ROME (JUNE 5, 2012)

On June 4th, we were scheduled to dock in Porto Venere but due to high winds, the ship was not able to dock and tender us in.  We did dock at Porto something else but I was so exhausted from my day in Florence that we decided to stay on board and not go out and fight the winds.

Rome was wonderful.  Everything that I expected in Florence, I found in Rome!  I thought on leaving Florence that I would never want to see another church, statue  or ruin but all of that changed on arriving in Rome.  It was somewhat sad to leave the Serenity but we basically were ready.  We docked in Civitavecchia which is about an hour and a half from Rome.   Another bus ride but it included a very nice tour that covered a visual of the highlights.  This was helpful in deciding what we wanted to explore on our three day stay.  We had great views on a drive-by of the Colloseum, the Pantheon, the Forum, the Borghesi Gardens etc. and probably half the monuments and statues that are in public spaces.  The traffic is unreal.  Mostly motorcycles and mopeds and they do not follow the rules of the road.  Apparently their feeling is they would drive a car if they wanted to be stuck in traffic.

On arriving at our hotel in Rome, we arranged a tour to the Vatican Museum, the Sistene Chapel and St. Peters.  We wanted a guide to get us into the places we wanted to see without waiting in lines.  There were only ten of us in our group (put together by Crystal).  This worked quite well except for the Chapel.  No ones fault.  They average 20,000 visitors a day and one needs to go through it slowly to try to take it all in.  It was so beautiful, the fact that we were crammed in that Chapel like cattle, did not bother us much except that you lose the ambience of being in a sacred place.

We also visited the Trevi Fountain.  Not like you see in the movies.  There were no movie stars frolicking in the water and falling in love in romantic Roma! It was packed with people.  Reminded me of the Blue Lagoon in Iceland!   

Overall, Rome is one phenomenal city and we love it!  If I had the chance (and the energy because it took lots) I would go back.

As this wonderful trip comes to an end, we must admit there is a feeling of wanting to be back home to familiar things and places.  We’ve met some lovely people and we have had such a good time.  We will remember many things from this special cruise but home is where the heart is!  

Arrivederci, Roma!

Trevi Fountain.  I tried to block the people out of my photo.

A typical Roman street.  You can see why so many folks drive bikes, scooters/mopeds.

FLORENCE, ITALY (June 3, 2012)

The ship docked in Livorno which is a one and a half hour drive from Florence.  We had to take a bus which cost us $123.00 r/t each.  The bus let us off a good 20 minute walk from the old city of Florence.  This is due to the fact that buses cannot fit or park on the streets that are any closer to the old city.  It was a very hot day and the bus did not go back to the ship for seven hours!  This may have clouded my impression of Florence!  There is no denying that the Galleries and churches are beautiful but seven hours?  There was no place to sit that was in the shade and every cafe and restaurant was packed with people.  There was even some sort of social protest and parade going on and that  added another few hundred local protestors to the already congested streets!  They must have anticipated problems with the protest because polizia were everywhere (with sirens going).  My mind had envisioned something much more romantic like violins and Italian love songs!  I did take some photos of some of the more interesting and picturesque sites although we did not enter some of the galleries that we would have liked to see.  The lines were like Disneyland on a summer day and each church and gallery wanted many euro to enter.  I hope when I look at my photos at a later date, I will have fonder memories of Florence.  We were exhausted when we got back to the ship and so was everyone else. I understand not many showed up for the ships evening entertainment!

Couldn't get into this church as it was Sunday and masses were going on.  It is an active local parish located in the main square.  I took this when we first arrived before the masses converged on the square.

This bridge takes you over to the old city and has designer shops actually on the bridge.

This mime was in the Uffizi Gallery.  Yes, this is a real person.  Absolutely amazing.                        

