Well, the Melody berthed this morning back in Genoa after a great 11 days. Since we left Jerusalem where we had an incredible two days, we have had half day visits to Limassol (Cyprus), Heraklion (Crete) and Sorrento (Italy). These half day visits are way too short and very unsatisfying. In Limassol, we hired a cab with friends and went out to visit some of the sights (Citadel, the amphitheatre and Temple of Apollo) and then back to have a beer overlooking the sea. In Heraklion, John went to Knossos while I stayed with a group of friends and drank iced coffee at a local cafe and wandered around the town. It was Sunday when we were in Sorrento so we caught a local bus over to Positano (spectacular drive - possibly the most spectacular in the world) and had a coffee overlooking this wonderful city and then caught the bus back. Shame but that is all the time the cruise offered. We arrived back into Genoa this morning and caught the train back to Milano.
All in all, for us, the cruise was a great experience. There was certainly room for improvement with MSC. Not a lot of activities that we wanted to do and the ones we did want to do were not very good. The food was really good especially for us travelling. We were so lucky to have wonderful people at our table whom I am sure we will stay friends with now. Actually we are meeting Ron and Sunny for dinner in Milano tonight. We helped the other couple, Bruce and Marg, celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on the 27th so that was special. This made the cruise for all of us - to have made such good friends. There were not many English speaking people on board so we tended to band together. Some "many time" cruisers were disappointed in the boat but we quite enjoyed it. John was one of the table tennis kings and won two caps for us.
We fly out to Prague tomorrow afternoon and will go for a walk around Milan this afternoon. We are booked to see the Last Supper tomorrow morning. We are looking forward to moving on now and begin the main part of our trip.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Oh Jerusalem!!!!
What a fine fine city!! We cruised into the port of Ashdod this morning and with friends of ours from the boat caught a cab into this amazing city. We are staying in here overnight as the boat does not leave Ashdod until 7 pm tomorrow (Wednesday) so we are like pigs in mud.
Spent this afternoon wandering around the Old City visiting the Holy Sepulchre (the site of Calvary and Jesus' tomb), wandering along the Via Dolorosa (visiting the stations of the cross) and ending up at the Western Wall. Sitting in the plaza here is a true multi cultural experience (even better than being in West End) as people of all different religions, cultures and races wander through. John and I both love Jerusalem and of course with both our backgrounds appreciate immensely the sacredness of this city. We are relishing the opportunity to be back.
The boat has been really enjoyable. We had a nostalgic day in Malta revisiting places we had been in 2005. The food is spectacular and even though we often have five courses the courses are reasonably small so you don't feel bloated at the end of the meal. It is an Italian boat so what else would you expect.
Hope all is well at home. Good to hear the wedding went well at the weekend.
Ciao
John and Deb
Spent this afternoon wandering around the Old City visiting the Holy Sepulchre (the site of Calvary and Jesus' tomb), wandering along the Via Dolorosa (visiting the stations of the cross) and ending up at the Western Wall. Sitting in the plaza here is a true multi cultural experience (even better than being in West End) as people of all different religions, cultures and races wander through. John and I both love Jerusalem and of course with both our backgrounds appreciate immensely the sacredness of this city. We are relishing the opportunity to be back.
The boat has been really enjoyable. We had a nostalgic day in Malta revisiting places we had been in 2005. The food is spectacular and even though we often have five courses the courses are reasonably small so you don't feel bloated at the end of the meal. It is an Italian boat so what else would you expect.
Hope all is well at home. Good to hear the wedding went well at the weekend.
Ciao
John and Deb
Friday, May 20, 2011
We're cruisin, Susan
We boarded the MSC Melody in Genoa yesterday and are now cruising towards Valetta in Malta and having a ball. The ship is not a big one and mainly Europeans aboard but we are into it!!! We have a great cabin, midships on an upper deck. We boarded about midday yesterday to find a beautiful buffet lunch awaiting us and then spent time exploring our options. Had a five course meal last night, only small portions I am pleased to report.
Today John has been to the gym, I have been to an aerobics class, we have had a first class brekky, got books out from the library, John won the table tennis tournament, had a spa near the pool, went to a movie, relaxed in the deck chairs and will need to get ready soon for a gala dinner. God knows what we are going to wear cause it's supposed to be flash. Now we couldn't do flash real well even if we had all our clothes here let alone drag flash out of a backpack.
But for one who was quite cynical I am really enjoying it. A nice relaxed feeling about the boat. Hope all is well at home. Thanks everyone for your emails.
Today John has been to the gym, I have been to an aerobics class, we have had a first class brekky, got books out from the library, John won the table tennis tournament, had a spa near the pool, went to a movie, relaxed in the deck chairs and will need to get ready soon for a gala dinner. God knows what we are going to wear cause it's supposed to be flash. Now we couldn't do flash real well even if we had all our clothes here let alone drag flash out of a backpack.
