Grumpy and Slinkie explore the Roman Empire

[Aussie Gal]

Mary,

Since we started travelling overseas many years ago and not just on cruises, I have always kept a diary. It is a great to go back and read where you have been and also look up the various names of towns, ports, etc. that you have forgotten.

You are young enough to have many diaries in your lifetime of travel.

Jennie

[ekerr19]

Ah Grumpy... we had to return the reality of our lives, yet I am enjoying your observations and can only imagine what it would have felt like to "do the Med" the same way you and Slinkie are....hopefully, some day soon!

Thanks again this wonderful treat! I so look forward to your posts and really want to thank you so much for taking the time (I know how difficult and time consuming it can be!) to let those of us still at home "experience" your cruise with you. :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Such an amazing coincidence Jennie and John being on the same tour on the same cruise and just finding out now!!!

Grumpy, speaking of meeting "neighbors" on your cruise reminds me of a cruise in 1988 where we met a couple who lived a mile from us in NJ. All these years later we're still good friends and we ended up "following" them here to Florida:) .

I'm so enjoying your journal as always. I'm not surprised the Captain told you he enjoyed following your World Cruise thread because you have a unique story-telling writing ability and it's just plain fun to read.

Thought of you and Slinkie looking at the 56-day odyssey of No. Africa and the Med cruise in 2007 on Prinsendam. We would so love to take that Grand Voyage ... all we need is about $45,000 and away we go!!!:D

[GrannyLorr]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkorchid][B]Hi Grumpy and Slinkie, I was just thinking about you yesterday, and thought it must have been time for another of your fantastic cruise journals. Decided to lurk over to HAL and Voila![/B][/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkorchid][B]Great reading as usual. I especially enjoy reading about the places we were visiting just a few months ago *sob sob*[/B][/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkorchid][B]Cant wait for your South America journal, as we will be following in your footsteps (almost) 12 months later![/B][/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkorchid][B]Our cruise then will leave from Fort Lauderdale on Jan 5th, and hubby and I had already decided to leave home just after Christmas....and have a few days in FLL ~just in case our luggage went missing~....as we will be flying via Asia, that will leave lots of places for luggage to disappear from! After reading your "lost luggage" saga, Im really glad we made that decision![/B][/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=darkorchid][B]Continue to have a great cruise and watch out for the carpet sellers in Kusadasi![/B][/COLOR][/FONT]

[Starbright]

It's not only the carpet sellers they need to look out for. There have been several bombings in Turkey in the last week and the terrorists are threatening to continue bombing tourists out of the country.

Surprised the cruise lines are continuing to call there at the moment. Last year they dropped Kusadasi for a few weeks following a bombing.

[Grumpy1]

1 September 2006, Livorno, Italy

-

S&G were in this port on their honeymoon in 2002 and took the ships tour to Florence and Pisa where they visited all of the Cathedrals and saw the sights. This time they opted to take a tour that went to the town of Montecarlo and then to a winery just a couple of minutes from Montecarlo. On the way one could see Pisa and the Leaning Tower in the distance. The drive was very scenic, once the bus got out of the port area. Thousands of shipping containers piled high is not Grumpy's idea of beauty... maybe to a shipping tycoon, but not to Grumpy. After arriving in Montecarlo, the guide led her 40 or so explorers up a fairly long hill, pointed out the street that runs straight through town for about two blocks, said that all of the stores were on that street, have fun, be back at that point in 30 minutes. Well, having gotten a good nights sleep and having enjoyed a good breakfast delivered to the suite, our Slinkie was up to the challenge. A quick stop in a souvenir shop garnered a shot glass for her daughter's collection and then it was time to get serious... There weren't that many stores, and Grumpy stopped at the end of the street for some picture taking to try to kill some time, but Slinkie still managed to find the one store that had one top that she liked. Mission accomplished! Back on the bus and to the winery. Most of the time that would normally be spent touring the winery was taken up by more important issues... more than 40 mostly elderly people that haven't seen a restroom in more than three hours queing up for the two unisex single commode bathrooms. They were clean and modern, which is a huge improvement over the facilities that S&G used in that area a few years before.

