A Welcome Back....To Reality

We enjoyed many things about sailing on HAL (Holland America Line). We always tell people that we have no favorite cruise line really, because they all differentiate themselves by a collection of little things. One of the little things HAL does is that they allow you to stay in your stateroom as long as you like on dis-embarkation day, even after your number/color is called for leaving the ship. The other nice little difference on HAL is that they will still deliver you a room service breakfast on the day of dis-embarkation. Most other cruise lines have no room service on the last day. A difference of much larger proportion is the HAL beds, I think the matress on our bed was about 16 inches thick and perhaps the most comfortable of any of the cruise lines!

By 8:30AM, our number (one of the last) was called so Peg and I began to leave our sureal European experience. The airport Marriot in Barcelona was more efficient than expected upon arrival on the dock with their shuttle driver waiting for us / our luggage right outside the terminal (holding up a sign so we could find him). For 10 Euro each, the driver was bussing people to the Marriot by the airport (BCN). We dumped our bags in our tiny European hotel room (which had no normal electrical outlets for anything) and was about 1/3 the size of a normal hotel room.

Peg and I jumped on a free shuttle to the city center in Barcelona. The driver left us at Plaza Espanya (sort of in the middle of things). Ironically I was telling Peg how fun it was in London to take a double decker Red bus around the city when one of these busses pulled right up. We thought it would be a great way to see all of Barcelona by jumping on the Orange line for the east side of town and then transfer to the green line for the west side. I got some great pictures of churches and other architectural marvels including some of the facilities used for the 1992 Olympics held in Barcelona. We walked down the Las Ramblas area where everything seems to be happening in the city except being Sunday, most businesses were closed. It was odd to see so many stores and shopping centers completely closed because it was Sunday! After shooting pictures all day we ended up in a small cafe enjoying some of the local wine and food (pizza and payeia....a seasoned rice dish filled with seafood in this case). After we had our dinner, we headed back to the main plaza and found hoards of people heading up to the local stadium for a footbal game (these people are more passionate about soccer than Amercians are about the NFL). We were amazed at all the people. In the midst of it all was a large group of young people dressed in goth / completely black clothing and weird wigs. We could not for the life of us figure out what these demonstrators were trying to say or what their point was. Even the locals looked at them weird.

We caught our shuttle back to the airport hotel and were now totally exhausted. I felt especially worn out just thinking about the 4:00AM wake up call for the 6:55AM flight to Paris and then the change of terminals / more security checkpoints / more passport station checks / topped off by our 8 1/2 hour flight to Chicago where we would fly ahead of the sun all day. Right now we are decending into the Chicago area and the local time is 12PM Non. My watch says 7:00PM still. As we fly over Lake Michigan, the monitor on the seat back in front of me says we have now travelled 4,082 miles since leaving Paris this morning, and we have about 60 miles to go!

We are definitely back in reality now.

Next Stop.....The Eastern Coast of Spain, Wake Me When We Are There

We sailed away from Italy Friday night traveling just north of of the island of Corsica. I have no idea what is there but I did notice a huge ferry in Livorno taking people and cars to and from Corsica. It is a large island just off the coast of Italy about 20-30 miles or so. I didn't know this of course until one day Peg and I were checking out the world map books on display in the ships' library. They had a special table set up for these giant world map books with two of them open all the time across the table for people to view. The books were 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide!

Saturday was sort of an odd day as cruising goes. We woke up to a day at sea as we crossed the Mediterranean heading for Barcelona, Spain. The day was odd because we were going to pull into Barcelona at 5PM that day and dock the ship for the last time of our cruise. The morning started with a special presentation of the ship crew members. No less than 300 of the crew from all walks of ship life got up on stage in the main show room as the crowd (and we) all cheered in appreciation for all that the crew had done for us in the past two weeks. The crew ended the presentation with a song about love and people from all walks of life.....and learning to get along together. The show was great and it was the crew's way of saying good bye to everyone. The theatre was packed and I would be lying if I didn't tell you that the moment was a bit emotional for everyone. It reminded me a bit about something we heard a performer say one night. It was something like, "how is it that people will come on to a ship as total strangers and make new best friends of almost everyone they encounter, but on the streets of a city....people walk by each other and wouldn't give you the time of day if you asked?". It is a strange but true observation.

