Livorno

Livorno – OMG – the shops!!!!!!!!! Absolutely the place to shop Lynda. Did you come here? The shopping was more “every day” being a regular city rather than a tourist destination but gorgeous clothes and reasonably priced. I bought a cami for 4.E95 – but I could have gone crazy on dresses, shoes, sunglasses, handbags – what restraint. AND THEY RECKON BARCELONA IS THE BEST though some say New York and some say Honolulu!!!! Can I hold out? Of course it’s the entrée to Pisa, Florence, Lucre and the Cinque Terre but we’ve been there. This is the second underrated port town we’ve been to and the real estate prices quite reasonable to but Hop wasn’t interested – no swimming pools! It’s also our second port in a row with no scheduled trips so we’re well rested while many others are wilting. One couple at our table flaked at 5.30pm after Sorrento so they’ll be really whacked by now – big catch up next time we see them all at dinner – we’ve had open sittings while all the ports are on so haven’t even seen any of our eight other dining companions. Like all the places we’ve been to, the ancient and old is mingled with the new- fascinating when you don’t hear about it for eight hours on a bus trip! Great boating apparently – boats big, huge and small everywhere in marinas or canals. Even a beach on the breakwater accessible only by boat – we didn’t walk to that one! Being Saturday the shops closed at 1 pm. We came back to the ship before that so Hop could catch most of the Wallabies/ Lions test. It’s clouded over a bit now and we still haven’t had our swim. I’ve just had a siesta (sounds much better than Nana nap) and Hop’s still snoring.

Tomorrow is another glorious day – we hope.  We do have a trip booked and  it’s new ground for me til Hawaii. And then Pagopago will be new too. Yum yum. Hop’s only touched on some UK ports -  so things get better and better. Yippee!!!!!!!!!

Lots of love; keep cosy and dry.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Napoli; Civitavecchia (Port of Roma)

I much prefer Napoli to Naples – has a nice romantic lilt to it. Coming in on a cruise ship you can see the whole glorious city from Vesuvius foothills to the shoreline. We walked along the dock and caught a ferry to Capri. What a gorgeous place. We caught a funicular to the small village between the two hills. The shops were very beautiful, very exclusive and very expensive. Of course when such people as Gracie Fields and Sophie Loren have lived here and more than the odd film star, they would be beautiful! I’d love to come back for a holiday but not at the E2500. per night hotel even when we do win Lotto. Lots of very expensive launches and yachts too, as you can imagine. We then caught another ferry and went back to Sorrento. LOvely there too. Bussed off to Pompeii, after lunch and wander, around the exciting coastal roads. Saw the cameos being made and had some free samples of Lemincello. The lemons here are HUGE; the fruit looks lush and yummy – huge nectarines too. The gelato’s not too bad either - I had a double lot of Pistachio and black cherry - yum. Thought Pompeii was very interesting. Learning a few contrary facts about the ancient Romans and predecessors – Google may solve that problem. Then back to the ship through  lots of tunnels – typical we’ve found, of the Italian roads, and very impressive..

Stromboli was not performing more than a few puffs of smoke for us.

Today, 28^th June, we are in Civitavecchia. Didn’t venture into Rome. We just roamed (pun unintended) around the streets of the town and the beach. At 23C and with a stiff sailing breeze blowing a swim was not an attractive option – getting fussy eh? Very nice. Tomorrow, in Lovorno, we will go in earlier to catch the shops before they close for siesta. I sent another postcard to Nicole and one to Rosemary. Had special Vatican stamps too. About as holy as it’s got since we left!

We’re both well and suffering through the cruise. Loving opening the cabin door to a lovely tidy bedroom with the bed made. Hey, we got new mattresses today – no we didn’t do anything untoward to them – must just have been our turn. Well off to the movies, “Gone”, a 2012 film. Will have dinner later. Who’s hungry anyway? I’ve put on 2 ½ kgs. I won’t tell on Hoppy!

Welcome back home Adrian – hope all went well.

Love to you all Ciao XXXXXXXXXXXX    

Sea day 26th June

I hope you liked the photos we finally got on! Yep, it’s the Dead Sea, kind of oily and green looking but not as restful as you think because you’re constantly trying to keep up right as your feet keep wanting float up! Some fellow passengers went for a swim where it was muddy and not very deep  not very nice.