-

Grumpy thinks the above may be too much information... he remembers that comments about toilet facilities on the world cruise thread almost flushed the thread...

-

The wine tasting consisted of three wines, a white that had almost a walnut flavor and not all that enjoyable on the first taste, but improved after after a couple of olives and a bite of cheese or salami. It was definitely a wine that needs to be paired with food. It wasn't a good sipping wine. The second, a Pinot Grigio type, was a wine that could be enjoyed without food, but since it was lunch time and it wasn't likely that Grumpy was going to see the Lido for another hour and a half, Grumpy availed himself of the bread with olive oil, the sundried tomatoes, the olives, the salami, the cheese and the Westphalian ham that were on the table. The Chianti was pretty good, too. At the end, they brought out some cookies and a very sweet dessert wine to finish off the tasting. After everyone had an opportunity to purchase a bottle or two... or six... of their favorite, it was back on the bus for the one hour drive back to town. The guide pointed out the main shopping street in Livorno, which conveniently runs from a point near the ship to the city plaza, and she also pointed out that most of the shops were closed for the afternoon since it was past 1p.

-

S&G reboarded the Prinsendam and headed up to the Lido for a light lunch. They then decided to walk back into town and check out whatever stores might be open. Had they been looking for groceries, a bar or drug store items, they would have had no problem. There were few places open that sold womens apparel, and none of those had anything that jumped out hollering "Buy me", so it ended up being a nice stroll through town... Oh, no jewelry stores open either...

-

Back at the ship, S&G were all set to watch sailaway, scheduled for 6:00p, from their verandah. By 5:30p there didn't seem to be any preparations for departure going on. There was a small van that pulled up, though. The driver got out, opened the side door and set out one suitcase. Grumpy has heard that there are several people on board that are still waiting for luggage. There should now be one relieved passenger... About 6:00p the Captain came on and said that we would leave "soon" but he wasn't sure when. About that time one of the tour buses arrived. After unloading those passengers, Grumpy expected to see preparations for departure. The only thing that was done was to remove the canopy at the end of the gangway. The trees, stanchions and ropes remained. Then another bus came in about 6:15p. This time, after the passengers were on board, the crew started to remove some of the gangway stuff. Finally, about 6:30p, the last bus showed up. It was the Florence Transfer, which was for those that wished to explore Florence on their own. Grumpy hasn't heard yet whether it was a problem with the bus, lost passengers, lost driver or traffic problems, but he did see that the guide was refusing to accept any gratuities that were offered. Strange, indeed. Once that group boarded, the crew scrambled and within minutes, the lines were being cast off and Prinsendam, after waiting for one of the ferry boats to get out of the way, eased out into the harbor traffic, getting underway about an hour late.

-

Next stop is Naples. Arrival time is set for 11:30a. A couple of the tours that are usually offered, the jetboat to Capri and Sorrento Shopping were not offered for this sailing. Those would have been Slinkie's top choices, but she will have to settle instead for the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento tour. Grumpy has his credit card all polished up, as he has read the description of the tour and noted that it mentioned "free time for shopping" in Sorrento... They have already been to Pompeii, so this seems to be the best choice for a tour. Stay tuned for details....

-

To those that have discussed keeping diaries... Grumpy did not keep any sort of diary on his first three cruises, but does have photo albums from the first two and digital albums from the third one. He still looks at those from time to time, especially if there is a question that comes up in a thread and he thinks he might have a picture that could help him remember some pertinent details. He probably wouldn't keep a written journal now, except that he has found that he really enjoys the interaction with all of his CC friends. It's those friendships that prod him to ocassionally put fingers to keyboard and share his thoughts about the cruise. So... it's all your fault!

