Rich and Famous

 Today has been an interesting day.  We arrived this morning in Monaco.  I have seen documentaries on it and Grace Kelly so I was excited. Our tour was a walking tour.  It was 3 1/2 hours long so it was a lot of walking.  And a lot of it was up hill.  We walked to what is called the Rock.  It was a beautiful walk.   We walked through a beautiful garden with the ocean on the side.  There was a film crew there.  They are filming an Ocean’s 11 sequel.  We had a hard time understanding our guide.  She had a strong Asian accent and was trying to speak English and French.  Then she would tell us something and then correct herself.  It was insane.  She never counted to see if we were all there she just went on her way.  At the end half the group had given up and left.

We decided not to return with her but to stay and go to the famous Casino.  It was on the other side of town and too far to walk so we decided to take a taxi.  We originally planned to take a water taxi. Art was buying a shot glass and asked how much a taxi ride was and she asked why were taking a taxi since the bus would do it cheaper. We had no idea there was a bus.  Art asked what it looked like and she looked him right in the eyes and said it looked like a bus.   We found the bus stop and hopped on the bus to the other side of town.  And it was the other side in every sense of the word.  It has all the high end shops like Prada Louis Vuitton, Cartier Chanel. Just to mention a few.  They have security at the entrances and they decide who to let in to shop. We had lunch at sidewalk food vendor.  It was lovely.  The weather was 98 with a 100% humidity.  Yes it sprinkled on and off.  At one point we had to use the umbrella.  

We went to the famous Casino.  It was very opulent for sure but with that said it was a little disappointing.  They really miss the boat as well as they are soooo unorganized.  But we were super happy we went.  I enjoyed all the expensive high end cars.  I saw cars that I heard the name but didn’t’ know what it looked like.  But I do now.  And a ton of yachts.  That was a sight to behold.  This really is where the rich are. 

We decided to take the water taxi back to the ship but we had no idea where it was.  It really was a comedy of us trying to find it which we did……eventually. We had absolutely heavenly dinner at the fancy restaurant.  

Tonight the cruise director performed.  WOW! He was a pianist for Rosemary Clooney and he worked on Broadway for a long time.  He was so talented and gifted and the evening was so enjoyable. After we stopped in to watch the ships band perform. They are always fun.

We did get some sad news when we returned from the  tour.  The weather has turned back so the captain made the very difficult decision  to  not got o Marseille tomorrow but to continue on to Spain.  It is very disappointing but we upstanding it is for our safety.  It is supposed to be rough seas tonight and tomorrow morning. I can definitely feel now.

No walking tomorrow, my tired legs will appreciate it.  

I’m not leaning you are

 We got to our new port this morning around 7:30.  We timed it just right to go to breakfast.  When we arrived, there were only a couple of couples there but by the time we were half way through our breakfast, the place was completely full.

We got on our bus about 8:15.  Off to Pisa we went.  I have seen pictures and I have learned trivia about the leaning tower of Pisa and now I was going to see it in real life.  I could hardly contain my excitement.  It is awesome.  Not only does it lean but all the other buildings in the square and the protecting wall lean as well.  I was surprised how white it is.  After the tour we had some free time.  We went to a restaurant so I could use the bathroom.  If you get something you can use the bathroom for free.  Our Aussie friends joined us.  We have had the same tour together with the exception of the Vatican City. Even thought it was only 11:00 I ordered a slice of pizza.  Holy smokes it was the best pizza I have ever eaten.  No kidding it was amazing.  I have been reminiscing ever since.  Poor Art I think he is tired of hearing about how good it was. We also got some ice cream.  It was delicious ice cream.

We decided to take the shuttle to town after lunch. I needed a belt as I had to keep pulling my pants up.  We went to a shop and I got a belt and…….some very cute green sandals. 

Tonight was an out door BBQ and dance party.  We went to a presentation about Monaco and Grace Kelly so we were a little late getting there and all the tables were taken so we found our Aussie friends and sat with them. It was so fun!  The BBQ was good and the on board band play after dinner.  They played several songs from the 70s.  Perfect for the demographics of the folks on board.  We even dance to a few songs.  I just loved it. After walking all day and dancing tonight, I hope we will be able to walk tomorrow.  We have a tour that is extra walking. 

