Day 8 :: Underground in Naples

Attempting to read a map of Naples

 

Our next port of call was Naples and I was really looking forward to it.  1-because it's the birthplace of Pizza and 2-because it was the one port that we were just walking off the ship and going to without taking any trains.  We allowed ourselves to sleep a little later.  I did not really understand the concept of sleeping in anyways because I still had this weird morning person syndrome and was wide awake by 5:00am most days.  I'm thinking maybe I was born into the wrong time zone and I was actually meant to live in Europe!  Since there was no rush we went to the dining room for breakfast instead of the more crowded Windjammer.  They have a buffet of the same foods from Windjammer set up in the middle but there is also a menu that you can order from if you are too lazy to get up or want the two or three items that aren't in the buffet.  I discover that the french toast in the dining room was so much better.  It was super thick and super delicious and Mj loved the Eggs Benedict so that's where we ate breakfast for the rest of the trip.  

 

This giant area is all Underground and dark!

 

After breakfast we walked off the ship and straight into beautiful Naples.  The internal compass that Mj seems to have implanted in his body is what made it possible for us to get where we were going and make it back to the ship.  I don't know how he does it but he always knows where we are and how to get us where we need to go. He reads maps and GPS like it's nothing.  Me, not so much.  My sense of direction is terrible even in my hometown so I basically held his hand and let him lead the way.  Since there was no time crunch Mj thought it would be fun to see if I could actually read the map and get us to our first stop.  I refused at first but he made me.  As I started out I was excited because I was finding the streets that I needed based on the map.  It was all making sense but eventually I had to throw in the towel.  I had narrowed it down to a certain area where I knew it had to be but I could not pin it down.  It should have only been a 25 minute minute walk and I had us walking in circles through the sketchy part of Naples for an hour.  They put the street signs on buildings and not every street had one which made it even harder.  I handed over the map, he says "okay" and 2 minutes later we're going down the narrow street that I kept missing and we were  there.  

 

In the San Lorenzo Maggiore museum

 

During my research I stumbled across a place called Napoli Sotterranea (Naples Underground) and was really fascinated.  I couldn't even really figure out how much it cost or where it was located so I wasn't sure if we'd be able to find it.  When I did a google map search it appeared to be next to something called San Lorenzo Maggiore so I put that down for location and when I saw that on our map I knew that's where it had to be.  There are excursions according to the website but I couldn't get much information so we just showed up.  Without an excursion you go down on your own which was fine with me and it was only 7 €  each.  We had the whole place to ourselves.  It was cool and dark and quiet.  All the lights were run on motion detectors so as we moved through the caves lights came on lighting our path.  That is, until we got to one section where the lights did not go on at all.  It was awesome!  The only way we could actually keep going is because Mj had the flashlight app on his i Phone.  I felt like I was in a horror movie except I wasn't scared and I was pretty sure that nothing terrible was going to happen.  After we came out of there we walked around the rest of the museum.  There were some interesting things to look at.  I had so much fun underground that I wanted to go again before we left.  Mj just rolled his eyes at  me but he went along with it. 

Enjoying Cafe in a streetside Cafe

 

After that we sat outside at a sidewalk cafe and drank coffee.  It was so nice to just be sitting there.  We had time to let me get us lost, sit down, relax and really enjoy the beauty around us.  I wandered into this tiny little shop and found a really cute top for only 7 €.  

Special Delivery by bucket

They do this thing there where they have stuff in a bucket delivered from the shops below directly up to their home through the window.  If you look close you can see a lady pulling up a blue bucket on a string.  We saw this happen twice.  We also saw all these men walking around holding serving trays with plastic cups on it.  We couldn't figure out where they were coming from, where they were going or what they were doing at first.  I don't know how it works but they are delivering coffee to people, probably from different cafes all over the place because we saw these guys everywhere.  

 

Such a charming little town

Castle Nuovo.  A real castle! 

