Venice

We arrived in Venice last evening, just as the sun was setting. We sailed in past the Grand Canal, with the music of Vivaldi playing - it was so beautiful! We had no problem disembarking this morning, and found our way easily to the aligaluna and within 20 minutes we'd arrived in St Mark's Square. We got slightly lost finding our hotel, but only for a minute. We left our bags and headed straight back to St Mark's Square and spent an hour there taking in the sights and listening to a great Rick Steves podcast about it all.

I had pre-booked entry to the amazing Basilica (we think it's the most beautiful one we've seen in our travels). We listened to Rick there, too. Then we went back to our hotel and found our room. Up on the second floor, with no lift. We've decided to leave our luggage in the bag check and live out of our carry-on luggage for the day and night. Our toilet/bathroom is way down the end of the corridor and VERY tiny, but it is a private one just for us. I'm not sure how David is going to find his way there and back in the middle of the night, with no pjs!

We grabbed some salad and cold meat for lunch in a buffet place on the Grand Canal, then headed back to tour the Doge's Palace with Rick's book, and his advice on how to avoid the queue by purchasing a ticket at the nearby Correr Museum. The Palace was amazing! And we got to cross the Bridge of Sighs, as well as to tour the prison.

Right now we're walking across towards Piazale Roma, where we'll catch a vaporetto for a tour down the Grand Canal, with Rick's help again. We've been looking at the shops - no sign of the venetian mask yet, Michelle - I'm looking for a small silver one with music notes on it.

Over and out for now. I'm not able to upload photos right now.

Day at Sea - Heading to Venice

We set our clocks back an hour last night, so it was nice to have the extra hour to sleep in. We were warned that it would be a bit windy and bumpy during the night, but we barely noticed it, and it certainly was back to very calm by midday.

This morning we attended the Galley Tour, which involved a cooking demonstration and some great humour from a couple of the top cooking/catering people on the ship, in the Princess Theatre. They cooked up some beautiful food, then we were led through the kitchens to see what they are like. It was amazing.

Following that, David went to the Casino, where he quickly lost US$30 on the slot machines. Hence, I didn't feel so bad purchasing some of the cruise photos, and the cruise DVDs. Also a book about Pompeii!

David surprised me greatly, by agreeing that it would be a good idea to sign up for future cruises - we didn't have to pay a dime, but will get better deals, lower deposits etc on any future cruises. This to me suggests that we might be going on another one some time - yeah! OK, Mark - these cruises would be right up your alley!

We had another lovely buffet lunch, with a special piece of gluten free cake and berry compote for me - yum! Then we lay out in the sun on deck for the last time (for months and months, probably) and read. It amazes us that we simply don't get sunburned here. We'd be a mess doing this at home! I caught up with Rick Steves and what he has to say in his book about Venice, and checked out the map of Venice more thoroughly. Transportation will be the issue there. Wish we'd taken your advice, Mark, about staying somewhere closer to Piazzale Roma. Oh well....

We're about to go for dinner for the final time, but I'm not sure how this will work out because we will be sailing into Venice around about that time and there's no way I want to be the last person up on deck as we do this, and miss a good spot for taking photos. Apparently it's absolutely amazing, with the sun setting over Venice, and the lights coming on, and Vivaldi's music playing.... wow! I hope I have enough room left on my camera card to get a minute or two of video of this.

Last night, as we sailed out of Corfu, we saw a spectacular lightning storm over Albania, on our left. It looked really spooky! After dinner we tried to get in to see the hypnotist, but it was full - we could hear a little of her patter, and she sounded very funny. David went to bed and I headed down to the theatre to see the last bit of the "Destination Anywhere" musical show. Very nice.

OK, Venice, here we come!

Carol's Video - Arriving in Venice

Corfu

It's 12.25 pm here in Corfu, and another glorious and VERY hot day! I've just spoken with Andrew on Skype again, Michelle will be at her concert with Christ's College. Thanks for the comment on yesterday's entry, Mark.

Before I go on, please check the entry for Katakolon, I've added some more at the bottom to describe how we spent the rest of the day there.

Today we got up early, in the hope of beating the heat and the crowd into town. Actually, we are the only ship in the port, and so we have found things a lot less crowded. We had a 20 minute walk along the port to get in to the town. That walk does NOT give a good first impression of this town - broken buildings, broken windows, rubbish lying around, and graffiti.

We first went into the 'new' fort and climbed to the top of that for some amazing views. This fort is renowned for its strategic construction, and we could see why.

Next we wandered through the narrow streets and found ourselves in a kind of square or esplanade area with a lot of trees and grass (not very well groomed, but pleasant all the same). And whilst here we came across a 'noddy' train so we hopped on for 5 Euros each and a 40 minute narrated tour around the bay. We saw the place where Prince Philip was born, and drove through some residential areas (very run down and lots of graffiti) and some ancient areas. Then back along the foreshore with its lovely views. We saw the 'old' fort but didn't go into this one. We sat at a cafe and looked across the bay to the island, and views across to Albania. I had a coke and David had a ginger beer that he said had a bit of a bite to it!

Then we wandered through some more of the old narrow streets in the old town area, where there are lots of the same shops we've seen elsewhere. We bought some Koum Kouat Liquor - yum! I also had a wee sample of some ouzo, and that was ok. We also walked past the Palace of Sts Michael and George, and the Church of St Spyridon.

We've just been pottering around, half looking at the shops, and now we're updating the blog and I hope to upload some more photos before we head back to the ship for a relaxing afternoon. This might be our last chance as I'll be dependent on the ship's slow internet and I only have about 50 minutes left on that. It's a sea day on the way to Venice tomorrow.

Katakolon/Olympia - Greece

Another lie-in this morning, and then breakfast in the main dining room. Then off the ship around 9.30 am to have a look around this quaint port. We are not doing any tours, even though Olympia (the site of the original Olympic Games from thousands of years ago) is half an hour away by road. This port is more beautiful than we expected, and although there are four big ships in port, we're finding it nice. Having said that, we've just wandered up and down the main street (approximately 250 metres long), and David has suffered through the heat, the crowds (everyone has got off their ships at once), and then shopping amongst it all (not his idea of fun). Nevertheless, we managed a brief Skype talk with Michelle (bad connection though) and a brief chat with Wendy and Taylor from school, and I had another attempt to talk to Andrew later (again, a poor link). So, now, David is back on the ship relaxing, and I'm catching up on the blog and uploading photos.

