Trip

The big day has finally arrived. Everything was absolutely beautiful. The weather could have not been any better for our outside ceremony.

Although it was a small ceremony with only family attending, it was still a lot of work for everyone who contributed to the success of our wedding.  A special thanks to everyone involved.

Stephanie and I want to thank everyone that was there for being with us on this special day, and for those that could not be with us, please take a few minutes to enjoy the photos.

 

 

We are very excited about leaving Monday for the big honeymoon. Please keep us in your prayers and know that we are very happy together!!!!

Joey, “Loved the cheesecakes!!!!”

After our Air Canada/US Airlines overnight flight from Charlotte, connecting through Toronto Canada, we arrived safely in Rome.

We quickly learned one does not get much sleep on an airplane or should we say comfortable sleep. We arrived around 11:00 am Tuesday morning Rome time which was 5:00 am back home. We took a train from the Airport to the main train station in Rome, Termini.  It was a few blocks walk to the hotel, which we discovered was very nice, the rooms are large, and it is very clean. The weather on the first day was mostly sunny and comfortable.

These are a few pictures from our first day in Rome.  The first picture was taken from the Forum, the old ruins of Rome from the time of the Caesar’s, and you can see the Colosseum in the background.

There is a picture of the Forum itself and the Trevi Fountain at night.

It was a long day, but we did actually get to see a lot.

We started with a very nice buffet breakfast at the hotel, and got off in the morning to go to the Colosseum.It had rained over night and was cool and crisp in the morning. It was a short walk and we already had tickets so in we went. It was very impressive inside.

Then we walked to the Pantheon, another incredible site.

On the way, we visited the Basilica Santa Maria sopra Minerva with its blue ceiling.

Then it was off to the Trevi Fountain to see it in the daylight. The area around the fountain was very crowded, but we did get to throw our coins in the fountain, observing the the local tradition.

From there, we went to the Spanish Steps, which were also very crowded.  We both did not see anything making the steps that big of an attraction. However, due to the crowds, we did not climb the steps either.  Maybe that would have changed our opinion.

Next on the agenda was the Piazza Navona and Piazza Campo de Fiori, two famous plazas, with a few church visits in between.

It was another long day, but we saw some beautiful sights.

Today we toured several churches in the morning, then we went to the Vatican Museum in the afternoon.  The churches we visited were the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore and the Church of San Giovanni in Laterano.

The Church of San Giovanni is the official Church of Rome, and every new Pope must sit in the Bishop’s Chair to officially take over the duties of the Bishop of the Vatican.  There were a lot of beautiful ceilings, statues and side chapels.

We also saw the Holy Stairs from Pilate’s Home where Jesus climbed and was then condemned Jesus.  They were brought over by Constantine’s mother and have walnut wood with small glass covers where the blood of Jesus dripped from his scourging.  We did not climb the steps, they were full of people, and the only way to ascend was on your knees.

We then took the Metro (underground train) to the Vatican Museum.  It was very beautiful, especially the Rafaelo Rooms and the Sistine Chapel.

You can take photographs of everything without a flash, except the Sistine Chapel ceiling; there are “no photos per favore” in there.

 

 

 

We briefly went over to the square at St. Peter’s.  We will officially visit the Basilica on our cruise stop for Rome.

 

 

We checked out of the Hotel Raffaello at 6:15 am and walked to the Termini Train station for our 6:50 train to Venice.

The train ride was about 4.5 hours and we saw some interesting country side along the way. We also went through some rain, but it was very warm and sunny upon our arrival in Venice.

After our winding walk to the Cruise Terminal (OK we did not take the exact route we needed to and walked a little extra), we checked in with Princess and got on the ship. After getting some lunch and settling in, we were off to walk around Venice. We will be spending the night on the ship docked in Venice, so we will have today and tomorrow morning to explore the city before departing at 1:00 pm tomorrow Saturday afternoon.

We took the shuttle boat to St. Mark’s Square, and visited the Basilica San Marco.Unfortunately ALL of the churches in Venice do not allow photographs inside.We did get some nice pictures outside on the balcony of the St. Mark’s Basilica overlooking St. Mark’s Square.

We then wondered through the streets of Venice, crossing over the Rialto Bridge and then took a Vaporetti (water bus) around most of the island, and over to Murano.

We went back to the ship about 8:30 pm and went to our first dinner on the ship.

We got off the ship at about 8:30 am and took the water shuttle back over to St. Mark’s Square (the only place it stops).

