Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Queen Victoria and the Queen's Grill
After more than a week aboard the Queen Victoria, all of us have settled in nicely to our suites and the ship's routine. The suites for all four of the couples are just alike and all on the same floor. In fact, all but Debra and Martone's suites are in the same hallway section. The closets are a little too small for David and I but otherwise they are quite nice.
There are differences we have noticed between our QM2 voyages and this one of the Queen Victoria. The casino is much smaller and doesn't have a craps table at all. The huge ballroom is missing and instead a room the size of the QM2 winter garden room is the ballroom. Of course, this ship does not have the benefit of a planetarium which we usually enjoyed from time to time.
The Queen's Grill however, has not disappointed. Granted, the women are not escorted into the dining room on the Queen Victoria as we were on the QM2. Other than this difference, the food and service have been excellent. As I knew would be the case, David has cultivated a close relationship with the sommelier, the Head Waiter, and the Captain assigned to our table area. We've had special requests granted almost daily. I cannot say we have all LOVED all of the dishes we have been served, but the majority have been delicious. In every cruise, it is common to do a little exploring of the menu options so a few misses are to be expected.
My biggest complaint is that the internet service is horribly slow and the wireless is super weak. Oh well.
There are differences we have noticed between our QM2 voyages and this one of the Queen Victoria. The casino is much smaller and doesn't have a craps table at all. The huge ballroom is missing and instead a room the size of the QM2 winter garden room is the ballroom. Of course, this ship does not have the benefit of a planetarium which we usually enjoyed from time to time.
The Queen's Grill however, has not disappointed. Granted, the women are not escorted into the dining room on the Queen Victoria as we were on the QM2. Other than this difference, the food and service have been excellent. As I knew would be the case, David has cultivated a close relationship with the sommelier, the Head Waiter, and the Captain assigned to our table area. We've had special requests granted almost daily. I cannot say we have all LOVED all of the dishes we have been served, but the majority have been delicious. In every cruise, it is common to do a little exploring of the menu options so a few misses are to be expected.
My biggest complaint is that the internet service is horribly slow and the wireless is super weak. Oh well.
Malta
On November 14th, our cruise pulled into a port on the island of Malta. This is one of the destinations that caused David to target this cruise as the one he wanted to take with his children. Both Valleta and M'Dna are walled cities that are in wonderful condition. This island has such history of conquests by many countries over the centuries. Most famously, it is known for the famous victory in 1565 of the Knights of St. John against the Turks.
The guide and driver took us to the City of Valleta and on the way we were able to see breathtaking views of the Mediterranean from the hillside cliffs. In this area, we visited St. Paul's Catacombs. St. Paul is not known to be buried in these catacombs at all, but it is dedicated to him. The catacombs are empty excaveted areas deep under the surface. They were creepy and some found them too narrow to enter. Guess which one of us actually laid in one of the tomb crevices for a picture!
We went on to the Palace of the Masters (Knights of St. John) and also went to the Armory museum that David found so fascinating on our original visit in 2003. See the pictures for more info. We lunched in town and shortly afterward made our way back to the ship by way of a few shopping areas.
I'm in the process of posting some of our best pics from this day but they take several hours to post. At the cost of $.40 per minute for internet service, you will understand why I don't post all of the hundreds of pics.
The guide and driver took us to the City of Valleta and on the way we were able to see breathtaking views of the Mediterranean from the hillside cliffs. In this area, we visited St. Paul's Catacombs. St. Paul is not known to be buried in these catacombs at all, but it is dedicated to him. The catacombs are empty excaveted areas deep under the surface. They were creepy and some found them too narrow to enter. Guess which one of us actually laid in one of the tomb crevices for a picture!
We went on to the Palace of the Masters (Knights of St. John) and also went to the Armory museum that David found so fascinating on our original visit in 2003. See the pictures for more info. We lunched in town and shortly afterward made our way back to the ship by way of a few shopping areas.
I'm in the process of posting some of our best pics from this day but they take several hours to post. At the cost of $.40 per minute for internet service, you will understand why I don't post all of the hundreds of pics.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Malta to Egypt
Sunday - November 15th Malta
I’ll have to add a blog about this site later. We all enjoyed this day so much it deserves more than I’m able to remember without a review with the others and of the photos.
Monday - November 16th at Sea
What a gloriously restful day at sea. We awoke and went to the Queens Grill for breakfast. Greg and Marianne met us there. The others slept in. All of us had a day where we caught up on our rest. Our activities included lots of naps, a little on-board shopping, cards, reading and watching movies. We met at a pre-arranged time of 1:30 pm for lunch at the Queens Grill. Andrew, the Head Waiter in the Queens Grill, made us all his special Caesar Salad.
This evening we met at the Veuve Cliquot bar for drinks and to crowd watch at 7 pm. As soon as we could, we each had our photographs taken by the ship's photographer for the whole group and for each of the couples. I can't wait to see if they are good. For dinner, Andrew had the restaurant prepare a special Russian dish that I cannot pronounce or spell. It was primarily salmon, spinach, egg, and rice wrapped in a beautiful phyllo pastry that was topped with a beurre blanc and caviar sauce. It was a good experience; some liking it more than others. The dessert special made for our table was strawberry flambe. It looked and smelled heavenly.
I retired after dinner but David and most of the others are still out either at the casino or watching the Black and White ball.
Tuesday - November 17th at Sea
David and I made it to Breakfast just before closing. I had the most wonderful French Toast with honey. David had a pedicure at 11 and afterward we had a quick lunch in the Queens Grill. At 1 pm six of our group got together to play Shanghai Rummy. We taught Marianne the rules of the game and what do you know, she won the first mini-game. We all attended the formal dinner in the Queens Grill. David had his famous Crepe Suzette, hold the crepes and double the ice-cream dessert.
