CRUISIN' WITH ALL MY SWEETIES

After two years and rebooking this cruise twice, the four of us FINALLY departed the Miami Cruise Terminal on the Carnival Horizon on Saturday, June 11, 2022. This was Charley's first cruise and the first time in 30 years that I've cruised with my son.

Here we are ready for the first "elegant night" standing on the stairs before dinner.

Following a long day of travel and a night at a so-so hotel we headed to the pier for our eight night cruise with connecting cabins. The Horizon is huge! Too huge for my tastes, especially when the 3900 person capacity was expanded to at least 4200 guests. Some accounts said it was close to 4800 cruisers but even 4200 was way too crowded.

Downtown Miami from our ship as we got ready to set sail for the Caribbean.

The Horizon had several attractions including Dr.Seuss' Water Works with lots of opportunity to get wet including two large water slides. This is the SkyRide in which riders peddle their way around the ship. Charley, Darrin and Louie partook in the attractions while Gaga gladly guarded our belongings.

The Dive In Movie theater by the pool was one of Charley's favorites. I think they watched three movies up on deck.

Gaga and Charley relaxing just before setting sail. A few of the Monster High ghouls made the trip for their first cruises, too.

Charley and Louie hanging out.

This was Charley's favorite place to relax and watch the ocean. Daddy joined her this time. As the week wore on there were towel animals, ghouls and stuffed snugglies sharing the space. Our cabin steward got in on the act sometimes arranging things in Charley's window seat.

Our first stop was Aruba. It was our fourth visit to the island so we hopped on a city bus and headed for the California Lighthouse at the north end of the island while Darrin and Charley did a snorkeling excursion on a pirate ship.

California Lighthouse on Aruba. It was named after a ship called the California that wrecked off of the northern tip of the island. We had seen it before but never visited it. Lou climbed the 117 steps but after seeing how narrow, hot and humid it was inside, I decided nope. That's the beauty of being 70-something - I can do whatever I want or don't want to do.

Although there are beautiful beaches along Aruba's coast, much of the interior is flat and covered in cactus and desert. It is quite different than most of the Caribbean islands.

Darrin and Charley's pirate schooner that took them to three snorkeling sights where they saw lots of colorful fish and a shipwreck.

Their excursion included lunch and an open bar as they sailed the high seas.

One of the beach resorts along the coast. A private taxi to the lighthouse cost $52 plus tip roundtrip while the public bus cost $5 per person roundtrip with no tip. We usually look for the local bus option when traveling. The only drawback was about a mile walk, uphill and hot and humid from where the bus let us out.

I snapped this photo from the moving bus thinking it might have been Darrin and Charley's boat. It was! Turns out they sailed almost to the lighthouse on their trip.

One of downtown Oranjestad's colorful buildings.

Next up was Curacao. This was a new destination for all of us. It's a scenic island that we all just wandered around for a couple hours before heading back to the ship. The wall to wall people around the pool the first two days had settled down allowing us to enjoy the Lido deck.

 

The ABC islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao are all quite colorful with their Dutch influence and pastel colored buildings.

Darrin and Charley at Fort Rif in Curacao. It used to protect the city but is now a shopping center with lots of stores and restaurants.

The Queen Juliana Bridge is the highest bridge in the Caribbean.

Some of the beautiful residences and businesses in Willemstad.

The Queen Emma Bridge is a pedestrian pontoon bridge that takes people across the water. The bridge swings sideways to allow boats to pass by. It was my favorite since her nickname is "The Swinging Old Lady". My kinda girl!

This iguana was probably about four feet long from head to tail.

Charley loved the locks that people attach to the heart shaped trellises as a symbol of their everlasting love then throw the key in the water. Lou and I figured if they get divorced they come back with a hacksaw to cut it off.

Some pretty flowers with colorful buildings in the background.

We found the Iguana Cafe to sit and sip a drink along the water. We tried local beers and Charley enjoyed a strawberry, banana, and mango smoothie. 

The Carnival Horizon.

We visited two ports in the Dominican Republic, a new country for us. Darrin had been to Punta Cana four years ago when their trip was cut short by a broken leg/hip that resulted in quite the adventure getting him home for immediate surgery. We had been rerouted twice on previous cruises heading for the Dominican Republic over the years. This time we had an uneventful two days on the island.

