Category Archives: Italy

Cruise, Italy, Travel

Mediterranean Europe, Part 5: Sicily, Italy

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I mentioned in the last post that by the time we finished the Naples stop we were feeling pretty good. Though we felt rushed at times having to return to the ship each day, we had been able to see and do quite a lot thus far and all of our pre-trip planning was working out well.

The next stop on the cruise ship itinerary was Messina, Sicily. I had never been to the island of Sicily and for a long time the island was kind of off the radar due to the association with the mafia. In recent decades the island has become one of the most intriguing places to visit in Italy with its beaches and history some of the most beautiful in the country.

Originally the Messina stop was supposed to be short, only 7 hours, which for a cruise passenger is effectively 5 hours due to the time necessary to debark and reboard the ship. However, about a month before departure NCL notified us that they were extending the Messina stop by 2 hours, which gave us more latitude to enjoy ourselves in Siciliy.

Arrival in Messina

A Statue in Messina harbor

We had decided beforehand to travel down the coast to Taormina, a resort town on the coast about an hour away. Initially I expected that visiting Taormina would use up all of the time that we had in port, but with the additional two hours I now expected to be able to walk around Messina a bit before boarding the ship.

To get to Taormina we booked the only cruise excursion we planned for on the trip: ‘Taormina On Your Own’. This turned out to be a blessing and a curse as you will find out later. Effectively the excursion was simply bus transportation, which had the advantage of taking us right to the city and not to the train station below the city (at least 45 minutes walk up a cliff or a taxi ride). This in theory would give us more time.

Shelley also had wanted to take family portraits at a stop on the trip. For once this was a day where I didn’t have anything in particular that I wanted to see (other than the Greek Theater in Taormina). This was probably the last time we would vacation as a family since our eldest was a high school graduate and intended to move away to start his life, and this was our 20th anniversary trip.

We booked a photographer through Flytographer in advance and scheduled the meetup to occur in Taormina at a time when we would be there after taking the bus ride for the excursion. We bought matching clothing that would be suitable for both the portraits and the hot, Mediterranean weather, and contacted the photographer to let him know we were on our way.

As the bus left Messina I saw that the city was more attractive and interesting than I first assumed. There were entire blocks devoted to parks and attractive historic buildings in the city center. The tour guide on the bus pointed out some civic buildings as having been built during the Mussolini era that were unpopular with the locals, but were historic reminders of World War II. Had we more time that day I would have liked to look for more connections to WWII in the city.

But certainly, once we got back from the excursion we would have time to explore the city near the port. Or so I thought.

Taormina

We arrived in a parking garage and after ascending the stairs to the top level I did not see much that was particularly interesting. It wasn’t until we passed through the city gate that I realized just how beautiful Taormina really is.

These few pictures really don’t do justice for Taormina. We just didn’t have much time to explore the city on our own and to take photographs. But I will tell you unequivocally it was the prettiest city we visited on the entire trip.

And we did choose the right city for family portraits.

We entered the city gates and walked the narrow streets, quickly following Google Maps to find the Public Gardens. It was there that we had arranged to meet the photographer. We entered the gardens, found a bench to sit on, trying not to be sweaty, and messaged the photographer. We mentioned being near a statue and he found us quickly thereafter.

I have always had a personal policy of not posting photos on my blog that are not my own. The following photos were taken by Guiseppe who you can book under ‘Guiseppe and Guiseppe’ (we didn’t see the other Guiseppe) on Flytographer for Taormina, Italy.

Family portraits in Taormina

The photo locations were terrific throughout the town and we were very happy with the results. The only problem was that my wife had to do the entire session in a lot of pain.

Just after we started the portrait session Shelley tripped on uneven pavement in the Public Garden and fell very hard on her arms. We were instantly concerned that she had broken bones and certainly severe sprains in her wrists and elbows. By catching herself with her arms on a hard surface she saved herself from further injury but was in immense pain throughout the rest of the day (and trip).

She refused to stop the portrait session and after all we had done and gone through to get there, we were not about to quit. She put on a strong, smiling face for the next hour and a half and we walked from one location to another to continuing posing for photos.

Once we were done with the portraits, we were near the city gate. We stopped for some much needed gelato (it’s always needed) and Shelley wisely ordered granita, since it comes from Sicily (or so I’m told). Despite the pain she was in we would have explored the city a bit longer and gone to the Greek Theater, but the tour guide gave us only enough time to finish the portrait session and eat a little before we needed to return to the bus.

Once we were back on the bus the adrenaline wore off and Shelley said the pain and stiffness were becoming more severe. We needed to find a doctor and get x-rays done. Being in a foreign country this would be more difficult. But the ship did have a clinic on our floor with an x-ray machine, so we could go there.

Seeking Medical Care

Travel Medical Insurance

To a certain extent we’ve always had good fortune over the years and have never been in a situation where we needed medical care on any trips (that I can recall anyway). We have had to stop at pharmacies and shopping centers for pain medicine, band-aids, cough medicine, etc.