After the lines were tossed and the ship was tied, many people headed into town to see Barcelona. Peg and I decided to relax and wait until Sunday morning when we actually dis-embarked the ship to go into town. We spent our final day / night on the ship going to special shows that were put together by the singers and other special entertainers of the cruise. We saw the Irish Celtic Band "Live Wire" perform once again and the tenner known as Drew Preston.... sing a few more songs. Saturday evening, just the 4 lead singers from the song and dance team performed a unique show called a tribute to Broadway. These 4 singers were perhaps the most talented we have ever seen on a ship. Each and every one of their shows was just filled with energy and spectacular performances. Saturday night was no exception. After the last show, we packed our bags, prepared for the early morning exit, and called it a day. Saturday was weird in that we sailed into the port and sort of watched our cruise come to an end....slowly but surely.

The Gateway To Tuscany

We left Rome at 8 PM Thursday and began sailing across the Tyrrhenian Sea for Livorno, Italy. By the time we woke up, the ship was already tied to the pier and people were disembarking the ship for tours to Pisa, Florence, and other spots in the Tuscan region. It seems Livorno is a gateway to Tuscany. Peg and I were too tired to take on anything real adventurous or involving additional travel today so after breakfast and getting dressed we just wandered into town and eventually came upon a tour boat operator selling rides through the canals of Livorno and telling all about the history. The boat was very much like a motorized Gondola and turned out to be fun.

This was a pretty low key activity so we paid the 10 Euros each and went along for the ride. I thought of it as a vacation from our vacation. The waterway took us all through the town and the guide told us all about the various buildings and the history behind them (including stories about which structures were damaged in the war and how some structures were never repaired...see the cracks in the walls of the fortress built to protect the town from the sea). It was a very relaxing day and we spent the entire afternoon back on the ship.

We later learned that while the taxi/tour operators wanted 100 Euros and more to drive the 15 miles to Pisa, one could hop on a local bus to the train station (bus #1 at the town square in Livorno) and the train woulld take you to Pisa, Florence, and back all for about 9 Euro.

Our french friend we met on board named Suresh did this with his wife Veronia and said it was very easy...and they had lots of fun. They got off the train in Pisa and went by the tower for a while, only then to re-board a later train that took them on an additional one hour ride through Tuscany to Florence. Suresh said the cathedral in Florence was absolutely amazing. I had no idea the train to Pisa was as easy to take as the one going to Rome (just a different direction). We did hear later in the evening tht some of the people who did the shore excursion through the cruise line did pay a lot for it and also had no idea it could have been done so much cheaper by train. In reading about Pisa, I found out that there has been some excavation work done at the base of it so the tower is actually leaning a little less these days (about 5" less). Engineers have excavated the base of the tower in such a way that they hope the base will continue to move and the tower itself will right itself by about another 15 inches! It did occurr to me that if the tower stops leaning all together, Pisa may not get all the tourists there to come and see it!

While we did miss Florence and Pisa, we enjoyed just hanging out on the ship for a day of relaxation. The people who did make it all the way to Florence (about 1.5 hours from the port) all seemed to just love it. Florence and Pisa are for sure on our list of future things to do, but it sounds like taking the train is the ticket!

We left Livorno by slowly pulling away from the dock and turning the ship towards Spain. Looking at the port made us realize that visitng the country of Italy was a sureal experience. Having only been there for the first time in our lives, who could say whether we would ever be back again? Of course we would love to return, but life truely is like a box of chocolates.

If we ever do return, I want to go back to the Straights of Messina and this time stop there to see the town. I talked to a crew member who has been sailing the Meditteranean Sea for 7 years now, he told me the stop in Messina on the island of Siciliy is his favorite place amongst them all.

When in Rome....Avoid the Romans

The arrangements for our day in Rome....did not go even close to plan. After several changes in plans and then Peg experiencing difficulty with her knee after all the walking (especially Pompei), I ended up on a train to Rome from Civitevechia on my own. Peg knew the walking was going to be just too much for her now swollen knee.

If cost is very important to you, taking the train is by far the best way to go to Rome from the cruise port. It may not be the most comfortable (poor air conditioning, limited seating, etc.). As many web sites will describe, the train station is about 4 or 5 blocks to your right as you leave the port. I bought a train ticket for 9 Euro and found out later that it is good for all trains and busses all day. The person selling the tickets spoke no English (no capiche) and basically waived me off when I tried to ask a question. I did find a uniformed person closer to the platform that was able to describe that I needed to go to track #3. The trains to and from Roma run every 30 minutes and the trip takes about 1 hour 20 minutes. I read it was a good idea to get off at the St. Peter Square train stop (about 3 stops short of the main Roma station) but I didn't do that and instead opted to go all the way in to the main station. I ended up having to get a cab because the main station is a good mile or two from anything else it seems. I had no idea of even what direction to walk in. I didn't study this as much as I wished I had because we were going to have a driver for the day before all of the plans changed.