 

La Romana is billed as the gateway to nearby resort areas but the small city wasn't too impressive. We took a last minute excursion on a "chu chu train" (basically a parking lot shuttle) for a 45 minute ride around the downtown area. 

The Dominican Republic is famous for producing lots of major league baseball players, especially shortstops. We passed by this field at 9:30 AM with lots of MLB wannabes honing their skills to make it to the big leagues.

A small fruit truck vendor in La Romana selling his wares.

The towel animals were out in force the next morning. Every deck chair on the Lido had a cute towel animal on it for photo ops. I think Carnival is one of the few cruise lines that still decorates the cabins with a different towel animal everyday for the kids - of all ages.

Swans are always a popular creation. This pair had leis and other decorations.

I loved all the puppies in the dog house while the mama lounged on the edge of the pool.

Our second Dominican Republic port was the resort area of Amber Cove. A highlight for all of us was our excursion to Monkeyland. You know how they say something was as fun as a barrel of monkeys? Well, I can see why after spending an hour with these little creatures.

 

These over water bungalows looked like a fun, relaxing place to soak up the sun and ambiance of the Caribbean.

The view from our ship as it docked in Amber Cove.

We barely sat down at Monkeyland and one of the squirrel monkeys jumped on Charley's head! 

The handlers had us all sit on benches in a circle and kept making the rounds with snacks for the monkeys. They were on your shoulders or heads, eating out of your hands and grabbing anything they could. We were advised to hang onto our phones and not wear dangly earrings. Fortunately, we didn't get peed or pooped on.

They certainly loved jumping all over us but you had to be quick to get and good photos.

Charley and Darrin with lots of little friends.

Darrin and I enjoying some monkey head wear.

It was hard not to smile like a kid when the monkeys were bouncing all around.

We made good use of the beverage packages and onboard credit that kept adding up with each cancellation and rebooking for two years. The last day my account ended up with over $200 left in credit that was a "use it or lose it" thing. I was sure it was wrong but we checked twice with guest services and they confirmed it was correct. So, we went on a spending spree to use it all up before leaving the ship the next morning!

 

Charley's favorite store onboard - Cherry on the Top. We made several trips to buy candy and other goodies. They even had a five pound gummy bear for $50 but we passed on that. The last day she bought a mermaid and a stuffed unicorn with some of our credit. I also bought lots of cruising T-shirts with my extra credit.

Normally, Lou and I buy one or two formal photos but with money to burn we ended up buying five of the professional photos. With all the photos, toys and candy we spent all but about $9 of my credit. And I know we got our money's worth on the really cheap drink package.

Charley looked so grown up in her fancy dresses. She and Darrin made a beautiful pair.

Darrin suggested taking a photo of just him and me. We haven't had one of just the two of us since before Charley was born.

I love this photo of two of my three favorite people in the world! 

THE BEST OF ITALY!

Two years ago as the pandemic was ramping up we learned that our Trafalgar Tour to Italy was cancelled, literally just minutes before walking out the door for our flight to Rome. A few days ago we returned from the same 13 day adventure we planned back in 2020. 

Gondolas getting ready for a romantic day of cruising the canals of Venice. O Sole Mio.

Our "Best of Italy" tour began in Rome on March 20, 2022. I spent my birthday the next day visiting my 67th country, Vatican City. Patrizia, our tour director, was fantastic! I rank her in my top two, right up next to Gilbert in Costa Rica. She has a great sense of humor and genuinely loves her job. Vincenzo, our driver, was incredible as he guided our coach places I was certain it couldn't go. Kamila, the well-being director, did a great job keeping us all safe.

A view of Rome from the top of the Bramante Staircase (which is really a spiral ramp, not stairs) in the Vatican Museums.

A courtyard inside the walls of Vatican City.

The original Bramante Staircase built in the early 1500s.

St. Peter's Basilica, the largest cathedral in the world, within the Vatican walls. St. Peter's was designed in part by Michelangelo, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Donato Bramante. We were adamantly corrected that the sculptor and painter of the Sistine Chapel's name is not prononced MIKElangelo, but MICKlangelo. The Sistine Chapel was incredible but no photos were allowed.

