Oh Pompei...how I didn't like you very much. I respect the tragedy that happened within your walls and all that has been learned from your city, hidden for so many years, but couldn't you have installed some air conditioning? I'm just sayin'.
We docked in Naples a little later than our other ports so I was able to get some shots as we came in.
I learned very quickly that Naples "is like a full-on Monet. From far away it's ok, but up close, its a big old mess." (Can anyone name that movie?)
We hiked to the bus station and hopped on the first bus to Pompei. It was about a 30 minute ride, and the stop gets you to the hill just below the entrance to the park.
This is us walking up towards the entrance. We stopped for bottled water, hats and umbrellas to hopefully minimize some of the heat that we knew we were in for.
Our tour guide
The volcano that destroyed Pompei.
The entrance to the city. Little did I know it was going to be the last shady area I would see for a few hours.
The cross walk. This is also the street where Teena performed the stop, drop, and roll when she was stepping off the curb. Remember, it is only funny if no one gets hurt. :)
Did you know there was an Abbey Road in Pompei?
Between my fabulous green umbrella and the giant water bottle I was carrying, I didn't have a free hand, so there were not many pictures being taken. To say it was frustrating was an understatement....and then of course there was the heat.
I was so jealous of Den and Luke every time they would do this. Although I am sure that my hair was probably that wet already from sweat, I know it would have felt so good to stick my head in there too.
We finally found a shady spot by the small amphitheater and stopped and ate the sandwiches we made on the ship that morning.
Small amphitheater
This is looking towards the bleachers in the small amphitheater.
Then we met up with Christina and her mom. They were heading back towards the entrance. I jumped at the chance to go with them and let Den, Luke and Teena explore the large amphitheater on their own. Once they met us back at the entrance, we hopped the bus back to Naples and everyone except me promptly fell asleep...again.
I am glad that I saw Pompei but I am not sure I will be going back.
Day 9 started off much better than Day 8. I felt much better when I woke up and even managed to eat some breakfast. We headed off the boat and caught a shuttle and headed into Livorno. And just as a warning, the number of pictures taken during this trip were a direct reflection of how I was feeling so you should prepare yourselves for some pretty picture heavy posts coming up...and having access to my computer helps in this process too. :)
This is a shot of the ship as we were getting on the shuttle.
On our way to the bus stop...if this is what I would see on the way to the bus stop in Dallas, I would actually consider riding the bus here at home.
The bus took us right to the train station and we bought tickets and hopped on the train heading for Pisa.
Something that I need to do is a separate picture post about riding the trains. EVERYONE seemed to be able to hop on the train and then promptly fall asleep. I however could not, so I just took pictures of everyone sleeping. Teena even slept so hard she started talking in her sleep and woke up saying "He's frowning at you!"
Once we got to Pisa, we grabbed another bus and headed to see the leaning tower of Pisa.
Luke and Teena walking towards the tower.
This is a shot of all the tourists lining up to take that famous "Look I am holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa" shot.
One of the markets outside of the piazza.
Our next plan was to grab the bus back to the train station and hop on yet another train to Florence.
This is Den while waiting for the train....not sure what he was doing or what he was saying but I am sure that it was important and profound.
The first order of business when we reached Florence was to get our return tickets. We didn't want to have to worry about not making the train back and having to take a taxi back to the ship which would have been outrageously expensive. Then we stopped at McDonalds to grab a quick cheap lunch before heading out.
Our first stop was the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. It is the cathedral church (Duomo) of Florence, Italy, begun in 1296. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and is absolutely stunning.
We were going to go inside but the line was pretty long and we were quickly running out of time so we headed to the market to see what we could find.
Florence is known for its leather goods. And even though it felt like 105 outside, I stopped to admire this beautiful leather jacket. The salesman started talking to me, asked me if I liked the jacket, and then offered to show me some more...and by offered, I mean grabbed my hand and pulled me past the stand where the jackets were and into the shop behind him and into the back room. Luckily Christina was following along behind me and eventually her sister and mother joined us. While in there, we met the designer and tried on several different jackets. In the end, Christina, her sister Monica, and I all purchased a jacket. And it is a pretty awesome jacket if I do say so myself. :)
After all the alterations and purchases were completed, it was about 3:00. We had bought tickets for the 3:28 train, so we started heading back to the station. We got to the station about 3:15 and decided to stop back in the McDonalds to use the restroom and grab snacks. All the girls headed upstairs to wait in line, but it seemed kind of long so I joined Den back downstairs to wait. Den ordered, got his food, returned his drink and got a refund because it was flat, and still no one had come downstairs yet from the restroom. By now it was about 3:20 so we decided to go ahead and figure out which platform we needed to be at to board. As we started looking at the schedule, it showed that our train was leaving earlier than we expected. So Den told us to hurry over to platform 2 and he stepped back into the McDonalds to hurry everyone up, which I think consisted of opening the door and shouting "CHRISTINA!!!!"