Busy day – breakfast at 10.30ish; we couldn’t do any laundry while close to Turkey so that was on the list for today as we have five port days in a row coming up. Hoppy had to go to the pool deck to watch the State of Origin on the big screen while I finished the washing. I had a swim and a read and some lunch. Hop has gone to a talk by the engineer of the ship while I’ve had a lovely leisurely shower; turned over the washing and had a sleep.  He hasn’t come back yet two hours later!! Better go and see what’s what soon. Apparently tonight, about 9, we will be sailing by Stromboli where there is a visibly active volcano; better get out of dinner early! Oh here he is. He’s been at the lecture all this time and didn’t go to sleep so it must have been interesting. Half past five and only 23.7C!!1.30 am 27th your time.

Ciao for now; love to you all from us here in the Straits of Messina.XXXXXXXXXXX

I can too

Dead sea-catching up on newa

Turkey and Anzac Cove

See, I found the draft - all too much??!!!!!!!!

Turkey is next on the list. We didn’t plan any trips as we’d been here five days a few years ago and seen all the sights. We caught a shuttle into the Grand Bazaar and battled through the anxious shop keepers for an hour or so before trying to find our way out. Didn’t want to buy anything – shopkeepers couldn’t understand why we didn’t need more rugs and pashminas! I did see a lovely necklace but E250. was a bit much. Back to the shuttle and “home” again.

Today we had an ANZAC Service at 8 am. Quite moving with trumpeter and all, followed by a cruise past Anzac Cove. We are planning to try our hand at carpet bowls at 11.15. Might win a drink bottle to replace the one Hop left on one of the buses. Couldn’t face the crowds in the Horizon – buffet deck now renamed the “horrorzone” so had lunch in the dining room with a lovely old couple from Victor Harbour, south west of Adelaide on the coast.

Forgot to mention that soldiers were raising the flag at the Acropolis when we were there. They do that every morning and lower it every evening – good idea. They march very strangely. Heavy with the left foot then lightly bring the right foot up.

So happy to be missing the cold. Poor you all.

Love Hoppy and DelyseXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mytilene, Kelvos, glorious Greek Island

What a lovely place. Just a few miles off Kusadasi, Turkey actually. We went ashore and had a fabulous swim - real idyllic lazy slow paced place. Hoppy has a photo of me waving from the deep blue sea, with the ship in the background. Kids himself I've been thrown overboard!! We sat around, took pictures of an original statue of Liberty - mush softer than the New York one; wandered down town and checked out the alley behind the main street. Looks like they're struggling a bit here. Had an iced coffee and chose expresso - wrong. I should have chosen nescafe and we would have got milk with it. But we survived; didn't feel sleepy for hours. Hoppy got snarled at for giving a kid a fifty cent euro; I made the mistake of giving him E2 - all smiles for me but then his brother popped up beside us. We had to retreat to the inside of the cafe for some peace. Saw someone who looked like he slept on the street, wandering through the cafe; you know the footpath goes through and separates the outside tables from the inside ones; as he wandered through he saw a glass of water half drunk so calmly picked it up and emptied it before ambling off again!This is Greece's third largest island with a populationof 90.000. Could have stayed but off we go again.

The Rumour mill. There have been three deaths since leaving Sydney.
There actually was two explosions on board about mid night. We didn't hear it but the Captain come on telling everyone all was OK. Apparently it was a boiler.
Quite a few people - five that I positively know of - have left the ship for various ailments and gone back home. We're still hanging in and feeling G R E A T.

Mytilene

Well you might comment "said nothing". It has disappeared.
Well this is in the island of Lesvos - Greece's third largest Island with a population of 90.000 peops.
Not one of the pretty blue and white islands but idyllic none the less. We had a swim - Hoppy took a photo of me in the blue yonder with the ship in the background suggesting I had been thrown overboard. Some hope! There's a statue of Liberty here too; much nicer than US one. Had an iced coffee but mistakenly got expresso insyead of nescafe which meant really strong and no milk. Live and learn - hard on a slow learner. Will keep it brief in case I found the original indrafts. Cant always get into drafts!! Love from us.