Palermo (Sicily) - Sunday 6 October

Today was the day that I had organised a private tour in Palermo, Sicily. This was for eight of us from the Cruise Critic Roll Call, including Jan and Steve, Rick and Brenda (British Columbia), and John and Edie (Arlington, Texas). We met in the atrium and headed off as soon as the ship docked at 9 am. We had instructions to meet our guide, Patrizia (of Sicilian Days, number two-rated company on Trip Advisor when I booked in February) across the road from the port, beside a pharmacy.

I checked that we were all off the ship and a couple more times on our 5-10 minute walk to see that everyone was following along. We got to our meeting spot at 9:10 am and there was Patrizia to meet us. Unfortunately, we had somehow lost Edie along the way. John had no idea where she was, so Steve and Rick kindly went most of the way back to look for her. Luckily they found her and then we were able to get on our way. We were using two vehicles, rather than the expected 8 seater, because it was apparently too difficult to get into some of the narrow streets in the larger vehicle. And Patrizia introduced us to her husband, Alfredo, who was going to drive the second vehicle. Because his English wasn't great, and Patrizia was meant to be our guide, I suggested we rotate between the vehicles. Parking etc worked well because Patrizia was able to come with us, leaving Alfredo to look after both vehicles.

Our first stop was at the Catacombs of the Capuchins, after a drive through the crazy traffic and narrow streets. I had been looking for something different to see during the cruise, and this stood out, if you could stomach it! The Princess tour that came to the catacombs didn't take us to the other place I wanted to visit - Monreale Cathedral - hence the private tour.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos at the catacombs, so you will have to look them up on Wikipedia. But basically they are an area of underground tunnels, with the walls filled with open-sided coffins, or hollows in the tunnel walls, where mummified bodies lie or hang. The bodies are fully dressed in the clothing styles of their time, this starting from some time in the 16th Century, and becoming somewhat of a business enterprise for the Capuchin monks of the neighbouring church. At first they preserved only their own monks. But soon the rich people were paying to have their family members mummified and stored here too, in their best clothes. There were different sections for monks, men, women, children, professionals (doctors, lawyers etc). This practice continued until it was banned. The final body was mummified in 1920, and was the body of a 2 year old girl, Rosalie. Because of the humid conditions in the tunnels, the other bodies are no longer so well preserved, but Rosalie is in a special air-conditioned cabinet, on display, and is in excellent condition, as if she was sleeping. Very sad, and bizarre, and definitely not for everyone, but big tour groups were coming through as we left. It was good to be out in the fresh air after that!

Next we drove up into the hillside behind Palermo, to the nearby town of Monreale. We had a great view looking across to Palermo and to the sea beyond.

Then we went up to the Cathedral of Monreale, and had a brief look in a nearby shop, where the owner was creating mosaics. Then we went into the Cathedral itself, where a Sunday service was being held. The Cathedral was very beautiful, and is a mix of Norman (Christian) and Arab (Moslem) architecture and decoration. This is a feature of architecture in Sicily as, like many of the islands in the Mediterranean, it has had the influences of the many different cultures that took over at different times. Patrizia explained that pretty much all the cultures were accepted, until the French (under Napoleon Bonaparte) because they were looting everything to fund campaigns elsewhere.

We had a good look around the cloister area of the Cathedral, and got some great scenic photos. I ducked back into the Cathedral after this, because the service had finished and I could get a better view of the altar and its incredible decoration.

We drove back down to Palermo, and were shown some other parts of the city, and interesting buildings. By 1 pm we had parked and Patrizia and Alfredo were walking us through a very dingy area of the old town, towards their lovely, newly renovated apartment where Patrizia was going to cook us an authentic Sicilian lunch.

Patrizia also teaches cooking classes and is writing her own cookbook of Sicilian recipes. We were made to feel completely at home while Patrizia set to work. Alfredo offered us Sicilian wines (red or white). Patrizia had organised gluten free food for me for most of the 6 course lunch, too.

The first course was chickpea fritters, that I had on their own, but the others had inside some small bread rolls. They were simply chickpea and water, cooked like polenta, poured out, cooled, cut into blocks and then deep-fried. A couple of fritters were then salted and placed inside a bread roll.

The next course was Sicilian pizza (I ate more fritters), and the third course was a pasta and meat dish (special circular pasta for the others, and regular GF pasta for me) - delicious! The fourth course was a stewed vegetable dish with olives and I'm not actually sure what else - very flavoursome. Course six (for the others) was an amazing hot pastry dish, filled with ricotta cheese and sultanas. I was given a special gift-wrapped mandarin made of ground almonds. I sliced off the pieces to nibble at. Next we were served a small glass of a lovely dessert wine, and the others had almond cookies to dip into it while they also sipped the wine - I used my almond 'mandarin'. We all chose to have Italian coffee - served in tiny cups.

