Month: April 2024

The Sun Princess arrived in Civitavecchia before we woke. We got up and dressed to have a quick breakfast before we had to be out of our stateroom by 8AM! Because they were running ahead getting people off the ship we left our waiting lounge by about 8:45 to hop on a bus to the Rome airport. This is a pretty drive through the country that took a little over an hour. We were very early for our flight to Frankfurt, so check-in was a breeze and we were able to relax in a lounge to wait for our flight. The fight was very full and was a few minutes late. Fortunately we had almost 2 hours to make our flight to Chicago. It was a long way from our arrival gate in the A Concourse to our departure gate Z-66 (they were as far apart as they sound). We also had to go through passport control to leave the European single passport region.

We knew our flight would be long, but it was a little longer than expected because there was a medical emergency just as we were approaching Iceland. We watch as they dropped fuel so we would not be too heavy to land and we landed at Keflavik airport. The airport looks like it is in the middle on nowhere or al least you can see it from there.

View from our window as we waited at Keflavik

The crew did a wonderful job and the person with the emergency was taken off, their bags unloaded, and we refueled in a little over an hour. By the time the new flight plan was filed, our delay was only an hour and 20 minutes. The rest of the flight was long, but uneventful, and in Chicago, we zipped through passport control because we have Global Entry. It is even faster and easier than the last time we traveled out of the country. Now they scan your face, and if the light goes green (which it did for both of us), you are handed a Global Entry exit card. You collect you bags, give the card to the agent at the exit, and you are back in the USA! Because we were going to arrive late in the evening, we had booked a car, and after I texted the driver, he met us at the door of the terminal in about 5 minutes. In about an hour we were home, and headed to bed as fast as we could go.

It was a great trip and the reason I never mentioned the weather was that it never rained the entire time we were traveling!

Until our next adventure!!

Bill & Linda

Arrived in the port of La Spezia early this morning and we had to set an alarm as we had an early tour to Florence. Our tour was basically bus transportation back and forth to Florence (a 2 hour ride each way). We had both been to Florence before, so our plan was just to walk around and experience Florence, plus have a nice lunch. On the bus we learned that because it was the first Sunday of the month, admission to all the museums were free. This meant that the lines were very long to get in. Also, as we arrived and were walking from the bus drop off point to the Piazza Santa Croce, we encountered the Florence half marathon. The Piazza was the finish point of the half marathon and it was very crowded. We had to dodge runners to cross the course at a few locations. Fortunately, the bulk of the runners had finished before we got there and crossing was relatively easy. Our first stop was along the River Arno to take a picture of the Ponte Vecchio. After we got our picture we browsed through the shops on the bridge.

Band greeting us (and the half marathon runners)

Piazza Santa Croce and the half marathon finish

Ponte Vecchio and the river Arno

Bill on the Ponte Vecchio

Linda on the Ponte Vecchio

After looking at all the lovely gold jewelry on the Ponte Vecchio, we made our way to the Piazza Mercato Nuovo where we saw the Bronze Boar and did a little more shopping. After that we went to the Piazza Della República where a small group of street performers were playing.

Piazza Mercato Nuovo

Performers and carousel in Piazza Della República

By then it was time for lunch. We had booked a table at a small restaurant that we knew served gluten free pasta, Il Ricettario. It was located on a small side street near the Uffizi Museum. It is a small place and because we had a reservation we sat upstairs with a view of the street. The food was excellent with service to match. Linda had home-made Florentine pasta, a large flat noodle, with tomato sauce and I had gluten free penne with pesto. We also had a glass of Rosso di Montalcino, this is similar to but much less expensive than the famous Brunello di Montalcino.

Interior of the restaurant

After lunch we set out for the Piazza Della Signoria where there are a lot of statues and a replica of the David (the original is the Accademia Gallery).

