WARNING: VERY LONG POST!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

ITALY CRUISE

OCTOBER

9th - 25th

2009

We flew out of SLC at 8am on Friday, Oct. 9th....which meant that we were up at 4am to get to the airport at the required two hours before.....of course I had to have my traditional going on vacation Cinnabon!

We were so excited for the trip...but not so excited for the 5 hour flight to NYC and then the 9 hour flight to Rome! The plan was to try and sleep as much as possible, but that only seemed to work for Stefanie...

When we arrived in Rome at 7am on Sat. the 10th it was pouring so hard that the roof of the airport collapsed! It was just midnight back in Utah, but morning in Rome and so we shuttled over to our Hotel by the Vatican...deposited our luggage and headed out to see Rome! Below is the Castel St. Angelo which was shown in the movie Angels and Demons...we are standing on the Castel bridge which is in front of the castle!

Below is the Fountain of Four Rivers, which is located in the Piazza Navona....this fountain was also in the movie Angels and Demons...the last cardinal was dropped in the water here! There was some kind of demonstration going on in this Piazza...so we didn't linger very long!

We just wandered the streets.....stopping for a bite of Pizza before heading

to the Vatican for our tour.

We walked along the River Tiber on our way back to the Vatican! Our tour was scheduled for 2pm......remember we have been up all night and another day...but

our spirits were still going strong.

Below we are standing in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City....they had most of the square blocked off for some kind of knighthood ceremony that was going on the next day on Sunday so we couldn't get very close to the Obelisk in the center of the square.

The tour of the Vatican was awesome, all the artwork and sculptures....I decided to spare everyone of all the pictures of the interior of the Vatican museums....by the time we actually got to bed that night in Rome we had been up 36 hours! No trouble going to sleep that night!


Below....Stefanie is getting a drink out of one of the many fountains that we saw all over Rome! We had read that the water was safe to drink and it was very cold and delicious! We had to watch the people in front of us to see how to drink it tho'.

Below we are standing on the top of the Castel St. Angelo...the view of Rome was incredible from up there....the angel statue above us is just one of the statues that lead Tom Hanks on his quest for the path of illumination in the movie Angels and Demons!

As we were walking along, we ran across this palace....we don't really know what or who it belonged to, but the architecture was amazing! We think it must now be used for some kind of government offices....

Below is a picture of the wall that links the Vatican to Castel St. Angelo....it was used as an escape for the pope in times of trouble...can you picture Tom Hanks running across the top?

We boarded the Royal Caribbean ship, Legend of the Seas on Sun. Oct. 11th!

The journey across Italy officially begins!!

The picture below is of us eating our first Gelato in front of St. Peter's Square in Vatican City....somehow it got out of order!

Our first stop of the cruise was at the port of Portifino....Portofino is the new and exclusive area of the mega-wealthy in Italy....this small village had shops like, Georgio Armani, Gucci, Rolex etc.....needless to say, we didn't even dare go in them, and the only thing that we could afford to buy was a bottle of water and of course.......

GELATO!

Our second stop was the Port of Livorno, which is the stop for

Pisa and Florence! We got very brave and decided to try

riding the train from Livorno to Pisa, and then from Pisa

to Florence! At the train station we purchased our tickets

without any problem, but when it came to finding which

train it was that we were supposed to be on we had some trouble...

Once we learned that some of the platforms were reached by going underground...

we managed just fine! Riding through the countryside was fun!


Here we are waiting for our train!

We made it to Pisa and yes...there is the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the background!

Pisa was a fun little town with shop after shop...cars are not allowed in the

main city...but the bikes and scooters were everywhere! We seriously took our life

in our hands just walking through that city....those Italians don't stop their

bikes or scooters for anyone! Not even in the cross walks!

We did the traditional picture trying to hold up the tower...

but did you know that every city we went to in Italy had

their own version of the the leaning tower! The ground is so soft,

that most all towers are sinking into the ground and lean!