Before he headed back to the ship, we sat on the waterfront and he had a Mythos beer (quite bitter, he says, but he likes it) and I had an iced coffee with ice cream :-). In spite of all the eating we're doing, I wouldn't be surprise if I'd lost weight - I'm sure my trousers were less tight last evening and this morning, from all the walking in Athens.

David thinks he might try the slot machines in the ship's Casino later today, and try to win a Mercedes car whilst there. It is another Formal night tonight, so we all have to get dressed up. One of the couples at our table didn't join us for dinner last night - he is German, and they'd seen that there was a Bavarian Buffet in one of the other restaurants, so they went there. We'll hear about their day in Athens tonight.

Is anyone looking at the Crown Princess Bridge Cam? You'll see what the weather is like here. Also, is anyone following the progress of the ship by Satellite (see link at the side).

Corfu tomorrow, then a day at sea.

Addendum - We didn't end up going to the casino because it was closed, but had a wonderful soak in the Terrace Pool at the back of the ship for an hour, and chatted to some other kiwis there. They had some stories of people being pickpocketed in Athens, too.

Then we went to the trivia quiz - we joined another lady, the other groups were quite big, and we only got 8 questions out of the 20 correct.

After that we entered the Nintendo Wii activity - down hill slalom (skiing between the flags) - only about 6 people doing this activity - we had a couple of turns each and didn't do that well but didn't disgrace ourselves either.

Then we got ready for dinner (another formal night) and I convinced David to go to the Art Auction - at least we'd get free champagne while we were there (we had 3 small glasses each!). It turned out to be very interesting, but I was very disappointed when my favourite painting came up for auction and the starting price was around US$30,000!! Oh well! Some people did pay $20,000 for another painting.....

On our way to dinner I dragged David over to the photographer and we had some formal photos taken - no sitting fee, but they'll make a mint if we buy the photos! I'm waiting till the last day of the cruise as I've heard on Cruise Critic that sometimes they do deals then - we'll see.

We had another wonderful dinner, and tonight was the night I'd booked for my birthday celebration (you can book a special event within 18 days of the original date). They brought in a huge and beautifully decorated gluten free cake and the waiters sang happy birthday to me! Unfortunately, they'd already all paraded in with flaming baked alaskas for everyone in the restaurant, so no one was able to eat a slice of my cake. I had a piece, and Michelle, it was lovely - a sponge with some sort of liquor in it, plus a layer with pears and chocolate, all covered in a thick layer of whipped cream. I asked them to send a slice to another lady who I knew is also gluten free. We'll have some more tomorrow night (Corfu).

After the dinner, David headed to bed and I went with another couple from our table to see the show, which was absolutely fabulous - a scottish woman (Seonaid - pronounced 'Shona' - Aitken) who was a multi-talented musician - she could really make her violin sing, but she also played the piano and sang beautifully too. She got a standing ovation, and if I can find a CD of hers, I'll buy it. She was amazing!

Athens

We met with some other Cruise Critic friends at 7.15 am today, to go with one of them, Bev, into Athens by train. The ship had docked at a distant terminal (B), so Princess provided a shuttle bus for us to take into Terminal A. From there we had a 25 minute walk around the port to catch the train. It was hot, even early in the morning. We got our trains, David having a bit of trouble with one ticket machine and thus we almost forgot to validate our tickets - dashed off, validated them, and back on again. We all got off at the wrong stop (Monastiraki), one past the one we'd intended (Thissio), but Bev was able to help us find our way up the route to the gate of the Acropolis. On the way, we passed the Roman Agora and Tower of the Wind. We bought our tickets at the Roman Agora so we didn't have to queue once we got to the Acropolis.

We didn't find it too steep, some of the marble steps were slippery, but not too bad, thought the ground was uneven at the top and the crowd was growing rapidly. It was wonderful at the top, to see this amazing building - the Parthenon, and the other temples and ruins on the way up (we missed the Theater of Dionysus, but saw the Herodian Theatre), and around the Parthenon. The views were amazing too. We read some of Rick Steve's notes about all of this, but also remembered a History Channel episode about the Parthenon which helped us appreciate it even more. It was sad to think that we had seen the Parthenon Marbles on display in the British Museum a few days earlier. We saw the Propylea, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheum and the Porch of Caryitids. Unfortunately, the Acropolis Museum was closed because it was a Monday. By the time we left the crowds coming in were getting horrendous. A couple at our dining table at night told us that they'd been amongst the crowd, on a Princess Tour, and they'd felt like cattle being herded - just awful. We were lucky we got there earlier!

We were up there about an hour or a little more, then found our way down into the ancient Greek Agora area below - got a little lost, but then looked at some of the main sights there. We were impressed by the replica of the Stoa of Altalos (now housing the Agora Museum) and the Temple of Hephaisteion.

After the Agora, we sat and had a a coke and then wandered through the main street of the Plaka area - an older area with narrow streets and lots more little shops. We bought a bag of fresh strawberries and nibbled on these as we walked - they were amazing! Really sweet and juicy - a real treat! We got through that area pretty quickly, then headed past Hadrian's Arch (he has them all through the Mediterranean - he was a Roman Emperor), past the Temple of Olympian Zeus, along the edge of the lovely National Gardens, past Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. By now we were starting to melt in the heat and my feet were killing me again. We stopped occasionally, but had to keep going unless we got held up in the traffic later in the day and couldn't get back to the ship on time.

We walked through Syntagma Square (can't say that many of the squares in Europe have particularly impressed me (they are all paved, no grass), I reckon Victoria Square can give them a run for their money), walked along a main street (Ermou) and gradually found our way back to the Monastiraki Square (passing Hadrian's Library on the way) and the train station to get back to the ship.

We caught the train and stood on board with the crowd, David watching out for anyone that looked like a pickpocket - we've been warned about them everywhere, but particularly in Athens. Apparently their latest trick is to cough nastily right in your face, and while you try to gather yourself from that, they take your bag, or pick your pocket. Ugh! We heard later that one couple from our cruise had had a handbag taken - she had placed it on the back of a chair at a cafe, and even with four of them sitting there, someone had managed to lift the whole bag with her camera, glasses, and wallet (she'd left the credit cards and passports back on the ship). And she told us of a couple of women that we'd caught the train into Athens with, who both had their handbags slashed while they were on the train, and didn't even realise till a little later - nothing being taken on this occasion. Scary!

