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[kazu]

Just a little walk to see some of Herculaneum

 

 

 

 

 

People here were NOT poor.  The colours to do the walls - especially the reds and blacks were very expensive.

 

 

 

These are the original doors in this building.

 

 

You can see how big they were here comparing it to some of our roll call members.

 

 

The base of a bed preserved from centuries ago

 

[kazu]

7 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

I am wondering if they were using geo-thermal energy for that “fast-food” area.  I am thinking it would be quite active back then... before Vesuvius blew its top.  A friend and I climbed Vesuvius (more like hiked) and it is still somewhat active.

 

Sorry, that I can’t answer.  Our guide didn’t say that they did as I can recall but he may have neglected to have mentioned it or, I might have missed it!

[kazu]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the spot where 300 bodies were found - people who were trying to escape by sea and could not.

 

These are NOT the actual bodies.  They were removed and casts were taken and placed here to match the same positions and locations where they were originally found.

 

 

 

 

 

[*Miss G*]

The stone masonry is amazing.  Poor people.  ☹️

[ski ww]

Great pictures. Don't know if you're keeping up with the flood situation back home. Jacqui hope you guys are above the water line at home, the flooding on the St. John River is worse this year then last year, Fredericton has water all the way into downtown and it has not crested yet. All that water has to go down stream yet. All the best.

Allan  

[kazu]

1 hour ago, ski ww said:

Great pictures. Don't know if you're keeping up with the flood situation back home. Jacqui hope you guys are above the water line at home, the flooding on the St. John River is worse this year then last year, Fredericton has water all the way into downtown and it has not crested yet. All that water has to go down stream yet. All the best.

Allan  

 

Thanks Allan,

 

Yes we have been following it and been in contact with friends there.

 

Saint John River is really bad this year.  

 

Fortunately, we don’t live on the flood plain or close to it.  Bu I fear for a lot of  other people.  Sounds like it is colder again so we will cross our fingers.  The melt needs to slow down or it will be truly horrendous for so many people.

[kazu]

Herculaneum was amazing and I may well have other pics on my camera or some I missed.  If I do, I will post them later if you like.

 

On the way back from Herculaneum, I was awarded the front seat in the van - perfect spot for pics but there weren’t many to get at this stage of the game.  But, I did try 😉 

 

 

 

Now, the question is - did the punishment fit the crime?  LOL.  We were following our guide (DH and I) and all of a sudden this huge group (about 50 people) came between my group and us.  I had my eye on the guide and a roll call member’s hat and knew where to go but then, there were more groups.

 

And, we had lost our group.  We figured the best thing to do was to head for the exit and I was pulling out my confirmation from Joe Banana Limo to call the 24 hour number so they could reach our driver who could call the guide and there was Peter (he had taken a break earlier) on the phone to his wife who was telling him they had lost us.  He told her we were there and all was good and I put my phone away..  

 

The group was very rude and wouldn’t listen to excuse me, perdon, permiso or any other words.  They did put a massive bruise on my foot though when they trampled on me.  They were pretty aggressive.

 

I had hoped to be back at the ship by 4:30 pm, but our guide at Herculaneum said we would be until 4:30 there to see it properly.  All aboard was at 5:30 and I do like to be back an hour before to be safe.

 

Giussepe (our driver) told us not to worry.  They had this down to a fine art and they have never missed the ship.  We were back at 5 pm.

 

The ship didn’t leave until after 7 - 7:30 pm though.  A HAL shore excursion had been caught in traffic so they were waiting for it.  So, really we had nothing to worry about. 😉 

 

Our last day on the first segment and I had booked the PG for dinner that night.

 

We had the Captain’s table (we think we own it - LOL 😉 ) and 7 of us at the table.

 

Andrea and I had been joking about ordering caviar all day so we were totally prepped to do it.

 

We’ll do it again on another PG.  They couldn’t divide the bill so Andrea bought this time and I will buy next.  Life is rough 😄 

 

Our caviar:

 

 

 

 

 

Crab cakes:

 

 

Dessert.

 

 

Tried to avoid the standard food porn pics.  How many steaks can you look at ?  LOL.

 

Dinner was very good. 🙂   Had to bid farewell to one of our table mates sadly.  How dare he let work get in the way of cruising 😉. But they are spending a few days in Rome so I know they will have an amazing time exploring the eternal city.

[kazu]

After a lovely dinner we were all set.

 

Some had to pack but most of us didn’t at the table 😉 

 

There is nothing nicer than seeing all that luggage and knowing that none of it is yours 😉. Actually, the P’dam staff is very good at picking up the luggage so you really don’t see a whole lot of it.

 

So, the next day, we had a bit of a sleep in (7:30 is sleep in for me on embarkation day), had a light bite and listened to them call luggage tags and when it seemed like they had called the bulk of the people and the rush was over we headed off the ship ( in transit cards in hand).

 

I know everyone heads to Rome or the Etruscan ruins or some of the scenery but we’ve done that and Civitavecchia is actually a very nice town.

