Traveler

Alright, figured I'd get this blog started seeing as I've got a couple of busy weeks ahead!
The cast for this adventure is again myself and my friend Jamie - he agreed to another cruise before we even got off Oasis last year! This cruise was booked via NextCruise on that sailing - we paid the deposit then picked the sailing once we knew Jamie could get the time off work.
Here we are, ready for formal night on Oasis:

Just over 3 weeks until we board Voyager in Athens for a 7 night Greek Isles cruise. We're flying out from London on June 6th and will be spending 3 nights in Athens pre-cruise. So, the itinerary is as follows:
June 5th - Jamie is driving us to London, we're staying at the Sofitel at Heathrow and are leaving his car there for the duration. The plan is to drop the car off then get the Tube into central London and see where the day takes us.
June 6th - We fly with British Airways to Athens, checking into the Coco-Mat Athens hotel. Once there we'll get our bearings, and again see where we end up.
June 7th & 8th - 2 full days in Athens. No plans set in stone but the aim is to eat, drink and wander around the city, taking in the sites. 
June 9th - CRUISE DAY!!! We have an 11am arrival time and I've arranged a transfer, with the same company I've used for our transfer from the airport to the hotel. 
June 10th - Kusadasi, Turkey. No plans here, Jamie has mentioned he's done a Turkish bath experience before in Bodrum so this may be something we investigate. Otherwise we'll get off the ship and wander, as we're not super interested in visiting Ephesus.
June 11th - Mykonos, Greece. Again, the plan is that we have no plan. We may explore the Old Town, before getting back on the ship to enjoy Voyager and all she has to offer.
June 12th - Santorini, Greece. We have a tour booked with a local company - just the 2 of us and a driver. Really looking forward to this one, as I think it's a beautiful island. 
June 13th - Sea Day
June 14th - Messina, Sicily. Again, no excursion booked, but a work colleague was born in Messina and suggested checking out the town, and enjoying some local foods. 
June 15th - Naples, Italy. We have a tour booked here with ItalyTours to Sorrento and the Amalfi coast. I need to check in with them to see if we have met the minimum numbers for it to go ahead. If it doesn't, I've researched and we can get a ferry from Naples to Sorrento.
June 16th - Rome, Italy. Disembarkation day and travel back to London with British Airways. Post-cruise blues will be setting in...
So that's the itinerary. I've also got a skating competition this Wednesday and a trip to London with a friend on May 30th to see Starlight Express, so I'll post about those along with my prep.
Currently planning to pack next weekend, and still need to exchange some currency, but unsure how much cash I'll need. There's some stuff in my cart at Mr Bezos' establishment that I'm planning on ordering tomorrow. I've got my final Open University assignment for the year due on Friday too. So feeling a tad stressed at the moment!
The final countdown is on!
 

Heaving the CFO replacing the CEO usually not a good sign for us , many time it means short term revenue increase with less long term loyalty view. I hope I am wrong. Only time will tell.   

Good afternoon (I think!) everyone! Getting used to the time difference… Once again, this is also my first time overseas!
Let’s see if I can get through the first day plus of our trip!
Car service arrived on time on WED, 5/7, and actually got us to JFK 30 minutes earlier than planned. No issues getting on our flight which was on time. We went with economy seats purchased through Air2Sea on British Airways. The other couple we are traveling with booked direct, but chose seats next to us for both flights (JKF-LHR & LHR-BCN).
Yes, it was very tight, but not as bad as it could have been since we were sitting next to each other! I still don’t think I would spend double our ticket price to upgrade to economy plus… it’s definitely worth upgrading if you use airline miles/points for sure. The Air2Sea fare for Christine and I was only $1,224.00 ($612/pp) round trip. I remember how scared I was a couple of years ago planning the trip thinking the airfare would be more than the cruise! We also got a $50 Air2Sea BOA credit bringing it down to $1,174.00 because I gave in when we were in Next Cruise on Icon and opened the RC credit card with BOA 🤣.
A few shots from the plane as we closed in on Barcelona…




I shot a video of us passing Sagrada Familia from the air, but did not get any good still shots.
We finally arrived in Barcelona today in the mid-morning and grabbed a cab to take us to our pre-cruise hotel. Of course I had to see what ships were in port today… among the major lines, Princess and MSC had one ship in port (that I could see). We also got a peak at our friend Odyssey which was also docked in Barcelona this morning! So excited to see her! We have to wait 8 more months before we sail on her again! 😃
We booked Hotel Barcelona Universal based on some recommendations and online reviews. Nothing fancy like the Intercontinental we stayed at in Miami for sure, but modern, basic, and clean! Perfect for the two of us! Just some pics I took throughout the day before it became overcast toward evening… inside pics to follow when I get the chance! 😀

They have a cute little hangout area on the roof with a bar, etc. Great panoramic views from here!












