Oceania cruise - live from Riviera Iconic Med

For those of you who have cruised O b2b and had to change cabins this should be familiar. The previous night we woke up about 3am due to anxiety or whatever and were unable to go back to sleep so we watched some TV until the sunrise peeked in between the drapes announcing our arrival in BCN. We began packing all our items into our suitcases that were not on hangers which included all toiletries. We also managed to pack our libations in some divided wine bags to help Sydney with the move. About 7:30 we had breakfast in the terrace and returned to our cabin. At approximately 9:15 am all b2b guests were paged by Corey to disembark in BCN to check with local authorities before continuing on our next cruise. We had just been advised that our new cabin was not yet ready because the former guests were late leaving and it would be a bit longer before we could move. So off the ship we went in a cold slight drizzle with our passports and ship cards into the hall now vacated by all our previous cruisers. The local security check was very friendly with questions like “when do you retire in US” to “are you having a nice cruise”. Upon returning back on board we discovered our butler Sydney with an armful of our hanging clothes as he advised our new cabin was now ready. We went back to our old cabin to find all of our bags had been moved and only a few hanging garments remained so we grabbed them and met Sydney in our new cabin. We had asked Sydney If he knew who our new butler would be and he said ... him if we wanted. Since he was “no problem” on all our prior requests we decided to keep him. Lol. We decided on carved turkey for lunch as the new cruisers were filling up the terrace. BTW O had set up a special lunch in the GDR for b2b guests and since we had a reservation went down to see what was being offered. No turkey on the menu so we had a salad and left for our new PH. That evening we were so tired from lack of sleep that we ordered dinner in our cabin and Sydney responded admirably even not letting me miss my favorite desert of steamed ginger cake with vanilla ice cream which he remembered. Ah the benefit of our “retained” butler. Much to our surprise our new cabin attendant knocked on our door and presented my DW with a laundry bag with some clothing items she had accidentally left in a drawer in our old cabin. It seems our old cabin attendant found them after checking our room. We fell asleep early that night knowing the next day we would be exploring Valencia!

I am looking forward to the next segment. Living vicariously until we can take our next vacay!

Many thanks! I'll be boarding in Barcelona on the 21st, doing the Canaries, having a B2B in Barcelona for the next cruise to Monte Carlo. Keeping the same cabin.

Good to have an idea of the system.

Give you joy of the next week or so, and keep posting. Really enjoying this!

Just remembered we had trouble with our card key on our cabin switch. The day before disembarkation we received a new card that showed our cruise ending April 21 instead of April 11. When we were allowed into our new cabin we tried the keys and they did not work. So went down to reception and they gave us new keys which still did not work but instead showed a yellow light. That was in deference to our original card that produced a red light. Called back down to reception and they advised that security would be by to resolve the issue. Within minutes a female security member started working on the lock and after about 10-15 minutes a green light appeared. Lesson learned is to try your key on your new cabin immediately as it may not work.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your Riviera Transatlantic review/posts, so I'm looking forward to your Riviera Iconic Med review! We're doing a Rome to Rome Western Mediterranean Oceania cruise in October which stops at several of your Iconic Med cruise ports. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences at your upcoming ports of call. Although we've sailed on Oceania before, I'm soaking up all of your details, tips, etc. Thank you!

Just remembered we had trouble with our card key on our cabin switch. The day before disembarkation we received a new card that showed our cruise ending April 21 instead of April 11. When we were allowed into our new cabin we tried the keys and they did not work. So went down to reception and they gave us new keys which still did not work but instead showed a yellow light. That was in deference to our original card that produced a red light. Called back down to reception and they advised that security would be by to resolve the issue. Within minutes a female security member started working on the lock and after about 10-15 minutes a green light appeared. Lesson learned is to try your key on your new cabin immediately as it may not work.

This must be pretty common as we've experienced pretty much the same scenario, including having a security person come work on the lock.

The absolute best City Tour EVER!

Have you ever been on a tour that gave you not only the sights and sounds of a city but also the local tastes? Well that is what you are in store for when you choose Sea Saffron as your tour guide in Valencia Spain. Having toured the world extensively this is one of the best city tour I have ever been on.

