Travel Galleries

Florence, Italy : DAY 11: We sailed into Livorno, the port nearest to Florence, on the morning of June 28, 2006, to begin our tour of Firenze (Florence). Florence is about 70-80 kilometers inland from the port, much farther from the Mediterranean than I realized, along the Arno River. We discovered the Tuscan countryside of northern Italy is really beautiful, and we wished we had more time to actually stop and see it, instead of just drive through it (sounds like a future trip, if you ask me)! It was hot again, near 90, and we spent a lot of time once we arrived in Florence on yet another walking tour. Our first real stop was at the Piazza di Michelangelo (Michelangelo Square), a small park overlooking the city. Mary Lu had missed breakfast that morning, so when our guide said, in his heavily-accented English, "I wanna you all-a shoulda go outa-side anna getta some pitches!" she misunderstood and started looking around the square for a stand of peaches. Ask her about it! I think the cultural and historic impact of Florence could be described as overwhelming. Close up, however, the city seems like it could be one of Italy's most atmospheric and pleasant. The striking buildings, formidable galleries and treasure-crammed churches attest to a Florentine love of display. Originally established in Roman times, a great deal of the old architecture remains, and there is a real sense of history everywhere. However, we were surprised to learn that, with all the fabulous artwork housed in various locations in the city, it was prone, until recently, to massive flooding!

Florence, Italy

DAY 11: We sailed into Livorno, the port nearest to Florence, on the ...

Updated: Sep 25, 2006 9:48pm PST

Venice, Italy : DAYS 1, 2 & 3: Reaching Venice was an adventure in itself, taking us on a seven-hour round trip from Detroit to Detroit (long story), Detroit (again) to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Paris (stand-by), and finally Paris to Venice! We left Detroit on Sunday evening, June 18, 2006, and were supposed to arrive in Venice about 12 hours later, early Monday afternoon, June 19 (their time). Instead, after delays that require a story all their own, we arrived about 2:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 20, 2006 (Venice time) . . . only to find there was no one there from the cruise line to help transport us to the ship! We managed to arrange a wild middle-of-the-night cab ride from the airport to the docks, and boarded the cruise ship Millennium in the wee hours of the morning, about 30 sleepless hours after we started. Far too early that same morning, after only two hours sleep, we began a walking tour of Venice! The day was hot, in the low 90s. Our friends, Tom & Joyce, who had flown from Chicago and had no idea where we could be, were delighted to discover we had made it to the ship after all! Needless to say, at the end of the tour that day we were visibly dragging. We finally relaxed a bit in the evening, as we stood on an upper deck with our friends, refreshments in hand, watching the ship sail out of Venice. But by the end of a late dinner seating and the show in the theater afterward, all we could manage to do was collapse in our stateroom, exhausted . . . happy to have finally begun our Excellent Adventure!

Venice, Italy

DAYS 1, 2 & 3: Reaching Venice was an adventure in itself, taking us ...

Updated: Sep 21, 2006 8:05pm PST

Nice & Eze, France : DAY 12: We sailed into Villefranche-sur-Mer, about six kilometers (four miles) east of the city of Nice, France, on the morning of June 29, 2006. The bay of Villefranche is one of the deepest natural harbors of any port in the Mediterranean and provides a safe anchorage for large ships like the Millenium. However, this was another port where we did not dock, but anchored offshore to be taken in by tender boats. After our tour of the city, and a morning stroll through Nice, we traveled a short distance east, toward Monaco, to the quaint village of Eze (pronunced EZZ). Eze has to be one of the most picturesque spots in the region. Perched at the top of an imposing cliff, the village and its light ochre Church of Notre Dame de l'Assumption can be seen from quite a distance. Once inside, you discover a small Provencal village filled with narrow streets, colorful window boxes, exotic doorways and charm. We returned to Nice in the evening. While Tom and Joyce returned to the ship, Mary Lu and I decided to walk along the "Rue de France," the street lining the shore, to reach the beach at the far end. Mary Lu wanted to wade in the Mediterranean, just to be able to say we did. That evening was to be our final "party" night. A formal dinner seating, followed by the theatre, followed by an elegant buffet. The party was this evening, because the next night we would all be too busy getting our baggage ready for a departure that suddenly seemed all too soon.

Nice & Eze, France

DAY 12: We sailed into Villefranche-sur-Mer, about six kilometers (fo ...

