Arrividerci Italia, Hello Greece

And so it was time to sail on to Greece.  As we approached Cephalonia through the Ionian Sea the beauty of the crystal clear water with the sun shining upon it, catches your breath.  Like most countries in this area (and pretty much everywhere else it seems) the Norman Kings of Sicily followed by the Turks in 1478 who were defeated by the Venetians all ruled here.  Oh, and the British for awhile as well.  It wasn’t until 1864 that Cephalonia was returned to Greece.

Agristoli is the biggest town on the island and the most happening with yachts pulling up along the shoreline and ferry boats coming and going bringing visitors and beachgoers to the many restaurants and shops.  It has become known as the island of celebrities; we were told Prince Charles and Diana spent part of their honeymoon here and Brad and Angelina were here before returning home and splitting up.  Not a good track record for couples, I’d say.  But there is hope.  We were told that Tom Hanks and Rita come often as well.  These celebs all just anchor their yachts in the harbor and enjoy themselves.  Sounds good to me.  I see a return visit possibly in our future.
Sadly, in 1953 the entire town was totally ruined by an earthquake but they seem to have recovered nicely.  The people were so welcoming and wanted us to have a good time so that we would return.

Our first stop was to Melissani Lake which is enclosed in a cave thousands of years old.  We walked through an underground tunnel to row boats manned by men who each row boatloads of tourists almost 50 times a day.  They are so buff; kinda sexy, I must say!

We then drove for a panoramic photo op of Myrtos Beach, the most photographed beach in the world!  Who knew?  Our guide said any marketing photo you see of resorts uses this beach in its ads.  Why wouldn’t you?  It is gorgeous!

On to Fiskardo Village where we had the freshest grilled swordfish for lunch while relaxing and enjoying the sites.  It was a long day as the sites were pretty far apart.  The drive back to the pier was about an hour and a half.  But what a lovely place to visit.

On to Kotor Montenegro!

To Sicily, with love

I’m just going to put it out there...I am in love with Sicily!  We began our love affair a few years ago when we spent time on a hiking/walking trip followed by the most relaxing time in the little beach town of Cefalu.

Today we experienced Siracusa or Syracuse in English about an hour outside of the port city of Catania.  We visited the amphitheater ruins which were so cool as this spot was the beginning of amplification.  As we entered what at first looked like a huge cave, we could hear a tour guide attempting to sing ‘Volare’ which was reverberating outside this cave.  Our guide Nunzio then took us outside to the amphitheater and explained to us how the actors in ancient times used the architecture and their voices to project their sound to their audience of 15,000 people.  Today the area was being prepped for the next installment of a theatre production.  A comedy will be performed for the next 10 days.  These Italians really know how to take advantage of the summer arts productions.  If you recall, yesterday I talked about the music festival in Ravello.

The real treat for me was our next stop.  We walked over a bridge to the island of Ortigia.  I had never heard of this one mile island which boasts a cathedral (of course), a huge Piazza del Duomo (of course) a small church with its very own Caravaggio depicting the death of Santa Lucia whose body has now returned to Ortigia after bouncing around  Italy, most recently in Venice.  The charming little streets and waterfront area really got me.

This tour ended around 1:30 so for the first time since we went on ‘vacation’ we are relaxing by the pool.  This ship is bigger (1,000 passengers) than the other Oceania ship (650) we were on...still manageable though.  Our suite is bigger also with a walk in closet.  Now you know I’ll be expecting that from now on!

We had reservations for the Asian cuisine restaurant but when we heard that the chef went shopping in Sicily, we ditched our reservations and went to the buffet where we were very pleasantly surprised by antipasto items to cannolis.  Loving it!

Buongiorno Sorrento

We awoke to the beautiful sunrise of Sorrento and to Rahul the butler delivering our breakfast.  Oh this was going to be a good day and it didn’t disappoint despite the literally rocky ride in the tender to shore.  That was certainly interesting!

Vittorio was waiting for us at the dock and escorted us to his Mercedes mini van which would take us on the most picturesque ride ever along the Amalfi coast.

We began by driving through the square of Sorrento where Dom recognized a furniture store ‘Jannuzzi’ that he recalled taking a photo of with our boys when we visited here about 10 years ago.

Our first stop was Positano where Vittorio left us for about an hour so we could stroll through the town and down to the seashore.  The water is so crystal clear; the mountains surrounding the water so green; the hillsides comprised of rows upon rows of lemon trees that I first thought were vineyards which I have become so accustomed to seeing on the hillsides of Southern California.  Vittorio explained that the hillsides are so deep that the owners still use donkeys to haul up the lemons they handpick off the trees.  And, of course, every other shop boasts its lemon products, from linens decorated with lemons to bottles and bottles of lemoncello to lemon soaps and lotions to lemon drops to lemon pasta.  You name it and it is made of lemons.

From Positano we travelled to Ravello.  If we thought Positano was picturesque, Ravello is even prettier.  The annual music festival begins tomorrow and will continue for the next 2 months.

