Fun with Trains

We left Venice on time and went across the north of Italy at a nice speed.

We travelled along on the south side of the Alps.

Everything was going smoothly as we got on to our intercity train in Milan.

And there we sat. Engine problems.After about an hour we were told to move over to another train. Thank goodness there was an Italian couple who helped as things were very confusing.

We got on the other train and went to Genoa and had to change trains again. The Italian couple were a tremendous help again.Coming into Genoa was beautiful

We got into Monterosso about 2 hours late.

The B+B people picked us up and drove us UP the hill to our room.

We got unloaded and then walked back down the hill to the seaside where we ate  a sea food supper (Thanks kids for the supper !!!)

As I write this we are sitting on our balcony enjoying a slight breeze (which is good because the room only has a fan).

Tomorrow we hike!!

Venice Tuesday night

After our break we walked to the Frari church.This church had some amazing artwork.I especially wanted to see the work of Titian. This church also has the memorial to  Titian.

After lots more walking we ended up near the first pedestrian bridge over the Grand Canal. Here we spent $14 for two beer but were able to watch the boats coming and going into the Grand Canal.After that we walked all the way home and again purchased our supper at the grocery store.

The photos below include a painting by Titian,his monument and a photo where we had our beer.

Venice Tuesday afternoon

It is Tuesday afternoon about 3 P.M. We are just back at the B+B to wash some clothes and get ready for our next adventure.

We started this morning with a visit to the Doge's Palace. These men were the leaders of the Venetian Empire and as such amassed huge fortunes.This palace was also the governmental headquarters for the empire. It was a worthwhile visit.

After a very quick bite of food we did a gondola  ride ("thanks kids , for the gift"). It was cool as we purposely chose quieter canals. We went by Marco Polo's house and Casanova's place as well.

Venice on Monday

We bought our train tickets to Cinque Terre first thing so I could email the next  B+B we are staying at so they can pick us up at the station.

We purchased a 12 hour pass for the water bus and we used it to our advantage. We did a complete tour of the Grand Canal first, then took another water bus to two outlying islands. The first is called Burano and this island is famous for lace work and houses painted differently. The second island is called Murano and is famous for its glass production. Both islands were wonderful.

The first photo is Burano and the second is Murano.

After getting back to Venice we proceeded to get lost over and over again. After a quick meal (over priced like everything else here) we made good use of our water bus pass and did another tour of the Grand Canal but this time it was dark and stormy with lots of lightning.

Our supper consisted of some wine,and a slice of pizza for me and a torta for Caro which we brought back to our "home"

Our thinking yesterday was that we had planned too much time for Venice but today we have changed our minds as we have a full day planned tomorrow.

Sunday night

Well we found our B+B with no problem and then proceeded to walk for about 5 hours getting lost on a continual basis in a city of tiny (TINY) roads and alleys ( did I mention the roads were tiny?)

Anyway prices for restaurants are nuts so we bought wine, cheese and buns and had supper on the terrace here.

Whoever said that Venice is swamped with tourists in the summer was absolutely correct.We were tripping over those foreigners ALL AFTERNOON.        JEESH        =) 

It took a little digging but we see that Lisa's team won bronze.I am absolutely positive it is because of the awesome coaching.Well done Lisa!!!

Sunday on the train to Venice

Last night we said goodbye to the extended Cox family from England.A great family to visit with.

After watching the final stage show of the week in the theatre we watched the Australian entertainer do his thing again.

This morning we left the ship about 0730 then caught the 0800 train to Rome and then while at Termini station we managed to get our previously purchased tickets to Venice changed to 1035 and as I write this we have just left the first of our 4 stops (Florence) on the high speed train.A smooth ride.

A quick update.We have just arrived in Venice

Saturday on board

After last nights meal we stopped at the Schooner Lounge and were thoroughly entertained by an Australian piano player who had real knack for getting the crowd involved in a sing along.He was very funny.

We and about 200 others participated in a one mile walk with the captain to raise money for charity.

Today was a day at sea. The highlite for me was the passing close by to the Stromboli volcano. This volcano is continually active and as we passed by a plume of smoke shot up into the air.Cool.

We, (OK I mean Caro) managed to get all the purchases SHE made, into our suitcases.A small miracle indeed.

Crete

Our tour today was called "A taste of Crete "and it was  a wonderful surprise.The island is beautiful in the interior and our guide was very informative.

After a short walking tour of a small town called Vamos we went to a family run business that makes olive oil products and wine.

The real surprise of the day was the city of Chania (pronounced Hun ya)
This city had a beautiful old harbour from the Venetian days.Another OMG moment

Leaving Turkey

Turkey was a surprise for both of us. I am not sure what we expected but after spending the afternoon shopping and walking the malacon in magnificent weather (only about 31 today) we both felt much happier than yesterday in Athens. As we leave Turkey we are immediately back into the Greek islands and the Captain has said we will be passing somewhere near Santorini tonight.

Ephesus Turkey

Second attempt to complete todays blog.

Today was a hi lite day and the reason I wanted to take this cruise. We went to the ancient city of Ephesus. This city was , at one time ,  one of the most important cities in the ancient world.Anthony and Cleopatra were here and as well the Apostle Paul preached quite a bit here causing lots of grief for the people following the older religions.