We were met at the bottom of the escalator in the cruise terminal building by Eduardo, joined another couple and walked to two private cars (not a taxi) for our ride to city center. Upon arriving we then started our walking tour of Valencia that included: Valencia Cathedral which holds a Holy Chalice purported to be by Christian historians as the Holy Grail, Mercado Central one of the oldest in Europe in continuous operation and Church of Saint Nickolas with almost 2000 square meters of fresco paintings. Along the way we had a taste of the local ham which is similar to prosciutto and visited a cafe serving a traditional drink made out of “tiger nuts” and a most amazing pastry to dip into it. Next we were once again taken by private car to the City of Arts and Sciences which is so spectacular in person that pictures do not do it justice. After walking around the “City” we walked to a high rise and were taken up to a private room with a magnificent view of the city for an exquisite seven course Tapas treat including a wine tasting from three bottles of wonderful local wines - two reds and a white. I highly recommend this exceptional tour to anyone who wants to truly experience the sights, sounds and tastes of Valencia! We were treated like royalty.

Enjoying your review That tour sounds wonderful.

DW chiming in. Today is the one and only sea day on this port intensive cruise. We had the pleasure of sitting in on an interview with the newest member of Oceania’s culinary family, television personality Chef Sara Moulton. She has enjoyed a storied career that stretches back more than 30 years. She was a protégée of Julia Child, executive chef of Gourmet magazine, Food Editor of ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America”, and host of several well loved shows in the Food Network. She shared some funny stories about Julia saying one of her favorite thing to serve as an hors d’oeuvre at her dinner parties was Pepperidge Farm Gold Fish crackers. Sara also told us her personal favorite guilty pleasure is frozen peanut M & M’s which she allows herself only 5 a day. It was an enjoyable way to receive insights into her life and career.

And for information purposes, the onboard Enrichment Lecturer is Charles Ingrao who is professor emeritus of history at Purdue University where he has taught a broad range of courses on the history of Europe and European expansion overseas. He has also been a regular commentator on television media, including the News Hours with Jim Lehrer (PBS). Although we have not yet had the opportunity to sit in on one of his talks, we plan to attend his lecture later this afternoon entitled, “How Italy Created Modern Man”.

Today, we also see in the Currents daily activities sheet that Jordy is going to have another Scavenger Hunt and will be giving details about it in the Martini bar at 1:30pm. We are wondering if it is going to be the same as the one we experienced on the Transatlantic or something new and different. As posted before, this was such a unique activity enjoyed by so many of the guests, we are really looking forward to round 2!! Stay tuned . . .

Great post about our tour of Valencia! Truely a one of a kind experience.

I’ve tried to find the forum board to see what people are doing tomorrow. Any suggestions?

Great post about our tour of Valencia! Truely a one of a kind experience.

I’ve tried to find the forum board to see what people are doing tomorrow. Any suggestions?

Hi Gail and Karl,

So glad you liked the tour review. It will certainly stand out as one of the highlights of this cruise. Eduardo deserves every bit of praise we can lavish on him. Tomorrow we booked an independent 4 hour tour to the old town of Taormina which is supposed to be one of the most impressive in all of Sicily. It is located about 30 miles from the port so it should be a scenic drive up there. We plan to wander around the cobblestone streets soaking up the enchanting architecture and then explore the Teatro Roman amphitheater built around 3rd century BC.

After two lively and informative shore days we are finally able to catch our breath in our cabin on a rather stormy sea day. The navigation crew obviously has its hands full as we have experienced a few strong shudders as the ship crashes through some large swells. After our 14 day leisurely transatlantic cruise with its many sea days we experienced 2 very “active” days ashore. Of course our fatigue could be caused by some late afternoon lunches that included a large quantity of wine. Lol. After getting back on board in Valencia we found ourselves so tired we did not have the energy to shower and go to dinner. Therefore we cancelled our turn down service as DW climbed under the covers. I then suggested we contact Sydney and order something from one of the Specialities. However, since it was once again late notice, DW said I should just go up to the Terrace and give our butler a break from our last minute dinner requests. After all we didn’t want to be accused of “butler abuse”. Lol. So I went to grab a quick plate of lobster tails and some veggies to bring back to the suite. Instead I found some stir fry chicken, steamed veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots), sautéed zucchini, my favorite crab claws and some deliciously prepared muscles. Within minutes of my return to the cabin DW was fast asleep and after finishing my dish I also called it a day.

