Author: admin

Just had breakfast on Tuesday, March 19th. We arrived in Civitavecchia yesterday. It was a planes, trains and automobile type of day. Our very good friend Angi drove us to O’Hare on Sunday to meet or KLM flight to Amsterdam. The flight was very good and Linda and I had a “Barbenheimer” evening. I watched Oppenheimer and Linda watched Barbie. Both movies were very good and we landed on Amsterdam on time. Also, the plane was not full so we had the seat between us empty.

Our first challenge was the long walk from gate F9 to B31 to meet our flight to Rome. The airport in Amsterdam is BIG! It was about a mile and we had a rest while we waited in the passport line about midway to the Rome gate. With the European passport union, you clear customs and passport control in the first place you enter the union. We had a wonderful Dutch latte at a coffee bar near our gate to Rome.

Our plane to Rome at the very grey Amsterdam morning

The flight to Rome was full and we realized that part of the reason was people going to Rome for Easter. Again KLM did a very nice job on this flight and we were just a little late getting to Rome.

We decided to take the train from the Rome Airport to Civitavecchia. Again we had a mile walk from baggage claim to the train station. We definitely got our steps in today. Bought tickets for the train and except for the elevator out of service at the station where we had to transfer, the trip was mostly uneventful. On the stairs with our large luggage, we encountered the first of the very friendly and helpful Italian people we met. A young woman helped me get one of the bags down the stairs.. The elevator to the connecting platform was working and we waited a short time for our connecting train.

Our train to Civitavecchia

The train was full and the aisles were narrow. There were two seats separated and a second kind Italian man gave up his seat for us so we could sit together. The aisle was narrow but people were able to get by our bags. A lot of the crowd on the train got off on a station where there were no visible signs. A third young man told us that this was not Civitavecchia and that our station was three stops later. The train line went along the Mediterranean and it was nice to see the sea.

After we got off the train we got a taxi to our hotel. We took a short nap and then took a hotel van to a very nice restaurant. We met 2 couples who were from Nova Scotia and going on our cruise. The meal was very nice and the wine was good and reasonably priced. Linda and I got some sleep and woke up to a nice breakfast. We will be taking a hotel shuttle to the ship in about an hour. We understand that the Sun Princess cancelled her first 2 cruises but can’t wait to see the new ship. More later.

We will be leaving on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) for Rome and we will board the new Sun Princess for a 21 day cruise around the Mediterranean Sea. Our flight arrives in Rome on March 18 and we will stay in Civitavecchia before boarding the Sun on March 19.

The first half of the cruise will go in the direction of the arrows toward the east. The second half will be reversed as we will sail directly from our stop in Rome to Gibraltar. There are a few places we have visited before plus a lot a new ports. We are looking forward to a wonderful adventure.

I will try to post something every day, except for the Sea Days. Check back often.

Left Stowe, VT with fog in the mountains. Decided to take the ferry from Charlotte, VT to Essex, NY to see Lake Champlain. We arrived just in time fo the 10 AM ferry. The trip across the lake was about 30 minutes and was very pleasant.

By taking the ferry, we drove thru Adirondack State Park on the way to Niagara Falls. The roads were spectacular. The colors were even better than they were in Vermont.

We arrived in Niagara Falls and had a nice dinner. We took a Lyft to the Falls State Park and had views of the American Falls illuminated. The falls are quite spectacular.

We will be on the way home Tomorrow. We are stopping south of Toledo, OH and then finishing the trip on Monday.

Today was a beautiful clear sunny day. We decided to drive up Mt. Mansfield on the Stowe Toll Road. It was a fun drive and seeing to ski hill brought back some memories of skiing there while in college. The trees are continuing to turn and each day is more stunning.

Took a drive back over the road thru Smuggler’s Notch and then detoured to a Maple outlet for some retail therapy. While there we had some maple creemees, a local sweet similar to ice cream but creamier. After that we headed off to see some covered bridges. The first bridge was the Village bridge at Waterville, VT. While we were looking at the bridge, we met Bill Baker who has a maple syrup company. We sampled some of his product and it was amazing.

The next bridge was the Montgomery bridge. To get to the bridges, we drove thru amazing Vermont countryside. Finding the bridges was an excuse to drive out into the country. The next bridge was the Jaynes Bridge, The sign on the bridge said it was the Kissing Bridge. Of course we had to kiss there!

At the next bridge, the Mill bridge, we met some people from Seattle who were out looking at the same bridges. It also turned out they are staying at the same place we are in Stowe. We also followed them to the Morgan bridge.

After the Morgan bridge, we too a looping route back to Stowe, more beautiful scenery. Tonight we had dinner at the Trapp Bierhall Restaurant. Great food. Tomorrow we will be driving to Niagara Falls. We are going to take a ferry across Lake Champlain to get a view of the lake and trees.

It was an overcast day in Stowe. There are a number of covered bridges near Stowe. Getting to these bridges gets us out into the countryside and on wonderful back roads with amazing views. The closest bridge is the Gold Brook bridge. This is also known locally as Emily’s bridge and is said to be haunted by the ghost of Emily. Nonetheless, it is a lovely small bridge.

We then headed to the Red bridge, To get there we drove on some back roads that reminded me of the roads we dove on in my car rally days. These were narrow and twisty with great views around every corner.