Now we had a situation that would require seeking medical care in a foreign country. So I needed to check on the coverage provided by our insurance from GeoBlue.

In the past whenever we have traveled outside the country I have gotten some form of Travel Insurance. Usually I do a cost-benefit analysis to decide how much and from whom.

Most travel insurance covers both medical and trip cancellation or disruption. While trip cancellation or disruption can be costly it pales in comparison to the costs of receiving medical care for serious injuries or illness while abroad.

GeoBlue is ONLY travel medical insurance. You can buy reasonably priced plans for an entire family that cover up to $1 million in expenses. It is run by Blue Cross and it is generally considered one of the best travel medical insurances you can get. It also is more streamlined for getting reimbursement and finding providers since it’s not an umbrella travel policy but is focused on just the medical insurance aspect.

I have two Chase credit cards that provide some travel insurance to cover the other possibilities including disruption and cancellation, along with lost luggage. I also often pay extra for plane tickets and cruise fare so I can cancel up to the day of departure and still at least get credits for future travel. Also I almost never prepay for a lower rate on hotels just so that I can pay when I arrive and cancel up to the date of departure.

So basically, my primary concern is the medical aspect and GeoBlue provides great coverage for that purpose.

Still, I needed to call GeoBlue and make sure there were no catches before we used the medical clinic on the ship. We were still docked in Messina a couple hours and if we needed to use a medical facility in Italy we could. Though it was a bit risky now since the ship would depart without us if we were late.

I called GeoBlue and fortunately we could use the medical clinic on the ship and we would be covered. If we were docked in a home port in our home country we would have to exit the ship and seek care in the port with our non-travel insurance. But away from home it was by far the best option and we were covered.

X-Rays

Shelley was in a lot of pain and we were lucky to have the medical facility literally just around the corner from our room. We called the emergency line (the clinic isn’t always open for non-emergencies and they let us in).

Both arms were affected and x-rays were done from the hands to the shoulders. Fortunately, no broken bones were visible on the x-rays, which was at least a partial relief. What the x-rays could not show was soft-tissue damage, and only a CAT scan would reveal these injuries.

Still, at least for now the trip could and would continue on. Our next stop was Katakolon, Greece, the port for Olympia. The medical clinic would attempt to get Shelley into a clinic there to receive the CT scan and further treatment as needed.

Because we were on a cruise-sponsored excursion and no alcohol was involved (they gave her a breathalyzer test), we were not charged for the x-rays and medical care. So in the end we were covered, but it was complimentary. Also, NCL suddenly became a lot more accommodating and helpful to her (and us by extension). We were able to order free room service meals the rest of the trip.

Onward we proceeded toward Greece. It was the country I most looked forward to visiting on the trip. I had never been to Greece and since I am a history buff there are very few places that an match the archaeological sites to be found in Greece (probably only Egypt surpasses it in my mind).

But Shelley would now be wearing a sling and would have to limit her activity considerably. The trip was becoming a gauntlet of challenges to overcome, but we were taking it in stride as much as we could.

Olympia awaited the following day.

Cruise, Italy, Travel

Mediterranean Europe, Part 4: Naples, Italy

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Arrival in Naples

By the time we arrived at our port stop in Naples, we were feeling pretty good about the trip. Things were going well after the rocky start with the canceled flight and the lost phone in Barcelona and we had a relatively easy day planned logistically in Naples.

I remembered well my visit to Naples in 2000 when I was backpacking in Italy. It was noticeably poorer than Rome and Tuscany and I remembered well the pickpockets that stood in plain sight in the train stations ready to pilfer from the turned backs of anyone that didn’t know who they were and why they were there.

I also remembered walking outside of the Pompeii archaeological site and feeling a bit more unsettled than in any place I had been on the backpacking trip. I had a sense that if I walked down the wrong street or gave the wrong look to the wrong person, I might regret it.

I decided before we left to take the easy approach and just book an excursion with Viator. I felt the family should go to Pompeii and decided a guided tour of the ruins would be better than visiting it on our own. Pompeii is huge and finding the most interesting locations and really knowing what you are looking at is difficult without a guide.

Since combo tours were offered I chose Mount Vesuvius National Park for the second stop on the tour. With all of the time spent in archaeological zones, museums, and in cities I thought a little nature and hiking would be good. It would also link well with the Pompeii visit since it was an eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii.

The cruise port is right in the city which is convenient, but unlike at the other ports the second you exit the fenced port area you are met by an onslaught of pestering ‘tour guides’. We repeatedly told the swarm of tour guides that we were not interested and were already booked on a tour. I was also mindful to keep my backpack secure while amid the crowd.

Once we found our tour guide we waited while the rest of the group arrived before being led to waiting tour buses. The tour seemed to start a bit later than we hoped. But after a few extra stops in Naples to pick up more guests from hotels (which filled the bus) the tour was underway.