-

And to Heather and others that still find the long cruises out of reach, for whatever reason, may your dreams someday come true. Ten years ago Grumpy could only dream of such adventures, too.

-

[CruisinTexans]

Grumpy,

 

Glad to hear you all are having a wonderful time. You always do. Thanks for the detailed description of the closet/storage space in the suites. Wish we were going to have a suite on the Amsterdam cruise. I don't know how we will get all our clothes in the balcony cabin. I have your description of the storage on the Rotterdam balconies and assume the Amsterdam will be the same.

 

If you get a chance, look up Marlon Sanchez. He is a bar waiter, tall and skinny, and a really neat kid. He worked in the Java Bar on the 2005 world. We got to be friends and still e-mail him. If you run across him tell him Leslie and Handler say Hi.

 

Give my best to Slinky and tell her to keep shopping. Have a great rest of the cruise.

 

Leslie

[CruisinTexans]

Grumpy,

 

Glad to hear you all are having a wonderful time. You always do. Thanks for the detailed description of the closet/storage space in the suites. Wish we were going to have a suite on the Amsterdam cruise. I don't know how we will get all our clothes in the balcony cabin. I have your description of the storage on the Rotterdam balconies and assume the Amsterdam will be the same.

 

If you get a chance, look up Marlon Sanchez. He is a bar waiter, tall and skinny, and a really neat kid. He worked in the Java Bar on the 2005 world. We got to be friends and still e-mail him. If you run across him tell him Leslie and Handler say Hi.

 

Give my best to Slinky and tell her to keep shopping. Have a great rest of the cruise.

 

Leslie

[Williebill]

Glad you and Slinkie are back aboard that wonderful ship. My DW and I will be following the two of you again on this adventure.

 

Bill

[KathieKata]

Grumpy: Your updates are fantastic to read. Keep up the good work.

How's the food on this leg of the cruise?? Anything stand out as exceptional?

Note to SLINKLY: Save some of that shopping for the USA....... BUY AMERICAN keep an AMERICAN working! :D Can you tell I live UP NORTH!! ;) Okay, go ahead and buy those "shoes". I'm a sucker for nice looking shoes myself!!

[babyher]

Grumpy,

 

Glad you two are having such a great time . Everything sounds wonderful :)

 

I saw a documentary on the Amalfi coast a while back and it looks absolutely beautiful. Hope you enjoy it, I am very envious :)

 

Well if its us CCers "fault" that you keeping posting about your travels, we happily take the blame :). They are so much fun to read. Thank you so much for sharing.

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip.

 

Looking forward to your next installment.

[Aussie Gal]

Grumpy and Slinkie,

 

Loved reading your latest instalment. If you get down to Amalfi Coast as far as Positano, there are some great fashion shops there - shoes, clothing etc. as well some lovely shops sellling beautiful pieces of pottery with lemons on. It is the area for lemoncia and the pottery is particulary beautiful. Small pieces as well as larger ones, ideal for gifts. Just a thought for our shopping Queen!

 

We spent a week in that delightful town so know all the shops.

 

Jennie

[Grumpy1]

2 September, 2006, Naples, Italy

-

This was another repeat port for S&G from 2002. On that cruise they took the jetboat to Isle of Capri, had some time for shopping, jet boat to Sorrento, bus to Pompeii, then back to the ship. This time they booked the ships tour to Sorrento for shopping, the Amalfi Coast drive to Amalfi... time for shopping... then back across the mountain to Naples. Shortly after leaving the port, the guide announced that the bus would make a short stop for bathroom break. Now this seemed sort of strange, since they hadn't been on the road more than 15 minutes... "oh, by the way, here you will see a demonstration of how the Cameos are made"... now the true reason for the stop became clear... the way the place was laid out, after viewing the workshop and choosing whether or not to avail oneself of the facilities, it was impossible to leave without going through the store. Lots of pretty things on display, and a few passengers made purchases, but S&G made their way through without buying anything.