Updated: Sep 17, 2006 9:27pm PST

Dubrovnik, Croatia : Day 4: Our second stop, on June 21, 2006, was in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Not so long ago, there was a lot of well-publicized political strife in the area and we were a bit apprehensive, even though we had been told it was safe now - and a really marvelous place. We got up early again, watching the arrival of dawn from the stateroom balcony while we had coffee (these early-morning balcony moments were going to become a ritual while we were traveling). This day was to have the typical weather of the trip, too...another hot, hazy day, moving through the high 80s into the mid-90s. The rocky Croatian coastline came slowly out of the morning haze. We soon found the old walled city of Dubrovnik exactly as everyone told us it would be...absolutely marvelous! In fact, we would recommend it to everyone! The people were friendly and its history was fascinating. Existing since Roman times, and even after innumerable major earthquakes, many of the buildings in the Old City still date back far more than a thousand years. After spending the morning in Dubrovnik, we drove about 25 kilometers to the small village of Gruda, for lunch, only about six kilometers from the border of Bosnia-Herzegovina. We ate in the outdoor cafe of a restaurant called "Konavorski Dvori," located near a pleasant little river stream (I believe it was the Sushica River). Shady, with a bit of a breeze, it was a welcome respite from the heat. On our way back to the ship, we stopped at the harbor city of Cavtat. A bit commercial, it was still wonderfully picturesque, and we could see why the locals would call Cavtat "The Riviera of Croatia."

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Day 4: Our second stop, on June 21, 2006, was in Dubrovnik, Croatia. ...

Updated: Sep 17, 2006 9:24pm PST

Barcelona, Spain : DAYS 13 & 14: June 30, 2006 was the last full day of our cruise. Unlike every other day of the trip which was a morning arrival, we arrived in the harbor at Barcelona early in the afternoon. Because of the brief time frame, we only booked a four-hour tour of the city. Still, we covered a lot of ground, from a very interesting church construction - still unfinished after more than 100 years, to the high-end La Rambla shopping area in the middle of town, to Barcelona's official cathedral! The evening was a scramble to get our things together and our bags set out, in preparation for our departure in the morning. It did give us time to consider all we had just done, and be thankful for the opportunity to share it with our good friends. Although we were technically in Barcelona for two days, the final day is really just an early bus trip from the ship to the airport, followed by many hours in a crowded airport terminal, waiting for the flight home. Tom and Joyce, who headed back to Chicago while we went to Detroit, had a different flight, so we said our goodbyes early. We disembarked the Millennium for the last time the morning of July 1, 2006, headed for the airport with our luggage and all the miscellaneous items we had acquired in the past two weeks. We also brought along the memories of our Excellent Adventure, and a lot of THANKS for our wonderful children and family who made the trip possible!

Barcelona, Spain

DAYS 13 & 14: June 30, 2006 was the last full day of our cruise. Unli ...

Updated: Sep 12, 2006 8:22pm PST

Rome, Italy : DAY 10: Early the next morning, June 27, 2006, we entered the harbor at Civitavecchia. Our tour selections for the day included both the Vatican and the Colosseum, a busy schedule. The only time we actually saw the city of Rome itself was on the way to each site! The weather was still hot and humid, and we found the line to enter our first stop, at the Vatican Museum, was almost three hours long! In the end, however, it was worth the wait (well, almost), as the museum houses some of the most fabulous artwork in the world! The Museum tour led us directly into the "Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano" (St. Peter's Basilica). Despite what we thought we knew, we were not prepared for the enormous size of the church, said to be the largest in the world. You can believe it, because it is huge! We saw an enormous amount of artwork, including Michelangelo's "Pieta," which was on Mary Lu's must see list. Our tour also included a visit to the Sistine Chapel, which was on my list (unfortunately, photography - which was flash-restricted inside the Museum and the Church - was entirely forbidden in the Chapel). After the Vatican, we headed across town to the Colosseum. Built in 72 A.D. it is truly a wonder, and we marveled at the sheer size of it, too. Right next to it the Arch of Constantine, another architectural marvel, was erected in 350 A.D. After our land tours ended, we booked the special Olympic Room dining room on board the Millennium, where Tom and Joyce helped us celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary -- which was today!

Rome, Italy

DAY 10: Early the next morning, June 27, 2006, we entered the harbor ...

