May 2024 Mediterranean Cruise Part 3

 Our next stop is Messina on the Island of Sicily. We took a bus ride over to Taormina which was a filming location for the TV series, The White Lotus Season 2.   Unfortunately we got stuck in traffic and spent a large amount of time trying to get over there. Once there we walked around town and had a gelato.

Next we head over to Naples and took a bus over to  the Pompeii ruins,  This is the village that was buried when the volcano, Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.  It was discovered much later and they have slowly been clearing out the debris,  

Next, our final stop, Livorno, Italy.  I went on day trip to Florence and Gloria went on an afternoon trip to visit the town of Pisa to see the famous Tower of Pisa.  The leaning tower is a freestanding bell tower of Pisa Cathedral.  It is known for its 4 degree lean caused by an unstable foundation.  The tower originally leaned 5.5 degrees.  They did attempt to straighten it but couldn't so they left it as it is.  

Now - on to the next one

  

May 2024 - Mediterranean Cruise - Part 1

 We flew into Rome for a three night stay before the start of the cruise.   We took American Airlines through Dallas and then to Rome. We stayed in hotel within walking distance from the main Rome metro station.  First afternoon we walked around the general area and got comfortable with the subway.  Stop number one was the Trevi Fountain.  During our stay all the popular stops were very crowded but the sites were all beautiful.  It was built in 1762 and used as a water collection point for around 400 years.

Next stop was the Colosseum which was completed in 80 AD.  It could hold up to 80,000.  A lot of the construction materials came from a Jewish temple in Jerusalem and many of the workers were Jewish prisoners brought over to Rome.  You cannot visualize how big this is until you go inside.  

Next stop was the Vatican.  Taking the subway over I learned the hard way that my wallet was not safe in my front pocket and those guys are very good at what they do.  It took me a few minutes to notice that they had taken my wallet.  We went to the Vatican near the end of the day and the lines were long.  It also rained as we were inside so missed out on some stuff but it really has some magical stuff.   We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the Sistine Chapel and it was hard with the packed room but still was something not to be missed.  There is a lot of museum type items here and we really enjoyed our visit.

After one sea day our next stop was Mykonos, Greece  - named after the son or grandson of the god Apollo and a local hero.  The story is that the rocks around the island are the corpses of giants that Zeus killed after luring them from Mount Olympus.  Total population is only around 10,000 with many of the old time residents moving out after tourism took over,

May 2024 Mediterranean Cruise Part 2

 Next we head over to Athens.  Again another very busy place but really nice to see all the history.  First up was the drive over to The Acropolis which sits up on top of a hill over looking the town of Athens,  

We then took a drive over to the Temple of Poseidon built in the 5th Century BC.  It is reputed to have the best sundowns in Greece as it overlooks the Aegean Sea.  Named after the King of Greece who threw himself into the sea mistakingly thinking his son was dead,  

Next we head over to Santorini which is island created from a caldera which still has an active volcano.  Most of the villages are sitting on top of this caldera overlooking the sea below.  The town we were hoping to visit has two options  - either walk up the side of the caldera or take a tram.  The line going up to the tram was very long and the decision was made to stay down below.  

Next we move over to Olympus which is site of the first Olympics.  This location is very green with a lot of vegetation.  This was done to honor Zeus and went on from 776 BC to 303 AD.  They originally did everything in one day but slowly moved it up to five.

Out next stop was the Republic of Malta.  It has been populated since 5900 BC so a lot of different empires have occupied this space.