By the time we got back to our station, walked the 25 minutes back around the port to where we could catch the ship's shuttle bus the rest of the way, I was just about dead. I had a migraine rapidly developing and my feet felt like pulp. And, it was SO hot. A couple of different people told us the temperature was 35-37 degrees - we didn't feel that it was that hot, but certainly it was tough walking those distances in the heat.

I collapsed into a cold shower, and then lay on the bed and went to sleep for an hour, took some panadol and neurofen, had David massage my feet, and gradually came right. I discovered I'd developed a nasty rash on the lower parts of my legs, above my ankles - not sure what that is, but we've noticed other people have this too. Looks like some sort of allergic thing. Anyway, I've got the USANA Night Renewal on it and will watch it carefully.

After dinner, we went and saw a 45 minute Comedian show - it was reasonably funny - we had a few laughs - he was Irish...

Mykonos

A delay getting suitable internet access to do this post, a couple of days after we visited Mykonos.

We had a leisurely day today, up at 8.30 am (instead of the more usual 6 am on this trip) and out the door at 9.30 am. We caught the shuttle around to the main township and just wandered about in the narrow, winding, meandering streets. Lots of little shops selling lots of souvenirs, jewellery, and clothes. More of the same, really. We took lots of photos, including the famous windmills, and thought the sea looked very blue here. Other than that, we didn't take tours of the island like some of the others did. It was another hot day. We headed back to the ship for lunch and I had a swim in one of the several pools on the ship - the water was warmer in the terrace pools than one of the central pools. We just sat around on the ship, read our books and relaxed. After dinner, we went to our first show on the cruise - Motor City - a presentation of lots of Motown songs - quite well done. Michelle would have enjoyed listening to it, watching the dancing, and listening to the harmonies.

Kusadasi

(Please check the addendum to the Santorini entry)

It was a bit cooler in Kusadasi today - only around 23-25 degrees!

We joined a tour organised by another Cruise Critic member, only 14 of us, so that we could get into the Terrace Houses at Ephesus, the ancient city inland from Kusadasi. We have had different people from the group organising tours, and others join them, sometimes the same people, sometimes others from CC to meet.

We headed out at about 8 am, and went straight to the House of the Virgin Mary, which was already crowded. This is where it is believed Mary, the mother of Jesus, spent her last years, and lived in this house. It is now a shrine of importance to both Christians and Moslems.

From there we headed to the ancient ruins of Ephesus. This is inland a few kilometres, but in ancient times it was on the shore of the Mediterranean. Silting from rivers is causing the coastline to still extend further out by 3 metres per year, even now. Well, the place was very crowded, but we spent about two and a half hours there. And we loved it - our tour guide was excellent, very informative without overwhelming us. The streets are amazing, with a plumbing and drainage system. Highlights were the Library of Celsus, which once contained 15,000 books, the Terrace Houses (the 'luxurious' appartments of the well-off Roman citizens, with frescoes and mozaics still in place, and with limited entry to small groups only), the huge stadium which could seat 24,000 people, and the public latrines :-). At the latter, the water would run past your feet (excess from the public baths) and when you had finished doing your thing, you would use a stick and sponge to dip into the water running by, to clean yourself up. You wouldn't want to be sitting downstream from the others at the latrine....

After leaving this amazing excavation we were taken to visit the Moslem temple of Isabey, and we were allowed to go in. This was interesting too, and we heard a bit about that religion.

Next, it was back to the ship for a 1.30 pm lunch from the buffet (as is our breakfast, most days), and then back out to the local bazaar/market for a couple of hours. This is a very clean, tidy, smart, modern area, with lots of small shops selling jewellery, leather goods (bags and jackets), shoes, and tourist souvenirs. I bought two new pairs of sandals (there were four that I liked, but they didn't have my sizes - so, Michelle, you can imagine I was in 7th Heaven to actually find some comfortable sandals that suited me). Actually, I may have failed to mention earlier that I had left a bag of my shoes (good work shoes, and my two pairs of sandals) in the hotel in Rome, and the dratted cleaner had supposedly thrown them out - GONE. So, these were welcome replacements. David was pleased to get some new polo shirts.

When we got back to the ship, we sat out by one of the pools, and I had my first swim - the water was a bit cool, but it was good to sooth my aching legs and swollen feet from all the walking and standing. David has just given me a foot massage too - gee, I wish Sally was here too! While we sat by the pool, David had a couple of beers, and I drank diet Coke. We talked with a lovely Canadian couple (he is a retired school principal - he retired at 55 years, and their pension is good enough for him not to need to work, his wife, Michelle, works as a nurse).

Anyway, we're just about to head to dinner again, and catch up on the day's events with our other table friends. I pre-order my gluten free meal the night before, and they look after me very well. Last night I tried artichokes for the first time, and veal seems to be on the menu a lot - something I have never found at home. Last night (for Michelle's interest) I had a coffee creme brulee for dessert!

Santorini

We've had a glorious day in Santorini today. We had a tour with 35 people from the Cruise Critic group (organised by Nat and Andy ), on a bus. We managed to get off the ship and up the cable car very quickly (amazing considering the stories we'd heard about the crowds trying to get up), thus we were early for our tour, so David and I wandered around the main town of Fira (capital of the island) for 45 minutes first - most of the shops were closed at this time.

Once the tour was under way we made our first stop at Firostefani, an area just outside the main town, where we had a fabulous view over the caldera. We heard some geological and historical background there and also as we travelled to the picturesque town of Oia on the northern edge of the island. There are no rivers on Santorini, houses used to collect water from their roofs but now there is a desalination plant. The volcano/caldera is still active, with a new underwater volcano having appeared in 1707. Its most famous eruption was 3600 years ago (the Minoan eruption or Thera eruption) which is thought to have destroyed the Minoan civilisation and perhaps even Atlantis. There was a devastating earthquake in 1956 that destroyed most of the buildings on the island, many now being new, but built in the traditional domed style according to regulations.

We had a nice time shopping in Oia, and I bought a necklace to share with Michelle. It was a very pleasant, quaint and tidy little town.