Because it was the height of tourist season, Pompeii was going to be unusually busy. The tour operators decided that we would be better off going to Mount Vesuvius first, then come back to Pompeii when the crowds were lighter in the afternoon.

Mount Vesuvius National Park

The drive up to Mount Vesuvius took us from the urban sprawl of Naples and into a more pleasant region of vineyards and pine forests. I have to admit that I find the city of Naples to be fairly dismal, with crumbling buildings and graffiti visible throughout the urban center. Even the historic castle near the port looks less stately than it’s royal past would indicate.

On the other hand, the city looked more lively and tourist friendly than when I visited in 2000. I didn’t get the eerie, unsafe vibes I got in 2000. There just seems to have been an effort to modernize and improve many of the cities and tourist sites. That was particularly obvious to me at Pompeii. In 2000 the area around Pompeii seemed rundown. Now it was developed with many restaurants.

In the countryside, on the road to the crater of Vesuvius, the surrounding views were rustic and vintage Italy. It also felt good to be away from the swarm of tour guides at the port and on our way to enjoy a late morning hike with views over the Bay of Naples.

The road itself became narrow enough that two tour buses could no longer always pass each other safely. When that happened, one tour bus would be forced to back up until it arrived at a wider section of the roadway. Then we would proceed to pass. Fortunately the game of chicken only occurred a couple times on our trip up the mountain.

Once we arrived at the parking area for the crater trail, we made sure we had some water with us for the short, but steep hike to the crater rim. It was a hot day (in the 90s F) and on Mount Vesuvius the foliage is limited to bushes and wildflowers that provide little shade. Make sure to put on sunscreen as well, since you will be exposed to direct sun for over an hour.

Ascending Mount Vesuvius
At Mount Vesuvius National Park

The hike up to the rim takes about 30 minutes. For Daniel and I it was an easy climb. Shelley and Evan also made it up to the crater relatively quickly, despite the heat.

The views into the crater and the wildflowers around the crater were enjoyable. Unfortunately it was a hazy day and we had limited views of the surrounding Bay of Naples.

After hiking back down as a family, we returned to the air-conditioned comfort of the tour bus. Well, actually the bus was more comfortable than the one that we rode in Tuscany, but the A/C still left something to be desired.

On our way back down the tour stopped for a limoncello tasting at a limoncello maker’s store.

Evan holding a gigantic lemon

Evan may not look thrilled to be holding this gigantic lemon, but these are the actual lemons that are grown on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Monsters they are. And they make some delicious limoncello. We bought 6 small bottles of various flavors.

After enjoying the limoncello tasting, we continued down the road to Pompeii. Before entering the archaeological park, part of the day tour included a pizza lunch. Even if it didn’t, I wouldn’t go to Naples and not have pizza. Naples is the home of pizza.

The pizza was delicious and authentic. The tour took us to a pretty good restaurant near Pompeii at a place where you could watch the pizza be cooked in a wood fire from your table. Outside grapes were growing on a trellis overhead (still too immature and small to be the dark purple they will become).

Despite the nice lunch, we were all getting antsy about getting to Pompeii. We didn’t want to lose any of the promised two hours at the site. Fortunately, even though the lunch seemed to go a bit longer than any of us needed, they didn’t cheat us out of any time in Pompeii.

Pompeii

Exploring the Ruins of Pompeii
A Visit to Pompeii

Visiting Pompeii is fascinating. Roman ruins in other areas of Italy have usually suffered the ravages of two millennia of weathering and looting and wars and the structures are only minimally reminiscent of their original form.

Pompeii lets you walk back in time in a way that can’t be matched (except in Herculaneum). The streets are intact. Many of the houses are intact. The art still adorns the walls. The life of the citizens is on display, in all of its often tawdry glory.

I highly recommend taking a guided tour as the guides will take you to some of the most interesting and best preserved areas of the city and offer an explanation of the ruins that would be hard to understand if you visited on your own. When I came in 2000 I walked the vast city on my own and missed everything that I saw on this visit. Last time I saw many of the homes, but the frescoes and details were nothing like I encountered on the tour.

We were led into the city at the Quadriportico and to the best preserved theater that we saw on the trip. That’s the difference between being buried in tons of pumice versus exposed to the open air.

Next we visited the homes of some wealthy residents and enjoyed the frescoes of hunting scenes and beautiful gods and goddesses and everyday Romans in daily life. We saw the mosaics and reliefs and the everyday items that survived the hellish, gaseous inferno. We even saw childrens’ scratches depicting gladiators on a wall. Never would have seen that on my own.

It soon becomes obvious that the residents of Pompeii enjoyed two past times in particular: gladiator fights and lovemaking. Yes, they were not prudes and frescoes depict what was on offer at a brothel and at the bath house. The same Romans that were amazing architects and engineers and scientists and philosophers and statesmen were also good at enjoying life. Except for the gladiators, who had to fight to retain theirs.

I had considered going to Herculaneum instead of Pompeii, but decided that my family should visit Pompeii first, even though the ruins of Herculaneum are even better preserved. The reason is that Pompeii has something that Herculaneum doesn’t: the eerie plaster casts of the deceased residents.

