DAY 9: PORTOFINO & SANTA MARGHERITA
Portofino is amazingly picturesque. We climbed the big hill to the Castello Brown and the lighthouse (phew) for some amazing pictures. Then, we took a ferry to Santa Margherita for some light walking, crepes, and the best focaccia bread we’ve ever tasted.
Tonight, we’re doing happy hour, an art reception, dinner in the Grand Dining Room, a chance to win some diamonds (all mine!), and a chance to win some of our money back in the casino. Send us your luck!
DAY 8: FLORENCE AND PISA
Another early morning took us to the Field of Miracles. Who knew how many other beautiful buildings were around the Leaning Tower of Pisa!?
Another hour and a half on a bus later, we arrived in Florence and surprisingly had time to explore on our own. I led our team on a tour and hit the highlights, a delicious lunch, way too much gelato, and some serious shopping.
One of the best parts of our days is breakfast on the terrace watching our boat arrive at our destinations and dinner watching the dock fade into the blue. (I miss breakfast most mornings … but when I’ve made it, it has been worth losing a bit of sleep.)
Meals on the ship don’t suck. This was last night’s meal at Polo Grill: Vino, escargot, lobster bisque with brandy, the biggest cut of prime rib I’ve seen in long time, and a quartet of desserts.
DAY 7: ROME
What an amazing day in Roma! After an early departure, we headed to Rome for a day “on our own”. Alice and Jeff ventured across Rome and say just about everything there was to see, while Mom and I met Barbi and Fred (in for the weekend from Florence) for a long Italian lunch, complete with limoncello and macchiati.
Florence and Pisa tomorrow for an 11-hour tour. Wish us luck.
Stromboli Volcano, Eolian Islands, Italy – facts & information / VolcanoDiscovery:
So this is interesting … there are three active volcanoes in Europe (Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli), and we’ve seen all three in the last 24 hours, and one of them while it was erupting!
Mount Stromboli, which we could see erupting from the ship, erupts every 20 to 30 minutes. (Don’t worry … we’re totally safe.)
Mount Etna eruption sends lava and ash into air over Sicily | World news
DAY 4: AT SEA
Welp … our tour to Mount Etna tomorrow will be interesting!!!
Today we were at sea and enjoyed as much as we could, from the “Beer Fest” to a wine tasting to a cabana to sleeping in. Needless to say, we didn’t give ourselves much time to prepare for our five touring days coming up!
We won some $$$ at Blackjack! As it goes in our family … even if you just break even, that’s winning! ♥️
All four of our party and all six of our bags made it aboard and were welcomed with a string quartet. Free unlimited WiFi is in use!