Day 19: Catania, Sicily, Italy

We were oh so slow today, from the moment we awoke. Though the temperature was perfect, the day was grey and overcast and that did not help to spur us on. We did make it to breakfast together in the Club Restaurant this morning, which was a rare occurrence, and then went to the Panorama Terrace so G could enjoy the warmth...and a second glass of OJ. As we neared the port of Catania (our scheduled arrival was not until 10am), we moved to the Pacific Lounge with its floor to ceiling windows and watched as the Pacific Princess rounded the breakwater and spun into place across the dock from a Fred Olsen cruise ship.

Thank goodness that, for once, we were both equally lethargic at the exact same time. Neither one is us was pulling the other off the ship; instead we returned to the cabin and started to watch a movie and both of us (yes, me too!) fell asleep. I awoke just before noon and went to the Panorama Buffet for a slice of pizza and brought some ice cream down to G. After eating, we felt a smidge more refreshed, and decided to do something with our day. We walked off the ship and to the port terminal, and from there took a free shuttle to the entrance to the port. Our first (and last) impression of Catania?  Not too impressive. Of course, we were likely in the dirtiest, oldest part of town, near the port, but my first words this morning when we looked out were, "It's another big city."  It was true, and it even lacked the character of Napoli or the majesty of Rome. 

We saw some canopies set up almost under the overhead railroad tracks to the left of the port and walked down to them. We discovered they were a combination rummage sale/antiques sale and decided to stroll around (because the nearby streets did not look that inviting). It was like a stroll through my childhood for me. At every table I was saying "Mom had one of those", or "Dad had one of those". Honestly. Every single table. It was like cleaning out my parents' house all over again. While I was walking down memory lane, G was fascinated by the old tools. Finally, he pulled me over to a table and a small model that I knew immediately was a boiler that ran a flywheel. G said, "Your Dad would have loved that". Yes, he would have, and so did my husband (and I could have explained exactly how it worked, thanks to the men in my life). 

Stroll with me down memory lane as we revisit my childhood...

 

We ate lots of ground baloney sandwiches made with one of these...

 

...and decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments like these. 

 

My parents had a large balancing scale with weights like these (which made a great toy!)...

 

...and Dad would have loved this (my husband certainly did)!

 

I don't recall cameras like these when I was growing up, but I sure liked the look of them. 

 

The produce department- Italian style!

We sat and people (and car and scooter and motorbike) watched for awhile, but all the dirty buildings and streets and dented cars got a bit depressing. We made our way back to the ship, but not before stopping at the tourist information booth in the port terminal for a map and directions to the Allied Landing of 1943 museum in town. We're here one more time and will definitely do that the next time.  The big draws of Catania are not Catania but the nearby village of Taormina and Mt Etna, the tallest volcano in Europe, and I recommend doing one of those two things, or the military museum on a day in port. I really didn't see much in Catania to get excited about. Although talking with next door tablemates at dinner, they said that the top of Mt. Etna was fogged in today. The consensus was that The Godfather tour was the best one today.  

We were back on the ship by 3pm. G went to use a hot tub and I decided to do some photo management. I have photos on three devices (iPhone, camera and iPad) but I am using my iPad as the collective repository for all of them. I can most easily view them on the iPad, pick my few favorites to eventually be uploaded to this blog, and then AirDrop just the favorites back to the iPhone, just in case we find WiFi in port when I have my phone with me. It's a bit cumbersome, but it certainly makes any eventual uploading much easier. 

After accomplishing that, I had a sudden burst of energy and did some hand laundry and showered for the evening before G returned. Faced with a day at sea tomorrow, I frankly can't wait. I want to do nothing, then walk and work out, followed by more nothing (but in a different location). Add in lunch in the Club Restaurant and that spells sea day to me. 

We went to the PES Lounge at 5pm and then directly to dinner. I had the lamb kabobs again, and the always available salmon.  The entertainment tonight was comedian Paul Adams, back for a second show. He is a very funny guy, by wenwere ready to call it an evening when the show was over. We've been hearing people talk; this ship is dead by 11pm. This is a busy cruise involving lots of jet lag for most of the passengers except the Brits. It is not a party cruise, although it's possible Halloween tomorrow night might change that. 