The next morning we once again had a 9:00am meeting that DW felt required setting an alarm but ended up as not necessary because DW was up at 5:00am. I got up at 6:00am and we called Sydney to order breakfast in suite. He arrived shortly with our hot breakfast items of eggs, oatmeal and a very hot carafe of coffee. I can see this could be a regular occurrence as the Terrace seems to be more crowded this trip than on the TA. So it seems we will be ordering breakfast the prior evening instead of that morning so Sydney can adjust his morning schedule.

Left the ship to meet our friends in Palma de Mallorca for a automobile sightseeing trip around the island. Much to our dismay the weather was reminiscent of our morning in BCN which was rainy, windy and gloomy. This type of weather could also change as evidenced by the abundance of afternoon sunshine that showed up in BCN. With fingers crossed we headed out to our first stop Valldemossa. Arriving there we found a space in a somewhat empty car park and sat there conversing in a rather pronounced drizzle that would turn into momentary torrents of rain. After about 40 minutes we ventured out to roam the cobblestone streets in a very slight drizzle. While DW perused various ceramics and wood items made from olive trees. With the drizzle not letting up we found a very inviting cafe with a fire burning in its hearth. We ordered coffee and pastries and waited out the weather. After about an hour the overcast began to lift and the tour groups began filling the streets and the entrance to the Carthusian monastery. Because we had already used up two hours of our day we decided to skip seeing the interior where Chopin spent time with his partner to see more of Mallorca. We will save it for the next time we visit Mallorca.

Driving through the country side we observed acres of evenly spaced olive trees, a rare ostrich running alongside the road and a seemingly never ending green landscape. Once the foggy mist began lifting we also observed some rocky outcroppings. Along the way we also noticed a plethora of various BMW’s including a few of the exotic i8’s. Palma de Mallorca has some very wealthy residents as we also observed listings in the windows of the somewhat ubiquitous real estate companies that ranged from million euro properties to multimillion and even one for 17 million euros. Life must be good on the island.

As our journey around the island continued we stopped in the charming ancient town of Soller. This is just an almost 28 mile train ride away from central Palma, just off the Plaza de Espana if you want another spectacular view of Mallorca. As we walked around a slight sprinkle of rain began which we avoided by walking into the various shops. Our next stop was to a quaint town next to a quiet small harbor and a waterside table at Porto Bella restaurant and a delicious lunch of shrimp cocktail, Hake fish, vegetables/potatoes with DW having Carmel flan and I with the Carmel (bread) pudding. At my urging our lunch was accompanied by two bottles of a local white wine because it was that good!

Returning to Palma we drove around the harbor observing the multitude of yachts, some gigantic, lining the Palma harbor. As this concluded our visit we said goodbye to our friends and followed the Oceania signs through the port building back to the ship still feeling the effects of our two bottle lunch. Lol

BTW our wonderful hosts in Mallorca that gave us the aforementioned best tour of their island have advised the specifics. At Valldemossa we visited Cafe Con Leche with the hearth and had Cappuccino and the pastry was Ensaimada. The restaurant was Porto Bello and the delicious wine that made me buy more was Macia Batle. Thanks Roger and Pauline

http://www.maciabatle.com/mb/en/Vinos/white.html

Macià Batle

www.maciabatle.com

Blanc de Blancs Variety Prensal Blanc and Chardonnay Vintage Prensal grapes were harvested from 17 to 23 September, also coming from vineyards registered in the Binissalem – Majorca D.O. Chardonnay grapes were harvested from 26 August to 3 September on several plots in the Binissalem – Majorca D.O.

The absolute best City Tour EVER!

Have you ever been on a tour that gave you not only the sights and sounds of a city but also the local tastes? Well that is what you are in store for when you choose Sea Saffron as your tour guide in Valencia Spain. Having toured the world extensively this is one of the best city tour I have ever been on.

