Last Post (Finally)

 Thanks to all our many fans for their patience for the final post for this trip. The last few days of the trip were packed and and I flew to Phoenix to drive a car home 10 hours after landing in Winnipeg. I am currently stuck in Sioux Falls due to the blizzard so I finally have time to write.

I will resume the story when we arrived in Genoa. We got off the boat and took a bus tour to two beautiful little towns on the coast. The drive is amazing as the highway has as many miles in tunnels as it has out in the open. The towns were Rapallo and Sestri-Levante. We had a wine tasting in Sestri. Angie and I then went to a cute little cafe for lunch.

Here is a picture of Rapallo.

As seemed to happen every night on the ship, we had dinner with the Hamiltons and ended up at the casino. What a surprise.

Our second last stop on the ship was at Livorno. Angie and I took a 90 minute bus ride to Florence and had 5 hours on our own when we got there. Highlight on the bus was when our guide gave us a map of Florence and one of the other passengers complained when the map said Firenze. "I thought we were going to Florence!" 

We walked to downtown and saw all the sites. One of the prettiest cities you will ever see. We walked along the river to Ponte Vecchio. This is from the other side from the one you usually see.

By 1:00 we were hungry and we found the busiest sandwich shop. They have 4 storefronts on the same street and we still waited 30 minutes . It was worth the wait.

Fresh and delicious! Phil, the salami was wonderful.

On our walk back to the bus, our guide pointed out a little church and asked if we wanted to go in. She gave us 5 minutes to take a look. I found the tomb of this guy and asked him directions back home. He didn't have much to say.

Our last night on the boat we went for a nice steak dinner with the Hamiltons to celebrate the trip. It was a pleasure to have them on the trip with us and rekindle an old friendship. When we arrived in Rome, we went our seperate ways to each experience the city.

We were fortunate that Angie bought guided tours of St Peter's Basilica for both days we were there. Was an accident, but worked out as we had a trip to the dome scheduled on the second day. The first day there were us and another couple on the tour, so it felt very personal. I learned much more about the church that I ever would have on our own. 

Here is the Pope's altar at the centre of the church where only he can perform mass. The church is enormous and the pictures from the next day will show that. Later we walked all around the city and saw the usual sights and some different ones. There is a piece of history around every corner and in every square.

The next day, we skipped the tour and went directly to the dome. There is an elevator that takes you to the observation area. The views are exceptional!

This picture gives you an idea of the enormity of it. Angie was daring and took the 330 steps up to the very top of the dome. I didn't think my knee could handle it, but she was a trooper and made it. The views were worth it.

Here is Angie on the roof at St Peter's and inside the church.

On the way out we saw a couple of the Swiss Guard keeping an eye on the us as we definitely looked suspicious.

We rewarded ourselves with some Gelato on the walk back to the room.

The next day we made our way home. Thankfully all our flights were on time, but it was a long day. The alarm went off at 5:15am and we taxied to the airport. Flew from Rome to Paris, Paris to Calgary and Calgary to Winnipeg. We were in bed by midnight, but it was a 24 hour day.

Once again, I would like to thank Gord and Cheryl Hamilton for accepting our invitation to join us on the trip. They turned a great trip into a perfect one!

That is it until the next extended trip and accompanying blog. I hope our fans can hold themselves until that happens.

Marseille!

 After another sea day, we made it to Marseille. Another beautiful city, along with Provence which we were able to see a lot of on our 8 hour tour.

Before we get to that, Mike had a nice win last night at the Casino which actually put him on the plus side of the ledger.

Unfortunately it was a 10 credit maximum and I was only betting 5. Still was about a $450 win.

We arrived in Marseille about 8:00 this morning and got on our bus right away. We went directly to Aix-En-Provence, which used to be the capital of the Provence state. It was built on Greek and Roman ruins. It was quite pretty and after a tour of downtown, we had a couple hours to stroll around on our own.

Here is a square which only sold flowers. It actually smelled quite nice and was a joy to see.

Here is another square with a pretty fountain. We stopped at a coffee shop for a rest and so we could all hit the bathroom. It was hard to find a public washroom in town.

We got back on the bus and headed to downtown Marseille, which was built around the old port. We had lunch included in the tour and it was delicious. Here are a couple pictures of the restaurant and the meal.

It also included a tuna salad and beef and potatoes for the main course.

The most amazing thing though was we got to sit next to Confucius. I asked him for some wise advice, but he just told me to f-off.

After lunch, we got a nice picture of Cheryl and Gord. It's truly a case of beauty and the beast.

We drove around the south end of Marseille and climbed the hill to Notre Dame-de-la-Garde. It is a beautiful basilica high upon a hill that provides 360 degree views of the city. The views were amazing as well as the beauty of the church.

After the church, we got back to the boat. We are looking forward to our 8:15 dinner reservation and a good sleep before we hit Genoa tomorrow. 

In response to Phil's questions, we haven't had any salami yet, but that should change once we get to Italy and it's been too many steps!

 

On the Boat!

We survived Barcelona, or should I say Barcelona survived us. It was a great 3 nights and we hope that we will be lucky enough to return again soon. Angie's favourite thing in Barcelona was Sagrada Familia and Mike's was probably the evenings finding great places to eat along Las Ramblas.

These were some Churros with chocolate we had after our last meal in Barcelona. They were eatable.

Sunday morning we ariived at the port and quickly got on the ship. The embarkation process was flawless and we got on the boat in about 10 minutes. Our room was ready and luggage arrived by noon.

We quickly got comfortable on the ship and had our first beverages. The drink package limit is 15 drinks a day so we had to pace ourselves. Here is a view from our balcony.

As you can see, the sun was trying to shine and we made it to the pool deck for a bit. It was around 16 degrees, so the sunshine made a big difference.

After a nice dinner in the evening, we snuck over the casino, where it seemed that Gord was the only one with any luck. After depleting my bankroll, I moved over to the blackjack table to watch Gord. The guy next to Gord managed to clear out the table when he stood on a soft 6 against the dealers 10. And no, it wasn't Austin Powers.

Yesterday was a sea day as we moved down the Spanish coast to Gibraltar. It was a fairly uneventful day with cool temperatures and smooth seas. Once again, there wasn't much luck too be had in the casino.

Today was Gibraltar and we got off the boat about 8:30.

We took a tour bus for a drive around the rock. Gibraltar is a part of Great Britain and has played an important part in the security of the Mediterranean Ocean for 1300 years. Gibraltar is only about 6 kilometers long and 1.5 kms across. The British gained control in the 1700's did a great job protecting it from invaders. We toured the seige tunnels which were built halfway up the rock and had cannon turrets every 10 yards or so. Here is a picture from one of the turrets looking down on the modern day airport.

One interesting feature of Gibraltar is the number of monkeys running wild. They are protected and fed by the government, as well as get medical care whenever they need it.

The last stop on the tour was a spot where we could take a picture of the famous north side. It is the view that has become famous.

From there, our great bus driver Richard took us back to the ship. We had a nice quick lunch and came back to the room to make this post. We have another sea day tomorrow before we get to Marseille and another excursion.

Stay Tuned!!