Day 12 Marseilles Marseilles is a lovely place. I did a sightseeing tour. It was probably the most disappointing tour of the trip. No, not that it failed to deliver; it was absolutely what it said it was, ‘The top 10 sights in Marseille.’ The only thing was I didn’t know what was a good commentary and knowledge of the area and which were the ‘sights’. There was only one stop where we could get out and explore, making the ‘sights’ more of a glimpse if you happened to be on the wrong side of the bus. The one stop we had was at the Notre Dame Cathedral looking over Marseille and it’s coast from the top of a hill. The view is beautiful. Army fellas with machine guns stood guard at the church, as they ... read more

Day 11 of the great European adventure of September, 2016 Another room service breaky thanks to yet another earlyish start, (left cabin at 7.30). We bussed to Pisa to the infamous tower. Yep, it’s definitely not straight. Because you can’t park anywhere near the Miracle Square, that has the Leaning Tower, Cathedral and Bapistery , (the big dome, planetarium looking building), we parked a few minutes walk away. We were surprised to see a Subway within the city walls, as well as shops, restaurants, and a University. I believe the University is free to attend as long as you qualify in what you are studying within five years, otherwise you are liable for the whole cost incurred while you were attending. Anyway, we had our first view of the very wonky bell tower. Someone messed up ... read more

Day 9, Positano, Sorrento & Pompeii The morning started with a bit of a rush, I was slightly out with my time, thinking check out was closer to 8am instead of 7.30, so I turned up to the check in point for today’s epic adventure with a cup of tea and a couple of danishes that were my room service breaky… We were docked at Naples, but my experience of the city was only as we drove through on the way down the coast and the way back. On the plus side, those sneaky gypsies that absolutely everyone has been warning me against, stood no chance. Phew! As you probably know, my room is an interior one, therefore, my first view of the morning was on my cabin’s tv, (the forward view). I was surprised to ... read more

This morning we arrived at Valletta in Malta. The day has been overcast all day but humid as all get out. There were a few drops of rain this afternoon, but very little. The guide at Rhodes said the last time it rained was 4 months ago… not sure about here though. I booked the shore excursion here last year when I booked the cruise. As it turned out, it was a good one. We drove about 20 minutes to the ‘three cities’. These are 3 neighbouring ancient cities that have a lot of history with the knights of St John. These are the knights featuring heavily in Rhodes history as well. The Maltese Cross is eight pointed because it represents the eight nationalities of the knights. Anyway, Malta is about 13km x 27km and has ... read more

Day 5 Rhodes I woke up bright and early, had (free) room service for breakfast and got ready for my shore excursion on the island of Rhodes. The excursion was one of the shorter ones, I had no pre conceived ideas about Rhodes other than the ‘Colossus of Rhodes’ used to stand across the entrance to the port. Well guess what? It didn’t. It turns out that the Colossus statue actually stood within the court yard of the Grand Master of the Knights Palace. We went by bus up to the top of the hill behind the old town, got to see where a couple of theatres and the library were in ancient times. We did a tour of the palace part of the old town. The guy was really knowledgeable and had a great sense ... read more