Winding down

Today we continued on our bus tour and went to the famous Fountain of Trevi. Built in the 17^th century it has a sea theme and is spectacular. We participated in the time honored custom of throwing in a coin to guarantee a return trip to Rome. Who knows?

We took final pictures around town, had our last italitian dinner, bought souveniors and headed back to our hotel to start trying to fit more into our suitcases.

Tomorrow we're headed back to Barcelona and Thursday we fly back home. It's been great but we're both ready to return. We hope you have enjoyed following us virtually..

Watch the video below to see us throw in our coins in the fountain.

Roaming Rome

Yesterday we explored the Piazza Del Popolo (People's Plaza) which is down the street from our hotel. As we entered the piazza we saw twin basilicas and a fountain with an Egyptian obelisk. On either side of the plaza there are roman statues and fountains and a garden behind one. It turns out that this was at one time the entrance to Rome.

The plaza then leads into the streets of Rome where we walked to catch a bus tour of the town. It was 90 degrees and so we just stayed on the bus and enjoyed the commentary and the sights rather than walking around. Everywhere you look there's history and to see buildings that date back to 1^st and 2nd century BC, is pretty amazing.

Today we hopped back on the bus and went to the Colosseum. Construction began shortly after 70 AD, and it was opened by Titus 10 years later. The ceremonies and games on that occasion went on for a hundred days. 70,000 people came to watch gladiatorial combats and wild beast hunts as well as other spectacles. In it's history 700,000 people were killed in the Colosseum and at least three times that amount of animals. An enormous awning protected the spectators from the heat which would have been great today as it was again over 90 degrees.

The heat seems to suck all our energy so we retreat to our air conditioned hotel early evening and just relax from the day's activities.

Visiting the Vatican

Today(Saturday, wifi not good in our room so posting was delayed) we went to Vatican City. We visited the museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Mark's  cathedral. It was almost overwhelming. It was hard to get good pictures because of the lighting and in the Sistine Chapel, you are not allowed to take pictures, although we saw people doing it. There were guards who all they said was Shhhhhh when it got too noisy and shouting “No photos” on a constant basis. People can be so disrespectful.

There were floor to ceiling paintings and mosaic floors. Statues everywhere throughout. We went through four big rooms where the walls were painted by Raphael and where ceilings were painted by various artist.

St. Mark's is the largest church in the world. There are paintings, mosaics, statues and the architecture was amazing. It was almost 90 degrees and very few of the rooms were air conditioned so it was a long 3 hour tour, up and down escalas (staircases). We could of stayed and visited more of the galleries but we were exhausted.

To end our day we ate at a sidewalk cafe and had pasta. It was right down from our hotel and has a great view of a piazza that we plan to explore tomorrow.

Resting in Rome

Just wanted to let everyone know we made it safely to Rome. We got up at 6 A.M. and had a 3 hour wait at the airport.

We got here about 3PM and decided to get something to eat at a little before 4 but it seems restrauants take a break from 4-6. We finally got a Peruavian place to serve us but there was only certain things on the menu they were willing to serve.

We're back in our room which is very nice and we're exhausted. Off to bed soon as we have a tour of the Vatican tomorrow. Too busy hauling luggage and shuttling everywhere today to take pics but here's one of the view at Taormina.

Messina & Taormina

Yesterday we docked in Messina. Messina , is being kicked by the toe of Italy's boot. It's a pretty big city and it was our shortest port time of all our stops.

We decided to be able to see anything we should do an excursion so we chose to go to Taormina. One of the first settlements of the area were in the high rocks of Taormina between the 13^th and 12^th centuries BC. It is a town that has been ruled by Greeks, Romans,Spaniards and even for a short time by the French. It's a beautiful place with amazing panoramic views of the sea and Mount Etna Mt. Etna is the largest volcano in europe and the most active in the world.. We visited a theater that has Greek columns and was used for Roman gladiators as well. It used now days for concerts and recently Joe Crocker performed there.

Today is another at sea day but we have to also try to fit everything back in our suitcases as we have to put bags out at 11 P.M. It took some pushing and shoving but we got everything back into the bags even though there was more than we started with.