But for one who was quite cynical I am really enjoying it. A nice relaxed feeling about the boat. Hope all is well at home. Thanks everyone for your emails.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Cote d'Azur
We are now in Genoa spending the night before going on our cruise tomorrow after spending a wonderful week in Theoule on the Cote d'Azur in southern France. Theoule is about 20 kms west of Cannes and from the villa we stayed in we could stand on the terrace and watch the lights twinkling around the whole bay ending in Cannes where the Film Festival was being held. This unfortunately had the effect of making the traffic pretty unbearable but we still spent a lovely morning wandering around and trying to spot some stars. Liz and I really enjoyed the shopping and although we didn't see anyone of note the atmosphere was good. John and I had the day out in western Provence and visited Avignon, Pont du Garde and Orange before doing a spectacular drive through magnificent valleys lined by rocky mountains back to Theoule. We clocked up about 750 kms this day but it was really worthwhile and put us back in the French countryside which we love.
Had another day in the town of Grasse where they were having a Rose Festival. Oooohhh, the roses!!!!! They were magnificent and maybe makes me realise Queensland maybe hasn't got the idyllic weather in which to grow roses. They were selling everything made out of rose petals or rose extract. It was just a real pleasure to be there. We had a walk around the town and the Cathedral was probably the best Romanesque church John had seen - even more splendid because of the huge vases of roses inside - the Rubens paintings didn't detract from it either.
A visit to Monaco on a beautiful clear day was really exciting for me because we drove the Grand Prix circuit which is being set up for the Grand Prix in two weeks time. Thought of and missed my boy and wished he was there instead of in Afghanistan. We walked up to the Palace and wandered around the old city. Monte Carlo's location is amazing set against the azure sea with the mountains in the background. The boats in the harbour are something to behold. Kayaks with a sail just wouldn't cut it here, Helen!!!!! John tried to talk his way on to a few but I don't think it was the first time they were asked and basically told him to go away in no uncertain terms.
On our last day we went for a drive out to the Verdon Gorge. What an amazing place this was. It is billed as the second largest in the world next to the Grand Canyon and the vistas were spectacular. Wish we had had time to have a canoe down the river through the gorge. Maybe next time.
We have drunk a lot of bottles of wine, ate our way through pate, terrine, fish and potato dip, cheeses, many croissants and loaves of bread, drank wonderful coffee, had two traumatic games of Scrabble and all in all had a wonderful week with good friends. One to remember!!!!
Tomorrow we go on our cruise and are stopping at Malta, Jerusalem (2 days now as they cut out Port Said - we are thrilled), Greece, Cyprus, Crete and Sorrento. Looking forward to it however it will be tinged with sadness as we are missing our niece's wedding on Saturday and we would dearly love to be there.
Had another day in the town of Grasse where they were having a Rose Festival. Oooohhh, the roses!!!!! They were magnificent and maybe makes me realise Queensland maybe hasn't got the idyllic weather in which to grow roses. They were selling everything made out of rose petals or rose extract. It was just a real pleasure to be there. We had a walk around the town and the Cathedral was probably the best Romanesque church John had seen - even more splendid because of the huge vases of roses inside - the Rubens paintings didn't detract from it either.
A visit to Monaco on a beautiful clear day was really exciting for me because we drove the Grand Prix circuit which is being set up for the Grand Prix in two weeks time. Thought of and missed my boy and wished he was there instead of in Afghanistan. We walked up to the Palace and wandered around the old city. Monte Carlo's location is amazing set against the azure sea with the mountains in the background. The boats in the harbour are something to behold. Kayaks with a sail just wouldn't cut it here, Helen!!!!! John tried to talk his way on to a few but I don't think it was the first time they were asked and basically told him to go away in no uncertain terms.
On our last day we went for a drive out to the Verdon Gorge. What an amazing place this was. It is billed as the second largest in the world next to the Grand Canyon and the vistas were spectacular. Wish we had had time to have a canoe down the river through the gorge. Maybe next time.
We have drunk a lot of bottles of wine, ate our way through pate, terrine, fish and potato dip, cheeses, many croissants and loaves of bread, drank wonderful coffee, had two traumatic games of Scrabble and all in all had a wonderful week with good friends. One to remember!!!!
