Day 21 Rome, Italy

For the first time since we got off the ship - we had a relaxing pace in the morning. Today we had tickets to the Colosseum at 4:15 pm. That meant we had free time during the morning and early afternoon to focus on last minute details. 

So DG went and purchased a piece of luggage to make her trip home easier. JP went to look at a bag one more time - and decided she didn’t need it. ME and I packed our bags to ensure everything fit!!!

When ME and JP returned it was their turn to pack. I then went to pick up one last item at a shop two blocks away. DG bought a little purse and the shopping was done!  And we were packed. 

So we decided to check in for flights between 1:30 and 2:30 pm and by 2:45 pm we were walking to a nearby taxi stand to get a taxi to take us to the Colosseum. We were happy he charged by the meter and it cost 9.8€ (I tipped him a 5 € to encourage him to keep doing the right thing and charging properly, not gouging tourists. 

We learned that we could not enter the ruin until 4 pm so we walked around the building outside and decided to go for a gelato. 

We then returned to our designated entrance and walked inside the Colosseum!!  We had full access tickets so that allowed us entrance to the lower floor (not the absolute lowest - those required a certain type of a guided tour). 

DG put her selfie stick to good use!

Our Colosseum view with myself, DG, ME and JP. Still smiling and having fun!!!

View of the Colosseum from outside!

We then went to the Forum and learned it was a good thing we entered just after 6 pm as the last entry was by 6:15 pm. We had until 7:15 pm to view the area. 

Roman Forum

A bride and groom were posing for photos in front of the Colosseum as we were heading to supper at Naomachia Ristorante. 

We had a wonderful Last Supper in Rome!

Dinner with our fabulous server Claudio!

And we had a view of the sun setting behind the Colosseum as we sat and ate supper!

Setting sun behind the Colosseum - DG deserves the photo credit. 

We then caught a taxi and paid by the meter back to our hotel. What a fabulous last night in Rome. 

Tomorrow we catch flights back to Canada. Sniff. But we have been so blessed to spend this time together as friends who live across the country from one another!!

Day 20 Rome, Italy

Today was our Vatican museum tour day. We felt privileged to bypass the incredibly long line of people looking to buy tickets at 7:30 am. We had purchased tickets with a Vatican Museums guided tour. Our tour meeting time was the earliest it could be - 7:45 AM for an 8 AM tour. 

Our guide, Maria, with a lilting Italian accent, was an archeologist. She gave lots of details about what to expect when we got into the Sistine Chapel - two hours later. So much history here. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling well today to take it all in so it felt like a very long morning. 

People are not allowed to take photos (or talk) when in the Sistine Chapel so there are no photos of that. 

After we exited the Sistine Chapel we went it St Peter’s Basilica which is stunning. We had planned to spend an hour but spent more like two there. 

The other three were keen to keep sightseeing and I needed to go back to the apartment to rest - I just wasn’t feeling well. I experienced the taxi drivers in full force taking advantage of tourists when I tried to catch a ride home from the Vatican. Our taxi to the Vatican cost less than 8€. The first taxi I hopped in after leaving the Vatican didn’t have a meter running and he said it would cost 27. I said no and got out of the car. 

I walked several blocks and found another taxi stand where a driver told me it would cost 25€. When I asked why he said “Vatican City”    So I spent close to an hour walking home. 

But I got this view walking over the Tiber River in Rome!

Then I ate lunch and laid down for a bit. The others returned home around 3:30 pm. 

ME and I went to do a bit of leather shopping nearby. Around 6:30 pm we all walked to a restaurant recommended by a friend of JP - it was situated a few blocks beyond the Trevi Fountain. 

Dinner was tasty. We again came across less than ethical taxi drivers - this time wanting to charge us 24 € and then the next one wanted to charge us 38€ to drive us home. We declined and walked again. Finding drivers who actually charge by the meter is really difficult in Rome!  

Tomorrow is our last full day in Rome before we fly home the following day. 

Day 19 Rome, Italy

Today was a more relaxing day in Rome. We headed out to a park in search of greenery!  Villa Borghese Gardens were a nice amble from our apartment - they were big and they offered lots of shade!!  After many days of 30 plus Celsius temperatures, I just wanted not to be dripping with sweat 15 minutes after stepping outside. 