The cab driver at the Roma station wanted 25 Euro to go about 2 or 3 miles to the Coloseum (at least one other cab driver wanted $50!). I ended up sharing a cab with another couple and before long we were at the Coloseum. The Coloseum is a massive place and a bit overwhelming at first. There are people everywhere wanting to sell you a private tour or some special deal. There are guys dressed like Roman soldiers wanting you to pay them for pictures. A few of us from the ship ended up getting talked into a private tour with about 15 people. If you go in on your own, the line is about an hour long to enter. If you are in a group, they let the group right in and bypass everyone. The entry fee was about 12 Euro and it cost me 25 to be in the group (which included the 12 Euro entry fee) and avoid the line. If you consider how informative the speaker was AND how short your day is going to be, I have to say it is well worth it! I learned in Pompei that if you do not do a private tour guide, you will see all sorts of things but have little idea of (or have to guess at) what you are actualy looking at.

I learned that the Coloseum was actually once all faced in white marble which was later stolen off the structure...leaving the brick and stone structure it is today. I also found out the floor to the arena was actually supported by stone pillars and walls but constructed of wood and covered with sand/dirt. All the wood is gone today of course, but the stone and brick walls still stand. You can see the corridors where wild animals were kept and make shift primative elavators were. It is very erie to see the underground of the arena today. The tour guide pointed out where the emporer, the senate, etc.would all sit. Apparently it was free to attend the happenings in the arena but there was definitley seating sections for different classes of people.

There were two main entrances for the gladiators, both identified by the very tall arched entrances (one on each end of the arena). There are still very small amounts of marble to be found. We walked across one such section of white marble. In one corridor, there is the remains of a white marble life size horse on display....I was amazed to find it was only recently uncovered and carefully excavated in 2008. The horse has no head or legs, but it is clearly a horse... complete with saddle / all pure marble. A single hoof to the horse was also found and is also on display there.

Toward the end of the private tour a few of us from the ship split up and went in different directions. I met Al, Wayne, Wanda, and Nikki from northern Florida and Wayne seemed to know his way around as he had done all of this before. I asked them if they minded me hanging around with them for the day as we were all sort of in the same boat together (a few hours left in Rome, a ship leaving at 8PM, and an unknown train ride of 1.5 hours back to a town I can hardly say much less spell). At this point I had seen the Coloseum, the Forum, and the Arch of Constantine, when everyone decided they really wanted to fo to St. Peters Basilica in the center of Vatican City. While there were so many things to see and do in Rome, I decided that focusing on one thing like the Vatican might be the best idea rather than chasing all over after other sites to see.

We took bus #571 from the main bus stop across the street from the entrance to the Coloseum and in a few miles, we were at the entrance to St. Peter's and blown away by how long the line is. After pondering the idea once again of a private tour guide... and walking right in, we noticed this long, long line moves VERY fast. After wasting 15 minutes wondering what to do we got in line and ended up inside St. Peters Basilica in about 20 minutes! The sites inside are too awesome to describe and the pictures do not do justice to the place. The building itself takes the shape of a cross. There are more alters, statues, paintings, stain glass windows, and other religous scenes inside St. Peters than you can possibly imagine. You literally cannot believe your eyes. At the center of the building where the cross shaped structure....structurally crosses, there are the words at the alter which say ".......and upon this rock, I shall build my church". It was pretty awesome to see and hard to believe. We were all so taken back by the Basilica, Wanda and Nikki insisted we try and get into the Sistine Chapel. In Italian, it is called Sistina Capella.

I was getting a little nervous because now it was 2pm....and we had the 1.5 hour train ride ....and we didn't know where the train station even was.....and we had to leave the Basilica, walk around the vatican walls and up to the vatican museum entrance and go through the museum to even get to the chapel. We went for it though. I would recommend that one NOT go for the private tour idea at the vatican. Just go through the line at St. Peters and make your way to the museum. There seemed to be more groups than anything else at the museum entrance so individuals were actualy moving through quicker! We found ourselves now walking the halls of the Vatican City Museums being more amazed at every turn. It looked a little like the people at the Vatican stole all the marble from the Coloseum! Since most chapels we went through were painted from ceiling to floor, we all became a bit confused as to just where Sistina Capella actualy was! Many of the pictures were taken in the hallways leading to the Sistine Chapel. Once inside, we were all asked to turn our cameras off which I respectfully did, but many people ignored the guards and were snapping away. Of the 138 pictures I took yesterday, none are inside of the Sistine Chapel. It is an amazing place (painted ceiling to floor). I later learned that Michael Angelo worked at the Vatican for 26 years painting the chapel and also many of the works inside the main Basilica. He never finished the Basilica entirely but people he trained did so....well that is what I over heard anyway.

