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Mediterranean Cruise and Rome
  • Darlene Rodillo
  • Darlene Rodillo

Mediterranean Cruise and Rome

Celebrating my daughter, Sydney, for her graduation and checking off some bucket list items with a Mediterranean cruise with Princess Cruise Lines. Starting in Athens, ending in Rome. Stops in Greece, Montenegro, Spain, Gibraltar, France, and Italy. Read more
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  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler

    Mesmerized by Sagrada Familia Basilica

    July 23, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    We were awestruck by the grandeur of this basilica designed by the famous Antoni Gaudi. I booked the tickets about a month in advance for the 11:45 time slot. This was perfect timing as we got on the first HOHO bus when they opened at 9 AM with time to make a few stops before arriving at the basilica. It was crazy packed and I’m not sure you would have been able to get a ticket if you didn’t pre-purchase it. Along with the ticket came an audio guide app, so we listened to the history of this church and all the symbols and numbers used by Gaudi as he was creating this masterpiece. Because he died prematurely, he was unable to see its completion, but he is buried in the basilica.Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    Spiral staircase down

    Up and down the Passion Tower

    July 23, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    There is an option to tour one of the towers and I’m so glad I decided to add this onto the standard ticket. Our entry time was at 12:30, so we had just enough time to complete the 45 minute audio guide of the basilica and then ride the elevator up the tower. One caveat, you must walk down approximately 400 steps 😯 in a spiral staircase.

    From the tower, you can see amazing views of Barcelona and the continued construction of the basilica.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    Lunch of champions - empanada and beerThe famous Chameleon at the entrance

    Park Guell = Best Park Ever

    July 23, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Another purchase in advance ticket. Our entry time was at 2:00 PM and we traveled on the HOHO bus on the Blue Line and hopped off at the Park Guell stop. Of note, the park is a little bit of a walk, uphill for most of the way, from the stop, but we did pass many shops and restaurants along the way. We popped into a random restaurant for a quick bite before going to the park. I tried the Estrella Damm beer for the first time.

    We made our way to the park and was overwhelmed by the size and how busy it was. It was also extremely HOT, but thankfully there were vendors selling bottled water for €1,50. There were also vendors selling random souvenirs and jewelry that were more reasonably priced than other places we checked out on the walk to the park.

    The park pictures here are from the grand entrance of the park, but because they try to keep foot traffic in one direction, you actually end in this area. There is a free app that comes with the ticket along with a park map. It’s a little confusing and the signs aren’t in English, but we were able to make it to all the places on the app and the highlights on the map.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    The Serpentine Bench
    2La Sagrada Familia in the background

    Keep on walking

    July 23, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    We meandered through the park for about 2 hours and if I had to guess, we only covered a third of this amazing outdoor space. Listening to the audio guide was very informative. I wish we would have had more time to visit the museum on site, but we still had a few stops we wanted to visit using the HOHO bus.

    From the Park Guell stop, moving from the Blue Line back to the Red Line, there were maybe 12 stops, and we wanted to ensure we made it back to the boat by 9:30 PM.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler

    Snack Time 🍟🍦🍖🧀

    July 23, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    After all the walking in the park, we found a restaurant on the walk back called Bar Piranya. We wanted to try the calamari, but they didn’t have any. Since we weren’t super hungry because it was so hot, we ordered a meat and cheese platter. I, of course, wanted to try another Spanish beer, Cruzcampo Especial.

    After a few more HOHO stops, we needed to get back on the Red Line to get closer to the World Trade Center stop so that we wouldn’t be too far from the cruise port. We were both intrigued by the Spanish McDonald’s at this stop, so we split a Happy Meal. I haven’t been inside a McDonald’s in so long, but it was fun to see that they were doing the Monopoly sticker game to collect prizes.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    Locating Sydney with the Medallion app

    Chillin’ with a Day at Sea

    July 24, 2022, Iberian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    We definitely needed a day to relax after a long, HOT day in Barcelona. I ordered Room Service for the first time and was impressed that it was delivered in about 20 minutes. We typically sleep in on the At Sea days, so I was killing some time waiting for Sydney to wake up.

    Since she met a new friend and was out late, I went on to the adult pool area to snag 2 lounge chairs in a shady spot. I really hadn’t used the Medallion app to check her location, but I found it to be useful to check on her. I spent most of the day working on my plans for Rome. At one point I looked to the starboard side of the ship and saw land, so I opened my Maps to see where we were and what the land mass was. We were cruising along the Southern coast of Spain near Cartagena.

    It was a formal night, but we opted for an early dinner after taking the “official cruise” pictures (since we got the package that included all the digital files) and got changed in time to catch the new West Side Story poolside. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the volume turned up loud enough and we didn’t stay for the whole show.

    I went to the Internet Café to print some maps for our next stop in Gibraltar.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    Cruising into Gibraltar

    Top of the morning sunrise

    July 25, 2022 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    I had read that the sunrise was going to be beautiful, so I got up in time to get some pictures before and had some coffee while watching the sunrise from the starboard side of the ship which was facing the Rock of Gibraltar 🇬🇮

    I had downloaded a map to get a lay of the land, but it’s a small area, and fairly easy to navigate. Once disembarking the ship, the cruise terminal has a tourist information booth where you can get a nice, large map.