Monte Carlo

MONTE CARLO, MONACO (June 1, 2, 2012)

If Geiranger was the highlight of our first voyage, then Monte Carlo so far is highlighting this voyage.  As lovely as Bordeaux was, Monte Carlo is a completely different kind of beautiful.  Having seen only glimpses of this city in James Bond and other movies, what we saw was not what we expected.  On our first day we were docked at the pier and had the most perfect view of this beautiful city built on the side of a mountain.  I did not expect high rises and hotels all built on top of each other and yet still be incredibly beautiful.  We didn’t see much sun so my photos will not do this port justice.  Our ship was completely surrounded with yachts of every size.  Each more beautiful than the other.  The yacht owned by the crown prince of Saudi was docked next to us.  Our american dollars at work!  I’m having trouble wrapping my brain around how there could be so much money  in one three mile stretch of coastline!  The entire country can fit into half of Central Park.    We sat and watched yachts sail in and out of the harbor for a couple of hours and we were mesmerized!  Jetsetters and glitterati surrounded us and we felt as though we were in some sort of fantasyland.  We also strolled around the streets today, people watched, checked our the rolls, jaguars, mercedes and lamborginies, (sp?) on the streets.  There are no Toyotas or Fords in this town.   We then browsed the windows of the designer shops.  It seemed most of these shops required an appointment to go in and buy something.  Designer jewelry shops and boutiques were everywhere with the most fantastic gems in their windows.  (Maybe they weren’t real but I would imagine in this city,  they were!)

On day 2 we visited the casino.  We were too early to enter the Casino Royal as it did not open until 2:00pm so we had to go into a somewhat lesser casino.  It didn’t matter, we still lost our money but it’s just fun to know we gambled in Monte Carlo.  We had planned to go to the Casino Royal the evening before but our group was just too tired by the time dinner was over and coats, ties and cocktail dresses are required after 8:00 p.m. This is no place to be seen in baggy jeans and a hometown t-shirt!  Even today we had to show our passports to get into the casino.  Apparently, locals are not permitted in any casino in Monaco.  I have no idea why.  

An incredible two days that we will never forget.  Another very lovely sail-away this afternoon and we are now off to Livorno and will spend the day in Florence tomorrow.  

GIBRALTAR, UNITED KINGDOM (May 30, 2012)

We have arrived at the gateway to the Mediterranean,  a 1400 foot high rock, that is emphatically British!  Some caves, a castle, and some apes up at the top.  I don’t love trams so we did not see the antics of the apes but others have told us we didn’t really miss anything.  From the sea it looks very familiar after seeing the “Prudential” commercials my entire life.  We did go into the little town (this rock is only two square miles) to check out the duty free and tax free shopping.  Prices didn’t seem much different than at home so why lug things back with us.  Guess I’m just way too practical because others did come back with arm-loads of purchases.  

The history of this rock is what makes it interesting.  It seems in 1967, 12,138 Gibraltarians voted to “Keep the Rock British” while only 44 proud-but-outnumbered citizens voted to allow the rock to revert back to Spanish rule.  It has NOT  been under Spanish rule since 1713.  It was strange to see the Union Jack flying in the windows of high-rise apartment buildings.  Yes, there are many of those on the Rock.  A very interesting day!  Looking forward to a sea day tomorrow.

LISBON, PORTUGAL (May 29, 2012)

Took a look at the highlights of Lisbon today.  First a drive through the really old part of the city.  I thought it was quite dilapidated and hadn’t been well maintained or restored as many of the other old cities we have visited.  However, Portugal has no money, so we hear.  They are spending three million euro to build a new museum to replace their current “carriage/coach museum though.  Go figure.

We then went to an “ancient” pastry house for a taste of the sumptuous Portuguese pastries and coffee.  Yum!  Following that, we took a look at Jeronimos Monastery.  We are getting to the point where all of these old churches start to look alike but it was quite lovely and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.   It is the resting place of Vasco de Gama Of course, there were more monuments that tour guides seem to think we all want to spend 30 to 45 minutes looking at.  

There is a beautiful bridge in Lisbon which looks almost identical to our Golden Gate in San Francisco and we had a chance to drive over it and have a look at the other side of the river which was much more modern, clean and up-to-date.

It seems Lisbon is rapidly losing its population over the last 20 years.  They were at 1.2 million and now less than 600,000.  All of the younger people are leaving for better job opportunities.  Unemployment is about 18%.  Even their college grads are not able to find work.  

Ourship-board entertainment for this evening was a couple of young Scottish lads who were the 2006 finalists in Britains monster television show, X Factor.  They come from Ayr which is not too far from where I was born in Rutherglen and they were quite talented and have now released albums in the UK, Australia and now one for Asia is in the pipeline. They are the MacDonald Brothers and were probably the best part of our Lisbon visit.  They will be on-board until Rome so I’m hoping to have a chance to meet them.