Our Blog No.18

---

Our Blog No.18

Well having left the African Coast for the Mediterranean we had an uneventful couple of days at sea before we arrived in Civitaveccia the port for Rome where it took several attempts to get into the port because of very high winds.. This was on Wednesday 13th April. Fortunately the weather had improved by the time we got off the ship. It was just a port and nothing to write home about. We had booked a tour of Rome and took off a little late. A wonderful tour of Rome seeing so many of the sights. We stopped off at the Coliseum for a photo shoot. It was crowded with visitors and the traffic really heavy. Quite a sight especially as we were able to enjoy the perfect view of the Coliseum whilst drinking an essential coffee. We then got back on the coach and went for a drive around the Vatican. Again wonderful to finally see it even with massive crowds. We got there in the afternoon so had missed the pope who usually gives a blessing in St Peter’s Square every Wednesday morning. An excellent courier made it all the more interesting. Some areas we couldn’t get to because the streets were too narrow for the coach so no coins tossed into the Trevi Fountain. We thoroughly enjoyed our short time in Rome and can understand why so many people rave about it and want to go back. We do.
On the Thursday we were in Monte Carlo and had booked a trip for the afternoon. We had to tender off as there is nowhere large enough for the Queen Mary 2 to tie up. We went ashore for the morning and enjoyed a lovely amble around Monte Carlo stopping of course for the statutory coffee which was surprisingly cheap. We then took the tour in the afternoon enjoying some amazing and quite spectacular views. We stopped off in a small town called Eze which was very beautiful but the roads were very steep and a bit too much for some of us so guess what? We went and had a coffee instead! Back on the coach and another spectacular drive to Menton another village close to the Italian border. No coffee this time but lovely ice creams. We lost 2 passengers in Menton and spent far too long looking for them which made us late for the last tender which was supposed to be 5.30pm. We arrived back still without the missing 2 passengers (they had been picked up by the police and were driven back to the ship!) at 6.15pm fortunately with a tender waiting for us. It was really awful trying to get back on the ship as it was so rough around the ship because they had already started the engines. We finally got on board much to everyone’s relief but it was touch and go for some of the disabled passengers.
On Friday morning we arrived in Barcelona to sunny and warm weather.
We had booked a tour of the city and again were fortunate to have an excellent courier who explained in detail the architecture of the city. It is really beautiful and our time far too short. We went to the unfinished Church of the Sacred Family which is amazing and we could have been there all day just looking. It will be at least another 40 years before it is finished and will be the tallest building in Barcelona. Antonio Gaudi had an unbelievable imagination and his buildings in Barcelona are a must to be seen. Back on the coach having lost a passenger somewhere around the church we drove to Olympic Mountain where a lot of the 1992 Olympics were held. There were spectacular views from the mountain of Barcelona and the port. Another place to take a city break back to!
Barcelona was our last port of call before we arrive back in the UK next Tuesday.
We have had an amazing once in a lifetime holiday and so many wonderful memories to bring back with us. We are however both ready to get home and back to a normal life again.

---

Photos

Stromboli
With a little puff of smoke every 10 minutes