Capri/Pompeii

This was our last port of call in Italy -- and our plan was to utilize the train and ferry systems to squeeze two sights into one short day.  We were going to take the hydrofoil to Capri, then the ferry to Sorrento, then the train to Pompeii, and then another train ride back to Naples and the ship.

As I write-up our experience a year later, I am beginning to realize just how touristy the entire thing was. Because once again, I'm about to admit to another tourist trap that we enthusiastically fell into -- the Blue Grotto experience.  This is one travel experience that Ian and I have EXTREMELY different views on.  I am perfectly happy to NEVER again visit the Blue Grotto. I found the whole thing gimmicky, over-priced, and not even that interesting! Ian, however, thought it was the cat's pajamas and would love to go again. You basically go under a cave, the water appears to be blue inside, and you float around for a bit. See pictures.

Since I'm the one writing this post, I'm not going to elaborate any further.  Except to say that I look waaay more excited in that picture that I recall feeling!

Capri itself I found much more appealing. The harbor was beautiful and the food was delicious.

Then it was off to Sorrento, we were a little late and we were worried we'd miss the train to Pompeii, so there was a little hill training run up the mountain.

 The ruins were impressive, as was expected.  This used to be a bath, I think.

I think Ian's standing by some stones that they used to use to cross the road when the rains were heavy and the roads "flooded."

That's Mt. Vesuvius in the background there -- crazy powerful thing, volcanos!

Back on the boat -- parting shot of Italy -- only got a whirlwind taste of you this trip, we will have to come back!

Rome

Rome was our guided tour day -- there was just so much stuff that I thought Ian absolutely needed to see that I didn't think we could do it all in one day unless we did a tour. Luckily, thanks to cruisecritic.com, we managed to find two other couples who had similar thoughts and together booked a semi-private tour of Rome's highlights.

We really loved hanging out with Mark, Marie, Antonio, and Lisette, and ended up meeting up for dinner or drinks many more times that trip on the ship and in Barcelona as well.

There was just so much packed into a single day! We started with the Coliseum.

Then moving on to the Circus Maximus, the Baths of Caracella, and Palentine Hills.

Squeezing in the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps before lunch. Yep -- we all threw some coins in the fountain.

And then after a quick lunch (again, amazing bruschetta -- what is it? The tomatoes? The olive oil? The Italian air?), we went off for our guided tour of the Vatican. I could've sworn that I took pictures of the Sistine Chapel the last time I was in Rome, but apparently it's not allowed. No worries, plenty of amazing stuff to fill up our camera rolls with regardless! See, e.g., Michaelangelo's Pieta and Raphael's School of Athens.

Next we did a quick spin around St. Peter's Basilica. The lighting was spectacular that afternoon.

St. Peter's Square had already been set up for the Pope's audience on Wednesday.

And our last stop for the day -- the Pantheon. Too many people around by this time of day (around 5PM, if I recall correctly) to get great pictures, so you'll have to take my word that this picture was taken inside the Pantheon.

And then it was back to the ship -- we watched the sun set from the upper decks -- another great day in Italy!

Florence

And, though it's a bit late in the coming, here's the rest of our week-long cruise along the Mediterranean.

After the Monte Carlo stop, we make our first of many stops in Italy. First up, Florence! But before we get to Florence proper, we must stop at the ultimate tourist mecca: Pisa.

That's right - it's leaning tower time. I'd visited the tower previously on my college Italy trip, but I hadn't had time to do much more than gawk and buy a fake Burberry purse. So this time, Ian and I decide to make the 300-step climb to the top.

The views from the top were pretty nice -- and we beat the rush of tourists on day trips so it was pretty quiet too. We tried to appreciate the beauty of the buildings and the grounds...but in the end, we gave in and took the same touristy shots as everyone else.

After we got that out of our systems, we hopped on the train again for the 30-minute ride to Florence. It was getting kind of late, so we decided to make lunch our first stop. We stopped at this little restaurant recommended by LonelyPlanet -- had some amazing bruschetta, a nice pear & gorgonzola salad, and a really rich gnocchi. Wish I remembered the name of the restaurant -- note to self -- take pictures of restaurant signs in the future! (Sidenote, Ian is amazed that I still remember what we ordered -- what can I say, I'm a food person!)

And since it was already afternoon and we had a 4:00 date with the train to get back onto the Norweigan Jade before it departed for Rome, we could only squeeze one attraction into our schedule. The Duomo.

Santa Maria del Fiore, known more commonly as the Duomo, is famous for its dome, which was built by Filippo Brunelleschi.

We decided to work off some of the calories from our lunch and climb this tower as well. Got some nice views of the city.

And it's back to the boat!

A Nice random walk from Monte Carlo

Our first port of call. When we woke up, Monte Carlo was outside our balcony, and these little "tender" boats were waiting to take us to shore.




The number of yachts and other forms of water entertainment in the harbor hinted at the staggering opulence the locals enjoy.





Here we have just disembarked from the cruise ship.



As we started up the hill towards the train to Nice, we saw the Grand Prix race track which wound it's way through the city. We walked up and up and it was only on the way back in the afternoon that we figured out there were escalators that could have taken us most of the way.



We hitched a train to Nice at the top of the hill, but that gave us a chance to blog about the previous day.



When we got there it was foggy (and we didn't even ride a cable car this time). But it eventually cleared up.



At the end of the of the beach was the Monument aux Morts which commemorates the 4,000 citizens of Nice that died during World War I.



At this point, we tried to turn back to catch a tram to the train station, but ended up walking up the wrong hill. At the top, there was a park and a cemetery which offered some stunning views of the city below.









Eventually we found the correct hill and caught the tram. Well actually a few went by while we were trying to figure out how to operate the ticket machine. Once we finally made it back we grabbed a quick drink from "Flunch". Turns out the French don't put a lot of thought into their fast food joint names. We'd passed up another on the way back named, "Quick".




Once back in Monaco we trudged up the final hill of the day, on top of which sat the palace, where the prince of Monaco still resides today. It's also where Grace Kelly married Prince Ranier back in the 50s.

We snapped a few more shots of the bay before meandering back down the hill towards the port.

On the way, we found a Grand Prix statue which Ming promptly jumped in, starting a trend of tourist photo ops:

After that, we jumped back on the tender which jetted us back to the ship.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Monte Carlo / Nice

Barcelona

We began our half day in Barcelona with a few sandwiches in a little cafe a short walk from our next stop, the Pablo Picasso museum.




No photos allowed, but I have to say it was interesting watching his transition as we walked through his numerous years of art. Turns out he used to be quite good, and then sometime in 1909 I think someone stepped on his glasses.

After the Picasso museum, we took a stroll around the Parc de la Ciutadella. It used to be the site of a fort built when Madrid wanted to keep a close eye on the local population. That fort wasn't very well liked so when it was torn down it got replaced by this impressive fountain.


One of Ming's requirements is that we have at least one shot of us in each major city. Makes sense I guess, but it's hard to find people that can compose a picture without cutting off the head of something in the shot. At least it wasn't us this time.


From there is was back to our hotel to do a slap-dash packing job before catching a taxi to the port. We checked our luggage, and (since I'm the one writing) I carried the rest:


It took a while before our rooms were ready, but it was worth the wait. We have a port-side balcony room, where the views have been great so far.



It wasn't long before we were at sea, drifting towards our first destination: Monte Carlo.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Barcelona, Spain