During all of this there was lots banter between Patrizia and Alfredo, and ourselves. It was a wonderful couple of hours. At 3 pm our 'tour' was finished, and Alfredo delivered John and Edie back to the port entrance, while Patrizia walked us back because we decided we needed the exercise. Well, that turned into a bit of an adventure too! As soon as we got a short way out into the street, the rain started bucketing down. All of us except Rick had showerproof jackets and umbrellas. We still got drenched, but kept going carefully, picking our way through flooded gutters and pedestrian crossings. It wasn't cold, and we weren't worried - it was an hilarious way to end the day. Back at the entrance to the port, we ran into Alfredo again, and there were hugs and kisses all around, and then we farewelled the wonderful couple, promising them we'd give them great reviews on Trip Advisor.

Civitavecchia - Saturday 5 October

During breakfast, at 7 am, we watched a massive thunder and lightning storm over the port of Civitavecchia, that went on for about 45 minutes. Thank goodness we weren't depending on fine weather for today's activities.

Some passengers were completing their cruise today, others were joining us for a 7 day cruise, many were travelling into Rome for tours, but we and about 75 others had booked on a Princess Tour: 'Lake Bracciano and wine tasting'.

The torrential rain had stopped as we boarded our bus and set off to an inland area about an hour north-west of Rome. Our Tour Guide was outstanding, a very articulate and witty young Italian woman - everyone loved her. She entertained us during the hour long journey through countryside that was a bit drab. The landscape started to improve once we reached the lake.

First we had a quick photo stop, in the light drizzle, for a distant view of Castello Orsini-Odeleschi, a magnificent feudal castle that stands outside Bracciano town. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were married here (so much for that)!

Lake Bracciano, a major Italian lake, is a volcanic lake, and is an important source of water for Rome. It is a popular scenic spot with Romans. We drove further around the lake to the small resort village of Anguillara. This lovely, peaceful medieval town covers a small hilly peninsula jutting into the lake. The drizzle had all but stopped and we enjoyed some free time (about 30 minutes) walking along the lovely lakeside promenade and pier. It was very picturesque, and reminded us in some ways of Akaroa.

Soon we were back on the bus and continuing to Tuscia wine country. Ross and Elizabeth will be interested to hear that we visited a local wine estate and sampled some of their vintages, and I even enjoyed it! We had an hour to enjoy some of their cured meats, cheese, olives, artichokes, and bread with olive oil, whilst sampling a selection of three white wines (two chardonnays and a sauvignon blanc), David also trying the three red wines (including two merlots). Those who were brave enough were also invited to down a grappa (not for me, but David had one and along with everyone described it as being like swallowing rocket fuel). I was already feeling quite merry from my three samples of white wines, and we bought a couple of bottles of a chardonnay at E6.50 each. We'll have to pay corkage of E15 each bottle to enjoy these in the dining room, but that'll still work out much cheaper than buying a bottle of wine off Princess's wine menu.

It was a very happy group that returned to the bus for the 45 minute drive back to the ship! Our guide will have done well from all the tips from her happy customers!

We headed for lunch, and then relaxed indoors on Deck 7, David reading, and me blogging. The weather was rather cool and gloomy, and everyone had been wearing jackets or jerseys for the first time. Towards 5 pm we were chatting with another Kiwi couple from the Whangaparoa Peninsula north of Auckland. We decided to have dinner together, so met at 6:15 pm and enjoyed a great time over our meal. Frances is a school music teacher who also works four days per week taking classroom curriculum music and school choirs (rather like Zarlene) at a local primary school.

PS - I remembered to take a photo of my dessert, flourless chocolate cake, with berries!

Naples - Friday 4 October

We sailed into Naples before 7 am, and at breakfast I noticed the silhouette of Mount Vesuvius out the window. I dashed out on deck to capture a memorable photo.

I had organised a private tour with some Cruise Critic friends for our day in Naples. We (with Jan and Steve, Rick and Brenda from British Columbia, and Harvey and Barbara from California) gathered at 8:30 am, ready to join our tour with Drive Amalfi. We were told that we weren't docked by the main cruise terminal, and that bus shuttles would take us there. Unfortunately, Princess didn't also tell us that, regardless of this, tour operators would still be able to meet us near the ship. So, we unknowingly hopped on the shuttle which promptly drove us past all the tour guides holding signs for their clients. I ended up having to phone Salvatore to alert him to send our driver around to the terminal. So, we finally got under way about 20 minutes late, having started out early. Never mind, we were on our way with the same driver, Raphael, who had delivered us from Sorrento to the train station in Naples two weeks earlier. The surprise for us was that he had a friend along for the journey, to assist us and help translate and to organise things. Stephanie was a very vivacious, fun, American woman. We travelled in a big, comfortable van.