Tomorrow we go on our cruise and are stopping at Malta, Jerusalem (2 days now as they cut out Port Said - we are thrilled), Greece, Cyprus, Crete and Sorrento. Looking forward to it however it will be tinged with sadness as we are missing our niece's wedding on Saturday and we would dearly love to be there.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Goodbye Rome Hello France
Had a wonderful day in Assisi. What a glorious town set on the side of a hill overlooking a beautiful valley in Umbria. We walked nearly every street and the little hill town never disappointed. It seemed so Italian sitting on the square having a glass of wine and eating pizza in the town of St Francis. The bascilica to St Francis is amazing and dominates the small town. It actually has a upper church and a lower church (where St Francis is entombed in a simple and appropriate site). Caught the train back to Rome and went to a wonderful little restaurant for Pizza. An extremely good day. On our last day in Rome we did another big walk going to the Ara Pacis (Augustus tomb) via the Spanish steps, had one last coffee at our favourite outside the Pantheon, sat at the Trevi fountain in the sunshine and then on the plane for Nice to meet our friends, Liz and Ron Jumelet. We actually did that effortlessly and were soon ensconced in our accommodation overlooking the French Riviera including Cannes and Antibes. The lights at night are amazing. We have driven down to St Tropez and had time in Cannes where the film festival is on. John and Ron were basically told yesterday the festival is not for the general public and they didn't care if the public went to see movies. Pity. We looked for David and Margaret but to no avail. We have eaten like kings and drank like fishes for the last couple of days. Today John and I have headed off for western Provence to see the sights of Avignon, Pont du Gard and Orange. It's nice to be in the French countryside again rather than the glitzy Cote d'Azur.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Glorious days in Rome
We have just had three beautiful days in Rome. What a wonderful city and even though this is our third visit here, we still marvel at the sights and delight in the food. Had an incredible day on Sunday. Started off at Trajan's Market, a new museum that John particularly wanted to see. had a good look around with some particularly good vistas towards the Piazza Venezia. When we left we could hear engines revving and were in the middle of a drive through Rome of about 50 Ferraris to honour the beatification of John Paul II. Absolutely amazing and wished Paddy could have been there to point out all the finer details of these racy red roadsters.
From there we went over to the Pantheon where we attended Mass. Was particularly good as they had cleared the usually crowded church so we got a good look at it minus people. Had a coffee at the Tezza D'Oro, best coffee shop in Rome and then wandered to the Piazza Navona and onto the Teatro de Pompeii, a restaurant built over the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated. John has wanted to go here for years and we had a leisurely lunch of linguine with big prawns (lobster), nice bottle of wine and scrumptious desserts. Needed a walk so wandered along the Tiber across to Trastevere and soaked up the Roman "air". We'd been walking at this stage for about 7 hours so I opted for home while John went to the Forum, Trajan's Column and the Capitaline Hill area to soak up the history.
Today we have spent in the magnificent Vatican Museum revisiting some of the old favourites and seeing some of their new displays. How can you ever tire of the Sistine Chapel, the Raphael rooms, the Greek pottery, the Map room. Stunners all of them. Also revisited St Peters and saw the tomb of the recently beatified John Paul II. Walked from there to the Castel d'Angelo and then headed home. Great great day.
Tomorrow we are going to go up to Assisi so we are looking forward to that. We have got great digs at the Beehive. Very comfortable and can prepare some of our own meals. Loving it.
From there we went over to the Pantheon where we attended Mass. Was particularly good as they had cleared the usually crowded church so we got a good look at it minus people. Had a coffee at the Tezza D'Oro, best coffee shop in Rome and then wandered to the Piazza Navona and onto the Teatro de Pompeii, a restaurant built over the site where Julius Caesar was assassinated. John has wanted to go here for years and we had a leisurely lunch of linguine with big prawns (lobster), nice bottle of wine and scrumptious desserts. Needed a walk so wandered along the Tiber across to Trastevere and soaked up the Roman "air". We'd been walking at this stage for about 7 hours so I opted for home while John went to the Forum, Trajan's Column and the Capitaline Hill area to soak up the history.
Today we have spent in the magnificent Vatican Museum revisiting some of the old favourites and seeing some of their new displays. How can you ever tire of the Sistine Chapel, the Raphael rooms, the Greek pottery, the Map room. Stunners all of them. Also revisited St Peters and saw the tomb of the recently beatified John Paul II. Walked from there to the Castel d'Angelo and then headed home. Great great day.
Tomorrow we are going to go up to Assisi so we are looking forward to that. We have got great digs at the Beehive. Very comfortable and can prepare some of our own meals. Loving it.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Nothing like a perfect spring day in Roma!!
After a relaxing couple of days in Kuala Lumpur, we endured the harrowing trip to London, overnight at Stansted airport hotel and then a two hour trip to Rome, to realise why we travel. What a glorious day it has been. The sun is shining, the weather is warm, we have walked to our favourite places, sat admiring the Pantheon for quite a while, had pizza for lunch, a coffee, and now are ensconced in our accommodation. John is heading out to buy some coke to we can crack one of our rums we bought and we will sit on our balcony in the afternoon sun and tell each other why we love Rome!!! So all is well and we are looking forward to a few days here before heading off to Provence to meet Liz and Ron.
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