Venice 2

The traffic has increased since Graham was last here 15 years ago, with service vehicles, buses, and water taxis all competing with the gondolas. But if you looked at the right moment there were plenty of gondolas - well, there ought to have been with 5 cruise ships in port!


It was a bit quieter when we went out for a meal later - that's where we ate across the water there, a very yummy lasagna and spag bol, with free wifi as well.

Next day we headed for San Marco Piazza, alas a little late to miss the tourists! We did the tour of the Basillica with its millions of mosaics, many of them gold. Certainly the most impressive Ann has ever seen - no pics allowed inside sorry.


Then we had a drink at Cafe Florian- been there since 1720. We paid €6 each for the pleasure of sitting and listening to the musicians, a total of €31 for a local beer and chianti. But then, it's not every day that you have the opportunity to sit and take in the ambience of San Marco square. And would you believe they played, among the classical pieces, Roll out the Barrell!


You don't have to wander far (although we have walked many kms) to escape the tourists and find some lovely streets free of shops and people. And hear no traffic, just the echo of footsteps and voices. A very unique place!
;-) Ann-a-Gram

Venice

We arrived in Venice several hours earlier than we had been told. The audience suddenly disappeared from the Bar as people realized that the lights of Venice were right outside. We made a rapid dash back to our balcony as it was on the right side for a view of St Mark's Square. We passed another cruise ship with a spontaneous competition for which ship could cheer the loudest. All that meant we missed saying goodbye to some of the friends we had made on the ship.

Next morning we were one of the last groups to disembark.


We were able to watch boats galore - water taxis and shuttles collecting passengers from the Crown Princess and dropping them off at their various destinations. When our turn came, our luggage went one way, to be dropped off at our hotel, and we boarded a water shuttle to St Mark's Square. We were some of the last to board, and had to squeeze in on the end of rows of three beside couples. The guy beside Ann said it's gonna be cozy, these seats weren't built for Americans ....!!



We wandered around the back streets of Venice, and found some lovely shops and cafes. Eventually we consulted a map and found our way to the hotel, to find that number 3 of 3 of our bags had arrived, but not the other two. After an anxious couple of hours the other two turned up, presumably having had their own tour of Venice!
;-) Ann-a-Gram

Crown Princess 2

Other great spots included:





Movies Under the Stars around the main pool, where we watched Avatar, though we want to see it in 3D now! Movies screen all day here, but at night





all snuggled up under a blanket it's great!






We climbed a lot of stairs, as we were on Floor 11 and the main floors for restaurants, bars etc were 7 and 15 - so we were very conveniently positioned. It took us more than a week to realise that there was no floor 13!





The stairs in the atrium were flasher than most, as it was the focal point of the ship, with shops and bars around it over 3 levels.

;-) Ann-a-Gram

Corfu

We had not organized a trip today, so decided to book a champagne breakfast. It came with a half bottle of French champagne, 6 plates of food, orange juice and coffee.


These were plates 5 and 6! We didn't make much of a dent in them.

After that we walked the 2 miles into Corfu. We didn't have much to guide us, but found our way to the "new" fortress, which had a view of the old fortress.


We wandered around new and old parts of Corfu, surprised at the size of the town and of the island.


Then it was back to our room and our favourite spot - you guessed it, our balcony!

Our last day is at sea, and we have run out of ship wifi, so the blogs will probably slow down now. We are looking forward to arriving into Venice and our two nights there. It has been wonderful on the cruise, and spending 12 nights in one room, but there are still lots of adventures ahead. Besides, there seems to be something wrong with the laundries on board - every time we wash our clothes they shrink a bit more!

;-) Ann-a-Gram

The Crown Princess

We thought we'd show you some of our favourite places aboard the ship.


Our most favourite place of all is our balcony. We have spent many happy hours there, watching sunsets, sunrises, endless seas, and arrivals into picturesque harbours and ugly ports. The table often has a couple of glasses on it, as of course we had to try the local produce and some specialty cocktails.


We even entertained another couple to drinks and nibbles there.

Speaking of drinks, our favourite evening entertainment is Crooners Bar. The pianist is a very talented musician and singer.


