Things started out really badly and we were delayed flying into NY due to weather and so missed our connection to Rome:(. We managed to fly out the next day but my bag didn’t make it which was a real pain:(. We didn’t want to let it spoil our time in Rome so we headed out to see as much of the city as possible and the amazing hotel staff worked with the airport to try and get my luggage before the ship was scheduled to leave.
As soon as we could, we booked a tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum which was absolutely incredible! The Colosseum was built over an 8 year period and completed in AD80. It seated around 60 thousand people for bloodthirsty naval war recreations, executions and gladiator fights. It is thought that as many as 8,000 people and wild animals (such as tigers, elephants, giraffes and bears) were slaughtered during just the first 100 days of celebration after it opened.
We spent our time in Rome seeing everything on foot...
The Arch of Constantine...
...it’s hard to describe how it felt to be surrounded by so many iconic structures from thousands of years ago. We absolutely loved Rome!
The next day we just had the morning so we headed out to try and get into the Vatican without buying tickets in advance - fully prepared that everything we’d heard or read suggested that it wouldn’t be possible. We got lucky in the end and managed to get tickets from a local vendor that weren’t ridiculously overpriced. Also there was no line since the Sistine Chapel was closed for most of the day and a lot of people hadn’t shown up. So we got in no problem without wasting time which was thrilling after everything we’d heard about nightmare scams and waits! We were totally blown away and took a bunch of photos before we discovered that cameras are actually not allowed:)
When we got back to the hotel to leave for the cruise we were disappointed (but not entirely surprised) that my bag still hadn’t arrived. Our amazing hotel staff made arrangements to have their driver detour to the airport and literally walked us in and helped us get through customs to get to the lost and found and pick it up. They really didn’t have to go out of their way and it made such a difference to have Italian speakers figure out how to help us. The room was nice and well situated right by the Pantheon too so I would totally recommend the Coronari Palace if you are ever out that way!
So we made it to the ship on time and could finally relax that we weren’t going to miss the cruise or have to figure out clothes and supplies for the next week. To top it off, my boss had a bottle of bubbly and box of chocolates waiting in our stateroom which totally started our cruise off perfectly!
Our first port was Naples and we got up to watch the sunrise behind Mount Vesuvius...
We had booked an excursion to hike to the top that day and met the lovely Melanie on the bus who became our "surrogate Maddie" for the day. We formed #TeamNailedIt and she really helped me push through to get to the top. It was so tough - 40 degree inclines for over 45 mins on loose gravel in over 90 degree temperatures but we did it!!
It’s hard to believe that the crater is so dangerous and is still very much active. About a million people live in the area now (vs. about 20 thousand back in the day) and just trust that the scientific equipment at the top would give them adequate time if there was an impending eruption...
Vesuvius actually has two peaks - the smaller one is part of the rim of what’s left of the original (much bigger) volcano. The bigger peak is the new volcano that was formed immediately after the famous major eruption.
After the hike we went to the market square in Pompeii and had some gelato before the the main tour of the ancient ruins. In 79 AD about 5,000 people died from the toxic hot gases that were expelled when Vesuvius erupted. They had no idea they were living in the shadow of a volcano and did not have time to escape to safety. The entire town was buried in about 5 meters of ash and volcanic debris and lost for many centuries. After the ruins were discovered in 1748, over 100 plaster casts of the victims were made by filling in the voids left in the hardened rock. Some are incredibly detailed. There are a handful at the site of the ruins today but the majority are on display (together with the artifacts recovered from the site) at the Pompeii museum in Naples.
One of the 15 or so stray dogs that live in Pompeii...
Although the Disney tour was "family friendly" and didn't mention it we heard about the 40 or so brothels that were there during the eruption from some of the locals in the market square. Evidently, there were hundreds of erotic frescos and mosaics at Pompeii featuring sexual positions for visitors to choose from. So we bought a book with photos from a man with a smelly hand and passed it around the bus like kids:)
It was an incredible day - everything and more I’d dreamed it would be:).
The next day we were at sea which was a perfect opportunity to relax, read and sunbathe by the adult-only pool. We saw English TV presenter Allison Hammond (she was on the cruise with Joe Swash and they posted on Instagram every day):)
The next day we went on a guided walking tour of the beautiful city of Florence!
The breathtaking Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore...
The famous Piazza della Signoria where Michelangelo's statue of David was originally displayed...
The famous Ponte Vecchio over the river Arno with shops integrated into the structure - the only bridge not to be destroyed during WWII...
After the tour, we went to see the amazing Santa Croce church - where Michelangelo, Dante, Galileo and Machiavelli are all laid to rest in the most beautiful tombs...
In the afternoon we went to see the famous leaning tower of Pisa! It’s actually a free standing bell tower situated behind the Pisa Cathedral...
We enjoyed watching literally hundreds of tourists trying to capture "that shot"...
Then we had a go...
And then had some genuine Italian pizza! It was sooooo delicious:)
We saw the pirate galleon replica "Neptune" built for the Polanski movie "Pirates" in 1984. At the time it was the most expensive movie prop ever built at $7 million!
And then we said goodbye to Italy...
Our first excursion in France started out with a scenic drive through the French Riveria. Our tour guide had been touring Jimmy Kimmel all week and shared funny and interesting stories about him and other famous visitors:). We stopped and toured beautiful Monaco, the second smallest country in the world (after the Vatican) and the wealthiest place on Earth...
We got to see the Prince’s Palace...
And admired the beautiful views...
We learned about the marriage of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly and her tragic car accident up on the cliffs in 1982...
And then afterwards we went to Monte Carlo where we went inside the Casino and had a drink in the famous Cafe De Paris. It's directly on the Formula One race route and apparently a table is about $500 on the big day...
We ended the day with an authentic, traditional French lunch in Eze - a beautiful little village in the mountains. The food was amazing and the wine even better! It was hot though...over 105 degrees where we were and the hottest day in France's history...
We took a tender boat back to the ship which cooled us down!
The next day we docked in the port of Toulon and spent the morning at a little beach in the local town of Bandol...
Mike swam in the Mediterranean for the first time!!
We started out our time in Barcelona with a trip to the magnificent Sagrada FamÃlia. The famous temple welcomes visitors from all world religions and was conceived by Antoni Gaudi in 1882. It is still under construction and should be completed in 2026. It is a hypnotic and awe-inspiring place - the attention to detail and stories depicted in the exterior facades and interior windows are indescribable.
The bus service in Barcelona is amazingly simple and we rode all 3 lines to see as much of the city as we could and learn about all of the sights on the audio service. We also got a ton of steps in as we strolled along Les Rambles and walked through Parc Guell and Parc Ciutadella...
The hotel we stayed in had a beautiful rooftop terrace which was a really nice way to end each day and close to some amazing local restaurants and cafes too:)
On our very last day we went to see Parc de Montjuic and took the funicular cable cars to get the most incredible views of the city, port and beaches...
It was hard to see the holiday come to an end but we can’t wait to see our Maddy and Professor Langley:). We have had the most incredible experiences over the past couple of weeks and would have loved more time at any and all of the places that we got to visit. 2019 has been such an amazing year of adventures so far and I’m so happy that our decision to move house has enabled us to realize our mission to live more modestly so that we can travel more extravagantly!
That said, it will be a little while before we go away again so I’ll need to start planning some mini-weekend adventures for now. At least I will be able to enjoy our new treasured memories:)