-

Back on the bus, and after finally getting out of the city it was time to enjoy the senic drive down the coast to Sorrento. Being it was a Saturday, traffic was pretty heavy with people headed to the beaches, so the bus moved pretty slowly past some of the beaches. Grumpy had chosen the starboard... oops, it's a bus, not a ship... the right side of the bus and had a nice big window that was just right for ogling the bikini clad young women. There has been an adage in the financial markets for years that the skimpier the women's clothes, the better the economy is performing. Based on what he saw at Bikini Beach, the economy must be doing very well... Grumpy kept looking for the elusive three piece bikini but apparently the economy isn't quite that good. What? You aren't familiar with the three piece bikini? That's a hat and two sandals...

-

Arriving in Sorrento, the first stop was a combination restroom break/inlaid wood carving demonstration. Shortly after walking through the door, Grumpy realized it was deja vu all over again. Same stop as on the 2002 tour. Mostly the same pieces of furniture on display too. There were lots of nice music boxes and jewelry boxes, but those weren't on Slinkie's shopping list. After leaving that store, there was about an hour of free time to wander the shopping district which was just on the other side of the street and through the gate in the old wall. S&G picked up some Limoncello and a little ceramic tray with six serving glasses for the Limoncello. They wandered past the produce stalls and marveled at the lemons that were the size of grapefruit. They saw displays of some "special" red peppers that were being sold as "natural *****" That's what happens when the local farm kid goes off to college and gets a degree in marketing...

-

The tour then headed for the road to Amalfi. Now that is a scenic drive! Hair raising too at times. There are dozens of hairpin curves where the bus has to take up both lanes to make it around. In many places the road is too narrow for two buses to pass, and there were lots of busses going both directions. Visibility is very limited and the drivers use a short tap of the horn to let others know they are approaching. Nobody hears the horns though, since windows are closed, stereos going full blast, so there are a lot of close encounters, but seldom any meetings. Several times an approaching car had to back up to a wider spot to allow the bus to pass. The tighest encounter was in the middle of an "S" curve. There were two tour buses headed one way and a local bus headed the other. There were long strings of cars behind both. The drivers of the local bus and the first tour bus spent a few minutes exchanging words and lots of gestures, then got down to the business of figuring out how to resolve the situation. S&G's bus backed up a few feet, the cars behind them got the message and moved back and then the bus moved back a little more and hugged tight to the little stone wall that was the only thing separating them from a vertical drop of several hundred feet. The other two busses jockeyed a few feet at a time until their mirrors had cleared each other and they were able to get past. The local bus then had to get past S&G's bus and was able to clear the mirrors but the road narrowed at the back of S&G's bus. The local bus hugged the cliff, the tour bus inched forward and finally they were in the clear and everyone continued on their merry way. There was a well deserved round of applause for the driver... but for him it was just another day at the office...

-

Arriving in Amalfi, there was no restroom/artist demonstration stop. The guide pointed out the shopping area and turned everyone loose for an hour. This time Slinkie managed to find a top that she liked. It was even on the Saldi rack. After using up all of the allotted shopping time, they reboarded the bus and headed towards Naples. in order to cross the mountain though, you must first get from near sea level up to the top of the mountain. Up and up, along more narrow roads, switchbacks and curves, the bus climbed. There wasn't as much traffic so the bus made good progress and finally turned away from the coast and crossed over and through the mountains before descending back down to Naples. There was just enough time to clean up a bit and change for 8:15 dinner. It was a long, but very enjoyable... except for the sack lunch... day.

-

A couple at S&G's table had gone into town and visited the museum. It seems that it is no secret that there is a "secret room" in the museum where some of the ancient erotica is displayed. The room closes fairly early in the afternoon, though, and S&G's dinner companion found it interesting that it was the women in the group that made a beeline for that room so that they would have plently of time to be shocked by the displays. Two British women, after viewing several displays, commented one to the other that those people apparently had never heard of the "missionary position". Jim commented to them that there weren't any missionaries at that time...