Wednesday - November 18th - Port Said, Egypt
What a day to remember. Our pre-arranged tour for today was to start at 8 am and run the full time we were at sea. The ship changed the time in port from 7:30 am - 9 pm to 6:30 am to 8 pm. David spent quite a lot of time trying to reach the onsite representative for Abercrombie and Kent on Tuesday, but was unsuccessful. He was able to contact Jennie however, and she really came through for us. She was able to arrange to have the tour changed to start one hour earlier. We also had a change made to skip the 1-1/2 hour of lunch time to just eating on the bus so we would be able to see all we could and still make the departure time of the ship. Just in case, David and I made sure to bring our medicines, passports, and money with us off the ship so we would have the ability to reroute to Limassol, Cyprus should the group not make the ship on time.
We left at 7 am from Port Said to Cairo. On the way, our bus drove the route that paralleled the Suez Canal. We could see ships traveling the canal even though the territory from the highway to the Canal was a protected zone. By protected, I mean it was covered with many fully armed security men. Armed security was everywhere; in the street intersections, only the side of the street, at numerous check points, in towers everywhere at the corners of developments, or just walking the streets. Most of the trip to the National Museum in Cairo, the buildings we saw looked like ghettos, half-finished or empty, without order, and in the midst of litter everywhere. In Cairo, the housing was better but most was still considered slums. To be sure the residents are in multi-family dwellings; mostly in high-rise apartments or condos. We did see areas of Cairo with nice looking residential high-rises and a few expensive single-family homes, but they were in the minority. The National Museum, our first stop, was full of crowds of people. We made it through the crowds with our Egyptologist who told us to call him Mael and were amazed at the relics from the tombs of many pharoahs, including Ramses and Tutenkamen. There were two separate rooms with the actual mummies of Pharaohs and Queens displayed in enclosed cases. It was hard to belief these mummies have been preserved for 3,000 years or more. The mask of Tutenkamen was glorious. I've seen it on TV but it is much more fantastic when you see it up close. I was amazed at the intricately tiny jewelry and engravings that were created thousands of years ago. One particularly fascinating piece I saw was a filigree rope necklace of 2' long or more. I can't imagine how it was made with the crude tools and instruments of that day.
From the museum, we traveled to Giza. On our drive, our guide told us to look up and there we started to see the tops of the pyramids from above the buildings in the city. They loomed larger and larger as we made our way to the site. The busses parked nearby the foot of the Cheops or Great Pyramid where we were able to walk right up to the pyramid itself; even able to climb up several levels of the blocks. When I walked up to the bottom level, I discovered the block came up to the middle of my forehead in height. I stepped off the length of the stone and found it took 6-1/2 foot steps long and appeared to be almost as thick. Even with the outer limestone cover of the Pyramid missing, it is massive in size and much larger than I ever thought possible. I learned that the workers on the Pyramids were not slaves, but paid volunteer workers. A huge ramp was built from the quarry site some 2 miles away that was slanted up at 15 degrees. The stones were split using cedar splints that swelled when doused continuously with water until the split occurred. The stones were pulled up the ramp by animals and men. From there, I don't know how they were lifted into place. It is too awesome to understand how that many huge stones were put in that exact configuration in 20 years with the tools and means available.
We were driven to see the site where all three pyramids were viewable at once. Once we took pictures there, we were driven to another site to see the Sphinx at the foot of the second pyramid. Our jaws were dropping.
The Egyptian celebration of Abraham coincided with our visit that included a holiday for them from Thursday through Saturday. The locals were out to the site of the pyramids in droves. They climbed the pyramids, rode horses and donkeys and camels nearby and took loads of pictures. They piled in vehicles at 2-3 times the numbers any Americans would attempt with no regard for child safety seats. Buses were overloaded, too with passengers standing in the aisles the length of the vehicle. Drivers seemed to have no regard for lanes, making their own lanes when they wanted and change between them without signals. The only notice given was when the driver of the vehicle cut-off from another would honk. No wonder the tourist advice is to never try to rent a vehicle in Cairo.
We survived this visit to Egypt greatly impressed with the ancient sites but very distressed to the modern conditions of the area's traffic, poor living conditions, and filthy bathrooms where visits are asked to pay for a few sheets of toilet paper after already paying to get into the bathroom at a public site.
Debra and Martone enjoyed a dinner in their suite. The rest of us hurried showered and made our way to the Queens Grill where we had another great meal.
Tonight I decided to go back to the Casino and try my luck again. Within a short time on my first slot machine, I had won $400. I cashed out with another hand pay. David was so tired since my iPhone alarm woke him at 4:45 am so we went back to our suite shortly afterward.
Thursday, November 18th Cyprus
I'll blog more later on this day as we were able to view many great things and our lunch was very interesting. Suffice it to say we are all becoming weary from our daily travels to so many great places that I'm not able to give it justice at this point.
More later with pictures.
I’ll have to add a blog about this site later. We all enjoyed this day so much it deserves more than I’m able to remember without a review with the others and of the photos.
Monday - November 16th at Sea
What a gloriously restful day at sea. We awoke and went to the Queens Grill for breakfast. Greg and Marianne met us there. The others slept in. All of us had a day where we caught up on our rest. Our activities included lots of naps, a little on-board shopping, cards, reading and watching movies. We met at a pre-arranged time of 1:30 pm for lunch at the Queens Grill. Andrew, the Head Waiter in the Queens Grill, made us all his special Caesar Salad.
This evening we met at the Veuve Cliquot bar for drinks and to crowd watch at 7 pm. As soon as we could, we each had our photographs taken by the ship's photographer for the whole group and for each of the couples. I can't wait to see if they are good. For dinner, Andrew had the restaurant prepare a special Russian dish that I cannot pronounce or spell. It was primarily salmon, spinach, egg, and rice wrapped in a beautiful phyllo pastry that was topped with a beurre blanc and caviar sauce. It was a good experience; some liking it more than others. The dessert special made for our table was strawberry flambe. It looked and smelled heavenly.
I retired after dinner but David and most of the others are still out either at the casino or watching the Black and White ball.
