My Cruise!
Sunday, May 31st
So, we (my family & I) have been on this ship for 2 ½ days and on vacation for 5 days in total. The first day, Tuesday, was spent getting ready and packing. We left JFK airport at 6pm and flew over-night into Dublin. Customs was insanely fast, which left us over an hour to kill in the airport. I grabbed a chocolate chip muffin and an orange juice (both of which were rip-offs, but you’re stuck in an airport, so what can you do??), then settled in to play Sudoku… and argue with dad.
Once we landed in Rome, the craziness began. First, our pre-ordered taxi was late by about an hour. Then when he finally got to us, he took one look at our suitcases and told us his car was too small to take them. Wonderful. But he was nice enough to help us get our luggage to a taxi line-up, and soon we were on our way. Thirty minutes later, we arrived at our bed-and-breakfast. Yay!
Except that they weren’t ready for us. The guy who ran the place was very nice, though, and brought us some pineapple drinks to cool us off (it was HOT) while we waited for our rooms. After they were ready, we set our things down, changed shoes & headed out!
First, we had an adventure getting our underground passes, as we were looking for specific ones. Then we were off to the Coliseum! The view of the stadium was amazing! How it was made so well and still so beautiful, I haven’t the foggiest.
Then it was off to see more ruins. Somewhere in the middle of this, I twisted my ankle, but paid it no mind at the time. Walk it off, right? (Later, we found out my ankle was seriously twisted, and had to get a brace for it.)
We came “home,” had dinner at a local restaurant that reminded me a bit of New Hope, PA, then CRASHED once back in bed.
The next day we had breakfast after sleeping nearly past breakfast-time, then high-tailed it to the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. We didn’t get to see the Pope, but the whole experience was phenomenal. It did, however, nearly kill me to see the lavishness of a group of people who are supposed to be helping the poor of the world. Still, it was gorgeous there.
Then we headed out to see the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. At the Trevi Fountain, we had gelato (which beats regular ice-cream AND the gelato I’ve had here). After we went to the Spanish Steps and waiting there for it to get dark so we could snap a few pictures, we headed back to the Trevi Fountain to get some night-shots of it. I distinctly remember a man at the Spanish Steps in a pin-strip Armani suit with a red silk handkerchief in his breast pocket.
Once again we ate on the streets of Rome, finding a restaurant on the way home. And, once again, we fell asleep before our heads hit our pillows.
The next day, we actually got up on time, since we didn’t have a ton of time to waste - we were about to get on the train that would take us to our cruise!
Of course, this also took forever. More walking! More stairs!
But at one pm, we were checking in to the cruise. By three pm we were mostly unpacked. At 4:30 we had a lifeboat drill, and at 6pm, we pulled away from the dock and set out to sea!
Yesterday, I woke up early to take pictures of the volcano on Stromboli Island. Then dad, mom and I watched the Executive Chef prepare red pepper soup and a potato and scallop tart with caviar. Mare and I caught up on sleep, and then it was time for “Formal Dinner.” I had a shrimp cocktail, gree “meatball in lemon & egg soup,” and lobster with a dessert of crepes suzette.
Today we went on shore for our first excursion, the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia. MORE STEPS! But the city itself is beautiful. We walked the ancient walls of the city, saw some gorgeous icons and churches, and had Hawaiian pizza in a café/pizzeria along the way back. We then headed back to the boat, took a swim, and are now getting ready for our third dinner on the ship. I’ll write more tomorrow after our horseback ride through Corfu, Greece.
Right now, I need to get dressed!
~Melanie
So, we (my family & I) have been on this ship for 2 ½ days and on vacation for 5 days in total. The first day, Tuesday, was spent getting ready and packing. We left JFK airport at 6pm and flew over-night into Dublin. Customs was insanely fast, which left us over an hour to kill in the airport. I grabbed a chocolate chip muffin and an orange juice (both of which were rip-offs, but you’re stuck in an airport, so what can you do??), then settled in to play Sudoku… and argue with dad.
Once we landed in Rome, the craziness began. First, our pre-ordered taxi was late by about an hour. Then when he finally got to us, he took one look at our suitcases and told us his car was too small to take them. Wonderful. But he was nice enough to help us get our luggage to a taxi line-up, and soon we were on our way. Thirty minutes later, we arrived at our bed-and-breakfast. Yay!
Except that they weren’t ready for us. The guy who ran the place was very nice, though, and brought us some pineapple drinks to cool us off (it was HOT) while we waited for our rooms. After they were ready, we set our things down, changed shoes & headed out!
First, we had an adventure getting our underground passes, as we were looking for specific ones. Then we were off to the Coliseum! The view of the stadium was amazing! How it was made so well and still so beautiful, I haven’t the foggiest.
Then it was off to see more ruins. Somewhere in the middle of this, I twisted my ankle, but paid it no mind at the time. Walk it off, right? (Later, we found out my ankle was seriously twisted, and had to get a brace for it.)
We came “home,” had dinner at a local restaurant that reminded me a bit of New Hope, PA, then CRASHED once back in bed.
The next day we had breakfast after sleeping nearly past breakfast-time, then high-tailed it to the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. We didn’t get to see the Pope, but the whole experience was phenomenal. It did, however, nearly kill me to see the lavishness of a group of people who are supposed to be helping the poor of the world. Still, it was gorgeous there.
Then we headed out to see the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. At the Trevi Fountain, we had gelato (which beats regular ice-cream AND the gelato I’ve had here). After we went to the Spanish Steps and waiting there for it to get dark so we could snap a few pictures, we headed back to the Trevi Fountain to get some night-shots of it. I distinctly remember a man at the Spanish Steps in a pin-strip Armani suit with a red silk handkerchief in his breast pocket.
Once again we ate on the streets of Rome, finding a restaurant on the way home. And, once again, we fell asleep before our heads hit our pillows.
The next day, we actually got up on time, since we didn’t have a ton of time to waste - we were about to get on the train that would take us to our cruise!
Of course, this also took forever. More walking! More stairs!
But at one pm, we were checking in to the cruise. By three pm we were mostly unpacked. At 4:30 we had a lifeboat drill, and at 6pm, we pulled away from the dock and set out to sea!
Yesterday, I woke up early to take pictures of the volcano on Stromboli Island. Then dad, mom and I watched the Executive Chef prepare red pepper soup and a potato and scallop tart with caviar. Mare and I caught up on sleep, and then it was time for “Formal Dinner.” I had a shrimp cocktail, gree “meatball in lemon & egg soup,” and lobster with a dessert of crepes suzette.
Today we went on shore for our first excursion, the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia. MORE STEPS! But the city itself is beautiful. We walked the ancient walls of the city, saw some gorgeous icons and churches, and had Hawaiian pizza in a café/pizzeria along the way back. We then headed back to the boat, took a swim, and are now getting ready for our third dinner on the ship. I’ll write more tomorrow after our horseback ride through Corfu, Greece.
Right now, I need to get dressed!
~Melanie