    We didn’t have any planned excursions and thought we were going to walk to the cable cars to get up the mountain, but there were tons of “driver guides” ready to take guests on tours that were supposed to last 1.5-2 hours for £35. David, our guide was both fluent in English and Spanish, and the tour included St. Michael’s Cave, the Apes feeding area, the Skywalk, WWII Tunnels, and the Moorish Castle. Europa Point was not a scheduled stop, but I asked the driver if he would go there and luck had it that a family of 5 wanted to go to Europa Point as well, so he took the 7 of us in his Mercedes mini van.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    Sydney pointing to Morocco

    Europa Point - the Southernmost Point

    July 25, 2022 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    Our guide, David, was awesome and took us to this extra stop. From here you can see both Spain 🇪🇸 and a Morocco 🇲🇦 although it was very foggy this morning. The views got better as the day went by when the fog disappeared.

    There are also many tunnels around Gibraltar, and we traveled through a few of them on our tour today.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler

    St. Michael’s Cave and 1st Ape Sighting

    July 25, 2022 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    Our next stop was at one of the entrances to the Gibraltar Nature Reserve at the Pillars of Hercules. At this point you could opt to take the Mediterranean Steps to St. Michael’s Cave, but it was already getting hot so we rode in the van with our guide. On the short walk to the cave entrance, we experienced our first Macaque ape sighting. We even saw a little baby one❣️

    St. Michael’s Cave is fascinating with all the stalagtites and stalagmites that have formed over the years. They even have a light show at the end of the cave that runs continuously every 7-8 minutes. It’s a cave amphitheater with a lot of seating. At the beginning, you take a picture in front of a green screen and have the option to purchase them at the end. We went for the full package because they were so reasonably priced. For the bargain price of £20, we got all the digital files, a magnet, keychain, and 3 prints. The downside is, it’s all the same pose LOL!    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler

    The Freaky Skywalk and more Apes

    July 25, 2022 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    You really can’t get away from the apes up here…be vigilant and prepared! Just past the Skywalk, is the 🦧 feeding area. So after you get tested for agoraphobia, you might get jumped on by random apes!

    The Skywalk is really cool, but if you’re even remotely afraid of heights, you might have a panic attack. From the Skywalk, you have a great view of the Rock and the beach below. You can get the best 360 views from here. There is a narrow staircase to continue up, but we didn’t have time for this. To get to this point, it’s a one way road, and not much parking on the shoulder. So, if it’s not too busy, your guide may be able to give you time, but if it’s slammed like it was today, we only had the opportunity to go to the Skywalk for a few pictures. This was still an amazing view.

    The next stop was the Apes feeding area…and boy were they in feed mode. I had one, of a decent size jump right on my back (and I totally wigged out). Our guide let us feed them and then they wanted to catch a ride!    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    Busy day in thr park - the very narrow one-way roadHitching a ride

    Apes 🦧 Feeding Area

    July 25, 2022 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    It was no joke, the apes were everywhere. Definitely be on the lookout. They will jump on you, mostly to get food. Our driver let us feed them and it was funny that the drivers actually know which apes are the “naughty” ones. They are also very territorial. One of them hitched a ride with us, but once we passed a certain point, he jumped off, and a
    different one got on.

    We stopped at one of the WWII tunnels where we could have walked inside, but we chose to do a different set of tunnels closer to the Moorish Castle.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    Water systemThe airport's runway has a highway across itView from Jock's Balcony

    WWII Caves

    July 25, 2022 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    Enjoying a slice of WWII History as we listened to the audio guide for the WWII Caves which was created as an underground community to hide an entire army with food, supplies, and ammunition. There were 19 audio stations which provided information about what section of the cave you were in. We’re pretty short, but we still had to wear the hard hats during the walk through the cave. It was very interesting.

    Got at cool view from Jock’s Balcony of Gibraltar‘s airport runway that has a highway running through it!!! If a plane is leaving or coming in, they have to stop traffic! 🛑 ✈️    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler

    The Castle Steps down to City Centre

    July 25, 2022 in Gibraltar ⋅ ⛅ 75 °F

    We walked from the Moorish Castle and found the sign for the Castle Steps. As we were turning to head down a couple was coming up completely out of breath. Thank goodness we were going down! On the way, I was fascinated with where people lived off of the steps. Imagine your address being 2B Castle Steps! We also saw this amazing mural of an octopus 🐙 on the side of a house. We finally made it down about 300ish steps to the City Centre.Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    Casemates Square

    Lunch and other sights

    July 25, 2022 in Gibraltar ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Getting into the City Centre, we got our passports stamped at the Tourist Office and found a random spot to grab a bite. We came across a sandwich/butcher shop called Vianda’s and tried a delicious baguette with prosciutto and cheese. We walked down Main Street which had a lot of English pubs and shops. I tried many ATMs to get some euros, but for some reason neither of my 2 ATM cards we’re working. My obsession with alleyways continues 😂

    We came across a Catholic Church and Sydney lit a candle for her grandfather, who was supposed to be on a Princess cruise in Alaska this week, but instead is quarantined in Anchorage, Alaska. What a bummer.

