Photo of the Week: Rome

Colosseum, Rome, Italy

Photo of the Week: Italy

Driving into Positano, Italy

Photo of the Week: Italy

Sorrento, Italy

Photo of the Week: Italy

Sorrento, Italy

Photo of the Week: Italy

Sunset in Tuscany

Photo of the Week: Italy

Sorrento, Italy

Photo of the Week: Italy

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

Photo of the Week: Italy

Sorrento, Italy

Port of Naples

I have to admit, I don't know much about Naples, the city has such a bad reputation and few people get off cruise ships to tour the city.  On top of that, there is so much beauty in the surrounding area, for the one time cruise passenger there is no reason to visit Naples and leave Pomepeii and the Amalfi Coast unvisited. 

I'll admit to doing the same - visiting only Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast.  It's a shame though, Naples is one of the few European ports where the ship docks in the city and people seem to run away from it. 

But this has left me pretty curious about Naples.  I think for someone on a second cruise visiting Naples it would be an opportunity to visit the city, but do they?  I know there is good pizza in the city, and I know there are some good museusms too.  Particularly there is a museum on Pompeii, a nice suppliment if you've been to Pompeii. 

So after my tour, when I had free time to enjoy sitting on deck reading, I looked out at the city and wondered.  I wondered what the city had to offer visitors, and I wondered if it was worth the risk of the dangers the city is said to possess.  I also wonder if when I return I'll take my own advice.

If you want some actual tips on visiting Naples on your own, Cruize Cast has a nice podcast on the city, telling you how to get to Pompeii and what other things there are to do in the city. 

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter: Travelingiraffe

Photo Of the Week: Italy

Positano, Italy

Just a note about my posting schedule.  I have started to catch up with my posting.  However, I am currently taking an online TESOL course which is eating up a good chunk of my time, so I may not be able to post regularly until this summer.

Ancient Rome

I've been to Rome, I saw the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, the Vatican, and Piazza Navona.  On my Mediterranean Cruise it was time to dig deeper (pun intended), I decided to go inside the Colosseum and into The Roman Forum. 

For tickets I suggest getting them anywhere except the Colosseum, the line was extremely long.  I got mine from the pushy lady at the visitors kiosk in Civitavecchia.  The line at The Forum was long, but not nearly as insane as at the Colosseum.  But there were also 4 ships in port that day bringing somewhere around 10,000 extra visitors to the city. 

I opted not to do any sort of tour of the Colosseum, while I'm sure I missed some because of it, I also didn't feel like I missed a real lot.  If you're not going to do a tour I would suggest reading up a bit on the Colosseum before hand.  I didn't find there was much information provided inside the Colosseum.  But the walk through the Colosseum was worth it, the inside was just cool.  You could walk through several layers and see the different view, though I never did figure out where the box seats of the day would have been. 

I've heard rumors that they are going to cover the underground area of the Colosseum, it's above ground now but was underground when the Colosseum was in use.  Then they will offer tours of the underground section.  A small portion was covered when I went, leading me to believe the process has begun.  If that's the case, I think it takes away one of the reason to go inside the Colosseum.   Looking at the underground tunnels is a key component of the Colosseum.

I also did not do a tour of The Forum and I wonder if I should have.  I honestly thought it was a bit boring.  There were more signs here then there had been at the Colosseum, so there was some information available here.  But most of the area seemed like park land where you couldn't go on the grass.  

Inside the Roman Forum

I would suggest skipping The Forum in favor of some of the other interesting sites in Rome, but I do think the Colosseum is worth entry if you have more then a day or two in Rome.  The outside of the Colosseum is impressive in its own right, but with so much history in Rome it's hard to prioritize visiting the inside of the Colosseum if you're only there for one day.   


Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter: Travelingiraffe

Photo of the Week: Italy

Photo from Pompeii, Italy

Photo of the Week: Italy

Sorrento, Italy

Livorno Ship Tour: Pisa and A Taste Of Tuscany

When my cruise on the Norwegian Epic stopped in Livorno I decided to do the tour called: Pisa and A Taste of Tuscany.  Although the port of Livorno is primarily known for servicing Florence, Florence is actually an hour to two from the port.  Having been to Florence previously I decided to do something different. Pisa and Tuscany!


This is one of those big group tours from the cruise line and when I say big group I mean that there were multiple busses doing the same tour, so we're talking about over 200 people on this tour.  But, compared to some other big bus tours I have taken, this one didn't feel quite as heardy or touristy as I've experienced in the past.

We had an early meeting in a dining room, though not nearly as early as some of the other tours that left the ship this day, 8:30 am.  Sailing alone I had hoped to meet some people on excursions, it turned out I had already met several people who were on my tour and was on a bus with 3 of them.

The first part of the tour went to Pisa, on the way our tour guide spoke about the region of Tuscany. Once we arrived we parked in a bus parking area we took a 5-10 minute walk to the tower and then got some information about the leaning tower and the other buildings.  Then we got some free time, I think we had an hour before our meeting time, plenty of time to take photos and do some shopping or have a drink at one of the local street vendors.  I will talk about the Pisa in the next few weeks, but I will say that if you got rid of the hordes of tourists, this would be a nice place to visit.

After Pisa we went to a winery for a tour and lunch.  This winery had a stunning setting - it had that old, fancy farm feel and was nestled within the surrounding hills.  We got a quick tour, which was just fine with me since I've been on winery tours in the past.  If you want an in-depth tour of a winery, this is not it. Though the staff was very friendly and answered any questions asked.  We also learned a little bit about making olive oil.