We were able to check in almost 2 hours early and took full advantage and took a loooong 4+ hour nap before dinner!
Woke up round 6:00 pm and headed to the hotel’s single restaurant, The Wolf Tavern, They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well, as drinks until around 10:30 pm.




The restaurant had been booked for an event that evening, so we headed down the street to another restaurant recommended by the staff.
We all throughly enjoyed “Antic Cafe Espanyol”! Excellent/friendly service and food! I’m still getting over how much cheaper many things are here in Barcelona compared to home!



Wine cellar downstairs… cool glass floor!

Had to try the sangria… strong and excellent!

Two of us ordered the Chicken and Vegetable Paella… our waiter had a sense of humor!


My wife ordered the Charcoal-grilled Loin of Cod with Vegetables, Caliu Potatoes and Aioli… she LOVED this dish!

… and we also had ordered the special Sea Bass dish which was excellent as well!

For dessert we ordered some sort of flan… forgot the exact name… was a special not on the menu…

… another special Crème Brûlée…

… and the Homemade Pudding with Cream which was a custard consistency and excellent as well! I’m my wife’s “Royal” taster! 🤣

We headed back to the hotel to have a couple of drinks in the hotel restaurant and called it a night.
Tomorrow, we are getting up early forbreakfast in the hotel and weather-permitting🤞, we have scheduled the “Park Guell & Sagrada Familia Tour w/ Skip the Line Tickets”…
OK, time for me to crash again! Have a great night!!!

Thanks for sharing. 😊

Last vacation day , we had our breakfast in the hotel and took the shuttle  (10 PP) to the airport. Few hours flight and back home to start and unpack.
To sumerise :
Boarding in Rome and not Barcelona:
Almost no issues beside three things , need to manually ask to get you free play. Your points vanish after Barcelona and it takes some time to see them back. Next can not be booked from the application and you need to do it manually like the old days. Beside that its wuite nice abd even feels longer cruise for some reason.
The ship:
First , we love Alure because of the service and entertainment.  The amplification is not that obvious.  Yes it got the new slides but we less use it in a Europe itinerary,  specially in April ... the ship itself did not felt too updated , maybe because of missing destination elevators or small things like not replacing the public restrooms sensors. Don't get me wrong we stil enjoyed the ship. Seems that in the middle of the amplification Royal decided they eun out of budget .
Anyway , another enjoyable cruise,  hope to see many of you at about 7 weeks  the group cruise. 
Yuliya & Assaf
 
 

Last vacation day , we had our breakfast in the hotel and took the shuttle  (10 PP) to the airport. Few hours flight and back home to start and unpack.
To sumerise :
Boarding in Rome and not Barcelona:
Almost no issues beside three things , need to manually ask to get you free play. Your points vanish after Barcelona and it takes some time to see them back. Next can not be booked from the application and you need to do it manually like the old days. Beside that its wuite nice abd even feels longer cruise for some reason.
The ship:
First , we love Alure because of the service and entertainment.  The amplification is not that obvious.  Yes it got the new slides but we less use it in a Europe itinerary,  specially in April ... the ship itself did not felt too updated , maybe because of missing destination elevators or small things like not replacing the public restrooms sensors. Don't get me wrong we stil enjoyed the ship. Seems that in the middle of the amplification Royal decided they eun out of budget .
Anyway , another enjoyable cruise,  hope to see many of you at about 7 weeks  the group cruise. 
Yuliya & Assaf
 
 

Sewage smell issue resolved! 

