Cruising the Mediterranean and Beyond

By Ronald Joseph Tocchini

Have you ever visited the majestic city of Madrid? Or have you ever felt the warm island sun on your shoulders while traveling to the Balearic Islands? This and more awaits you in Cruising the Mediterranean and Beyond.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Oct 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9781466966192

Ronald Joseph Tocchini

Ronald Joseph Tocchini is not a stranger to his craft as an author. “Ancient Empires of the Eastern Mediterranean” is his fourth publication. Furthermore, the writer’s work is complemented by forty-three years of instruction. He taught in the university, the community college as well as the secondary levels of instruction. His subjects were as follow: Spanish, Italian, English as a secondary language, and American history. He attended Saint Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco, California, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and he did graduate work at the University of San Francisco. At the University of California at Berkeley, he completed all required courses for a doctorate in romance languages and literatures. Ron, as his friends and colleagues knew him, was also an athlete. As a result of his accomplishments in athletics, he was awarded a full, four-year scholarship at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

Book preview

CRUISING THE

MEDITERRANEAN

AND BEYOND

RONALD JOSEPH TOCCHINI

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© Copyright 2012 Ronald Joseph Tocchini.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN:

978-1-4669-6618-5 (sc)

ISBN:

978-1-4669-6620-8 (hc)

ISBN:

978-1-4669-6619-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012920452

Trafford rev. 11/30/2012

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My lady friend and I took a cruise that included the western part of the Mediterranean. Specifically, it comprised Portofino, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; and Casablanca, Morocco. Our trip also took in the Canary Islands, Spain; and Madeira, Portugal. Moreover, upon our return to Portofino, we spent an entire day in Gibraltar and another in Málaga, Spain.

Before leaving for our cruise, my partner, whose name is Sara, suggested that we add something to our traveling experience. She would leave her home in Bariloche, Argentina, and I, in San Mateo, California, one week before our sailing date from Portofino. The trip by jet was exhausting but well worth the trouble, as you shall see.

Sara and I rendezvoused in Madrid, the majestic capital of Spain. The month was June; the year, 2010. After visiting that metropolis, we took a sojourn in Palma de Mallorca, a town in one of the Balearic Islands of Spain.

In Madrid, we spent only three days and three nights. Nevertheless, we managed to see some of the highlights. For example, the Museo del Prado exhibits the art gathered by Spanish royalty from the Catholic king and queen, Ferdinand and Isabella. The museum’s jewels are its works by the nation’s three masters: Francisco Goya, Diego Velázquez, and El Greco. The museum also contains masterpieces by French, Dutch, German, and Italian artists when those countries were part of the Spanish Empire. One of the most impressive pieces is Velázquez’s most famous work, Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor), which combines a self-portrait of the artist at work with a mirror reflection of the king and queen in a revolutionary interplay of space and perspectives.

Concerning Goya, his early masterpieces are portraits of the family of King Carlos IV. One glance at their imbecilic expressions, especially in the painting The Family of Carlos IV, reveals the loathing Goya developed for these self-indulgent reactionary rulers.

El Greco, the Greek-born artist who lived and worked in Toledo, Spain, is known for his mystical, elongated forms and faces. Two of his most famous paintings, The Resurrection and The Adorations of the Shepherds, are on view.

After spending about three hours at the foregoing museum, Sara and I got on the hop on, hop off bus and proceeded to tour the city.

Our next stop