St. Peter's Square or in Italian, Piazza San Pietro.

A small portion of the inside of the Basilica. I took about 20 photos here but it was tough narrowing all 700+ of my Italy photos down to about 70 for this blog.

The Pieta, a sculpture created by Michelangelo, which is housed inside St. Peter's. The statue is behind glass after an attack by a crazed visitor years ago.

 

Our tour continued with many of the well known sights in Rome - the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Circus Maximus and the Pantheon among them. I was reminded of how awestruck I felt seeing Paris with places I'd heard of, seen pictures of and read about my entire life.

The Colosseum in central Rome. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world today, despite its age.

Inside the Colosseum. Our tour guide told us stories of the events held here in ancient times. Most were not humane or pleasant. Again, lots of photos that had to be pared down.

The Trevi Fountain is an 18th century fountain designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi. It was larger than I anticipated and was much whiter than this picture. None of the sights of Rome are done justice by photographs, you have to see them in person to truly appreciate the grandeur.

Inside the Pantheon, a former Roman temple that since the early 600s has been a Catholic church.

I spent my 72nd birthday walking all over the Vatican and Rome - up and down literally thousands of stairs and Patrizia estimated we walked 10 kilometers or 6.2 miles this day! I earned my birthday dinner of Spaghetti Carbonara at this outdoor cafe in the Piazza Navona.

St. Peter's Basilica at night taken from our bus after a long, long day.

Patrizia commented, tongue-in-cheek, that Italians are required to take a class in "Creative Parking" since there are 60 million people and 40 million cars in the country. I've never seen so many tiny cars and motor bikes parked everywhere. I wish I would have taken more photos as Vincenzo maneuvered us around Rome in our 50 passenger coach.

This is one of the numerous goofy little cars everywhere in Rome.

Many of these are just enclosed scooters that can accommodate one person and a small bag. We would often see this type or smart cars parked straight into the curb between two parallel parked slightly larger vehicles.

The tiny cars were everywhere but I'll take this Lamborghini any day.

The following morning we headed south to Sorrento for two nights. Our first destination was Pompeii, buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. I was surprised at how large Pompeii was and how much has been excavated.

Our local guide told us this was a type of cafe where citizens could stop for a bite to eat.

One of the numerous stone roads that crisscrossed the city of 150+ acres and housed approximately 11,000 people. Pompeii was a thriving civilization with spas, housing, restaurants, etc. Oddly, the best preserved building was the bordello with its concrete beds and paintings on the walls of services offered.

Our guide liked to point out what he called the first pizza oven.

The main plaza of Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius looming in the background. Last erupting in 1944 Mount Vesuvius is still an active volcano.

Here we are near the end of our tour.

The optional tour of the picturesque cliffside village of Positano was one of the highlights for me. The drive along the rugged Amalfi Coast included some amazing scenery. The following day, we drove to Sorrento for a ferry ride to the Isle of Capri.

A turnout along the Amalfi Coast overlooking the village of Positano. I didn't really grow, we were on steps and I stood on a higher one than Lou. This drive rivaled the jaw-dropping beauty and sheer cliffs of our Northern California coastline.

Our fearless leader, Patrizia. She would write the meeting time and place then order us all to take a photo in order to remember. She always had her pink umbrella so we could locate her in a crowd. As we took off in a group the battle cry was "Follow the pink umbrella!"

The shops of Positano lined the steep narrow streets descending down the cliff to the sea.

The dark, sandy beach of Positano.

I needed a few rest stops on the journey back up the steep, winding paths to the parking lot.

That evening at our included dinner I was totally surprised by with a wild, flaming cake to celebrate my birthday. Patrizia apologized for not doing it on the actual day which made no difference to me. She also presented me with a leather bound journal from Florence. She always went above and beyond our expectations.

The Isle of Capri as we walked off our ferry ride into Capri Town.

The main street of the lower town. Mini vans take people to the upper level which is quite steep if you were to attempt to walk it.

I'm always fascinated by boats in the water and on shore. Not sure why but they just seem really scenic and beg me to take a picture.

As we returned to the ferry there were several jellyfish swimming by the pier.