We dock at 5 AM in Barcelona and will be heading to the airport to fly to Rome where we'll spend the last of our vacation. We'll have FREE internet there and we promise to post more often.



St. Mark's Square



Yesterday was our second day in Venice Venice is really 120 islands with over 400 bridges. Emigrating during the 5^th century from various parts of the region people took refuge in the lagoon from the invading Huns. We took a Vaporino, a water bus, to Piazza San Marco and tried to view all the sites in that area.. We walked around the square and stood in a long line to see inside St. Mark's Basilica. Absolutely worth the wait. It was awesome. It was very hot and very little shade so 4 hours of walking later, we were beat. We gathered souvenirs and headed back to the ship.

The previous night we went on a gondola ride throughout Venice's small rios and the Canal Grande. We even had a musician with an accordion and a singer so it made for a memorable ride. Click below to join us via video. Vonnie said this was her favorite city so far and wants to definitely come back some day.

Today we are at Sea all day. I had enough sun yesterday so I ordered room service and stayed in the cabin. I sat on the balcony had coffee and breakfast while watching the sea. Too many rude people and too few seats. You can walk the entire ship and never find a vacant lounge, chair or even a spot to lay on the deck. If there's not a person in them there's a towel saving the seat. There's lots of signs telling people they can't do that but it's not reinforced. Tonight there's a formal dinner and a chance to dress up and after wards another show.

Tomorrow we're in Messina and we have an excursion planned.

Dubrovnik & Venice

Sunday, July 31(trouble in posting earlier) -Yesterday we arrived in Dubrovnik, Croatia. What a beautiful sight to see upon waking up. The city was devastated in 1991 when the Yugoslav People's Army attacked the unarmed citizens. For months they ravaged, looted, burned and thoroughly destroyed much of the city. As the city was rebuilt, roofs of destroyed or damaged buildings were replaced with orange tiles.

The streets of the old city are narrow and the city is surrounded by a wall and fortress. It has a harbor that's filled with small boats and then opens to the sea. It's breath taking beautiful.. We walked about visiting cathedrals and shops for about 6 hours.

Today we arrived in Venice. Everyone was on deck as we pulled in and passed through the old historic gates which have sunk into the water. The view was spectacular as we sailed pass the city and all it's recognizable landmarks. We docked about noon and we have a night gondola ride booked for this evening. Since we will be here for two days we opted to stay on board until our excursion. More about that and Venice tomorrow.

Relaxing

Yesterday we docked in Naples. We wanted to go to Pompeii bt all the excursions were booked or way too expensive. We were told that getting anywhere on our own was difficult so we decided to stay on board. In the afternoon, there was thunder and lightening and a downpour of rain. We were glad we had stayed put.

Today we were at sea and it was gorgeous. Great day for laying about in the sun and doing absolutely nothing. Dinner was Elegant dress and we got all dressed up. We sat between a couple and a foursome and discovered we were all in education. How odd. Two Asst. superintendents, two early childhood teachers, two college instructors, a first grade teacher and a superintendent. The foursome was even from Rochester, Washington. What were chances?

After dinner was a magic show and musical production that was very good.

Tomorrow we land in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Pouring Rain in Pisa

Today our ship docked in Livorno, Italy. The big attraction here is the Leaning Tower of Pisa but it's not in Livorno, it's in Pisa. Go figure! Your choice to get there is by bus, train or taxi. We chose bus but we had to wait two hours so we got tickets that included a boat ride around Livorno. Just as it was time for the boat ride, it started raining. Thought we left the rain in Seattle or was it London or Paris.

After the very soggy boat ride, we hopped the bus for what was to be a 30 min. ride to Pisa, that because of traffic turned into an hour ride. Then there was the 15 min. walk in the rain to get to the Plaza to see the Learning Tower. By then it was pouring and even with rain ponchos and an umbrella we got soaked. Was it worth it? The vote is one to one.

Tomorrow we land in Naples. We're hoping for better weather!

We are alive and well!!!

So did you think we dropped off the face of the earth?