Last vacation day , we had our breakfast in the hotel and took the shuttle  (10 PP) to the airport. Few hours flight and back home to start and unpack.
To sumerise :
Boarding in Rome and not Barcelona:
Almost no issues beside three things , need to manually ask to get you free play. Your points vanish after Barcelona and it takes some time to see them back. Next can not be booked from the application and you need to do it manually like the old days. Beside that its wuite nice abd even feels longer cruise for some reason.
The ship:
First , we love Alure because of the service and entertainment.  The amplification is not that obvious.  Yes it got the new slides but we less use it in a Europe itinerary,  specially in April ... the ship itself did not felt too updated , maybe because of missing destination elevators or small things like not replacing the public restrooms sensors. Don't get me wrong we stil enjoyed the ship. Seems that in the middle of the amplification Royal decided they eun out of budget .
Anyway , another enjoyable cruise,  hope to see many of you at about 7 weeks  the group cruise. 
Yuliya & Assaf
 
 

Last vacation day , we had our breakfast in the hotel and took the shuttle  (10 PP) to the airport. Few hours flight and back home to start and unpack.
To sumerise :
Boarding in Rome and not Barcelona:
Almost no issues beside three things , need to manually ask to get you free play. Your points vanish after Barcelona and it takes some time to see them back. Next can not be booked from the application and you need to do it manually like the old days. Beside that its wuite nice abd even feels longer cruise for some reason.
The ship:
First , we love Alure because of the service and entertainment.  The amplification is not that obvious.  Yes it got the new slides but we less use it in a Europe itinerary,  specially in April ... the ship itself did not felt too updated , maybe because of missing destination elevators or small things like not replacing the public restrooms sensors. Don't get me wrong we stil enjoyed the ship. Seems that in the middle of the amplification Royal decided they eun out of budget .
Anyway , another enjoyable cruise,  hope to see many of you at about 7 weeks  the group cruise. 
Yuliya & Assaf
 
 

Day 8 😞
We woked up early and finish the last few things we needed to pack , I booked a private transfer https://www.civitavecchiaport.org/transfer/
We used them before and they are very comfortable.  They also one of the few companies with access to terminal so no shuttle bus needed. Door to door service. Cost is 180 E up to 4 people with two big suitcase a d two small one. They also have bigger cars. We booked and hotel which is somewhere between the airport and the city. The room price in central Rome are crazy for and decent hotel ... they it start with 650 $  for a very standard hotel. Other options would be the Airb&b but we were planning to come early and needed hotel were we can store our luggage. So we choose Holiday Inn Eur Parco. It's in a business park , very quite with very mice pool a d yard. We arrived around 9 am and they gave us a room that wad nice. The train station to Rome and to the airport is a 10 minutes walk on a flat road. Mind, this is one of the stations which you can not buy tickets so you need to do it online , cost is 1 E PP ...
We took the train to one  of Rome train stations were we met my spouse work college a d his wife who picked us with their car. It was 1 May. The official labor day in Italy which mean many things are closed and less traffic. We parked near the Vatican after 10 minutes of searching for a parking spot. We started to tour together, 




unfortunately my phone was eating the battery  wet fast (Roaming is killing the battery) and my power bank died on me so I had to turn off the phone to save some battery so not many pictures.


 




A must shop before a cruise 

After we walked a while it was time to eat. The colleague call his friend for recommendation and he sent him to one of the resturant near Trevi fountain. Now if it was only us I wouldn't even think to eat there as it looked like a tourist trap but we came with locals and we dropped the friend name which I guess made allot of different.  We got excellent pasta and it was huge portion. We asked for the bill and it came with some dessert liqures ( Grapa, Almond cream ,Lemon cream and lemon lemoncello.

 
They were very tasty and self served :-). As "locals" our bill did not contain the famous Coperto charges and a 25% discounts.  Always come as a local 🙂 . We took also Gelato in another spot , you can not be Italy and skip Gelato. They dropped us near the trai. Station and we have done our way back to tge hotel to get so e required rest.
 