The casts are haunting and horrifying and fascinating at the same time. You can see the residents as they were, in their last moments. The tragedy really hits home when you see the casts of entire families that died together in the museum. Everyday citizens lived and died in Pompeii in AD 79.

After the tour we were ready to have some gelato before the drive back to the ship. We did get our gelato, but only after dealing with some very ride and pushy people that literally stepped in front of our child before he could order. We even said we were a family and were ordering together, but to no avail. They had to have their gelato before our child. We just encountered a lot of rude people throughout the trip.

Fortunately the gelato was cool and delicious and what we needed after a long hot day. We were happy even if we had to deal with some rudeness to end our day.

In the next blog post, I’ll tell about our visit to Sicily, from the port of Messina to the very beautiful town of Taormina.

Cruise, Italy, Travel

Mediterranean Europe, Part 3: Rome, Italy

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If there is one city that is particularly difficult to visit on a cruise port stop, it is Rome. The city is a full 1.5 hours away from the port by train or vehicle from the port city of Civitavecchia. Still, there are few cities in the world with more to see and do and more centuries of history to explore.

I had decided in advance that we would make our own way to Rome and not take one of the very expensive cruise excursions on offer. There were two main reasons for this: 1) The sheer cost which was around $300/person for breeze-through visits to a few sites 2) I wanted at least one day to take the trains and metros like I had done when I was a much younger backpacker.

Norwegian Cruise Lines did give us a longer stop in Rome, docking at 6:46 AM and departing at 7:00 PM. But the logistics of the stop are daunting. As I mentioned the train ride is 1.5 hours each direction (slightly shorter if you stop at the San Pietro station nearer the Vatican). You have to also take a bus from the port to the train station. And then you have to take metros, buses or taxis to points of interest in Rome. Sites aren’t all nearby each other either, so expect a lot of walking too.

My plan for the day was to focus on ancient Rome since I knew it was simply not logistically possible to see both the Vatican and the ancient sites in one cruise stop day. We would take the 8:00 train from Civitavecchia to the Roma Termini station. At 9:30ish we would arrive and take the metro to the Colosseo stop (about 10 minutes away). We would visit Palatine Hill first, followed by the Colosseum (at designated times of 11:15 and 11:45 (I’ll explain below the two different times), and then walk through the Forum.

Afterward we would walk over Capitoline Hill, have lunch and visit Trevi Fountain before visiting the Pantheon at 3:00 PM (when we had entrance tickets). Finally we would taxi across the Tiber to visit Castel Sant Angelo and then return to Civitavecchia on the 5PM train (cutting it a tad close).

What ended up happening was more limited and is a reflection of the time and logistical constraints of visiting Rome on a cruise stop.

Arrival in Civitavecchia

Taking the train from Civitavecchia to Roma Termini

We arrived in Rome at 6:45 and since we had pre-purchased our train tickets for a 8:00AM train on the TrenItalia site, we had a relatively easy time making it to the train station on time. We could have taken a slightly earlier train but we didn’t know how busy the cruise port buses would be (very busy) and wanted to avoid risking missing the train.

Once aboard the train we realized that the scheduled time for the arrival in Roma Termini (the station closest to the Colosseum and other sites in central Rome) was a bit longer than the posted time. Instead of the 1 hour and 15 minutes that was posted on the app, the arrival time was closer to 1 hour 30 minutes.

Also, upon arrival you realize that Roma Termini is a huge station and just getting from the platforms to the metro can take quite a while and be quite a distance (we really found this out on the way back). Finally, when we arrived we needed to make a bathroom stop and went to a cafe outside to do so (buying a cappuccino to get entrance to the bathroom), not realizing there was a convenient bathroom inside the station.

So by the time we actually arrived outside the Colosseum from Metro Line B, it was already close to 10:30 AM. We also saw crowds that dwarfed even those we encountered in Pisa the day before. The area outside the Colosseum was a mass of humanity and the lines to enter the sites were very long with more security than anywhere else we went on the trip.

Visiting Rome on a Cruise Ship Stop

Ancient Rome

First let me state the obvious to anyone that is coming to visit Rome in the height of tourist season: you can’t just show up at the Colosseum and other sites and just walk in. You have to buy tickets in advance and if you want to see special sites or take particular tours, you will need to buy them days in advance (and the minute the sales begin for certain tours like the Colosseum Underground). The ticketing site is colosseo.it. Note also the site is down at hours in which the sites aren’t open in Italy time.

I had pre-purchased tickets for everything on the trip, but the most challenging by far was the tickets I needed for the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Forum. My initial plan was to buy four Colosseum Underground tours (under 18 is free) as soon as the tickets were available online. The same tickets give you access to all the sites on Palatine Hill (including the SUPER sites which I’ll mention below), and the Forum, as well as the arena floor and 2nd and 3rd levels of the Colosseum).

