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.