Day 10: Algiers, Algeria
The Viking Sea is the only cruise ship that visits Algiers, and this is only the second stop that the ship has made there. So our presence in town was a pretty big deal for the citizens. Here a few shots of Algiers from the ship.
Unlike in other ports, we were only allowed to leave the ship if we were one one of the ship's tours. So we opted for the free tour, which was bus drive around Algiers, with only one stop, at the Martyr's Memorial. As was the case in Tunis, security was tight--we were in a caravan of 5 buses with a police (or military) escort.
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| Some buildings along the shore |
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| I believe this is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
After about 15 minutes, we arrived at the
Martyr's Memorial, which is on the east side of the city. The memorial was finished in 1982, and is in the shape of three palm leaves. There is a statue of a soldier in front of each leaf, representing different periods in Algerian history.
Next to the memorial was what appeared to be a shopping mall and a large open plaza.
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| A view of part of the plaza and apartments from the memorial |
East of the memorial, they are building a mosque, which when finished, will be the second largest in the world.
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| The mosque is the big tower in the center |
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| This is where they grow satellite dishes |
From the memorial, there were good views over the main part of Algiers.
That was the extent of our "off the bus" activity. The rest of the tour was a bus ride through central Algiers. Other than the Martyr's Memorial, there didn't seem to be any real tourist attractions. To top it off, since it was Friday (the Muslim sabbath), there weren't many people in the street. However, there was a lot of nice French colonial architecture around the city.
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| Housing in central Algiers |
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| Some Algerian transportation |
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| French architecture |
Since we were effectively the only organized tour group in town, we got a lot of attention from folks on the street.
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| The Algerian Navy (or part of it, at least) |
Eventually, we returned to the boat for some swimming under the roof, and some twilight views of Algiers.
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| Algiers at dusk |
Day 11: Valencia, Spain
Today, we signed up for a ship excursion to the town of Xàtiva, about 50 miles south of Valencia, which is the home of the infamous Borgia family. So all we saw of Valencia was along the route in and out of town.
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| Valencia and Xativa |
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| Port of Valencia, as seen from the ship |
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| A street in Valencia |
Although we didn't get to central Valencia, we did pass by the
City of Arts and Sciences, which consists of several museums, a planetarium, and an oceanographic park.
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| Museum of Sciences |
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| L'Hemisfèric -- IMAX Cinema, planetarium and laserium |
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| Another view of the Museum of Science |
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| L'Umbracle -- a landscaped walk with plant species indigenous to Valencia |
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| The whole complex |
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| Countryside between Valencia and Xàtiva |
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| They have graffiti issues in Spain |
Xativa essentially consists of three parts--a modern section, located in a valley; an "old town" located partially up a hill, and the
Castle of Xavita, located on the top of the hill.
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| Modern part of Xàtiva |
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| Old Town |
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| Castle walls |
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| Inside the castle walls |
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| View of the modern part of town from the castle |
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| Brenda Cannon Kalt in front of her namesake |
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| We're in Spain, not China |
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| A crypt inside the castle |
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| Not-well-preserved castle wall |
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| Castle dungeon |
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| Panoramic view of old and modern Xativa |
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| View of the countryside, looking away from the town |
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| Castle walls as seen from below |
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| Back in the modern part of town |
Eventually we made it back to the ship, where, after dinner we took in an ABBA tribute show, apparently a requirement on Viking cruises.
After that, we stumbled to a lounge to watch a Filipino rock band. (It would appear that all rock/pop bands on cruise ships are Filipino).