Next we travelled to a beach near the airport, and had a lovely Greek lunch right beside the seaside, on what was called a 'black sand' beach - Kamari Beach. David had a fabulous Greek Salad, and I had "Winemaker's Lamb" which was lamb, spinach and cheese all wrapped up in a vine leaf and baked. Very nice. The beach was just gravel, not my idea of a beach really!

Then we went off to do some wine sampling in a winery (Santos Wines). Three tastings, and we came away with a couple of bottles of wine. The views there were spectacular. We had found it interesting, during the day, to see how all the grape vines grow as bushes in the soil, rather than along wires (this is because of the damaging winds), and their only source of water is dew! We had more amazing views when we then drove up the highest point on the island (Profitis Ilias - about 600 meters high) where there is a monastery (couldn't go in there).

David is now sampling the local beer, Mythos, while we sit in an internet cafe back in the main town, and then we are going to join the queue to get on the gondola, back down to the ship. Then we catch a tender back to where the ship is docked. Bev, I can see why you loved Santorini!

Addendum: Hmmmm, we took one look at the HUGE queue for the cable car, and knew that we'd never make it back to the ship in time within the hour and a quarter we had. So, we walked down the donkey track - OMG! It took over 30 minutes because it was so crowded, and stepping around all the donkey poop, and watching our step on the bumpy surface, and also taking care not to slip on the slippery marble (lots of people lost their footing) - my legs were shaking by the time we got down and I was a mess! Nevertheless, it was a 'memorable' experience...

(Video courtesy of Basil and Xenia - Cruise critic username: basiluf)

Day at Sea

This episode written by David. Today we had a bit of a lie in - till 8 am. Better than 6 am, after a late night! And a late dinner!

I went to the gym, and it just about killed me. I had to lie in the sun for half an hour to recover! I played in a putting tournament after lunch but was eliminated early. Carol went to try out the line dancing but only lasted part way through the first dance because of her knee twisting.

I lay on a deck chair by the pool and just about finished my book, Angels and Demons which is quite relevant considering we have just been to Rome. The weather has been great, plenty of sunshine. Carol spent the afternoon at Bridge - there were about 7 tables playing, she says that they were playing all sorts of different systems but she had fun anyway.

Then we got dressed up for Formal Night, and headed to the Captain's Champagne Fountain function - free champagne and nibbles for over an hour - we made the most of it, then headed in for dinner at our great table with our new friends. Another very flash dinner. Note, I only had 3 courses this evening, no dessert - and one of the courses was a plate of kiwi fruit and grapefruit - Carol has a photo to upload later! Carol was presented with a huge plate of chocolate brownie (gluten free) with fudge sauce and icecream for dessert - certainly gluten free is very well taken care of. She even had a special pizza made for her at lunch. It was huge and all the other patrons wanted to know how she managed to get it - it looked so good!

Naples

Another fabulous day today, in the late 20s. A bit hazy today in Naples and the surrounding area, but clear blue sky beyond the haze.

Our group of Cruise Critic friends (Bob and Lorraine, Angelo and Junjun, Art and Marita) was picked up at 8.15 am by Roberto of DriveAmalfi, and he didn't seem to realise that I had organised to go up Mount Vesuvius some time during the day (preferably at the end, in case we ran out of time for the other activities), and said he didn't think we'd be able to fit everything in - hmmmm - it had been confirmed by his boss (Salvatore) that we could do it all.... Anyway, Roberto was accommodating, and off we went up Mt Vesuvius first (retrospectively a big mistake). A winding drive most of the way up, with lots of overflowing rubbish bins near the end of the road - a disgusting sight for a national park and Naples icon. Anyway, we arrived at 9.00 am and waited 5 minutes to get through the gate - time means little in Italy. We had a lovely walk up the path to the top of the volcano - it took me 25 minutes, going slowly, no worse than the steepest part at the bottom of Hackthorne Rd at home. We had an hour and a half to get up and back down to the car park. The experience was great, but the views weren't brilliant because of the haze. Nevertheless, we could see how high up we were and get an idea of things - it just won't show up well in the photos. I brought back a small piece of Vesuvius rock :-)

After this we headed through the hills, very high up, but very green and beautiful, and across to Ravello - this drive took a while but we made it for lunch at about 12 pm. The views from up on the hill, looking down towards the Amalfi coast were spectacular! The little square at Ravello was so quaint. Then we moved on to have a fabulous lunch in a little restaurant (make a note of this one, Mark) - Ristorante San Giovanni in Pontone. Our Tour Guide ordered food for all of us, gluten free for me, and the others had several courses including the fabulous pizza Marguerita. I have photos! We had water and table wine, then were brought out glasses of sparkling wine, and I asked for lemoncello - OMG - what lovely stuff. David tried to talk me out of buying a bottle (33% alcohol), but for only 9 Euros, I was having it! The others bought some too. We had refills of our glasses, then hit the road!

Down the hill we went, to the actual Amalfi Coast. During lunch, Roberto had offered me an impossible choice - either take a shortcut back over the hill and miss seeing both Positano AND Sorrento, but get 2 hours in Pompeii; or see Positano and Sorrento, but only get 1 hour in Pompeii (was meant to be a minimum of two hours!). I felt like bursting into tears, but decided that we couldn't go to the Amalfi Coast and NOT see Positano and Sorrento, and we'd take our chances with Pompeii. But, I was not happy...

We passed through lots of little townships, including Amalfi, and Positano, where we had very brief photographic stops, and on to Sorrento where we did not stop - we just drove straight through. All absolutely beautiful. We all thought we'd love to come back here for a longer stay.

We had taken longer over lunch because Roberto had said the road was periodically closed for 45 minutes, so this also took a bit of time off the other end of our day, unfortunately. The road was open when we passed through.

We made it to Pompeii just before 4 pm, and Roberto was absolutely insistent that we could only have an hour there, not the planned 2 hours, and we absolutely must be back at the car by 5 pm because of the traffic that would shortly be occurring in Naples. Well, what a terrible pity! David and I made a good start with my podcast from iJourney, but got lost within 20 minutes after taking a wrong turn out of the Forum's public baths.

