Euro 2015

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Monday Rome

Walked around the corner to the magnificent Pantheon. It is an ancient monument to power and strength. Built of marble columns and tiny bricks it is in a small piazza that was packed with tourists, beggars and touts. It was too big (or the piazza was too small) for me to get a decent perspective for a photo. We entered a small church near the Pantheon and came upon an American choir who were about to perform. They were from Oklahoma City and were Methodists but had come to Rome with a group of other American choirs to sing and holiday. Tomorrow they were all getting together and performing at St Peters. They were terrific and in that small church the sound was beautiful. There first two songs were rugby league team songs (when the Saints go Marching in and Glory, Glory (to South Sydney), but I don't think they appreciated that. Went to see the Trevi fountain, but it was basically a construction site. Scaffolding all around and no water! Bit disappointing. Wandered up to the Spanish steps and whilst they weren't under construction there was a scaffold at the top and a giant advertising sign in your eyeline when looking up the steps. Slightly disappointed in this we found a great little cafe near the hotel and enjoyed a beer and Aperol spritz (Julie's newfound Italian drink) and watched the chaos that is Italy unfold in front of us. Quick bite at the cafe and back to hotel for the night.



Tuesday Rome

Walked up the Via de Corso to the Altar of the Fatherland on the Piazza de Venezia which is a four lane roundabout that looked like chaos but everyone seemed to know their place. By Roman standards this monument is a recent addition being a recognition of the unification of Italy under Garibaldi in the late 19th century. It's a large roman like edifice (christened by Lyn Ryder the "wedding cake") that dominates the skyline and actually provided a good geographic reference point for us for the future. It also houses the tomb of the unknown soldier and inside is a series of tributes and historical exhibits relating to the Italian armed forces. At the rear of the building is the ruins of the Roman forum, although not the entry. So we had a birds eye, but uninformed view of the forum. We had booked a tour of the Vatican for 2.30 so we had a quick lunch and jumped in a cab over the river. We were doing a "skip the line" tour of the Vatican museum, Sistine chapel and St. Peter's basilica. Guess what the first thing we had to do was? Of course we had to get in line to get our skip the line tickets. I think everyone had bought a skip the line ticket. Anyway it was jam packed, tour groups everywhere, but a fascinating tour of religious history and art. We had an excellent tour guide who gave us a good, but obviously superficial understanding of what we were seeing. The wealth of the Catholic Church is actually obscene. Until now I hadn't realised that almost all of the ancient sculptures were originally in bronze, but the bronze had deteriorated and the artisans of the day produced marble or other stone replicas and this is what we see today. It is a long tour and almost too much information to absorb, but we both found it fascinating and marvelled at the skills of the ancient craftsmen and artists. The Sistine chapel is pretty amazing and the stories set out in the ceiling art are brilliant when it is explained to you. Of course it was packed and we had about 15 minutes in there with many other tour groups. No speaking or photography allowed in the chapel. The exit from the chapel lands you in the front of St. Peter's basilica and the tour finished here. Again the crowds were overwhelming and they had a section of the church roped off for the singers from America that we had seen yesterday. Had our photos taken to prove that we had been in a church recently and headed out to the square and looked back and up to the papal windows and appreciated the size and significance of the whole thing. Pretty amazing place and sense of history. After the tour we met up at Plaza De Popolo with our friends Bill and Lyn who had arrived from Sydney the day before. Had a beer and spritz with them and wandered around before finding a place for dinner and enjoyed an evening catching up them and planning next day's activity.



Wednesday Rome

Bill and Lyn were doing a tour of the colosseum and roman forum so we had a late breakfast and wandered a little and took our time to just absorb what we were seeing. Coffee and cake at our nearby cafe and we were really enjoying watching the world go by in a city such as Rome. We met up with Bill and Lyn after their tour and walked up the the gardens of the Villa Borghese. We jumped on a train on wheels and took the easy, but scenic tour of the gardens which are on the city doorstep. It was pretty ordinary, the gardens themselves were not in great nick and whilst there were houses and other points of interest it wasn't exactly a highlight of the trip. We then found our way down to the city and did some window shopping and people watching, before the inevitable beer and spritz followed by dinner (more pasta!) and anti early night. Bill and Lyn were off to Venice tomorrow but we would catch up with them on Friday before the cruise.



