Monte Carlo and Nice

PICTURES TO BE POSTED WHEN I GET A GOOD INTERNET CONNECTION

The Grand Prix of vintage cars was held in Monte Carlo today. That added extra excitement as well as larger crowds. The ship had to tender outside the harbor and ferry the passengers in and out.

We had a tour of Nice and Eze. We went to a wine and cheese tasting. Since Kathie and Melodee aren’t fond of reds, I got to drink even more. Afterwards there was time to walk around on our own. Terry and I made the decision to let the girls go our on their own, while we found another restaurant for more wine, melon and ham. We thought we had made the best decision until we met up with Kathie and Melodee who told us of there beach walk including a beautiful topless girl ----AW NUTS!!

Eze is an old town and fort. We did an walking tour of Eze including ice cream at the top.

On board we had a great dinner with more wine!!

A very lovely day for all of us.

Departing Rome and First Day at Sea

PICTURES TO BE POSTED WHEN I GET A GOOD INTERNET CONNECTION

Today we left Rome for Civitavecchia where are ship, the MS  Eurodam awaits. 

Terry managed to pull a disappearing act in the men’s restroom. He went in and never came out, yet after a long inspection was not to be found – very strange.

The sunset was beautiful as you can see.

I managed to play some poker walking away about $100 ahead.

Terry surprised me with some special PJ’s. We are thinking of wearing these for formal night. Of course we will need to add ties to our  attire!

Tomorrow is Monaco.

Rome day three

What a wonderful day. We started by walking to the Vatican. There we had a 3 hour tour of the Sistine Chapel, Raphael's rooms, the Vatican museum and St. Peter's Basilica. It was truly overwhelming with all the history, art and beauty.


Kathie and Melodee continued the afternoon shopping and sight seeing (where do they get all that energy?). And Terry and I returned to the hotel to rest up for the evening.


Last evening we took a bus ride to a fabulous restaurant, tucked away somewhere in Rome. They fed us great food, served us great wine and entertained us with song and music. We dined with a very nice couple from Atlanta. After which, we got on the bus to view Roma at night. We stopped at the Trevi fountain to see it all lit up in the night time. It was more beautiful than yesterday in the sunlight.


All four of us are in love with Rome and finding it a little sad to leave her. We are packed now (Friday morning) and getting ready to head to Civitavecchia by bus to catch our ship.
Tomorrow morning is Monte Carlo!

Rome day two

Today we went to the Roman Coliseum (or Colloseum if you prefer). We took tours of the Coliseum and the Palatine Hill. We learned many facts, but the one that sticks with me is Nero married 5 times.... and 3 of them were women!!

Also, one tour guide told us that sometimes she has "problem" tourists. One, in particular, complained that she didn't like all the stories, but wanted only historical facts. Our guide told her that the marble she was standing on was used as a helicopter pad in the 1st century. To which, the tourist responded "Oh".

We also went to Fontana di Trevi (Trevi fountain). It was very beautiful. There was quite a crowd there. Kathie had gelato. And Melodee had a cherry crepe.

The weather here is great. It is a little humid, but the temperatures are fine especially in the evening.

Tomorrow is the Sistine, St Peter's and Raphael's with a  special dinner and Rome by night tour.

Ciao

Flight to Roma

Red eye flight to Rome went well. Holland America rep met us at the baggage claim. We checked into our hotel and took naps.

Now for our first evening in Roma!

New York City

Mel and I landed last night at JFK. We were too tired to do much, so we took the evening easy and watched a movie in our hotel room. Then we slept in late this morning. ahhhhhh!

Today we went to the Metropolitan Museum and saw tons of paintings, sculptures and old musical instruments. What fun!!

Terry and Kathie arrived at supper time. We went to John's Pizzeria in Times Square. Then we did the tourist thing walking around the Big Apple and gawking at all the tall buildings (Golllllly ala Gomer Pyle). After a set of drinks we are going to bed.

Tomorrow will be Ground Zero and then our red eye flight to Rome.

Arrivederci!!

WE (T&K) ARE SOOOOOOO EXCITED!

Are We There Yet?

Hi everyone. Most of you who know me probably also know that I am from a big family. You may also know Jeff and I traveled to St. Louis, MO quite a bit when the kids were little...BY CAR!  And, you may also know I am not the easiest traveler in the family!! Good thing I have a wonderful hubby who is the most patient person in the world! Let's hope Terry and Kathie will still love me at the end of our trip!
 I can't wait to start taking pictures. It's one of my favorite things to do when I travel and since we are heading to some fantastic countries I hope to capture some of their flavor. Pray for the rain to stay away at least for a little while! First up, NYC!

Before the Start

We are doing last minute preps for our cruise. Oh, you didn't know about our cruise?? Well that means you weren't listening to me or Melodee tell you all about it over and over for the last 3 months!!

So, in case you don't know here are the highlights.
Terry, Kathie, Melodee and Jeff will be on a 22 day Mediterranean / Baltic Sea cruise.
We start from New York City. Melodee and Jeff get there on Saturday, May 3rd. Terry and Kathie get there on Sunday May 4th.
We leave for Rome on a "red-eye" flight from JFK on Monday night.
We get 2 days in Rome before we embark on the cruise staring May 7.
We return to JFK June 2.

I (Jeff) intend to keep the blog up to date roughly every day with pictures and comments. We'll see how well the shipboard internet works for us.

My pre-trip prediction for the high point of the vacation is the Marinski Theatre in St. Petersburg where we will see the ballet.

Of course, like most vacations, there will be something that will be fantastic and we didn't expect it.

Feel free to make comments as we post to the blog.