We headed straight to Pompeii, where an official guide had been booked by Salvatore, and Rosemarie was ready and waiting for us. We headed straight in (by now it was getting very busy with big tour groups). David and I had barely an hour in Pompeii in 2009 (we had seen quite a bit in that time, but also missed a lot) so I was pleased to go in a different entrance and we first visited the Gladiators' training school and accommodation. This was very interesting. Nearby was the big theatre where plays would have been held, and although this had been largely restored (not original) it was great to see - Stephanie tested the really excellent acoustics by singing a song.

We walked up some of the streets, our guide pointing out the stepping stones, the original ridge marks from carts, fountains, homes with peristyle gardens, and shops. We saw the remains of a 'fast food' outlet and a bakery. We went into the public baths and admired the still visible art and decor, and tried to transport ourselves back in time and amongst the people who lived in Pompeii before the massive eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

The most interesting place to visit in Pompeii, going by the long queue outside, was obviously the Brothel in the 'red light' area (they really did use red lights). Our guide kept us laughing while we waited and we were intrigued by the ancient 'sign posts' pointing the way to this part of the ancient town (ie an erect penis carved in stone on a pavement, or jutting out above a building). Eventually we made our way in single file through the dingy little brothel, where pictures illustrated the 'menu' available to clients, and tiny cubicles/cells contained stone beds and stone pillows (yes)! Pompeii had been a port town, and sailors spent a lot of time there, so they looked for such services. The town is now a few kilometres inland, but you can see the remains of the walls where boats would have docked.

We spent a short time in the forum area of Pompeii, with Vesuvius sitting benignly in the background. It was very busy here. At this point, our two hour guided tour was over, and I asked if anyone in the group wanted to spend some more time wandering on their own, or to move on. The vote was to move on.

Because we had spent an hour less than originally planned, and it was also a fine day, with clear views of the summit of Vesuvius, I asked the group if they wanted to consider a modification of our plans, and instead of going straight to Herculaneum and then having a longish lunch, we could squeeze in a visit up Mount Vesuvius and have only a short lunch. David and I had done this in 2009, and I knew that Jan and Steve were keen on this option. The vote to do this was unanimous, so off we went.

It was a 45 minute drive up the mountain, and there was a lot of traffic up the top. The others headed off quickly as we allowed 20 minutes to walk up, 20 minutes at the top, and 20 minutes to walk back down. In the meantime, Stephanie booked us in for lunch at the Kone restaurant that was part way up the mountain. I walked slowly with Barbara, and lent her my walking pole. She and Harvey are in their mid 70s, and hadn't been expecting such a walk, but I encouraged Harvey to go on ahead and enjoy the view, and Barbara and I walked up slowly together, with lots of stops and had a great chat on the way. It was very pleasant and the views were magnificent (more clear than in 2009, but still hazy in the distance). The distance up was further than I remembered and we got about 7/8 of the way up, then I went on ahead to see the view further around (looking for Sorrento in the distance). Barbara stayed where she was and I hurried to the summit as the others were heading back down. I grabbed some photos, and then David and I walked down together, keeping Harvey and Barbara company.

With all on board the van, we drove down to the Kone Pizzeria where Stephanie helped us order pizzas (one per couple) and gluten free pasta for me. The latter arrived nearly 10 minutes after everyone had finished their pizzas (which they enjoyed) so it was a case of 'gobble and go' for me with the pasta (which actually needed more cooking). But it was nice to have a dish with lots of chopped tomatoes and cheese in a nice, light olive oil sauce, and it was great that they could provide it quickly.

We drove quickly down to Herculaneum, which was a lot quieter than Pompeii, and we had just over an hour there - a little less time than planned. We had not booked a guide here (in hindsight, we should probably have hired the official guide offering his services near the ticket office) and people had the option of doing their own thing or purchasing an audio guide. I had brought along a map and good information about some of the best things to look at that I'd got from someone on Cruise Critic, but we needed to figure out where it was starting from, so had to purchase a map and try and match the two. This was rather difficult though, and in the end we just wandered around seeing what we could. We saw a lot, but it would have been good to have a guide give us a shortened tour, explaining things, and seeing some of the things I realised later we had missed. So, we have a good excuse to come back another time! It certainly was an interesting and worthwhile place to visit, even after Pompeii. Herculaneum is better-preserved and more colourful, and gives a better indication of what upper class homes were like (before being completely covered in mud from Vesuvius. It was once a seaside resort town, but is now inland.

Raphael had us back to the ship in plenty of time and we headed up to Deck 15 for a beer (David) and I had a gin and lemonade. I watched the sail-away from the port of Naples with Jan and Steve, then David and I headed for dinner. It had been a good day.