After Pisa, we walked back to the train station and caught the train to Florence!

Florence is mostly known for it's shopping district and the museums...

The most famous museum is the Uffizi Museum....it requires a reservation even to get in,

and although I tried, we were unable to get a reservation....but truthfully their was art and statues on almost every building and cathedral! We saw the Statue of David in the square and right by him, were statues of all the Roman Gods like Neptune!

Below we found a little bakery that had the best little sandwiches on Cibatta bread!

The second day in Livorno, we had a shore excursion to the Tuscany countryside to a Winery called Varramista...

this winery is owned now by the Owner of the Vespa scooter company! The villa was hugh and had 10 bedrooms and ten bathrooms, as well as all the other rooms!

We toured the wine making cellars...they have two cellars...the old cellar they still produce the wine the old fashioned way without electricity...

below is a picture in the old wine cellars!

The new cellars they produce the wine in these huge stainless steel vats!

After the tour they had a wine tasting....needless to say I didn't taste the wine...I did smell it and just about lost it! It smelled horrible...but my mom did her best in drinking all of our wine....but by the faces she was making, it must have been terrible....they had bottled water for us, and big platters of prosciutto (ham like) and big platters of various cheeses and a basket of bread!

Below is a picture of the Villa at the Winery...I was standing in front of the hugh gardens!

Below is a picture of the beautiful Tuscan countryside....the whole reason for going on this excursion was to get into Tuscany! Just wish there had been another way to do that without having to tour a winery...but it was beautiful!

Our next port was the city of Messina...Messina had been in the news just prior to our leaving on our trip....they had had 9 inches of rain in three hours and they were having really bad mudslides...we weren't even sure if we would be able to stop at Messina but everything seemed fine when we stopped on the 16th.

We decided to take a taxi to the hilltop town of Taromina. Taromina has an old Greek Theatre that is still used today for outdoor productions! The ride to Taromina was very eventful...first because the Italian taxi driver drove like a maniac the whole there....second alot of the freeway lanes were still closed due to the mudslides of the week before...and the whole 45 minute drive was pretty much through tunnel after tunnel....we tried to count the number of tunnels on our way back to Messina, but there was just too many of them!

Below we are standing in the Greek Theatre....the rain stopped for a minute while we were able to explore the old ruins!

The view from the top of Taromina was absolutely beautiful!

This street behind us is Italy's version of the crookedest street in town!

You have to look close but you can see that it goes back and forth for quite a while!

By the time we got back to Messina from Taromina it was really raining so we went back to the ship for lunch....after lunch it looked like the sun was out so we wondered out to the town of Messina....most of the city was shut down for their Respito (rest time) Most shops close down between 1-4pm.......

Below is the main Cathedral in Messina....the tower on the left has these gold mechanical figures that come alive at noon (which we missed) but the inside of the Cathedral was beautiful.

While walking around Messina we saw a Pommes Frites shop....David served his mission in Belgium where the french fry was invented and Europe calls fries Pommes Frites....We got a cup of frites in honor of David! Eating them by poking them with a stick was interesting!

Of course we found an open Gelato shop and tried Messina's version of Gelato...each time we had some it was alittle bit different...some were very creamy...some alittle more icey...but all of them were delicious! That is our cruise ship behind us! We were docked right on the main street in town!

That night back on the ship...my sister took a picture of our elephant towel that was left in our rooms....you can see just a few of the pictures that we had taken on the ship to that point!

Next stop: VENICE!!

We walked to the main Water Bus plaza and bought a 24 hr pass...here I am heading down the Grand Canal in Venice! The sun was finally shinning but it was freezing...hence the mittens came out of my pocket...and after this picture was taken my hat came up to cover the freezing ears!

Below we are standing in St. Mark's Square....the square has sunk below sea level...so a few times a year it is flooded with sea water and they set up all these raised walk ways for the tourists to get around on....between the people and the water, there was no room for the traditional pigeons. The water was probably 6-8 inches deep...I know because I walked around all day in the cold with sopping wet shoes and socks! The water was probably 10 to 15 feet inside of the cathedral...our guide said that in sometimes can be as deep as to their knees!

