Date Saturday 30th October 2010 City Venice, Italy Climate Low 14c – high 22c – fine and sunny Currency $US dollars on board the ship – paid for by cabin access card =$NZ0.75 Today we boarded the Norwegian Gem for our first transatlantic crossing. We are expecting some cool, rough weather on the crossing itself, but will be hopeful that the first week of our 14 night cruise will bring some calm, mild weather for us to relax and enjoy. We were on board the ship about 1pm and waited for our cabin to be ready while enjoying a light lunch by the pool. The Norwegian Gem is a lovely ship. We sailed on her sister ship the Norwegian Pearl in January – and we immediately noticed how similar they are. In fact, once we started ... read more

Date Wednesday 20th October 2010 City Cairo to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Climate Low 26c - high 35c - fine and sunny Currency 1.00ADS = $NZ0.30 Ahmed came and collected us from the hotel at 10.00am. He was great once again - getting our luggage through with no problems and assisting us through all the checkpoints into the departure area. Baksheesh (tip) paid and we were back on our own. We had an hour or so to wait for our flight so we hung out in McDonald’s using their free wi-fi to catch up on emails. It was our first time on Etihad Airlines and we were impressed. The flight was good and we landed in Abu Dhabi just before 7pm - due to the two hour time difference. It was great to see Aaron ... read more

Date Friday 8th 2010 City La Spezia to Milan Currency Euro 1 = NZ$0.53 Climate Low 15c - High 21c - mostly cloudy We left the “Corner House” today - a great place to stay while we explored the Ligurian province of Italy. Breakfast was leftover risotto mixed with egg to make a kind of rice omelette - quite good really - with an egg on the side and a cup of coffee to wash it down. Our train was at 10.40am so we walked to the station - just a few blocks from the apartment and we were on board taking our pre-selected window seats just before 10.30am. We were lucky to have the neighbouring seats occupied for only about half of the journey. The rest of time we were able to spread out and ... read more

Date Sunday 26th September 2010 City Pescara to Foligno Climate low 13c - high 22c - fine and sunny A cool morning but it dawned clear and sunny. Perfect for our drive north-west into Umbria - which would be home base until next weekend. We now realise that the hot weather we enjoyed earlier in the month is drawing to a close. It is now well into autumn and the scenery is lovely. We drove mostly on the autostrada to save time, but we did have lunch in the seaside town of Civitanova Marche. It was a lively place with a Sunday market happening and plenty of families out and about. The streets were more appealing than Pescara although the beach didn’t appear as inviting. There was quite a breeze coming off the ocean but still ... read more

Date Saturday 18th September 2010 City Rome - Naples - Sorrento, Italy Currency $NZ 0.55 = 1EUR Climate low 16c - high 28c - fine - slightly overcast We were heading South on the fast train to Naples today at 1.00pm so we had the morning to finish off our sightseeing. We enjoyed a leisurely walk to the Spanish steps, with very few people out and about at 9.30am. After this it was time to partake in a coffee and a Marmalat croissant at a cafe called AutoGrill. We were very Mediterranean and had our breakfast standing up. Refreshed, refuelled and recaffeinated we made our way to the National Monument, at the intersection of Via Nazionale and Via Del Corso. This is an amazing monument with a couple of museums hidden within its immense base. We ... read more