From then on we simply couldn't figure out where we were or even what direction we were facing, so, sadly, David didn't get to see the infamous brothel - a bit of a let down (pardon the metaphor). I was annoyed with myself for getting lost, but Pompeii is renowned for this. I did get quite a few photos (with camera batteries rapidly running out), of exactly what I'm not sure, but will figure it out from the internet when I get home. We all made it back to the car in time (David pointing me in the right direction, thank goodness). But I felt like crying again. Then back to the ship we went. I have my thoughts now on how DriveAmalfi should have restructured the day. Definitely Vesuvius last, and Pompeii first, as originally arranged in emails with Salvatore!

David is struggling with the heat, so there's no way he'd be going to places like Phuket! I had to keep nudging him in the car around the Amalfi coast, because he kept nodding off every minute or two! It was the same yesterday. Never mind, we have a sea day tomorrow, and can have a lie in.

However, I'm told that the ship sails past Stromboli at 2 am in the morning, and that we'll be able to see the eruption and it's very exciting. I'll get up to see that, but David will sleep on.

We've had a lovely group of people with us on the trips, and it's been great getting to know them through Cruise Critic first - it's making for a very friendly voyage with a lot of people we know and say 'hi' to around the ship or at stops in port.

Pisa & Florence

Firstly, last night we had another lovely dinner. And I'd like to report that David ate most of his FOUR courses that he ordered ;-) It's lovely having a different menu each night, and if there's something not on there that you'd like, you can ask for it anyway! There is always something gluten free that I can eat.

Another hot day around 30 degrees, clear blue skies. We were picked up my Maurizio of Tuscany Taste Tours in his mercedes van at 8.00 am, and off we went to Pisa where we spent 30 minutes looking at the Leaning Tower, Baptistry, and Duomo and surrounding area called the Square of Miracles. On the way to Pisa, Maurizio talked a bit about Italian politics, and the problems they have with gypsies in the area. Our group was made up of our Cruise Critic friends: Anna and Marilyn, Jo and Rick, Paula and Harold.

From there he detoured off the freeway, and through some beautiful Tuscan countryside. Then on to Florence where we had a fabulous view over the whole city from Piazzale Michelangelo.

From there we visited the Church of Santa Croce (lots of very famous people buried there - eg Dante, Michelangelo, Rossini), then on to lunch in a very small, cheap, authentic Italian restaurant (Trattoria Le Mossacce). They cooked up some of my gluten free pasta and added a tomato sauce, for my lunch. I had my first experience of an Italian 'hole in the ground' toilet when there... say no more!

We were lucky that Maurizio has a permit to drive through Florence, so we didn't have to park in a bus outside the town, and so we had less walking. He made several stops where we were able to walk around for between 30 minutes and an hour - not that David and I were really into shopping.

We were the only couple on the tour to stop and go into the Accademia, and to see "The David" by Michelangelo - but, when your name is David, you need to do it. We loved that, and the 'prisoner' sculptures that were Michelangelo's unfinished works. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos in there; what a pity as the David was magnificent and certainly worth visiting... Rick Steves did a great quick explanation for us of these sculptures in his podcast. I also enjoyed seeing some of the first pianos - spinets and harpsichords - very different to our digital keyboard!

Then we carried on, walking around places like the Duomo with its famous Dome (we saw the famous Baptistry doors), through Piazza della Signoria and past the Palazzo Vecchio, along past the Uffizi Gallery, along the River Arno and then over the Ponte Vecchio. Unfortunately, the queue was too long to get into the Duomo, but we'll survive! We had a little time to visit the San Lorenzo Market, but didn't purchase anything, David also had his photo taken stroking the Lucky Boar. We had decided not to go into the Uffizi after all, as it would have been too much of a rush and we wouldn't have been able to look around the streets.

Then it was the journey back to Livorno and the ship, via the freeway. Thoughts about this tour with Maurizio - he was very nice and accommodating, but we would have benefited from him having a microphone in the van so everyone could hear him. And also, more information about the sights we were seeing in Florence would have been helpful. A little map of Florence to hand out to people, showing the main stops, might have been helpful too. He was more of a driver than a tour guide, with the information he gave us.

Monaco

Loving getting all the emails and comments - thanks! This will be fast cos I'm on the ship.

We had an eventful pickup by bus in Rome - lots of confusion, but we made it after the driver had at one stage parked on the side of the road and deserted us for 10 minutes without a word, blocking in a parked car with an irate woman driver, then later he hit a small car, then he thought we were all going to the airport instead of the port!

The ship is gorgeous! We boarded quickly and easily and then found our cabin and headed to the buffet for lunch. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the ship. Then we met the other Cruise Critic people from our roll call (over 100 people) and we all felt that we knew each other already - great to put names to faces. This was over drinks as the ship sailed away. (Before that was the muster drill to practise what to do in an emergency). Then we headed to dinner at 8.15 pm and sat with two other lovely couples and had a lovely dinner. After that it was straight to bed and a very good night's sleep - calm seas - and we woke up in Monaco.

We had to be tendered in to the port, that was no problem, then we walked around taking in the sights - a lovely place - very clean, tidy, smart. The yachts we walked past in the marina were amazing!

We walked up the steep hill to the old part of the city and wandered around the little streets, saw the Palais du Prince and the Place du Palais (square) - the views from up there were spectacular; and then took the little tourist train that took us on a 30 minute tour with commentary, around the rest of the country (! - second smallest in the world). We only saw the Casino, without a chance to get off, and decided not to take the time to trek back over to it after the train tour. Everything was busy and the streets are all getting set up for the grand prix in about 3 days - so not the best views there. Back up the 'rock' in the Old Town (Monaco-Ville), we wandered through some beautiful parks with lovely sculptures and fabulous views - it being a gorgeous day of 29 degrees and clear blue skies. We noticed how clean it is compared to Rome - no cigarette butts all over the footpaths in Monaco! No graffiti, no rubbish lying around!

We went into St Nicholas Cathedral, where Princess Grace and Prince Ranier were married, and are now buried. We wandered back through the Old Town streets (not being a very big area) and we decided not to go into the Oceanographic Museum. We bought some cheap water at a little grocery store down the hill (cheap compared to the ship prices - thanks for the tip on where to get this, Bev!) and small bottles of sparkling wine - no souvenirs except my photos, and headed back for lunch around 1 pm. At the buffet again, and it was nice sitting with Bev from Cruise Critic (Sydney) and hearing her stories of other cruises she has done.

