Wednesday 27 July 2011
LIVORNO TO MONTE CARLO
Friday 15 July 2011
ATHENS TO NAPLES
NAPLES (Italy) – we anchored in the bay of Naples, nestled beneath the dormant Mt. Vesuvius and were fortunate to have a small tour group today with Mariano as our host & guide. It was not long before we were ogling at the most beautiful scenery along the Amalfi Coast and stopped a couple of times to take the ‘must have’ photos!! We arrived in Sorrento, a lovely little town with picturesque streets and home of the delightful “Limoncello”. YES, we also found a lovely little street, full of colourful souvenir shops again and after a quick stroll, had coffee and watched the world go by. Next stop was Positano and were blown away with the sprawling hillsides, full of wonderful old homes and barely a spare block in sight - & little backyards filled with vegie gardens, olive trees and flowers. A quaint & narrow, winding shopping walk (with the most beautiful clothes shops I’ve ever seen – just had to buy a dress!!) weaved its way all the way down to a small pebble beach which was filling up quickly with holiday makers. We had lunch at a great little ristorante, with a view of the sea, and of course devoured pasta, pizza and wine – yum!
All of this would have been more than enough for the day, but lo & behold, Pompeii was our afternoon destination….. After being engulfed in ash when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. and consequently preserved in mud, these ruins of an ancient city are gradually seeing the light again. It’s quite an incredible journey up and down the narrow streets & laneways, with amphitheatres and homes & shops quite distinct from each other, in the most incredible condition – the roofs have gone but the interiors are in very good condition….. What a great day!!
Photos above are: our group with Mt. Vesuvius in the background; rugged Amalfi Coastline; huge lemons at this little fruit shop in Sorrento; our view whilst sipping coffee in Sorrennto; a pretty ‘dress’ tree in Positano; more beautiful shops; a timber path over the pebbles leading to the water at Positano; the beach at Positano; one of the amphitheatres at Pompeii; standing in one of the streets lined with shops – the hump in the middle was for stepping across as the water and effluent flowed through the streets; a bakery with oven and mill for grinding.
NAPLES TO ROME
ROME TO LIVORNO
Monday 11 July 2011
ANZAC COVE TO ATHENS
ATHENS (Greece) – we arrived at the port of Piraeus and shortly afterwards boarded another big bus for another big day touring Athens, the Acropolis and the Plaka. A nice drive through Athens and we spotted the Acropolis in the distance, our first stop – WOW!! We climbed about 80 easy steps (well some bigger than others and also very slippery marble steps) to the marble-columned Parthenon, the Erectheion and the Porch of the Caryatids -- all this beautiful marble -- simply amazing! These structures didn’t disappoint, and were of course, far bigger in real life than they look in pictures. There were magnificent views of the whole of Athens and we got some good pics. We then did a city tour of historic buildings and interesting sights and enjoyed driving through the streets lined with orange trees laden with fruit (the Greeks are not keen on citrus, they are more for decoration) – traffic not too bad due to the holiday season. We ended up at the Plaka – a market area with rows of streets full of cafés and souvenir shops and chose a nice shady little café for lunch where we devoured a fabulous Greek salad, washed down with a very enjoyable Greek beer!! Bought some souvenirs and headed back – still not able to find stamps or a post office (well we eventually did but you had to take a ticket - we shook our heads as it all looked far too hard with the lingo etc.!!!!)
Sadly we received the news that Colin’s Mum had passed away in England – we were just 2 weeks off seeing her again….
Photos: Acropolis in the distance; view of Athens; Colin with Parthenon in background; steep hill with St. George’s Church atop (some of our fellow passengers actually got to the top!!); tourists everywhere; a real Greek salad & Greek beer in the Plaka; the Plaka
ANZAC COVE TO ATHENS
ATHENS (Greece) – we arrived at the port of Piraeus and shortly afterwards boarded another big bus for another big day touring Athens, the Acropolis and the Plaka. A nice drive through Athens and we spotted the Acropolis in the distance, our first stop – WOW!! We climbed about 80 easy steps (well some bigger than others and also very slippery marble steps) to the marble-columned Parthenon, the Erectheion and the Porch of the Caryatids -- all this beautiful marble -- simply amazing! These structures didn’t disappoint, and were of course, far bigger in real life than they look in pictures. There were magnificent views of the whole of Athens and we got some good pics. We then did a city tour of historic buildings and interesting sights and enjoyed driving through the streets lined with orange trees laden with fruit (the Greeks are not keen on citrus, they are more for decoration) – traffic not too bad due to the holiday season. We ended up at the Plaka – a market area with rows of streets full of cafés and souvenir shops and chose a nice shady little café for lunch where we devoured a fabulous Greek salad, washed down with a very enjoyable Greek beer!! Bought some souvenirs and headed back – still not able to find stamps or a post office (well we eventually did but you had to take a ticket - we shook our heads as it all looked far too hard with the lingo etc.!!!!)
Sadly we received the news that Colin’s Mum had passed away in England – we were just 2 weeks off seeing her again….
Photos: Acropolis in the distance; view of Athens; Colin with Parthenon in background; steep hill with St. George’s Church atop (some of our fellow passengers actually got to the top!!); tourists everywhere; a real Greek salad & Greek beer in the Plaka; the Plaka