He is also from Manchester, and totally crazy. He takes his shoes off, stands on the grand piano and on people's coffee tables, and does flips in between verses. Last night he was singing about "Sweet home Manchester(Alabama) where the skies are always grey".


Favourite breakfast spot - at the back of the ship above the adults only (as in no kids) pool. It has a nice view and very few people at that time of day.

;-) Ann-a-Gram

Olympia

This morning we awoke to the sound of the ship slowing to dock at a small fishing village, a half hour bus trip from Olympia. We had an afternoon tour for a change, so went for a walk and explored the village after a late brunch. The main street is geared for tourists, full of souvenir and gift shops, cafes and restaurants. It only opens on days when there's a cruise ship in town, and today there were two.

We drove through fertile countryside, full of olive trees, orange and lemon trees, and grape vines. There are more than 95 million olive trees in Greece!

The first games were held in 776BC. There are many theories about their origin. One is that it was to provide a common aim for the warring tribes. A truce for 3 months was called so that the atheletes had time to get to Olympia, train and compete, and return home without fear of war. Every 4 years, heralds - young men, ran to all of the major cities and announced the beginning of the truce.


This is the main stadium, with a capacity of 100,000. Dignitaries had seats, others sat on the ground. The games continued till 393AD when they were stopped by the Roman Emperor. Much of Olympia was destroyed, initially by Christians tearing down the religious buildings and statues, and then by a huge earthquake in the 6 th century.


The marble starting line is still there for all to see. Another interesting fact is that the athletes trained and competed naked.

The Olympic flame has been lit on an alter here to begin its journey to the games since the Berlin Olympics in 1936.


;-) Ann-a-Gram

Athens

It was Sunday when we visited Athens, this time sporting a blue 13. Our guide told us a little about Greece. It has over 3,000 islands, about 200 of which are inhabitted. Our balcony looked out over the port and we could see some of the many ferries. Some journeys are not short either, it is 5 hours to Mykonos from Piraeus, the port of Athens.
Greece has 10 million people, and Athens has 4 million of these.

We drove past several marinas on the way into town, with tables and chairs on the footpath and cafes and bars across the street. It was the nicest part of Athens. Our overall impression was of graffiti, litter all over the place, and tired, rundown buildings. As it was Sunday there was not much traffic and no riots!


One thing we did see was the stadium first used in 1896 for the first "modern" Olympics. It is still in use, and was used when Greece hosted the games in 2004.


We only saw the Acropolis from the distance. The temple with the scaffolding on it ( being restored), is dedicated to Nike, which means victory in Greek.

A free afternoon back on the ship gave us time to watch boats come and go, and enjoy a drink on our balcony!


;-) Ann-a-Gram

Mykonos

We were going to go to bed early for a change, as the live music and happy hours followed by tours have seen us burning the candle at both ends. But the regular at our favourite bar was doing a late concert, and by the time we got to our balcony around midnight for a nightcap we realized we were approaching Mykonos. Among our dinner tablemates was the nightclub DJ, who said he was planning on heading into town when the ship berthed. It was a Friday night and things were humming in Mykonos, known as one of the night spots of the Mediterranean.


We watched the lights and the traffic travelling from port to town and vice versa with an amazing backdrop of lightning as the weather was again unsettled. Next day we learned from the Captain's announcement that many of the crew had indeed gone into town and partied. We didn't notice any difference in the excellent service.

Next morning was cool, but we caught a shuttle into the town and back without getting wet.


Mykonos may not be quite as well known as Santorini, but in many ways it is just as gorgeous. It is flatter and easier to get around, but the lovely whitewashed buildings with blue trimmings are everywhere.


It is known for its windmills, which used to provide power to refine grain. Only 5 remain, but they are a unique landmark. The steps you can see are at the end of a tiny path that many of the tourists missed.

We are now headed for Athens. Many passengers have expressed concern about this. The captain tells us it is OK, but to treat the city with caution, as with any new city. We are pleased we have opted for a bus tour, not sure how much we will do on our own after that!

;-) Ann-a-Gram

Turkey Part 2

On the way back to the ship we stopped at one of the many Turkish rug makers' shops. The tradition is to provide you with a drink and food while showing their wares. We tried Raki, a Turkish drink very like ouzo, while most other people had apple tea.