An interesting building with an orange tree growing along this street in Sorrento.

Leaving Sorrento, our next stop was Assisi, birthplace of St. Francis, for a guided walking tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Assisi felt like stepping back in time a thousand years. 

This scene is almost identical to one we saw in Rottenburg, Germany, about 10 years ago. Both Lou and I immediately commented on the similarity.

Patrizia and Vincenzo drove a little past our hotel to give us this photo op at sunset of the cathedral and all of Assisi. While we were having our tour by a local guide they took our bags to the hotel, a former monastery, and they were waiting for us in our rooms after another long day.

Our next destination was the unique city of Venice. It was every bit as incredible as I thought it would be. I can't imagine building an entire city on islands with canals taking the place of streets and boats replacing cars. It is stunning. But I still have one unanswered question - why?

The Grand Canal, Venice's Main Street.

The Doge's Palace is a gothic style landmark built in the 1300s and modified over the years.

St. Mark's Cathedral and Square. We would tour it the next day but Patrizia knew the lighting for photos was much better in the late afternoon. She had water taxis lined up for us to visit after we arrived in Venice. Vincenzo had the day off after dropping us in Venice.

Detail of the dome and entrance to St. Mark's Cathedral.

You absolutely can't go to Venice without taking a ride in a gondola. Here is our gondolier and another on the Grand Canal with the Rialto Bridge in the background.

Our optional tour with Trafalgar didn't include a private gondola but we had several reserved for our group. The middle gondola included an opera singer and accordion player whose serenade was easily heard by all of us.

Our gondolas drifted under the Bridge of Sighs, named that because it was the route taken by convicted men as they walked from the court on the left to the prison on the right.

Inside St. Mark's Cathedral the following day during our tour.

Venice is made up of 117 islands (some accounts varied slightly) but our local guide said 117. Our trip included another boat ride and a visit to a glass factory on Murano. It was beautiful stuff but way out of my price range.

We continued on to the island of Burano, still part of Venice, for "linner" as Patrizia called our late lunch, early dinner. I loved this colorful village. This is one of my favorite photos of our trip.

There were a ton of colorful photo ops on Burano.

We continued our journey through Verona, and Milan ending up in Lake Como for the evening. More walking tours had my feet begging for mercy but I found a fun way to alleviate a little of the stress.

Juliet's Balcony in Verona. Supposedly this is a major tourist attraction that people seem to forget isn't real. Juliet was a fictional character. Patrizia called it the "real fake balcony" of Romeo and Juliet fame.

The buildings of Verona.

The Verona Arena is similar to the Colosseum but smaller. They still hold concerts there on a regular basis.

I've never understood the concept of charging people to use the facilities for a normal bodily function but public toilets cost from 50 cents to one Euro. Most are clean although many are missing toilet seats. Elaborate machines or even people are present to take your money. I loved this sign on the back of the stall door in Verona. People seemed to respect the polite "Graffiti Here Please" request.

Another walking tour - Mamma Mia! That seems to be the Italian replacement of "Oh, My God!" over here. Patrizia used the Mamma Mia expression often.This was a castle in Milan with a long name that our local guide said they have trouble pronouncing.

Next stop was La Scala Opera House. These are the box seats with floor seating also.The outside wasn't too impressive and covered with lots of scaffolding.

Finally the famous Galleria shopping mall housing all the upscale shops completed our tour. Lou wanted to tour the Milan Cathedral but I was already at the AFC point (world travelers know that is Another F**king Cathedral). Telling him I'd see him at our meeting point in an hour I found a cute glass cafe to have a glass of pinot grigio.

My feet had given out so I was content to sip my wine and people watch. After 15-20 minutes I was joined by a mom and daughter in our group who were also in need of vino and rested feet. We were on our second glasses when Lou spotted me after his cathedral tour. I'm pretty sure that Lady Gaga and Adam Driver were in this same cafe in a scene from "House of Gucci" that we watched on the flight home.

The Milan Cathedral at the end of the Galleria. This was also in the "House of Gucci" film

Today's tour took us around the "Y" shaped Lake Como by bus to a port where we boarded a boat for Bellagio, not the hotel and casino in Las Vegas, but the charming village on Lake Como with lots more steps and walking. Another boat ride to the other side where we boarded our bus for a side trip to Lugano, Switzerland, before heading back to Lake Como.