 
 
 

That's actually Diavola with spicy salami. If you want real reaction from Italian pizzeria you need to ask pineapple on the pizza:-)

Day 8 😞
We woked up early and finish the last few things we needed to pack , I booked a private transfer https://www.civitavecchiaport.org/transfer/
We used them before and they are very comfortable.  They also one of the few companies with access to terminal so no shuttle bus needed. Door to door service. Cost is 180 E up to 4 people with two big suitcase a d two small one. They also have bigger cars. We booked and hotel which is somewhere between the airport and the city. The room price in central Rome are crazy for and decent hotel ... they it start with 650 $  for a very standard hotel. Other options would be the Airb&b but we were planning to come early and needed hotel were we can store our luggage. So we choose Holiday Inn Eur Parco. It's in a business park , very quite with very mice pool a d yard. We arrived around 9 am and they gave us a room that wad nice. The train station to Rome and to the airport is a 10 minutes walk on a flat road. Mind, this is one of the stations which you can not buy tickets so you need to do it online , cost is 1 E PP ...
We took the train to one  of Rome train stations were we met my spouse work college a d his wife who picked us with their car. It was 1 May. The official labor day in Italy which mean many things are closed and less traffic. We parked near the Vatican after 10 minutes of searching for a parking spot. We started to tour together, 




unfortunately my phone was eating the battery  wet fast (Roaming is killing the battery) and my power bank died on me so I had to turn off the phone to save some battery so not many pictures.


 




A must shop before a cruise 

After we walked a while it was time to eat. The colleague call his friend for recommendation and he sent him to one of the resturant near Trevi fountain. Now if it was only us I wouldn't even think to eat there as it looked like a tourist trap but we came with locals and we dropped the friend name which I guess made allot of different.  We got excellent pasta and it was huge portion. We asked for the bill and it came with some dessert liqures ( Grapa, Almond cream ,Lemon cream and lemon lemoncello.

 
They were very tasty and self served :-). As "locals" our bill did not contain the famous Coperto charges and a 25% discounts.  Always come as a local 🙂 . We took also Gelato in another spot , you can not be Italy and skip Gelato. They dropped us near the trai. Station and we have done our way back to tge hotel to get so e required rest.
 
 
 
 

Day 8 😞
We woked up early and finish the last few things we needed to pack , I booked a private transfer https://www.civitavecchiaport.org/transfer/
We used them before and they are very comfortable.  They also one of the few companies with access to terminal so no shuttle bus needed. Door to door service. Cost is 180 E up to 4 people with two big suitcase a d two small one. They also have bigger cars. We booked and hotel which is somewhere between the airport and the city. The room price in central Rome are crazy for and decent hotel ... they it start with 650 $  for a very standard hotel. Other options would be the Airb&b but we were planning to come early and needed hotel were we can store our luggage. So we choose Holiday Inn Eur Parco. It's in a business park , very quite with very mice pool a d yard. We arrived around 9 am and they gave us a room that wad nice. The train station to Rome and to the airport is a 10 minutes walk on a flat road. Mind, this is one of the stations which you can not buy tickets so you need to do it online , cost is 1 E PP ...
We took the train to one  of Rome train stations were we met my spouse work college a d his wife who picked us with their car. It was 1 May. The official labor day in Italy which mean many things are closed and less traffic. We parked near the Vatican after 10 minutes of searching for a parking spot. We started to tour together, 




unfortunately my phone was eating the battery  wet fast (Roaming is killing the battery) and my power bank died on me so I had to turn off the phone to save some battery so not many pictures.


 




A must shop before a cruise 

After we walked a while it was time to eat. The colleague call his friend for recommendation and he sent him to one of the resturant near Trevi fountain. Now if it was only us I wouldn't even think to eat there as it looked like a tourist trap but we came with locals and we dropped the friend name which I guess made allot of different.  We got excellent pasta and it was huge portion. We asked for the bill and it came with some dessert liqures ( Grapa, Almond cream ,Lemon cream and lemon lemoncello.

 
They were very tasty and self served :-). As "locals" our bill did not contain the famous Coperto charges and a 25% discounts.  Always come as a local 🙂 . We took also Gelato in another spot , you can not be Italy and skip Gelato. They dropped us near the trai. Station and we have done our way back to tge hotel to get so e required rest.
 