We saw a demonstration of spinning silk from the pupae, a very skilled task involving water and a thing that looked like a round broom. Then our host explained the different types of rug using different threads and a young girl demonstrated the weaving of the threads. Couldn't help thinking of you Wilson! While we drank and ate, an army of blokes threw rugs at our feet. The silk ones were really gorgeous.

We excused ourselves when we could, with a promise to look at the jewellery downstairs, which we did. The emerald and diamond necklace that caught Ann's eye was a steal at just €5,700, a big discount as we were on a cruise! Tui's board? We heard of several people who paid thousands for rugs, including one who told us the rug cost more than the cruise!


The Crown Princess sister ship, Ruby Princess, was also in port, which explains the number of tourists at Ephesus, since both have a capacity of about 3,000 people. Turkey relies heavily on tourism - who knows how many buses they have?!!!




;-) Ann-a-Gram

Turkey - Ephesus 1

As you have probably figured, we have sorted out our battery charging problems - thanks to a friendly Ozzie couple, and have signed up to the ship's wifi so we're catching up on our blogs!

We awoke to find we were about to arrive in Kusadasi, for our one day in Turkey. We were Brown 3 today, but our guide had a red umbrella so we were following Mary Poppins! We were impressed with the look of the city, it is clean and tidy, and the drivers seemed to be reasonably civilized! (Sorry about all the zz, autocorrect on an American device).

Our tour guide was a Turkish Muslim - divorced, no head cover, and very proud of the freedom women enjoyed in Turkey. We learnt that women were emancipated in 1923 by a man who is considered a hero by many Turks - Prime Minister Attatuk? The country is predominantly Muslim but they live like western people because they have made a specific effort to "look to the West", even to the point of changing from the Arabic to Latin alphabet. Students have to learn English, French or German throughout school.



We arrived at Ephesus - along with about 10,000 other people. The crowds and the heat, as well as the sights, meant we did not enjoy it as much as Pompeii. But the history and the biblical links were interesting.


This theatre, which is still used today (Elton John has sung there) holds 25,000 people. It is where St. Paul addressed the Ephesians and is referred to in the book of Acts. Pretty amazing stuff, eh!

;-) Ann-a-Gram

Santorini - Part 2

Once we made it to the top, the view was stunning. That's our ship, the Crown Princess, in the foreground. As you can see, it's a fairly busy harbour! One of the other ships was called "Costa Fortuna", we kid you not!

We wove our way through narrow streets full of tourists, up and down many more steps, until we found the local bus stop. For €2.8 return each we took the trip to Oia, the town on the postcards. We found ourselves a bar with a view


and enjoyed a cheap local beer and wine, and a free loo. The toilet itself was worth the price, the Greek public WCs are seriouly bad! Wandering through the town, on a wide path of beautiful white marble was indescribable. Photos really don't do it justice.

On our bus trip back we had to stand, crammed in among many other tourists. But our do-it-youself day cost a few euros - if we had done the tour for $99 American each, we would have done exactly the same things and missed the excitement of the crowded bus and the donkeys!


Hopefully in this shot you can see the zig-zag path and the cable car. This was taken from the nightclub on the 18th floor where we watched our departure from Santorini.

Santorini - Part 1

We spent a day at sea before we reached Santorini.


This is the view we had all day. For Ann, whose sea voyaging has been limited to crossing Cook Strait a few times, this was rather mind boggling. There was plenty to do all day, as the crew had multiple activities in different parts of the ship. A sleep in and late breakfast were very enjoyable after 3 early starts in a row for tours. We explored the ship, and found several pools and outdoor bars we hadn't yet encountered.


Next morning we watched the island of Santorini come closer, marvelling at the little blobs of white on top of sheer cliffs that slowly sprouted windows, doors and balconies. Info from the ship warned us of long queues for the cable car, and that donkeys were available for the trip to the top but they would be at passengers' own risk. We noticed people walking up the path on the way to shore in the tender. When we came ashore and looked at the looong queue for the cable car, we decided to walk it.