Tuesday - November 17th at Sea
David and I made it to Breakfast just before closing. I had the most wonderful French Toast with honey. David had a pedicure at 11 and afterward we had a quick lunch in the Queens Grill. At 1 pm six of our group got together to play Shanghai Rummy. We taught Marianne the rules of the game and what do you know, she won the first mini-game. We all attended the formal dinner in the Queens Grill. David had his famous Crepe Suzette, hold the crepes and double the ice-cream dessert.
Wednesday - November 18th - Port Said, Egypt
What a day to remember. Our pre-arranged tour for today was to start at 8 am and run the full time we were at sea. The ship changed the time in port from 7:30 am - 9 pm to 6:30 am to 8 pm. David spent quite a lot of time trying to reach the onsite representative for Abercrombie and Kent on Tuesday, but was unsuccessful. He was able to contact Jennie however, and she really came through for us. She was able to arrange to have the tour changed to start one hour earlier. We also had a change made to skip the 1-1/2 hour of lunch time to just eating on the bus so we would be able to see all we could and still make the departure time of the ship. Just in case, David and I made sure to bring our medicines, passports, and money with us off the ship so we would have the ability to reroute to Limassol, Cyprus should the group not make the ship on time.
We left at 7 am from Port Said to Cairo. On the way, our bus drove the route that paralleled the Suez Canal. We could see ships traveling the canal even though the territory from the highway to the Canal was a protected zone. By protected, I mean it was covered with many fully armed security men. Armed security was everywhere; in the street intersections, only the side of the street, at numerous check points, in towers everywhere at the corners of developments, or just walking the streets. Most of the trip to the National Museum in Cairo, the buildings we saw looked like ghettos, half-finished or empty, without order, and in the midst of litter everywhere. In Cairo, the housing was better but most was still considered slums. To be sure the residents are in multi-family dwellings; mostly in high-rise apartments or condos. We did see areas of Cairo with nice looking residential high-rises and a few expensive single-family homes, but they were in the minority. The National Museum, our first stop, was full of crowds of people. We made it through the crowds with our Egyptologist who told us to call him Mael and were amazed at the relics from the tombs of many pharoahs, including Ramses and Tutenkamen. There were two separate rooms with the actual mummies of Pharaohs and Queens displayed in enclosed cases. It was hard to belief these mummies have been preserved for 3,000 years or more. The mask of Tutenkamen was glorious. I've seen it on TV but it is much more fantastic when you see it up close. I was amazed at the intricately tiny jewelry and engravings that were created thousands of years ago. One particularly fascinating piece I saw was a filigree rope necklace of 2' long or more. I can't imagine how it was made with the crude tools and instruments of that day.
From the museum, we traveled to Giza. On our drive, our guide told us to look up and there we started to see the tops of the pyramids from above the buildings in the city. They loomed larger and larger as we made our way to the site. The busses parked nearby the foot of the Cheops or Great Pyramid where we were able to walk right up to the pyramid itself; even able to climb up several levels of the blocks. When I walked up to the bottom level, I discovered the block came up to the middle of my forehead in height. I stepped off the length of the stone and found it took 6-1/2 foot steps long and appeared to be almost as thick. Even with the outer limestone cover of the Pyramid missing, it is massive in size and much larger than I ever thought possible. I learned that the workers on the Pyramids were not slaves, but paid volunteer workers. A huge ramp was built from the quarry site some 2 miles away that was slanted up at 15 degrees. The stones were split using cedar splints that swelled when doused continuously with water until the split occurred. The stones were pulled up the ramp by animals and men. From there, I don't know how they were lifted into place. It is too awesome to understand how that many huge stones were put in that exact configuration in 20 years with the tools and means available.
We were driven to see the site where all three pyramids were viewable at once. Once we took pictures there, we were driven to another site to see the Sphinx at the foot of the second pyramid. Our jaws were dropping.
The Egyptian celebration of Abraham coincided with our visit that included a holiday for them from Thursday through Saturday. The locals were out to the site of the pyramids in droves. They climbed the pyramids, rode horses and donkeys and camels nearby and took loads of pictures. They piled in vehicles at 2-3 times the numbers any Americans would attempt with no regard for child safety seats. Buses were overloaded, too with passengers standing in the aisles the length of the vehicle. Drivers seemed to have no regard for lanes, making their own lanes when they wanted and change between them without signals. The only notice given was when the driver of the vehicle cut-off from another would honk. No wonder the tourist advice is to never try to rent a vehicle in Cairo.
We survived this visit to Egypt greatly impressed with the ancient sites but very distressed to the modern conditions of the area's traffic, poor living conditions, and filthy bathrooms where visits are asked to pay for a few sheets of toilet paper after already paying to get into the bathroom at a public site.
Debra and Martone enjoyed a dinner in their suite. The rest of us hurried showered and made our way to the Queens Grill where we had another great meal.
Tonight I decided to go back to the Casino and try my luck again. Within a short time on my first slot machine, I had won $400. I cashed out with another hand pay. David was so tired since my iPhone alarm woke him at 4:45 am so we went back to our suite shortly afterward.
Thursday, November 18th Cyprus
I'll blog more later on this day as we were able to view many great things and our lunch was very interesting. Suffice it to say we are all becoming weary from our daily travels to so many great places that I'm not able to give it justice at this point.
More later with pictures.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Photos are coming...
I've gotten far behind in blog postings, and even further behind in loading the photographs we've taken. As soon as I can, I'll filter through our photos to load the best out of the 100's Greg has taken.
Sicily and Taormina
Our first cruise destination was reached today at noon. Our group of eight had the morning on our own to relax and regroup. We met in David and my cabin at noon to disembark and meet our driver. Our driver located, we headed around the edge of Sicility then climbing a winding, narrow road up the hill to see beautiful sights of the coast. Mt. Edna's peak was hiding behind low clouds but thankfully the clouds did not contain rain. We had blue skys and very comfortable weather today. A few of the group even braved the tour in shorts!
I can elaborate more in another post about our tour guide, but let's suffice it to say he rated average as a guide, not excellent.
The shops were closed most of the afternoon, but we were able to do some window shopping, viewing some of the important squares, cathedrals, as well as the ancient theaters. Some snuck in a little gelato along the way. David and I bought what we thought was gelato. Mine was like ice cream that was made from a lumpy, custard. It tasted good, but the consistency wasn't consistent.