And so a walk in the Gardens was wonderful!

I then returned to our apartment because I had a couple of hours of work to do. JP went on a guided tour of Villa Medici. ME and DG walked further. 

JP returned for lunch first and the other two joined us after a successful shopping trip and lunch at McDonald’s!  Did you know you can buy beer and cafe at lait at McDonald’s in Rome?

I then took a taxi to go visit my cousin Hazel and her son Mario at their home. It has a wonderful view from three terraces!!

After a lovely visit, tea and a piece of cheesecake I bid adieu and headed back to our apartment. I met my friends at a bistro as they were finishing their supper. 

We walked the streets a bit and appreciated the comfortable temperatures. We then returned to the apartment and played a couple games of euchre!

Tomorrow we have 8 am Vatican tickets so it will be an early start. 

Day 18 Rome, Italy

Sometimes I love the convenience of Blogtorch for writing my blog and other times I despise it. We just had a busy fulfilling day in Rome that I summarized beautifully - spending about an hour crafting it - and I was about to publish it to find that the post just disappeared. So now I am tired annoyed and don’t want to write anything and go to bed. But I will summarize some of the hilights again. 

We had a wonderful experience attending mass at the Pantheon this morning. 10:30 am on Sundays - if you have a chance to attend mass at the Pantheon in person, do it. 

The Pantheon empty of tourists after the mass. You need to commit about an hour of your time to sit and be present and not leave during mass. What a wonderful way to experience a 2,000 year old temple. It started out as a pagan temple. Then around 615 AD Pope Boniface the IV made it a Christian church. 

When we emerged from the Pantheon we had a throng of people waiting to get in. Museums in Rome are free the first Sunday of the month  so perhaps that contributed to the line up outside. 

We then went to the site where Julius Caesar was stabbed by his conspirators. 

Then it was hot and we wanted to return to our apartment for lunch and air conditioning. We then had a siesta!

At 5:30 pm JP ME and I went walking to a saint S’anselmo where we heard Gregorian chanting during a vespers service. Walking their we saw amazing stuff!!

ME and JP stood in line to look through the keyhole to see the basilica in the distance. I chose to recharge by sitting under the trees and making a couple of calls home. 

Vittorio Emmanuel monument.

Then we kindly had the wonderful Hotel S’anselmo staff call us a cab back to our apartment. That looked like a glorious hotel!!

Good night. 

Day 17 Disembarkation

So today we had to disembark the Enchanted Princess at the port of Civitavecchia. We elected to self assist - which means we carried all our luggage off the ship ourselves. 

We met for breakfast at 8 am (and perhaps the buffet closed at 8:30) but the shelves were wiped bare of things like banana bread, croissants and muffins. I guess people were taking food like that as they disembarked.  There was still plenty of other hot food choices like oatmeal and bacon and eggs!

Our last breakfast and definitely still smiling!

We finished eating at 8:44 and returned to our room to collect our luggage. Shockingly, we caught an empty, available elevator down to deck six to swipe our medallions one final time and disembark. 

We didn’t have to clear customs - as this cruise was still in the European Union. And so we walked to a shuttle bus that took us directly to the train station for a cost of 6 € cash. We purchased tickets on the 9:58 am train to Rome Termini for 4.5€ - cheaper than the five minute shuttle bus ride from the ship  (which was worth every penny given the amount of luggage we were carrying and due to the fact that it was raining lightly). 

Platform 4 required going under the tracks. We elected to take elevators with our luggage. The elevator was tiny and very slow. Probably 10 minutes later we found ourselves on platform 4 and loaded in different doors to the same train car. Seats were scarce and the luggage was tough to store given the absence of luggage storage areas. This was a full train and ME and I found a couple of single seats while JP and DG found seats across from one another. But many people were standing. 

We arrived in Rome Termini station at 11:18 am as scheduled. We then navigated many flights of stairs with our luggage. We knew a taxi should cost 8 to 12 € so when we met with an unscrupulous driver who wanted to charge us 50€ we said no and walked till we found a driver that would charge us the metered rate. He charged us 15€ and we paid him 20 to get to our 3 bedroom apartment. 

We unloaded our bags and walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch. We returned to the apartment and settled into rooms and had a little quiet time. 