What we hadn't realized, but very rapidly did, was that the people and the donkeys shared the same zig-zag path! After a few steps we encountered lots of donkeys, and people on donkeys trying to make them move up the hill. And just as some cars belch a cloud of smoke when they start off, some donkeys do something very similar! We gingerly picked our way over the uneven surface avoiding piles of dung towards the first corner. Next thing we heard bells jingling, and about 20 donkeys sans riders came charging round the corner and headed straight for us! As we climbed higher we learnt to listen for bells and find posts to hide behind, or people, anything!


We joined up with other people (one of whom thought the donkeys were evil) and helped protect each other and shoo them away. It certainly took our minds off the climb, which turned out to be 575 steps. The photo, taken from the top, gives some idea of the path. At the end of the day Graham said it was "one of the best things I've not chosen to do".


;-) Ann-a-Gram

See Naples and ...

Today we were tour Brown 4. We found our way to the bus and were greeted by a man in a blue suit who looked like he was part of the mafia. He told us his nickname, can't remember the name but it was one of the top mafia men.

He provided us with a lively and witty banter on the way to Pompeii, and we were dropped off in among many other bus loads of people. We were not prepared for the Pompeii experience. The size of the town and the sophistication of the Roman lifestyle were just incredible.

We walked for around two hours up and down wide paved streets being told all sorts of interesting details about what we were seeing. One thing we found intriguing, presumably true, was how they collected rainwater for the household through the atrium roof which sloped into the centre, into underground holding tanks. They kept eels in the tanks to stop the water from stagnating.


This photo was right at the end of the tour and really doesn't do justice to what we saw, but we took plenty of video and camera shots!

We returned to the ship for lunch, then decided to walk from the port into the centre of town. We crossed streets squeezed in among locals and tourists alike. There were no lights for pedestrians, just zebras, and the Italian drivers were acting as though they gained points for knocking over pedestrians, especially tourists. Then we walked along a very crowded street with lots of people trying to sell us things, including iPhones, which made us pause briefly as we hadn't seen them before.

A few minutes later down a couple of old fairly dodgy looking streets we came to the square and Ann pulled her backpack round to get her camera. She found the zip undone and no camera. As you can imagine we were gutted, and were for the next few hours as we went through all the "if only"s. A momentary lapse of attention looking at the iPhones was all it took. The camera didn't matter, but almost 1000 shots of the first 6 weeks of our holiday gone. Ann had bought 3 memory cards so she could have one for each continent, but had she begun a second one after the US? Of course not! Curse that Scottish blood! Thank goodness for the video footage and the blog!

Anyway, we bought a nice little duty free camera and are back on track. There are many things that could have been worse, like being mugged or having the iPhone stolen with so much of our travel data on it. But we certainly do not have positive memories of Naples!


;-) Ann-a-Gram

Old places

Next day was Pisa and Florence. Graham counted 49 buses lined up on the dock to transport cruise passengers from Livorno. We had been warned to be vigilant because of gypsies and pickpockets, so no pictures sorry, the iPhone stayed at home. We lined up to get our orange stickers with "Group #2" on them, and found the orange #2 bus, and laughed at ourselves as we followed a sign with an orange 2 down the road once we arrived in Pisa. At least it wasn't a Mary Poppins, as one of our guides called a guide from another company with an umbrella.

We set off quite early and were at Pisa before the crowds, so were able to get really close to the tower, although we did not have the time (or maybe even the energy) to climb it. The whole area - church, baptistry and tower was amazing, made of solid marble. We along with most others, took the obligatory photo of each of us trying to push the tower back up. Then it was on to Florence, after pushing through the hundreds of people by then heading for the leaning tower.



Kind of boring without any pictures, so here's last night's sunset.

Well, Gary, Florence certainly didn't disappoint us. The age of the buildings, the one remaining bridge that Hitler didn't bomb, the squares, the markets, the churches. The phrase"you had to be there" comes to mind. For Ann, old had meant maybe more than a hundred years, but to see buildings that have stood for centuries is very special. We really enjoyed just wandering the streets and felt perfectly safe among the many tourists and not too crowded streets.

But if we thought Florence was old, the next day was Pompeii!


;-) Ann-a-Gram

Cannes

Our first day on the cruise was very much a new beginning. Once aboard the ship we found the liveliest spots and danced and sang the night away. Well, at least till midnight! Two live bands in bars with dance floors, and then a nightclub with karaoke, surprised?