What ended up happening was at 1:00 AM, 30 days before our arrival day in Rome, I ended up somehow only buying 2 adult tickets to the Colosseum Underground tour. I emailed their customer support to try to add our two kids and received no response until only a couple days before we left. And that response was of no use whatsoever.

Since we had only two full access tickets to the Underground Tour I ended up buying additional tickets to the SUPER sites (which also provide access the the Colosseum and the Forum, but not the Underground or the Arena) and 2 tickets for the Colosseum Arena (which only allows access the the arena).

Confusing? Yeah, but still less expensive than the hundreds of dollars we would have spent going through a third-party and we knew exactly what we were getting. A lot of times the third-party tour vendors sell tickets they don’t even have and cancel if they can’t get the tickets.

We had to make a decision, though. Who goes to the Underground and who goes to the Arena and spends more time on Palatine Hill at the SUPER sites? I had heard the Underground Tour was the most sought after tour in all of Rome (seriously). The reason I didn’t have 4 tickets was they were gone instantly and the system didn’t give me the chance to update the request. We had two tickets and we didn’t want to lose them.

But we couldn’t leave the two kids and go on the tour as two adults. Eventually I made a decsion to give the tickets to Shelley and our youngest son Evan. I decided Daniel and I would find the Palatine sites more interesting than Evan would, and Evan would benefit more from a tour that explained the history of the Colosseum.

On arriving, we found the entrance and security lines were so long (the security process was only a step below that of an airport) just to get into the Palatine Hill/Forum area that once we entered we had to separate. Shelley and Evan had to go check in at the Colosseum for their tour at 11:15 (where even longer lines awaited). Daniel and I set about quickly locating the Palatine Hill SUPER sites.

Palatine Hill

Sites of Palatine Hill

There are seven SUPER sites on Palatine Hill and you need special entrance tickets to visit the SUPER sites.

SUPER stands for Seven Unique Places to Experience in Rome. Of the seven sites Daniel and I were able to visit the House of Augustus, The Palatine Museum, and the Aula Isiaca and Loggia Mattei. We would have visited them all but needed to leave Palatine Hill to visit the Colosseum at our timed entry time of 12:00.

Our first stop was the House of Augustus (which is displayed above as the rooms with red frescos and geometric floors). Even though we had passes to enter the house, we still had to join a tour to see the rooms. Since we were time constrained we joined a tour in Italian and though we had no idea what was being said, we found it a very interesting site.

Our next stop was the Palatine Museum. The Palatine Museum provides a more in depth look at the full history of Rome, starting with the earliest settlements. There are some interesting artifacts and exhibits to peruse, although the museum itself is rather small. We only went through one of two wings, due to time.

Finally we went to the Aula Isiaca and the Loggia Mattei. The Aula Isiaca was an underground room of the House of Augustus. The ceiling of the adjoining Loggia Mattei is really impressive (the white ceiling fresco above).

All of these sites appear in the video that I made which I linked above.

Colosseum

Our Journey through the Colosseum

I just finished watching The Gladiator. It such a great movie and one of my favorites. Interesting fact: the last time I was in the Colosseum was the year 2000, when the original was released (I was 24). 24 years later, the sequel is coming out in 2024. And here I am again.

Daniel and I were not on the Underground tour. I have to admit I made another booking error, which is easy on that stressful ticketing site. I booked our Colosseum entrance time for the arena at the exact same time as our entrance to the main tourist areas. The gate manager at the arena told us to go into the main area first and then when we finished he’d let us into the arena.

The unfortunate reality of the Colosseum is that on a typical summer day it has simply too many people to enjoy. It’s very hard to find any free space and it was simply not very enjoyable being in a moving herd of people. The Colosseum is an awe inspiring site, but there is really such a thing as overcrowded. I know they tried to alleviate that with the timed-entry, but it’s just better to try to go when the crowds are lighter (evenings or off-season).

We also noticed just how many concurrent, and lame, tours are being led through the building at the same time. And many of these tour guides are clearly not qualified to lead a tour. I heard a woman point to some artifacts and say “And over here there are these things”.

Once we were sufficiently done with our attempt to find a place to take photographs, and done shaking our heads at the less-than-educated tour guides who tourists overpaid to listen to, we were ready to go to the arena. We walked back over and the security guard let us in as promised.

The arena was less crowded, though the video shows it was hardly empty. It was also nice to be able to look at the Colosseum from the viewpoint of the gladiators of two millennium past.

Interestingly we saw and waved to Shelley who was still in the Underground Tour just below us.

The Underground

I mentioned earlier that the Underground tickets are some of the most sought after and hard to get tickets in Rome. People will pay hundreds of dollars to get into the Underground of the Colosseum.

We were surprised that Shelley and Evan were still in the Underground, however. And even after Daniel and I were in the Forum for a half hour, they were still in the Underground. The tour was just a lot longer than they or we expected even though there really wasn’t that much to see. The tour guide apparently just repeated herself over and over to the point where they were eager to be done.

