Mykonos Greece on Friday

Mykonos Greece - A small island.  All houses are white with blue trim.

Thursday at Sea

Norwegian Spririt

Balcony room top for (11th deck) on right

Spacious and comfortable king size bed made for us each day

Compact bathroom with great closet behind.  Can you see both?

Glass elevator and spacious 7th deck atrium

Vegetable bouquet

Crab - one of my favorites from the cabin steward

Sunset from our balcony

Pompeii on Wednesday

Stepping stones with space for the Chariot

Marketplace in Pompeii

Entrance to Pompeii

Mount Vesuvius

Dave and Naples Pizza

Wednesday May 2

Pompeii was fascinating and huge.  I had not realized it was so wicked.  Our guide mentioned it was as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah.   I wonder if that is why it was destroyed.

The large cobble stones and the relatively wide streets were challenging walking but easy for groups.  They placed two or three raised stones in the slightly sunken road so people could cross and keep feet dry when they washed the streets.  The stones were the right width for the chariots to pass easily

The huge forum, plaza and marketplace surprised me.  Streets were fairly straight.

Some detailed, carefully designed mosaic floors were preserved.

After lunch on the ship, Dave and I went out again to see Naples. Riding the Hop on Hop off bus allowed us to see the beautiful architecture, experience the narrow streets and the skilled bus driver as he maneuver tight turns.  The streets were full of Vespas and the driving lanes seemed quite fluid. 

Dave had Margareta Pizza – Naples claims to be the home of pizza.  The heat was less intense and we had a pleasant walk by a park back to ship.

Rome - Forum ruins and St Peter's

Walking on the huge boulders was hard.  The forum had little of its glorious history.  It was just ruins.

St. Peter’s was so popular that we waited 1 ¾ hours to get in.  We were grateful for the pleasant breeze and cool temperatures.  The plaza has a semi-circular building with statues above each column.  Inside was full of amazing ceilings, gold décor, marble floors, and wonderful ornate decorations everywhere.  Michelangelo designed the dome.  The Vatican and its museums were closed because of the Labor Day holiday.  I guess we will have to return someday. 

Ancient Rome - Coliseum

Imperial Rome – Famous Rome – All roads lead to Rome – When in Rome do as the Romans do – Aqueducts and bridges that were so valuable that the enemies didn’t destroy them when Rome was destroyed.  We walked some of those roads and saw the ruins where so much history took place.  Rome was as crowded as we had been led to believe.  It was a holiday which added to the crowds but no cars were allowed on the street by the Coliseum so being able to walk there made it much easier to keep up with our guide.  It was fascinating to see. 

Restaurant and Santa Croce Basilica in Florence

 Restaurant

 Silver Altar

Kurt and I dined at the outdoor restaurant looking at the beautiful Santa Croce Basilica, a church and burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, such as Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini.   Cloud cover was a blessing and the rain held off for another hour.

Historic Florence is small.  We walked 10 minutes and were back to the Duomo.  We visited the Duomo museum with a huge silver altarpiece of detailed and precise craftsmanship.  We saw the Michelangelo pieta with the less defined faces of Mary and Jesus.  It was very moving.   As we finished in Florence, the rain came.  We had time to slip inside a little, quiet church.  It was peaceful and good to be away from the ever present cigarette smoke. 

We didn’t need to worry about rain or sun.  There were vendors everywhere selling umbrellas or sun glasses and sun hats.  We had one umbrella we shared.  It was a wonderful day.

Florence Italy on Monday April 30

We started with the incredible Piazza del Duomo located in the heart of the historic center of Florence, Italy.   It is one of the most visited places in Europe and Monday was no exception.  Crowds were huge.  I loved the Duomo is of colored marble with detailed carving and ornate decoration everywhere.  It was fascinating to see the dome by Filippo Brunelleschi which is said to be the largest brick dome ever constructed.   It is a dome within a dome made with interlocking bricks and said to be a feat of engineering wonder of the age.

It is interesting to see such a variety of architecture in the same building.  It took so long to build that the designs were changed in the process.  Our outstanding guide said Lorenzo Ghiberti took 21 years to complete the north Baptistery doors. These gilded bronze doors consist of twenty-eight amazing panels, most depicting the life of Christ from the New Testament.  People could not enter the church until they had been baptized in this separate building called the baptistery.   In the same plaza is Giotto’s Campanile, described as the most beautiful bell tower in the world.  Statues are in niches and ornate decorations are everywhere.  It was amazing.   No wonder there were hundreds of others there to see as well. 

We had a challenging time following our guide, looking at amazing buildings and watching our step on the uneven cobblestones.  We next saw the copy of the David near the Medici palace.  Sculpture in the outdoors seemed strange because it was so unprotected.  We walked down narrow streets and suddenly were at the Arno River getting a quick view of the famous bridge known as Ponte Vecchio.  We braved the crowds and maneuvered into the amazing courtyard of the Ufizzi Gallery where our tour ended.  There are 10 or more statues in the outside courtyard.  We were standing by the museum with some of the world’s most famous Italian paintings and didn’t have tickets to enter.