 

We were met at the bottom of the escalator in the cruise terminal building by Eduardo, joined another couple and walked to two private cars (not a taxi) for our ride to city center. Upon arriving we then started our walking tour of Valencia that included: Valencia Cathedral which holds a Holy Chalice purported to be by Christian historians as the Holy Grail, Mercado Central one of the oldest in Europe in continuous operation and Church of Saint Nickolas with almost 2000 square meters of fresco paintings. Along the way we had a taste of the local ham which is similar to prosciutto and visited a cafe serving a traditional drink made out of “tiger nuts” and a most amazing pastry to dip into it. Next we were once again taken by private car to the City of Arts and Sciences which is so spectacular in person that pictures do not do it justice. After walking around the “City” we walked to a high rise and were taken up to a private room with a magnificent view of the city for an exquisite seven course Tapas treat including a wine tasting from three bottles of wonderful local wines - two reds and a white. I highly recommend this exceptional tour to anyone who wants to truly experience the sights, sounds and tastes of Valencia! We were treated like royalty.

I just booked this Sea Saffron tour for May 4th. Thank you for the recommendation! Btw, when/how did you pay? I did not provide credit card info on their website.

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We paid cash in Euros directly to Eduardo at the end of the tour after the tapas lunch. Since we enjoyed the wine we sampled so much we also purchased 3 bottles from him to take back to our stateroom to savor later on this trip. That still is one of the best things Oceania lets you do, bring some vino or spirits onboard with you. CHEERS

BTW our wonderful hosts in Mallorca that gave us the aforementioned best tour of their island have advised the specifics. At Valldemossa we visited Cafe Con Leche with the hearth and had Cappuccino and the pastry was Ensaimada. The restaurant was Porto Bello and the delicious wine that made me buy more was Macia Batle. Thanks Roger and Pauline

http://www.maciabatle.com/mb/en/Vinos/white.html

Macià Batle

www.maciabatle.com

Blanc de Blancs Variety Prensal Blanc and Chardonnay Vintage Prensal grapes were harvested from 17 to 23 September, also coming from vineyards registered in the Binissalem – Majorca D.O. Chardonnay grapes were harvested from 26 August to 3 September on several plots in the Binissalem – Majorca D.O.

Visited Cappucino cafe in Valdermosa and had a cafe con leche still had a great day even in the rain !!!!

Thanks for taking the time to let us all in our your adventure - really enjoying it!

Thanks for taking the time to let us all in our your adventure - really enjoying it!

Thank you.

Much to our surprise this portion of the Med has rougher seas than we experienced during the Atlantic crossing. Oh well we were comfortably ensconced in our suite which is a floor lower and seven cabins closer to mid ship than our former cabin and contemplated where to go to lunch. Waves grill and a lobster/steak sandwich that we have not yet tried was on the agenda. Speaking of our new cabin it is completely 180 degrees opposite our first cabin and is producing an out of sorts sensation for us both. Upon entering this cabin the bed and bath are now on the left side and everything in the bath is opposite to where it was. Initially confounding but we are now getting used to it. Further on the subject of cabins we were able to see cabin 7009 and it’s huge deck area. In comparison to our current PH the balcony cabins seem to be a smaller more condensed version which we would definitely consider for future cruises on O. While the butler service has been a guilty pleasure the added savings of a balcony cabin could be an option on any future cruises. Especially since Concierge cabins have the option of ordering from the GDR. We spoke with Iwona at the future cruise desk on board and she advised the PH’s on the Nov 2018 T/A are already sold out.

Ended up having the surf and turf with DW having the Kobe burger. Later she succumbed to the motion of the ship and advised dinner at the GDR was no longer an option. So around 2:00pm we advised Sydney that we would be dining in suite yet again. Since the motion was not affecting me I preordered the Sea Bass in puff pastry for two for me and she had the free range chicken from Jacques. Dinner came at 7:00pm while we were watching the rather esoteric movie “The Shape of Water” one of Oceania’s movies on the TV. We set the alarm for our next days tour to Taormina.

