My trip report

Ok my friends...I have written my report...it is LONG so if you do not want to read it...welll....hey I understand! This trip was one of the most amazing experiences of my life, just as I hoped (and KNEW) it would be! I am plotting even now to go back!
My cruise trip report

There is so much to report, and so much that I can?t relay, but I will do my best! I am not good with descriptive words?and the ones that I use fall way short of how I felt in actuality.

7/13

The flight to Rome is long, but thankfully uneventful. I arrive 11:15 Rome time and transported (without any problems) to the ship in Civitavecchia. Needless to say I am very excited?I can not believe that I am actually in Italy!!!! It is such an amazing, overwhelming feeling.

7/14

The ship is large (2000 passangers and 900 employees! A true floating city)

My cabin is the perfect size for me. I watch as we sail from port around 7:30.?I?m off on my adventure!!!

I have late seating for dinner, 8:45, so I have plenty of time to get ready. This first night I sit with a young couple from Ireland and a young lady from Whales. After dinner I GO to bed?early wake up for Naples excursion the next day!

7/15

Arrival in Naples! My excursion begins at 7:30. I board a small van with about 20 people. We are off to the Amalfi coast. A lovely ride to Positano. The Amalfi Coast is so lovely that I can?t even describe it properly. I will tell you now that I wanted to cry the whole cruise?every town was so beautiful and so full of life, love, soul, pride, passion, culture and history. Positano was such a lovely town with houses and shops lining the steep cliffs all the way down to the bay. A small winding cobblestone street leads you down to the beach. If I ever get married again I want to honeymoon in this amazing little town!

Then we drive on to Sorrento?a very busy town, not nearly as lovely as Positano. I have a glass of wine and enjoy sitting outside and people watching. Our group meets back up where we then go to a local hotel (that sits atop a cliff) for lunch. The views from the terrace are spectacular! I have a wonderful fish dish for lunch.

We board the van and drive to Pompeii. I have read so much about this town while doing my ancient Greek and Roman studies in college. I am too overwhelmed for words. To know that I am walking on ground where ancient cultures have tread! It is just too much! The view of Mt. Vesuvius is spectacular and she is omnipresent! I had to touch as many walls as I could, knowing that ancient hands had touched these very same spots! Also knowing that this one town, buried for hundreds of years, untouched by cultural changes, is the most intact city of ancient times.

Back on board I went to my cabin to nap. I had every intention of showering and going to dinner?NOT HAPPENING! I woke up , ordered room service (cheese plate and healthful salad) took a shower and fell into a deep sleep. I woke up at 5:30...looked at the time, went back to sleep and slept until 12:39!!!! NOW I can say I am over jet lag!

7/16

At sea, not much to report. I enjoyed the sun and read for a while. I attended an enrichment series conducted by a classical guitarist and another lecture on the Seven Wonders of the World. Both were quite enjoyable. I was switched to another table to dine (the young lady from Whales was switched as well) I am very happy about this. I met 2 wonderful couples that will remain my friends! One couple was celebrating their 50th anniversary and the other couple are from Miami. I hope to visit with them some day!

7/17

OMG --I am in Greece! This is the place I have only dreamed of being. I have longed for Greece for many, many years. Somehow I have always known my soul is here. Mykonos is my first glimpse of Greece and it is beautiful, magestic, gem like! Here I have no shore excursion and I am able to explore the town at my leisure. All the buildings are white! (some have blue domes?but most are all white?for purity and to preserve the integrity of the city) I now understand Alys Beach!!!!!!! I can not wait to visit Alys Beach next week?for I know that I will feel like I am in Mykonos again! I walk along the narrow, cobbled streets taking pictures as I go. I do some shopping, but not much?just souvenirs. I am here to absorb not to buy! I walk along the waterfront and find the lovely area known as Little Venice. I sit in a small caf? on an even smaller balcony having a glass of wine and enjoying the view! I do not want to leave, but I have found out that there is a beach within walking distance of the ship. I go to the beach and enjoy this view as well. I feel incredible in Mykonos and I know that I have been here before.

7/18

We are now in Santorini, which is made up of 5 islands, two of which are strictly volcanic and uninhabited. Thira, the largest of the 5, is a very violent looking island (where Mykonos was gentle) ?sharply jutting out of the Agean Sea, in waves and layers of rock. On top of these sharp cliffs the towns are perched like snow capped mountains (most of the houses here are white as well). I board a bus that winds up up up to the top of the island. First we go to Oia (pronounced E-ya). It is a small, charming town. Very narrow cobbled streets. Around every corner are breathtaking views and beautiful architecture. I love this town! Everything is picturesque, so much so that I want to cry for the sheer beauty of it. I have to leave, reluctantly, and go to Fira. First we stop by a winery and sample some local wine and tapas. This winery has breathtaking views and I can see my ship far below! Now on to Fira. This town is high upon the cliffs and again has breathtaking views. I wander around on my own at this point?free to stay as long as I want. I take a cable car down to the tender area and this is where I find my heart. This small area has so much to offer. Vistas, houses built into the cliffs, splashing waves, forgotten boats of every color in varying degrees of decay?but they are lovely! (even some donkeys). I am able to put my feet in the water and just sit and enjoy the view! I run out of memory in my camera, so it is time to head back to the ship.

