Our cruise stopped in Civitavecchia and we had a tour scheduled for Rome. However, Lane was ill so we did not get off the ship. We found that the ice cream on the ship was making him ill. But it was that last night on board when we finally figured that out. He had ice cream on two different occasions and was ill both times.
Port at Civitavecchia (Rome)
We stopped in Palermo, the capital city of Sicily. The cruise ship only had 7 hours at port. However, Lane had to see the Doctor at 12:00 PM before we could go ashore. Therefore, we only had 4 hours. Of course we had to find a Post Office to mail our postcard and taste the food. We did not have much to time to see much of the city. We really enjoyed the ice cream and the late lunch!
We cruised into Piraeus and took the panoramic tour of Athens, Greece’s capital city. We stopped near the Acropolis where we could also view the Parthenon. The tour also took us to the Panathenaic Stadium which was built for the 1st Olympic games in the modern era (1896). We also went by the Olympic Stadium that hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics. In addition, we spent some time in the center of town with cafes and shops.
Today we stopped in Izmir, Turkey. It is a city of over 4 million people. The traffic is something that we would never want to experience on our own. We took a tour to Ephasus, which is about 60 kilometers away. In Ephasus we toured St John’s church, where St John was buried. We also went to the Virgin Mary’s house. Mary lived on top of a mountain after Jesus crucifixion. There are quite a few homes on the mountain with Mary’s house. In addition, there is a spring on top of the mountain near Mary’s house. Mary lived her last days drinking the healing water of the fountain. There were many miracles worked by the water. There is a wall by Mary’s house where people put prayers on the wall.
We were surprised by the landscape and the numerous orchards on the side of the hills. There were also lots of fields, however, we did see older tractors. In addition, we were not expecting 6 lane highways and good roads. The cities are built up on the slopes of the hills.
Marmaris was our favorite place. It is in a bay along beautiful sandy beaches, surrounded by mountains and pine trees. We were very surprised by Turkey… no camels or desert. In addition, the people were exceptionally nice. Of course we had to taste the food in Turkey. We would go back there again.
Lane is such a giving person that he offered to take a picture of a German couple on the beach. Before I know it, Lane was having his picture taken with the German lady!!! I thought that was so funny!
We enjoyed walking around the town, although it was uphill all the way from the port. There were fountains, old churches, and street markets. In the street markets there were lots of seafood on ice, lots of fruits and vegetables, and lots of small gifts. In the town center we stopped to have an ice cream frappe. I was sure there was no sugar in the ice cream frappe!!! We walked by the seaport and found some Baklava. Of course we had to make sure the Baklava was good!!
We walked the seaport and visited cafes and shops. We also got a little wet from a couple small showers. The port was full of lots of people. We also tried the Greek food. I had to get a gyro, however, they also put french fries in it. Lane had chicken and pork on a stick.
We took an 11 day Mediterranian cruise on the MSC Splendia. The ship was very large. It has 18 decks, with 3,274 passengers, 1,332 crew, 5 pools, and is 333 meters long. The ship was clean and beautiful! Lane was excited that there was a place where he could go bowling! I was glad for the balcony where we could enjoy breakfast in the morning! The staff was very nice. However, we would not cruise on MSC again. They don’t serve any beverage for meals unless you pay for it (including water). You cannot even get coffee or tea with your meals except for breakfast. Although the crew spoke English, we found if very hard to communicate with the other passengers. The passengers consisted of 40% German, 40% Italian, and the rest were from all other countries. Those countries included US, China, Valenzuela, Croatia, Spain, France, etc.
We got into Genoa late on December 3rd. The hotel was very nice for a European hotel. Of course the bathroom was very small. When you drop the roll of paper and lean down to pick it up, you will hit your head on the sink! However, I only did that once. Our two days in Genoa were very nice. We had some fabulous food and beautiful scenery. Although the food is excellent in Italy, you cannot get dinner until after 7:00 PM. The restaurants don’t open until then.
In Italy you do not take the hotel keys with you. You always drop them off at the desk before you leave the hotel for any reason. However, when we checked in real late, we were not told about that. Lane walked around with a key that was over 1/2 lb in his pocket all day. One good thing about the key ring is that you don’t forget when you have it with you.
Lane also found a new foot washer. It is called a bidet!!!
We left Tucson in the AM on December 2nd and had an 11 hour layover in Madrid Spain on our way to Genoa, Italy. While we were in Madrid, we had a great time with good friends William and Sabine. We went to a grocery market that was fabulous. We had never seen to many different types of food in one store before. There were quite a few foods that we didn’t recognize. They also had lots of hanging meat and fresh seafood (including octopus) on ice. We also tasted some great Spanish food and toured the city. It was a wonderful day!
