Tortoise Time!

The only onshore excursion I was really excited about (before we left Scotland!) was on the last day, on Corsica. They have a tortoise protection centre with over 170 species of tortoises. A colleague of mine had also done this and highly recommended it, so when it was advertised as something to do with children - I didn't worry! And it was very special. Very different from World Heritage Sites or classical Roman structures. Both Alan and I loved it!

The second part of this excursion was to visit Porticcio Beach. Well anyone including a beach stop to me gets extra points, except for today. Don't get me wrong, the beach is beautiful and the sand is interesting. Coarse and obviously very finely ground rocks.

I loved the feel of this between my toes, and also dipped the same toes into the (very cold) water! Then that was it! A few shops, nothing else to do but drink a local beer made from chestnuts, and very good, and wait for it to be time to leave. Even a beach loving Florida girl like myself could have given this whole thing a miss!

We were concerned about losing a precious hour in Ajaccio (the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte).

Once we got back to Ajaccio, we were not enamoured with it either. Walked around a bit, got a coffee and free wifi at a coffee shop, then boarded the ship.




What does this disappointment tell me? Probably time to go home, we have had too many fantastic experiences and are possibly becoming jaded. Time to go home and make my own bed and wash my own dishes!

But before going home, we did enjoy the Great British Sail Away from Corsica!  Both P&O and Princess Cruises do these and they are a very unique experience!  But I took a few pictures to try to share the feeling of this -

We were very lucky with the weather for the sail away, a storm came up shortly after it was finished and we were sailing away.  This was the roughest sea we had for the whole cruise, and the requisite sick bags were placed conveniently all over the ship!  It was difficult for the passengers to walk but we still all filed into the Arena to watch the very talented Headliners do their final show.  It seemed a bit odd that the show did not start at the time planned.  This had never happened before.  Ten minutes went by, then the Director of Entertainment came onstage to announce that the show would be further delayed by 5 - 10 minutes due to some of the dancers feeling unwell.  I had expected him to say due to the danger of dancing on a flying stage!  But once they came out, they performed without a trace of illness or unsteadiness.  They are so talented and I loved watching all their shows!  Here is a taste of one of their shows: 

I am home now and enjoying using my proper laptop. Never again will I travel with my iPad, it just does not work well with this blogger program!

Rome -3 of the Best

Alan and I had never been to Rome before so we looked at all of the shore excursion options and chose one that was unguided, but with 3 stops - the Coliseum, Trevi Fountain and the Vatican. It was a whistle stop tour, with only one or two hours at each stop. But this was perfect for us to get an overview of this huge and bustling city!

Alan at the Trevi Fountain

I did manage to get to Trevi Fountain and made 3 wishes. Lo and behold, when Alan phoned home later, one wish had already been granted! Ok, days ago but no one had told us! Does that count as a wish granted?

We were also fortunate, due to having a lovely tour guide who did guide us a bit and gave us masses of information!

We were not able to go into any of the stops, but if we ever return, the Vatican will be a definite priority! It was very special just to be on the grounds.......and other churches we stopped in during our day were so spectacular, we simply cannot imagine what the Sistine Chapel must be like. But that is another tour in another year, maybe.

I quite often tell friends and family to let me know when they will be in Europe, just in case I can make use of our budget airline and have a chance for a visit. So far, it has never worked! And yesterday was one time I was incredibly close to a good friend from Atlanta. She and I were volunteer Docents at Zoo Atlanta and have kept in touch all the years I have lived in Scotland. We have also actually seen each other a grand total 3 times, in Scotland, San Francisco and Atlanta. Who would have predicted that we would be within less than a couple of miles from each other in Civitevechia!?! I knew she was in Rome, but we had booked our trip by then, and how on earth would we have found each other anyway? Then on her way out of this area, she and a friend drove past our ship at Civitevechia! Maybe next time!

Today is our last port at Corsica and then the journey home tomorrow. I am not ready!

Our Last Sea Day

Yesterday we arrived at Corfu! Neither one of us had ever been to Greece before and this part was beautiful! And we can add another UNESCO World Heritage Site to our belts!