-

-

3 September, 2006, Messina, Sicily, Italy.

-

Prinsendam docked at the same place that the Noordam had docked just six days earlier. This time, S&G knew that there would be nothing but a souvenir shop open in Messina, being Sunday, so they had signed up for a tour of Taormina and Mt. Etna. After arriving at Taormina, the bus parked on the first floor of a seven story parking garage built into the side of the cliff. Everyone took the elevator up to the top floor and from that deck had a very clear view of Mt. Etna. Etna is still a very active volcano, having had eruptions with fairly large lava flows in 2001 and 2002, and minor eruptions as recently as July of this year. The smoke and steam were rising from the volcano, as it almost always does. Taormina is a very picturesque town, and, unlike Messina's merchants, the merchants there are not about to let any tourist go unfleeced just because it's Sunday. All of the stores were open and eager to show their goods. The tour guide led his charges through the town, pointing out the various periods of construction and archectectural styles. He pointed out the official emblem of the city, the bull girl, which is the body of a bull with the head and torso of a young woman replacing the bull's head. The emblem of Sicily, three legs in a pinwheel arrangement around a woman's head, is everywhere on the art and ceramic pieces. They finally arrived at the far end of town at the Greco Roman Theatre, which is still used for a few summer concerts each year. The guide purchased the tickets for the group and then turned everyone loose to explore the theatre and make their way back through the shops to the bus. S&G climbed up to the rim of the theatre to get the best views of the area, took lots of pictures and then headed back toward the other end of town wandering in and out of various shops along the way. Surprisingly, by the time they arrived back at the bus, the shopping bag was still empty. Sometimes there just isn't anything that really calls out to you...

-

The drive to Mt. Etna did not go to the active crater, but did pass across some of the lava flows of recent years and past many of the caldera from previous eruptions. Since Etna erupts fairly frequently, the eruptions tend to be milder and the lava flows slowly enough that there has been no problem getting everyone out of the way in recent years. The final stop was at a restaurant nestled between two older caldera and at the base of the ski lifts. After a sumptous lunch, including wine and a dessert of tiramisu... Grumpy just loves tiramisu... Grumpy took a hike up to the rim of the smaller caldera and then back to the bus for the ride back to Messina.

-

-

4 September, 2006, Sea Day.

-

Today is the only sea day on this 16 day cruise and is the first formal night. S&G signed up for the wine chugging...er.. tasting this afternoon. The presentation was by a gentleman hrom Holland (not exactly known as a wine growing region) that presented two whites and two reds, comparing the differences between old world (shorter growing season, lower sugar content grapes) and new world wines. It was quite an interesting presentation and the servings were even large enough to satisfy those that were more interested in quenching their thirst than educating themselves about the finer points of wine selection. Let's see now... Champagne art auction at 1:30... wine tasting at 2:30... Captain's Champagne reception at 5:00 and again at 7:30... could be an interesting day... hic...

-

Oh, by the way... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Lynnaldo!

[jhannah]

... "oh, by the way, here you will see a demonstration of how the Cameos are made"... now the true reason for the stop became clear...

Oh, yes. Same with us a few weeks ago. And it's not just limited to the ship's tours. In Naples we hired a cab to take us through the Spanish Quarter and up to the top of the hill. Just before we arrived at the top the taxi driver stopped to let us go into a cameo shop up there. It took a good bit of talking before the driver finally understood that we didn't hire him to take us shopping ... we just wanted to sightsee!

[Copper10-8]

Hey Grumpy, still very much enjoying you and Slinkie's escapades in the Med. You haven't lived until you've had the distinct pleasure of being the passenger in a bus driven by an Italian, Spaniard or Portuguese on a tour in a mountainous region :eek: If you've ever been to Madeira and taken the western Madeira tour, you know what I'm talking about. Sounds exactly like the e-ticket ride you guys got on the road to Amalfi. Can't beat the scenery though! I guess the missionaries have not yet made an appearance in Amalfi; hate it when that happens!

