A Day At The Vatican

Waiting For The Vatican

   Our second day in Rome we decided to return to the Vatican.  Although we had been there before we thought that we should go back and spend more time enjoying all that it has to offer.  After a good filling breakfast we took the metro and were there in a few minutes.  Our first stop was the museum!
    What they say is true - long lines and wait.  It took us about 90 minutes to get into the place and you could barely move for the people.  At 15 euros a pop the place must be a mint!  We refused to pay the 45 euros for the skip the line and guided tour that sellers offerd every 1.5 feet while we were in the 2 block line.  Next time we may try to book the per entry

time on the internet which I think is available.   In any case we had the opportunity to visit all the exhibits as we were there for about 5 hours in all.  We did see the ancient holding as well as the "usual" tour stops of the tapestry gally and the decorated apartments leading to the Sisteen chapel.  There must have been 1000 people in that area with one one person doorway to get out.  Still a very good visit.  Pizza and beer followed the visit.

     We then headed to the church itself when by that time in the afternoon the lines were very short.  We dicided to go to the top of the dome again but becasue of time took the elevator the first half the way.  It was still close to 300 steps to the top.  It was a beautiful sunny day and because it was late afternoon the sun was in the best position for shooting the plaza in front of the church.  We then followed that with our second visit to the church iteslf - always a jaw dropping experience - but were too late to visit the grottos below the altar where the popes are burried.  Finally a visit to the special exhibit for the JP beautification occasion - quite well done - ended the day.  By now it was getting close to 6 pm.  We decided (why I don't know) to walk back to the Termini -which if you know Rome is across town.  That includes wandering along tiny streets to get to our hotel.  On the way we stopped at the Piazza Navona for a rest and of course the Trevi Fountain. Had to do those 2 areas!  Finally afer a pasta and wine dinner we finally made it to the hotel tired but satisfied.

Flying To Rome

   We are on ship and sailing near Sicily and we finally have a chance to get some computer time to bring you up to day on our travels so far.  Before that I have tried to get into my Primus account but can't read the e-mails so you need to post to this blog if there is something urgent.
    Our flight to rome was delayed for 45 minutes because of "paper work" and then something with the plane.  We did arrive around 10 am in the morning.   The flight itself was very uncomfortable because, although we had the emergency exit seat which in iself should have been a bonus, the seates did not recline at all.  That meant that for 8 hours of overnight flight there was no relief from the upright position.  In any case we did get the train to Rome in timely fashion and within a few minutes walk of the Termini we were at our hotel.  It was very close to a hotel we had stayed at before and down the street from the Diana Hotel.  The hotel was very nice and we would stay there again if needed.

Spanish Steps

   We dropped our bags and headed for some touring.  The day was overcast which later (as we left our wet weather gear in the hotel) the overcast turned to steady rain.  We took the metro and stopped at the Spanish Steps.  Rome is full of tourist this time of year and as expected the area around the steps had wall to wall people.  After taking our pictures we climbed the steps to the church and then to the Villa Medici and gardens behind the steps area.  After wandering the gardens for some time and as the rain started to get heavy we headed to the Plaza dei Popolo.  It was one of those places that we had seen but not visited.  The attraction there was the church

which has the famous painted of the conversion of St Paul in it.  Sorry the signs are not correct - church closed!  We waited for about an hour for the later opening but no luck! A bit disappointing but that is just the way it is.  In order to spend some time waiting we slipped into the Da Vinci Museum which is in the square.  What a find.  It had working models of some of his inventions.  We tended to remember him from the Sisteen

Davinci's Museum

Chapel aand Mona Lisa paintings but some of the inventions were something else.  He "invented" the transfer of power from one plane to another -i.e. the modern jack - and applied this to many things like a propelled cart. Ball bearings to reduce friction, a basic helecopter design, a parachute, elevation devices for morters and a system to repell scaling ladders from forts.  It was wonderful.  Little on his medical drawings and  paintings.
    By this time we were getting a bit tired so a short metro ride, some vino and pasta and bed followed in quick order.  A good sleep was needed!

Adventure Spring 2011

  We finally finished packing and the car is loaded.  It is hard to believe that we are going again but we try to keep moving.   Air Canada changed their baggage policy  -  one checked bag each so we managed to get everything packed into 2 bags slightly heaver than we normally take.  They allow 50 pounds per bag which is more than we can easily carry.  This will allow us to more easily get on and off the trains in Italy.

Sailing The Med

   One of the hardest things was trying to decide on the weather in the Med.  With our normal spring and fall sailings we need warmer clothes but we hope that it is almost summer there.
    This will be our 12 th cruise on Princess (stuck in a rut?) but now that we attained Elite status we can hardly pass up the perks.  The mini bar and free laundry are just a few of the things that go along with the 165 days plau that we have spent on the Princess ships.
       We will try to post from Rome if possible.  However once on ship we can get that done.  Another perk is enough free computer time to keep up on the happenings around the world!