Now we're doing the laundry and then will venture out to the pool to relax and read. Then, oh so strenuous, back for dinner tonight - ps - gluten free worked out well - very nice - I had shrimp cocktail, prime rib roast with veges, and then flourless chocolate cake with berries for dinner last night - David had pasta alfredo, then fish, then flambeed bananas!

Not sure if I'll get photos up - may try for just one or two.

Day 2 in Rome

We had a very enjoyable dinner with the couple from our cruise group (Bob and Lorraine). (It was drizzling a little as we arrived, and although it had been a hot day, we were grateful that it had been mostly overcast). We walked all the way across to the restaurant near the Spanish Steps (about 25 minutes). David had a steak, and I had roast veal and potatoes. We shared a salad, and dessert of fruit salad and panacotta, and house wine. Then we walked with Bob and Lorraine over to the Spanish Steps. My photos taken there were hopeless. Then we left them there and walked back to our hotel through the narrow cobblestoned streets of Rome - lots of people about, strolling, in the warm balmy evening air - very pleasant. We passed the Trevi Fountain on the way - a big crowd there, and very beautiful all lit up.

We had a bit of a lie-in this morning, then walked down to the Colosseum around 10 am and listened to Rick Steves. We were grateful to have our Roma Passes, and be able to bypass the enormous queue, thanks to his advice. We got in for 'no' charge, with our passes. We were there for an hour or so, and it was sooooooo HOTTTTT! The forecast said it would be 29 degrees today, and I'd say it was at least that. We were wilting big time. Somehow we still managed to walk down past the Forum to the Victor Emmanuel Monument and Trajan's Column, where David had the most expensive can of Coke in his life (€2.50)! I would have handed it back!

From there we dragged ourselves through the heat, with lunchtime hunger grumbling in our stomachs, to the Pantheon. David grabbed a panini while I slogged through 2 gluten free muesli bars, whilst sitting in the shade provided by the spectacular portico. Then, in we went and my word, what a beautiful building, and it was originally built in 27 BC, and rebuilt in AD 120 by the emperor Hadrian.

It seemed to be getting even hotter, but we were so close to the Piazza Navona and Campo de'Fiori that we had to carry on (actually, perspiration is trickling down my face now, while I'm typing this, and it's 5.15 pm and I'm sitting in the shade, so you can imagine what it was like at 1 pm in the middle of all the traffic, tourist hoards, and heat in these places). We stopped for a gelato (very cold and delicious, with all sorts of wonderful flavours), and then ran to catch the notorious (because of pickpockets) #64 bus back to our hotel. Talk about crush, it was so bad that we had to literally force our way out of the bus (me leading the way ;-)), you couldn't get to the door to exit if you didn't - you can imagine how David was feeling being jammed up against all those people in the suffocating bus! We haven't needed to use the metro, so we've missed that experience here - what a disappointment!

We got back to our hotel at 2 pm, and flaked out for an hour over a beer and a coke, and I added some cheese and ricecake to fill out my 'lunch'. We simply had been too exhausted to scout around in the heat and crowds for something I could eat - I'm sure there would have been something, but we just wanted to see what we could, and escape back to the hotel air conditioning and get off our feet.

We've just got back from a whirlwind tour around the National Museum which is 100 metres away (very interesting), and also we popped into the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli which was once part of the Baths of Diocletian - a huge baths complex in ancient times. A beautiful church now. We ran into Bob and Lorraine at the museum, and they looked about as exhausted as us!

Anyway, we're relaxing now, and then we're going to have dinner somewhere nearby - David is eager to eat something Italian, some pasta, but this is mostly a first course only, and he wants it for a main course. We'll see what we can find. Then we'll be re-packing for tomorrow's cruise. We'll get picked up around 10 am by a bus organised by someone in the group, so we'll meet a few more people then. I'm not sure when I'll next be online, it may be a few days when I get an opportunity in a port - I'm not keen to pay US$1 per minute for a shonky connection from the ship! I may pop back to this internet kiosk after dinner to see if I can upload a few photos for your enjoyment - no promises though. Check the Rome album, just in case.

PS - added two days later - had the dinner - shocking service - talk about sour! David enjoyed some gnocchi for the first time. Then they tried to charge us more for it than what was actually listed on the menu - rip off - no tip left by us!

PPS - notice how dirty Rome is, graffiti everywhere, people not very polite - others on the cruise have commented that it's like that all over Europe - no wonder Kiwis are considered friendly!

Day 1 in Rome

Hi all, and thanks for all the comments - it's great to know that people are reading this!

Right now I'm struggling to type on a weird Italian keyboard at an internet kiosk across the road from our hotel.

We had a good trip from London to Rome. I gave up on the cab we had booked through reception the night before, and grabbed one that pulled up to drop someone else off. It was a nice trip to Paddington Station to catch the Heathrow Express back to the airport. We were there in plenty of time and check-in was easy thanks to the online check-in I'd done the night before. We had a nice dinner in the local pub that night, too. The flight left half an hour late because someone decided not to travel and their luggage had to be unloaded for security reasons. The flight was good, but nothing gluten free for me to eat, so David enjoyed my sandwiches and I had a muesli bar. We decided to get a taxi from Rome's airport for the fixed price of 40 Euros, and were glad we did. The place is a mad house!

Our hotel room is small but nice, and it should be for 150 Euros per night! It has an antique lift, one of those old ones in a cage. We're in a relatively quiet area, for which we are thankful. Last night we couldn't be bothered doing a proper dinner, so bought some bits and pieces from a small supermarket across the road - Ross will be impressed to know that we had chippies for dinner - along with cheese and crackers, a beer for David and coke for me!

This morning we headed down to the Palantine Hill, where we followed Rick Steve's tour, then down into the Forum area where we followed his podcast tour - we found it a bit hard to follow, but still good. Then up the Capitol Hill at the back and down into a big piazza area - can't remember the name of the huge building there right now (David is back in the room with the guide book). We had an hour, then, to find our way to the Vatican Museum for the tour I'd booked online for 1 pm. OMG - the traffic!!!!! The trip cost 20 Euros, double what it should have because several streets were closed and it was wall to wall cars (Pope arriving back in Rome from his Middle East trip?). I've never seen anything like it, no lanes, just cars pushing in and out between each other. We got to the Museum with 10 minutes to spare - phew! This was the quieter time of the day - but I don't think David believes me! We followed Rick's tour through all the amazing display halls - I have lots of photos, but don't know when I'll get a chance to put them up yet. But, what a fabulous place - everything pillaged by the Catholics, and the Roman Emperors before them, from other civilizations. However, the items have been well looked after here, and I doubt they would have survived otherwise. It is a great pity, though, how invading peoples destroy or carry off the heritage of the country they take over.

