The last remaining days of the trip are winding down. Today, the bus tour really got to us - we felt like we were on a Senior Citizen trip, with everyone complaining about having to walk. These four hour tours can go by really quickly when you can only move as fast as the slowest old person in the group. Five minutes into the tour, we hit the WC (water closet), and we must have spent 30 minutes rounding up the old fogies so that we could continue the tour. The streets of Lucca are very narrow, and filled with cars and people on bicycles. We had several near misses of our traveling companions getting hit, because they either couldn't see the cars or hear the bicycles coming as we stood in the street to hear the historical information. By the time we witnessed one fellow tour member have seven cigarettes in the span of 45 minutes, I told Hamer that we were going to leave the group and meet them back at the appointed spot. It was just getting too frustrating, and we could cover more ground on our own. We managed to explore many of the side streets, and walk along the ramparts, or old wall of the city. It would have been lovely to stay a few more hours in this Tuscan town, and ride bikes around the area. The tour buses do not provide you with this lingering options, and we were back with our pals before we knew it. There are really a lot of loud East Coast people that really give the US travelers a bad name. You wish you could apologize for them...
On Saturday, we had to leave the ship in the AM, and we moved to the Seccy Hotel in Fiumicino, the town where the Rome airport is. This small fishing town is located along the sea, with a canal that runs through it for the fishing boats. We dropped our stuff at the hotel, wishing we could fly home today, but we could not get flights early enough after getting off the ship. We killed time by napping, and taking strolls through the city along the promenade. It was great watching the locals fish off the rocks, and gather at the restaurants for dinner. We followed the recommendation of our hotelier, and went to a neighborhood restaurant. We knew this would be an adventure when we were told that they did not begin serving dinner until 7:30 (due to the late lunches everyone has). The hotelier called and convinced them to serve us at 7:00 (we are getting up tomorrow at 3:45 AM to catch our flights). The restaurant was run by two elderly ladies that looked like the lunch crowd had tired them out. They kindly made an attempt to explain the menu, but there were a few glitches. Hamer's spaghetti with mussels came with sardines, but he hardly wimpered. I carefully ordered mine with "no fish" to avoid any similar errors. It all tasted great, and after about an hour and a half, we wandered back to the hotel.
After three weeks on the road, seas, and skies, we are anxious to get back to the hum drum life that we are used to. This has been one hell of a trip, and we are so glad that we made it. Many times along the way, as we strolled in beautiful spots, we pinched each other about being able to experience this.
Ciao from Italy!
Peggy and Ken
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Monte Carlo/Monaco
Today, we had no organized tour planned. One of the other couples that we are traveling with set off with us for a “come what may” day of exploring this fascinating city. We’ve all seen Monte Carlo listed as the place for the “rich and famous”, and we were not disappointed as we entered the harbor.
The yachts here are unbelievable! We spent about an hour watching a crew prepare a yacht to set sail - the boat was probably 125 feet long, and we counted at least 10 crew members who busied themselves with pulling up jet skis and motorized skiffs and putting them on the deck. They even had a treadmill on the deck that they had to secure! This was just one of hundreds of large pleasure boats.
We set off on a 15 minute walk up the hill to where the Palace of Monaco is located. This is one clean city - everything is well maintained. We arrived at the Palace in time to see the changing of the guard. Another tour group today got to see Prince Albert. We decided not to take the Palace tour so that we could continue on with the bus loop that would take us up to the top of the hill overlooking the city. After coming back down, we were dropped off in the area of the famous Monte Carlo Casino. They have Secret Service looking guys guard the doors, metering who can go in. There is a dress code, and we knew that we wouldn’t pass (casual traveler was the order of the day for us). The cars in front were nothing like the kamikazi style small cars we saw in Italy. Here, there were Rolls Royces, Maseratis, Mercedes, and BMW’s. Not a spec of dirt. Everyone here looks very well heeled.
Our last leg of the trip was a short open air water taxi over to the end of the pier where the ship was docked. This gave us an up close and personal look at the yachts. Where does all of this money come from? We wish we knew our flags better, as we had to guess where they were from.
Tonight, we sailed out of the harbor around 8:00 PM, with a beautiful lightning storm taking place over the mountain behind the city.
The yachts here are unbelievable! We spent about an hour watching a crew prepare a yacht to set sail - the boat was probably 125 feet long, and we counted at least 10 crew members who busied themselves with pulling up jet skis and motorized skiffs and putting them on the deck. They even had a treadmill on the deck that they had to secure! This was just one of hundreds of large pleasure boats.
We set off on a 15 minute walk up the hill to where the Palace of Monaco is located. This is one clean city - everything is well maintained. We arrived at the Palace in time to see the changing of the guard. Another tour group today got to see Prince Albert. We decided not to take the Palace tour so that we could continue on with the bus loop that would take us up to the top of the hill overlooking the city. After coming back down, we were dropped off in the area of the famous Monte Carlo Casino. They have Secret Service looking guys guard the doors, metering who can go in. There is a dress code, and we knew that we wouldn’t pass (casual traveler was the order of the day for us). The cars in front were nothing like the kamikazi style small cars we saw in Italy. Here, there were Rolls Royces, Maseratis, Mercedes, and BMW’s. Not a spec of dirt. Everyone here looks very well heeled.