After the increasing intensity of rain from London, through Paris to Rome, we awoke to sunshine and a clear blue sky, gliding into the Cannes harbour. We had a fantastic view from our private balcony, so were able to get a good look at all the superyachts before dressing for breakfast ;-)


We disembarked using the ship's life boats, one in the bottom left of the photo, and began a walking tour of the city. We had a lovely French guide who was full of interesting information about the city. She took us through narrow streets and up dozens of steps to a church in the old part of town.


We had a great view from there over the harbour. It was very busy, as the film festival was about to start.

We climbed back down all the steps and walked along the main street past the famous red carpet, and dozens of makeshift homes for the world's media. We bluffed our way onto a private balcony attached to one of the very glitzy hotels and enjoyed an expensive drink while watching the rich and famous go by. Heaps of chauffeur-driven Merc, Lexus, BMW, Alpha Romeo etc cars drove by, but tinted windows hid any passengers from view.


Graham had worn his "Brad Pitt for Mayor" New Orleans T-shirt (Brad has a house in the French Quarter and has done a lot of work to raise money and rebuild houses since Katrina) but was disappointed not to bump into him.

;-) Ann-a-Gram

From Roma to the Crown Princess

We woke to torrential rain in Rome, but Ann was determined to do some sightseeing. Having not yet read Chris's warning about the subway, we set off through the rain, dodging dozens of blokes trying to sell us another umbrella, and found our way to the the nearest subway. It was very crowded, the only place where Ann has worn her pack as a front pack, but we made it to Circus Maximus, (well, it was called that in all the stories Ann translated from Latin), and walked back from there to the Colosseum. Again as luck would have it, we seemed to be going the opposite way to all the tourists.


Although we didn't have time to take a tour and see it all, the history of the area and the age of the structures were breathtaking, well worthwhile in spite of the rain.

We drove out of Rome and back to the port in pouring rain. Graham has learnt to drive like an Italian so it was no problem! We thought we knew how to find the port again but came off the autostrade (motorway) at a place we didn't expect and drove around for quite a while before finally finding our way. We found Fransesca who was going to look after our car and she dropped us off at a bus stop to wait fir a shuttle to the ship.


We were drenched before the shuttle arrived, and again running to get on the ship after checking in. You have no idea how good it felt to get to our stateroom! It didn't take us long to find a bar and a drink!

We now have variable access to the Internet and no way to charge our various gadgets (a story to be told if requested on return!), so blogs may become less frequent. Right now we are sitting on our balcony bathed in sunshine, glass of rose beside us feeling very laid back so don't worry about us, we're doing OK!

;-) Ann-a-Gram

From Paris to Roma 3

We found our way out of the lovely wee town after driving in circles for a while. The road changed to long straights and the driving was easy until we arrived at Civitavecchia.

Travel tip for the day: if you are taking a cruise from Rome, make sure you are not responsible for a car! And don't expect to leave from Rome. Its port is an hour's drive north of the city, a large city itself. We drove around the port trying to find the pier from which we were departing and a long term car park. Then we drove around some more, along small narrow streets in the pouring rain looking for EITHER the pier or a long term car park. Then we stopped and sat for a while. Then we started again. Miraculously, after more than two hours we found the pier, which in the end was not the one we left from, but we also found the office for the long term car parking!

By then (after 4pm) we decided it was easier (yes Isabell...) to drive into Rome than to catch a train - it was still pouring down and not much daylight left. We set the GPS and headed off in the rain with the delightful thought of arriving in the centre of Rome right in the middle of rush hour on a Friday!


Thanks for all the comments from our well travelled friends, all true. You were correct Isabell, we thought the Paris drivers were crazy but they have nothing on the Italians! Not sure if the pic shows enough, though you can see the rain, but there are 4 or 5 cars lined up at lights, with scooters in every space among them, all headed for 2 lanes on the other side of the intersection, with no lanes marked!

Still the GPS got us to our tiny hotel room and we found a place to park the car overnight. Another very stressful day but we made it!


