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
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