Thursday Rome

Another late breakfast before heading up to the colosseum and roman forum for a look. No tour booked and the place was packed and long queues to get in to both sites. Found a series of ruins with some written explanations across the road from the forum that were quite interesting. We decided to walk down to the river end of the city to find the Mouth of Truth, a lions head with a hole for the mouth that had some (supposedly) mystical qualities. Along the way we noted we were in a more residential area of Rome and enjoyed checking out the locals. Finished up getting disoriented and ultimately lost! Never did find the mouth of truth, but enjoyed what turned out to be about a 10k walk. Light lunch at our favourite cafe and off down the Corso for some shopping. Julie found the shoes she had been looking for and I also stumbled upon some excellent Italian leather slip ons and a pair of suede shoes at excellent prices.



Friday Rome to Venice

Our last breakfast in the terrace of our beautiful hotel. It was a lovely morning and we gazed over the rooftops of Rome for the last time. Took a taxi to the train station and our VFT to Venice was on time, but very full and lots of angst amongst the late arrivals over luggage space. We were retrying some of the countryside that we had seen in our train trip from Florence to Naples so not much new to see and the train was less comfortable and not as fast as the previous trip. Nevertheless we arrived in Venice pretty much in time and took Bills tip to get a water taxi to our apartment on the other side of the city. The water taxi was a varnished timber job and we took the scenic route through the canal grande and out into open water before winding our way through the back canals to the doorstep of our apartment. The apartment was excellent, very modern and large by European standards. They also did our washing for a very reasonable fee and after catching up with Bill and Lyn we headed out for a meal at a local ristorante. Bought some breakfast groceries and wine at the supermarket. After dinner we met up with Brian and Sue who had arrived from Paris. Lots of travel stories and laughs before bed.



Saturday Venice

This morning we were with Brian and Sue as Bill and Lyn were doing a tour. We went to the Doges Palace and did the tour of the palace and the associated museums and galleries. I must admit I didn't appreciate how big the Venetian empire was back in the day and their various power battles with neighbouring principalities and kingdoms. So the Medici's in Florence and the Doges in Venice were extremely influential in the northern part of what is now Italy. All good for the mind to think about the impact these leaders had in the cultural and merchant life of the period. We then decided to visit the Venice biennale which was a short ferry ride from St. Marks square. Each country had an artistic piece housed in separate buildings. We visited most of the main countries and whist modern art is not really my scene it was interesting that passes for art. Very hard to describe in short form but we marked each one and Great Britain and Australia were scored well. Some were fixed, some visual, some audio, some just a bunch of leaves lying around on the floor (yes France I am talking about you). In the middle of our visit we had a good old thunderstorm which sent us scurrying inside. Had some lunch there and then headed to an extension of the exhibition at the Arsenal building where the exhibits weren't delineated by country but by theme and artist. All very creative but not sure I understood all or much of it. We decided to walk back to St Marks and that too was an interesting walk through the outer areas of Venice. Met up with Bill and Lyn for gin and tonics on our terrace, before we all went out for a gondola ride that Lyn and I were keen to do. We managed to get one for six people and whilst we didn't go down the canal grande it was still fun. Unfortunately the gondola oarsman didn't sing for us. Diner followed at an OK ristorante and a nightcap at the apartment.