 

Looking forward to the next installment! (Just wondering if asst. dining room manager/2nd Maitre 'd Raj from India is still onboard)?

[HeatherInFlorida]

Bus rides anywhere in the world except here in the U.S. are quite an experience! Two stand out in my mind ... one was up to Anacapri on Capri. That was exciting in the fog no less:eek:

 

The other was up to Belvedere on Tahiti ... most frightening ride of our lives ... no guard rail, no shoulder, just a sheer drop down to oblivion. The driver was trying to make the sunset. We didn't make the sunset, but somehow we safely arrived at the top.

 

Grumpy and Slinkie, I'm just so happy you travel so much because it gives us this wonderful opportunity to travel with you. We can sit here at our computers and travel around the world. Thank you!:)

[serendipity1499]

Wow..Once again a wonderful travelogue..And two cruises to boot, I'm green with envy..Looking forward to your Prinsendam Cruise (our favorite ship)

 

Southwest Fla. managed to ditch "Ernesto" while you were gone, but another depression "Florence" seems to be brewing in the Atlantic..We just got our new Hurricane proof doors installed a couple of weeks ago..Contractor says the doors will stand up, but the house may fall down..Have decided we could live on a cruise ship & keep dodging these storms..

 

Enjoy your wonderful posts..Betty

[BuckeyeGal1956]

Thanks, bro, for the birthday greeting ... enjoying your travelogue, as usual.

My bus story was in Issrael when our driver had to back down a "mountain" ... and yes, we all applauded, too!

Having a cookout tonight - it's lightly raining now, but shouldn't interfere too much. Will keep my eye on "Florence" for you.

Love,

Big Sis Lynnaldo

[Aussie Gal]

Hi Grumpy and Slinkie,

 

We were in the local bus on that Amalfi Coast road returning from Amalfi to Positano when we had to back back to let a big tourist bus go by. I swear that our two back wheels were overhanging the cliff. It was scary and I did think our days were numbered but I also reasoned that the driver must have done this same exercise many times before. It is a very narrow road but what a view!

 

Jennie

[jhannah]

... I also reasoned that the driver must have done this same exercise many times before.

Absolutely! But that doesn't make the pucker factor any lower! ;)

[Aussie Gal]

Absolutely! But that doesn't make the pucker factor any lower! ;)

 

Jim,

 

I think it was the closest I have ever come to thinking that our days were numbered as we were on the side closest to the sheer drop and we could see how far down it was to the sea! :(

 

Jennie

[Copper10-8]

Absolutely! But that doesn't make the pucker factor any lower! ;)

 

Wow Jim! We're learning all kinds of new expressions here today;) :D

[techteach]

Grumpy,

 

I'm new to Cruise Critic but your wonderful sharing has hooked me. I love reading about your adventures and the replies from your friends. We're doing the same cruise next July and you've helped me make decisions about excursions. Wine tasting from Holland? Couldn't be a good thing. Keep the travelouge going and thanks.

 

techteach

[Williebill]

Hi G&S, how does it feel to be back on Prinsendam? We sure had a great cruise on her last year!

[slgjhg]

Hi All,

 

Love hearing about your B2B (sort of ), I can't believe Slinkie didn't shop in Taormina. When we were there for seven days in March, it was all I could do to not go crazy with the high end female fashion things. I did a little damage with the linens and childrens's wear (for the grandson), but I contained myself on the female side. There were the most beautiful blouses with coral etc., about 490 E (where's the Euro sign on my computer), I resisted although it was very hard. These blouses were only available in Taormina, Sardinia and Milan. Beautiful etc., did you see them.

 

Enjoying your trip reports sooooooooooo much. Take care and keep on exploring.

 

Regards,

 

Shannon