Groups of impatiens and marigolds were being feverishly planted as work continued on the construction of the stage.  Image how amazing listening to a concert must be while experiencing the breathtaking panoramic views.


Vittorio had called ahead to owners of a mountainside restaurant telling them we were coming.  We were the only patrons and ate our pizza and salad while eating up the scenery at the same time.  Like eating pizza in Heaven, I imagine.

We thought we would share the large pizza but Vittorio explained that the normal portion per person is an entire pie so we had them box up our 2 halves so he could take them home.

On to the town of Amalfi which I must admit I was not impressed by.  It was so crowded and consisted of rows of rows of the same shops.  We did climb the 60 stairs up to the cathedral which we decided we better do to walk off the pizza calories.

Travel time from Amalfi back to Sorrento is about an hour so we needed to leave enough time in order to catch the tender back to the ship before it sailed away without us.  Luckily we did not hit any traffic so we had extra time to explore the town of Sorrento.  I had heard Rick Steves rave about David’s Gelateria which supposedly is the oldest and best in Sorrento.  Of course Vittorio knows the owner and so he took us directly there.  David did not disappoint.

The tender ride back was even more rough than the morning ride but with the help of my seasick wristbands, I was fine.  We are sailing away now on our way to Catania Sicily.  I am excited to see Catania as it is the one major city we did not get to see on our trip there a couple of years ago.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s entry....
(I am still having issues with importing the photos to the blog so please see them separately.  :-()

Thankful to Dom for the laughter he brings to my life

Soooo....I knew there were no upgrades available from LAX to Washington, D.C.  Now I am ok with sitting in Economy Plus on a 4 hour stint so I wasn’t too stressed.  But Washington to Rome?  8+ hours!  I don’t think so!  Dom chides me about this, but he created this spoiled monster!
All went well to D.C. until we were caught up in a weather ‘cell’ (whatever that is) causing us to arrive much later than scheduled.  We literally ran to our next gate.  As we flew through the entry I half heartedly asked the United guy if there were any upgrades left.  ‘Sorry’.  I asked Dom how much Xanax we had.  Dom runs to the bathroom on board and I am pouting but settling in.  The ‘United guy’ finds me and says he has one seat left in Business/First.  Did I want it?  I could not do that to Dom so I turn it down.  Dom returns from said lavatory and I tell him.  He runs after the guy and says she will take it! Dom figures this is a win-win.  Terry gets what she wants (needs, lol!) and Dom gets 2 seats and doesn’t have to hear her cry for 8 hours.  He’s no dope!

Oceania personnel meet us at the airport and we are on our way to the hotel.  So far so good.

We have been very fortunate to have been to Rome about 5 times so we don’t have a need to do anything more than explore on our own.  Dom had been given a recommendation for a place for lunch so off we go.  Google says it’s only about 4 miles from our hotel.  We can walk this.  Until we are about a mile away and decide a cab sounds real good in this heat and the wrong shoes.

Roscioli’s was like walking into food heaven!
You tell them how much pizza to cut by how wide you hold your hands.  The breads and variety of pizza’s are so mouthwatering.

Roscioli’s also has a wine bar and a pasticceria.  But we already had a sfogliatelle from the restaurant which rivaled any we ever had.

Once back in the hotel, we realize there are no water bottles waiting for us.  Now, Dom Nuzzi, having come in under budget on every show he has ever helmed, thinks he has to do that at home too.
He decides he is going to find a store to buy water cheaper than the water in the mini bar (3euros).  He is gone like forever; returns with 2 water bottles at 2.60 euros and a 5 euro cab ride because he got lost and was caught in the rain.  I thought I would die laughing!

We did have a delicious dinner which started with figs and prosciutto and ended by sharing a cab with two delightful Aussie men who befriended us as at the neighboring table.  They too are on our ship.

Since we are only in Rome one night before boarding our ship, I suggested to Dom that he put a day’s clothing aside so he doesn’t have to rifle through his luggage.  Mr. Organized says he’s got his own system; don’t bother him.  I am again so grateful to him for the laughs he provides me.  If you recall from last year’s blog, Mr. Organized left all his dress shirts in the Dublin hotel when we moved on to the next hotel.  I reminded him of this as he was rifling through all his plastic bags that he packs every clothing group in as if it were a food group.

We have been asked what is the secret to our marriage.  It is the ability to laugh with each other and at each other.  My job is to make Dom laugh every day but today he did it for ME.  Xo

Prelude

Next Sunday Dom & I will begin another journey and I will be blogging as I have done in past years.  In 2015 I shyly told a few of you about the blog and you asked if I would share it with you.  I was delighted that you enjoyed my entries and asked each year if I would blog again.

As you know, I don't do Facebook but Dom does.  He mentioned the blog to some of his friends and so he began to copy my entries to his FB page.  If you are one of his 'friends', you can find my daily entries there as well.  

I will attempt to find humor in every day so I hope you will come along and laugh with us.

Stay tuned.....