;-) Ann-a-Gram

From Paris to Roma 2

We drove through pouring rain towards Genova, a place we had thought we might stop. In the rain, from the motorway, it looked large, bleak and ugly. We thought from there the road would wind romantically around the coast, in and out of quaint seaside villages, but no, it was in and out of dozens more tunnels! We chose a place on the map about an hour further on and headed for that. It was right on the coast, so we thought we might find a hotel with a view. The GPS took us to the middle of town. By now it was rush hour, so we crawled along the main street in search of a hotel. Those we found looked very dodgy and there was no place to stop, let alone park. We tried to get the GPS to find a hotel, but we went round and round in circles in nose to tail, crazy Italian traffic, until we gave up and headed back to the motorway, and more tolls.

After a while, between tunnels, we spotted a very pretty village and turned off, straight into a one way road going the opposite way. After negotiating a few roundabouts and a few more tunnels, we eventually found our way down into the village. About half an hour later, travelling around and around on tiny one way streets we finally found hotels, and the second one had a room.


....with a view! Definitely the sort of view you see in the travel brochures! By then it was getting on for 8pm, a very long day.


But we strolled along the esplanade and had the best meal we have had since leaving home. Graham had an awesome freshly made spag bol (sorry, even better than yours Pete), and Ann had the best veal she has ever had, cooked in Chianti. A great end to a stressful day.

;-) Ann-a-Gram

From Paris to Rome

Doesn't that sound exciting? Well, it was!

We set the alarm for 5, and were outside the garage where are car had been stored soon after 5.30, even after getting lost and having to retrace our steps. "Tout les temps" they said, but the door was shut and there was no sign of life inside. We found a bell and rang it. After a very long five minutes the door opened and eventually our car appeared.

We took a couple of wrong turns, obeying the gps prematurely, but found our way out of Paris. We drove through beautiful countryside for several hours, admiring the villages. Our route took us high into the mountains, and through the outskirts of Geneva. We went from motorway to two lane road, to single lane, then stopped. We could not tell why, but as we inched slowly up the hill we saw a sign that seemed to imply that the next 2km would take an hour, not that it gave any indication of why. Sure enough, half an hour later, we crept past a sign saying half an hour for the next km! We did know that we were heading for a tunnel through Mont Blanc, and thought perhaps it was one way. When we finally got to the tunnel entrance we found toll gates, and had to pay €35 to get through. Amazing! Surely someone could think of a better way to get people through! It was a looong tunnel! Many kilometres.


After that we travelled through some stunningly beautiful Italian mountain villages punctuated by dozetunic tunnels, some as long as 3km. Not Ann's cup of tea!


It was difficult to capture at speed with Ann's phone! As you can see, the weather was also exciting! We travelled through thunder and lightning, and some very heavy showers. We thought things would improve when we reached the Italian coastline....


;-) Ann-a-Gram

Tourists in Paris 3

After the cruise we headed off to Notre Dame. The picture does not really give any feeling for the size or majesty of the whole structure, nor the queues of tourists, parties of school children, and beggars.


From the sublime to the ridiculous, we then headed off to check out on of Paris's night spots. Probably the best part of the pic is the amazing reflection of the two people with their umbrellas. Not the most beautiful day in Paris!

It was great to get back to the apartment and dine in for the second night in a row. The only other home-cooked meal of the whole trip was with Marcy and Jeff, so a real novelty!

Our third day in Paris we made ourselves a champagne brunch and then explored the local area around the Bastille before preparing for the drive to Rome.

Again, not sure where the next wifi will be, but we'll keep blogging and send them when we can.

;-) Ann-a-Gram

Tourists in Paris 2

We approached the next icon from the subway, and you would think we were the only people there. Till we went through the other side and found large queues of tourists, and nearly as many people miraculously finding gold rings or trying to sell us small plastic Eiffel towers.


Oh, we didn't get a photo, but there were also little battery-powered puppies with Eiffel towers tied to their wagging tails, cute!

We headed off to the Seine and had a very nice glass of champagne on a cruise of the river.


Graham was just anxious to taste it, or was he worried the boat was going to sink and he couldn't understand where to find the life jackets?

We chose a good boat, with few tourists and small children, and a very informative commentary, especially if you wanted to know the history of each of the dozens of bridges on the river!

;-) Ann-a-Gram