On The Last Leg Home

It is Sunday morning and we steaming along south headed for Florida. The last few days have been quiet for us. We have not attended any of the trivia sessions so we go line dancing and hear the lectures and drink tea. Yesterday was nice enough to get in the outside pool. There were only 2 others trying that one. As we have headed south, the weather has gotten much warmer. Leaving Sydney we bounced along very nicely but things have gotten better the last few days. This morning the ocean was almost flat with clear skies. It is getting a bit more cloudy now. However we did manage a few turns on the upper deck after breakfast.
Today will be another pub lunch day - a great venue where you receive a small plate of food. The Captain said that we had eater 313 tons of food so far! A record? We are also the last ship to leave the Arctic ocean this season. After lunch we have another champagne art auction and then line dancing. We have already packed one suitcase and will do the other later tonight. Time to go have tea!
I will post a post trip message when I upload some of the photos the go along with the posts. The comments that have been left are interesting. Thanks to all.

Sydney and at Sea

We finished our day in Sydney yesterday. I must say it was nice to get back

on land after being on the ocean. However being there was a bit of like being at sea in that in rained really hard for most our our walkabout! We headed to the Tim Horton's for a cup of coffee and a tea and just wandered for the rest of the day. The rain came down sideways and the only way out of it was to duck into stores and overhangs. We were totally soaked by the time we returned to the ship. Despite the fact that it rained most of the time, I tried to take pictures of the old houses and buildings. The computer may be able to enhance them a bit. However I think that I did get the second really nice picture of the trip. The first was in Bergen, this one was in a church where the colours were unexpected in that you could not see the tones when you looked at them. It may be a submittable one.

Today is another day of line dancing followed by a talk on polar explorers and finally another pub lunch. Today was prawns and french fries. We are going to a wine tasting and then the we have been invited to the wine and cheese reception in the art gallery. I think we get invited because we are in the system having won some free art in the past!
I should mention that the guitar player last night was a lot of fun. He was a comedian that took popular songs and changed the words. Even after a pasta meal he kept me awake. Last night it was rocking and rolling pretty good. We are on the tenth deck and the spray was going past the balcony. It has settled down now. Time for tea and watching the waves. Temperatures still in the low teens.

3 Days at Sea

We are sailing in the Gulf of St Lawrence at the moment after transiting from Iceland. The night we left Iceland was the same day that they had the line dancing night. Our waitress who had been really fast was really slow so we did not make it to the night except at for the last few minutes. They play a silly game and I was one of the 2 finalists. Oh Boy - Champagne. Unfortunately with the cut backs the prizes were hats. OK I can always use another one.
The crossing was rocking because of a few pressure systems that had developed. The first night I decided to head to bed after dinner and had a 12 hour sleep. I slept like a baby! Since that night with pot holes in the ocean as the captain likes to remind us were a bit like Windsor roads but things are going great. He took a course that was more towards Greenland and by this morning we entered the Straits of Belle Isle. That was not the planned route but we did see the Labrador shore early this morning. Right now we are on our way to the last port of Sydney . That is where we will be by tomorrow. Our days have been spent listening to the same person talk about ocean liners. The sinking of the Normandy was quite a good lecture. Today he talked about the Arctic. We also had another Art auction and did some line dancing and and the waltz in the ballroom class.
   Last night was also a formal night with the Captain's Circle party. There are almost 2000 members on board and we are one of 384 Elite members. We keep kidding Eli and Bill that we are Elite and anything that happens is because we are Elite. The casino has been a little better as we are still playing on our 'investment' from a week ago. Tomorrow is Sydney and we are just going to wander and maybe take a bus to one of the museum. Definitely a Tim Horton's somewhere along the way. Oh I should mention that now that we are in Canada, the sun has come out but the temperatures are about the same as the whole trip. We did meet a couple that we have talked to on 2 previous cruises! Tim for a rest before ballroom practice and cocktails!

Ashore in Reykjavik

Yesterday we had a sea day and it was a time to do very little except eat which is the only thing that we seem to be doing these days. We did go to another lecture by the same person who talked about the Titanic. This time it was on the liners that came after the Titanic disaster and included some of the improvements that were made in ship construction. Again his story telling was terrific! He talked about what it was like to be a passenger on the cruise liners before World War 2. A hour went by in a flash. We also tried Salsa dancing and in slow time it is doable but when the real Salsa starts we are lost. We tried and have to admit we were not too successful. We also went to the Elite cocktail party and had big shrimp (giant ones! - really giant!). No wonder I was not too hungry for dinner! We also took in a production show.
   Today was Reykjavik Iceland touring day.

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From he Church Tower

Since we had toured to the hot springs the other day we had decided to stay in town and discover this place. I can only think of what it must have looked like when Roy was here about 40 (sic) years ago. In any case we spent the whole day walking around. The first stop was the church which was built a few years ago with the hugh spire. It is on a hill and can be seen from anywhere in town. We took the lift to the top - the stairs were not open and besides it was up 11 stories - and got some great shots

A Local Beer

of the city. Now if I had a really good camera they might have been better but I may have a few that shows the colours of the buildings and roofs. The inside of the church was very modern looking in contrast to the churches of Europe. After a bit of a walk the next stop was the national museum where we met up with 3 tours from the ship. Anyway we spent some time there looking at the dis plays of the development of Iceland from a human point of view. No volcanic history here

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. After a bit we walked back into town and finally found an open pub where we enjoyed a pint of the local beer. As everything else it in Iceland it was very expensive. I did manage a few more photos of all the building that have been here for a few years. Then it was back to the ship.
    We are ready to sail in about an hour. After that it is 3 days on the Atlantic before we get to Sydney around noon for a brief stop. Then 3 more days to Florida. We hope that the weather will get out of the 50's (or 10-14) as it has been. We have not spent much time outside on deck on this trip. More Later.