With plenty of time to spare, our driver returned us to the ship where we have each dispersed to our cabins for a little R&R before dinner.
I can elaborate more in another post about our tour guide, but let's suffice it to say he rated average as a guide, not excellent.
The shops were closed most of the afternoon, but we were able to do some window shopping, viewing some of the important squares, cathedrals, as well as the ancient theaters. Some snuck in a little gelato along the way. David and I bought what we thought was gelato. Mine was like ice cream that was made from a lumpy, custard. It tasted good, but the consistency wasn't consistent.
With plenty of time to spare, our driver returned us to the ship where we have each dispersed to our cabins for a little R&R before dinner.
All Roads Lead to Rome
Today we packed up, had breakfast, checked out and headed back toward Rome. We actually didn't go to Rome, but to the port city of Citivecchia. By the way, please pardon my butchered spelling of many Italian places as I don't always have a resource handy when preparing the blog entry. Lucca helped us plan the day so we could board the ship earlier than originally planned by suggesting we take the smaller bus back to the port so he could travel at higher speeds on the highway. Larger buses, like the one that had been reserved for us to contain the group of eight with all our luggage, would have required lower speed limits be maintained. Some slept and others helped me compose these notes of our trip during the drive, thanks to the car lighter adapter loaned to me by Martone and Debra.
About halfway to the port, we stopped to stretch our legs and walk through another small walled city named Cortona. The objective was to find a clean bathroom we could all use, but we managed to add in a little shopping, too. Handmade leather purses, italian pottery, and possibly other items caught our eye. In fact, David and I took pictures of more dishes and pottery we might like to order some day as they were gorgeous.
As a side note, I hope all Italian men are not as rude as they two that cut in line in front of me for the restroom. When I tried to tell them I was already in line, I was told "No. Banos" then was dismissed as if I wasn't even standing there.
When Lucca drove us up to the port entrance with the Queen Victoria in full view in front of us, he was told he could not drive our bus into the gate to the terminal area. He was told he would have to drive us back out to a pick-up location where we would unpack our luggage, wait for a port shuttle bus, then reload our bags into it before being dropped off back at the terminal that was just 100 meters in front of us. Well Lucca argued and argued with the security guards until finally their conversation ended and Lucca pulled up a few feet and helped us off with our bags. He went to the luggage handlers for the terminal and obtained a couple of carts and workers for us. They loaded the bags up and even allowed us to take time to tag and mark our luggage. We said Goodbye to Lucca then walked the remaining way to the terminal check-in area our bags safely loaded and processed.
Check-in was quick and without incident. We walked aboard the Queen Victoria with no fanfare and took the elevator to the 7th floor before we were ever greeted. Just outside of the elevator, staff waiting asked our cabin number then showed us to our room. Chris and Chrystal are in the cabin adjacent to mine and David. Greg is two cabins down the other direction, but Martone and Debra are about 1/2 down the long hall from us.
In our nice room, David and I had two bottles of champagne along with gifts from Eagle Travel. A welcome sight was in store when we rounded the corner in our suite to find our two pre-shipped bags awaiting us. In fact, all the pre-shipped bags from Austin and Dallas arrived before us. Our terminal checked luggage was safely delivered also even though I had erroneously guessed and marked a cabin number on our borrowed tags. It's good to have orange luggage that stands out from the others some time.
Lunch was the first order of business for some, while half of the group unpacked before taking lunch in the Lido buffet. We all were able to find our favorite foods. Some of us hurried on to the salon and spa to make appointments before unpacking and taking some well needed down time.
I made the mistake of trying to get my broken acryllic nail fixed before dinner. David had scheduled us to meet at the Queens Lounge at 7:30 pm with dinner at 8 pm. I made my appointment for 6:30 pm thinking I might be a little tardy for drinks, but would catch up with the group before dinner at 8. I was wrong. It was 8:15 pm before I got to my room only to find that I couldn't reach my room key without ruining my newly polished nails. :( I quickly changed, applied lipstick and rushed to meet up with the group.
Dinner in the Queens Grill was wonderful as we knew it would be. The selections the first night were limited but we were assigned a good location for our table and the staff are all attentive and experienced. David is making fast friends with Richard, the wine steward.
After dinner last night, Debra and Martone retired as Debra was struggling with motion sickness. The rest of us went on to the Empress Casino to try our luck. David and I were so disappointed to learn the casino onboard does not have a craps table. We both realized we would save lots of money on this cruise. Even so, we both headed over to the slot machines. After trying a couple of them unsuccessfully, I followed David's suggestion to play a machine in the area of $1-$5 slots. I settled on a $5 machine and played just a few minutes before I won $1,800! What a wonderful way to end the evening. I was off to bed afterward. David had his own minor success with slots, blackjack and roulette. Great day to start off the cruise.
About halfway to the port, we stopped to stretch our legs and walk through another small walled city named Cortona. The objective was to find a clean bathroom we could all use, but we managed to add in a little shopping, too. Handmade leather purses, italian pottery, and possibly other items caught our eye. In fact, David and I took pictures of more dishes and pottery we might like to order some day as they were gorgeous.
As a side note, I hope all Italian men are not as rude as they two that cut in line in front of me for the restroom. When I tried to tell them I was already in line, I was told "No. Banos" then was dismissed as if I wasn't even standing there.
When Lucca drove us up to the port entrance with the Queen Victoria in full view in front of us, he was told he could not drive our bus into the gate to the terminal area. He was told he would have to drive us back out to a pick-up location where we would unpack our luggage, wait for a port shuttle bus, then reload our bags into it before being dropped off back at the terminal that was just 100 meters in front of us. Well Lucca argued and argued with the security guards until finally their conversation ended and Lucca pulled up a few feet and helped us off with our bags. He went to the luggage handlers for the terminal and obtained a couple of carts and workers for us. They loaded the bags up and even allowed us to take time to tag and mark our luggage. We said Goodbye to Lucca then walked the remaining way to the terminal check-in area our bags safely loaded and processed.
