Venice to San Francisco My watch chimed at 6:10am. I pulled on some clothes, grabbed my camera gear, and headed to the Grand Canal. I wanted to get pre-dawn pictures again. I could still feel my cold’s affects, but felt better than the day before. The area around the train station was already active. Travelers […]
Italy 2004 – Day 18
Venice My watch alarm chimed at 5:00. I had set it early so we could get up and make it to Piaza San Marco before the sun rose. I was feeling less congested and a lot less tired than the day before. Chris was not ready to get up yet, so I reset the alarm […]
Italy 2004 – Day 17
Venice My watch chimed at 7:00, and we got up and showered. We needed to be out of the room by 8:00, so that housekeeping could get it ready for its next occupant. From Venice, the ship would spend another week cruising to Istanbul. We had breakfast – another light one for me. My stomach […]
Italy 2004 – Day 16
At sea, Arrival in Venice Despite the previous late night, we woke up at 6:30 again. My throat was still sore, and I felt nauseated. I figured I was just hung over (again!) and hoped it would pass with breakfast and some coffee. At 7:30, we headed up to the breakfast buffet, where I had […]
Italy 2004 – Day 15
Dubrovnik, Croatia We hadn’t closed our drapes the night before, and I was awakened by light at 6:30am. I looked out the window and saw a beautiful dawn breaking over a mountain ridge. I grabbed my camera and took a bunch of pictures as the sky brightened and the sun appeared over the elevated horizon. […]
Italy 2004 – Day 14
At sea My watch alarm chimed at 7:30. Chris had planned to get a quick breakfast, and then attend a Pilates class at 8:30. She decided she could just have a piece of fruit from the room and get breakfast afterward. That gave us time to laze in the bed for a little longer. This […]
Italy 2004 – Day 13
Naxos At 7:30 we were awaked by the rumble of the anchor chain as the ship moored off the coast of Sicily. We watched from our balcony as the tenders were lowered into the water and the ship’s “dock” was set up. When that was over, we dressed and headed up to the breakfast buffet. […]
Italy 2004 – Day 12
Pompeii We woke up at 7:00 for our second day in Sorrento. We had talked to a few people the night before who had been on the Pompeii tour and had a good time. I checked at the tour desk to see if there was room on that tour for this day. There was, and […]
Italy 2004 – Day 11
Sorrento Our room-service breakfast was scheduled to be delivered between 7:00 and 7:30. I got up at 7:00, and breakfast came 15 minutes later. While Chris snuggled beneath her comforter, the waiter set up breakfast on our balcony: table cloth, carafe of coffee, salt and pepper shakers, sweetener, and cream. Then came the real breakfast: […]
Italy 2004 – Day 10
Rome, Civitavecchia, Cruise My research the day before had told me the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel would open at 8:45 this day. It also said reservations were not necessary. We got up at 7:00, ate breakfast at the hotel, then headed toward the Vatican. We took the Metro from Piazza della Republica to Ottaviano […]