The Underground was interesting and the exhibits and views were something the average visitor can’t enjoy. There is a lift to demonstrate how animals were elevated to the arena. There were helmets and the labyrinth of passageways. But when they finally met us in the Forum a while later, they were clearly disappointed to have missed out on many sites on Palatine Hill. They also do get to see the arena floor and the rest of the Colosseum.

I think if you have limited time I would NOT do the Underground tour. It’s interesting, but eats up a lot of time and there’s just not that much more to see there than in the other areas. It is more intimate with far fewer people and you do get a tour (although they repeat the same information over and over). But I think with a limited time window you’re better off getting the arena ticket and the SUPER pass for the rest of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Forum.

I think everyone should see the Colosseum at least once, but truthfully, I don’t think I will go there the next time I am in Rome. There’s just too much else to see and do and the crowds are a lot to manage.

The Forum

Sites from the Roman Forum

While the Colosseum was hard to enjoy due to the crowds, the Forum was more relaxed and enjoyable. We first went to view the Arch of Titus which stands at the entrance (look closely at the engravings on the inner surfaces of the arch – one depicts the sacking of Jerusalem and the other a four horse chariot), then made our way to the Temple of the Vestal Virgins.

I somehow missed the Temple of the Vestals when I was younger, and like much of this trip, everything was new to me. It’s clear that Rome has spent time improving the layout of the exhibits in the past 24 years and I found it much easier to find specific sites within the Forum.

I next went to two of the better preserved buildings: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina and the Temple of Romulus. In both cases (especially the Temple of Romulus) it’s clear that a conversion to a church saved the building from destruction. Much of the glory of Rome is best found in ancient buildings that were for a time a church (even the Colosseum).

When we exited the Temple of Romulus we received a text that Shelley and Evan were finally in the Forum and we walked back up to meet them at the Arch of Titus. They were tired and we were all hungry and it was now 2:00 PM.

How were we going to get to the Pantheon by 3:00 PM. The plan was unraveling quickly.

Change of Plans

We were quickly realizing that Rome was too big and our time too limited to stick to the original schedule. To get to the Pantheon we would need to either hail a taxi, or return to Termini Station to get to the other metro line. Getting a taxi amid the mass of humanity near the Colosseum was going to be impossible so we started back to Termini Station.

Once we got to Termini Station it was already 2:15 PM. We were never going to make it to the Pantheon at 3:00 PM. Now what?

I had booked train tickets from the San Pietro station which was not even directly accessible from Termini. You had to get off at the Ottaviano stop on the A line (near the Vatican) then walk about 3km to the station.

I was also now realizing that leaving that station at 5PM would be perilously close to the cutoff for returning to the ship, depending on how how slow the train was (expecting at least 1 hour 15 minutes from that station plus another 20 minutes for the bus ride).

The hard reality was that not only were we going to miss the Pantheon but we really ought to just start back to the ship now. We had seen the central core of Ancient Rome and that would have to be enough. You can’t expect to see more than a limited area on a cruise ship stop.

I went onto the Tren Italia phone application (be sure to install it before coming to Italy), and bought us four new tickets to Civitavecchia for 2:45 PM. Once I finished purchasing them we strated off toward the train gate.

If there is one thing to 100% know about the Roma Termini station in advance is that it is HUGE. We were already at the station but to walk to the gate was a long, long walk. We ended up having to run to make it to the train on time. Once aboard we breathed a sigh of relief and suddenly remembered we hadn’t eaten lunch.

Back in Civitavecchia

I felt good about our day in Rome even if it didn’t include many sites I had wanted to see. We still got special access to the Palatine and Colosseum sites and enjoyed the Forum. We rode the train into the city (as a true traveler to Europe should – at least once) and then rode the metro. But we had no time to even get a cool gelato.

The train station in Civitavecchia had some desserts in an adjoining cafe so we got some cannoli and other desserts. I ate my cannoli too fast for it to be photographed. It was on my must-eat list for Italy.

Final Thoughts

I think Rome has so much to see and do that even if you had multiple days it’s really hard to see more than just the surface. Even when I came to Rome in my 20s I had three days and could devote whole days to places like the Vatican, and still felt rushed. Coming on a cruise ship…forget about it.]

You have to have limited expectations for a visit to Rome on a cruise ship. Pick a small area and just see the sites there. And see them well. Don’t let the crowds usher you in and out. Don’t take a whirlwind tour and try to see it all.

Rome is 2700 years old. It’s the Eternal City. Plan on coming back and seeing more.

The next post will take us to Naples to visit Mount Vesuvius and the archaeological site of Pompeii.

Cruise, Italy, Travel

Mediterranean Europe, Part 2: Tuscany, Italy

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While the trip had started off on a rather rocky note, by the time we arrived at our first stop in Italy, we were beginning to hit our groove.

Arrival in Livorno

Our cruise ship docked in Livorno, Italy at 6:00 AM and we were immediately hit with a bizarre concern: would we be able to exit the port?