Corfu Old Town, the Old and New Forts are all included in this recognition. Alan and I spent a very relaxed day exploring all three areas, and I had the requisite Baklava with a lovely iced coffee before returning to our ship.







Today is another very slow and relaxed day. The morning spent at the pool as the ship navigated through the Straits of Messina, at times Italy and Sicily are only 4 miles apart in this area. We are on our way back now, but this part of the journey down was in the wee hours of the morning last week.

As I sit on our balcony, we are just about to pass Stromboli, one of the three active volcanoes in Italy. So we have seen them all! But this one lies in the middle of Tyrrhenian Sea, all by itself!

Today is American Mother's Day. But this being a British ship, there is no mention, since British Mother's Day was in March. This helps me, since this is only my second Mother's Day without my own mother.....

There was a poolside BBQ for lunch and the rest of this lazy day lies ahead. Then the last formal evening.

I am certainly NOT ready for this trip to end!

Visiting the youngest country in Europe

When we booked this cruise, I didn't even know Montenegro was an independent country. Today I learned it declared independence in 2006, I hope I remembered the correct year! That makes it the youngest country in Europe, so far anyway.......

The city of Kotor is up at the end of Tivatski Bay, and,the ship goes along fiords to get there! We got up at 5:45 am to watch the whole 2 hour journey in the fjord to get to Kotor. It really reminded me of our last cruise to Norway. Beautiful scenery and gorgeous churches, much warmer than Norway though. We are the same sort of climate as Northern Spain here! Which means it was in the 70's or higher today, hot and sunny all day!

The coast of this area is unspoiled and still feels as if modern times have not made much of an intrusion. I am afraid, though, it is just a matter of time before things change.

Alan and I took an open top bus along the shore to see some other villages. One had Roman mosaics, another had a fire station and a delightful looking place over the water for snacks. We couldn't stop though because we had to get back to Kotor.

Kotor is another walled city that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, like Dubrovnik. The difference to me is Kotor looks and feels lived in and used. In a good way, not so cosmetically perfect as Dubrovnik. Kotor is more compact too, with loads and loads of churches! Both cities are amazing and I am so glad they are protected.

Ventura is too big to dock at Kotor, so we were tendered in. This is a fun way to leave the ship, but you have to be careful not to miss the last tender at the end of the day!

Long day, early night - Corfu is tomorrow!

Sea Day Bliss

Our second day in Venice could not have been more perfect! We caught the "People Mover" from the port, then the Vaporetto (water bus) to the Rialto Bridge. Wandered this area a bit, including visiting the market stalls! Then back on the "bus" to St Mark's Square.

Boy oh boy, is the Grand Canal busy! I have never seen even an 8 lane interstate quite so intimidating - traffic wise! But everyone just takes it in their stride and no accidents were witnessed! The pictures of the Grand Canal and all the chaos of every kind of boat, including gondolas, delivery boats, police, what must be the equivalent of garbage trucks and Pink Lionesses in their rowing boats are not exaggerated!

Our evening journey past Venice as we left was breathtaking! Even more beautiful than coming in the day before. The little tug boats, one on each end, push and pull the giant ship so there is absolutely no wake. At only 6 miles per hour, there was ample time to drink in the view and take a few pictures!

We are now resting and recharging our batteries with a sea day. I just got my nails done at the spa. It was a necessity, twice the price of home but a nice experience anyway. Spent most of the day at the pool, in the lovely sunshine, and just about to get ready for our third formal evening.

Good Morning, Venice!

The overnight stay in Venice was what sold us on this cruise - especially because the rules for how cruise ships enter this city are supposed to change this year.

 And Venice has lived up to its reputation - beautiful, romantic, exciting......so instead of saying anymore, I will share a few photos! Even one of the P&O Aurora being escorted by tugs through Venice on her way out. If all goes the way we understand, this event will be a thing of the past in the near future.

Just waiting on the port to open so we can go back!

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Water Taxi

View from ship as we entered Venice

The Beautiful City of Dubrovnik

We spent a magical time in the lovely city of Dubrovnik today. The old town is listed I the UNESCO World Heritage sites. We were told it suffered massive damage during their war of independence, which ended in 1995. People from all over the world came to help repair this damage. And they did a fantastic job!