 

We hadn’t been here in a while so we decided to do a bit of walking, a bit of savour the flavour and hopefully find some decent wifi so DH could watch the end of his soccer game.

 

 

 

 

I was really trying to catch the flowers on these trees.  But I think I failed.

 

 

Another cruch

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, lots of ruins aside from the fortress here.

 

We went to see the Cathedral here and services were in process so we were very discreet.  DH prayed and I got a few very quiet pictures with my IPad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the very beautiful doors of the cathedral:

 

 

 

[ger_77]

I'm terrible, but I always get a very smug feeling on turnaround day when we don't have to do anything except watch others get off the ship.  Beautiful photos, as always Jacqui!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[kazu]

We took a little break to savour the flavour (ok, but not astounding so no food porn pic)

 

and then we headed to the market

 

Look at the size of the snap peas - holy cow!

 

 

 

 

 

And the tomatoes - see the odd sized ones?

 

 

 

And then, look what kazu found - yup - Flores!

 

 

 

And yes, I bought some.  Actually I bought a plant.  And, it’s orange.  King’s day is on this cruise so, since it’s orange I plan to take it with me wherever I am dining. 😉. 

 

DH was nice enough to hold it for me

 

 

 

A close up for you.  They are even in an orange pot.  Perfect!

 

 

OMG there were a ton of ships in port.  Thankfully, we had the best spot closest to the entrance.

 

 

We found a spot for a light drink and were admiring the view:

 

 

The owner saw my plant and asked me if I liked flowers.  He invited me inside to see his garden.  

 

 

And this is the ceiling in his ladies washroom:

 

 

 

Quite unique and quite pretty.  

 

We had a lovely day in Civitavecchia and returned to the ship in a timely manner.

 

Loved hearing the life boat drill alarms and knowing we didn’t have to go.

 

More tomorrow when I hope to catch up some more.  We have tour tomorrow (surprise!) in Alicante which should be fun and interesting.  Looking forward to it.

 

Cheers from the Prinsendam at sea sailing to Alicante.

[ger_77]

Are you sure those are snap peas?  They look more like pole beans!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[*Miss G*]

Oh my gosh I can totally relate to the crush of the tour groups!  We were doing a tour of the Sistine Chapel and while our guide was showing us points of interest on the ceiling I was swept away by a sea of people!    One of the men in our group noticed and was able to rescue me before I was carried outside.  He literally bulldozed our way back to the group.  It was crazy with a capital “C”!!!

 

Holy smokes the caviar!  I would be so full after that!!

 

I love the fleurs!!  Such a beautiful color. And a great idea to bring them around with you!  That was so nice of the owner to show you his garden!  People can be so lovely.  I remember being in Sorrento and going to a restaurant we had read about in Gourmet Magazine.  It was a small wooden door in a giant brick wall with just a little rectangle bronze plaque with a name and no window.  If you didn’t know what it was you wouldn’t know what it was.  But when you opened the door and stepped inside it was like a choir of angels started singing.  It was big and bright and open with an airy garden and lush plants and statues and fountains with tables here and there.  It was astonishing and I am so happy to have experienced it.

 

Sorry for the thread drift.  You brought back so many memories.  🤗

 

P.S.  One day I would love to experience being “in transit”.  Lucky you!

[rkacruiser]

27 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

We were doing a tour of the Sistine Chapel and while our guide was showing us points of interest on the ceiling I was swept away by a sea of people! 

 

My first visit to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel was being part of a group.  The tour was fascinating, but tantalizing, as I knew I was missing much due to being "swept along".  My second visit was on my own:  I took my time, I stepped aside as the masses came through, I saw/experienced so much more, but I left the Museum knowing that another visit would surely be worthwhile.  

[kazu]

6 hours ago, ger_77 said:

Are you sure those are snap peas?  They look more like pole beans!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

 

They looked like huge snap peas to me and DH but perhaps they were pole beans.  I’m not an expert on Med veggies 😉 

[kazu]

5 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Oh my gosh I can totally relate to the crush of the tour groups!  We were doing a tour of the Sistine Chapel and while our guide was showing us points of interest on the ceiling I was swept away by a sea of people!    One of the men in our group noticed and was able to rescue me before I was carried outside.  He literally bulldozed our way back to the group.  It was crazy with a capital “C”!!!

 

I panicked momentarily when I realized we had lost our little group (and we were a little group).  But, I knew we would connect.  After all, I had the money for the guide and the tour 😉   Just kidding.  I was with friends who wouldn’t leave us behind 😄

 

 

5 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Holy smokes the caviar!  I would be so full after that!!

 

We had little to eat that day considering the walking we did so we managed just fine 😉 

 

5 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I love the fleurs!!  Such a beautiful color. And a great idea to bring them around with you!  That was so nice of the owner to show you his garden!  People can be so lovely.  I remember being in Sorrento and going to a restaurant we had read about in Gourmet Magazine.  It was a small wooden door in a giant brick wall with just a little rectangle bronze plaque with a name and no window.  If you didn’t know what it was you wouldn’t know what it was.  But when you opened the door and stepped inside it was like a choir of angels started singing.  It was big and bright and open with an airy garden and lush plants and statues and fountains with tables here and there.  It was astonishing and I am so happy to have experienced it.