Livorno’s cruise port is in an industrial area and for safety reasons, you are not allowed to walk from the ship to the city. The city provides shuttle buses to transport passengers to the city center of Livorno for 7 Euro (my 11 year old was free if I recall).

The problem was we had not picked up any Euros in the previous days and had only our credit cards. Additionally we had booked a non-ship excursion so NCL would not cover our transportation for us.

We called the Guest Services in the early morning and were told the buses only accept cash. I then checked for any blogs or YouTube videos by recent cruise ship passengers that might know better (because we were quickly realizing the NCL staff seemed to be rather uninformed). We found one blog that mentioned paying by credit card.

Finally, since our family ocean view cruise cabin on the 5th floor was right above the gangway on the 4th (it really was an ideal location), I just exited the ship and walked over to the shuttle bus ticketers.

I want everyone here to know: THE SHUTTLE BUS TICKETERS IN LIVORNO, ITALY DO ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS. So no worries. But do stop by an ATM when you arrive in Europe or wherever you go soon after arrival and get some of the local currency.

I bought our shuttle bus tickets from the nice lady who told me I could just show our receipts and hop straight onto the bus when my family returned with me an hour later. There was indeed a much longer line when we were all ready to depart so perhaps as a tip to all the cruise passengers out there hoping to save time, either be off the ship right when the gangway opens or have one of your party buy the bus tickets on arrival and save time with boarding the bus later.

After we had all showered and eaten some breakfast, we walked off the ship and right onto the bus, getting dark looks from the poor souls in the bus line who thought we must be somehow cutting even though we had receipts. Once onboard it was a quick ten minute ride to the center of Livorno.

We had two cities planned for the day: Lucca and Pisa. Most of the cruise passengers make the jaunt to Florence. And that is understandable. I went to Florence when I was 24 years old and the city is filled with some of the greatest art and architecture of all of Italy. Really the world.

But coming on a cruise stop is difficult since you are arriving in a time window with other day trippers and even in the year 2000 the city was absolutely crushed by tourists midday. Additionally if you go to Florence via train from the cruise ship don’t try to go elsewhere during the day. Make it your only stop or you will see very little. More on that in the Rome section.

We decided to find another Tuscan town that would be a lot more relaxed but still give us the opportunity to really enjoy Tuscany. After quite a bit of reading and video watching we decided Lucca was the place. Close enough to visit by train too, with Pisa a logical stop along the way.

But just to give you an idea of the logistics of this cruise port, from the point where you are dropped off by the port shuttle buses you still have to take another bus to the train station. And then the trains take you to the local train stations in Lucca and Pisa which aren’t right by the areas you want to visit. In Pisa it’s an hour walk.

After considering that reality, we found a Lucca and Pisa On Your Own tour offered by the Shore Excursions group. I decided it was ideal for our purposes and would remove some of the logistical hurdles from this cruise stop.

We got into Livorno an hour before our excursion would depart from the same city square, which gave us time to shop for necessities and to stop at an ATM.

Church in Livorno

One complication with the tour was that if you wanted to go up the leaning tower you’d have to know exactly when you’d be in Pisa. I knew in advance that to climb the tower you were limited to a time slot and that those time slots would fill up quickly in the primary tourist season.

You can buy those tickets in advance here from the official site: Piazza del Duomo in Pisa. Notre that third party vendors sell these tickets for a massive markup. Don’t waste your money.

But again, now that we were on an On Your Own excursion I had to know when we’d be in Pisa. So from reading the tour description and the start times….if it was an hour from Livorno to Lucca and the tour started at 10:30 AM, then we’d spend 3 hours in Lucca before a half our bus ride to Pisa, where we would spend 1.5 hours. So we’d be in Pisa from 3PM until 4:30 PM. If the description was accurate.

So I held my breath and bout tickets for 3:45 for the tower. If we missed going up at least we’d have ticket entry to everything else in the square. Again, it was an On Your Own tour so they were providing no tickets to anything but were just providing transportation to the cities.

Waiting to start the tour in Livorno

Once the tour time arrived we boarded a surprisingly full tour bus (it appeared that a couple different cruise lines were in port and it was a popular excursion) and off we went on our way to Lucca.

Lucca

Lucca was one of my favorite places on the trip. It was relaxed and offered a real taste of genuine Tuscany without the massive crowds we would have faced in Florence.

First Sights of Lucca

We arrived in Lucca just outside the city walls and proceeded through the huge gates into the historic city center. We made our very necessary stop for gelato first and wound our way through the labyrinth of narrow streets (with cars and trucks sometimes passing through) to find first the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, then the Guinigi Tower.

Guinigi Tower

We read about the Guinigi Tower in the months prior to the trip and that not only was it the tallest structure in Lucca, but trees were growing on top of it. And you could climb to the top via 233 steps.

Climbing Guinigi Tower
Views from atop Guinigi Tower

After enjoying Guinigi Tower we wanted to go ride bicycles on the city wall. It’s a popular activity and our youngest Evan really wanted to do it (and so did we).