We're in day 3 of our cruise and it's been busy. Busy getting settled in. Busy trying to figure out the routines. Busy trying to find everything and figure everything out.

We arrived safely to the ship and departed from Barcelona on Sunday evening. It's a beautiful ship and there's over 4,000 passengers. Unfortunately of those there are over 1,500 children. They seem to be everywhere but luckily none too close to our cabin. There is an adult only area called Serenity, where there is hot tubs, whirlpools and lounge chairs. We're headed there today.

Yesterday we were in Monte Carlo. We took a tour of the city and went into the lobby of the Grand Casino but no gambling as you had to pay 10E just to go in. It was very Grand, just like in the Bond movie. The cars parked outside indicate the wealth of those gambling inside. It was really hot about 28 degrees so we returned to the ship, took a nap and then got ready fro dinner. Food on board is fantastic and you can eat 24 hours a day. Hopefully all the walking we've done will help.

Today we're docked in Civitavecchia, Italy and most of the passengers have taken off for Rome, which is an hour and a half away. We decided to stay on board as we will be returning to Rome after the cruise. Plans for the day are to eat, sleep, lay about in the sun and then a magic show this evening. We'll try to post on a more regular basis now and let you know how things are going.

Last day-Barcelona

Today we jumped back on the tour bus and rode out to the beach. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the beach was packed. People were enjoying the sun and some women were even topless.

     The water was so blue and the sun was hot. Up and down there were some interesting cement lounge chairs for people to lay on, excerise equipment and lots of places to eat. We stayed and had lunch and people watched for awhile. Afterwards we hopped back on the bus and headed back to town where we did some last minute shopping. Tomorrow we board our ship and we're off on our cruise. Internet will be limited so we may be off line for awhile. We'll post as much as we can.

Not so Sunny Barcelona

So I spoke too soon. Today it was overcasted but still warm and at least not raining. Tomorrow is also suppose to be cloudy.

We traveled around town today on a city bus tour. 2 hours one route, then lunch and 2 hours another route. 4 hours in one day is a bit much. Too many buildings and too many statues. It is a beautiful city with lots of history. Most interesting was the Sagrada Familia which is a church that is still under construction. Building began in 1882 and is not expected to be complete for at least another 30 years. When the artist Anthony Gaudi, whose dream this church was, died in 1926, only one of the towers had been completed.He realized he would never see it finished and when asked how he felt about that he said, "My client (God) is in no hurry as he has all the time in the world". When finished it will have 18 towers and is now funded by churchgoers, devotees and ticket sales. People were standing in line down and around the block to get in, so we'll have to be satisfied with seeing the outside.

After the tour we walked around Plaza Catalunya, looking at the statues and watching people feed the pigeons.



Vonnie said these were "hot"



Then we walked on the outer streets and looked at the sales. Very modern stores with insane prices. 5-9E for pants, dresses and shirts and shoes that most of you ladies would die for. Sorry no room in the suitcases to bring any back.

Tomorrow we'll hit the last route which will take us to the beach and then something special in the evening.

Sunny Barcelona

We arrived safely in sunny Barcelona, Spain but the waking up at 5 AM really wiped us out. We had to wait to check into the hotel as check in was 2 and it was only 10:30 when we arrived. So we sat on the terrace for awhile in the warm sunshine which was a welcome change from cold and wet Paris.

Built in the 19th century as a bourgeois palace, the Granvia hotel first opened its doors to guests in 1935. Today, its rooms still feature original 19th century furnishings and décor, which lend it elegance, class and distinction.

We decided finally to grab some lunch a few doors down and went we got back we were able to get into our room. We decided it was siesta time and took naps.

After resting we decided to have a light meal in the Grand Salon. It's not a restaruant but they order food from next door and you can eat on the terrace or in the salon. This salon is not as grand as the one we posted yesterday but it is still very nice. We're off to bed early as we want to explore the city tomorrow.

Day at the Louvre

This will be a quick post as we just found out our 11AM. flight is now at 8A.M. so we need to be up at 5 A.M. to get to the airport.