 

Sorry for the thread drift.  You brought back so many memories.  🤗

 

P.S.  One day I would love to experience being “in transit”.  Lucky you!

 

I loved the flowers when I saw them and then the little light went on in my brain that they were orange 😉 

 

Being in transit is a nice feeling but the next time it is turnover day we will have to disembark. 😞   Oh well, we still have a few days to go 😉 

[kazu]

5 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

My first visit to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel was being part of a group.  The tour was fascinating, but tantalizing, as I knew I was missing much due to being "swept along".  My second visit was on my own:  I took my time, I stepped aside as the masses came through, I saw/experienced so much more, but I left the Museum knowing that another visit would surely be worthwhile.  

 

I do have to say that when we did the Chapel a few years ago, our guide was excellent.  Our group was only 8 and he made sure we were together and had us take short cuts to avoid the big groups successfully.

 

I’ve never gotten separated before but there’s a first time for everything!

[kazu]

Yesterday was our Sea Day and 1st Gala Night of this segment.

 

Our Meet and greet was at 10:30 and we had an excellent turnout.  Just two couples missing.

 

One couple had missed the ship 😞. They had flown in for the day of the cruise and missed their connection in Frankfurt.  They got to Rome too late to make the ship so they will be catching it today in Alicante.  Such a shame when that happens.

 

After the meet and greet we went to the captain’s day room for a brief reception and then to the Pinnacle Grill for our lunch.  YUM!

 

We hadn’t done lunch here yet so we were looking forward to it.

 

The prawn bruschetta:

 

 

The carpaccio: 

 

 

Crab cakes:

 

 

Salmon - it was excellent

 

 

Blackened cod sandwich:

 

 

 

The tenderloin

 

 

Our little group:

 

 

The pavlova:

 

 

 

Berries

 

 

 

 

Everyone enjoyed their desserts 🙂 

 

The collectors luncheon was the same day sadly.  Can’t do two things at once and they had the Indonesian lunch offered.

 

 

No food porn pics from that though as I couldn’t be in two places at one time. 😉 

[kazu]

We arrive in Alicante shortly and have what I think will be a lovely walking tour organized by Tony (sailingdutchy).

 

So, we should burn off some calories from the desserts yesterday with luck.

 

Here is our When and Where for today:

 

 

 

[kazu]

Yesterday was the day the new Pinnacle Grill dinner menu was scheduled to come out.  Here is the new menu:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

Here is last night’s Gala dinner menu.

 

 

 

For whatever reason, it just had no appeal to either of us so I went to check the Cannaletto menu:

 

 

 

talked to DH and headed upstairs to see if we could get in.  They were very accommodating, gave us a lovely seat and we ate at the Cannaletto last night.

 

 

 

DH said the Zuppa was very good:

 

 

And I enjoyed the salad:

 

 

DH gave the pasta two thumbs up:

 

 

And I had the veal - the Thursday night special:

 

 

Really enjoyed the dessert.  We asked for one and 2 forks and they split it up so we each had our own. 😉. 

 

Definitely was a good move to eat here last night 🙂 

[samsonmo]

4 minutes ago, kazu said:

Here is last night’s Gala dinner menu.

 

 

 

For whatever reason, it just had no appeal to either of us so I went to check the Cannaletto menu:

 

 

 

talked to DH and headed upstairs to see if we could get in.  They were very accommodating, gave us a lovely seat and we ate at the Cannaletto last night.

 

 

 

DH said the Zuppa was very good:

 

 

And I enjoyed the salad:

 

 

DH gave the pasta two thumbs up:

 

 

And I had the veal - the Thursday night special:

 

 

Really enjoyed the dessert.  We asked for one and 2 forks and they split it up so we each had our own. 😉. 

 

Definitely was a good move to eat here last night 🙂 

 

[samsonmo]

Just now, samsonmo said:

 

Jacqui. Unfortunately we are home and have to think what to eat. Your pics of the various food items makes us jealous.

Enjoy.

Peter

 

[puppycanducruise]

Wow.  This thread is wonderful.

Loved your pictures of Herculaneum, someday I'll get there.

And the flowers are so beautiful.

But the food!  Wish I was there.

Thanks for sharing.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Jacqui, just got caught up again with your wonderful blog!! 

Thank you for bringing us along on this fabulous voyage! For this final Swan Song

no better person than you to give us all a in-depth look at the legendary Elegant Explorer and your journeys!!

I will try to keep up, but DH with business

will be leaving Sunday to Paris and I’m going to tag along. Still wish we could of done this Voyage.

Denise😊

 

 

[Vict0riann]

Looks like the daily specials in Canaletto have some new choices, too. I seem to remember a swordfish puttanesca from a long, long time ago (in the days when they did the cotton candy) and it was my very favourite. Looking forward to having it again. Was Rifki still the maître d’ in Canaletto?


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