Our bus driver also took us past the site of the Temple of Artemis which  was one of the ancient 7 wonders of the world however not much left now

As I am updating this blog Caro is shopping for leather goods and as I write this she has returned with bags full of something and a charred credit card!!!

We are doing this update from a restaurant in the port city of Kusadasi.

Another great day

Wednesday at Athens

We were already docked in at the port for Athens and after a 7 AM breakfast we connected with our tour for our trip to the Acropolis. Wow that was an interesting spot intimately shared with Caro and perhaps 4000 other visitors at the same time (:-[    .

I realized today that I mixed up the name Parthenon here in Athens with the Pantheon in Rome so my earlier post from Rome was incorrect.

We also stopped for a few minutes at the stadium site of the first modern Olympics. I convinced Caro to do a short run in front of the stadium where the marathon ends so she can brag to her running buddies about doing a section of the original marathon route.

Other than one or two interesting archaeological sites we saw from the bus window we didn't find Athens that interesting and we decided to spend our afternoon reading and snoozing on board near the Solarium pool (out of the sun; 34 degrees today)

We have just left the port (5:35 pm here; 9 hours earlier than home)

Tuesday at Sea

Today we spent the day at sea..We both read and spent some time at the pool.

We had supper with the English family  again.It was a good time.

Tonight we watched a Broadway show.

One of the photos below is just for Vanessa.She is not the only one who eats fries on a cruise

Taormina

We are on our tour from the boat and have stopped in Taormina.This village is extremely busy and is very famous for its beautiful streets.Both Caro and I were feeling ill so we stopped and had Sicilian pizza (looks like we wont have supper on the boat tonight!).This pizza is more like we get at home

Mount Etna

We took a tour from the boat up near the top of Mt Etna.Very  bleak landscape and quite cool.

Civitavecchia (Port of Rome)

Sunday July 21st

We caught a regular train to the port.This train stopped at 1/2 dozen stations before arriving 70 minutes later at the port. We had some pleasant views of the country side and later travelled alongside the sea side.

Boarding went very smoothlyand we left on time at 5 P.M.

It turns out our supper table will be shared by a family of 7 people from England.

The ship is very nice, similiar to the others we have been on.

Our B+B

We had a great time here at Armonia All'Opera. Paolo was great and steared us towards many of the places that we ended up seeing.

The furniture shown in the photo below was made by his family's company in a town near the city of Perugia.I hope the other places we stay are this nice and give us the same kind of service

Last full day in Rome

Today we took the metro , then a local bus and went about 30 km outside of Rome to the hilltop town of Tivoli.In this town there are 2 very important places to see; the first is the ruins of Hadrians villa (we skipped that) while the second was Villa D'Este. This villa  was built by a Cardinal about 400 years ago and the important thing about it is its fabulous gardens and fountains. Some of the fountains are truly outstanding (see below for a photo or two).After seeing that we walked the streets of the old town.These streets were amazing as they  were NARROW and hilly and because it was siesta time there weren't any people around. A wonderful hour was spent just going on street after street never knowing where you were going to end up.

We prepurchased tickets for next weeks train trip from Rome to Venice on one of the super fast trains; should be fun!!!!

Blog updates for the next week are going to be spotty as I will only update if I can find wi fi when we are on shore excursions.

Rome at night

We walked down to the coloseum and around the area taking some night shots. We discovered a very busy bustling side street to walk back up, but not before indulging in gelato.Mmmmmm

Friday in Rome

Today I am posting earlier than normal because we are planning to walk back to the colosseum in the night time to see it lit up

First off, our thanks to Vanessa for the skype call. It was great talking to you even though it must have been scary seeing us at our 0445 best!  I  am laughing as I wrote that!!!

After breakfast we walked to a nearby church where Bernini is buried. The ceiling of this basillica is supposedly guilded with gold brought back on the first treasure ships from the Americas.

After some souvenir shopping we walked in the rain and thunder (first time this vacation) to one of THE greatest places we have seen.It is called Galleria  Doria Pamphilj. This gallery is a palace of the Doria Pamphilj family who 's wealth started accumulating with the first important member of their family Pope Innocent X.  The audio guide was pretty cool as it was narrated by the present prince of the family and basically talks about his family collection of paintings and statues.The most important painting is a Valazquez painting  of the pope and it is magnificent.Unforetunately no photos were allowed

After that visit we saw more churches, then stumbled upon the ruins of the theatro di Marcello  (photo below)

On our way back home we purposely stopped at a church called St.Peter-in-chains which contains a Michelangelo statue of Moses (photo below).

Thursday in Rome

I am running out of superlatives to describe our days here.I guess the best way to describe it is AWESOME.

We took the metro, then a train to the old port of Ostia which used to be Rome's port but now is a ruin.It was described to us as very similiar to Pompeii (which we have decided not to go to).It was another amazing place which let us see what the lives of the ancient Romans used to be like.I will post some photos below of it.

After getting back to our place we showered again (another hot rain free day again) before heading about one block away to the National museum of Rome where we saw many statues and also frescos and mosaics recovered from a couple of well to do peoples ruined houses.

After that we took the metro to near circus maximus and then walked to the Trastevere part of the city and enjoyed exploring the narrow streets before finding an area full of tiny restaurants located on tiny streets. We had an awesome (there is that word again) pasta meal before walking back here again, this time arriving after darkness.OMG