We only had until 11:30 am before we had to return to the ship for our 1:00 pm departure. We walked around the various streets and looked at all of the beautiful glass from Murano. We also went to the outside fresh market where they sold vegetables, fruit and flowers. There were also several large fresh seafood vendors and it was very interesting to see all of the fresh, whole seafood on display.

We crossed over the Rialto Bridge, the largest bridge in Venice.   After visiting a few shops, it was time to return to the ship for our departure from Venice.  It had been a cloudy, cool and windy morning, the coolest weather we had to date.  However, about the time we pulled away from the dock, the sun began to shine, adding to the spectacular views of Venice as we sailed by on the ship.

The ship departs Venice by slowly sailing down the main outside Lagoon Canal for transit to the Adriatic Sea .

We passed by the new seawall being constructed to prevent flooding in Venice when the wind and tides are high. The transit through Venice on the ship was beautiful.

Today is a day at sea on the ship on the way to our first stop at Naples, Italy. We did a lot of fun things today like laundry!! We spent some time exploring the ship, although it is very similar to the Princess ships we have sailed on in the past.

It was our first formal night so we got all dressed up and went to dinner.

Then we went to a comedy show, and then walked around and took fun pictures.

It was a nice relaxing day between all of the hectic days so far and our next five straight days in different ports.

We got off the ship as soon as the ramp was in place at 8:00 am. We walked to the train station and purchased tickets to go to Pompeii to visit the city buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. It was a slow long train that made fifteen stops in about 12 miles. We got there without incident and went in and walked around the ruins for about 2 ½ hours. It was impressive to see the site of the excavation. It was a large city and most of the streets have been uncovered.

We then got back on the train and took it to the end of the line in Sorrento, a coastal town built on cliffs. We went down the steep road and steps to the waterfront and got our return tickets to Naples on the last ferry. With that taken care of (we did not want to miss our ship if the ferry was sold out), we went back up the hill and toured the old city.

The sites along the coast were quite spectacular.

While waiting for our ferry boat to arrive for our 4:30 pm boat ride back to Naples, it started to get cloudy.  However, the weather gods were on our side, and it never rained.  It was an enjoyable, but windy  (had to sit outside for pictures, of course) 30 minute boat ride back to Naples, where we departed the ferry boat and headed back to the ship. It was another long, but fun day.

Today we docked in in the city of Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, and once again, we were off the ship as soon as the ramp was in place, this time at 7:00 am. There was a free shuttle bus to the town, and from there we walked about 6 blocks to the train station.   We purchased our tickets for the trip to Rome and the return. It was a double deck train, and we “commuted” to Rome with all of the regulars heading for work. We did get on early enough to get seats for the 55 minute ride. We got off at the station near St. Peter’s Basilica and walked to the square. We went through security and entered the church.

It is a beautiful sight inside, and since we arrived there early, it was not crowded at all. We walked around the entire church and then went back outside to enter another line (no waiting) to see all of the tombs of the Pope’s. It was a very moving experience. We then went back out and got in another line (again no waiting) to go to the top of the Dome.

It was another wonderful experience to go to the top and see Rome. We went back inside and took some more pictures since the high cloud layer was gone, allowing more natural lighting inside the Basillica.

We left St. Peter’s and walked down to the Tiber River.

We then walked back to the train station and got an early train back to the port.  We spent some time walking around Civitavecchia before heading back to the ship.

Today we went to Pisa on the train, it was quite an experience. The Livorno port is difficult to walk out of and into the city central, so we took a Taxi with another couple. We purchased train tickets for our ultimate destination, Lucca, a large walled city north of Pisa.   However,  our first stop was Pisa, which is on the way to Lucca, and uses the same trains and train tickets as traveling to Lucca.  The Regional Train tickets are great, you can go and stop along the way as long as you get to the final destination within 6 hours of first using (validating) your ticket.

We trained to Pisa San Rossore Station first, and walked to the Leaning Tower.

We picked up our tickets for the pre-reserved 9:30 AM climb to the top of the tower. It was very interesting, it really leans more than pictures make it look.

We spent 30 minutes on the climb, pictures at the top and descent.  We then walked back to the Pisa San Rossore Train Station for the rest of the journey to Lucca.  Our only disappointment was  some scaffolding  erected on the outside  of the tower itself, definitely a detraction from the overall  beauty of the sight.

We walked the elevated mound around most of the city, then ventured down into the older area where the shops and restaurants were located. We went into a couple of old churches and they were beautiful, although a couple were in need of major repairs.

We walked back to the train station for our journey back to Livorno, where our ship was docked.