Port Intensive and Picture Intensive Trip Report for Jewel's E Mediterranean cruise

The Radiance was the first in this class and is older than the Jewel.

Thanks! I did not realize.

Woohoo about to start reading. Thank you for posting. Doing the Jewel Greek Isles in September

Yeah!!!! That should be amazing! Enjoy!

Our pickup was for 8:30 am by Fabrizio of All Around Italy. We were going to see outside of the city on this day – Castelli Roman tour (the Pope’s summer residence), Lake Albano, and Nemi. The cost was 380 euros.

I got up at 6 am to see if there was a sunrise, but there was none – it was very cloudy – so I laid back down and fell asleep until the alarm went off at 7:30! No breakfast. Phil did go to find some coffee. It is my daughter and grandson’s birthdays today. The 6-hour time difference is a killer to be able to talk to them.

We met the famous Fabrizio. He is very funny and nice. He knew everything there is to know or at least faked it to a terrific degree. 😊

Our ride through the city:

Wonderful review and pics. Looking forward for more!

Fz took us to the Catacombs. We had actually decided prior not to include the Catacombs. However, once there, we left it in his very capable hands. I’m glad we did because it was so interesting to see. Amazing what they accomplished centuries ago. It was a bit harried getting in because he wanted us to get in on the tour that was leaving right then. The language barrier trying to buy the tickets when we were being rushed was a bit nerve-wracking and the ticket seller did not try to make it easier. People seemed annoyed with us, but, when you don’t know the language, you don’t really know what they were saying. Luckily, they seemed to listen to Fabrizio and he rescued us and got us in on the tour leaving right then. The cost was not expensive. I’m not sure if it was 15 euros each or for 2. No pictures were allowed inside the Catacombs because it is a sacred, solemn place. I did tear up when the guide spoke of St. Celia and the pope that was beheaded and buried there. The guide said they took all the bones out when they realized people were taking them as souvenirs. Apparently, until like 15 years ago, the bodies were still in the catacombs. It was bizarre to think of people taking bones as souvenirs, but then I thought it is kind of bizarre to be marching people through people’s graves as well… The other couple, whose group we joined, had a priest with them and they left us at a room that was prepared for a service their priest did.

We also stopped to see the aqueducts. They were very advanced so long ago!

We went on to Castelli Gondolfo. We saw some quaint towns as well, such as Frascati and Nemi. At Frascati, we stopped at a church and took pictures. We went into the town’s square and got some absolutely delicious pastries (at Eden Caffe). Fz was not thrilled that we were eating them since we would be having lunch soon, but we were starving. We saved most of them, though, and enjoyed them in our rooms later for a couple of days. Very nice view here!

They did have someone working who spoke English and the others made sure to get her to take both our parties’ orders.

Our next stop was Gandolfo. A very quaint and cute town! We had lunch at Lo Spuntino. The restaurant was very small. I think the owner wanted us to sit outside, but it looked like it would rain at any second so we chose to sit inside. It was a set menu again, but it was very good. We had appetizers and pasta (the red again was the best). I had some wine because I was told it was the thing to do and Fz seemed shocked that I did not want any… When in Rome… 😊 The “restroom”– and I use the term loosely - was very small and it was our first encounter with the no toilet seat that is throughout Europe. It is bizarre! We heard several explanations throughout our trip and none bear repeating…

After lunch, we walked around the town. The view of Lake Albano was gorgeous even on a cloudy day! We saw a wedding photo shoot, and we could see that it was a beautiful place to do so even on a cloudy day. On the way back to Fz’s van (he was waiting there for us), it started to drizzle. The streets (no sidewalks) were cobblestone. I thought that they might be slippery and was walking carefully. However, I had on my white Ked sneakers. I felt myself start to slide like I was on a sheet of ice. I had absolutely no control and slid in slow motion until I fell flat on my butt. I saw my knees bent (which don’t bend so easily anymore!) in odd positions and one leg behind me and I screamed a bit. LOL! Actually, I was a little scared that I had broken something, but I was fine. No one got a picture… We weren’t far from Fz, around the corner. He could hear screams (some were of laughter). He said he told his friends: Americanos! But he did not think it was us… When he saw us come around the corner (laughing by that time!), he said his heart stopped and he said, “Noooooo, not Debooooorah – I have 5 tours booked with her!!!” LOLOL!!!!

It poured when we were in Nemo. Luckily, Fabrizio had umbrellas for us. Even in the pouring rain, it was awesome. Some really quaint streets and again beautiful views of the lake.

We stopped back in Rome at the store near Fz’s cousin’s restaurant to get beer, soda, and snacks. Fz said he was talking to his cousin and he and his wife (the woman also working there yesterday) are getting a divorce. No wonder the man was grouchy yesterday! Pasta in Italy!

Fz started calling Maria “Mary”. Finally, she said I don’t know what’s going to happen if you keep calling me Mary! Fz said later that he respects that because sometimes people call him “Fab” and he wants to punch them. LOL! He calls Phil “Phillips”. He also calls Maria “The General” because he says that she gives the orders.

We finished off the tour at a delicious gelato place that Fz knew the owner /manager, Angolo Gelato. It was so delicious!! It was the only time that we had gelato (and I regret that so much now!) and we loved it. That shows you how busy and tired and stuffed we were all the time. 😊

After the tour, we went to our rooms. I called my daughter and grandson to say Happy Birthday!!! Speaking of phones, I wasn’t sure what to do as I did not want to spend a lot of money on a phone plan with the time difference but really wanted to be able to be reached in an emergency or contact my family back home. We decided to add the international option to our Verizon plan for which, if you use phone or data that day, it is $10 for the day. It worked out great. I ended up paying an extra $90 so used it about half the days of the trip.

After resting a while, M called to see if we wanted to go get pizza or something. Silly to be in Rome and not be doing anything. She said people would ask her what she did at night in Rome and they would think she was nuts to be sleeping in the hotel room. We asked the concierge for recommendations and he gave us directions to walk to a nearby restaurant. Concierge said it was close by, but it felt like a fairly far walk. Not really, only about 15 minutes… Poor Phil had a bit of trouble keeping up. We went here twice but I never got the name. Phil tried his first Italian beer, Peroni, and he liked it.

We got pizza and it was so delicious. However, drum roll, it was the first time we saw Frank NOT like something in our years of travels. M&I ordered the regular cheese pizza (Marguerite) and Frank got the 4 cheese pizza. Unbeknownst to him, the forth cheese was Gorgonzola. YUCK!! He could not eat it. Lucky M and my pizzas were so big that he had plenty. (Phil just got beer.) It was a weird experience (beyond Frank not liking something) as the other customers there were just staring at us. Guess they don’t like the Americanos there! Our sever was very dry. He warmed up a little bit, but we just did not feel welcome there. He did take F’s pizza off the bill without us asking. And he did tease P about the Italian beer.

Outside the hotel door:

We walked back to the hotel and sat on the balcony a while.

I got some night time Rome shots! LOVE! Then to bed.