We were starting to feel a little panicked at this point because we really couldn't afford to miss this train. So walking very quickly, we made our way to platform 2 only to realize that it is NOT the train back to Livorno.
This was when the running started...
Skirt flying, camera bouncing and new leather jacket clutched tightly to my chest we ran to platform 4, which sounds like it might be close to 2 but it is not. I am not sure why we ran to 4 but that was where the group was going so I followed. We jumped onto the train, confirmed with some of the passengers already seated that this was in fact going to Livorno, and then started looking for seat.
We found a seat for Christina's mom, who was a rockstar and kept up with us the whole time, even during the sprint to the train. Then we found another seat for Monica, but that is where our luck stopped. So Den, Christina, Luke and I found a nice comfortable spot between the cars on the floor.
Just passing the time on our hour long train ride by trying on the masks that Christina bought
Thankful that these feet can run in flip flops
I told you....everyone falls asleep on the train but me.
A few things I want to remember about this train ride bullet style:
* The homeless man who almost spilled his beer on Teena.
* Lime green pants
* Freaking out every time a train passed us
Near the end of the train ride the homeless man returned to our little compartment. He had the song Forever Young playing on his phone and I remember thinking that there wasn't a better song to use as a soundtrack for this day. So thank you homeless drunk man, for helping make a pretty awesome day even better.
After a couple of cramped bus rides, we made it back to the ship in one piece. We all showered, grabbed some snacks and met up at the pool for movie night.
Day 8 begins with Teena's alarm going off at 5:30 am. Den wants everyone to meet at 6:00 for breakfast and be the first off the ship at 6:30 so we can get to St. Peter's square to try to beat the lines. Still not feeling great but I really want to see Rome so I am up and dressed and at breakfast by 6:00. Den and Luke eat their weight in pancakes, bacon, and omlettes and we head to the gangway to explore Rome.
I am one of the last in our group to walk through security, and for those of you who haven't been on a cruise before, you have to scan your card when you leave the ship. So I hand them my card and the alarm goes off. It turns out that they really meant it when they put me under quarantine. :( I was not allowed to leave the ship until I met with the medic which didn't open until 8:00. So I sent everyone else on and told them I would meet them there in about an hour.
I cried all the way back to my room because I felt sorry for myself. I sucked it up however and pulled out my book to pass them time until the medic opened. About 15 minutes into my wait, Teena walks in the room. She claims that she wasn't feeling very well and wanted to take some medicine, but somehow I don't think she was being completely honest. :)
8:00 finally rolls around and we head down to the medic where I am declared well but am told that my quarentine lasts until 9:00 and there is no way they can change it. So back to the room we go and now we are not 1 but 2 hours behind the others.
Dizzy, dehydrated, and determined, Teena and I headed out one more time to see if we could make it to Rome. After a little pushing and shoving, we ended up on the 2nd shuttle bus to what we thought would be the train station.
When we stepped off the shuttle, we were not at the train station, but just at the port entrance where we were greeted by no less than 20 taxis all offering rides in to Rome. But at 60 euros a person, we decided that the train was good enough for us. After about a 5 minute walk, we were at the station. However, since we bought our tickets down by the shuttle we had NO idea which platform the train was at. So we just started following the crowd that was running and luckily made it on the right train. I mean...all roads lead to Rome right?
While on the train we got directions texted to us from Luke to get off at the San Pedro stop and meet them at St. Peter's Square. There were plenty of signs and people headed that direction so we made it there without any issue.
When Teena and I got there, the group was already inside the tour so we had a seat and waited for them. We did look around at a few other free areas but to be quite honest I have no idea what it was called or what we looked at. Den said that we should look through the St. Peter's Basilica but we didn't know where it was so we continued to sit and sweat.
After a couple of hours Den and Luke finally made their way out of the labyrinth that was the Vatican museum and met up with us on the steps. Den showed us where the Basilica entrance was so Teena and I headed that way. However, once I got to the line, I started feeling pretty bad so I turned back to let Den and Luke know that I needed to grab the train back.
I really must have looked pretty bad because Den insisted on walking me back part of the way to the train. Even the knock off hand bags we saw along the way were not enough to make me feel better. I finally made it back to the train and had a twenty minute wait.
As I waited, I started to feel worse and worse. Needless to say, what should have been a 40 - 45 minute train ride, ended up being about 2 hours as I had to hop off several times. I am now extremely familiar with the restrooms of several trains stations in Italy...and will probably not be welcome back on the train as a couple of times, the stops didn't come quite soon enough.
After the train ride, I grabbed a cab ride down to the ship. It cost me 15 euros to go 5 minutes but at this point it really didn't matter. All I wanted was to get back to my room. I slept the rest of the afternoon and got up that evening feeling much better. Den and Luke joined Teena and me in the dining room that night for their 2nd dinner.
I took this picture from the top deck as we left port. Shortly after this picture was taken I was fast asleep, hoping that the next day would be better.