 

 

 

 

Or not. But maybe we'll stay out until 10pm tomorrow. That would be a first!

ETA:  Captain JP had said, during his 'welcome back on board' announcement, that there were gale force winds in the area and we'd have a rough night. We returned to our cabin to find the hatch was battened down (porthole cover was closed), essentially turning it into an inside cabin. And it was a tough night, but we were as comfortable as anyone in our low mid-ship cabin. 

Day 18: Naples (Napoli), Italy

It's funny how place names work. Some places, even after I visit there, remain in my mind as their English names, i.e. Rome did not suddenly become Roma after the past few days. But others are just the opposite; for example, I always think of Easter Island as Rapa Nui. And after today, it will not be Naples, it will be Napoli. Because Naples is an upscale yet sedate city on Florida's Gulf Coast. But Napoli is a very different place. We loved it. 

Of course, we didn't love it first thing in the morning. We were instead loving the great sleep we get in this cabin. I don't think I've mentioned yet what greeted us when we opened the door to our cabin yesterday; the furniture was rearranged in that strange configuration we love so much in these obstructed ocean view cabins:  bed separated to be twins and on opposite sides of the far wall, and small table stored in the closet. It makes the cabin feel so much larger and like one where we can more easily spend an extended period of time. But who knew to do that?  We were flummoxed. 

Well, as it turned out, our cabin steward is none other than the small but mighty Bianca from the Philippines who was our cabin steward two years ago on the Pacific Princess. She said she saw our name on her cabin list and knew exactly what to do to surprise us. Apparently, during the 'cruise that wasn't' these several (15 or so) cabins held the crewmembers whose cabins were flooded when the Pacific Princess struck the breakwater. And after their cabins were once again habitable, there was time to spare before we boarded and Bianca did some rearranging. We love it!

Anyway (no 's'!), back to this morning. I was the first to awaken, at around 8am, after the best sleep I've had in about...oh, 14 nights. I went to the Club Bar for a decaf Americano and then right into the Club Restaurant for breakfast. G had told me, on my way out of the cabin, that he wanted a little more sleep, so I didn't expect him, but after breakfast, while I was sitting in the Club Bar publishing my post from last night, he showed up. He wanted an omelet from the Panorama Buffet,  so I followed him up there and had a second coffee while he ate.

We sat on the port side of the ship with a view of the island of Capri and the many ferries and hydrofoils traveling between Napoli and Capri and other cities and islands in the area. While we were sitting there, about six small sailboats were taking a class around a marked course:  spinnakers up, spinnakers down, turn, turn, turn, over and over. The day was brightly sunny but breezy, and we stepped out in the Panorama Terrace to gauge the temperature. All of Napoli greeted us, churches and domes and castles and the same kind of crazy, busy traffic we had seen in Rome. We later found out that Rome has 3 million residents; Napoli is the second largest city in the country with 2 million. These are big cities. 

 

Castle Nuovo (c. 1279) as seen from the Panorama Terrace 

Click here for more information from Wikipedia

 

Certosa di San Martino sits atop the hill, with the Castel Sant'Elmo just behind it, as seen from the Panorama Terrace 

Click here for more information from Wikipedia

We walked off the ship with no plans for the day, but discovered the port terminal houses a collection of shops. I had purchased one scarf in Rome, and the collection grew today with two additional purchases. I am loving these scarves, all made in Italy, for 7 or 8€ each. I knew to expect scarves in Europe but G was amused. "They don't leave their house without a scarf!"  No, most of them don't. 

 

We were heading toward the Hop On Hop Off bus we saw in the port parking lot when we were stopped by taxi driver Salvatore. Sal had been born in Napoli and lived here until he was 18, when he moved with his dad to Buffalo, NY to open a Napoli pizza restaurant. When his parents died years later, he returned to Napoli to live in his childhood home and, at 76, was still driving a taxi. I think we both knew that this guy was a character and we would have a fun time seeing the city through his eyes. And, boy, did we ever!

He drove an old, stick shift Toyota, with crank down windows...barely. He spent most of the time alternately pressing and releasing the accelerator, over and over, punctuated by rough shifts. We were dying inside before we ever left the port. We had told him no stops for food or drinks, and no shopping. We wanted vistas and churches and to see the 'real' Napoli. And that's exactly what we got. 

