Fall Break

Mediterannean Cruise


Okay so I've decided to do the cruise this way...I originally typed out the first two days and it was sooooo long, almost as long as my Wales entry. So I'm just going to post brief descriptions and pictures and would love to talk to you more about it when I get home, because there's just so much to tell...so many great things that I got to see. Anyhow I'll post brief descriptions of each city/day/port etc. with the pictures I've stolen from my friends! Sorry it took so long, the semester has really picked up and things have gotten so busy.

Day 1 - Villefranche/Nice/Monaco/Monte Carlo
The first day we woke up off the coast of Southern France at a port called Villefranche. First impressions of the French Rivera...you need to win a few lotteries to live down there. Bill gates recently bought a house there, it's the most expensive house in the world now officially (550 million?....something crazy like that). Anyways the port if gorgeous and it almost looks like a movie set its so perfect and colorful. We make our way along the coast to Monaco, the smallest sovereign state next to the Vatican in Rome. It is the wealthiest place in Europe, lots of tax benefits if you live there but you need tons and tons of money obviously. We saw the roads where the Formula One tracks are for racing...it is literally the streets of Monaco. You can hear the engines of the ferraris making their way around the streets. You can rent one for one loop of the track for something like 200 Euros. Anyways it was a beautiful day! We made it up the hilltop to Monte Carlo which is a lot smaller than you would think. I played slots and walked when I was up 1 Euro! The tour driver talked a lot about Grace Kelly, she is Monaco's Princess Diana. We saw the church she was buried in and also the Palace of Monaco.

Port of Villefranche in the morning
Race Track of Formula One on the streets of Monaco

Driving up Villefranche looking back over the port...our ship is the furthest/biggest oneMonte Carlo!

Palace of Monaco.
Day 2: Pisa/Florence, Italia!!
So quickly having switched from Spanish/Catalan in the cab in Barcelona, then French in Monaco, now we were onto Italian! We pulled into the port of Livorno in northern Italy. We hopped a but that would bring us to Pisa and Florence for the day. Our first stop was Pisa...we got to see the leaning tower! It really is funny walking up to the tower watching everyone doing 'the pose' for their cameras holding the tower up! It is a lot harder than it looks! I don't think we ever got it right. I had better ones on my camera but thats a story for Rome. We took some fun pictures and then headed onto Florence. Funny fact, Pinocchio is everywhere in Italy...he is the official Disney star of Italy. So Florence was beautiful. We would up is a piazza (Italian for 'open space') and spent about 3 hours eating lunch...a typical Italian meal lasts for hours so we were carrying on with that tradition. We got Italian pizza and calzones...so delicious. If you have read the description in 'Eat, Pray, Love' about how she believes the food actually loves her back...that's how it is. After lunch we wandered the back alleys and lively streets of Florence. Florence smells entirely like leather, this is one of the things they are famous for. There are leather shops everywhere! Also Chianti wine has its home in Italy, it is sold absolutely everywhere as well. 'The David' is located in Italy however museums are closed on Mondays so there was not a chance for us to go view it. The streets are filled with statues and street performers though. We made our way to the Ponte Vecchio a famous bridge that is only allowed to sell gold in its shops. A street entirely of things I cannot own! This day was the beginning of the realization that the Italian people are some of the nicest in the world (though some of my friends would swear Ireland has them beat). Everywhere you go if you look lost, people try to help you...they offer up English without being asked and everyone calls you 'bella' (beautiful) and 'carina' (cutie). Italian culture is addicting. I wish I had had more time in Florence, but alas it was time to move on.

The leaning tower of Pisa

Trying our best...
Wine and a cappuccino in Florence (I needed caffeine badly)
Playing around at lunch with Ashley while waiting for our food...
The Ponte Vecchio
The girls and I on the Ponte VecchioDay 3: ROMA!
We pulled into the industrial port of Civitavecchia (took me so long to pronounce properly). This would be the day that I quickly figured out how to so..'where' 'right' 'left' 'at the end of' 'how far' etc. because Rome has to be one of the most confusing cities in the world. Doesn't have a grid system at all...streets curve at their own will and change names without informing you that they have done so. We got left off just outside the Vatican and made our way down and across the Tiber. Finding the Pantheon took the better part of the next hour even though the map told us it should have taken 10 minutes...oh well....adventure. The Pantheon is huge, amazing, I could use every adjective to describe the sites of Rome but I'd rather leave it to the pictures and my second trip back (November 28th-December1st). We enjoyed a lovely day finding the majority of the monuments that makes Rome so famous.