We spent the entire day at Louvre today. From 9 AM until 5 PM and still didn't see everything but we had to go. The museum actually was open today until 9 PM but we were exhausted. We saw the Mona Lisa and the other masterpieces and Napoleon's apartments. See the Louvre used to also be a palace as well. Apartments is an understatement. Check the video at the end of this post to see the salon which is itself as big as what we would call an apartment.

 Tomorrow it's off to Barcelona.

Damp and Dreary

There are not alarm clocks in the rooms and so we slept in today as the workman didn't start pounding until almost 10 A.M. They are not very realible as a substitute alarm clock. When we did wake up and see the downpouring rain we decided it really didn't matter. What's up with traveling half way round the world to get the same weather we could have had at home?

We finally set out to find a postel to mail a package. What an adventure! Post offices here also have banks in them so at first we were in the wrong line. Then there were all the forms to mail a package to the US, some weren't in english. Three trips through the line and the package was finally on it's way.

 After that we went to a cafe to have a hearty lunch. We ended up at the Royal Opera Cafe. Beautiful place, rude waiter, great food.

We then walked back slowly to the Hotel. Along the way we went pass the Opera, the national academy of music and dance. Construction started in 1861 and finished 14 years later. It sits on an underground river where workers feed carp. Bee hives on the top of the building provide honey for delicacy shops.Very impressive!!

We also walked past the Palace Vendome. In the middle of the square is a column erected in 1806 that was made from melting down 1200 cannons captured at the battle of Austerlitz. The column is a green bronze but is covered in that black residue we talked about yesterday.

We arrived back about 5 to the hotel, where we decided to dry out, stay warm and just relax.

Tomorrow it's off to the Louvre, bright and early. We got advance tickets so no standing in the long queue.

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Paris Day 2

So we awoke this morning in our beautiful hotel room overlooking a quiet Paris street (more like an alley and it was quiet last night) to the sounds of construction directly across the way. Some how we still slept in and just took things slowly this morning. We found out there's actually a one hour time difference between London and Paris and so we were off by an hour until I bought a watch. Cute one for about $10 with the Eiffel tower on it.

Us at Eiffel Tower

We then did some shopping and hopped on a bus tour that took us around town and ended at the Eiffel Tower. Built in 1889 for their world fair, it has 1,665 steps and was built in 2 years, 2 months and 5 days. We spent 3 hours checking it all out.

Paris, itself is a very dirty city. There's all these beautiful historial monuments covered with disgusting black reside and littering here is a big problem.

Tomorrow we're off to explore around the area and see what we can see.

View from the second platform



Statue on the Arc de Triomphe



Pushing on to Paris

We had breakfast in our elegant dining room in London for the last time and one of the staff was nice enough to take some pictures so you will see we are alive and well.This dining room and the grand staircase in the hotel were designed by Thomas Andrews, who also designed the Titanic. You can see the similarities.

We then boarded the Eurostar and headed through the chunnel to Paris. Our cab driver didn't speak english but we got but we got to our hotel in good time. The"lift" is the smallest I've ever seen. What do you think? It took two trips for both of us and our luggage to make it up to the 4th floor.

After resting for awhile we got dressed up and headed out for dinner at a small cafe. Afterwards we were off to the Moulin Rouge. It was like a Las Vegas show with half naked women, music, spectaular costomes and some other acts thrown in. This is the original place where Toulouse Lautrec once frequented and has been a nightclub since 1889. We drank our one glass of champagne and enjoyed the show. It's late but tomorrow we are not scheduled to be anywhere until 2:00 so we'll sleep in. Au revoir.

Wet and Wild Day

One would have thought we were in Seattle or Tacoma this morning. It rained almost all morning. Since it's weather we were used to, it didn't stop us. Took us four transfers on the tube but we got to the Tower of London.

Now the Tower of London is not just a tower. It is a fortess of many buildings and walls where early queens and kings lived. We learned a lot and got to see the "Crown Jewels" Very interesting and very tiring.

We headed back on the tube again and rested til it was time to get ready to see the Phantom of the Opera. Vonnie said it was the best one she's seen and she's seen about six or seven.

We're getting all packed up tonight as we leave tomorrow afternoon for Paris. At least we can sleep in.