Taormina was a huge visual difference from Mallorca and even Valencia. We met our guide along with another couple as we left the ship at 8:30 am and other than provide cursory historical information he was a less expensive alternative to a taxi. The road to Taormina ended up being a somewhat bumpy ride that even the Mercedes Benz van we were riding in could handle. Along the way we saw very little new construction and our driver referenced that the influx of immigrants did not want work but only wanted money which I took as meaning they were a burden on the government and added to their high taxes. During the journey we passed through many, many tunnels and some of them rather long and even a corkscrew one on exiting the highway to Taormina. During the drive I wondered when they were constructed and by whom but forgot to ask our driver. After about an hour of viewing some rather dingy looking apartment buildings (some in need of repair) and some wonderful panoramic views of the Med we arrived at our drop off point at one of the city gates. As it was now 9:30am and we had an allotted time of 2 hours to stroll down the main street looking in the assorted shops before reaching the greek amphitheater dating back to the 3rd century BC. It was located a sharp right hand turn from the main street and up a short hill. Admission was 11 euros and if I recall audio headsets were available for 8 euros or 11 euros for two. We opted to just walk around without the headsets and found the dramatic videos recreating what the structure must have looked like more impressive than trying to imagine it. However the views and cool breezes were worth the strenuous stair climbing. We exited and began our meandering trek through the Sunday crowd back to our waiting driver. The return trip seemed to be made in great haste as we passed many slower vehicles with little regard for speed limits. Do not know if it was related to our party declining our drivers offer to visit his favorite cannoli shop back in town or not. Of note we traveled on a four lane highway with two diversions down to one lane. One for a 2 year old landslide that had closed 2 lanes and yet to be fixed and the other for a closed tunnel that I think was caused by a cave in. Finally, knowing that part of one of the Godfather movies was shot here l asked our driver kiddingly how the local “mafia” was doing and he remarked “they are all in the ground”. Back on board I could only reflect that from my observations the Sicilian economy is not doing that well but it did not prevent us from having a wonderful time.

To Herculaneum and back ... almost not.

To those of you adventurous types who eschew tours and tour groups we, who almost missed our boat, salute you! First of all, we thoroughly researched Pompeii and found out that there was actually a more precisely preserved smaller city further to the North called Herculaneum. The unique preservation of this city was due to the particular dynamics of its burial that was covered by flows of pyroclastic rock that solidified to an average height of 16 meters. This led to a phenomenon of preservation that is absolutely original and nothing at all like Pompeii. It provided researchers (not us) with organic artifacts (plants, fabrics, furniture and structural parts of wooden buildings, even the boat recovered from the ancient marina in 1982) and also the upper floors of the buildings which gives a precise idea of volumes and building techniques. So as we had not heard the all clear for random tender service we headed to the Riviera theater. Walking down the forward stairs we arrived at deck 5 and were immediately told to enter the theater ONLY through the starboard entrance. Upon entering we found an empty theater and a table on stage manned by two crew members who handed us two red cards only to surrender them back after walking out the the port side to the same gentleman who was now asking for our red cards. The purpose of making us walk into the theater to grab the cards escapes me. As we boarded the tender our attempt to sit in the two of the 8 upper was greeted by a stern “no” and we were then ushered to the center seats and instructed to bunch up. The attempt to take the extra time to “fill” the tender to capacity was met with a fellow passengers observation that “wouldn’t it be faster to just leave with a not so full tender?” Dunno the answer but after arriving at the dock we exited FIFO (first on first off) which was a cruise first fo me. We then took a shuttle to city center and finally walked the last few blocks to the train station. The train station agent was quite nice and took our 11.5 Euros for a 11.6 Euro fare RT for two to Herculaneum. The ride would be several stops past Pompeii and the train seats did not lend themselves well to our over 50 minute ride. Not expected was the late departure from the originating station which was about 5 minutes. The train we were in was in very bad shape on the outside and was completely covered in what seemed like several layers of dirt along with bold, graphic, somewhat artistic graffiti. The interior was fairly clean of debris but the plastic seats seemed to have been scuffed by shoes. Nonetheless they were hard and got harder as the train became later and later as we stopped and left each station.

We arrived in ercolano which is the name of the train station and walked downhill to the entrance of Herculaneum. A rather nice fellow asked if we would be interested in visiting Mt. Vesuvius after seeing the Herculaneum and we said no which he respected and kindly moved on to the next visitors. We then proceeded to a building about 200 meters from the entrance to buy tickets and get a free guide. At the back of the building was the ticket entrance and further on was a booth renting audio headsets but unfortunately there was a sign saying they were on break. The whole complex is contained in what amounts to be a giant hole in the ground surrounded by current dwellings. As we walked down what we thought was the entrance ramp we discovered our guide did not match up with the building numbers and briefly wondered if a previous offer of an English speaking guide would have been helpful. Oh well, my main intent was to get an “overall” impression of what it may have been like to live in that era and not so much in the minute details. After a sun baked hour of traipsing about the ruins we finally ended up where we should have begun our tour. It was the lowest point in the dig and housed vaulted rooms that opened to the original beach which was now behind what I estimated to be at least a 50 meter wall and maybe higher. All in all it was stunning to be walking the same streets that ancient peoples must have walked over 1900 years ago.

