At Sea - Mar 31, 2013

Happy Easter from the Mediterranean Sea halfway between Italy and Spain. Rough seas today - very similar to our crossing back in November, many guests have remained in their cabins today. We are basically relaxing today as we will be having five ports in a row coming up, so we will be somewhat busy - no organized tours planned so we will set our own pace. Some pics of our Easter Day at Sea... Spain tomorrow!

Rome, Italy - Mar 30, 2013

Rome is an amazing city that you really can never tire of. As mentioned we were not sure what we were going to do today but after dinner last night we decided along with our table mates that we would all venture into Rome by way of the train, now they have all gone on the train before so for us it was a learning experience and we were game to give this a go. Easy is the only way I could sum up the experience, the port shuttle drops you at the port gates where there is kiosk selling the train tickets (the bonus is that included in your train ticket is the full day use of all other Metro and Buses, awesome) for $12.00 Euros - a great value. The real bonus for us today was that we had two other people join us who have never been to Rome before, the first is Julie the wife of a ship’s officer (we have had great dinners with them on this cruise so we did know her), the second was Bridgerta (sp?), Bridgerta missed her HAL shore excursion as they had changed the time on her and claimed they sent her a letter but she is very clear that she did not receive this letter. She was to be on the highlight tour and said that this was probably going to be the only time she would have been able to see Rome. I think that she told her story to Jeff and Joy who were very happy to ask her to join us. So with Bridgerta is her predicament and with Julie who also has never been to Rome, we became their tour guides, with Jeff at the lead with my input we headed out and showed them all the highlights (more than they would have seen on any HAL tour). We began at the Vatican, what a crazy place getting ready the Easter celebrations tomorrow, then it over to the Piazza Navona for pictures and a treat, then the Trevi Fountain (yes, they did the whole three coins in the fountain ritual - okay so did we, its just the thing to do), the Pantheon and then the Spanish Steps. Lunch was at a very nice local Italian establishment, kind of cafeteria style, go to the counter where all the food is, point and pick, the well dressed guys behind the counter place all your selections on plates and then give you a receipt, you pay and then find a spot to sit, very efficient and organized in a great setting, and did I say delicious. After our lunch stop it was over to the Piazza Venezia and the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II and the tomb of the unknown soldier, a great spot for pictures. Then the finale of the Colosseum for the final pictures of the day before taking the Metro back to the Train station to catch the 4:15 train back to the port - back at the ship by 6:00pm. Another great day and a great way to get to Rome from the port and yes Julie and Bridgerta had a great day and were very happy to have this serendipitous day with us.