Royal family jewels

At the top floor of the castle

 

After that we headed to Castel Nuovo.  It's this giant castle that we saw as soon as we walked off the ship.  It was 6 € each to go in.  It was so beautiful to look at on the outside and inside there was artwork, all kinds of interesting things to look at and a nice view on the top floor.  It even had a moat around it.  It's a parking lot now but still.

 

More Pizza and wine please!!

After that it was time for food and you already know it had to be Pizza.  We went to a place called La Piazzetta.  We ordered a bottle of wine to share and this time we each had our own Pizza.  Delicious.  I noticed they don't pre-cut your Pizza in Europe.  Like the others we had to cut it ourselves.  I was also surprised that Pepperoni on Pizza doesn't seem to be all that popular.  Maybe it's an American thing as there was no Pepperoni to be found on this menu or the place we ate at in Rome.  In US you can always get tap water for free but  in Europe if you ask for water they offer you still or sparkling and it's always in a bottle.  This restaurant charged 2,50 € each as a service charge whether you use the restroom or not.   After we were stuffed with Pizza and wine we headed back to the ship.  It was the slowest paced day we'd had yet and it was nice.  I really loved Naples!  After the hustle and bustle of Rome it was just the kind of slow and relaxing day that we needed.  We had spa appointments at 5:30pm.  Our aching feet needed some TLC so we each got a back massage, foot/ankle massage and facial.  It was just what we needed after all those days of speed walking. Then it was time for our obligatory nap.  Later that night we went to Windjammer just because there was food to be had.  We weren't even all that hungry. 

We juuuussst missed the Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake wedding extravaganza.  Too bad; it might have been fun.

Day 9 :: Day at Sea

Day 7 :: When in Rome...

In packed St. Peter's Square

For day 5 of our cruise the port city was Civitavecchia, Italy.  Don't worry if you can't say it.  It took me a while to get it.  According to my research this cruise port terminal is super long.  We also had a 60 minute train ride to Rome so we set our alarms for 6:30am.  This might be a vacation but we really didn't have time to sleep in.  Our cruise newsletter said there was a free shuttle from the ship to the end of the port but there is so much going on that we couldn't find it.  We asked, but still couldn't really find it so we just kept walking. I was moving pretty fast because I was anxious about getting there and Mj isn't ready for all of that so early in the morning so he trailed behind me.  This port is huge and it took a good 35 minutes just to get out and about another 10 minutes to the train station and we were there by 8:15am.  We bought B.I.G. tickets, short for Biglietterie,  for 12 € Euro each which would cover our round trip train and the metro while we were in Rome.  There were so many people on the deck all waiting for the same train.  When it came and the doors opened up there was a crush of bodies surging towards the doors to get in.  I wasn't even sure we'd make it.  We did but there were no seats so we stood the whole 60 minute ride to Rome.  We got off at Roma Termini then headed for the metro which would take us to a station close to St. Peter's Square.  Roma Termini is huge!  We walked forever and ever just to get to the metro area and when we did we found ourselves once again mashed among a sea of people and packed into the train.  We didn't make the first one but the next one came just a few minutes later and was almost as packed.  It was crazy!  It was a fairly short ride from there but in all it took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to our final destination and actually start exploring the city. 

St Peter's Square

Excuse me Mr. Pope; could you scootch over just a bit so we can get into the Basilica?

And that was only the beginning.  I feel like Rome basically chewed us up and spit us out.  We went to St Peters Square around 11am and it turns out the Pope was in the middle of it speaking which was cool.  But what was not so cool is that because he was there and standing right in front of it we couldn't get into St Peter's Basilica.   We headed towards the Vatican Museum.  There were people outside trying to sell front of the line passes with tour for 30 € Euro each but there wasn't much of a line at all so I'm really glad we didn't do it especially since it was only 15 € Euro each for tickets.  Inside it was very crowded.  The Vatican Museum is like Ikea on crack.  Once you get in it's very difficult to find your way out.  It's like a maze.  You are funneled from one area to the next without really knowing where you are headed next or where you came from.  Maybe there was a brochure or a map but we missed it.  We were funneled through several different rooms full of walls lined with painting after painting and then finally we found ourselves in the Sistine Chapel where we were not allowed to take pictures.  There were guards at the door.  Like all the other cathedrals we were required to cover our shoulders and you can't show too much leg.  It was cool and dimly lit inside.  It was pretty crowded but there was still a general hush about the room. It really was beautiful. 

