Our Mediterranean Cruise ~ Day 2 Taormina, Sicily

Monday morning, we arrived in Messina.  Messina is a port town on the island of Sicily.  Although it was a lovely town, our destination and sightseeing excursion was actually to Taormina, a small town on the east coast of Sicily.

Each morning we had an excursion planned, we would assemble in the theater to find out which bus we would depart on from the ship. How's that for a theater on a ship?  They had great shows too!

Our first glimpse of Messina from our balcony.

 After a 45 minute bus ride, we arrived in the beautiful little town of Taormina.  It was very quaint, and you could tell it was very popular with tourists as it was quite crowded.  

We visited the Greek theater.  Not only was the size impressive, but it had terrific views.  Can you believe it was built in the 3rd century BC?!?

Mt. Etna is in the distance at the right....just pretend you can see it.  More on that below. :)

The view from behind the Greek theater.

The symbol of Sicily is the Triskelion.

The Isola Bella beach was recommended by a friend in Brussels.  It was beautiful on this very hot day. We wished we had shoes that could be worn in the water as the beach was very rocky.  Thanks to Dad for carrying the kids back to the towel.

What you can't see in this picture is the blood dripping from Chris's hand because he cut it on one of the rocks mentioned above.

After the beach, we rode the cable car up to the main part of town where we started.  At this point we were getting stressed.  It was getting close to the time we needed to be back at the bus.  What would one do if they missed the transport back to the ship?  Or missed the ship??  We didn't want to find out.  So, there was much hurrying down the streets of Taormina.

From this point, you can view Mt. Etna to the right.  But of course, it was far too hazy for us to see.  That is right in line with the hills from The Sound of Music tour that were too cloudy to see and a total white-out at the top of Jungrau in Switzerland.  It is really our luck!

Gelato...of course!  Good thing we had time!

 We arrived back at the ship in the late afternoon and set sail for our next destination.  What a great day!

Until next time,

Wendy

Cruising the Mediterranean ~ Day 1

The first day on the cruise was great, and we didn't really go anywhere.  I guess that's saying something.  We opted to take a train out to the port of Civitavvechia.  It was about an hour and fifteen minute ride and so much cheaper than private transport.  I was a little nervous about it, but it all worked out okay. 

All checked in and ready to board the ship!

Here is our stateroom.  It was really a nice size.  I didn't feel claustrophobic at all.  And, I was pretty sure I would.

We had a balcony, which was really nice.  It made the room feel even bigger.

As suggested by people who have cruised before, we packed our swimsuits in our backpacks.  Bags are not delivered to the staterooms until later in the day, and you certainly don't want to waste all of that sun.  

Here's the first of about 100 ice cream cones.  Self serve and free.  Thomas was all over that!

At 5:00 PM, we set sail for Sicily.  We would not arrive until the next morning.  We loved hanging out on the deck and watching the water go by.  So relaxing!

That's a big ship!

We were amazed by the beauty of the ship.

We loved our first night in the dining room. Our servers knew our names when we sat down and made the whole experience so enjoyable.

Nice view

 Our activity after dinner was mini golf on the back deck of the ship.  The kids loved it!

Stay tuned for our first port of call!

Until next time,

Wendy

Nearly Time to Set Sail...but first...Roma!

This family vacation was six months in the making, but I don't think that is too bad when you consider it was the trip of lifetime.  I never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever take a Mediterranean cruise, but we were so very lucky to take this great trip in August.  It was the perfect way to end our awesome summer vacation.  Last October, we had the opportunity to spend four days in Rome.  It was a great trip and packed full of sightseeing.  So, when we scheduled a cruise to leave out of Rome, we were looking forward to spending time in the city but not feeling like we had to rush around to see everything.  We made it a point to hit our favorite spots and see a few new things.  We have now done the "Top 10 Things to do in Rome" on Trip Advisor.  Mission accomplished!

First stop was Trevi Fountain.

Crazy busy on a Saturday in August

It really is quite a site!

 Just a short walk from Trevi Fountain is the Pantheon.  This building really is amazing with its dome.

We opted for lunch right across from the Pantheon.  We generally try to avoid these touristy restaurants, but this one had really great pizza.  Really, how can you go wrong in Italy??

My guys at lunch

They are imitating the fountain behind them.  They aren't that bored yet. :)

 The light coming in through the Pantheon was beautiful.

 Next up was a walk to the "wedding cake".  It's actually called The Altare della Patria or the National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II.  It was built to honor Victor Emmanuel the first king of unified Italy (yes, I had to look that up.)

Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier...well they are actually standing right in front of it, so you can't really see it.

Sunshine and blue skies....something we did not see much of on our first trip to Rome.

The view from the top of the "wedding cake."

In Rome, fountains are all over the city where you can refill water bottles.  Thank goodness!  This one was a little happy to get drenched in the process.  It was really hot.

The Roman Forum is just behind the Victor Emmanuel monument.  We did not walk through it this time.  We only admired it from above.

Roman cerveza

Striking a pose

 The Colosseum...a must see again!

From the Colosseum, you can take the metro to Vatican City (not sure if I've mentioned, but the metro in Rome is not as advanced as Paris or London.)  Yes, we wanted to see the St. Peter's again (from the outside only,) but we were really on a mission.  We were looking for a Pope opener (yes, that is a bottle opener with a picture of the Pope on it.)  But, we just couldn't find the one Chris was looking for.

They loved playing in the Vatican fountains to beat the heat.  Turns out, that is frowned upon.  Thank goodness the Police had words with a little boy on the other side of the fountain first.  Oops!

Entertaining ourselves

 Vatican city is considered a separate country. So, the kids are attempting to stand in two different countries at once.  We really have no clue where the dividing line is, but they thought they were pretty hot stuff anyway.

Not too far from Vatican city is Castel Sant'Angelo.  This circular building was once used as a castle and fortress by the Popes.  Now, it is a museum.

So so tired.

After an exhausting day, we had a delicious dinner at a restaurant recommended by the hotel where we were staying.  It was a hefty amount to pay, but Chris was delighted by the baby octopus we all ate.  I really can't even talk about it.  I still get the willies.

A stop at the Spanish Steps on the way to dinner.

Getting ready to eat baby octopus. Bleh!

My problem was the tentacles.  I could feel all eight in my mouth.  OMG!

The amazing dessert.  It was like an icy gelato and served in the fruit it was made from.

Surprise for Mom...Limoncello!  Yummy!

Second dessert of the night.  More gelato!

Crazy girl!

Tomorrow is the day!  We will finally set sail on the blog.  I cannot wait to share the trip with you.  It was amazing!

Until next time,

Wendy