There were two mishaps that I should note. Upon leaving the Spanish steps with Ashley while walking I felt a very sharp pain in the bottom of my foot, knocked the wind out of my a little. It was a piece of metal...it had gone through my flip flip and about a cm. into my foot! Enough to have touched a nerve, because I lost feeling in my two smallest toes (left foot). So we were too nervous to pull it out on our own, a policeman noticed and motion that he called for help....so then I hear and ambulence and I'm like 'greattt'...because as chance would have it...I had left my passport on board that day and had no form of ID...oh well I'm here, I'm fine...it all worked out! So the paramedics show up and I ask 'Parla Ingels' and they all laugh but then seriously say 'No'. So though painful, this event was serious comedic relief...because we all had no clue how to communicate...I had also left my translation book on the ship (the few phrases I was getting were from a tour book). HAHA, really its funny right? So they count down in Italian and yank it out...fun fun...then they really need to say something and its not working so I start yelling to the street' DOES ANYONE SPEAK ENGLISH PLEASE?!?!" My friend Ashley is laughing pretty hard, but someone responds, helps with translations enough that we successfully leave the situation, me limping, but not in an Italian hospital. I saw a few more sites, made it back to the bus, left my camera on the bus, ended up needing a tetanus AND penicillin shot when I got back to the boat that night....but hey dinner was great that night....and I think I got to watch Enchanted on tv while I rested my battle wounds from Rome.

The Pantheon


The Trevi FountainThe Paramedics!!

Spanish Steps
Arch of Constantine
The Collosseum
Day 4: Naples/Vesuvius/Pompeii
Probably my favorite experience since being here in Europe and definitely my favorite day of the cruise. We docked in Naples...a beautiful city...didn't actually get to see it but I hope to get back there when I go to Rome again. Ashley and I hopped a bus to make our way through Naples to Mt. Vesuvius. There was a morning fog and though sunny it was originally hard to see. It eerily crept into view the closer we got. The climb in the bus up Vesuvius was interesting! The roads are soooo windy and the bus has to beep the horn before every turn...which was about 40 turns...because if there is an oncoming vehicle one of us would need to back up a ways. So we made it a good portion up the mountain and began our climb to the crater. It was about an hour to an hour and a half total...the entire hike was stunning. You can look down over the city of Naples and as you slowly make your way up to about low cloud level it looks almost heavenly. I just can't do the pictures justice but the climb was probably the most amazing thing I've done since being abroad.

After Vesuvius we made our way to Pompeii which is equally as creepy sitting in the shadows of Vesuvius it literally looks like everyone just decided to pack up and left everything exactly how it was. The roads, houses, stadiums, bars, temples, town squares etc are all still in tact like you couldn't believe. In the groves of the road you can see the marks carts made almost 2000 years ago. The wall paintings in homes are still visible and vivid in color. If you don't know the story Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Pompeii is far enough away that they were clear of lava flow however the volcanic gas and ash shot out for miles. Though 8000 citizens fled to safety it is estimated that 2000 lost their lives...mostly children, women and the elderly (those that couldn't run). They were killed by the poisonous gases which is why the body casts that have been found are mostly of people covering their faces trying to protect themselves or their children in their final moments. The city was covered in about 20+ feet of ash and excavation will not be completed entirely for several more years.

Driving towards the Volcano

Upon reaching the crater....just to give you an idea of size...it would take over an hour to walk around the edge.
Playing around on a volcano....why not.
Yes, it's still active....volcanic gas rising.
Above cloud level...beautiful
Me and Ashley
Incredible
City of Pompeii as those left it in 79 AD
Stepping stones and groves in the street
Wall paintings in houses
Me and Pompeii
Cast of a victim of the 79 AD eruption.
The volcano always watching over the city.
Day 5: Sicliy
I can successfully say I saw Palermo, Sicily for 20 minutes. There is not a whole lot to do if you didn't book a tour and after getting metal stuck in my foot and hiking Vesuvius I was limping so we got off...said hi...and got back on the ship to rest by the pool for the afternoon.

We really did have an amazing time. I was ambitious enough to set my alarm from 7:30 every morning and saw the sun rise in almost ever port we made it to. The southern coast of Europe is truly beautiful, a completely different world that I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of.


Barcelona was absolutely beautiful as well for the final two days of our vacation...the majority was spent lounging around local cafes or mozying around the city to see some sights. The Segrada Familia is a beautiful church that was the idea and project of Gaudi a famous Spanish architect and artist. He is responsible for much of the art in and around the city including Park Guell and Casa Batllo. Again I didn't have my camera so I'll pull some pictures from the internet. I hope I make it back to Barcelona some time it's very beautiful and full of culture.


The End.