Our last leg of the trip was a short open air water taxi over to the end of the pier where the ship was docked. This gave us an up close and personal look at the yachts. Where does all of this money come from? We wish we knew our flags better, as we had to guess where they were from.
Tonight, we sailed out of the harbor around 8:00 PM, with a beautiful lightning storm taking place over the mountain behind the city.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Barcelona - Wednesday, September 30th
Barcelona was a pleasant surprise to us! We had no preconceived ideas of how it was going to be. This seemed much more modern than the cities in Italy that we have visited, and the building architecture really kept our attention as we rode the open air, jump on, jump off bus. We had received some suggestions from our friend Alex, who spent several months there last fall while she was going to school. We didn’t have much time, so we took a loop of the city, and jumped off in areas that we found interesting. We even got rained on when we were on the top of the bus - amazing what you will put up with on vacation! About the time I began to question how long I was going to sit in the rain, it stopped! No umbrellas are permitted on the bus - I guess they don’t want them to get hooked as you go in the tunnels and underpasses!
We thought Barcelona was a beautiful city. We were warned about the dangers of pick pockets, but we made it out of this town with no losses! We visited the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in the center of the city, a large, on-going project by Gaudi. The tour takes place inside the church, in amongst the tradesmen working. I kept expecting at least some part of the interior to be finished - like I missed something. The began in 1890. We were told that it won’t be finished for another 30 - 40 years, due to money. I guess in the meantime, they have lots of admissions to collect to finish it.
We finished our visit with lunch at McDonald’s, where things don’t vary much. We then strolled down the Las Ramblas area, which is a many block area with large pedestrian venues running between the streets. These are filled with street vendors, street musicians, actors, and a lot of birds! Yellow parrots live in the trees down the boulevard, but there were so many vendors selling birds, cages, and various other varmints. There was a great covered market area of fruits, vegetables, meat and fish. I guess people must shop daily. The smell sent me for the exit, and would cause me to turn vegetarian if I had to look these fish, chicken, and pigs in the eye each time I had to buy them! Way too up close and personal for me! Beautiful flower markets here.
We strolled back to the ship, and watched the sunset as we sailed out of the harbor. Another good day!
We thought Barcelona was a beautiful city. We were warned about the dangers of pick pockets, but we made it out of this town with no losses! We visited the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in the center of the city, a large, on-going project by Gaudi. The tour takes place inside the church, in amongst the tradesmen working. I kept expecting at least some part of the interior to be finished - like I missed something. The began in 1890. We were told that it won’t be finished for another 30 - 40 years, due to money. I guess in the meantime, they have lots of admissions to collect to finish it.
We finished our visit with lunch at McDonald’s, where things don’t vary much. We then strolled down the Las Ramblas area, which is a many block area with large pedestrian venues running between the streets. These are filled with street vendors, street musicians, actors, and a lot of birds! Yellow parrots live in the trees down the boulevard, but there were so many vendors selling birds, cages, and various other varmints. There was a great covered market area of fruits, vegetables, meat and fish. I guess people must shop daily. The smell sent me for the exit, and would cause me to turn vegetarian if I had to look these fish, chicken, and pigs in the eye each time I had to buy them! Way too up close and personal for me! Beautiful flower markets here.
We strolled back to the ship, and watched the sunset as we sailed out of the harbor. Another good day!
Messina/Taormina Italy
Today, we went on a guided tour of Messina and Taormina, Italy. These are both hill towns, built around ancient ruins. Our tour guide had a heavy accent, so we had to strain to hear her as she barked instructions. She had a much different accent than the other Italian guides that we’ve had. Ten minutes into the walking tour, she had already lost the last half of our group. She was marching like a drill sergent (and we paid money for this???) They finally caught up with us, and we all swore that we weren’t going to let her out of our sight. We didn’t want to be left behind! I have to admit, we have had our share of inconsiderate fellow travelers. Some people don’t think a thing about not showing up by the deadline.
Taormina once had a thriving Greek Theatre. The remnants still stand, and they still hold some events there, overlooking the sea. This town lies at the base of Mt. Etna, a once active volcano. Due to the cloud cover, we did not catch a glimpse of the mountain.
We had some extra time before we met our group, so we found a wonderful sidewalk café to do some people watching. Of course - you can’t sit down, and not order anything - so we ordered the Coca Cola Light - the Euro version of Diet Coke. Thank goodness they have improved the taste since we were there in 2001. We had a great venue for spotting some of our traveling companions that are on the “favorite” list!
Taormina once had a thriving Greek Theatre. The remnants still stand, and they still hold some events there, overlooking the sea. This town lies at the base of Mt. Etna, a once active volcano. Due to the cloud cover, we did not catch a glimpse of the mountain.
We had some extra time before we met our group, so we found a wonderful sidewalk café to do some people watching. Of course - you can’t sit down, and not order anything - so we ordered the Coca Cola Light - the Euro version of Diet Coke. Thank goodness they have improved the taste since we were there in 2001. We had a great venue for spotting some of our traveling companions that are on the “favorite” list!
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