The first thing we did was take the cable car to the top of one of the mountains overlooking the city.

Then we spent the rest of the day just enjoying the beauty of the surroundings. From the smiles on all the returning passengers, I think Dubrovnik worked its magic on all of us!

Just another (Sun) Day at the Office

This was our second sea day and equally as lazy as the first. But this one actually had sun!
We spent the morning poolside. The cabin we are in is only 2 cabins from the terrace pool at the rear of the ship! Such fabulous positioning for us! When the sun shines, which has been rare so far, we can be right there, closer than from my kitchen to my back door! Oh, the buffet is just up the stairs from the pool - can't get better for me than this!

On our first sea day, just nipped upstairs for some cheese and crackers to go with our bucket of beer!

Why didn't we do that poolside? There was no sun that day!

After tearing ourselves away from the pool there was a wonderful chocolate buffet and then a tour of the kitchens .....impressive!

Next was the black and white formal dinner.

After dinner the show was "Reel to Reel".

Life is good.

Livorno part 3

Got halfway to the turn off for the shuttle and thought I should look at the harbour. Crossed one bridge, saw some nice yachts, turned around to begin my second attempt to return to the ship....
Passed very few shops all day that were open, mainly some high end clothes shops. But one jewellery shop was open and had some nice pieces of Murano Glass in the window. So I stopped, made a purchase and had a long conversation with Maria Theresa about all sorts of things. Just as I was about to start heading to the ship, she told me about Putin's yacht that was in Livorno harbour for repairs. She even got it up on her computer screen to show me. So I had to turn around, return to the harbour, crossing 2 bridges this time. And I saw it! But it was no longer easy to see, it is cocooned in a place either for repair or to protect it from prying eyes (like mine!)

After a pleasant hour at the harbour with many local families and a craft fair, I decided it was time to begin my third attempt to return to the ship!

As I passed Maria Theresa's shop, I decided not to go in. But I did need to make one additional necessary stop before boarding the shuttle bus.

Finding a nice coffee shop, I made a courtesy purchase of cappuccino and cake in exchange for the use of their facilities and wifi. The wifi made me sit a bit longer than if it had not been there!

After all this delay and food, I was back on board by 2 and it was sunny! So the rest of the day was spent at the pool!
Alan came back about 6. He enjoyed his day out too!

Livorno part 2

My main goal in Livorno was to get an authentic local dish, probably pizza. After wandering the town in the wake of other shipmates, I almost gave up the idea though and turned to go back to the ship. But outside the Pizzeria La Dolce Vita, I noticed the most interesting item of food and was drawn in. Turns out it was just a sandwich. (I have since learned it was focaccia bread). I have no actual name for it and that frustrates me because it deserves a proper name. The bread was the size and shape of a of a pizza, with a variety of ingredients then another "slice of bread". Cut into quarters then the servings appear to be the equivalent of two "slices". My filling was tomato, mushrooms and zucchini (courgettes).

These were probably gently cooked in a bit of olive oil before being placed In the bread and warmed in the oven. Fantastico!
Oh, they had wifi too! So I sat for awhile before making my second attempt to return to the ship.

Livorno part 1

With the problems doing this blog on my ipad, I have  decided to break the story up, otherwise i cannot see what i have said. so frustrating...

Our first destination was Livorno, with shore excursions mainly to Pisa and Florence.   We are able to get to these lovely places easily and affordably, so I did not feel the need to go this time.   However, Alan wanted to retrace footsteps and take photos.  My suggestion that he go on his own caused him some concern, but I managed to convince him I would be ok and not regret being "left behind".  To put it more clearly, what I didn't spend was put toward my little flag charm!  

Alan left at 8:30 and was not expected back until 6pm.   I attended a great morning stretch class at the gym, enjoyed my very healthy breakfast, took my time getting ready and then caught the shuttle provided to take passengers to Livorno.  Ok, there is not a lot in Livorno!  

And  add to that this was May Day and a national holiday so most things were not open.  And that early in the morning, the streets were deserted too! Was this a wash out for me?  Not at all!