Inside the Vatican Museum

By this time we just wanted out of this place!  We'd seen the Sistine Chapel so we were ready to go.  We were hungry and just didn't really have a whole lot of patience for the rest of the paintings.   We were in there for about 1 1/2 hours I think.  We finally get to the exit and then there is this huge downward spiral staircase to get out that keeps going on forever and ever.  Seriously!  I thought we'd never make it out.  By the time we got out half of our day had passed and traffic in Rome is really bad.  We waited forever for a bus to take us towards the Colosseum and then when it finally came we were barely moving because of all the terrible traffic.  There are motorcycles and mopeds darting in and out of lanes everywhere you go.  You really have to be aware of your surroundings because there is just so much going on.  While we were on the bus Mj spotted the Coliseum so we got off and walked.  The Coliseum is magnificent.  It's huge and it looks just like you imagine it would when you see it in movies.  It was 2pm by now so we didn't have time for the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon, Roman Forum or Trastevere so we called it quits and headed for a place to eat.  We needed food and wine!

Just chillin' at the Coliseum

I wanted to try Lasagna but I couldn't miss a day of Pizza eating in Italy so we ordered both along with a bottle of wine and split it.  It was so good.   We also had limonchello's.  It tastes like candy...but with a major kick!  Very deceptive.  We were positively exhausted by this point.  We took the metro from the Colosseo station back to Roma Termini.  The train was crowded and I almost didn't make it in behind Mj slamming my arm a little bit in the door as it shut.   Giddy from wine, I just had to laugh.  We made the long walk through Roma Termini back to the train station area and then it was an hour back to Civitavecchia in a train without AC.  At least we had seats.  Our train must have left late or something because we were back later then anticipated.  If we had caught the next train and it took that long I don't think we would have made it back to the ship in time.  My feet were killing me by the time we got back.  Thank goodness as soon as we got to the end of the port there was a shuttle waiting and we were able to get right in and get back to the ship.  I made sure we got our shows on the first three days of the cruise because I figured we would get more tired as the days went on.   It was nice not to have anything to do that night. 

We napped hard after that and I never really got up.  I was done for the rest of the night.  Mj woke up and went to the Windjammer to grab some food but he was so late that everything was shut down except dessert.  Rome wore us out.  You could probably spend three days there and not see everything it's that big.  The metro is fast but stays on the perimeter and does not go to a lot of tourist sites that are in the center.  Then there is lots of traffic in the city center making it hard to get around.  A Hop on Hop of bus may have helped a lot.  Another hunch that I didn't act on.  I had big plans but Rome wasn't built in a day so I could hardly expect to see it in one either!

Next Stop:  Naples, Italy

Day 6 :: Wine and Pizza in Tuscany

Leaning tower of Pisa

They both need a V8

 