By the time we were done in the museum, it was 3:30 and the train station became our number one priority now as we were out of time. Not too many local people speak English so getting directions became humorous. There were 5 of us asking various people for directions to the train and we at times had 5 different answers! We eventually made it to the St. Peters station and caught the 3:59 back for the ship. We made it in plenty of time but it was no laughing matter for the people I later saw running down the pier as the gangplank was being raised and we were heading for Livorno.

My day in Rome was very hectic. The walking seemed endless and the stairs were countless. The museums at the vatican were numerous hallways really, and you get the impression walking along the way that you will never actually get to....the Sistine Chapel (although we did). The train ride back to the port was so crowded, you were cheek to cheek with those standing around you.....and nobody was getting off the train soon. I was completely beat and couldn't believe what little I saw compared to all that there is to see in Rome. It really did not help that the European Cup Football championship was being played in Rome the night before (always played on neutral ground). Team Barcalona defeated the team from Manchester, England. Thousands came into Rome for the game, most without tickets! They just wanted to be there......as did I, and that is why I went. My recommendation from this learning experience is to start or end a cruise in Rome. By starting or ending a cruise in Rome one can spend a few nights in a hotel and see everything. Visiting for a day and trying to take it all in....well, just cannot be done. You can visit, you just cannot take it all in. If your cruise finds you in Civitevechia for a day, then figure out what ONE thing you would like to see in Rome....and go for it. Be sure to watch your pockets, apparently we have expert pick pockets in Rome, even worse in Spain we hear. We have already heard of two stories on board where people were picked, one gentleman lost $200 Euro, another lost everything at a security checkpoint entering the Coloseum. In the end, I got lucky. I met some great people who sort of knew what they were doing, and we all had fun, but getting around was not all that much fun. The train is cheap.....but you get what you pay for. The people I saw at the dock getting out of Mercedes Mini Vans looked a lot more relaxed than I was (of course they paid $400 Euro for the day compared to my $34 Euro).

I hope to return to Rome one day and when I do a hotel will be involved. As for this visit, Peg made the correct choice in doing what she had to do, and now her knee is all the better for it!

The Ruins at Pompeii

Once again, I guess I should have been paying more attention in European History class. I remember the word Mt. Vesuvius but I don't remember it being a volcanoe that buried the ancient city of Pompeii with lava and ash in 79 AD. Peg and I walked through the ruins today and were surprised to find that it was an entire city that was preserved by the lava. We thought we would walk in a simple circle and see everything....wrong! The ruins really make up and entire city of theatres, markets, temples, homes, and other public areas. It seemed like it was at least a mile long and almost a mile wide. The most awesome sight was the forum where we walked into the arena just as gladiators once did to fight wild animals (and each other). You could see the corridors where the wild animals were kept just inside the arena walls. I found the temples to be just as awesome with many roman pillars still standing today. We were able to tell where the people lived in their homes and how some homes were nicer than others. The kitchen areas had either generic stone counters or counters faced with marble. Perhaps the most surprising to me was the distance of Pompeii from the top of Vesuvius, it seemed like 10 miles away so the thought of lava coming down and covering the city (and even preserving bodies) was wonderous. I later learned that the city was actualy covered / burried with ash as well. The idea of ash
travelling far is more believable than lava. During the uncovering of the city the workers found many pots and other decorative roman figures. All of the items found are on display, you just cannot touch any of them as they are locked behind bars. If we do this again, I think we will pay the extra $10 Euro to have a walking tour guide. These guides take 10 people at a time. If you want your own private guide, it is $100 Euro. We passed many of the guided tours and found that if you have lots of time, the guided tours are very informative and add meaning to the scenes in front of you.