Then we decided to go for a walk towards the Trevi Fountain. Talk about crowds in August!!

But it is a landmark one cannot miss seeing in Rome. We shopped along the way, then went for supper at Il Chianti osteria Toscana. Delicious meal outdoors on a patio. 

Then we walked to the Spanish Steps. 

We made it back to the apartment a little after 9 pm. It is now 10:30 pm and I am ready for bed!!

Tomorrow we visit the Pantheon!

Day 16 Livorno, Italy

Livorno is the closest cruise port to Florence and that was our destination today. We booked transportation to Florence with Princess and that made the logistics of getting to and from Florence simple. It still was a full day with 14,000 steps involved but it was thrilling to see Florence. 

We met in the Princess Theatre for our excursion and were on bus #1 (of five) to Florence by 8:15 am. The drive to Florence was really stunning once you left the mostly industrial port of Livorno. 

We arrived in Florence around 10 am. We then walked about 15 minutes to a good and leather shop that would be our meeting spot. As we had tickets to the Ufizzi museum at 10:45 we didn’t stay for the “demonstration” (ie sales pitch) so our guide Laura showed us how to get to the Ufizzi. We arrived at the museum at exactly 10:45 am. 

What an incredible museum that needs far more time than we had to allocate to seeing it. There were works of Boticelli, Leonardo Da Vinci and many other masters. 

The Birth of Venus by Boticelli was painted in 1485. 

The upper floor is stunning with all kinds of sculptures to view and many tourists like us wanting to see them!

We had to make the decision to leave before we saw the lower floors of the Ufizzi because we had so little time. We left and picked up some take away food to eat as we walked to see the Pont de vecchio. 

We then had to walk about 30 minutes towards Gallerie d’academi, going past the duomo Basilica. It was amazing. 

Duomo Basilica

The point of seeing the academi is to see the real sculpture of Michealangelo’s David. We had already seen one replica on the street

A replica of David. 

The real David!

We then did some shopping in the leather market and rushed to meet our guide by 3:30 pm. 

Our drive back to the ship was uneventful and we arrived shortly after 5 pm - where it was raining in Livorno. 

We quickly changed for dinner. Kind of like the Last Supper!!

Then we had to do the dreaded task of packing our suitcases. They are now packed and we played a game of cards. Now must sign off and head to bed. 

Day 15 Genoa, Italy

Today we visited the port of Genoa, Italy. For us that meant a very early start - 7 am for a Princess Cruise excursion to visit Cinque Terre. JP and I planned ahead last night and scored some food for breakfast. She took her GF toast from supper and asked for a bowl of peanut butter. I had gone up to the buffet to get some nuts, seeds, cheese and smoked salmon for a protein filled breakfast. 

Unfortunately when I went to eat that food this morning none of it appealed to me - expect for the mandarin orange in my room. It ended up being a light day for food until we returned to the ship for supper!

We chose a Princess excursion today because of the challenges of getting to these five lovely Italian towns on the coast. We wanted to guarantee we saw three of them and that we returned to the ship before it departed at 6:30 pm!!

I should say today is our first day where we had cloudy skies and a forecast of rain and cooler temperatures in the mid 20’s. 

So we began with a 90 minute bus ride to the train station in Levanto. By the time we arrived in Levanto it was raining quite hard so we pulled out our umbrellas to stay dry as we moved to the platforms of the train station. 

Our bus of 40 people was divided into two groups of 20 so that we could fit into the mini buses that would be used later on in the day. 

We had a few time delays today that were unfortunate. Two buses of 40 were moving to the train platform. The other bus caught the train, we did not. So we waited and their was a delay on the track for maybe 30 minutes for the next train to arrive. Then we boarded the train and there was another delay on the train (of maybe 20 minutes) while we were going along the coast seeing pretty sites. Fortunately we had a view of the Sea rather than the blackness of a tunnel while we waited. 

We travelled on the train for five stops and got off at the train stop called Riomaggiore. This was our first town of three that we were to see.  It was beautiful!!

Riomaggiore as viewed along our walking path. 

The coast line along this classic Cinque Terre town. 

We then boarded our mini bus with our group of 20. As we were driving to the next town just a few minutes away, our path was blocked by an RV with a utility vehicle that was trying to do a u-turn on the road and it was stuck. The owners were beginning to unload the utility vehicle so they could pick it up and move it. So the occupants of our minibus walked down the road to get to the next town of Manarola. 