Another day another city.  On cruise day 4 the port city was Livorno, Italy and our plan was to go to Pisa first and then Florence if we had time.  When I was researching the trip I found out that this port was not walkable so we booked a round trip shuttle to and from the train station through Royal Caribbean for $18 each and we had to meet on deck at 8:15am.  I still don't know how I became one of those freaky people who bounces out of bed every day full of energy especially given how long and exhausting our days were but once again I popped out of bed before the alarm while Mj had to hit snooze.  We had breakfast at the Windjammer and then headed for the gangway to get off the ship and find our shuttle.  The deck is pretty busy and chaotic in the mornings.  There are tour buses lined up and people running every which way.  We tried to find our shuttle but kept getting the run around.  We asked one bus driver who sent us to the next bus and that bus driver send us back to the first one.  Someone even told us we needed to go to some parking lot.  Finally someone knew what they were talking about and we were told that due to a Livorno train strike our shuttle had been canceled.  Without a train we couldn't get to Pisa and we would've been screwed but luckily they were able to find us a spot in the Pisa and Florence on your own shore excursion bus.  Shore excursions are fairly expensive but we were more then willing to to pay $99 each if it saved the day and let us go about the business of enjoying our vacation.  It was actually nice not having to worry about making the train and making it back to the ship in time.  All that is taken care of for you on a shore excursion.  It's like being on a middle school field trip. 

 

Another beautiful cathedral

Yep, it's crooked! :: That's the cathedral behind me on the left

 

We were so excited that finally we were going to have a warm sunny day with no umbrellas.   We made it to Pisa and the world famous Leaning Tower of Pisa around 9:00am and then we were left alone to walk around and take pictures for about an hour.  The leaning tower is so cool!  It's so crooked and you know that but it's still so puzzling and bizarre to look at.  It was so cool to see it in person.  We didn't book tickets to go inside.  To go in you have to book a time slot in advance because they can only have so many people in the tower at a time.  Wouldn't want it to totally fall over!  We didn't  know exactly when we'd be there and didn't really care that much about going in anyways so we were fine with just seeing it.  Apparently there was a soil problem that caused it to lean and they tried to fix it but couldn't.  It was closed to the public in 1989 for about 10 years, closed again for some work and opened to the public again most recently in 2008.  The cathedral behind it was beautiful.

Pizza AND wine?  We're doing fine!

 

From there we got back on the bus and it was about 1 1/2 hours to Florence.  We got there around 11:30am.  We finally made it to Italy so you know what that means?  PIZZA!  Our first stop was lunch at a cute little restaurant.  We wedged ourselves into the tightly packed outdoor seating area.  We would find that throughout Europe they don't have hostesses.  You pretty much walk in and seat yourself wherever you want.  Mj and I split the most delicious Pizza I had ever tasted in my life.  It's thin, cheesy, just the perfect amount of oily and the crust is so good.  We had some wine and it was so nice and relaxing to sit and enjoy Pizza and wine under the Tuscan sun.   

 

Inside the Duomo Cathedral :: The mural was painted on the domed ceiling

I got my usual coffee flavor Gelato, Delicious!

 

Now that we'd had our Pizza fix we could set out to explore the city.  We walked the Duomo Cathedral and went inside.  It was beautiful. We spent time just walking around and taking in everything around us.  I bought a scarf from a street side vendor for 5 €.   You can't go to Italy without getting Pizza OR Gelato.  It was the perfect dessert.

 

Those steps went up and up for ever!!

We still had time so we decided to walk to Michelangelo Square and make the hike to the top.  It was pretty rigorous but we are always up for a physical challenge on vacation.  There were so many stairs!  I was breathing hard and starting to sweat by the time we made it to the top.

Awesome view of the Duomo Cathedral :: Mj used the zoom lens for this and the one below

We walked across that bridge to get here::  Those buildings sticking out are shops

We made it! :: Duomo Cathedral on the right

 

There was an amazing panoramic view of Florence at the top and it was worth every single step.  I mean seriously?  I turned around and just couldn't believe what I was seeing.  It's spectacular to look at.

Pizza #2, Not sure which one was better!!

 

After that Mj wanted more Pizza so we stopped to eat at the same place again around 3pm and had the same waiter.  Is it me or did he look at us funny?  I was still full from lunch but I found room for another slice.  We met our tour guide around 4pm and he lead us back to the bus.