7/19

At sea?I attend 2 more seminars, another classical guitar (including the lute) and one on the Phonecians. Mostly I lay in the sun and read.

7/20

We dock in Messina, Sicly. Another beautiful place! My shore excursion is to Taromina, a beautifl, old city. We visit the old theater there?ancient and falling down, but it is beautiful! It is also where the animals fought each other and men as well. The view from this theater is amazing. Upon the hills surrounding the theater is the sea as far as the eye can take you, and vistas of the towns surrounding Taromina. Board the bus and head to Mt. Etna!!! This is one of the few active volcanos in the world. We stop first and have lunch at a small resturant. The view of Mt Etna is spectacular, and I can actually hear the volcanic eruptions from within the crater itself! It sounds like distant, rumbling thunder, but you know it is the volcano!! Everywhere there are mounds upon mounds of lava rocks and flows! We drive a little further to one of the small cones formed by the volcano. It is like a small crater! It is very chilly here since our elevation in quite high! I learn that later this night the volcano does erupt, and can be seen for miles!!. The towns are not too concerned because the lava is not a fast flowing kind, so there is not any real danger, just the possible loss of homes and businesses.

7/21

Again at sea. Not much to report?just some down time

7/22

French Riveria! My excursion begins in the small town of Antibes. Most of the towns in this area grew up around a very ancient core (all of which were walled cities). The center of this core is a church. Antibes is small, but lovely! It has a nice little market place?which I loved. Then it is on to Nice, a much larger town! The market here is amazing. The aromas as I walked around are incredible! Spices, flowers, cheeses, olives and fruits! The displays are a feast for the eyes! I could spend a month here, shopping in the market every day and sampling something new every time! I walk down to the beach here?very crowded! We head back to Cannes and along the way I can see the French Alps! Back in Cannes I have lunch with some friends I have met from the ship. I see that there is a beach very close to where we tender, so I have vowed that I will not let this opportunity slip! I go back to the ship, change clothes and head to the beach. I am going to do something that if I don?t do it, I can never face myself in the mirror! I swim topless in the sea! There?I can say I did it!

7/23

I am sad, my cruise is almost at an end. But there is one more city to visit..and it is AMAZING! Florence (Firenzia) I can never, never, never do this city justice! Suffice to say that it is beauty, culture, history, art and love. The buildings, the churches, the arches, the bridge (Ponte Vecchio), the domes, the sculpture! This is where David lives! My tour includes a viewing of David. He is truly magnificent! You can not appreciate how wonderful and how striking and how big he is until you are in his actual presence. Florence?.

Michaelangelo, Donatello, Gallaleo,Raphael, Botticelli?.sculptures, artists, scientists, philosophers, kings and emperors created this city of magnifiance. I can not tell you how impressive this city is! There is beauty EVERYWHERE! One of the most amazing structures is the cathedral which is Huge, with an impressive bell tower, huge domes and amazing decoration. Imagine every square inch of a building the size of a city block (or more) being covered with white, green and pink marble, then add elaborate sculptures and friezes everywhere and on every possible spot. This cathedral is the most magnificent structure I have ever seen! I will have pictures of this and all the other places to share?but I need daddy-o?s help next week to put them into my SoWal album!

7/24 The ship has docked once again in Citiavecchia, and I leave for the airport by 6:30. My flight leaves at 11:15 for Philadelphia. I am very lucky, the couple I have gotten to know from my dinner table is on the same flight. We pass the time in the airport together. The flight gets to Philadelphia, but we can?t land for 20 minutes because of congested traffic. My first clue that this airport is not going to be a good experience. (But I don?t mind too much?if it had been this way going on the trip I would have been very upset!) The Philadelphia airport is a nightmare?endless lines (customs) that lead to more endless lines! This is the most archaic airport I have ever been in?completely a case of too much growth in the area?and an airport that can not keep up!?.Oh well?I finally make it to the plane and the plane sits for 45 minutes on the tarmack (after an already one hour delay). Oh well?deal with it. The rest of the flight is fine and I get to Atlanta by 9:10. My girlfriend picks me up and I spend the next few hours telling her about the trip.

Retrospect: I bought very few souvenirs. Most of my souvenirs were free?sand , stones, rocks and lava! These things are more precious than gold?they are a piece of Greece, Italy and France that I can touch, feel, hold and remember! They are pieces of a land that I have known in my heart for so long, and now I know them in my mind and in my soul!