The bicycle rentals were over near where we entered the city through the wall so we started back in that direction. As we were going, Daniel noticed a Torture Museum. It wasn’t mentioned as being a highlight of the city in any guides, but I figured we could afford to make a quick stop there.

The Turture Museum was small and obviously macabre. It had some interesting exhibits but overall it was a bit of a time waster since we only had three hours in Lucca. Most of these devices of torture can be seen in other novelty museums and they didn’t have any real relevance to Lucca (thankfully).

Exhibits at the Torture Museum

After exiting the museum we made a swift walk to the bicycle rentals. We rented four bikes and chains to lock them and off we went on the path atop the city wall.

City Wall

The ride was really easy going and enjoyable. We still needed to eat lunch and along the way I saw what looked like it would be a good place to get some pizza (because what else would be a higher priority on our first day in Italy).

The pizza was indeed very good and authentic. Shelley had a calzone.

One thing I enjoy about eating at restaurants in Europe is the seating is usually at least half outdoors. I like eating outdoors because it feels more relaxed and it’s less of an echo chamber with loud diners (which we are not). Also it’s fun to watch birds and other critters hop around nearby.

After our meal we hopped back on the bikes and completed the circuit of the city wall. At that point we didn’t have much time left so we quickly went to get some souvenirs (I have a shot glass collection and I needed one from Lucca), and then we walked back through the gate to the waiting tour bus.

The bus was pretty hot. I’m not sure what the issue was with the air conditioning, but it was not very comfortable. Pisa was even hotter.

Pisa

I had mentioned earlier that I bought the Leaning Tower entrance tickets a couple months in advance and chose what I assumed would be the middle of our visit time. We actually arrived a little later than 3 PM and then the parking area was about a half mile from the Piazza del Duomo.

So once we arrived in the piazza we were very hot and we needed to get a quick drink, then get in line to enter the tower. But we did indeed get there at the right time for the entrance tickets.

The Piazza was also very crowded, unlike Lucca. There were thousands of people in the walled courtyard and it was definitely a foreshadowing of what to expect in Rome the next day.

Leaning Tower

The climb to the top of the tower is a little disorienting since you really feel the lean. As you are ascending into the lean it feels like you are on a gentler slope that suddenly gets steeper as you wind your way around the tower. Shelley did not fell well on the steps and decided not to climb the whole way.

At the top you have the satisfaction of seeing the surrounding duomo and baptistry as well as the surrounding city. Pisa is also very pretty, but crowded.

After enjoying the views and seeing the bells atop the bell tower (it is after all a bell tower that happens to lean), Shelley and Evan decided to start back on the walk to the bus. The heat and the busy day were definitely fatiguing.

Duomo

Daniel and I had entrance tickets for the other sites in the Piazza and first went to the Duomo.

I have been in many cathedrals around the world and I found the one in Pisa is among the most impressive. It’s certainly on par with the more famous Duomo of Florence, even if it doesn’t have Brunelleschi’s dome. Of course I do need to get back to Florence some day.

Unfortunately I realized later my camera lens had now acquired a smudge so some of the photos look a little out washed out at the bottom. But I still got some good camera and video coverage in Pisa.

After briefly enjoying the Duomo, we went to the nearby Baptistry.

Baptistry

The Baptistry was nearly as ornate but was also a very interesting visit. We walked to the upper level and around to see a great view of the piazza toward the Duomo and Leaning Tower. I recommend watching the video linked above for a better view since the photos were affected by the lens issue.

Camposanto

Daniel encouraged me to to go to one more interesting structure just to the north of the Baptistry. The maps called it the Camposanto but I really didn’t know what it was at first. We learned shortly after that it housed the tombs of many great Pisans, including Leonardo Fibonacci.

The Camposanto

Of course, being a computer programmer, finding Fibonacci’s tomb was extra fun (1,2,3,5,8,13,21….). Yu can see more in the video of our exploration.

Afterward we jogged back toward the bus until we were sure that we were safely on time (and caught up to Shelley and Evan). We stopped for a few more souvenirs and then hopped on the bus back.

Interestingly the bus took us all the way back to the cruise ship. I’m not sure why we were able to be driven in on the return, but it was a nice time saver.

In the next blog post we’ll continue on to Rome.

Europe, France, Greece, Italy, Travel

Videos From Our Europe Trip

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I’m going to be writing a lengthy travelogue post for our recent Europe trip (I have A LOT) to say. In the meantime here are the videos from the trip.

Exploring the Historic Monuments of Athens
A Visit to the Archaeological Museums of Athens
A Journey Through Ancient Delos
Hiking Santorini
Exploring Ancient Olympia
Exploring the Ruins of Pompeii
Ascending Mount Vesuvius
Visiting Ancient Rome on a Cruise Ship Stop
An Afternoon in Pisa
A Visit to Guinigi Tower in Lucca
Exploring Ile Saint-Marguerite in Cannes