Check-in was quick and without incident. We walked aboard the Queen Victoria with no fanfare and took the elevator to the 7th floor before we were ever greeted. Just outside of the elevator, staff waiting asked our cabin number then showed us to our room. Chris and Chrystal are in the cabin adjacent to mine and David. Greg is two cabins down the other direction, but Martone and Debra are about 1/2 down the long hall from us.
In our nice room, David and I had two bottles of champagne along with gifts from Eagle Travel. A welcome sight was in store when we rounded the corner in our suite to find our two pre-shipped bags awaiting us. In fact, all the pre-shipped bags from Austin and Dallas arrived before us. Our terminal checked luggage was safely delivered also even though I had erroneously guessed and marked a cabin number on our borrowed tags. It's good to have orange luggage that stands out from the others some time.
Lunch was the first order of business for some, while half of the group unpacked before taking lunch in the Lido buffet. We all were able to find our favorite foods. Some of us hurried on to the salon and spa to make appointments before unpacking and taking some well needed down time.
I made the mistake of trying to get my broken acryllic nail fixed before dinner. David had scheduled us to meet at the Queens Lounge at 7:30 pm with dinner at 8 pm. I made my appointment for 6:30 pm thinking I might be a little tardy for drinks, but would catch up with the group before dinner at 8. I was wrong. It was 8:15 pm before I got to my room only to find that I couldn't reach my room key without ruining my newly polished nails. :( I quickly changed, applied lipstick and rushed to meet up with the group.
Dinner in the Queens Grill was wonderful as we knew it would be. The selections the first night were limited but we were assigned a good location for our table and the staff are all attentive and experienced. David is making fast friends with Richard, the wine steward.
After dinner last night, Debra and Martone retired as Debra was struggling with motion sickness. The rest of us went on to the Empress Casino to try our luck. David and I were so disappointed to learn the casino onboard does not have a craps table. We both realized we would save lots of money on this cruise. Even so, we both headed over to the slot machines. After trying a couple of them unsuccessfully, I followed David's suggestion to play a machine in the area of $1-$5 slots. I settled on a $5 machine and played just a few minutes before I won $1,800! What a wonderful way to end the evening. I was off to bed afterward. David had his own minor success with slots, blackjack and roulette. Great day to start off the cruise.
Walking in the Rain in Florence
Our first afternoon in Florence started with a drive into the town of Florence from our hotel. Santa Croce was the drop-off location for our walking tour today. We were hopeful the rain would not return, but most of us brought our umbrellas, all the same. Coats were a necessity because the temperature was chilly, even more so with the dampness in the air.
Santa Croce is the place where Michelangelo, Gallileo, and Macchiavelli were emtombed and memorialized. The dome was a fantastic site to see. The church dates from the 1200's but has been substantially restored many times, most especially after the horrible flood on November 4, 1966 when the water reached 10-15 feet up the walls.
When we left the church it was thundering and lightning, so we all broke out our umbrellas and followed our guide, Tanya through the narrow streets toward the City Hall. All around were signs of the advanced age of the city including ancient fountains with faded portraits of men or animals. It was near the City Hall that we were able to see the statue of Perseus, a copy of David and Neptune, and many bronze statues. From there we headed to the Duoma, the iconic dome in the middle of the city of Florence with the exceptionally huge bronze doors with panels that depict the commandments. During our walk, Tanya pointed out some of the towers of the city where some resided and eventually added on narrow passageways between the towers/building.
Did I mention that we were all cold and wet? David's warning about wearing study-soled shoes was great advice.
When we had viewed the Duomo, we all decided to visit a gelato shop to wait out the storm. The gelato was delicious! Marianne was impressed with the chocolate mousse flavor, Martone with butterscotch, Chrystal with Tiramasu and we all enjoyed the nice break from the weather.
Tanya called our driver and had him meet us near the shop and take us to the large square in town that is adjacent to good shopping and the famous Pontevecchio bridge. David and I stayed in the bus as our feet and backs had enough walking on uneven ground for one day. Once the rest had walked across the famous bridge and resisted the high-end Florence shopping temptations, we headed back to Il Salviatino in our bus.
The staff were waiting to greet us when we arrived. I cannot imagine how many staff this small resort hotel has on their payroll because they are everywhere. We all met later in the bar for drinks and hor 'deurves that included sun-dried tomatos, green olives, nuts, and biscotti. Hot hor 'deurves included pate', a seafood pastry, fried parmasan cheese ball, and cannaloni. An hour later, we were seated in the dining room and proceeded to have a great meal of assorted appetizers, pasta, entrees, and desserts. All those that wanted were treated to Prosecco, Red or White Wine and even Port for dessert.
Off to bed we all went around 11 pm.
Santa Croce is the place where Michelangelo, Gallileo, and Macchiavelli were emtombed and memorialized. The dome was a fantastic site to see. The church dates from the 1200's but has been substantially restored many times, most especially after the horrible flood on November 4, 1966 when the water reached 10-15 feet up the walls.
When we left the church it was thundering and lightning, so we all broke out our umbrellas and followed our guide, Tanya through the narrow streets toward the City Hall. All around were signs of the advanced age of the city including ancient fountains with faded portraits of men or animals. It was near the City Hall that we were able to see the statue of Perseus, a copy of David and Neptune, and many bronze statues. From there we headed to the Duoma, the iconic dome in the middle of the city of Florence with the exceptionally huge bronze doors with panels that depict the commandments. During our walk, Tanya pointed out some of the towers of the city where some resided and eventually added on narrow passageways between the towers/building.
Did I mention that we were all cold and wet? David's warning about wearing study-soled shoes was great advice.
When we had viewed the Duomo, we all decided to visit a gelato shop to wait out the storm. The gelato was delicious! Marianne was impressed with the chocolate mousse flavor, Martone with butterscotch, Chrystal with Tiramasu and we all enjoyed the nice break from the weather.