We both fell asleep on the ride back to the ship.  We were a little nervous about this whole train strike thing so we stopped at the shore excursion desk to see if we could book a tour for Rome even though at $89 per person plus they are pretty expensive but they were all full.  Then it was time for our obligatory cat nap.  It might seem surprising that there was so much napping on vacation but we seriously needed it.  We were always up before 8am and our days were averaging 8-9 hours off the ship and then we had shows at night.  It was fun but exhausting!  We woke up and went to the Ice Skating Show at 7pm.  After the show we weren't hungry enough for the dining room which was fine because it was formal night so we couldn't go anyways.  Packing for two weeks was hard enough so we decided not to bother with formal attire.  We went to Windjammer to grab a bite to eat and then went to bed.  We needed to rest up for Rome which I was guessing would be our most exhausting day yet.

Next stop:  Rome, Italy

Day 5 :: Rain in Nice Sun in Cannes

I just love the architecture.  So much character.  So beautiful.

Beautiful tall buildings and narrow walkways

Our second port city was Cannes, France but originally we were supposed to port in Nice.  They switched it at the last minute but we still wanted to go there.  Here, and for the rest of the trip we'd be in port from 7am to 7pm and the last tender back to ship was 5:30pm.  We were up bright and early around 7:30am.  For the 3rd morning in a row I lay in bed wide awake just waiting for the alarm to go off and bounced out of bed while poor Mj had to hit snooze.  We went to breakfast at the Windjammer and then we were off the ship for the day.  We had to be tendered from the ship to the shore in a boat but the whole process didn't take very long at all.  This port was cool because the walk to the train station was pretty quick and then we just had a 45 minute train ride to Nice Ville station.  Our round trip train tickets were 13 € each.  We were really excited that there was no rain but it didn't last for long.  By the time we got to Nice it was sprinkling and we had to pull out our umbrellas again.  Mj forgot to put the memory card back into the camera and we didn't realize that until we were off ship so we were stuck with my old digital camera for the day.  Thank goodness I had it in my bag though or else we would have lost an entire day of pictures.  The rain was annoying the hell out of me but I really tried to take in the beauty of Nice anyways and not to let it spoil my mood. 

We walked towards the area where the shops were and I ducked into stores along the way to shop and get out of the rain.  We made our way towards the Old town section which was the coolest with all the narrow cobble stone streets and tall bright buildings.  Even with the rain there was kind of a swap meet/antique sale going on in the streets and there were still lots of people walking around and eating in cafes.  Like Provence the majority of the seating is outdoors.  The roads are so narrow and they are cobblestones so you almost don't realize that you are actually in the street until a car comes by.  There were tons of people on motorcycles and mopeds so you have to be really aware of everything around you. 

Partial castle ruins on the way to the top

Pretty waterfall

Made it to to the top.  Nice View.

Then it was time to climb Castle Hill aka Le Chateau.  It was part of my original plan for that day.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to because it was raining but we were walking anyways right so what difference did it make?  There are a lot of inclines and the road wound around and around leading us up a giant hill that was more like a mountain if you asked me.  It was a pretty good walk and then we finally made it to the top and were rewarded not with an actual castle but a beautiful panoramic view of Nice.  The rain finally stopped about half way up the hill thank goodness.  As we made our way back down the sun started peaking through the clouds and our mood lifted.  I stopped at a shop and bought a long sleeved royal blue shirt that I had my eye on earlier. 

View of our ship from Cannes.  There were 3,500 people on our cruise.