G sat in the front seat with Sal, and when Sal started serenading us with Italian songs, joined in best he could. G said he was certain we would not survive the day without being in an accident. Red lights in Napoli are merely a suggestion, cars and scooters drive up on sidewalks and squeeze into traffic and the whole thing appears to be a free for all. And we were going down streets so narrow that Sal had G turn in the side view mirror to keep from hitting parked cars and scooters. I learned several new gestures today, none of which meant 'Have a nice day!'  We could have done nothing but ride around in that taxi and it would have been a fun experience. Salvatore called me by my Italian name, and I loved it. 

 

 

 

 

Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary

Click here for more information from Wikipedia

We saw things, too;  the narrow pedestrian roads, barely more than alleys, and neighborhood produce stands, and the Porta Nolana open air fish market, and tiny pizzerias squeezed into every square foot of space. And everywhere we looked there were clothes hanging out on reel lines extended from every single balcony. Rick Steves calls Napoli gritty and crusty and that's exactly what it's like. The tiny taxi climbed hills and navigated switchbacks so tight that poor Sal had to grind the transmission into reverse a couple of times to get the correct angle, and then start out in first gear on a step incline.

 

 

We drove by the funicular that goes underground up to the highest point in town, and Salvatore started singing "Funiculee, funiculaaaaaaa!" And G was singing along and the car windows were rolled down and they were both extending an arm out the windows as they held a note, and all I could do was laugh. This was entertainment of the highest order. Eventually (and I mean after a hour or so of going 5mph) we made it to San Martino, home to a Carthusian monastery turned into a museum and the Castle of St. Elmo. The views of Mt Vesuvius and the city were gorgeous. Walking back to the car, we swung into a cameo shop where cameos are hand carved as they have been for generations. 

Funicular station

 

 

Mt. Vesuvius in the background

Click here for more information on Mt. Vesuvius from Wikipedia

 

Scenes from Certosa di San Martino

 

Certosa di San Martino

 

Giovanni of the Cameo Factory de Paola

 

 

We started back down toward the sea then, which was considerably smoother. We stopped for more views, this time of Capri and and all the sailboats (by then there were 20 or 30 enjoying the sunny Saturday). Sal told us how Napoli was a monarchy until Mussolini appeared on the scene. We visited the Royal Palace and, across the Piazza del Plebiscito, the Church of San Francisco di Paola. We walked along the waterfront which was crowded on a sunny Saturday afternoon and saw several bridal parties there taking photos. It occurred to us that it was two weeks it the day since we walked along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. We left Sal at that point to explore the area on foot and take the 10-minute or so walk back to the maritime port. 

 

Capri in the background on the right

 

 

 

Fontana dell Immacolata on the Naples waterfront

 

Piazza del Plebiscito and the church of San Francesco di Paola

Click for more information from Wikipedia

We returned to the ship about 3:30pm, and G admitted that today was the first time since Nice that he had finally relaxed and felt like all the stresses that occurred as a result of that day were off his shoulders. I felt exactly the same way. As much as we enjoyed Rome, it was a bit of a push to fit in even the few things we did. Even getting on the ship yesterday we knew we had to unpack and settle in. But today, all the work was behind us and we have just fun and relaxation to look forward to. We hope. 

 

Pacific Princess webcam with Mt. Vesuvius in the distance

At 5pm, we went to the Platinum/Elite/Suite (PES) Lounge which is being held in the Pacific Lounge on Deck 10 at the bow of the ship. We wanted to enjoy the gorgeous views of Mt. Vesuvius in the distance. Dinner at 5:30pm was three courses plus dessert (we had skipped lunch and were hungry!). I had soup, garden salad and a delicious scallop dish, and a chocolate and caramel Chocolate Journeys dessert. We sat in the Casino Lounge for awhile listening to the Pacific Princess show band and then attended the 7:45pm performance of production show Cinematastic, the first time threnew cast has performed it in front of an audience. We've been told they had plenty of time to practice, as the Cabaret Lounge was not needed for other events during the cancelled cruise, and it shows. They were fantastic. 

