Final Blog

Home sweet home!!!  Made it home safely tonight after what turned into a very long day. This will be the final blog of "My Italian Adventure."  Thanks to everyone for following along on this sometimes bumpy, crazy and fun ride.  I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.   Until next time...Ciao!

Naples, Amalfi, and Pompeii

Today we docked in our LAST port!!  Hate to see it end, but this was a great way to end a fabulous trip.  We started off in Naples or Napoli.  It's a large southern Italian city of approximately 1.5 million inhabitants.  It is a typical large city.  Here's a photo of the fort which is an iconic symbol of Naples.

Naples

 We got out early this morning for our excursion because we had a full day.  We started with a drive to Salerno and boarded our motor launch for a boat ride along the Amalfi Coast.  The views were stunning.  I would love to share more pictures, but for now here's one of the city of Amalfi.  We docked here and visited this quaint town for a while before re-boarding the boat and heading back to our bus.

Amalfi

 The bus took us on to Pompeii.   We began our visit here with a tour of a cameo factory.  In case you didn't know, cameos are hand-carved out of sea shells.  We actually got to see the artists sculpting the cameos.  Very cool.  Then we had a delicious lunch of cannelloni stuffed with ricotta and spinach and canoli for desert stuffed with...you guessed it, ricotta cream.  Perfecto!  We needed to walk off the large lunch and did so by winding through the maze of streets of ancient Pompeii.  What an amazing archaeological site!  Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD and buried the city in ash not lava.  I learned today that the city was actually consumed by the pyroclastic cloud.  The city was occupied by 20,000 people.  Approximately 4-6 thousand survived. The rest were killed supposedly by heat and ash suffocation as well as poison gas from the volcano. The city was covered in 6-7 feet of ash which then hardened.  The city was very well preserved under the layers of ash until excavation began in the mid-1800s.  The site is huge, but here is a small snap shot of what the town looks like today.  The large stepping stones are original as is the rest of the road.  This was necessary because there were open sewers and the streets would get very wet and dirty. The raised stones kept the people's feet dry.  Ewwww!!!!

Pompeii

Think of it, this road is thousands of years old and still in tact.  Wish we could build them like this today!

Tonight is our last night on the ship and tomorrow, back to Rome.  To end my cruise portion of the blog, here's a great picture (If I say so myself!) of our beautiful ship taken from the island of Santorini.  It's like a postcard. Ciao!

Celebrity Equinox

Santorini

Yesterday we tendered in to the island of Santorini.  We spent all of our time in the largest city on the island, Fira.  To say it was beautiful just doesn't seem to do it justice. As I said, we tendered to the island and then had to take a cable car from the coast to the city.  Here is the view from the top:

Santorini

Today we have had a relaxing day at sea.  It was actually really nice to have a day on the ship.  I took the opportunity to sleep in some.  Then I spent most of the day by the pool, probably a little too much time in the sun!  Oh well! After that, I had a wonderful massage in the Aqua Spa.  We have been passing by some other very beautiful Greek islands today.  As you can see from the pictures, the water is so clear and blue.  It's just magnificent!

Tonight we have our last formal dinner night with steak and lobster on the menu.  The food has been fantastic so far.  Everything I've eaten has been delicious!  Tomorrow we return to Italy for our last stop in Naples/Capri.  We have a 9 1/2 hour excursion scheduled that will take us by boat along the Amalfi Coast and then on to the ruins of Pompei.  So, tune in tomorrow because you don't want to miss it!

Rhodes

Today we docked on the island of Rhodes.  It is dominated by a medieval walled-in city.  This is a photo from our balcony.  

The area was not very large so we just got off the boat and did our own thing.  It was nice to not have a schedule.  We wandered through the old streets and visited the archaeological museum.  Tonight we dined in one of the specialty restaurants called Murano.  It was delicious!  Lobster bisque and lobster tail!  Yes, there was a theme.  Wonderful!!!  Tomorrow we visit the beautiful island of Santorini.  More to follow!!!!

Athens, Ephesus, and Mykonos!

I apologize for the delay in posting.  We've been very busy, but having a great time!  On Monday we visited Athens.  It was so amazing to see all the ruins of this ancient city.  Here's a view of the Parthenon:

In Athens we also visited all the other ruins at the Acropolis and ended our day shopping at the Plaka.  On Tuesday, we docked in Ephesus, Turkey.  We learned that the city has actually relocated 5 times in its history. The city's current location is referred to as Ephesus 5.  This is a view of the remains of a library which was at one time the second largest library in the world.  It is located at Ephesus 3.

Today we were in Mykonos, Greece.  We had to take a tender in to the port.  It was a little windy, but it did help to keep it cooler.  The island was beautiful...just like a postcard!  I had to walk to the beach and dip my toes in the very cold water of the Aegean Sea.  I have many pictures, but given the price per minute of the Internet on board..these two are all you get for now.  Here are the trademark Mykonos windmills and an overall view of the island.

Me and the windmills

Mykonos

The cruise is wonderful so far.  We are halfway through now.  The food is delicious which is great. Unfortunately, I think I may have gained back all the weight I lost while in Florence. :(  Oh well!! It can't be helped.  The Aegean Sea is a little rocky because of the strong winds so we've been rocking and rolling when we sail at night.  It makes dancing a little difficult, but rocks you to sleep like a baby.  Tomorrow we dock in Rhodes.  It's another beautiful Greek island with some interesting ruins surrounded by crystal clear blue water. Can't wait!  

Sicily!

Yesterday we docked in Sicily.  We took a tour to two small towns, Savoca and Forza d'Agro, that were used in the filming of the "Godfather" movies.  They were old medieval towns both with populations of less than 1,000 people.  We stopped in for a lemon granita and brioche at the Bar Vitelli where they filmed the scene of Michael asking for permission to court Apollonia.  

Bar Vitelli

Scene from The Godfather

Tomorrow morning we dock in Athens and it's off to the Acropolis!

Celebrity Equinox

Well, we made it to the ship today!  And the suite is SWEET!!!  Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Tomorrow we dock in Sicily/Messina.  Will upload a couple of pics when I can.  I have very limited Internet access so for the next 10 days expect blogs to be short and SUITE!!  LOL

View from our balcony