The Palazzo Vecchio and the Piazza Della Signoria

We then wandered around the area near the Piazza until it was time for gelato (we definitely travel on our stomachs) and then on to the Piazza Santa Croce to meet our guide to go back to the bus. We did have time for one last Italian Cappuccino.

Santa Croce church

On the bus ride to (and from) Florence we passed by Carrara, home of the famous marble used to carve the David and other statues. The mountains are very distinctive and the white you see is marble, not snow.

Mountains near Carrara (white is marble, not snow)

We are now back on the Sun Princess and packing up for our travels home tomorrow via Frankfort, Germany.

One last lighthouse picture as we sailed out of La Spezia

We arrived in Genoa this morning and had a wonderful view of the very famous Genoa Lighthouse. The cruise terminal in Genoa is very close to the city, so we could walk off and book the Hop On Hop Off bus. From the information about Genoa, we were expecting a very beautiful and interesting city. We rode the Red (Historic) line completely around to get an overview of Genoa.

Genoa Lighthouse (St. George Cross on the lighthouse is the symbol of Genoa)

We got off the bus at Piazza Caricamento with the intention of having our morning Cappuccino and walking thru the old part of the city following the walking tour. The Piazza was full of stalls with a wide variety of items. We browsed thru them and then found a place for our coffee. The Piazza was the first stop on the walking tour and the second stop was a very famous and beautiful building, the Palazzo San Giorgio. On the facade were murals of St. George killing the dragon. St. George is the patron saint of Genoa.

Palazzo San Giorgio

The third stop on the walking tour was the Piazza Banchi. Again there were sellers in the Piazza and the church there was very interesting. This plaza was where the grain traders bought and sold grain.

Church of San Pietro in Piazza Banchi

The next stop of the walking tour were the narrow alleys of Genoa, the Caruggi. These confusing and narrow alleys were part of the defense of Genoa in medieval times. The alleys were easily barricaded and the maze helped attackers and us to get lost. We did find a very nice store selling local olive oil and other things including a lemon marmalade. If you have been following us, you might have figured out that we travel on our stomachs and many of the souvenirs we purchased involve food in some fashion. With the help of Google Maps Live View (highly recommended) we found the Piazza San Matteo and then Piazza de Ferrari, where we were intending to have lunch.

Church of San Mateo

Piazza de Ferrari (no Ferraris in sight!)

Linda at lunch in Piazza de Ferrari (they had gluten free focaccia) The pesto was wonderful!

After lunch we got on the Blue (coast) line of the Hop On bus. This took us past some of the same places as the Red line but also went out along the coast. The Blue line stop was also closer to the cruise terminal.

Columbus flower beds in honor the unknown soldier. The ship beds will be planted with flowers soon.

Christopher Columbus Statue

We are back to the ship and ready to sail to La Spezia, where we will hop on a bus that will take us the Florence tomorrow.

We docked in Marseille just as the sun was coming up. We decided to take the ship’s shuttle bus to the Old Port area, the Vieux-Port. This is the location of the city’s fish market and also home to lots of restaurants. The Vieux-Port was the area where the earliest settlers of Marseille, the Phoenicians and then the Greeks and Romans had their ports. Now the area is home to fishing and recreational vessels. As we walked to the port area, we passed by Fort St. Jean and the Mucem, a Museum devoted to all civilizations of the Mediterranean.

Fort St. Jean on the left and the Mucem on the right

We decided to take the Train Touristique tour to the Notre-Dame de la Garde church that dominates the Marseille sky-line.

The Marseille Little Train

Open air fish market at Vieux-Port

Islands in the Marseilles harbor. One of these housed a prison that was featured in the Count of Monte Christo.

Notre-Dame de la Garde

Cathedral La Major

We had a wonderful seafood lunch with some white Provençal wine at one of these restaurants

We are now back on the Sun Princess and getting ready to sail for Genoa, Italy tomorrow.