We then went north to the town of Johnson, VT to see their two bridges, the Scribner bridge and the Power House bridge. The Scribner bridge is out in the country again, while the Power House bridge is visible from the state highway.

We next drove west to the village of Cambridge, VT. There are three bridges near this village, the Cambridge Junction bridge, the Grist Mill bridge and the Gates Farm bridge. The Cambridge Junction bridge is long at 140 feet and is located at a small park with an explanation of the railroads in the area, the Grist Mill bridge is located next to a park and the Gates Farm bridge is no longer i use and is in a field near the highway.

Drove back to Stowe thru Smuggler’s Notch. This is a twisting and narrow road over the mountain back to Stowe. Had a final view of Stowe before shopping and lunch.

We are going to go out to see a few more bridges tomorrow and enjoy the Vermont fall colors.

Driving to Stowe, Vermont today. Before we left Hew Hampshire, we visited the Bump covered bridge. This bridge is not well signed but we were able to navigate to it on the way to Vermont.

Although the weather was a bit rainy, the colors were still very nice on the drive. It is hard to get a good picture of the road, but every so often we were treated to a beautiful display of color in the every changing landscape.

There are a number of covered bridges near to Stowe and finding these is a great way to explore the countryside. More tomorrow as the weather is going to improve with no rain.

Headed north to drive on the Kancamagus Highway. This is a national Scenic Byway and we were not disappointed. While the colors are not as vibrant as the locals say they can get, there are not that many people here either so it is semi-private. The pictures don’t quite capture the colors but the views are spectacular.

We also parked and took the short (0.3 mile) walk to Sabbaday Falls falls. The forest scenery was very relaxing and while the path is uphill, it was an easy walk to see the falls.

The Swift River flows along the highway and there are many beautiful views.

Two last Covered Bridges before we returned to the B&B for the night. The Albany bridge is along the Kancamagus highway and the Jackson Bridge is farther north on a scenic loop.

We will be off to Vermont tomorrow. This will be Linda’s 50th and last state. More then

Decided to explore the area around our B&B. There are a number of covered bridges nearby and we found one that was not on the map we had. This is the Durgin Bridge that was build in 1826. It is near the Center Sandwich Historic District.

I would love to have the white paint concession for this area. Almost all the buildings in this area are painted white. While in Center Sandwich we stopped at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen shop and bought a very nice handmade mug.

We also went to Tamworth and saw the Barnstormers Theater building. This is the first summer theater in the US. The town was also very charming.

There was a chance of thunderstorms so we decided to have dinner at a waterfront restaurant in Holderness near to the B&B. The restaurant is on Little Squam Lake. While we were there the storm came thru and Linda saw a small waterspout on the lake.

We are going to explore the Kancamagus Highway (NH 112). This is part of a National Byway. We are hoping to see even more color tomorrow.

Took a relaxing non-Interstate drive thru the New Hampshire countryside to the Mt. Washington Cog Railway. Stopped at Franconia Notch State Park to get maps and more local information. While the colors are not at peak, we love the mix of reds, yellows and greens. The trees along to roadside were lovely to drive thru and it is difficult to capture the ever changing views.

Got to the Cog Railway in plenty of time for our 1 PM departure. They were running the historic steam locomotives but we were booked on one of the diesel trips. If you look to the right of the flagpole in the picture below, you can see a plume of smoke from the steam loco on its way up the mountain.

The photo below shows the train we ultimately took back down the mountain. they use a shuttle system with the diesel trips where you go up the mountain on one train that returns with the passengers from the prior trip. This allows you to spend an hour on top of Mt. Washington and return on the next train.

The ride up the mountain is very steep. The highest angle is 37+ degrees. They also use a very unique switch system.

We were very lucky to have good visibility from the top of Mt. Washington. According to the locals, it is pretty rare to be able to see very far. In fact while were on the top, weather came in and visibility dropped to Zero. The summit of Mt. Washington is 6228 feet and they had already had ice and snow! You can see the weather coming in the picture below

We also got a view of the Steam train before they left the summit.

We took a last picture of the Ammonoosuc River that is at the Base Station of the railway. This shows the fall colors very well. We finned the day with a very nice dinner at a recommended Greek restaurant. Great food.

We are going to hang around Lake Country today and take it a little easy.

Had an unexpected wake-up call to come immediately to see Immigration. I got scammed in 2019 and the eager beaver Caledonia police reported it as “identity theft.” Although I have a redress number that makes airplanes work fine, apparently Customs does not use that system for cruise ships. Got to love the government! Anyway after 2 minutes with the very nice Customs Officers, I was cleared to get back to the US. Here is a view of New York from our balcony.

The drive to New Hampshire was uneventful, but there was a lot of traffic. Every time there was a difficult merge or construction, there was a backup. Our route took us up the Merritt Parkway, around Boston and up I-93 to Lake Country Hew Hampshire. We are staying at the Squam Lake Inn, which is a lovely small B&B in Holderness, NH. Squam Lake was the setting for the movie On Golden Pond. The B&B has a wonderful restaurant that is very popular. They also do gluten free very well. We had a lovely and relaxing dinner.

We are planning to take the cog railway up Mt. Washington tomorrow. The weather promises to cooperate.