 
 
 

Day 8 😞
We woked up early and finish the last few things we needed to pack , I booked a private transfer https://www.civitavecchiaport.org/transfer/
We used them before and they are very comfortable.  They also one of the few companies with access to terminal so no shuttle bus needed. Door to door service. Cost is 180 E up to 4 people with two big suitcase a d two small one. They also have bigger cars. We booked and hotel which is somewhere between the airport and the city. The room price in central Rome are crazy for and decent hotel ... they it start with 650 $  for a very standard hotel. Other options would be the Airb&b but we were planning to come early and needed hotel were we can store our luggage. So we choose Holiday Inn Eur Parco. It's in a business park , very quite with very mice pool a d yard. We arrived around 9 am and they gave us a room that wad nice. The train station to Rome and to the airport is a 10 minutes walk on a flat road. Mind, this is one of the stations which you can not buy tickets so you need to do it online , cost is 1 E PP ...
We took the train to one  of Rome train stations were we met my spouse work college a d his wife who picked us with their car. It was 1 May. The official labor day in Italy which mean many things are closed and less traffic. We parked near the Vatican after 10 minutes of searching for a parking spot. We started to tour together, 




unfortunately my phone was eating the battery  wet fast (Roaming is killing the battery) and my power bank died on me so I had to turn off the phone to save some battery so not many pictures.


 




A must shop before a cruise 

After we walked a while it was time to eat. The colleague call his friend for recommendation and he sent him to one of the resturant near Trevi fountain. Now if it was only us I wouldn't even think to eat there as it looked like a tourist trap but we came with locals and we dropped the friend name which I guess made allot of different.  We got excellent pasta and it was huge portion. We asked for the bill and it came with some dessert liqures ( Grapa, Almond cream ,Lemon cream and lemon lemoncello.

 
They were very tasty and self served :-). As "locals" our bill did not contain the famous Coperto charges and a 25% discounts.  Always come as a local 🙂 . We took also Gelato in another spot , you can not be Italy and skip Gelato. They dropped us near the trai. Station and we have done our way back to tge hotel to get so e required rest.
 
 
 
 

Day 8 😞
We woked up early and finish the last few things we needed to pack , I booked a private transfer https://www.civitavecchiaport.org/transfer/
We used them before and they are very comfortable.  They also one of the few companies with access to terminal so no shuttle bus needed. Door to door service. Cost is 180 E up to 4 people with two big suitcase a d two small one. They also have bigger cars. We booked and hotel which is somewhere between the airport and the city. The room price in central Rome are crazy for and decent hotel ... they it start with 650 $  for a very standard hotel. Other options would be the Airb&b but we were planning to come early and needed hotel were we can store our luggage. So we choose Holiday Inn Eur Parco. It's in a business park , very quite with very mice pool a d yard. We arrived around 9 am and they gave us a room that wad nice. The train station to Rome and to the airport is a 10 minutes walk on a flat road. Mind, this is one of the stations which you can not buy tickets so you need to do it online , cost is 1 E PP ...
We took the train to one  of Rome train stations were we met my spouse work college a d his wife who picked us with their car. It was 1 May. The official labor day in Italy which mean many things are closed and less traffic. We parked near the Vatican after 10 minutes of searching for a parking spot. We started to tour together, 




unfortunately my phone was eating the battery  wet fast (Roaming is killing the battery) and my power bank died on me so I had to turn off the phone to save some battery so not many pictures.


 




A must shop before a cruise 

After we walked a while it was time to eat. The colleague call his friend for recommendation and he sent him to one of the resturant near Trevi fountain. Now if it was only us I wouldn't even think to eat there as it looked like a tourist trap but we came with locals and we dropped the friend name which I guess made allot of different.  We got excellent pasta and it was huge portion. We asked for the bill and it came with some dessert liqures ( Grapa, Almond cream ,Lemon cream and lemon lemoncello.

 
They were very tasty and self served :-). As "locals" our bill did not contain the famous Coperto charges and a 25% discounts.  Always come as a local 🙂 . We took also Gelato in another spot , you can not be Italy and skip Gelato. They dropped us near the trai. Station and we have done our way back to tge hotel to get so e required rest.
 