We arrive early tomorrow in Cantania on the island of Sicily. Though Sicily is moving clocks back an hour tonight at the end of DST, the ship is not going to. We'd only have to move them forward again in two days when we arrive in Greece. As a result, we'll be arriving extra early on a Sunday morning. We are not going to rush off the ship. Instead, we'll enjoy a leisurely breakfast and meander off the ship by late morning. If we're lucky, we'll run into another Salvatore and have another great adventure. 

Day 17: Re-embarkation on the Pacific Princess

Today was Day 17 of this season of cruising. In some ways, it feels like it's been 71 days. In others, it felt like today was Day 1. But Day 17 it is, and it was a very, very good day. 

First, a sidebar. You might recall that I mentioned that Papal Audience are held in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday mornings when the Pope is in town. That's the reason we chose to add a guided tour of the Vatican Museum to the tickets we had purchased online, because it allowed us to skip the hours long line waiting outside the Square and instead enter the Basilica directly from the Sistine Chapel. Well, we met passengers in Rome for the day from an NCL cruise ship who had just come from their audience. They had reserved their (free) tickets online months ahead of their visit. We didn't have the luxury of time to do that, but asked them to email us this photo when they returned home. They did, and here it is. If we are ever in Rome with more than a few days notice on a Wednesday morning, I am definitely going to do this. Look how close they were!

 

Pope Francis in his Popemobile in St. Peter's Square

Back to our day: 

We were awake and showered and in the Hotel Vespasiano cafe when it opened at 7:30am. Have I mentioned the amazing cappuccinos we've been enjoying at breakfast?  Fantastic, and we've been having at least two each morning. I was still full from my tagliatelle and seafood last night and had just fruit for breakfast; I knew what riches were in store for us when we reboarded the Pacific Princess. We returned to our room just to pack away the last of our toiletries and had help getting our suitcases down to the front desk. 

A final few words about the Hotel Vespasiano...we recommend it for people very able to handle the many marble and tile steps, sometimes partial steps where the several stairways turn and twist. G joked that the architect who fit this boutique hotel with its twelve rooms into this tiny space might have expired from a heart attack when it was all over. Really, it is a work of art, and the service is wonderful and the beds very comfortable (and the showers large and the bathroom sinks useless). And the location is unbeatable. But there are lots of stairs and no elevators and that why we had help getting our large suitcases down to the front desk. 

The last one was being brought down when our driver from Rome Airporter popped his head in the front door and asked if we were the couple he was looking for. He was 5 minutes early and we were totally happy with the service we had from that company. While G worked with him to load up his Mercedes, I paid the Rome City tax for our stay (it's a per person per day charge) and checked us out. By 9:31am, we were on our way through the horrible Rome morning traffic. It's craziness!

Eventually, we made it to the beltline that surrounds Rome and then to the north-south toll road that was fast and comfortable and the city turned to rolling hills and countryside and we looked at each other and said, "This is more our style!" Traffic was a bit heavy in the port city of Civitavecchia (say Che-VEET-a-VECK-ee-a), and the port itself was huge and our driver was directed first to the long breakwater where there were three cruise ships but we could tell none of them were the Pacific Princess but we couldn't see the Pacific Princess until finally it appeared on the main dock, hidden behind its larger counterparts.  By 10:45am we were paying our driver (104€) and handing over our big luggage and waiting in the terminal for just 30-40 minutes until we could check in and board just before 11:30am. 

Wucy, we're home, exactly 14 days after we left. 

The welcomes and hugs started before we were even on the ship. We love these people. We love this little ship, boo boos and all. We are only sad that the production show cast left before we arrived as the new cast came on board in Genoa. Company Performance Manager Rachel is the only one who remains, and only for this cruise. The new cast has no familiar faces but we will meet them and we will like them, I'm certain (and on this ship where they function as the entertainment staff, there will be many opportunities to get to know them). 

We dropped our roll aboards in the cabin (Deck 3 with a porthole, the same cabin we had last year) and headed to the Club Restaurant for lunch. Our waiter was Marco (also our waiter for dinner), and it was a feast. G's beef was actually filet mignon. I suppose they have some things to move out of the freezer.