So we arrived at Manarola looking down at the Mediterranean Sea. Our guide Laura offered to take anybody interested for a walk down to the marina and back in a 30 minute timeframe. Anybody not up for the challenge was invited to stay up high around the church and courtyard. Given my knee problems of late I made the decision not to descend to the water. Once I saw the pictures of the other three, I was sorry for that decision. It proved to be the hi light of the day. If I had an hour (as I am sure was in the original schedule) I would have gone. This was the classic Cinque Terre view that you see in all the travel brochures. 

I went to a cafe and had a piece of focaccia bread - a classic food for the area. 

This was my view from up top. 

JP deserves credit for this amazing photo from viewpoint of the bay lower down in Manarola!

Then when the group reunited, we walked back up to meet our minibus. Evidently unloading the utility van worked because the RV was no longer blocking the road. 

We then had a 45 minute minibus ride to our third and final town we would visit, Monterosso. Here we were given two hours to explore and eat lunch (after we were all offered a glass of Cinque Terre white wine and some small samples of focaccia bread).  We decided we wanted to see the town rather than sit in a restaurant ordering food. 

JP did buy something like GF pizza that she said was delicious. We all had a gelato and explored the streets, shops and the one beach. 

Monterosso’s one public beach in the old section. 

Once we met up with the group and walked to the train station we learned there was a new section of town that was even busier and perhaps more beautiful!

We then caught the train and travelled just one stop to Levanto. Then we hopped onto our large size coach and drove back to Genoa. We returned precisely at 5:30 pm, our scheduled return time. 

We returned to our staterooms, showered quickly and went down to the dining room shortly after 6 pm. We had tips in hand to give to Michael and Hector. We then learned that Hector had disembarked yesterday. It took less than one meal to realize how much we missed Hector - his knowledge of sugar and cream for JP and milk for ME and so on…..Too bad we wanted to thank him and tip him. 

After dinner we went up to the back of deck 16 as we sailed away. The others ordered some ship’s pictures and I went up to do laundry!!  Such mundane things are necessary!!

Tomorrow we visit Florence!!

Day 14, Marseilles, France

Today we paid for our first Princess organized excursion. The bus took us from Marseille to the town of Arle, France - about an hour away. 

We visited the Amphitheatre of Arles. From the third century B.C. gladiator combats were organized in Rome as part of funerals. Very quickly they became popular and Amphitheatres started to be built up everywhere. The most famous one was built in Rome. It became a model for those that were built in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. 

Our guide Florence said that the movie Gladiator (starring Russell Crowe) was a very accurate representation of how slaves were treated to fight in these amphitheatres. 

We then had the opportunity to walk through the quaint little town of Arles. This was the town where Vincent Van Gogh was inspired to paint over 100 pieces of work in this little town, including Le Cafe de Nuit. 

We visited a church, then went for lunch included in the tour, at the Best Western. We sat at a table with 3 charming Irish men and a couple from San Francisco. 

We then climbed back on the bus and drove to the town of Baux de Provence. It was a gorgeous little town. 

The entire area had stunning scenery. 

We have another early start tomorrow (7 am meeting time) so I need to cut my report short as is already 10 pm. We did manage to buy some ship’s photos and play a game of euchre after supper!!

Day 13 At Sea

This is our last day at sea!  We will finish off with three busy port days before arriving in Rome on Saturday. 

We all awoke early and went for a walk at 7 am on the walking track on Sky Deck (18) while we watched the sun rise. DG did a Timelapse of the sun rise. We then headed to the dining room for breakfast. 

After breakfast JP and I headed to a talk by Destination Expert Karen about Genoa (JEN-o-a). ME and DG went poolside to find deck chairs. After our informative lecture JP decided to have some quiet time in the cabin while I went to join our friends in the retreat pool (for me that means sun hat, sunglasses and a sun shirt over my bathing suit) while enjoying the coolness of the water under the heat of the sun. 

We met up with Laurie and Amy and heard more about their near miss of the boat yesterday. Very exciting story to hear. More excitement than they and their parents wanted!!  Going forwarded they have easy to manage Princess excursions booked!!