Something I forgot to mention yesterday.  My mom used to say that a man in town taught her and her siblings how to count to ten in Spanish.  But what she said was not completely Spanish.  When we were on our tour yesterday, the guide needed to make sure everyone was accounted for .  She started counting .. Una, dos, tre, octtim …… she was counting like my mom would.  Art and I looked at each other and said Wavie was speaking Italian.  Who knew?  mystery solved.

Now to bed.  Early morning tomorrow and lots walking…..if we a still can walk after this day. 

All Roads Lead to Rome

 They say all roads lead to Rome and boy was that true today.  Today was a good day but a long one.  We boarded the bus at 8 am and didn't get back til 5:30. Our tour today was to the Vatican City.  It was about a 95 minute drive to Rome.  The tour included lunch at a local restaurant.  That was great but we stopped for lunch at 10:30 am.  I just had breakfast a few hours earlier.  They brought a pasta dish to start.  It was a huge bowl full.  Then they brought eggplant parmesan.  It would have been good if I wouldn’t have been so full.  They had watermelon for dessert.  Then off to the Vatican   As you know the Vatican City is its own country.  As we walked through the big double iron doors to the Vatican, we were told we were crossing the border.  It was record heat at one point my watch said it was 100. There were thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people there.  It was like herding cattle through.  We walked so fast there was hardly time to stop and look anything let alone take a picture so I did walk by photos so they aren’t the greatest.   Art said he felt he was fed by a firehouse.  

The whole thing was worth it when we walked into the Sistine Chapel.  It was absolutely incredible.  So awe inspiring.  So much more than I imagined it the pictures I have seen.  I felt so grateful to have been able to see it in person.  We were given 15 minutes to be there.  Not a lot of time to take it all in.  It was super crowded.  Our guide kept telling us to look for her and not leave through the exits, she would take us a back way. If we went through the exits, we would be lost from the bus. We all gathered ……except one couple…. we waited and waited for them and then we had to leave…..without them.  I wondered if maybe they went out the exits.  We were all given a card with emergency numbers on it just in case we got lost.  I had hoped they would use it.  

We had a great bus driver AND he looked just like Fabio.  He took all through the town, slowing so we could take photos and driving back through when possible so everyone had a change at a photo.  Great guy.  Well we were on the freeway headed back to the port and a smaller car tried to pass us and yep you guessed it…… It clipped the back of the bus.  I guess the damage was pretty minor and no one got hurt but it was truly unexpected and I felt really bad for the driver.  

Some of the local opera folks came on board tonight and performed it was just delightful!  After Art and I stepped in the the lounge for a few minutes and listened to the ship's band .  They played music from the 70s.  a crowd pleaser for sure.  The band is really good. 

We are headed to the next port.

Day and Night rest of the story

 I am so sad the original post disappeared.  I have no explanation for it.  But….. here is the post

We got to port this morning.  When we looked out all we saw were cargo ships.  You would think we were in the freight yard.  There were cargo containers upon cargo containers.  

Our tour today took us to see the town of Naples.  We (the bus load of tourists)  had a consensus we drew the short straw of tour guides. So unfortunate as we have had some stellar guides.   She just wasn’t very good. We however got to see where Sophia Loren grew up.  We didn’t take a lot of pictures as Naples is not the cleanest.  It had garbage everywhere.  Most of the places were covered in graffiti.  This has been our least favorite place. 

We did go to a big shopping area.  We only saw about 1/4 of it as it was so big.  We did get some delicious gelato.  We found a cute shop that had shoes on sale so we went in.  They had the cutes dress I wanted but they didn’t have my size and they didn’t have my size in the shoes I wanted either……dang.  We spent the afternoon poolside

We went to the show tonight and it was fantastic.  They sang famous duet songs. I think it was the best show so far.   

A day and a night

My blog disappeared last night so I will repost this days blog later

Stay tuned!

