We ended our third cruise at Civitavecchia where everyone typically goes to Rome. We decided to take a "Tours By Locals" tour to Tuscany lead by an awesome experienced tour guide named Susanna. What a great decision! We found another couple (Sharon & John) to go with us who were eventually going into the city for a few days after the tour. We had been to some of the main cities in the Tuscany Region such as Florence, Pisa and Luca but we wanted to see some of the country you see in the movies of the more peaceful countryside and history. We started out from the port admiring the country scenery. We first went through an area that contained the burial sites of the Etruscans (an ancient tribe before the Romans took control). These burial sites were huge mounds of earth (small hills that you can see all around the country side) that were used to bury a tomb in which one to four people were buried. The Etruscan tribes ruled the Romans in 600 BC prior to the Roman Empire coming into power. We then went to Tuscania which is an old Etruscan/Roman town with many old walls, buildings and churches. We had coffee in the town and visited one of the churches which still had frescos painted on the walls that were being restored. Around the town you could see many of the old tombs that had been removed from the Etruscan burial sites. They have opened so many of these burial sites; they don’t know where to put all of the tombs that they have exhumed! We then went over to Lake Bolsena. This was a beautifully calm volcano lake in the middle of Tuscany that has several ancient cities on its banks. We started in Marta which looked more like a lazy fishing village and went on to Montefiascone which sat high up overlooking the lake and had occasionally been used by the pope as a summer residence. We then went to Bolsena where we walked around the old town and ended up in a little wine shop that was operated by two (very old) sisters. We bought a couple of bottles of the local wine and headed out to our final stop – Civita di Bagnoreggio. Well as they say – leave the best until last! This was beyond a picture post card of someplace you need to see (they filmed parts of the most recent film of Pinocchio here). It is called the Dying City for a good reason. Hundreds of years ago what is left of the city used to be on flat ground until over the last hundreds of years of erosion caused by two streams has left just a fraction of the city on a high pedestal that can only be accessed by a recently built pedestrian bridge. This is truly an amazing sight and we suggest you see it soon, if you can, because it might not be there tomorrow! We hiked across the pedestrian bridge and enjoyed a very nice wine and an Italian assortment of cheese and meats. This visit was certainly the highlight of our tour. We plan to return next year with a cruise group and look forward to Susanna being our guide once again - we can’t wait!
Our next stop was Naples where we had planned to go to Capri. When we awoke and looked at the dark and gloomy skies outside, we decided to make it a “sea day at port". We enjoyed walking around the city and on our way back to the ship we stopped at one of the local restaurants where we went inside for a coffee and pastry.
Sicily was our next stop where we went to the port of Catania. Normally we stopped at Messina but it was nice to go someplace different. We left the ship with the intent on taking a train to Taormina where we have been before but we met another couple (Dave and Mandy) who were looking at getting a taxi to Mount Etna (the local volcano). We decided to share a taxi with this couple to go to Mount Etna first and then drive down to Taormina before going back to the port. It looked like a nice day down by the port but by the time we got up to the “top” of Mount Etna (which was 7000 feet still 4000 feet below the summit) the weather was very overcast and cloudy. We decided to take the cable car up which got us a 1000 feet further up and the skies were actually better when we made it through some of the clouds. We hiked around for a couple of hours as the fog and clouds swirled around with the heavy breezes. We eventually got up to around 8300 feet where we were able to get a good view of the summit. We were dressed in shorts and short sleeved shirts when we left the port in 70 degree weather but were just a little surprised at the freezing temperatures (below 32 degrees) and snow when we ended up hiking. Fortunately, they rented nice warm ski jacket for fools like us who didn’t expect that type of weather. We then got back in our taxi and headed to Taormina which we had discovered on our last visit to Sicily. When we arrived in the city our first stop was to have lunch at La Christina’s Cucina restaurant that was known for their “arancini” (baked rice balls stuffed with cheese and spinach) that we had the last time we visited. We found the restaurant and enjoyed our meal with a little wine and beer. We then took a leisurely stroll around the town admiring the flowers, shops, cliffs/beaches and unique style that this little village has to offer. We had hoped to go to Caste Loma which was very close to Taormina, and has a special type of almond wine, but we found that it was not walkable and will have to try it out next time we are in the area. We took the taxi back to the ship to board and head out to our next destination.
