Roma

Fri, June 28

This morning we arrived in the port of Civitavecchia to set off on our city drive, and when we got into Rome were absolutely amazed at the wide variety of historic, cultural and religious sites, including the Colosseum, the historic Roman Forum, the beautiful Castel Sant’Angelo and gardens of the Villa Borghese. We didn’t know which way to look first as we drove along such famous streets as the Via Vittorio Veneto and the Piazza Venezia to experience the many religious monuments, basilicas and churches.

Our tour of the Eternal City concluded in St Peter’s Square at the core of Vatican City in the ornate piazza where the masses receive the Pope’s weekly blessings. This gave us the opportunity to spend some time strolling around the many shops to pick up some souvenirs and then to enjoy the view of the magnificent basilica whilst sampling some real Italian pizza!

The beautiful mosaic caught our eye – check out the gold!

Lots of umbrella pines – grown for the pine nuts

Colosseum

St Peter’s Square

Basilica

Napoli

Thurs, June 27

This morning we woke up in Naples and opened our curtains to see the world’s most famous volcano, Mt Versuvius, from our balcony.

Our coach took us straight to the Amalfi Coast and all I can say is – WOW!!! We drove through miles of beautiful scenery, some of which we tried to capture but most we had to commit to memory as there are not a lot of places to park, although that doesn’t stop the locals. The road was so narrow that I have no idea how our coach driver negotiated it. We often had to stop and in one case, back up the coach, to avoid hitting a scooter parked on a bend.

There were tunnels through the mountains, dramatic cliffs which met the sea, lush landscape, lemon groves and we saw houses which were owned by Sting, Sophia Loren and Roger Moore.

We had seats right up front which gave us some great photos. (We’ve had some photos that haven’t turned out well due to the reflection coming off the coach windows.) However, when we were half-way along the coast road the tour guide got us to change seats. This was fair to the people sitting on the left-hand side, but our new seats did not give us the opportunity to get any more good photos, but believe me, the views were amazing!

We stopped at a beautiful restaurant and had an excellent lunch of cannelloni, chicken schnitzel and a delicious cake containing custard and local cream, as well as a selection of very nice Italian red and white wines.

After reaching Salerno, we turned back and made our way to Pompeii. Once again history was brought to life as we strolled along the cobblestone streets of this city which perished under as much as 50 feet of ash after Versuvius erupted in 79 A.D. The ruins, still being excavated today, were perfectly preserved by the ash and mud and offer a glimpse into the past with a network of buildings, brothels, shops, theatres, artwork and mummified bodies.

After dinner the waiters sang “Happy Birthday “and presented me with a chocolate cake and card. What a nice ending to a very enjoyable day!

Mt Versuvius

On the road to Amalfi

View from balcony of restaurant where we had lunch

Pompeii

ANZAC Cove, Turkey

Tues, June 25

This morning we woke up to find ourselves in ANZAC Cove in Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula and led by Captain Kent, we had a very moving service to commemorate the landing in 1915. It was amazing to be listening to the hymns, prayers and readings while being able to make out Lone Pine in the distance.

We were very lucky to be there at all, as not every ship is granted permission to enter these waters. The tradition of the wreath laying ceremony at sea could not be performed as Turkey had not given permission, so it was done later once we were outside Turkish waters.