View of Cannes from the ship

After rain comes a rainbow.  View of beautiful Cannes coast from the ship

We took the train back to Cannes and then walked around there a bit.  The Harbor area is so beautiful and by then the sun was fully out.  This is where we had our one and only disagreement of the trip.  Mj was really hungry as we hadn't eaten all day and wanted to stop for food.  The ship was right there so I wanted to go back and eat where it wouldn't cost us anything.  There was a slight breakdown in communication.  I thought we were just looking for a small not super expensive cafe like many of the ones we'd seen in Nice and that if we didn't see one we would just go on ship since we were so close.   Most of the cafe's along the Cannes harbor were pretty pricey so when we came to the last one and he wanted to eat there I still wanted to go back to the ship.  I didn't realize that he didn't care about price or how close we were to ship.  He was irritable, starving and just wanted to eat right then.  And yes, we did end up eating on the ship because I'm a mean wife and I made my husband starve.  I am sorry that he was upset at me and that we communicated so poorly but looking back on it I'm glad we didn't spend $50 bucks on a meal that day when we were 30 minutes from ship where it was free because we spent plenty of money on food later on in the trip.  To add insult to injury and more silent daggers directed at me the Windjammer was closed until 6:15pm!  Oops.  We grabbed some pizza at Sorrento's which is the pizza shop on the main deck that's also free.  Then, perhaps as revenge, he made me wander around with him taking pictures on deck with the good camera even though I was really tired and told him I wanted a nap.  I ended up with barely enough time for a really quick one because we had a show at 7:00 pm.

Saturday Night Fever was so good!  It was a Broadway style musical and the singing, acting dancing and story line was so good.  We went to dinner in the dining room after that.  The first night we had our assigned table to ourselves but this time our table mates were all there.  It was such a good match because one couple were newlyweds on their honeymoon and the other couple had been married for one year.  I sheepishly told them I'd taken a nap every day so far but I didn't feel so bad when they said they were taking naps all the time too.  Once couple was too tired to even get off the ship that day.  We saw them around the ship a couple times after but we never shared our table again for the rest of the trip.  By the time we finished with dinner it was around 10:00pm and I was so sleepy I could barely keep my eyes open so after dinner it was off to bed with a nice full tummy.

Next Stop:  Pisa and Florence, Italy

Day 4 :: Plan Fail in Aix En Provence

in Toulon waiting for the next train

Our first cruise port city was Toulon, France.  There isn't much to see there so we went to Aix En Provence.  It was the shortest port stop from 8am-6pm and we had a 1 hr train ride there and back so we got up early to get going.  We ate a quick breakfast at the Windjammer and then went down to the gangway to get off the ship.  My meticulous plans were immediately foiled.  It turns out we were not within walking distance of the Toulon Train station even though the port info guide and the lady in the tourist office right there said so.  According to Mj's GPS it was about 5 miles.  We turned around, headed back to port and ended up having to take a pretty expensive cab ride.  In all the confusion we missed the 9:20 am train so had to wait until 10:20am.  We took the train from Toulon to Aix En Provence TGV station and then took a bus into town to the central Aix En Provence train station.  From there we walked to the town center.  We took the high speed TGV train even though it didn't go direct to Aix En Provence because otherwise we would have had to take the slower trains to Marseille, switch trains and then continue on to Aix En Provence and it would have taken us close to 2 hours to get there.  Once we got to town we saw that we missed the last Petite Train tour around the city that we would have had time for.  Another failed plan.  Instead of doing that we just walked around on our own. 

Bread in France is so good.  It's not called French bread for nothin'

I realize that rain is necessary for the survival of our planet but I pretty much hate it unless I'm at home in my pajamas.  I was bummed out when the rain started but hate it or not, I wasn't going to let it ruin our day.  It was a light rain so at least we could work with it.  Provence is such a charming little town.  Most of the shops were closed because it was Sunday but some of them were still open and there was a street fair going on. Some areas are like a maze.  There are rows of tiny narrow alley ways going every which direction.  I just loved wandering around this little town despite the rain.  There are these amazing little shops filled with bread and pastries so we bought some warm bread along the way.