We hired a Gondola driver named Roberto to take us on a 40 min. ride on the smaller canals of Venice.....those little boats are so tippsy...in order to go under all the many bridges over the canals...we would have to lean way over to the right....it felt like we would go over board for sure...but that is the way that they get those metal tipped gondolo's under the bridges.

Venice had alot of fun little candy shops along the narrow alley ways...we found some old fashioned licorice....do you remember the licorice with the cream centers....I am hold black, my mom has the green apple and my sister Kathy had the strawberry...it was so good...I wish I had brought some home!

Below is another picture of us going under the bridges in our gondola ride...the picture got out of order! You can see how far we had to lean in order to get the boat under the bridge!

Our second day in Venice, we took a tour of the Doges Palace, and St. Marks Cathedral...the palace is for the ruling member of the government and it was totally done in frescos' and gold trimming...very , very fancy...

We got back on the water bus and just stayed on while it went down and back up the Grand Canal.....below is a picture of St. Marks Square from the water bus!

We headed back to the ship just as the sun was sinking in the sky...what a beautiful picture of Venice and the gondolas!

These pictures are all out of order..but oh well! Below is more gelato

standing by one of the many bridges and canals of Venice!

We were scheduled to depart Venice around 2pm...below is our last ride on the Grand canal!

The ship had a cruise away party on the top deck of the ship...we left Venice about 3pm and the following pictures were taken from the cruise ship as it sailed past the Grand Canal, and St. Mark's Square and on out to sea! It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful city!

After sailing from Venice we took advantage of the sunshine and played shuffleboard....which Stefanie and I won two games to one...by the time we were finished with the three games the wind was howling and we were frozen!

Oops! More pictures of Venice as we sailed away!

The rooftops were so beautiful...you cannot build a building more than 5 stories tall in Venice...so all of the taller buildings are the towers of all of Venice's more than 300 churches and cathedrals!

Our next stop was the only port outside of Italy....we stopped at Dubrovnik, Croatia! The old city has a big wall all around the city...it is a massive fortress...
It was alittle rainy so we decided to walk the whole wall before the rain got any worse! The wall is 6200 ft. long and has beautiful views of the Mediteraen sea....it was fun to walk it all...it would go up a ton of steps and then back down, and back up...our legs were very tired by the time we finished...I was glad that it was cooler while we walked and climbed!

Below is a picture of my mom standing on the wall, looking out over the sea...it was such a beautiful spot!

The rooftops of the old city were so beautiful surrounded by the castle walls! All the orange tiles!

More views from the wall...

A view of the mountain side of the wall...looking toward the newer part of the

city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

After walking the wall we went looking for something to eat...and found a local bakery where we bought some delicious bread and pastries....we sat by the fountain in the city square and feed our remains to the pigeons!

The cruise had three days at sea and we passed the time by playing cards and reading....with the cold weather the whole pool deck was too cold, so it was hard to find a place to sit!

Here we are in the Anchor's Aweigh lounge waiting for the start of Bingo! We must be very tired...because there aren't many smiles! Grandma won $25 and Kathy won one of the games but she had to split it with two other winners so she only got 1/3 of the $300 prize!

Our last port was Naples.....we had booked a tour that would cruise the Amalfi coastline, and visit Pompeii...it included all the transportation and lunch! The day dawned rainy and so we headed to Pompeii first hoping that the weather would clear off for the Amalfi coast...

Pompeii is an old city that was covered by ash from the erruption of Mt. Vesuvious in the year 79ad....it is amazing what they have un-covered..the ruins were extensive...you could see the chariot marks in the stone streets, and we could clearly tell which houses were the wealthy lived becuase they had fresco painted wall, which we could still see....we could tell which buildings were the shops and stores and even the old Whorehouses (which there were 27 in the city of Pompeii)

This was in the main square of the city of Pompeii...we saw petrified bodies of animals and people who had died in the erruption!