Freedom Dining

At the end of this post are 3 of the same photo, sorry!  I can't see beyond a certain point when using the iPad and the photo didn't load where I meant it to, so I thought it had not worked. Now I cannot delete til I get onto a better computer!   Sorry!

When we first started going on cruises, there were only 2 dining options, buffet or formal seating times with assigned table mates. In an ideal world, these options are bearable, even though Alan prefers the informality of eating anytime, as in the buffet. He is a very kind man though and we always do the formal dining bit because he knows I enjoy it!

Our last cruise was a dining disaster though! We always request the largest table, but this time were seated at a table for 4. Then the other couple never showed up! The table next to us was in the same boat ( sorry, couldn't resist!). But, even after a few days when it was obvious these missing couples were not ever going to join us, the management of the dining room were opposed to allowing us to sit together! This did happen eventually, but has made us a bit leary of the formal dining times and seating arrangements.

We were very pleasantly surprised yesterday when we learned we were assigned Freedom Dining! We can eat in the formal dining room anytime and ask for as big or small a table we want. Last night - a full table of four couples, great conversation and good food. Just what we wanted!

Then we saw Will Martin, extremely talented young man from New Zealand. He sang and played piano.

This was enough for one day, since we went to bed at 10:00 pm in Manchester, got up at 2:00 am to fly to Genoa and Will's show started at 10:30pm.....
We will see what happens tomorrow in Livorno!

Just How Special am I?

Seriously, I feel as if I am the only American on board the Ventura! Although I entered all my relevant information on the cruise website, any time I had to show my passport - at Manchester airport, going through immigration at Genoa airport, when checking in at the departure hall, and again by the police just before taking that first step on board, there was a flurry of activity, and quite often shouts across the room in Italian!

To celebrate the fact that I am American, and seemingly unique in this talent, I bought myself my first Pandora charm. What else but an American flag!

We have spent the past 3 hours exploring a ship we already feel at home in. This is the sister ship to the Azura so the hugeness of it is more comforting than confusing. They are not identical twins however, and it has been fun comparing the differences. Travelling transatlantic through stormy seas allowed Alan and I to become intimately familiar with the Azura. Lets see how we feel at the end of this journey!

We have only seen Genoa on our transfer from the airport and from the deck... It looks congested with the beautiful old style buildings crowded out by modern buildings and highways. But it reads well and I am sure we would have seen a different side of this city if we'd had the time.

Neither here nor there

After spending a lovely day with fellow PASS workers in Edinburgh, I am now sitting in the Premier Inn, Manchester planning on getting less than 4 hours' sleep before boarding the plane for Genoa and our cruise!

It was a gathering of workers from all over Scotland, then I took the train to Glasgow, Alan picked me up and, whoosh here we are in England!

Here are some photos from Edinburgh.  Next stop, Italy!

Large Ship, Small Allowances

Here I sit on the train to Edinburgh for 2 days of training.  Nothing unusual about that except for the 2 flowered bags I am carrying.   One would be normal for an overnight stay, but the other is actually my carry on bag for the flight to Genoa on Wednesday!   Today, Edinburgh, tomorrow, Manchester, Wednesday, The first day of our Meditteranean cruise on the Ventura!

We have cruised her sister ship, the Azura, so are looking forward to being on another big ship!   My only complaint (already?) is the very meagre luggage allowance. Which explains why I am sitting here struggling on my iPad and not my laptop!  How can a person pack for a 14 night cruise, visiting 5 countries, with only 20 kg luggage and 5 kg carry on?  I have had worse challenges before so I am certain this will all work out well, but please wish me luck anyway!

Another challenge will be doing my blog on the iPad, I keep trying to convince myself it can't be as bad as the last time. But it always is. There seems to be no flexibility with the iPad, so this will really be a basic journal and I apologise in advance.  But it will still be better than nothing, for me anyway! I also can't preview what I have written....

After a training session with colleagues, we went to The Basement for dinner and drinks!  Not a bad way to end the day!






Then it was off to find my hotel room.  Here are two views from my window- overlooking Waverley Station -