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Holland America Westerdam Cruise
October 20-November 12, 2010
Rome to Ft. Lauderdale |
| Click here to see the cruise itinerary. |
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| Now that the wedding is over, we have so much extra money that we decided to go on a spending spree here in Rome. Of course, we went straight to the Spanish Steps where our favorite stores are - Prada and Gucci. |
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| Somehow, the fluffy feather stole and matching shoes didn't seem to fit my style. . . |
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nor did the black pumps with lipstick high heels. |
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| So we walked to the Trevi fountain and threw our coins in, just like we did 32 years ago to guarantee our return. |
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| At Giolitti, we finally found a place to spend our Euros. . . on wonderful gelato cones. |
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| We took the metro then a bus to go to the Appian Way, the old Roman Road that stretched for 430 miles. |
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We only walked 1 1/2 mile of the road, but we were able to see 3 different early Christian catacombs. Pictured are the 7 mile long St. Sebastian catacombs, where Peter & Paul's bodies were kept in hiding during the 3rd Century. |
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| On our way back to Rome's town center, we walked along the Tiber River. . . |
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and visited the Trastevere neighborhood, where laundry hangs out of the windows like a national flag. |
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| We were tempted by the variety of pizzas - eggplant, proscuitto, arugula, and Buffalo mozzarella among others. |
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But we decided to have lunch at the same romantic restaurant in the Piazza de Sta. Maria de Trastevere, where we ate years ago on our 5th Anniversary - Sabatini's. |
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Where to eat in Rome:
Sabatini's, Piazza Santa Maria de Trastevere, 13 - tel. 06-581-2026 - romantic setting in a small neighborhood piazza that has a lovely fountain, famous church and impromptu musicians - high quality ingredients, somewhat pricey
Ristorante Tudini, Via Gioberti, 28 - tel. 06-446-7297 - only one street from the Termini train station - outside or inside dining, wonderful food, friendly staff, inexpensive
Gelatería Caffé Pasticceria Giolitti, Via Uffici del Vicario, 40 (between the Palazzo Montecitorio & Piazza Navona) - tons of flavors of wonderful gelato at good prices, very popular with the locals) |
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Although we had been to the Vatican before,
we had only visited St. Peter's Basilica. |
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This time we took the tour of the Vatican Museum,
the Papal gardens and. . . |
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| the Sistine Chapel. We have to say that we were a little disappointed. The ceiling paintings were smaller than we had imagined and we only allowed to spend a few minutes in the room that was filled with masterpieces. |
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Later in the afternoon; we strolled through the Piazza Navona, looked at the artist's exhibits, watched and listened to the street performers and ate another gelato. |
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We took the train out to Ostia Antica,
the first conquered Roman colony on the Tiber River. |
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Because it was a pagan colony, the altar near the market place was used to offer animal sacrifices. |
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| Paul found a B.C. tavern and waited for the bartender. |
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Around the corner he found
the neighborhood latrine - no privacy here! |
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| Monte Carlo was as beautiful as ever. |
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This time we had the chance to visit
the Jacques Cousteau Aquarium. |
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| The jellyfish were amazing to watch up close. |
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But we were the most impressed by the huge variety of living coral in each of the massive tanks. |
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Málaga, Spain is known as
the birthplace of Pablo Picasso,
and the fortress home (Alcazaba)
of the Romans, Moors and Christians. |
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The bullring was open,
but there was no fight today. |
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No, this isn't a Castle in Lisbon. It's the train staion!
We took the 45 minute train ride to Sintra
for $8 per person, round trip. |
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Sintra is a pretty hilltop village. . . |
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| with a fortress, palace,. . . |
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small shops and a large open plaza. |
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| Although we had been to the island of Madeira, Portugal; we had never seen it like this out of our cabin window. |
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A big highlight for Vicki was learning to play Duplicate Bridge during the 7 sea days back to the USA. On day 5, she and her partner, Ken Moon, were in first place! |
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