Updated: Sep 08, 2006 4:05pm PST

Naples, Pompeii & Amalfi, Italy : DAYS 8 & 9: After Santorini, we had another day at sea to rest before we arrived in Naples, Italy. On the morning of June 26, 2006, we drove straight through the city, not spending much time there, stopping only at a small crafts factory in Sorrento to purchase a wooden inlaid box for our granddaughter. It was not long until we arrived at the ruins of Pompeii, our first tour stop. Destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D., it struck me that Pompeii had been a strikingly modern-looking city, with paved roads, a water and sewage system, an apparently thriving arts community, and many businesses. To see it now is both beautiful and chilling. After we left Pompeii, we drove along the Amalfi coastline toward Salerno. The route is known for its spectacular scenery, narrow roads and hairpin curves (we were told there are more than 1,000 of them)! A magnificent, scenic drive - even if a little hair-raising at times - you travel along extremely narrow, winding roads (where traffic could sometimes only move in single-file). For nearly the entire route the road clings to the side of the cliff, and your view out the window is straight down! Tom and Joyce went to Herculaneum today, so they missed the Amalfi rollercoaster!

Naples, Pompeii & Amalfi, Italy

DAYS 8 & 9: After Santorini, we had another day at sea to rest before ...

Updated: Sep 04, 2006 9:39pm PST

Santorini, Greece : DAY 7: We came to the island of Santorini on Saturday morning, June 24, 2006, far from the Greek mainland. We again watched the sunrise from the stateroom deck as we made our way toward shore. The weather was still hot and hazy, with no rain in sight. It would reach the 90s in the afternoon. In a way, our arrival in Santorini was different from the first few stops. The ship could not pull up to a dock for us to disembark. Instead, it anchored a short distance offshore, and we were taken onto the island by a tender. Actually getting into town was different, too. Nearly 600 stairs zig-zagged up the face of the steep cliff to the town of Fira. Getting up to (or down from) town you had several options. You could climb the stairs yourself (not easy, even for those in the best of shape, on a cool day), you could ride up on the back of a small donkey (trusting it to carry your weight and navigate the stairs), or use the cable car. Interesting choices. It was hot, and the 600 stairs seemed a rather daunting climb; the donkeys . . . well, they smelled like donkeys (and you could conceivably spend the rest of a hot day smelling just like them); and the cable car was a long way off the ground, and definitely not for the squeamish. However, once on top the views were fantastic everywhere! We spent the entire day on the island, in the town of Fira and a village to the north of it called Oia (pronounced EE-ya), and had lunch at an outdoor cafe. We decided to share several traditional Greek appetizers, to get as much of the "local flavor" as possible. One of the appetizers on the menu translated into English as "white fish bait." I have to admit it tasted better than it sounds! Later, we decided to go back to the ship for dinner, rather than stay on the island. If we had it to over again, that choice would be different, as the island is amazing at night. However, once back on the ship, we were treated to a spectacular sunset over the caldera!

Santorini, Greece

DAY 7: We came to the island of Santorini on Saturday morning, June 2 ...

Updated: Sep 02, 2006 8:09am PST

Athens, Greece : DAYS 5 & 6: Thursday, June 22, 2006, was a day at sea and we slept late that morning (the only morning that would happen). We spent a leisurely day on the ship and were so relaxed, we didn't even take pictures! Early Friday morning, June 23, we awoke and prepared for our day in Athens. The port city you arrive in is actually Piraeus, a suburb. Piraeus is Greece's third largest city in terms of population and its biggest port. It was another humid day, reaching the mid-90s under a hot Aegean sun. We drove through Pireaus and the city of Athens (discovering from our guide it had a population of nearly five million), stopping in the city only to view Pentathinaikon Stadion, a stadium along Vassileos Konstantinou Avenue that had been a venue in Greece's recent (2004) Olympic effort. From there, we went directly to the Acropolis. Looking out over the city of Athens from the Acropolis, the Parthenon, a building dedicated to the goddess Athena, is only a spectacular ruin on top of the promontory now, but it is still breathtaking. It's difficult to comprehend such a magnificent structure had already existed nearly 500 years before the Apostle Paul delivered his Christian messages there! From the Acropolis, we drove south to the cape of Sounion. We had lunch at a place called Aegeon Beach Hotel, a marvelous 4-star resort on the Aegean Sea. Afterward, we walked up the mount next to it, and visited the Temple of Poseidon...the ruins of another spectacular monument built almost 2,500 years ago!

Athens, Greece

DAYS 5 & 6: Thursday, June 22, 2006, was a day at sea and we slept la ...

Updated: Aug 31, 2006 9:06pm PST

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