Anyway, after the Museum, we popped through to the Sistene Chapel, with Rick again on the podcast, and listened to him explaining what we were seeing. Then, with Rick again through to St Peter's. All very beautiful and interesting. Then, how to get back... We discovered the #40 bus and were lucky enough to get on it before the crush! It brought us all the way back to Termini, near our hotel.

For now, I'm going to head back for a coke, a shower, and to put my feet up to plan how we get across to near the Spanish Steps to meet up for dinner with a couple from the cruise (Bob and Lorraine - we met them on Cruise Critic). That's booked for 7 pm (Friday evening here).

Tomorrow we'll look at the Colosseum, and have a more leisurely walk through some of the streets to some of the spots Rick recommends.

Over and out for now!

Day 3 in London

We had a great night's sleep last night. 'Wicked' was great (after dinner at our hotel) - fabulous singing (Michelle, you would have loved it) and the lighting and scenery was spectacular too. The first Act was the best, in my opinion, but David missed most of it, but was awake for the second Act. We had great seats, right up close to the stage, and nice and 'cheap'. Great choice, thanks to checking out the reviews online for which were the best seats for various prices.

Today the weather has been a bit grey, with rain threatening. It was because of the weather forecast for these days, that we changed our plans around a bit for what we wanted to do. Today was meant to be wet, so it ended up being a museum day. We headed to the Tube at 9.10 am, and had to let 3 trains go by before finding one we could actually squeeze into! (Check the iPhone photo album). I hate to think what'll happen when Swine Flu hits London, the way everyone travels by tube!

Finally we got to the British Library and followed Rick Steve's guide book again for a brief tour of some key exhibits. What an amazing place with all sorts of historic and authentic documents from through history. We were interested in the Magna Carta and the first Bibles. There were even original music scripts from the likes of Handel, and Beethoven's tuning fork. Also compositions by the Beatles. Some of the first maps of the UK, and actual pages from Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks were fascinating too. The history behind these items was really interesting.

Then we moved on to the British Museum, again with Rick Steves in hand. There we focused on the ancient Egyptians and the Assyrians. The first item you encounter is the Rosetta Stone - amazing. There were lots of Egyptian mummies. I've got some photos to upload for that (check the London album to see if I had time to do so).

Then we caught the bus to Oxford and Regent Streets. We got a bit lost and disoriented, but got sorted out thanks to a kind gentleman who stopped to help when he saw us looking confused with our map. We had lunch at Leon's again, then I found there was a Clark's shoe store and purchased a pair of shoes and a pair of sandals (at last, eh Michelle!). Not far from there was the Apple Store - YEAH! What an amazing place, absolutely PACKED with people (see the iPhone album, and those photos were only of the first floor!). I bought an armband to put my iPhone in. This will be useful for when we're in Italy and listening to the podcasts of the various places we'll be in, such as Pompeii.

By now we were starting to wilt, but caught a bus that dropped us at Hyde Park, where we walked in to see the Diana Memorial and the Serpentine. Then a walk down to the Natural History Museum. By then we could hardly walk, but managed to drag ourselves around the Earth section looking at the displays about earthquakes and volcanoes, and then to the main section that I wanted to see - the Dinosaurs exhibition. Fantastic! Ross, you would have loved this when you were 4 years old!

Next we caught the Tube 'home', realising on the way that we'd forgotten to call into Harrods - drat! Oh well, we called into the local pub for a drink, and have booked our taxi to Paddington Station for in the morning, and our flight to Rome. We'll head back to the pub for dinner very shortly. I'll upload photos when I get back. Then it'll be time to pack for the next leg of our journey. I suspect internet access will be a lot more difficult (these London posts have been from a computer in our hotel room, and wireless on my iPhone).

Day 2 in London

After an awful night, broken by 4 fire alarms (all false) around 11 pm, I was awake from about 3 am. Out the door at 8.00 am (after Skype chats with Andrew and Ross) and into the Tube to be packed in like sardines for the journey to Tower Hill Station, where we wanted to arrive in time for the opening of the Tower of London (change of plans, Mark).

Sure enough, we were amongst the first to enter (at half price, with our 2-for-1 ticket), and headed straight to the Crown Jewels exhibit (on Rick Steve's advice to get there early before the crowds). Then back to join a Beefeater's 1 hour tour. What interesting fellows they are with their stories and their jokes - all in all, very entertaining! After that we visited the other exhibits, including the White Tower, the Torture area, and the Bloody Tower - fascinating stuff! We were there for 3 hours in total - all morning.

After a quick lunch (I report that David had a fishburger and fries - remember that the next time he tells you to eat more healthily! - the adjacent Wagamama restaurant was too packed to try, with a long queue), we walked over to see the Tower Bridge Exhibition. What a pity, it was closed today!!! Drat! Luckily, I have a video podcast of this, so it's not the end of the world. So, on over the Tower Bridge we went, and then along the South Bank Walk, past all sorts of landmarks, and reading Rick Steve's comments about them. Apart from the fabulous views across the Thames to all the landmarks, some of the sights on this side included Sir Frances Drake's replica of the Golden Hinde, the remains of Winchester Palace, the Clink Prison Museum, the replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Tate Modern, a view of the Monument across the river, near where the Great Fire of London started in 1666 in which 80% of the City was incinerated, and finally a walk over the Millennium Bridge. A coffee and a smoothie to quench our thirst at the Salvation Army cafe, and a rest for our legs, and off we went again, this time walking along the Victoria Embankment, towards Temple Station, with a tube ride back to Victoria, then Pimlico. I report that we only got slightly lost, for 5 minutes today!

Right now the laundry is being done, and we're getting organised to pop out for an early dinner, followed by a tube crush ride to Victoria and the Apollo Victoria Theatre for the performance of 'Wicked' - I hope my eyes won't be on stalks by then, after the early start, and David has been falling asleep at around 9 pm these nights, so I'll have to nudge him if he starts snoring during the performance!

