Mediterranean

Dubrovnik, Croatia, the Dalmatian Coast….Great city that I’d love to visit again, would love to see more of the country. Saw one Dalmatian dog and we dodged a major hailstorm and flash flooding.

Santorini, Greek Islands...

don’t take the donkeys up the mountain, the cable car is worth every Euro. You can walk down the mountain, just beware the donkey patties.

Athens and Piraeus…Can’t believe we saw the Parthenon (more or less)!! Felt like our guide was from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, “Parthenon is the Greek word for….” Not sure I would want to spend more time in Athens though, big city.

Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento and the Amalfi coast…LOVED Naples and the surrounding areas. Pompeii was such a big surprise as far as the ruins and how much has been discovered over time. Just infatuated with how there is still paint on the walls and murals with fairly vibrant colors. It really gives you the sense of scale for what Pompeii must have been like and how the streets were laid out and how the houses must have been. The drive on the Amalfi coast reminded me of driving PCH around Big Sur in California. The lunch in Sorrento knocked my socks off, so far the BEST meal that I have had so far, I just don’t know if I would ever be able to find it again or tell anyone else how to. I thought of Charmaine the entire time while enjoying my homemade Limoncello!

Rome and Vatican City...Besides being very crowded and hot (as expected), I enjoyed revisiting the Coliseum and touring the city again. We had a great guide who knew a lot about art history and had moved to Rome to work in the archives there. Seeing the Sistine Chapel again was different than my first time, not as pleasurable due to the crowds. BUT I do have to say that the restorations had not been completed since I was last there and this time it was so vibrant! The colors in the paint just popped out from the walls and the scenes came to life. Interesting range of people visiting, some talking on their cell phones and others in tears, moved by the work of Michelangelo.

Florence and Pisa... The tower is still leaning. I actually wonder why they just didn’t tear the whole thing down when they first realized it was leaning, rather than try to fix it so many times over the years. Just a query. Florence is the birthplace of gelato and we found some amazing gelato close to the Ponte Vecchio. We visited Santa Croce where we saw the burial place of Galileo and Michelangelo and some work by Brunelleschi as well as Donatello.

Nice and Ville France…..Made our way to the Matisse Museum where I was personally amazed by the maquettes that Matisse had made for a chapel ( the name escapes me at the moment). Many works that I have never seen before and some interesting artifacts that were left over from his home and studio.

Our next stop is Barcelona where we will be for a few days before we leave for Morocco. We are going to miss being with my family but are ready to move on in our travels. Cruising is a great way to see a lot of places and I am looking forward to getting our feet back on the ground for a while.