We also just missed saying goodbye to headwaiters Nelson and Josko, but Antonio and Ilio are taking their places, and we've known both of them for years. We were told they were working the Panorama Buffet and so headed up there next to see them. Gosh, it's good to be home. It was sunny and dry today, about 70-ish, and we sat outside on the Panorama Terrace enjoying the weather and watching the very large ferries that go from Civitavecchia to several ports in this part of the Mediterranean. 

At 3:15pm, there was a cultural show in the Cabaret Lounge called the Corrado Duo and they were a pianist and a tenor who sang Italian songs in the style of Andrea Bocelli and they were incredible. What fantastic entertainment. They received a well deserved standing ovation and, honestly, if they are on board on December 3, our next turnaround in Civitavecchia, I would skip any sightseeing to listen to them again. 

It was muster drill time by then, something we thought we were done with for this season, but life had other plans. Afterward, we had just enough time to quickly unpack before first seating dining. We are at the same table with the same waiters (Marco from Mexico and Taufik from Indonesia) and it was like we never went home and did laundry and stressed. But when dessert time came, I freely ordered flourless chocolate cake and didn't delay the gratification until 'next cruise'. I have learned that life is uncertain, and 'next cruise' is never guaranteed; I need to eat flourless chocolate cake while I can. 

 

 

Mediterranean spinach dip

 

 

 

Dinner with a sunset view from our table 

We went directly to the Cabaret Lounge for the Welcome Aboard show, which featured opening and closing numbers by the new singers and dancers, and then a short show by British comedian Paul Adams. Funny guy, and it's a tough job, to keep travel-weary passengers awake and make them laugh and he easily did both.

Tomorrow is Naples, and we have no plans for the day. We did have a full day tour planned, booked independently, but when we were home, I cancelled it. A one week cancellation notice was required to not be charged and we really didn't know what was going to happen. We lost our independently arranged tour in Athens during the cancelled cruise, too. In fact, we have no solid plans for any ports from here on out. But it doesn't bother me in the least. We will find things to do...or we won't. Either way we'll enjoy ourselves. In fact, we might enjoy ourselves more by taking a more free-spirited approach to these cruises. And in the end, that is the real goal. 

We are home. Life is good. :-)

Cruise #2: Adriatic and Aegean Connoisseur

After a little bump in the road (er...water) we are happy to be back on track.  

Day 16: Rome

I am going to make this post a bit shorter tonight to allow me some time to upload photos. Once we check out of the Hotel Vespasiano tomorrow morning, I will once again go from fast and free to slow and expensive WiFi. I want to take advantage of this while I can!

We slept until nearly 7am today, despite our 'early to bed' last night. We were wiped out- from the heat, the humidity, the crowds and the ten zillion steps we took yesterday. Speaking of steps, I actually left my fitness tracker at home this time around. My ship's card deactivated at least six time last cruise, after almost never having had that issue in the past. The only thing that was different was my fitness tracker, and I got tired of going to the Passenger Services Desk (PSD) every other day to get a new card. We'll see if my old luck returns. 

We lingered a bit over breakfast and cappuccinos. We didn't have any kind of schedule today, and it felt wonderful.  Our goal (albeit flexible) was to get to the Colosseum and Roman Forum, and the fastest way to do that would have been to take Rome's two metro lines to get there. (Due to all its buried archaeological sites, Rome has only the two lines). But underground was not how we wanted to do this. First, we wanted to see the city, not move under it. And second, after my experience in St. Peter's dome coupled with yesterday's earthquake (we had felt nothing, by the way), I was just not that anxious to go underground. While we had been walking around the Vatican area our first night here, we had seen one of the the city's trams, kind of like streetcars, powered by overhead wires. These looked pretty cute to us and we wanted to ride one while we were here. 

We walked north on Via Vespasiano a couple of blocks, and then east one block. We passed a tobacco store that sold public transport tickets, and bought two for 1,50€ each. Crossing the street from there took us to a center median that was the boarding area for the #19 tram. When it arrived, we were delighted to see it was one of the oldest trams, with just a single line of seats down each side with a middle aisle. While we had waited for it, we studied the sign that showed the stops along the line. We knew we could change trams at about six different stops, and memorized how many stops it was to the first and last of those. We struggled a bit to validate our tickets but a local stood up to show us how. Easy peasy once we were shown the trick. 