Cathedral Saint Sauveur is soooo beautiful

Cathedral Saint-Sauveur was closed so we had to wait about 40 minutes to go in but it was well worth the wait.  I seriously almost started crying when I walked in.   My eyes got all teary.  Cameras were not allowed but it was absolutely breathtaking.  I had anticipated seeing these cathedrals for so long and once I got inside the beauty of it far exceeded my expectations.  It was so beautiful and I was just so happy to finally be there and seeing it with my own eyes that I got a little emotional.  I had never seen a building so big and so beautiful in my entire life.  I had never seen an actual confessional outside of television and there was a row of them inside.  It was quiet, cool and dark and there was a live organist playing beautiful music.  You could almost smell the stones that were used to build it and the realization of just how old and how long this building had been standing here was mind boggling. 

On the way back to the train station.  Rain, rain go away.

Waiting for our train back to Toulon

Around 2:30pm  that it was time to make our way back to the train station so we could catch our bus and train and cab back to the ship.  It was funny because I had to go the bathroom really bad even before we started walking to the train station so once we got there I ran into the first bathroom I saw.  Some lady is there telling me "0,50 € "  I was confused so I just turned around and walked out.  It took me a minute to realize that I had to pay to pee!  Another note about European bathrooms.  A lot of them in Europe are either unisex or without much separation between men and women.  For this one it was men to the left, women to the right and shared sinks for hand washing.  I also noticed that not once even in our hotel rooms did I ever encounter a traditional hand toilet flusher.  It was always a button and usually two to be used depending on if it's #1 or #2.  Also, a lot of the public restrooms had a foot control for the faucet.

She's balancing on top of his feet!!

We took the 3:47pm train back to Toulon.  When we got there we ran outside to find a cab.  We cut it a little close but we made it back by 5pm and then went straight to dinner at the Windjammer.  Mj had the bright idea of going to the gym afterwards but I was absolutely exhausted.  I could barely keep my eyes open so I took a nap and he worked out.  Later that night went to our 9pm show Air.  It was a really cool aerial act.  I cannot believe the crazy tricks they were doing with no net. We were back in our rooms by 10pm and then it was time to get ready for bed.

So why didn't I just book a ship shore excursion and call it a day?  First of all, if you can't get around in a foreign country you really have no choice and you need to book one.  I knew that Mj could get us around so I kept going back and forth on it.  My research told me that I should consider a tour for Aix En Provence and Rome.  Aix En Provence because of higher train ticket prices, distance and shorter port day and Rome because of distance and just how big it is.  I was just all decisioned and researched out.  Mj wasn't home to talk it over with and I knew the weather was gonna be iffy.  I just didn't know what to do so I did nothing.  In retrospect, I should have went with my instinct.  At $55 each Aix En Provence was one of the cheapest tours and because we were ported in a different place and couldn't walk to the train station we spent more on our own.   The train tickets were 33 € which translates to $42.50 USD each but with the unexpected cab rides it ended up being more expensive because it was 25 € each way on top of that.  It's my job to save us money and I was mad at myself for dropping the ball on this one, but as a whole we did save a ton of money by NOT doing the tours.

Mj told me a saying that he picked up in the Army, "Your plans are only as good as the day you make them."  Unfortunately, this day was a perfect example of that in so many ways.  That being said, we still had a great day there.  It was a fun adventure getting there and back and I'm glad we went even with all the effort and expense it took to get there.

Next Stop:  Canne and Nice, France

Day 1-3 :: I'm going to Europe!!

Haven't had a hot free meal on a plane in years and it was good + Free Wine

Day 1-2 was basically spent traveling to Europe.  After an anxious night of triple checking my luggage, tying up loose ends around the house and very little sleep I headed to the airport very early on Thursday morning for my 6:30am flight.  I was freaking out because I took the wrong parking garage card for Mj's job where I was planning to park my car and I had to find airport parking at the last minute.  It wasn't until I made it onto my flight on time that I was finally able to relax.  I had a 4 hour flight to Chicago, a short 1 1/2 flight from there to Toronto and then the worst one of all was 8 hours to Barcelona.   Normally I want as few lay overs as possible but with that many hours of flight time the extra lay over was welcome so I could escape and stretch my legs.  I spent the first leg reading magazines and half sleeping.  The 2nd leg was nice and short. The 3rd leg just really sucked.  It's way too long to be sitting upright, cramped, exhausted and unable to move around.  I guess they don't want anyone starving to death so at least they're willing to feed you with no extra charge on International flights.  Eating kept me occupied and I watched two movies.  United has a really good selection of new releases and you have your own screen on the seat in front of you.  It was my first time seeing what Business class looks like.  It's even better then 1st class so instead of being the usual 2nd class I got to be a 3rd class citizen crammed in coach. 

