, so we went out to a nearby laundromat just after 10am. There are three washing machines that can wash different quantities of clothes, we used the 20kg, the cost is 11.9 euros, and the drying is 1 euro per 10 minutes.

戛纳 A trip to Cannes

今天去戛纳转一圈，同样有很方便的火车直达，车程大概45分钟，我俩的车票一共13欧元。戛纳是法国重要的会议和展览中心，尤其因为那个著名的戛纳电影节而闻名，也因此戛纳对于中国人来说比较熟悉。感觉戛纳和其他法式小镇没有什么区别，有老城区的小巷，有海湾，有教堂，有博物馆，有层出不穷的饭店，酒吧，商铺，等等，唯一让它闻名于世的应该就是戛纳电影节了。

Today, we went to Cannes for a brief visit taking a very convenient direct train. The journey took about 45 minutes and costs 13 euros. Cannes is an important conference and exhibition center in France, especially famous for the Cannes Film Festival, so of course Cannes is very familiar to Chinese people.

去马赛 Heading to Marseille

结束了尼斯的行程，今天去中转点马赛，火车车程2个小时40分钟，不得不说这个火车坐的真的舒服，我们的车厢里没有什么人，座位很舒服，沿途景色很美，还可以吃零食，让我回忆起了小时候坐火车的那种最简单的快乐。就是有时候列车员会过来告诉我们戴口罩。

After finishing our wonderful trip in Nice, we took the train to Marseille today, a short stopover on our way to Corfu. The train journey took 2 hours and 40 minutes.

马赛的一天 Full Day in Marseille

今天是待在马赛的唯一一天，去了两个标志性的景点。第一个是一座雄伟的建筑-隆尚宫。它建造于1862 年，是用来庆祝杜兰斯河的水域通过马赛运河抵达马赛市。建筑的中央部分表现了杜兰斯水的荣耀，以正中间的年轻女子为标志，她的同伴象征着肥沃：小麦和葡萄藤。身后，胖乎乎的孩子们带着一捆小麦和一串葡萄。建筑物非常丰富的装饰隐喻着运河水域带来的丰富和肥沃。在欧洲的旅游的特点就是经常可以看到这种或雄伟或精美或浪漫的具有历史感的建筑。

Today was the only full day in Marseille and we visited two iconic sites. The first is a majestic building – the Palais Longchamp. It was built in 1862 to celebrate the arrival of the waters of the Durance River to the city of Marseille through the Marseille Canal.

去希腊科孚岛 Heading to Corfu Greece

2022年4月份的最后一天，结束了在法国的行程，今天去希腊！没想到6个月后又回到了希腊，一个我爱上的地方。这次是一个对我来说新的岛屿，PJG和他的家人50多年前来过这个岛两次。

On the last day of April 2022, we ended our visit in France and flew to Greece! We had not expected to return to Greece after 6 months, a place I had fallen in love with. This time we are on a new island (new to me), PJG and his family had visited this island twice more than 50 years ago!

重温记忆 Chasing Memories

2022年5月1日，在科孚岛的第一天，上午吃完酒店的自助早餐，我俩踏上了有趣的重温记忆的行程。PJG的父母在1967年和1969年曾经带着他们的四个孩子来到过这里，而且留下了一些照片记忆。

On May 1, 2022, our first full day in Corfu, we had the hotel’s delicious free buffet breakfast in the morning, and then embarked on an interesting trip to relive some of PJG’s memories. PJG’s family came here in 1967 (and 1969) with their four children and they took some photos for memories.

下雨的一天 One Rainy Day

2022年5月2日，星期一，今天下了几乎一整天的雨，下午四点多雨终于停了下来，所以今天就是去洗了衣服和在酒店休息。这里的洗衣服比在法国的自助洗衣还要便宜，我俩的一包衣服只花了9欧元，而且是洗衣店的人给洗的，可惜下雨忘了拍洗衣店的照片了。

Monday, May 2, 2022 – It rained almost all day today, finally stopping at 4pm. So today we went to wash our clothes and just hang around the hotel.

重温记忆 II Chasing Memories II

2022年5月3日，星期二，今天也是一场重温记忆的痛并快乐的一天，痛是我的痛，因为坐在开在蜿蜒曲折的山道车里，还好经过这么多年的磨练，我已经还算适应了；痛也是某人的痛，因为第三个地点的寻找失败了，哈哈。快乐是我俩的快乐，因为今天还是成功地追足了PJG的某些五十多年前的记忆。

Tuesday, May 3, 2022. Today is a painful and happy day to relive memories. The pain is my pain, because I am riding in a car on a winding mountain road.

科孚岛第五天， Corfu Day 5

2022年5月4日，星期三，这次旅行的第16天，科孚岛的第五天

Wednesday, May 4, 2022, Day 16 of this trip, Day 5 in Corfu

早上醒来，又是阳光明媚的一天。今天又是行程满满，原本以为在科孚岛是最放松的一段旅程，每天看着蔚蓝的大海，听着海浪，发呆着思考人生，没想到，每天竟然这样排满了节目。今天去的第一个地方是一个叫做Lucciola的饭店，PJG的家人在1967年来过这里，PJG说他隐约记得饭店院子里的萤火虫。找到了那家饭店，饭店没有营业，我俩开门进去了，店主先是惊讶地看到两个闯入者，但是PJG给她看了这个饭店的50多年前的照片以后，她也是非常感兴趣，虽然她只是6年前才接手这个饭店，她说她从来没有看到过饭店正面的老照片，并且索要了照片。

科孚岛第六天， Day 6 in Corfu

2022年5月5日，星期四，本次旅行第17天，在科孚岛的第6天

Thursday, May 5, 2022. Day 17 of the trip, day 6 in Corfu

今天也野心比较小，只计划去一个地方- Mirtiotissa，也就是上次提到的那个，驾驶过崎岖，狭窄，陡峭的山路才能到达的修道院。因为2天前看到这个修道院后并不确定是否是1969年去过的那个，PJG给修道院的人发了一封邮件询问，意外的是修道院的人回复并确认了老照片里的就是他的修道院。所以今天再次历经艰险前往。

Today is a less ambitious day and we only planned to visit one place – going back to the Mirtiotissa Monastery: only be accessible by driving the rough, narrow, and steep mountain roads. Why are we going back?