Nalynn & I arrived in Rome around 7:30 a.m. this morning Rome time. Nalynn was able to get a couple of hours sleep on the plane, however I got none. We made our way from the airport to the hotel, and they had a room ready for us. They upgraded us to a very nice suite, I think they did this because we let them know it was our 30th anniversary. It is probably the nicest hotel Nalynn and I've ever stayed in. We took showers, got dressed, and hit the streets. We went to the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps. We got lost several times trying to look at a rather small printed map, & I think we got in about 8 miles of walking. The weather here is really hot so ... read more

It is Thursday night before our trip and we just discovered that our checked baggage is 12 lbs over the limit. Nalynn is re-packing as I write this. Our very good friends, Nan and John had us over tonight for hamburgers and wine, which was wonderful due to the fact that we were down to one pint of somewhat questionable cherry tomatoes in the refrigerator. Nalynn and I are truly looking forward to this vacation and hope you will join us virtually as we add pictures and stories to this blog. Plane leaves tomorrow at 10:15 AM - connecting in Kennedy and arriving in Rome at 7:35 AM Saturday morning. Caio! Arlyn and Nalynn... read more

Monday, November 08, 2010 Hi Everyone, This morning at 7:00 AM, the ship docked in Corfu, Greece. Nalynn and I went out in the morning on our own to stroll through the town. We probably walked about 5 miles, stopping from time-to-time to buy souvenirs. At 1:30 PM we returned to the ship for the start of our tour to Lakones, Paleostrika and some other small towns. We traveled by bus high in the mountains. The scenery was beautiful, but the weather was cloudy and our pictures are not as good as we would have liked. At Lakones we shopped for souvenirs and also had a small meal with which we tasted the local wine and some Ouzo. We took pictures in front of the Ionian Sea, which was really rough due to a storm coming ... read more

Friday, November 6th Hi Everyone, The Sea day yesterday was greatly appreciated as we really needed the rest. The remainder of the cruise will be much less strenuous - no more 10 hour excursions. Today we ported in Venice at 12:30 and took a tour of Murano and Burano. We boarded a tender boat for about a 45 minute trip to the island of Murano. On the way the guide pointed out many historic landmarks. One in particular was the house of Elton John. The guide told us that he puts on about two live concerts a year there with all the proceeds of the concert going to the restoration of Venice. Murano is known world-wide for its glass. We took a tour of the glass factory with a demonstration of the creation of the piece ... read more

Wednesday, November 3rd Hi Everyone, This was the best day of weather since we have been on the cruise. The sun shined all day and there was no rain. We started the day with a tour of the ruins at Pompeii. Pompeii was destroyed by the Mount Vesuvius volcano when it erupted in 79 AD. It is still an active volcano today and we were told by our guide that scientists predict it will experience another major eruption within the next 80 to 100 years. We had a great guide who got us into a few areas where the general public couldn’t go. We saw some relatively new excavations that the general public couldn’t see. There were bath houses, residences, shops and even brothels that had been preserved since the eruption in 79 AD. Next we ... read more