Ick!!!!

I left home on Thursday morning my time and arrived in Barcelona on Friday morning around 8:30am Europe time.  I got my first passport stamp in customs, got my baggage and then waited for Mj to arrive on his flight in from Stuttgart.  He spotted me first and it was soooo good to see him and be together again.  I'd missed him so much.  Of course I felt all ragged and worn out from traveling and I probably didn't look all that cute but oh well.  Our vacation together had finally begun.  It took us a while but we found our hotel shuttle and then checked into Hotel Frontair Congress.  It was in this random sort of industrial area and I knew that but it was close to the airport and had a shuttle.   It was basically a one night pit stop to rest up before the cruise so as long as it was clean it would do.  We both took naps and when we woke up took the hotel shuttle to Placa De Espana which is a central area of the city and then looked for a place to eat.  We actually saw someone get mugged a couple minutes after we got off the shuttle.  The poor guy was yelling "Stop, Stop!!" and sprinting down the street.   The rumors were true.  I crossed my bag over my chest and held it a little closer.  We found a place to eat.  The Tapas on the menu were unlike any Tapas I'd ever seen so I played it safe and ordered Pizza.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't really good either.  I guess that's what I get for ordering pizza in Barcelona.  Mj got the Brave Potatoes (very spicy) and something else.  We made our way back to Placa De Espana and waited for the city bus that would take us back to our hotel.  Thank goodness Mj was able to figure out when we should get off.  I was still sort of in a tired haze so it was pretty much right back to bed.  Day one in Barcelona was not so exciting but that's okay because I knew we'd be back.

The next morning we took the 11:00 am hotel shuttle to Placa De Espana.  From there the plan was to take the metro to the Drassanes metro station, walk to the Columbus Monument and then take the Blue Bus to the port but it was pouring down rain.  Hard.  We hustled out of the shuttle and Mj waived down a cab so we could get out of the rain.  The cruise port was a mad house.  There were wet people running every where and wet luggage all over the place.  We could hardly find anyone to take our bags and when we did she just said to leave it there and someone would get it.  We ran inside to check in.  We got our sea pass cards, made our way onto the ship and this is when it felt like our vacation truly began.  We didn't have access to our room yet but we were able to eat which was just fine because we were starving.  We hit the buffet at Windjammer.

[Photo Source]

Our cabin::One of the  most comfy beds I've ever slept in.

Excited to be on ship

After that we explored the ship; Royal Caribbean International Liberty of the Seas.  It's HUGE, like 3,500 people huge and really nice!  It's like it's own little city.  At around 3pm we were able to go to our room.  It's tiny but they do a great job of making sure that there is plenty of lighting and storage.  I had plenty of room for toiletries and there was room for our luggage.  The shower was tiny but even in the bathroom there was plenty of counter space and a little cabinet to put toiletries.  My luggage came first and I started unpacking.  Mj had some illegal alcohol he'd picked up abroad so his was confiscated and delayed.  He didn't get it until well after the emergency drill meeting.  By 5-6 pm I was really tired.  We took a nap and woke up in time for a welcome aboard variety show and then went to dinner at 8:30pm in the formal dining room.  After that we were ready for  bed.  The bed in our cabin was so comfortable and it's pitch black with the lights out so I slept good.  When we woke up the next morning we would be in France.

First Stop:  Aix En Provence, Italy