The streets of Bellagio. Yet another uphill climb. The people of Italy are in great shape just going to the store or restaurant!

These gorgeous purple flowers made a great photo in Bellagio.

We took a side trip to Lugano, Switzerland, where many of the rich and famous vacation. While some were shopping in the fancy upscale malls we sat watching the people and water. That little dog in the left hand corner barked at EVERY dog, big or small, that walked by.

This little Disney Carousel was the envy of every little girl.

Beautiful daffodils and others in full bloom.

With no dinner plans we decided to take in the beauty of the Lake Como waterfront which seemed to be a favorite hang out for the locals after work.

Before dinner we strolled along the serene shoreline of Lake Como. Patrizia told us that George Clooney has a villa on Lake Como but it was many miles from here.

Looking across the inlet of Lake Como's marina you can see the funicular track leading up the right side of the mountain. One of our people told us it wasn't working but others found that later in the evening it was again traveling up the hill. Would have made for a beautiful view.

There were a bank of swans (yes, I looked up what they are called) avoiding the many kids trying to chase after them as they played in the water.

En route to Florence, we stopped in Pisa for a couple hours where Lou was able to climb the Leaning Tower, a "bucket list" item for him. No way was I climbing any more stairs! Pisa was the only place where we encountered vendors that seemed pushy making it difficult not to be rude.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, yes, it is leaning. Enough said.

Lou's view from the top of the tower. Patrizia helped him figure out what time we would be there to purchase his timed ticket for the climb. She really was such a great leader. Our experience has been that a tour director can make or break a trip. And she definitely did a fantastic job.

The 20 euro ticket to climb the Leaning Tower included the inside of the Pisa Cathedral so Lou made a quick trip through it while I did more people watching.

Florence, the capital of Italy's Tuscany region and home to many masterpieces of Renaissance art and architecture was the final major city on our journey through Italy. We were blessed with beautiful clear weather for the first 10 days of our trip, but the much needed rain caught up with us in Florence, pouring or drizzling for our entire stay. Oh, well, we had umbrellas and our shoes eventually dried.

Michelangelo's David in all his glory!

This 17 foot tall statue carved out of one piece of marble by the master is truly the epitome of a work of art. Of course, I had to check out his butt. 

The Accademia Gallery is a fairly small museum with the focus being David but here are a few more similar works.

As much as I love pasta by the end of our trip I was getting kind of sick of it. We found the Hard Rock Cafe in Florence, rested our feet out of the rain and had a cheeseburger and pulled pork sandwich. Yum!

Dinner with fellow travelers at a Tuscany castle which also produces wine. 

On our way out of town we stopped at an overlook above Florence for these famous views of this incredible city. Dominated, of course, by their cathedral.

Another gorgeous view. Only some blue sky and white clouds could have made it better but we certainly can't complain.

I have to mention one evening returning to our hotel after a lovely dinner with free flowing wine in an estate once owned by Machiavelli, Patrizia played lots of fun songs to sing along with which we all did - Mamma Mia, Sweet Home Alabama and YMCA to name a few. It was a real party bus and at one point Vincenzo got in on the fun circling a roundabout 7 or 8 times before finally continuing on our way. Everyone loved it and getting "stuck in the traffic circle" was a big topic of conversation the next day.

Our final day of travel included at brief stop at an American Cemetery honoring World War II veterans who died and a stop at San Gimignano, yet another hilly medieval village. I stayed on the bus for the cemetery stop in the rain but trekked up the steep cobbled roads of San Gimignano for the last of our many gelato breaks.

The Florence American Cemetery where 4400 World War II casualties are buried. 

The entrance to the medieval walled town of San Gimignano. This was our final stop on our way back to Rome for our Farewell Dinner. 

Although the rain continued San Gimignano didn't disappoint. This truly was a amazing trip. What made it even more wonderful was that after two years of waiting during the pandemic we finally made it. All 31 of us were fully vaccinated and took all the precautions which worked. Everyone of us tested negative for covid and began the long trek back home. As we all marched into the airport, the last words I heard Patrizia utter were, "Mamma Mia, my babies are leaving."