We then went to invite JP to join us on the Lido deck for a buffet lunch. DG and I played in a bocce ball tournament!  JP and ME took a cha cha dance lesson!!  It looked like they had heaps of fun!!

Formal dinner meant surf and turf so the lobster tail was particularly appreciated!!

After dinner DG and I went to the production show The Spotlight Bar - it was event better than the last time!  We then joined our friends for a huge amount of laughter watching the Do you Wanna Dance competition in the piazza!!

What a fun day at sea!!!

Day 12 Gibraltar

Gibraltar was a  jaw dropping day!  Gibraltar is considered the gateway to Europe. It is situated at the southern tip of Spain and is something like 15 miles north of Morocco. The Mediterranean Sea is to the east and the Atlantic Ocean is to the west. And Gibraltar was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity after the Spanish War. 

We decided to go buy a tour in a minivan with another group of four young people from Australia. We each paid 50€ for the driver who was tour guide and this kid for admission to all of the sights. In fact we would have paid 46€ for the cable car and access to all the sites so we were really pleased with our choice!

We learned the two couples we were with - the men were brothers and they each had their partners with them. The trip had started out with the brother’s parents but the Mom had been evacuated for a medical emergency in Barcelona. In fact, we had seen a woman being loaded into an ambulance when we disembarked in Barcelona. We learned she is doing okay but she and her husband will be flying back to Australia in a day or two. Sadly, this is not the trip the family had been expecting. 

We all hopped in the van with our guide Lionel who had 40 years of military experience and was a proud Gibraltarian. We went to see the Pillars of Hercules to begin. It is said to be a religious shrine and as an entrance to the world of Hades. 

We then drove up to St Michael’s Cave. My geologist son JG would have loved it!!  It is said one can see the image of St Michael in the stalactite and stalagmite. 

After this Cave, we then went to the sky view area near the top of the rock. What an amazing view!

JP took this amazing photo!

We didn’t go into the nature preserve here - but we did see the tailless macaques!

DG deserves the photo credit for this photo!

We then travelled to the siege tunnels. We could have taken the ride to the bottom of the hill but we wanted to explore some more and we were so glad we did. This is the view from outside the siege tunnels:

We are looking north to Spain. The Mediterranean Sea is to the right and the Atlantic Ocean is to the left. And yes that is an airport runway between the two that stops traffic from crossing when planes land and take off!!

The Siege tunnels were chiselled out in the 1700’s when the Spanish War was taking place. Great Britain realized that the rock was offering natural protection to the Spaniards to the north and the Brits needed to burrow through the rock to give themselves a military advantage.  It worked!!

An information board nicely summarized as The Great Siege. 

ME, DG and JP looking out at the Mediterranean Sea at the far end of the siege tunnel open to the public. 

We then walked further down the road to the World War II tunnels. Obviously in the 1940’s machinery was used to help dig out the tunnels - far different than in the 1700’s.  The Canadians contributed significantly to the cause. 

We then stopped at the Moorish Castle. 

And then as we continued to walk down the road ME saw a public bus that would take us back into the city. For 2.4 € we were able to climb into a little air conditioned bus and get very close to the centre of town. 

We were now on a mission. We knew that Canada was playing in the Women’s World Cup of soccer. We had missed the first half but hoped to watch the last half at a sports bar. Success!  O’Reilly’s had a big screen outside and was playing another game. After some sweet talking JP managed to get them to change to the Canadian game. We could drink beer or order ice cream!  One beer, two ice creams and one iced coffee later we were enjoying watching the game. It wasn’t the outcome we wanted but we were pleased to watch the game!

Pretty sweet viewing opportunity to see the soccer game!

We then made our way back to the ship by 3:15. After a refreshing swim we wondered where Laurie and Amy were, the two sisters we met earlier in the cruise. 

We found them and learned they had been travelling on an independent excursion much like ours. Their excursion ran late. Laurie, not being a runner, used all of her energy to run to the ship by 4:30 pm - the all aboard time to advise the ship that her parents in their 80’s were on their way but they couldn’t run. The ship obliged and waited for them. I don’t know how much later the parents were, but they got on board!

Dinner was the usual lovely affair with Hector and Michael serving us at table 616. 

The other three went for a walk in deck 17. I returned to our room to write this blog. We will be happy to have a quiet low key night!!