Because we had spent a number of days in Barcelona, and had seen most of the major sites, we decided to take the ship shuttle to town and walk around La Rambles. It is still Easter week and there were a lot of people in Barcelona. We walked the length of La Rambles and had coffee at Cafe Zurich, one of the older restaurants in Barcelona that is located next to Placa de Catalunya.

La Rambles with a small portion of the crowds

Placa de Catalunya

After coffee we returned back down La Rambles and looked for a place to have tapas and a sangria. We stopped at the Seventy Tapas Bar and had plates of cheese and meats, plus two punch bowls of Sangria. We drank about half of the Sangria as it is very strong.

Linda at the Seventy Tapas Bar, look at the size of the Sangria!!

After our lunch we walked down La Rambles toward the World Trade Center where we could catch the shuttle back to the ship. At the foot of La Rambles is the Columbus Monument.

Columbus Monument (minus Columbus at the top, sorry)

Got back to the Sun Princess and unfortunately they were still refueling. This meant we could not go out on our balcony and take pictures. We were docked very near one of the container ports and we enjoyed watching the dance of loading and unloading the containers.

We are on the way to Marseille. We are taking the shuttle to the Old Port and will tour around that area.

We arrived in Palma this morning just as the sun came up. The day dawned clear and the weather was about as close to perfect as you can get, clear skies, light winds and temperatures near 70. The Sun Princess docked about as far from the center of Palma as you can get. Fortunately, there was a shuttle bus from the ship to near the very famous cathedral, known as La Seu. We decided not to visit the cathedral, but instead wandered down the main shopping and restaurant streets of Palma. The shops looked a lot like Rodeo Drive in LA. However, there were some very nice souvenir shops and a shop where we got some local olive oil.

The La Seu Cathedral

Plaza Reina fountain

Tree lined street in Palma

Linda enjoying a cappuccino

Lighthouse in the port from our balcony

Coast of Mallorca as we sail towards Barcelona

We are now on the way to Barcelona where we will visit tomorrow. As we have been to Barcelona before, we will likely do a little touring and enjoy the ambiance of the city. More tomorrow.

We got to Cartagena before the sun came up this morning. The cruise terminal is very close to the town and it was an easy walk into the main shopping and restaurant district that is also part of the old town. We decided to take it easy today as I am getting over a cold and Linda still has sniffles and is sneezing from time to time. Right in the downtown area, they recently discovered a Roman amphitheater.

Downtown Cartagena from our balcony

Sun from the top of the city walls

Roman amphitheater

We walked into the main shopping area and bought a few souvenirs. We stopped for a light lunch along with some local red wine. After lunch we had gelato and cappuccinos for dessert.

Local cheese, almonds and olives

Grand Hotel in Cartagena

The tight port in Cartagena

Old fortification and Red Light showing the rough coastline

We have left the port and are now on our way to Palma in Mallorca. We will probably have a light day of touring tomorrow as well. More from Palma tomorrow.

We arrived in Gibraltar about 7:00 this morning. The weather is supposed to be very nice today and the people in Gibraltar are happy to be drying out after 4 days of rain.

We had an early tour to the top of the “Rock.” It was still a little dark when we boarded our minibus for a short trip to the cable car to the top. We were in the second cable car and we had an opportunity to see the sun come up over the sea east of Gibraltar.

Sunrise from the Tob of the Rock at Gibraltar

Linda with the Sun Princess in the harbor

The “Prudential” view of the Rock

After we rode the cable car back down, we walked to Main Street, a shopping and pedestrian area of Gibraltar. We had coffee and tea along with a Spanish style light breakfast. We brought a few souvenirs and walked along Main Street on our way back to the ship.

One of the Gates in Gibraltar

Trafalgar Cemetery

Main Street Gibraltar

Gibraltar and the Rock with our fireboat sendoff as we are departing

Europa Point Lighthouse (southern most point of Europe)

Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar

We are on our way to Cartagena, Spain tomorrow. We will be going into the city on our own. Should be a relaxing day of sightseeing.