Saturday, March 21, 2015
  Today we began our European Adventure II when we flew to Ft . Lauderdale to board the Island Princess sailing to Venice. Last night at the Hilton Hotel was exciting when the fire alarms went off at 10:30 pm and a recorded voice told us to vacate our room as there was a fire detected. We marched down 11 stories to the lobby and saw the fire truck with lights flashing. Luckily, it was a false alarm, and everyone went back to their rooms within a half hour. We boarded the ship today and after unpacking and attending the muster, we relaxed on our balcony with a glass of wine to watch the sail away. We're looking forward to the next week at sea, relaxing by the pool and reading. We love lazy sea days.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

We have met some fascinating people on our cruises. We had dinner last night with Tom Sheridan and his wife, Mary. Tom is the author of Tom’s Port Guides at http://www.TomsPortGuides.com. If you travel by cruise ship (or really by any mode of transportation to one of these cities), you MUST download and read Tom’s Port Guides . They are chock full of information about each port that a visitor needs. They contain maps, pictures, and detailed information about how to get around in each port, what to see and where to stay. The detail is amazing. Tom has published over 50 port guides to cities around the world and is constantly updating them with current information. He also includes many useful links to websites that international travelers find valuable. Tom is a very loquacious man who happily shares his vast knowledge of the major cities of the world, making him an excellent dinner companion! We talked for so long we nearly missed the show we had planned to attend. He explained the difficulties we might encounter maneuvering luggage in Venice from ship to apartment, and the advantages of taking the ship-provided boat to San Marco when we dock. We’ll be in Rome on Good Friday and Tom confirmed that the crowds will be enormous. I’m glad we decided to visit Viterbo instead. We’ve been to Rome, so we’ll explore outside the city this trip . Viterbo is a medieval town between Rome and Florence where we’ll see the Villa Lante gardens, Palazzo Farnese and/or villages on the slope of the Cimini Mountains with a private guide. It should be very Italiano!!!

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

We’ve spent eight very relaxing days at sea, reading, eating, and getting to know our fellow passengers, and we find lots to keep us busy on the ship. We generally sleep in later aided by moving our clock forward an hour every other day so we’ll be on European time when we get to our first port. Twenty three hour days are probably the only disadvantage of a western-bound transatlantic crossing. I start my day with a visit to the fitness center for a walk on the treadmill, and Cory orders coffee and tea to our room. Our afternoons are relaxing with reading, visits to the pool, the occasional Bingo game or chatting with new friends. Dinner usually takes a couple of hours, and we always eat with different people and enjoy the interesting conversation . After dinner, we attend the live show in the theatre, and a few nights we visited the casino for some Black Jack.

Yesterday the ship docked at our first port of call, Funchal, Madeira. Our CruiseCritic (http://www.cruisecritic.com) roll call members organized a less touristy trip for twelve with Daniel’s Madeira Taxis to view the island. We boarded a mini-bus and drove to Terreiro da Luta in the parish of Monte. The Terreiro da Luta is a monument built and dedicated to Our Lady of Peace. The statue was erected to fulfill a promise made by the Madeirans when the city of Funchal was attacked by German submarines in 1917. The viewpoint allows you to enjoy the beautiful view over the bay of Funchal. We then drove to Pico do Arieiro, one of the highest peaks on Madeira with an altitude of 1818 metres. The views all around are stunning with clouds floating over the beautiful mountainous rock formations. Pico do Arieiro is one of the most visited places on the island, due to its easy access and extraordinary views . Our last stop was Santo da Serra, a village where the local people staged their market stalls along the main road and a surprising assortment of food and other goods can be acquired very cheaply. We purchased some local Madeira wine and wandered through the marketplace. On the way back to the ship we passed the local airport where the runway begins and ends at the ocean. That would be a very scary landing. Madeira is a beautiful island, and we were fortunate to see parts of it that most cruise travelers miss.

Friday, April 3, 2014

Today we docked in Civitavecchia, a port outside of Rome. While many cruisers took the bus into Rome, we chose a private tour of the Italian countryside outside of Rome. Susana, our guide, has lived in a village about 25 miles outside of Rome for the past 20 years. She showed us how people live amongst the ancient ruins and medieval villages in the Italian countryside. The old Roman aqueducts still marh across the Cimini hills that are also dotted with even older Etruscan burial mounds . We stopped in Sutri, visiting the Roman Amphitheatre carved into the stone and designed in a manner similar to the Colosseum in Rome but much smaller. It was used thousands of years ago as the community center and theatre. Nearby were ancient burial tombs carved into the rock faces of the hill. We then visited the very old Etruscan temple to Mitra that is carved into the volcanic stone of a hill. We could still see much of the 2000 year old frescos preserved on the stone walls. We then visited the splendid Farnese palace and gardens. This imposing castle was transformed by an eighteen-year old cardinal into a renaissance luxury residence for popes and princes. The garden and its fountains were marvels of engineering thousands of years ago. The frescoes in the palace are magnificent and give a glimpse into the wealth and glory of renaissance Italy. We finished our tour with a stop at Susana’s home in the picturesque Vetralla where her husband prepared a fabulous Italian lunch for us with at least dozen different bruschettas, frittata, fruits, and homemade pasta with sausage and artichokes, washed down with red and white wine. We were all too full to have the gelato for dessert but we did sip some Lemoncello after our wonderful meal in her beautiful home overlooking the garden. After a quick stop to tramp amongst the ruined stones of an ancient Etruscan temple high on a hilltop, we made it back to the ship just in time for departure. It was a wonderful day in the hills outside of Rome.