Michelle, thanks for your witty comments on my previous post - I enjoyed reading them! Andrew, thanks for playing with the photo of David waiting for the Heathrow Express, and putting him into a picture at the Eiffel Tower! Very entertaining!

I have managed to upload a few more photos! Over and out for today!

Day 1 in London

We had a good night's sleep, and a bit of a lie in this morning. It was good to have long Skype phone calls with Andrew and then Michelle, to catch up on all the news.

Then we headed out on a fine sunny morning. We walked a little way alongside the Thames, and then caught a bus the rest of the way to Parliament Square in Westminster. Here, we got a bit tangled up in a Tamil protest that was blocking the streets. Lots of police and lots of noise, but a peaceful protest. We worked our way around them, through Parliament Square (looking at the various famous statues there) and joined the queue to get into Westminster Abbey at 9.30 am. While we waited to get in, we read Rick Steve's tour article about the Abbey and got some good background of what we were about to see. When we got in, we were given an audio guide which directed us around the various points of interest in the Abbey. It was very interesting.

After the hour/hour and a half at the Abbey, we headed up Whitehall, following Rick Steve's walking tour. We stood on Westminster Bridge and looked at the Parliament Buildings and Big Ben, then headed up, past Downing Street towards Trafalgar Square. We had lunch at Leon's in the Strand (great range of gluten free food). Then we walked a little before catching a bus ( we went on the top of a double-decker) through the financial district, before getting off at St Paul's Cathedral. I kept having in my mind about the 'Feed the Birds' Song from Mary Poppins.

We spent about an hour and a half there, first listening to a podcast on my iPhone (with 2 sets of headphones plugged in) about the Cathedral, and then followed Rick Steve's tour in his book. It is a very beautiful place with an amazing history. We went down into the crypt, and then climbed the 249 stairs to the whispering gallery in the dome. We weren't game to climb any further!

Next, we wandered along to the Bank of England, and proceded to get terribly lost looking for its museum! Goodness knows how far we walked and what circles we went in, but we found the museum by pure fluke. I had a rest there, while David had a look around. Then we decided to catch the Tube across to get a ride on the London Eye. Catching the correct train proved to be a bit of a challenge, but a kind worker at the metro saw us trying to figure out the Northern Line to get there. We eventually found our way across the Jubilee Bridge, and along the Golden Jubilee walkway to the London Eye. David went to purchase a ticket, and then we lost each other for 5-10 minutes before joining the fast-moving queue and enjoying the 30 minute turn. The views were indeed magnificent, the sky still clear and blue. We thought it wise to do this today, instead of tomorrow (that was what we'd originally planned), because there is some rain in the forecast, and we wanted to make the most of the clear weather.

By now we were getting pretty tired and foot-sore so we headed to Westminster Tube Station and across to Victoria, intending to pick up some salads again, from the Marks and Spencer Fresh store, then to make our way back to where we're staying. Unfortunately, we also hit rush hour.......... oh boy! Knowing how David breaks out in a sweat in crowds.... AND.... we got lost in the crowd at Victoria Station and I ended up asking a policeman how to find the metro again :-(Phew, we got back to Pimlico and stopped in for a much-needed beer and glass of wine. I checked out the menu for "gluten-freeness" and we might dine there tomorrow evening before our Show - 'Wicked'.

Right now, we've just finished our salads and are enjoying being off our feet!

This morning I managed to upload some photos I'd taken with my iPhone. Not sure that I'll be able to get some off my camera because the computer here is not meant to have various drives etc plugged into it. Nevertheless, I'm about to try. You'll know if I succeeded!

Arrived in London

Well, sorry about the weirdly formatted layout of the email sent from the touch screen ice system on the plane. I actually sent another one too, that didn't come through at all. I was saying how nice it was to talk to Jan and Michelle on Skype from my iPhone while we were waiting to board the plane in Dubai.

The flight in the 380 was great - much more comfortable than the other plane where leg room and seat space were issues, especially when someone tipped their seat back. I found it exciting watching the flight being tracked as it flew over Mesopotamia, and the Black Sea, and then across Europe. We landed in London on time then spent more than 30 minutes parked where we landed while other planes came in, and then another 20 minutes to gradually move to where we could get off.

We eventually got all our luggage (over 500 people on board the full plane), and had no trouble catching the Heathrow Express to Paddington. There, I purchased a 3 day Travelcard which we used immediately to catch the tube to Oxford Circus, and changed lines to Pimlico - all that dragging our heavy luggage. But it was a good test and we feel happy that we can use the Tube.

We found our way to Dolphin House, and found that we have a tiny 'hotel' room, rather than an apartment, but for the price, we don't mind. It's very convenient, and a nice man has just been in to get the computer working properly on the TV, and so now, here I am updating you.

Mark, we did try to get out and do the bus route you suggested, but couldn't find our way to where the buses were, so walked down to have a look at Buckingham Palace. I think we've found the buses now so will try again tomorrow. Forecast is fine for tomorrow, not so good on Tuesday. We bought some nice salads for dinner from a small Marks and Spencer Fresh store in Victoria Station and a few other bits and pieces from the small Sainsbury's there too. So, David's happy - he's been into a supermarket.

Sorry to hear the weather is so bad at home, but glad Ross and Michelle didn't have to play hockey in it. We're both exhausted now after probably no more than 2 hours sleep in total on the flights, so as you're getting up for the day, we're saying 'good night!' (PS - thanks for the comment, Michelle)

From on the plane

	From: carol kendall Subject: From on the plane Sent from the touch screen tv on plane seat. 1 hour 11 min from Dubai where we will rush to change planes. 5 hr 3! 0 flight.

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Bangkok

Arrived safely in Bangkok. 9 hour flight from Sydney. Tired. Gluten free meals OK. Watched Grand Turino and Australia.

Leaving today!

About to start final packing, ready for heading to the airport around 1.30 pm. Currently having breakfast in bed :-) Getting up shortly to a cold but sunny day.

Crown Princess information

I just added some links (down the side of the page) so you could see information about our cruise ship. The view of our cabin is one of a typical inside cabin (no windows). We are in cabin A421, on Aloha Deck.