    We then made our way to Casemates square which was just a short walk back to the cruise port.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler

    Lost in Marseille

    July 27, 2022 in France ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    Although not as picturesque as coming into Kotor, there were still nice views of the mountainous landscapes as we were cruising into the port. We opted to take a shuttle bus to the city. I wouldn’t recommend walking as it’s pretty far, about a 20-30 minute shuttle bus ride. I didn’t book a tour at this port because we just planned to walk around on our own. We also needed a break from rushing around from place to place.

    Definitely some interesting sites and continued my alleyway obsession. We did stumble upon an arc, the Bourse (big mall), the ferry port, and a museum (it was spelled MuCEM).    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler

    Vieux Port and Mucem

    July 27, 2022 in France ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    After finally finding the Tourist Office, we were guided to the most historic part of Marseille, Vieux Port. From here we could see Notre Dame de la Garde high on a hill in the background. This must be the place where locals park their boats and take ferries.

    It seemed like there were restaurants lining the side we were on which ended at Fort Saint-Jean/Mucem. I think we went in an alternate entrance,
    but this was one of the strangest museums I had ever seen. Nevertheless, we walked around and took in the views from the top terrace. At the top, there was a café. The modern architecture of this building was the most interesting. I think we went through it backwards, because we ended up at the front where people were buying tickets to enter 🤷‍♀️.

    Even though it wasn’t our favorite stop, we always find fun things to look at and we are always up for fresh pastries! 🥐 🍩    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler

    Finding French cuisine and graffiti

    July 27, 2022 in France ⋅ 🌙 79 °F

    On the hunt for a chocolate croissant, we found Made in Marseille, a patisserie. Sydney tried the chocolate croissant and a donut while I devoured a plain croissant. It was divine! The next hunt was for a crepe. So cool watching him make the crepe filled with prosciutto, onions, cheese.

    We did notice a ton of graffiti on many of the walls all around town as we popped into a few soap shops that smelled heavenly.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    1

    Sites and Scapes of Genoa

    July 28, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

    I had mapped out certain places I wanted to visit while in Genoa, one was the Christopher Columbus House and the other Via Garibaldi, a street lined with historical government buildings. The tourist office gave us a few other places to check out. One involved us finding a lift to see a nice view of our ship and of the harbor. Genoa is filled with many piazzas, and we found the main one with an impressive fountain.Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler

    Eating around Genoa 🥐☕️🍝🥖

    July 28, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Once arriving at the port, we found the Tourist Information booth and got a map and found the sights we wanted to visit and did some eating along the way. Sydney got to try her first espresso (which she added a lot of sugar to). All the patisseries we passed looked amazing, but it was so hot…again, we really couldn’t eat much. We then made our way to a few historical sites, and ended up at Mercato Orientale, a large market selling anything and everything food wise you could possibly imagine. Too bad we don’t have a kitchen on the ship! Fresh pasta, fish, vegetables…you name it.

    After checking out the shopping district on Via XX Settembre, we walked the long way to make get to Eataly at Port Antico. There were also a ton of food items here, but more of an upgraded shopping experience versus the Mercato Orientale.

    After ordering our first suppli, with anchovies, we got our pasta dishes which were cooked al denté. Yummy! I tried a local wine and will definitely keep it on my list!

    After the our visit to the Aquarium, we hit the local McCafe, and I friend the panespresso…OMG, I think there was Nutella in the coffee!    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    ManateesNemo exhibit

    Porto Antico and the Aquarium

    July 28, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    After a filling lunch at Eataly, it was just a few steps to get to the Aquarium. The tickets were €29 for admittance to the largest aquarium in Europe. We wanted to ride the Bigo to get a nice panoramic view of the city, but it was still closed due to Covid.

    Our favorites at the aquarium were the manatees and the jellyfish. In the harbor, you can also see the Biosfera, basically a huge terrarium overlooking the water.    Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    Good morning, Stanley!

    Goodbye, Genoa

    July 28, 2022, Ligurian Sea ⋅ 🌙 79 °F

    We walked about 7 miles around Genoa and came earlier to get ready for our next to the last dinner on the cruise ship. Stanley is Princess’ furry mascot who always greets guests in the morning when arriving at port. Again, because of the picture package, we always got our pictures taken. Lol!Read more

  • Darlene RodilloMediterranean Cruise and RomeTraveler
    A little help to get the ship parked at the port

    Sights in Florence

    July 29, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    Once arriving in the Livorno port, it is about a 90 minute bus ride to Florence from the cruise ship. I opted for a shore excursion through the cruise line and overall, I think it turned out to be a wise idea.

    Once in Florence, we had a meeting point at Piazza Santa Croce which was within walking distance to a few of the major sites like the Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Museum, Ponte Vecchio, the famous Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, and Piazza del Duomo. Along the entrance to the Uffizi Museum, there were many sculptures of Renaissance men. There is also an exact replica of Michaelangelo’s sculpture of David.    Read more

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