June 27 & 28

We docked in Civitavecchia, Italy, the port for Rome.  We took the train adventure to Rome.  I say adventure because it was quite a trip.  Everyone crowds on with luggage (there were several ships in Port) and there's no place to put luggage except on seats and in the aisles.  Many people had to stand for the 80 minute trip in the semi air conditioned train cars.  The 27th was upper 90s and the 28th close to 100.  Rome was the hottest and most humid city on our trip so far.  We eventually made it to our cute 3 star Hotel Andriotti and checked in.  We walked about for awhile and bought a 2 day pass on the hoho bus and toured the city.  We also did quite a bit of walking so we were quite exhausted when we returned to the hotel to rest up and cool off.  About 6:00pm we went down the street from the hotel for a glass of wine and then found a restaurant for an enjoyable dinner.  The next day, after breakfast, we returned to the hoho bus and rode around, getting off at a few stops.  The final place we got off was an upscale area near the US embassy and we roamed the streets before finding a cafe for a glass of wine & a sandwich.  We walked back to the hotel and decided to call it a day around 3:00 because it was so hot.  Later this evening we'll go out for dinner and tomorrow we fly to Athens.  This isn't really the best time to visit here because of the excessive number of tourists and the heat.  We didn't go into any of the monuments because waiting in line for 2 hours in the direct sun would not be any fun.

June 26

We anchored off Sorrento and could use the ship's tenders to go ashore.  Tendering from the bay in the port was a bonus because the big ships in port docked quite a ways away and had to use shuttle buses to get to the city.  From where we got off the tender there were local shuttles for 1.5 Euros to go to the city which was up the cliff, but we walked.  The walk was up a winding road to a set of 140 stairs to the top.  It was easier going back down where gravity assisted.  The old town had a lot of narrow streets filled with tourist shops and cafes as well as churches and old buildings.  There was an old fortress which we explored and had some great views of the city below.  We went back to a restaurant we'd spotted earlier on a side street away from the tourist crowd and had a fantastic lunch.  We aren't normally shoppers, but we found a really nice piece of red coral to go on Pat's omega necklace.  We got back to the ship mid afternoon and packed the duffel bags for the next morning's debark.  Dinner was good and we had a beautiful sail away from Sorrento.

July 25

We anchored off the island of Capri and they have local laws that only their tenders can transfer passengers between ships & the island.  The tenders are open boats that hold 20 to 30 people and, with 4 ft swells, the loading took considerable time.  We didn't have a tour scheduled so we decided to wait.  After 2 1/2 hours they were still loading tenders and,suddenly, an announcement came from the shore staff that a local ferry had come in fast, couldn't stop, rammed into the pier and damaged some small boats.  Fortunately none of our passengers were involved, but the port was shut down for a while.  We decided that, if we did go ashore, there would be long waits to get a tender back, so we stayed on the ship and had a sea day.  Those who went ashore said it was very crowded in the town.

June 24

We anchored off Amalfi city and took an early tender to shore.  Our travel agent belongs to Signatures Collection, a TA consortium, which provided a complimentary tour.  There were 25 of us and we were split into 2 mini buses for the trip over the mountains to the Bay of Naples area.  The scenery was spectacular on the drive on the narrow winding roads where passing in opposite directions was quite a challenge.  We first visited a Roman villa on the outskirts of Pompeii which had belonged to Poppaea, the second wife of Nero.  This villa was also buried by Mt Vesuvius' 79 ad eruption and is being restored.  There were numerous brilliant frescoes on the walls and the place was immense.  We next visited a museum which holds numerous artifacts from the city of Pompeii, items visitors to Pompeii won't see.  Another villa under restoration but not as good as Poppaea's.  None of these 3 places are frequented by tourists so we had them all to ourselves and it was quite a treat.  Pompeii has been worked on for many years and preservation isn't too good so there aren't any good frescoes like we saw.  After the museum we were treated to a Neapolitan style lunch.  We got back around 5:30 and wandered through Amalfi city for an hour, but it was overcrowded with tourists and difficult to get around.

June 23

We anchored off Naxos Sicily and the purpose of the stop was to visit Taormina, which was a 1/2 hour shuttle bus ride up the mountain from the port.  It was another hot & humid day and Taormina, which is situated below Mt. Etna, was scheduled to be overcrowded with tourists.  We decided to wait until we're back in November and see it in comfortable weather and uncrowded.  After talking with people who did make the visit, I think our decision was wise.  We spent quite a while walking around the harbor & beach area, looked in vain for a good restaurant and returned to the ship.  We had pre ordered beef tartare for a main course for dinner and it turned out to be one of the best we've ever had.  It was made with chopped rather than ground meat and had a wonderful texture as well as a superb flavor.  We saw the evening show and passed on the casino where we're about even for the cruise.

June 22

We arrived in Corfu Greece around 8:00am but had to leave at noon.  Instead of taking the shuttle bus to town we walked.  We took a diversion across the peninsula to a beautiful bay on one side of the old town and walked along the beach side to the Old Fortress.  There wasn't much to see in the fortress so we walked into the old town which had numerous narrow cobblestone streets filled with tourist shops and tourists.  It was another hot & humid day.  Coming down one of the streets was a procession of men & women in traditional dress and carrying a banner of some sort.  They were singing and in a cheerful mood.  After exploring the old town we stopped for a beer and were offered the choice of Greek or Corfu beer and opted for the Corfu.  It turned out to be an unfiltered real ale, much like an English ale, and it was quite refreshing.  We walked back to the port along the waterfront on the other side of the peninsula, past the New Fortress, and to the ship.  For dinner we ate at Aquilina, one of the ship's alternative specialty restaurants that focuses primarily on seafood.  Pat had one of the best lobster thermidors that she's ever eaten and I had a tasty seafood medley.  The show was the cruise director doing a solo singing act.

June 21

We arrived in Brindisi Italy at 8:00am under clear, hot & humid skies.  We docked alongside the walled old town and walked in.  Brindisi is an ancient city with artifacts from even before the Neanderthals having been discovered.  Our first stop was to an old cathedral and, next to it, was an extraordinary museum.  It was on 4 levels but was laid out in such a way that you followed the walkways to see everything in historical sequence.  Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures.  Museums & cathedrals were all free entry.  We walked to the old harbor area where there was one remaining Roman column from a few centuries BC.  Originally there were 2 and they guided ships to the harbor.  We next went to the new & modern theater which had the remains of an ancient bath dating from 14th C BC.  It was discovered when they began clearing the land for the theater so they preserved it and built the theater above the ruin.  After some more exploring we returned to the Roman column where we had previously noticed an interesting restaurant and had a marvelous lunch.  We each had different pastas, neither of which had tomato sauce.  We did a bit more exploring before returning to the ship.