Sailing away from Italy

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Greetings from Genoa cruise terminal.
We're about to board the MSC Fantasia bound for the Mediterranean. This is the first voyage since the ship has been refurbished. It's lovely to be in new accommodation. Italy so far has been interesting.

The Italians love their dogs and take them everywhere particularly in Venice. Apart from needing to be good at dodging dog poo it doesn't seem to be a problem. They go on public transport including boats without incident. And these dogs wear great coats. I saw a dog with a santa coat today. Very cute. For some reason I thought that I would be able to buy secondhand Italian clothes and shoes. I have struck out on two fronts.

There are a few vintage shops around but I am obviously not the right type of customer. Not well dressed enough. Apart from my obvious sartorial failure there are no clothes bigger than size 12. Too bad if you are fat in Italy..no clothes available! We really enjoyed Genoa.

Yesterday was quite a musical extravaganza. We were walking down near the docks when a brass band of santas popped up an started playing. Jazzy Christmas music. Apparently it was a promotion for a museum. Later in the evening we were walking near the Ducal Palace and a troupe of entertainers, including horses wearing bells turned up. Basically they were re-enacting the delivery of the first vintage to Genoa. It lovely seeing the women in gorgeous costumes and the "jingle horses" all decked out in their livery.

And as if that wasn't enough we came across drummers, a violinist and a sax player busking very close to our hotel. And oh yes, carollers! The acoustics in the atrium near the hotel were amazing and the music sounded fantastic.

There are scooters everywhere But not the small ones we have in Australia. These are big ones about the size of a motorbike. Seems odd because I thought scooters were small and zippy. people hurtle around on these ones like they are tanks!

I am having lots of trouble uploading photos. Will try again soon

Xx pj and sandy

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