Day of Rest

 Today was a day of rest …..on a Saturday.  We have been at sea all day so no excursions.

I failed to mention something.  Art is a huge lover of lamb chops. We often decide on a restaurant based on the fact they have lamb chops.  He was very excited when we were looking at the menus of restaurants  and one of them stated they had a night they serve lamb chops.  Woohoo.!  Well we have watched every day for it  to show up and nothing ….. But all wasn't lost.  A few days ago we were  getting our breakfast and  they had a sign you could order them with your breakfast.  I thought praise the saints.  But this is a conversation Art and I had 

Art : I can order lamb chops for breakfast

Me: Awesome are you going to do it

Art:  Not for breakfast…that’s a dinner food

Me:  They have breakfast steak.  Maybe this is breakfast chops

Art:  It just seems wrong. I don’t  think my system can do it

Me Okay but I think you should try

Art:  I don’t think I can

Well…a couple day after that he bit the bullet and ordered it…..and his system did so well he has order every day since.  And the restaurant finally offered them for dinner tonight and he got them.  They were good but he likes the breakfast chops better.  Lamb chops …..the new bacon.

We went to a name that tune game.  We aren’t very good at it but thought what the heck.  Our new friends were there as well and I told Art we should have teamed up with them as we found out he sings with two groups and he knows songs pretty well. But there weren’t any chairs by them and we had scored primo seats.  We had a possibility of 30 points.  Surprisingly, we got 17 points we felt pretty good about it.  Our friends scored 10 points .  We felt especially good after hearing that. 

We went to a couple presentations. One with the Professor from Cambridge.  He is really good.  And another one about Pompeii.  It is a great story.  If you are unfamiliar I am happy to tell you or you can look it up.  The presenter shared the story and he was terrible telling it.  It drove me nuts.  You can say a story or tell a story….he said the story.  It was too bad too because his very first slide he said you can relate history and folks eyes glaze over so he was  going to drop the HI and tell a story.  My gosh he was terrible at it.  A story teller he is not.    

One cool thing.  Tonight we went to the show.  It was the house band with a few singers.  It was great. After the show, we all went on the deck.  We went past the volcano Stromboli. It is off coast of Sicily.  It is an active volcano.  We got to watch it spew out lava.  It was pretty cool to see.  

Tomorrow we have an early excursion so to bed for us.

It’s All Greek To Me

When we got to port this morning we joined a couple other huge ships.  We looked so tiny next to them.  I heard the one ship had over  5000 people.  A couple more big ships docked after us. 

We had a fun day.  After our delicious breakfast we headed out for our tour in Corfu.  What a beautiful town.  It is where Prince Philip was born so I had kinda heard of it but didn’t really know anything about it. I was surprised to find out close to Albania it is.  It is only a 30 minute boat ride.  We had a wonderful tour guide….Irene.  She was great and we enjoyed her tour very much.  It is interesting you can stand above the air strip and watch planes land and take off.  It is so close it seems like you can touch them.  

It was really HOT and humid.  If I think it it’s hot ….. you know it was hot.  Irene said they had had record heat.  One day it was 112 degrees with 85 % humidity.  Woosh even I wouldn’t like that.  After Irene was done with her portion, we had some free time to wander the shops, restaurants, and churches.  Because of all the ships, the streets were loaded with tourist.  It was crazy at times.  We decided to stay and have lunch there.  We found a bar and grill close to the entry.  It felt good to rest our feet.  We did a lot of walking.  Getting back to the port was hectic.  We had to go through a security check similar to TSA.  The lines were long but we seemed to get through without a lot of delay.  

Before dinner, we went to another presentation from the Professor from Cambridge.  He is very interesting and entertaining.  I wish more folks would have attended.  Tonight was lobster night.  Needless to say, we had a great dinner. (We really enjoy lobster). After dinner we went to the show.  It  show tunes night.  After we went for a nightcap with a couple we met our first day.  They have been on every tour we have.  And in the same group.  They are from Australia.   We had a fun time visiting and we closed the place down.  Not bad for some old folks…hahaha.

Tomorrow is our sea day.  Yeah for being able to sleep in.