Tanya called our driver and had him meet us near the shop and take us to the large square in town that is adjacent to good shopping and the famous Pontevecchio bridge. David and I stayed in the bus as our feet and backs had enough walking on uneven ground for one day. Once the rest had walked across the famous bridge and resisted the high-end Florence shopping temptations, we headed back to Il Salviatino in our bus.
The staff were waiting to greet us when we arrived. I cannot imagine how many staff this small resort hotel has on their payroll because they are everywhere. We all met later in the bar for drinks and hor 'deurves that included sun-dried tomatos, green olives, nuts, and biscotti. Hot hor 'deurves included pate', a seafood pastry, fried parmasan cheese ball, and cannaloni. An hour later, we were seated in the dining room and proceeded to have a great meal of assorted appetizers, pasta, entrees, and desserts. All those that wanted were treated to Prosecco, Red or White Wine and even Port for dessert.
Off to bed we all went around 11 pm.
Train to Firenza (Florence)
Please keep posted for the full story of our train trip to Florence. I previously tried to post my blog entry for this day using a new feature of Google's Blogger application using texting. It didn't work well as any of you that tried to read the blogs posted 11/12/10 would have noticed. The blog text was split into multiple texts sets that did not read sequentially or even split by sentences. Kudos to any of you that were able to put together the pieces! That blog entry was typed on my iPhone and it is being borrowed by one of the group right now to make a call home. I'll edit this entry as soon as possible, but move on to others in the meantime.
Roma - Catacombs, Vatican and More
Breakfast at St. Regis Hotel for six before we boarded a large bus for the trip to the Catacombs We all had hoped Chris and Chrystal would arrive in time to join us but at 10 am they were still stuck in traffic between the airport and the hotel. The catacombs we toured were dedicated to St. Sebastian. The tour included many, many steps along the way so David decided to stay at ground level and wait for the others to finish the tour since he has a problem knee. Martone didn't want to go on this tour either so the two of them waited for us to finish the tour. Marianne started the tour, but when she determined the path through the catacombs were narrow with low ceilings, she decided to bow out, too.
For those of us that visited the catacombs with a large group of high school kids from Ireland, we learned the catacombs were narrow tunnels dug deep underground for both pagan and Christian entombments. We saw many, many holes in the sides of the tunnels where the tombs of the deceased had previously been located, but no remains were there to be seen. This many years after entombment, the bodies would have been reduced to ashes anyway, but we were told all remains of the open tombs had been removed some time ago. The catacombs date from before Christ and once housed the remains of St. Peter and St. Paul. An interesting site around one bend in the tunnels had three small chapel facades. These chapels were family chapels, one of which was owned by a 75 year old bachelor who used it to bury his freed slaves.
When we returned to the ground level, we toured a church at the site that contained many sculptures and paintings. There was a bust of Jesus carved by Bernini in this church that was the best, in Marianne's and my opinion.
When we left the catacombs, we traveled along the Appian way and viewed one of the first mile markers made by the Romans. Along the way we saw a large section of the wall surrounding Rome. At one point we saw a pyramid built by a wealthy businessman who traveled to Egypt when alive so he had it built for his tomb.
Next we stopped at the Basilica of St. Paul was adorned with a beautiful gold enlayed mosiac art on its front. It dates from the 4th century BC, but had a terrible fire in the early 1800's and was rebuilt along the exact same floor plan with some of the same marble visibly scorched from the fire. St. Paul was emtombed here.
David was so enamored by the ceiling that he missed seeing the base of a column in his path. So after viewing the ceiling, he decided to roll around on the floor a little (in David's own words).
Medallion paintings of all the popes from the beginning to the present are all displayed around the crown area of the ceiling of the basilica. Though this basicilica was dedicated to St. Paul, St. Peter was also portrayed and remembered here.
On our way to lunch at a small cafe near the Vatican, we were driven by some of the oldest Roman bridges that crossed the Tiber river. Our guide pointed out many of the highlights of the city along the way. After lunch, we finally met up with Chris and Chrystal at the entrance to the Vatican. They had arrived only that morning and had immediately gone off touring the Colisseum before meeting up with us. They were tired but looked great.
Each of us were given an earpiece and receiver to enable us to hear Francesca while we walked through the galleries of the Vatican. We went to a piazza (plaza) where we photographed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica and learned more about the Sistene Chapel paintings painted by not only Michelangelo over a 4 year period but also by many, many other well-known artists of the side wall paintings. We started viewing the art with the sculpture of the Pieta, Mary holding the body of Jesus after he was crucified. Into another outdoor piazza, we saw the Pine Cone sculpture and the modern art of the huge gold, revolving globe. We stopped here and Francesca took our first group photos of the complete group of eight travelers.
We continued on in the Vatican viewing so many sculptures and paintings that its impossible to list them. Everywhere the eye could see there were exquisite art pieces; on the ceilings, walls, floor mosaics, as well as on floor displays and shelves. No matter how many times you go to the Vatican museums, you see works that you missed in previous visits. Though works that you remember are still so neat to see again and again as the works are so fantastically beautiful. We were surprised in some galleries by Egyptian sculptures such as a sphinx. In other galleries we would look at the ceiling and swear we could see 3 dimensional pieces, only to discover they were painting made to look 3 dimensional.
The Sistene chapel was draw-dropping as it is everytime you see it. We were disappointed that the Vatican guards were not keeping the sound level down during this visit as it took away from the special reverence you normally feel by entering this Chapel. We continued on to St. Peter's Basilica where the magnificense of it all is overwhelming. Even our photographs do not do it justice.
We met afterward at St. Mark's square where we parted in two cabs to zip over to the Pantheon. Chris, Chrystal and Martone had never seen it so we had to repeat this stop. Later we returned to the hotel in two cabs. David walked with some of the group to revisit the nearby Chapel built as part of the Roman baths that houses the Meridian line.
We rested for about an hour then once again boarded taxis and went to our favorite restaurant of Rome, Restaurante Tritone. The company, conversations, food and wine were great, as we knew they would be. Though David and our waiter still did not understand one another well, David was able to get the general idea across so our dinner was wonderful.