After the tour of the city of Pompeii, we headed back to the ship for some relaxation and swimming (once again very hot today, high 80's). We heard that there is a huge soccer game in Rome tomorrow and thousands of people are arriving....even without tickets from Spain. Our taxi driver told us people are even flying into Naples and hiring taxis to drive them to rome (2.5 hours) for the game because flights to Roma are sold out. We are told that Rome is actually completely crazy on a normal day....I am not sure we are quite ready for what a major soccer competition does to the normality of the city (if there is such a thing). We have heard they are stopping the sale of liqour early today because of all the fights that break out between the fans at the events. Tomorrow should be real interesting.

Heading for Naples

After pulling away from the dock at Sicily, I was surprised to find the ship was going to head East again. I was sure we were going to sail around Sicily heading West because I didn't think there was enough room for the ship to go through the tiny strip of water between the island of Sicily and mainland Italy. As it turns out, we sailed through the straights of Messina. I felt like we were going between the islands up north on Forest Lake! Messina was rather flat and sloping to the sea but at the tip of the toe... of the country of Italy, it is very mountainous! We were on the top deck talking with people and I didn't have my camera so one regret I have now is that there are no pictures of the straights. Peg and I watched the sunset from our room. Later in the evening we passed by the Stromboli Volcanoe in the dark. There wasn't a lava flow but the red ash was spewing into the air and made for a fireworks like display. The ship pulled to within hundreds of yards of the shore for all to see.

We found directions for how to get to a train in Naples that will take us to the ruins at Pompei, so that is our plan for the day. Hopefully, we will have some good pictures by the end of the day.

Catania, Sicily

We missed the 5:15AM viewing of Mt. Etna before pulling up to the pier in Catania. As it turns out, I am glad we didn't set the alarm though because you can see Mt. Etna from just about every vantage point around the city. We took a bus tour this morning from the port to a little village called Taromina (about an hour drive from the port by bus). The village was originally built by the Greeks in the 3rd century BC, and was later completely ronovated by the Romans. At the end of the village is the remains of famous Greco-Roman Theatre built of stone. We took many pictures here and listened to the stories of how Greek Tragedies were performed here. The Romans turned the amphitheatre into an arena and built facilities for wild animals (you could sort of fill in the blanks as to why there were wild animals). The Romans it seems, had sort of a sick sense of entertainment! I have been trying beers from each of the countries visited. So far I like them all!

The bus tour guide was really great....she spoke of Palermo, Messina, Catania, etc. Just listening to her made me want to watch the movie Patton again as it seems so much of the movie centered around the island of Sicily. We were told that Sicily is the largest island in the Meditteranean and has three points (sort of an upside down triangle). What I did find surprising is that Mt. Etna is actually an active volcano and erupted just last May 13th, 2008. One can easily see the steam coming out of the crater all day. I am pretty convinced that the view of Mt. Etna is the same standard desktop background image you can choose using Windows XP. They told us that it takes a clear day to allow us to even see the peek but we saw that mountain top all day.

We drove by a cemetery where soldiers of World War II were buried, it was a grim reminder that the movie Patton.... was much more than a movie.

On to Naples.....

Our Only Sea Day....

On Monday the 25th, we had our only sea day. We sailed from Santorini across the Ionian Sea and headerd toward Sicily. The captain told us we would be passing right by Mt. Etna at about 5:15AM on our way to the port of Catania. The cruise has been going very well thus far and the sea day was a welcome one because you actually need a rest from all the sightseeing every day. Going on a cruise through Europe has a much different meaning than going on a cruise to the Caribbean. Here it is all about the ports, the cultures, the history, and the people. The ship chose our sea day to be te second formal night of the cruise so Peg and I got dressed up and took some pictures around the ship. We have been doing what is called AnyTime Dining for dinner each night which basically means we go to the dining room whenever we want... and they sit us at a table with whomever they want. I refer to it as Dining Roulette. We have been pretty lucky actually as almost everyone seems normal (whatever that is). Most people seem to be from Canada (we haven't had a table yet where one of the guests wasn't from Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, etc.). Every night we sit down and everyone shares their war story of what it took to actually get to Venice. Last night we met an older couple on vacation with their son Peter who is an artist. His medium is black and white photography. He was travelling with mom and dad through Europe (they actually arrived 2 weeks before the cruise in Berlin, Germany and took a train to Venice). Peter was doing a piece he called the doors of Europe and was photographing every unusual door he saw. Since telling us about this I started noticing all the unusual doors we happened upon and I thought, what an original idea. I hope he writes a book about them one day and publishes all the pictures. Meeting Peter and seeing all the art shops throughout our tavel thus far made me think of Jamie and how she would so love taking a trip like this. The places we have been to thus far are just filled history.... and from the history has come so much in the way of art.