We changed trams in from of the Mueseum of Modern Art, to a #3 tram. This one was a little tougher; we needed to get off at the 17th stop, but some of the stops were actually two stops so we had to watch the signs at each stop. We needn't have worried; once we rounded a final corner, the Colloseum appeared, huge and ancient, right in front of us. It would have been nearly impossible to miss that stop. The Colloseum was completed in 80AD and is the largest amphitheater ever built (and yes, several Michigan Stadiums could probably fit in it).

 

 

 

We walked around then Colloseum looking for the ticket office, and caught sight of the crowds inside and the lines to get through security. As we were about to buy a ticket, G said he had had enough of both yesterday. It was a gorgeous day, low 70s, sunny and low humidity, and what we wanted to do more than get a detailed history of the Colloseum (we had read Rick Steve's section on it and found it a bit...disturbing) was simply walk around and take some photos. And that is what we did, spending an hour or so at our own pace, viewing the Arch of Constantine and the Colloseum from different angles and then walking up toward the Roman Forum and Palantine Hill (one of the seven hills of Rome)

 

Arch of Constantine 

 

 

Road to Roman Forum 

 

Roman Forum area

Just this side of the security check for the Roman Forum and Palantine Hill (long lines nearly back to the Colloseum), we turned off on a road called San...something (Benefacio?  I'm not certain) and we walked up what was basically Palatine Hill but outside the security fence. At the end of that road was a small, unpretentious (at least by Italian standards) church that was a real hidden treasure. We spent a few minutes inside and then walked back to the Colloseum. 

 

 

 

 

Looking back at the Colloseum 

At that point we had spent enough time in crowds for the day. We saw several different Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) buses near the Colloseum and decided on the spur of the moment that that was how we wanted to spend the rest of our afternoon. We chose one that cost 18€ per person for the day, climbed up to the second level and sat back to enjoy the ride. We saw way more of Rome that way than walking through crowds at street level, gorgeous views above the cars and people. The buildings in Rome are like the statues in the Vatican Museum; there are so many beautiful ones that eventually they feel a bit less awe inspiring. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We rode the full loop once and then stayed on back to the stop nearest the Vatican. We had talked about getting off near the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps but decided we were just not that interested in getting another punch on our list of 'sites we saw in Rome'. Instead we wanted to have energy for a nice walk back to the hotel and then dinner out at a sidewalk cafe.  After we disembarked the bus, we crossed the Ponte (Bridge) Sant'Angelo over the Tiber River. It was built by the Emperor Hadrian in 134 AD (these dates are just amazing) to connect the city center to his newly constructed mausoleum, the Castle Sant'Angelo. At that point we kind of went on instinct, left turns then right turns. When we found same shade we used the Maps.Me app to confirm that we were on track, and soon started to recognize the area. 

 

 

It was so nice to return to the hotel around 5:30pm with a bit of energy. We got cleaned up and went back out for dinner, choosing a sidewalk cafe we had passed on our walk to the tram this morning. G had lasagna and I had tagliatelle with seafood and we split a bottle of wine and generally had a wonderful meal to wrap up our very short Rome stay. As he was reviewing his photos, G just said that we've met some really helpful people here, but the traffic and crowds are so horrendous that he could never stay here more than a few days at a time. We love Rome...in very small doses. 

The alarm is set for 7am tomorrow. As soon as we returned back to the hotel we went online to check on the whereabouts of the Pacific Princess. Great news...it has left Genoa and is making its way to Civitavecchia by 5am tomorrow morning!  I had had the scare of a lifetime this morning when I checked my emails and saw a Cancellation Notification from Princess. What???? It turned out that it was the notification we had never received in invoice form of the last cruise's cancellation. But it almost stopped my heart until I figured it out. All that stands between us and the Pacific Princess is one sleep, one breakfast, one pack up (easy to do since we've lived out of our roll aboards since we arrived in Rome) and one long transfer. We can do this!  The Pacific Princess can do this!  And exactly two weeks after the Nice mishap, we'll meet up again. 

Life is good. :-)