For those of us that visited the catacombs with a large group of high school kids from Ireland, we learned the catacombs were narrow tunnels dug deep underground for both pagan and Christian entombments. We saw many, many holes in the sides of the tunnels where the tombs of the deceased had previously been located, but no remains were there to be seen. This many years after entombment, the bodies would have been reduced to ashes anyway, but we were told all remains of the open tombs had been removed some time ago. The catacombs date from before Christ and once housed the remains of St. Peter and St. Paul. An interesting site around one bend in the tunnels had three small chapel facades. These chapels were family chapels, one of which was owned by a 75 year old bachelor who used it to bury his freed slaves.
When we returned to the ground level, we toured a church at the site that contained many sculptures and paintings. There was a bust of Jesus carved by Bernini in this church that was the best, in Marianne's and my opinion.
When we left the catacombs, we traveled along the Appian way and viewed one of the first mile markers made by the Romans. Along the way we saw a large section of the wall surrounding Rome. At one point we saw a pyramid built by a wealthy businessman who traveled to Egypt when alive so he had it built for his tomb.
Next we stopped at the Basilica of St. Paul was adorned with a beautiful gold enlayed mosiac art on its front. It dates from the 4th century BC, but had a terrible fire in the early 1800's and was rebuilt along the exact same floor plan with some of the same marble visibly scorched from the fire. St. Paul was emtombed here.
David was so enamored by the ceiling that he missed seeing the base of a column in his path. So after viewing the ceiling, he decided to roll around on the floor a little (in David's own words).
Medallion paintings of all the popes from the beginning to the present are all displayed around the crown area of the ceiling of the basilica. Though this basicilica was dedicated to St. Paul, St. Peter was also portrayed and remembered here.
On our way to lunch at a small cafe near the Vatican, we were driven by some of the oldest Roman bridges that crossed the Tiber river. Our guide pointed out many of the highlights of the city along the way. After lunch, we finally met up with Chris and Chrystal at the entrance to the Vatican. They had arrived only that morning and had immediately gone off touring the Colisseum before meeting up with us. They were tired but looked great.
Each of us were given an earpiece and receiver to enable us to hear Francesca while we walked through the galleries of the Vatican. We went to a piazza (plaza) where we photographed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica and learned more about the Sistene Chapel paintings painted by not only Michelangelo over a 4 year period but also by many, many other well-known artists of the side wall paintings. We started viewing the art with the sculpture of the Pieta, Mary holding the body of Jesus after he was crucified. Into another outdoor piazza, we saw the Pine Cone sculpture and the modern art of the huge gold, revolving globe. We stopped here and Francesca took our first group photos of the complete group of eight travelers.
We continued on in the Vatican viewing so many sculptures and paintings that its impossible to list them. Everywhere the eye could see there were exquisite art pieces; on the ceilings, walls, floor mosaics, as well as on floor displays and shelves. No matter how many times you go to the Vatican museums, you see works that you missed in previous visits. Though works that you remember are still so neat to see again and again as the works are so fantastically beautiful. We were surprised in some galleries by Egyptian sculptures such as a sphinx. In other galleries we would look at the ceiling and swear we could see 3 dimensional pieces, only to discover they were painting made to look 3 dimensional.
The Sistene chapel was draw-dropping as it is everytime you see it. We were disappointed that the Vatican guards were not keeping the sound level down during this visit as it took away from the special reverence you normally feel by entering this Chapel. We continued on to St. Peter's Basilica where the magnificense of it all is overwhelming. Even our photographs do not do it justice.
We met afterward at St. Mark's square where we parted in two cabs to zip over to the Pantheon. Chris, Chrystal and Martone had never seen it so we had to repeat this stop. Later we returned to the hotel in two cabs. David walked with some of the group to revisit the nearby Chapel built as part of the Roman baths that houses the Meridian line.
We rested for about an hour then once again boarded taxis and went to our favorite restaurant of Rome, Restaurante Tritone. The company, conversations, food and wine were great, as we knew they would be. Though David and our waiter still did not understand one another well, David was able to get the general idea across so our dinner was wonderful.
Monday, November 8, 2010
More Roma Sites and Experiences for Six
After viewing the baths, Greg and Marianne went off to shop for windbreakers. They returned to the hotel shortly afterward unable to locate any coats at all. Greg, Marianne, David and I got so busy in our free time that we forgot to order up any lunch. Before we knew it, Marianne alerted us that it was time to go meet the guide for our afternoon tour. Off we went; I with a banana in my purse and a truffle popped in the mouth.
Francesca met the six of us with our new driver of a small bus! They thought there would be eight of us today and were surprised to only find six. We made sure Francesca confirmed the pickup for Tuesday morning of Chris and Chrystal. All is well with the arrangements. It was not raining when we left but it looked like it could pour at any time. We started off our tour with the Coliseum. Francesca had the driver drive around the Coliseum ruins and she pointed out which parts of the Coliseum were original and which were restored. We went to the first level to get a good overall view. What history has occurred in this place! Once the gladiator days were over, the building was ransacked for the travertine marble, metal joints, and other building materials. Finally toward the end of the middle age, the ransacking was stopped and the remaining structure preserved to honor the Christians that were said to have been martyred during the games. We were also brought down to a lower level to see where the emperor’s section was located and to get a better view of the underground chambers where the animals were herded then lifted to an area just under the surface of the arena where trap doors would allow them to jump out into the open.
After viewing the Coliseum, we quickly drove over to the forum area. Francesca took us to several locations to view the forum ruins, including to the top of the Capitale hill where the oldest recorded museum is located called the Musea Capitali. David noted that he definitely wanted to include that museum as a stop during our next trip to Rome.
After leaving the forum, our driver took us around the historic areas of Rome while Francesca pointed out the sites including the buildings on each side of the Tiber river and the bridges from one side to the other. By that time, it was dark and we headed back to the hotel. We all agreed to begin our next day’s tour at 10 am to give Chris and Chrystal time to arrive from the airport and join us. I hope they both get some sleep on the plane because it will be another long day of tours.