After that we had lunch, lunch was served in tents outside, which we had perfect weather for.  There were some smaller tents (see the photos) that were heavenly.  However, we were in a much larger tent that fit several busses of guests.  This was a nice setting, but not as dreamy as the smaller tents. But the food was fabulous and we were given suggestions on which wines to drink with each course.  I personally didn't like any of the wines, they were too dry for me.  But, they had the best balsamic vinegar ever! The olive oil was also very good. We were given the opportunity to purchase the olive oil and vinegar as well as a few other items. The lunch was a couple different courses of light foods - pasta, meats, breads.

After that we returned to the ship with a little time to enjoy the ship before all the full day tours returned to the ship.  This tour only took about 5 and a half to 6 hours.  I thought it was a very nice tour for anyone who wants to have an experience other then Florence.  While I do try to avoid some of the big group tours, they tend to have a much less authentic feel, this was one of the better big group tours I have taken with a cruise line.  It also allowed me to save my energy for the next day in Rome!

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter: Travelingiraffe

I Love Pisa, and I'm proud of it!

Pisa has a bad reputation as just being a tourist trap - it's just a tower that happens to lean.

I'm not going to say that's not true, but I did find a certain charm in Pisa.

It's quant little town with fortress walls around it.  It gives a nice feeling of what an old Italian town might have looked like, if you can tune out the throngs of tourists.

As for the tower, it's actually quite pretty with a very clean look to it.  One thing I don't like in Italy is that the colors of the buildings (oranges and yellows) make them look dirty, but the tower was white and looked very clean.  It was such a contrast to what you normally see that it stood out the second I turned the corner and it came into my vision.  On top of that it has two matching buildings, the Baptistry and the Cathedral.

I'm not going to tell you run to Italy and put Pisa on the top of your list of things to do.  But, if you're in the area I think it is worth visiting.  If you want to go to the top though, you'll want to book that in advance.

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter: Travelingiraffe

Civitavecchia - Rome On Your Own

When I sailed on the Norwegian Epic and was stopping in Rome I decided to make it an easier day on myself.  I've been to Rome previously and really just wanted to see the Colosseum and The Forum.  I would have taken the NCL transfer to Rome, but it was $99.  I don't mind paying a premium for convenience, but that was rediculous!  Instead I took the train for 9 euros, which includes the Rome metro.

I can tell you how to do that, but this review is way more detialed then I could ever imagine writing so for step by step directions - Civitavecchia to Rome by train.  The short story is that you take the free shuttle out of the port into town (5 minute bus ride), walk 5-10 minutes to the train, by tickets and get on the next train.  I HIGHLY suggest getting a train schedule before taking the cruise, NCL did not have one available onboard.  But the train seemed to run every 30-60 minutes.

I'm also going to suggest Cruize Cast Podcast #4 on Rome if you would like to try and do all the major highlights of Rome in one day.

I did things slightly differently then suggested, which was good and bad.  When I got off the shuttle bus I went into the Tourist Information booth, here they tried to sell me the "fast" train for 15 euros, but it didn't leave for over an hour.  The "slow" train was leaving in about 20 minutes.  Also, the "fast" train only seemed to have 1 return time, but the "slow" train left every 30 minutes to an hour.  The difference in the ride time was about 20-30 minutes.  The "fast" train took 40 minutes the "slow" train took just over an hour, Italian time.  I had a little fight with the woman here, she wouldn't answer any of my questions, just kept trying to push the fast train on me and then every other tour she could.  I got annoyed and yelled at her then I bought my slow train ticket and tickets to the Colosseum/Forum.  Buying the Colosseum/Forum tickets here was a FABULOUS idea, it meant I didn't have to wait on line in Rome and I was able to kill the 20 minutes I had to wait for the train anyway.

Once in Rome my friend (I met him on the ship) and I walked to the Colossum.  We got a little lost and it took a while.  I would suggest taking the metro unless you want the exercise (you might after eating all that good food on the ship), the walk was not in the nice touristy area of the city.  I LOVED Rome the first time I went there, after walking through regular areas (for all I know I was in the ghetto, ack!) I lost some of my love for the city.  It had a dirty, rundown feeling and look to it, which the tourist areas do not have.  But it was also an adventure.

It was hot, I needed it!

After the Colossum and The Forum, which I'll discuss in another post, we walked to the Wedding Cake and found a nice little sidewalk cafe for lunch. 

After lunch we walked back to the train station, getting pretty lost this time, we had to pull out maps and ask complete strangers for directions multiple times.  This did allow us to stop and throw coins in the Trevi Fountain and just miss a train back to the port.  But at least this walk was in nicer area of Rome.  But if we had gotten any more lost we would have had to take a Taxi back to the train station.

I always show nice pictures, but the true Trevi Fountain has construction in front.

Unless you're interested in doing a tour in Rome, I would highly suggest taking the train into Rome, just get the schedule before you leave.  It's economical, and although the train was a little run down, we didn't hit any traffic and we got to travel with Italians, who don't speak English so I have no idea what any of them said. No, I didn't expect them to speak English, but it makes it hard to find out what the locals are talking about when they're not speaking in English.  You will find plenty of other cruise passengers on the train too, you wont be alone.

Photo of the Week: Italy

Tevi Fountain:  Rome, Italy

Photo of the Week: Italy

From:  Rome, Italy - The Colosseum

Photo of the Week: Italy

From:  Pisa, Italy

Photo of the Week: Italy

The Colosseum, Rome Italy