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  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Day 14

    Sea day

    July 29, 2019, Western Mediterranean ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    A day at sea heading to Kortor, Montenegro. Very "cruisy" day by the pool, reading, sipping cocktails. After five very full on days we were really looking forward to a bit of down time.

    We did bingo and won nothing even though we had nine cards for all four games (36 chances to win). Hopeless.

    Dinner with our dining group at 8pm. In Rome half the people disembarked; they were either doing a seven day cruise or were starting a 14 day cruise ending in Barcelona. We met our two new table mates; Dorian, an old lady from New York and her 21 year old granddaughter. Both are really lovely.

    Not many photos but I'll put a few randoms on this page.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Day 13

    Solerno, Italy, part 2

    July 28, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Pompeii! Wow, wow, wow! The stories, the original city and, the bodies; incredible. We were there for two hours with our guide. It blows your mind that we're walking the streets of this great city and going into their homes that were destroyed 1,940 years ago.Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Day 13

    Solerno, Italy part 1

    July 28, 2019 in Montenegro ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Today we had a fully guided tour and it was amazing! Today was my favourite trip so far. Robin's favourite so far is Florence.

    Pick up was 8.30am - a very respectful start. We had a wonderful tour guide and a super-driver. Wow, he handled the winding, narrow hills and streets with incredible skill.

    First stop was at a lemonchello factory (Limoncello di Capri) for sampling and buying. Yum! We didn't buy lemonchello, but I bought a gorgeous Capri watch.

    Next stop was Sorento. Oh wow! Such a beautiful town. Stunning buildings, quaint restaurants and shops, great shopping, stunning beaches and waterfront... all of it was picture-perfect. We had two hours there, then it was off to Pompeii.      Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Day 12

    Rome, Italy, part 2

    July 27, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    By now it was nearly 1pm. It took until 2pm to actually get into the Vatican. OMG, there were thousands of people, it was ridiculous. So by 2.10pm we'd ditched the tour because we were being picked up at 3pm. We then whizzed through the buildings, saw the Sisten Chapel, took photos and were out the front for our 3pm pickup. It was all way way too rushed. Anyone planning on going to see the Vatican book ahead and give yourself at least three hours. Having said all that, it is a truly amazing place and absolutely beautiful.

    We dropped some people off at the airport and got back to the ship about 5pm.

    Went to a music quiz event and failed miserably. In bed by 9pm, lmfao! 

    Another absolutely exhausting (but fantastic) day.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Day 12

    Rome, Italy, part 1

    July 27, 2019 in Montenegro ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Cruised into Civitavecchia early this morning with a bump and a bang. Early start... 7.30am we had a shuttle to catch to the coach parking, then it was off to Rome for the day.

    Another stinking hot day and a city full of high season travellers. We had a great driver and only 12 of us in a minivan. Arrived about 9am at Vatican City for a quick 45 minute look around.  We bought tickets for a full tour starting at 12.45pm and hop on hop off bus tickets. Then it was to the Colloseum for a 45 minute look. Didn't go in as not enough time today. The outside was pretty awesome though and still with great views of the coloseum. Then into the city centre and dropped off in the city centre and being picked at 3pm outside the Vatican museum. It's an amazing city with, like the other places we've been to so far, incredible architecture.

    First stop for us, breakfast! Second stop for us, finding a Vodafone shop to get more data - very important. By now it was 11.00am so we figured we should hop on the bus to the Vatican as we had to do half a loop to get there. Well, we couldn't find the bus stop. Robin used a real (going back to the dark ages 😅) map as the new sim card was an hour away from being activated. So we headed in the direction Robin said and still couldn't find the stop. I popped into a tailors and asked the shopkeeper where to get to the bus. Turns out we were going in the wrong direction and were half way to the Vatican, so we just kept walking. Got close to Vatican, stopped for a beer - geez it was hot! Got the sim card working. Discovered we were still 20 minutes from the Vatican and it was 12.30! We ran. Got there in time, joined the group, phew.     Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Day 11

    Florence, Italy, part 2

    July 26, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    The heat was getting to us so the solution was to duck into some shops, which ended up with Robin buying a leather overnight bag. It's gorgeous and was relatively cheap compared to NZ. Maybe not compared to Bangkok, but you can't be sure you're getting the real deal there.

    Back in the minivan at 3pm and we headed back to Livorno via the countryside route and a stop at a summit for some photo ops. The drive back was so pretty with vineyards, olive groves and gorgeous Tuscan homes. Our driver, Nikki, was a crazy man (apparently all Italians are) and after a close call with a car we were back onboard the ship in an hour and forty-five minutes.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Day 11

    Florence, Italy, part 1

    July 26, 2019 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Docked close to Livorno at about 6.30am. It's gonna be a hot one today - high thirtys, ouch.

    After another amazing breakfast, we were in another minivan, this time heading into Florence. Plan was to tick off seeing the statue of David and then to see the leaning tower of Pisa. We got to one... the trip to Florence should have taken an hour and a half, but ended up three hours! OMG, the traffic was crazy slow on the highway. Our tour guide said that with this traffic we would never get to Pisa in a half hour and back to the ship in time. I was so disappointed.

    It was scorching hot so we did a slow wander around the city. Saw David and his other statue mates. Saw some stunning architecture. Ate gelato, drunk tiny espresso coffees, then pizza and prosecco. Food ticked off.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Day 10

    Genoa, Italy, part 4

    July 25, 2019, Ligurian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Finally, we headed back to the port, had a pasta and campari and Robin had a beer. Our last visit was to the the Museo Galata del Mare (Maritime Museum). This place was amazing! So much history, but the life-size boats were incredible and we could go on them and see how sailers lived and worked. Each of the five floors were a different period from 1100s to current time. Robin was over museums by now so he left me and the second floor to wander on my own.

    By far the best was the floor where the Italians traveled by sea to America. We walked from the docks in the late 1800s, to loading luggage on board, to the bunk rooms, officers' quarters, to landing in America, off the ship, to tiny B&B rooms. Then it changed to an early 1900s passenger ship, then to a submarine. Awesome!

    We were back on board at about 7pm, had a shower, rest and off for dinner at 8pm.

    Florence tomorrow. Eight hour trip. My feet already hurt, they'll be raw by tomorrow night.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Day 10

    Genoa, Italy, part 3

    July 25, 2019, Ligurian Sea ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Next stop was the shopping district to buy me a tank top - it got up to 34c and I'd worn a linen shirt which was drenched in sweat after 1.5 hours on the top deck of the bus. Ten minutes in one shop and two tops for 14€ and we were off again and I was feeling much cooler.

    Stop two was the Christopher Columbus monument. Good, but not a lot to see. So we were back on the bus and stopped at Portello which is a lift that goes up a hill for amazing panoramic views of Genoa. Then we walked down a beautiful cobbled and steep path to the bus.    Read more

  • Our Mediterranan Cruise 2019
    Day 10

    Genoa, Italy, Part 2

    July 25, 2019, Ligurian Sea ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Then it was off to the Piazza de Ferrari E Palazo Ducale, a royal palace dating back to about the 1600s. A lot of it had private exhibitions happening, but we went into the prison and up to the tower. That's was so fascinating. It was almost unchanged from the 1600s and still had original prisoners' pictures and writings on the walls. We also saw the tower prison for the elite or royal prisoners in the tower - quite respectable for a prison, even had windowsRead more

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