The Romans really knew how to build cities that would stand up to time...even volcano's.

Just as we were getting ready to leave Pompeii the heavens opened and it poured and poured! The tour of the Amalfi Coast was cancelled and they bused us to the coastal town of Sorrento! Which was probably a very cool city, but it was raining so hard that we couldn't even walk around and see it! We huddled under an awning and tried to wait out the rain....but it didn't stop! We were very disappointed on our last day of the cruise!

Back in Rome!

This time in Rome we stayed on the opposite side of Rome from the Vatican....

We booked a little Bed and Breakfast near the Trevi Fountain...

The Trevi fountain was absolutely beautiful....and very crowded!

Below I am throwing my coin over my shoulder into the Trevi Fountain...fable has it that if you do...you will return to Rome again!

Below is the Piazza Poppolo...also in the movie Angels and Demons!

A beautiful big piazza with an Oblisk!

Below is the Spanish Steps...we never did find why these are so popular....they are a

meeting spot for tourists and locals alike! We had to sit down and rest

awhile from all our walking!

The Pantheon.... a vey old and very huge building! The workmanship was amazing...

Below is the incredible dome of the Pantheon! I can't believe how they built this without

modern equipment! Very impressive!

Below: This huge building behind us is actually a monument to the first president of Italy...

yes that is winged horses and chariot statues on the top of each side of the monument! They also have the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on this monument...it has two guards standing at attention and two eternal flames burning....we just happened to be there to see the changing of the guards....pretty impressive!

That evening we headed back to the Trevi Fountain to see it at night...it is all lite up and

it is even busier at night than in the day...it is a really beautiful fountain!

Our last day in Rome, we scheduled a tour of the Colisseum, Roman Forums, and Capitoline Hill.

I think that of all the impressive, huge, beautiful buildings and cathedrals and monuments that we saw.....the Colisseum was the very best!

This 7 layered building could hold 70,000 people and they could load and un-load the theatre in 15 minutes! It was built in only 8 years time....imagine the number of slaves that took to

accomplish such a feat! It is incredible that this building is still standing almost 2000 years later! Most of the destruction was done by earthquakes and the beautiful adornments were confiscated by the church...but it is still impressive as it is today!

Above we are inside of the colisseum...you can still see the original stairs, and tiles floors and tiered balconies of the colisseum.

Below: The Roman Forums.....these are the palaces and homes of Rome's ruling class...each emperior would build his own grand palace....the ruins were huge and remarkably there is still much that you can see of the art work, and statues and ornate buildings!

After our tour of the colisseum...we still had a couple of hours and we had seen all the things on our list...so we just started to waunder back to the hotel and along the way we ran into a street fair and stood for quite awhile watching the artists at work and eventually ended up back at Trevi Fountain (by a different route) and had our most beautiful looking gelato of the trip!

After getting back to our hotel...we asked the desk clerk where we could get some authentic pizza and pasta and he told us of a spot near the colisseum....which was great because we wanted to go back and see the colisseum lite up at night! Stefanie and I snapped the picture below

with my camera phone and sent it to David at home!

The colisseum at night....with the Triumphal Arch to the right and

the moon shining in the middle!

On our last night in Rome, and the last night of the trip...

we had authentic Italian wood oven pizza and then after walking over to see the colisseum, we found a little cafe with the most delicious looking desserts......what a perfect ending to a

perfect trip!

Below: Waiting for our flight home! The flight was over an hour late taking off and it was the most pitiful airport I have ever been too....we couldn't even find much to eat!

With leaving Rome late, we barely made our connection in New Jersey...after going through customs and then back thru security, we literally ran to the gate and were the last

people on the plane....we made it but the luggage did not....it was delivered to my home

the day after landing!

We had a great trip! Thanks Stefanie for being our map girl and finding all the things

on our list! Thanks Mom and Kathy for sharing this adventure with us!