This was our first visit to Valletta, Malta. We didn’t have any significant plans but took the Hop On/Hop Off bus to view the city highlights and to see the Blue Grotto. Along the bus ride we marveled at the hundreds of stone walls around the island. It turns out that in 5000 BC farmers inhabited these islands and built stone walls to terrace the fields. When a farmer was dying he built several more stone walls to partition the land so his sons could have an equal portion of his land as his inheritance. We are not sure where they got all of these rocks but there are literally hundreds if not thousands of rock walls around the island of Malta. Our first stop of the bus was at Marsaxlokk which was a small fishing village on the west coast with very colorful fishing boats. We then got back on the bus for our next stop at Blue Grotto. There we boarded one of the many boats (for 8 Euros) which take you in and out of the several sea caves in the area, one of which is called the Blue Grotto. It was a very nice place to visit and we saw many divers in this area. After our enjoyable boating trip we stopped at one of the restaurants and enjoyed a little snack with some beer/wine before heading back to our ship. Malta was a very nice port stop and if we go back again we will take a trip to Goza which has many beaches and coastal water features that look very interesting.
We now have a sea day where we can get some rest before visiting Palma de Majorca, Cartagena and Gibraltar.
Sharon & Greg
Our next stop was Naples where we had planned to go to Capri. When we awoke and looked at the dark and gloomy skies outside, we decided to make it a “sea day at port". We enjoyed walking around the city and on our way back to the ship we stopped at one of the local restaurants where we went inside for a coffee and pastry.
Sicily was our next stop where we went to the port of Catania. Normally we stopped at Messina but it was nice to go someplace different. We left the ship with the intent on taking a train to Taormina where we have been before but we met another couple (Dave and Mandy) who were looking at getting a taxi to Mount Etna (the local volcano). We decided to share a taxi with this couple to go to Mount Etna first and then drive down to Taormina before going back to the port. It looked like a nice day down by the port but by the time we got up to the “top” of Mount Etna (which was 7000 feet still 4000 feet below the summit) the weather was very overcast and cloudy. We decided to take the cable car up which got us a 1000 feet further up and the skies were actually better when we made it through some of the clouds. We hiked around for a couple of hours as the fog and clouds swirled around with the heavy breezes. We eventually got up to around 8300 feet where we were able to get a good view of the summit. We were dressed in shorts and short sleeved shirts when we left the port in 70 degree weather but were just a little surprised at the freezing temperatures (below 32 degrees) and snow when we ended up hiking. Fortunately, they rented nice warm ski jacket for fools like us who didn’t expect that type of weather. We then got back in our taxi and headed to Taormina which we had discovered on our last visit to Sicily. When we arrived in the city our first stop was to have lunch at La Christina’s Cucina restaurant that was known for their “arancini” (baked rice balls stuffed with cheese and spinach) that we had the last time we visited. We found the restaurant and enjoyed our meal with a little wine and beer. We then took a leisurely stroll around the town admiring the flowers, shops, cliffs/beaches and unique style that this little village has to offer. We had hoped to go to Caste Loma which was very close to Taormina, and has a special type of almond wine, but we found that it was not walkable and will have to try it out next time we are in the area. We took the taxi back to the ship to board and head out to our next destination.
This was our first visit to Valletta, Malta. We didn’t have any significant plans but took the Hop On/Hop Off bus to view the city highlights and to see the Blue Grotto. Along the bus ride we marveled at the hundreds of stone walls around the island. It turns out that in 5000 BC farmers inhabited these islands and built stone walls to terrace the fields. When a farmer was dying he built several more stone walls to partition the land so his sons could have an equal portion of his land as his inheritance. We are not sure where they got all of these rocks but there are literally hundreds if not thousands of rock walls around the island of Malta. Our first stop of the bus was at Marsaxlokk which was a small fishing village on the west coast with very colorful fishing boats. We then got back on the bus for our next stop at Blue Grotto. There we boarded one of the many boats (for 8 Euros) which take you in and out of the several sea caves in the area, one of which is called the Blue Grotto. It was a very nice place to visit and we saw many divers in this area. After our enjoyable boating trip we stopped at one of the restaurants and enjoyed a little snack with some beer/wine before heading back to our ship. Malta was a very nice port stop and if we go back again we will take a trip to Goza which has many beaches and coastal water features that look very interesting.
We now have a sea day where we can get some rest before visiting Palma de Majorca, Cartagena and Gibraltar.
Sharon & Greg
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