Jul 21, 2011 - A Day at Sea

Today was a day of rest, after our family devotions in the morning we spent most of the day lying by the pool. We could probably use another day much like this before we get off the cruise. We’ve been going non-stop, although trying to get to bed early enough to go strong the next day. Tonight was our first formal night. It’s fun getting all dressed up and having family photos made. Pietro continues to give us service unlike we have ever experienced. Not only does he personally turn in our food orders and bring them from the chef (not...

Jul 20, 2011 - Naples

Although we arrived into port much later than planned we had been able to contact our tour guide by internet last night. He was waiting for us as we exited from the ship and away we went. Through Naples and up to Sorrento. Giovanni is unlike any Italian we have met so far. More the kind you see in the movies, shaking their hands in expression with fingers pursed together and speaking VERY loudly. We didn’t hit it off initially; and we were all wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. About two hours along the way he had said, “move it,...

Jun 22, 2011 - Pompeii, Herculaneum

Pompeii & Herculaneum Today we take the train from Naples to Ponpeii and Herculaneum.  These 2 cities offer a fantastic glimpse of what life was like in Rome 2,000 years ago.  Both were buried in ash and hot volcanic mud in 79 A.D.  They were discovered in the 17th C and excavations began in 1748 and are continuing. Once again, we followed a Rick Steves walking tour with Casey and Kirsti playing the part of guides while the rest of us rested in the shade listening to them read.  Both are amazing places with Pompeii being the larger and...

Jun 21, 2011 - Naples

Today we leave Sorrento and travel to Naples to see the city with Kirsti's family.  After a bit more touring in Sorrento, we caught the Circumvesuviana train to Naples.  It was a very warm day arriving at the train station, from which we walked to our quaint little bed and breakfast, through the crowded streets of Naples, filled with motor scooters, people, and garbage.  There has been a garbage strike here for the past week.  Kirsti, Curt, Casey, her friend, Amanda, and Bryn had arrived at the B & B about 20 minutes...

Jun 5, 2011 - Napoli, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast

Overnight, we sailed between the Italian mainland and the island of Capri and entered the Bay of Naples for a very early arrival to wet and soggy Naples. We’ve been so fortunate so far with incredibly beautiful weather; but, it appears our luck has run out, at least for this port of call. However, we’re here in the city which brought pizza to the world so we can’t let a little rain stop us. We headed for the meeting point to join our tour. Naples is the gateway to the south and our tour would take us to Sorrento, the Amalfi Drive to...

May 26, 2011 - Naples and Pompeii Archaeological Museum

Entry #12 May 26, 2011 On Thursday, we headed down to the ferryboat port and got on the boat to Naples. We were surprised to travel with a number of passengers who had suitcases. We later found out that the ferry was the only way to get to Naples (and the airport) since a workers' protest had blocked the road from Sorrento to Naples AND the railroad track. We had been lucky to get to Pompeii the day before on the train! It was a long walk from Naples ferry terminal to the museum where many of the artifacts from Pompeii were housed. Along...

Apr 20, 2011 - Naples - a bit too exciting

We all slept in and got a slow start to the morning. It was then easy to get off the ship as all the other excursions and most passengers had disembarked by 11am. We headed out of the ferry terminal building, past all the taxis offering discounted rides to Pompeii and just started walking the streets. We enjoyed a quick coffee at the bar of a café and the kids had fresh squeezed orange juice. Naples immediately lived up to its edgy reputation as we witnessed an assault. The bystanders and police didn’t even really take notice until Jen...

Feb 12, 2011 - Coastal Italy

Sailing into the Bay Of Naples---our rain clouds re-appeared.........just a slight mist, but seemed we had lost our Sun again. We took a bus along the Almalfi coast, steep cliffs but beautiful views, of the coast and the Isle of Capri. We wandered around the shops of Sorrento for sometime, up and down many quaint little streets. David was most impressed with one of the wood-working shops, and I was happy to see the little in-laid music box table I had purchased many years ago had risen greatly in price. Also stopped into a jewel making shop...

Oct 27, 2010 - Naples to Boston

Wednesday, October 27, 2010. Heading home. Up at 5:30am (11:30pm Boston time) to make sure we get through the Sorrento madhouse before they get wake up. It was interesting to drive through the quiet town in the dark and be able to look into the coffee bars and see lots of people lining up for their Expresso. Once we saw that it explained some of the driving we’ve been seeing. These are really nice people who, after a shot or two of Expresso, get behind the wheel and become dervishes. We arrived at the Naples airport for our 12:15 flight on...

Sep 18, 2010 - Greetings from Naples, Italy!

We arrived at our first port of call, Naples, Italy, around dawn. As tired as I was, sleep was fleeting. I must have woken up at least 4 times during the night, although oddly enough, each time I woke up, I was wide awake and ready to go... until I discovered it was only about 1:30 AM!! Finally woke up for good around 6 AM or so, and was treated to a beautiful sunrise right outside our room. Went for breakfast at the buffet, but we were both VERY good. Wouldn't do to gain back ALL 20 lbs we lost on the first day, now would it? Our...

Sep 8, 2010 - Naples

Naples was the first of the 3 cities in Italy where we had a private driver take us to see the sites. Naples was also the #1 city where we were happy we did! As our driver in Rome put it...in Naples, a red light is just a suggestion. We couldn't figure out what the rules were at all (If there even were any). Our driver was quite funny. Everytime my dad would say something, he would start his next spiel with "Well, Sir!" or just "Sir!" We couldn't stop giggling in the back! He also put on a CD at the beginning of the day and mentioned it...

Sep 4, 2010 - update 040910

Okay so i put some pictures up on the journal site but didn’t get to do any writing, so will try and catch up. We have been moving pretty quickly, doing our normal haunts up or rather down the coast of Italy. We have changed out guests but the boss is constant so we get to see all the things we saw last year but with new eyes. We dropped by the guys in Antibes, unfortunately one of the brothers is in hospital but was going to discharge himself so i could finalise our account but i managed to stop the call going through... we moved around to...