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| At Orlando Waiting to Start Our Journey To Rome |
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| Leah, Bruce and I on Airplane to London where we change Planes |
Our plane departed the airport a little past 5pm. Eight hours later, approximately, we landed in London, Gatwick airport. We had a 2 hour layover but until we cleared security and got to our departing gate the next flight was beginning to load. I had been detained somewhat because of the liquids (this included anything that had moisture in it, gels, toothpaste and creams) that I had in my carry on bag, although none were over 3 ounces. We arrived in London about 6am and were taking off about 8:20am. We landed in Rome about noon, April 25, Wednesday. Orlando time is 5 hours behind London and then Rome an additional hour behind. It was a short night so we were feeling a little weary by the time we arrived at the NH Leonardo Da Vinci Hotel about 2p.m.
Our Hotel for Two Nights in Rome
After checking in we went to our rooms to catch a nap before going out to dinner in the evening. Three other Canadian couples had also flown in and would be joining us for dinner- Malcolm and Anne Campbell, Raed and Randa Youakim, and Omar and Debbie Roach( these were friends of Irwin and Alydia, also Canadians that spend time at their home in The Villages when not in Nova Scotia). Bruce had found a restaurant with great reviews that he suggested going to for dinner. It was a short distance from the hotel but for some reason we went around in circles having a difficult time finding the place. But we did finally get there but many of us were disappointed in the meal. Irwin had located a gelato shop that we ended the evening visiting and enjoying delicious a gelato.
April 26, Thursday, Cricket had arranged a tour of Rome for us. About 9:30a.m. we, all 6 couples, were picked up by a small bus that stopped to pick up a tour guide and taken to the area of the Coliseum. We unloaded from the bus and toured the Coliseum with our wonderful guide.
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| Our Tour Guide |
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| The Colosseum in Rome |
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| The Colosseum in Rome |
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| The Colosseum in Rome |
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| The Colosseum in Rome |
The place and everywhere we went on this day was packed with people. From the Coliseum we walked to the Arch Di Tito,
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| The Arch Di Tito |
Palace of Venus area and other areas of ruins, the Forums, from several centuries ago some as far back as time shortly after Christ was on earth.
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| A Church |
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that had been included with our tour, lunch was pasta plate, then steak strips with potatoes followed with a phyllo pastry custardly dessert and wine included. Great lunch!
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| Our Lunch Stop |
After lunch we continued our tour going to Italy’s tomb of the unknown soldier,
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| Italy's Tomb of the Unknown Solider |
Trevi Fountain
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| Trevi Fountain Where the Song 3 Coins in the Fountain was Written About |
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| Trevi Fountain |
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| Terevi Fountain |
and Spanish Stairs.
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| Leah at the Spanish Steps in Rome |
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| The Spanish Steps in Rome |
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| The Fountain in Front of The Spanish Steps |
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| Tom at the Spanish Steps in Rome |
It was a lot of walking about 6 miles according to our Fitbits. We were finally picked up by a bus and returned to the hotel about 6 p.m. After the lunch we had today most of us opted for another cone of gelato and nothing more.
Click on this link to see all of our Rome Photos:
More Rome Photos:
April 27, Friday, we all departed the hotel about 9:30 a.m. for the port of Civitavecchia to board the Celebrity ship, Reflections for a 11 day (10 night) cruise of mainly the Greek Islands. We were at the port before none and on board. The group joined together in a buffet dining area. Another Canadian couple that also are friends of “the Canadians”, Penny and Bruce MacDonald, who had been on this ship as it did a crossing across the Atlantic the past 2 weeks and would be staying on board for this cruise also joined up with our group in this dining area. Shortly after 1p.m. we were allowed to go to our cabins and in a fairly short time our luggage was brought to us.
It was a good feeling to completely unpack our suitcases and settle in and the take a nap. After the mandatory emergency drill at 4:15p.m. we were underway at 5 p.m. At 6p.m. our group reconvened for dinner in the main formal dining area. Cricket had managed getting us all seated at 2 tables beside each other. After dinner, Tom and I walked about the ship and then returned to our cabin for the night.
April 28, Saturday, after being under sail during the night when we woke up in the morning around 6:30 a.m. we were still sailing but passing by Stromboli Island.
Stromboli Island is one of Italy’s three live volcanos. We were about 5 nautical miles away from the island and no volcanic activity was visible. A couple hours later the ship approached the Messina Strait.
This strait is a narrow passageway between Sicily and the south-western point of Italy. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and because of its location there is a mixture of various cultures and Greek influence. Just short of an hour later we were at the port of Messina on the island of Sicily.
Tom and I spent a leisurely morning eating breakfast and walking around the jogging track while the ship was docking. We did leave the ship to walk about the town on our own. We walked to the Santiago della Madonna di Montalto where we had panoramic views of the town and harbor, it was quite the climb up and back down through narrow lanes and busy streets.
Trash littered the streets in many areas. Returning back to the ship we enjoyed a salad lunch at the Oceanview Cafe on one of the upper decks. The afternoon was spent on our balcony reading and catching up on some rest.
In the evening, after dinner, we attended a performance by the ship’s production staff.