Sunday Venice

We were not due to board the ship until after 1pm so headed down to St Marks square, but the cathedral was closed to the public for Sunday mass. Bill and Lyn went up the tower which was open so we went for a stroll along the waterfront and met up with Phillip and Julie who had come in last night from London. Had a coffee win them and caught up with all their news then went back to the apartment where we had left our luggage. We decided to walk with our luggage to the ferry that would take us to the cruise ship port. We got off the ferry and there is a people mover (monorail) that takes you to the cruise ship terminal. There were people everywhere as there were 5 cruise ships in port. Our boarding was hassle free and very efficient and we were in our room in a short time. It was lovely to unpack all,our stuff and settle into one location for the next 12 days. Met up with Phil and Julie for lunch on board and then explored the ship to get our bearings on board. The sip wasn't due to depart until 9pm so we had a great opportunity to check everything out before then. It is a large ship with a capacity of over 2000 passengers and 1000 crew. Numerous lunges and bars etc. Our rooms were on level 10 (one from the top) and the closest to the bow. The rooms have a verandah and are very comfortable. Similar to a very good hotel. The culture is quite American (all transactions are in U.S. Dollars) and the manner of the staff and the way things are presented etc are very similar to what I recall from staying in American hotels. Having said that most of the staff are Indonesian (not the officers) and very friendly. Just up the stairs from our room is a lovely quiet space hit a small bar and coffee lounge. It has comfy chairs and a panoramic view over the bow. We think this will be our favourite space. Also in its favour is a happy hour at 4 pm! The other guys arrive before dinner and we all catch up for a drink and chat, we are all very excited about the voyage ahead. We have dinner in one of the better dining rooms and the ship organises a permanent table here for us, so we are off to a good start. We have our safety drill on the main deck and it is serious. The other cruise ships all depart before us and it is a great sight watching them manoeuvre out of the dock and down the main channel. Just outside our room is the highest and most forward position outside on the ship so we head out there to watch our departure. It's a magic sight as we head down the channel past St. Marks square and the rest of Venice. It's just on sunset and the light and our position on level 10 make for a fabulous view. The lights of Venice fade into the sunset and we have a nightcap and look forward to the next 12 days. It's very smooth sailing as the ship just coasts along at 10 knots heading for the Adriatic Sea and Dubrovnik.



Monday Venice to Dubrovnik

We have a full day and night at sea as we don't arrive in Dubrovnik until 8am on Tuesday morning. I think this is so everyone can become familiar with the ship and start spending and drinking. We use the day to see how things work and some time in the sun lounges and have a swim. We also had fun just catching up with everyone as we don't really see each other that often. It looks like the demographic on the ship is white middle class aged predominantly late 50s and up. There are some family groups but hardly any children. Not a lot of very old people but few young ones either. The mix seems to be American, Australian/kiwi, and Northern European (Dutch, German etc). Happy hour at 4pm is a happy affair indeed as g&t's are rapidly dispatched. There is a trivia competition and we come second. Dinner tonight is formal and the jacket and tie I have carried all this way is finally out to use. We are dining at the Pinnacle Grill restaurant which is the best one on the ship and we have paid extra for the privilege. It's a steak and seafood grill and is very good but possibly not worth the extra cash. Lobster bisque and rib eye steak followed by a chocolate pudding with lashings of cream for me. No one is going to die of starvation on this cruise. We are however disappointed that there are other guests who have not taken the trouble to dress formally and we all feel a little let down. Especially as I was asked to change when I turned up for dinner at the regular restaurant in shorts. Anyway, it's no big deal and we had a great night.



Tuesday Dubrovnik

None of us have booked a shore excursion in Dubrovnik as Phillip had told us it was all able to be seen by walking. So we all stayed together and shared cabs into town and set off on a walk around the walls of the old city (cost = 14 euro). It is a beautiful setting on the sea and the old city was fortified by a wall that ran around the substantial old town. I don't know what the circumference of the wall was but it took us over 90 minutes to walk it and take it all in. It's a living, breathing city as there were hundreds of houses and apartments in the old city. All around the wall were small embattlements and cannon spaces. The views from the elevated wall were fantastic, out to sea over the Adriatic and back up the hills that towered over the town. It was a long but interesting walk and it was easy to see that the inhabitants felt safe here as it was much impregnable. We then wandered around the interior of the old city and whilst it was moderately interesting it was really just another opportunity buy souvenirs

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