 
 
 

Day 8 😞
We woked up early and finish the last few things we needed to pack , I booked a private transfer https://www.civitavecchiaport.org/transfer/
We used them before and they are very comfortable.  They also one of the few companies with access to terminal so no shuttle bus needed. Door to door service. Cost is 180 E up to 4 people with two big suitcase a d two small one. They also have bigger cars. We booked and hotel which is somewhere between the airport and the city. The room price in central Rome are crazy for and decent hotel ... they it start with 650 $  for a very standard hotel. Other options would be the Airb&b but we were planning to come early and needed hotel were we can store our luggage. So we choose Holiday Inn Eur Parco. It's in a business park , very quite with very mice pool a d yard. We arrived around 9 am and they gave us a room that wad nice. The train station to Rome and to the airport is a 10 minutes walk on a flat road. Mind, this is one of the stations which you can not buy tickets so you need to do it online , cost is 1 E PP ...
We took the train to one  of Rome train stations were we met my spouse work college a d his wife who picked us with their car. It was 1 May. The official labor day in Italy which mean many things are closed and less traffic. We parked near the Vatican after 10 minutes of searching for a parking spot. We started to tour together, 




unfortunately my phone was eating the battery  wet fast (Roaming is killing the battery) and my power bank died on me so I had to turn off the phone to save some battery so not many pictures.


 




A must shop before a cruise 

After we walked a while it was time to eat. The colleague call his friend for recommendation and he sent him to one of the resturant near Trevi fountain. Now if it was only us I wouldn't even think to eat there as it looked like a tourist trap but we came with locals and we dropped the friend name which I guess made allot of different.  We got excellent pasta and it was huge portion. We asked for the bill and it came with some dessert liqures ( Grapa, Almond cream ,Lemon cream and lemon lemoncello.

 
They were very tasty and self served :-). As "locals" our bill did not contain the famous Coperto charges and a 25% discounts.  Always come as a local 🙂 . We took also Gelato in another spot , you can not be Italy and skip Gelato. They dropped us near the trai. Station and we have done our way back to tge hotel to get so e required rest.
 
 
 
 

Day 8 😞
We woked up early and finish the last few things we needed to pack , I booked a private transfer https://www.civitavecchiaport.org/transfer/
We used them before and they are very comfortable.  They also one of the few companies with access to terminal so no shuttle bus needed. Door to door service. Cost is 180 E up to 4 people with two big suitcase a d two small one. They also have bigger cars. We booked and hotel which is somewhere between the airport and the city. The room price in central Rome are crazy for and decent hotel ... they it start with 650 $  for a very standard hotel. Other options would be the Airb&b but we were planning to come early and needed hotel were we can store our luggage. So we choose Holiday Inn Eur Parco. It's in a business park , very quite with very mice pool a d yard. We arrived around 9 am and they gave us a room that wad nice. The train station to Rome and to the airport is a 10 minutes walk on a flat road. Mind, this is one of the stations which you can not buy tickets so you need to do it online , cost is 1 E PP ...
We took the train to one  of Rome train stations were we met my spouse work college a d his wife who picked us with their car. It was 1 May. The official labor day in Italy which mean many things are closed and less traffic. We parked near the Vatican after 10 minutes of searching for a parking spot. We started to tour together, 




unfortunately my phone was eating the battery  wet fast (Roaming is killing the battery) and my power bank died on me so I had to turn off the phone to save some battery so not many pictures.


 




A must shop before a cruise 

After we walked a while it was time to eat. The colleague call his friend for recommendation and he sent him to one of the resturant near Trevi fountain. Now if it was only us I wouldn't even think to eat there as it looked like a tourist trap but we came with locals and we dropped the friend name which I guess made allot of different.  We got excellent pasta and it was huge portion. We asked for the bill and it came with some dessert liqures ( Grapa, Almond cream ,Lemon cream and lemon lemoncello.

 
They were very tasty and self served :-). As "locals" our bill did not contain the famous Coperto charges and a 25% discounts.  Always come as a local 🙂 . We took also Gelato in another spot , you can not be Italy and skip Gelato. They dropped us near the trai. Station and we have done our way back to tge hotel to get so e required rest.
 
 
 
 

⁸We took the train to Monterosso, this is the biggest village of the fives that's has nice beaches (public a land privates) and many  restaurants. Actually,  if you plan to eat in Cinque Terre this is the place since it has more good resturants with much better price . 


We decided to tour mostly Monterosso as we did not visit it much during our last Cinque Terre tours.  I will let the picture do tge talking. 