Our dinner reservations were at the Imago restaurant that was found to be a high-end restaurant with a strict dress code requiring jackets and ties. Since all of us didn’t pack dress clothes for this portion of the trip, David met with the Concierge of the hotel to make other arrangements at a local Italian family-style restaurant. The weather was drizzly but not too cold so we walked the two blocks to the restaurant. It was a small, quaint little shop with good, not great food. It was a little let-down from the wonderful meal we had the night before, but we all ate our fill and returned to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep.
Tomorrow we will visit the Catacombs and the Vatican. If we can, we will try to slip in a repeat visit to the Pantheon since four of the groups haven’t had a chance to see it yet. We’ll see how it goes.
We are all well and happy, though tired and ready for bed.
Roma - Villas, Galleries, and Baths
Our rooms in St. Regis are great; a little warm at times, but good. The weather has ranged from slightly chilly to warm and dry until today. It's raining and umbrellas are a necessity.
Saturday Greg, Marianne, David and I arrived and caught up on our sleep before taking an afternoon walking tour that included the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps and more. We had a wonderful meal at Hotel Eden that evening. Greg might have a heart attack when he sees the bill he picked up on that one!
Up early on Sunday morning for breakfast, we met our guide, Francesca and our driver, Alejandro to head for Tivoli. It's a larger city than I would have expected. We toured the Villas d'Este, a huge estate with hundreds of fountains hidden in tiers of garden hedges. David unfortunately didn't want to risk his knee going down and back up all the steps so he missed a lot of neat sites. Luckily Greg took lots of photographs. Around noon we headed back to the hotel to get a European style nap, share room service burgers and fries, then met Francesca for an afternoon tour.
For the afternoon, we toured the Borguese Gallery. We took a taxi to the Gallery and what a ride it was! Even our guide said the drive took years off of her life. The streets were crowded with pedestrians but our driver weaved in and out of the cars and people whipping the wheel this way and that, just avoiding collisions.
The Borguese Gallery was full of Bernini sculptures that were vividly life-like. It was fascinating to see them and hear the stories about his life. His father was a sculptor and he must have learned quickly as he was finishing museum quality work by his mid-teens. We were shown many paintings by Raphaello who is known for his magnificent use of light in an age of dark paintings. There was a special exhibit of works by Cranach that we viewed as well.
Our dinner Sunday night was delightful and delicious. The Rist. Tritone had authentic Roman food. We had lots of great wine with dishes such as parma ham and salami, calamari Roman-style, spaghetti carbonara, spaghetti bolognese, and liguini with crayfish (turned out to be lobster). Greg also ordered an entree that was shared by most of the table of veal balls. We think they were sections of the leg of the calf cooked in a savory light tomato based sauce. We joked that Marianne may end up with several 3-legged calves when she gets home.
This morning Martone and Debra arrived at the hotel. Debra didn't get much sleep so after a brief visit at breakfast, she and Martone were off to bed. Meantime, the other four of us went on a walk to the nearby Roman baths. We found one section that was closed, but walked on to find the section with the central hall open. To think this huge building with groin-vault ceilings and huge sandstone columns was originally built in the first century AD! As David said, those Romans sure knew how to build!
David and I are missing our kitties and Elvis. It's not the same without those little furry ones surrounding us as we sleep.
I'm in the process of posting over 300 photos Greg took from Saturday through Sunday. It's a longer process using the slow internet connection at St. Regis hotel.
Saturday Greg, Marianne, David and I arrived and caught up on our sleep before taking an afternoon walking tour that included the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish steps and more. We had a wonderful meal at Hotel Eden that evening. Greg might have a heart attack when he sees the bill he picked up on that one!
Up early on Sunday morning for breakfast, we met our guide, Francesca and our driver, Alejandro to head for Tivoli. It's a larger city than I would have expected. We toured the Villas d'Este, a huge estate with hundreds of fountains hidden in tiers of garden hedges. David unfortunately didn't want to risk his knee going down and back up all the steps so he missed a lot of neat sites. Luckily Greg took lots of photographs. Around noon we headed back to the hotel to get a European style nap, share room service burgers and fries, then met Francesca for an afternoon tour.
For the afternoon, we toured the Borguese Gallery. We took a taxi to the Gallery and what a ride it was! Even our guide said the drive took years off of her life. The streets were crowded with pedestrians but our driver weaved in and out of the cars and people whipping the wheel this way and that, just avoiding collisions.
The Borguese Gallery was full of Bernini sculptures that were vividly life-like. It was fascinating to see them and hear the stories about his life. His father was a sculptor and he must have learned quickly as he was finishing museum quality work by his mid-teens. We were shown many paintings by Raphaello who is known for his magnificent use of light in an age of dark paintings. There was a special exhibit of works by Cranach that we viewed as well.
Our dinner Sunday night was delightful and delicious. The Rist. Tritone had authentic Roman food. We had lots of great wine with dishes such as parma ham and salami, calamari Roman-style, spaghetti carbonara, spaghetti bolognese, and liguini with crayfish (turned out to be lobster). Greg also ordered an entree that was shared by most of the table of veal balls. We think they were sections of the leg of the calf cooked in a savory light tomato based sauce. We joked that Marianne may end up with several 3-legged calves when she gets home.
This morning Martone and Debra arrived at the hotel. Debra didn't get much sleep so after a brief visit at breakfast, she and Martone were off to bed. Meantime, the other four of us went on a walk to the nearby Roman baths. We found one section that was closed, but walked on to find the section with the central hall open. To think this huge building with groin-vault ceilings and huge sandstone columns was originally built in the first century AD! As David said, those Romans sure knew how to build!
David and I are missing our kitties and Elvis. It's not the same without those little furry ones surrounding us as we sleep.
I'm in the process of posting over 300 photos Greg took from Saturday through Sunday. It's a longer process using the slow internet connection at St. Regis hotel.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Upcoming Travels
Beginning November 5, 2010 a group of eight family and friends will begin a new journey in the Mediterranean beginning in Rome. Stay tuned here for stories and photos.
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