Here I took a picture of Nessi cousin :

Day 8 😞
We woked up early and finish the last few things we needed to pack , I booked a private transfer https://www.civitavecchiaport.org/transfer/
We used them before and they are very comfortable.  They also one of the few companies with access to terminal so no shuttle bus needed. Door to door service. Cost is 180 E up to 4 people with two big suitcase a d two small one. They also have bigger cars. We booked and hotel which is somewhere between the airport and the city. The room price in central Rome are crazy for and decent hotel ... they it start with 650 $  for a very standard hotel. Other options would be the Airb&b but we were planning to come early and needed hotel were we can store our luggage. So we choose Holiday Inn Eur Parco. It's in a business park , very quite with very mice pool a d yard. We arrived around 9 am and they gave us a room that wad nice. The train station to Rome and to the airport is a 10 minutes walk on a flat road. Mind, this is one of the stations which you can not buy tickets so you need to do it online , cost is 1 E PP ...
We took the train to one  of Rome train stations were we met my spouse work college a d his wife who picked us with their car. It was 1 May. The official labor day in Italy which mean many things are closed and less traffic. We parked near the Vatican after 10 minutes of searching for a parking spot. We started to tour together, 




unfortunately my phone was eating the battery  wet fast (Roaming is killing the battery) and my power bank died on me so I had to turn off the phone to save some battery so not many pictures.


 




A must shop before a cruise 

After we walked a while it was time to eat. The colleague call his friend for recommendation and he sent him to one of the resturant near Trevi fountain. Now if it was only us I wouldn't even think to eat there as it looked like a tourist trap but we came with locals and we dropped the friend name which I guess made allot of different.  We got excellent pasta and it was huge portion. We asked for the bill and it came with some dessert liqures ( Grapa, Almond cream ,Lemon cream and lemon lemoncello.

 
They were very tasty and self served :-). As "locals" our bill did not contain the famous Coperto charges and a 25% discounts.  Always come as a local 🙂 . We took also Gelato in another spot , you can not be Italy and skip Gelato. They dropped us near the trai. Station and we have done our way back to tge hotel to get so e required rest.
 
 
 
 

That's actually Diavola with spicy salami. If you want real reaction from Italian pizzeria you need to ask pineapple on the pizza:-)

⁸We took the train to Monterosso, this is the biggest village of the fives that's has nice beaches (public a land privates) and many  restaurants. Actually,  if you plan to eat in Cinque Terre this is the place since it has more good resturants with much better price . 


We decided to tour mostly Monterosso as we did not visit it much during our last Cinque Terre tours.  I will let the picture do tge talking. 









Here I took a picture of Nessi cousin :

⁸Good morning from LA Spezia 

Rhe ship dock in the industrial port were you take a free shuttle to the port gate which is a walking distance from the city. As almost always we decided to go to Cinque terre and bought daily pass to train which allow you to use it as much as you want for 27 E PP . The question was how to ge to the train station as it 27 minutes walk , public bus or taxi (must agree on rate first) eventually we decided to take the little train that cost 10 E PP for all day use (if anyone likes to ise the small traon for full day ...) and brings you near the train station. 
Verenza

 


 
 
Here is breakfast in Vernaza :

We continued to tour the city until it was time to restock some France  wine bottles to bring back and eat something.  We decide to try a local crepes place which we saw that got good review , after all we are I. France. We took two salty one  (Norwegian and France) and one sweet one (Pistachio) . That was a big mistake as we should order two of tge sweet one also.  They were very good.



We strated our way back you tge shuttle stop. Passing some more interesting structures 


I notice my return tickets were gone but it did nor matter to anyone so we continued our way back to the port.
In the port we saw Brilliance Of the seas on her buity treatment. She should be ready again on 15-May.

 

⁸We took the train to Monterosso, this is the biggest village of the fives that's has nice beaches (public a land privates) and many  restaurants. Actually,  if you plan to eat in Cinque Terre this is the place since it has more good resturants with much better price . 


We decided to tour mostly Monterosso as we did not visit it much during our last Cinque Terre tours.  I will let the picture do tge talking. 









Here I took a picture of Nessi cousin :

Some night snacks:-)