Exiting the dig we walked the long gradual hill back to the train station passing what looked like the best sandwiches and pizza around. However our plans included catching the next train back to Sorrento and catching a burger at Waves before it closed at 4:00pm. Also I had read a New York Times article about how the mafia made money by burying toxic materials illegally at a fraction of the legal price somewhere around Naples. It was only years later when the U.S. Navy, who had a base nearby, discovered the toxins had entered the ground water. (Story can be googled if you want more detailed info.)

On to our almost missing the ship. When we got to the train station DW had been advised to enter through the Sorrento entrance and not the Napoli one, advice which seemed reasonable but often disregarded. While standing on the station platform and tired from all the walking we decided NOT to wait the additional minutes for the 1:53 pm DD express train but instead just take the now delayed next train scheduled at 1:28 which arrived a few minutes later. Once aboard we thought we were on a straight shot train to Sorrento like the one we took from Sorrento and paid little attention to the announcements made in Italian. Tired but happily engrossed in reading our guides and reliving our visit to Herculaneum we did not notice the trains passengers dwindle to just a few passengers in addition to us. Finally we reached the end of the line and it was not Sorrento. Little did we know that our train would slide over to another track without our knowledge and end up out in the beautiful Italian country side albeit much closer to Mt. Vesuvius. A charming Italian woman, one of the few passengers left in our car, quite emphatically told us something in Italian that may have been translated to “you missed your train transfer” or worse as she chuckled. As we looked at her with little acknowledgement to what she was saying her son muttered “no apish”. We then quickly became somewhat of celebrities as one by one people tried to explain in Italian that we needed to wait for the train to go back 6 stations and get off to wait for the next train to Sorrento. While DW tried to use our limited train schedule (because they do not put all the stops on it) to figure out the earliest we could make it back to Sorrento the conductor came up and explained in his best limited English that he announced the necessary train transfer to Sorrento and once again told us what we needed to do. He also told us we would not be leaving for 50 minutes. Now DW was worried as her calculations now put us back to the train station at 5:47pm. With the last tender at 5:30 and the ship leaving at 6:00 we were in seemingly dire straights and contemplating having to catch a flight or train or taxi to Rome our next stop. (To be continued)

o m g Don't leave us hanging!!

To Herculaneum and back ... almost not.

To those of you adventurous types who eschew tours and tour groups we, who almost missed our boat, salute you! First of all, we thoroughly researched Pompeii and found out that there was actually a more precisely preserved smaller city further to the North called Herculaneum. The unique preservation of this city was due to the particular dynamics of its burial that was covered by flows of pyroclastic rock that solidified to an average height of 16 meters. This led to a phenomenon of preservation that is absolutely original and nothing at all like Pompeii. It provided researchers (not us) with organic artifacts (plants, fabrics, furniture and structural parts of wooden buildings, even the boat recovered from the ancient marina in 1982) and also the upper floors of the buildings which gives a precise idea of volumes and building techniques. So as we had not heard the all clear for random tender service we headed to the Riviera theater. Walking down the forward stairs we arrived at deck 5 and were immediately told to enter the theater ONLY through the starboard entrance. Upon entering we found an empty theater and a table on stage manned by two crew members who handed us two red cards only to surrender them back after walking out the the port side to the same gentleman who was now asking for our red cards. The purpose of making us walk into the theater to grab the cards escapes me. As we boarded the tender our attempt to sit in the two of the 8 upper was greeted by a stern “no” and we were then ushered to the center seats and instructed to bunch up. The attempt to take the extra time to “fill” the tender to capacity was met with a fellow passengers observation that “wouldn’t it be faster to just leave with a not so full tender?” Dunno the answer but after arriving at the dock we exited FIFO (first on first off) which was a cruise first fo me. We then took a shuttle to city center and finally walked the last few blocks to the train station. The train station agent was quite nice and took our 11.5 Euros for a 11.6 Euro fare RT for two to Herculaneum. The ride would be several stops past Pompeii and the train seats did not lend themselves well to our over 50 minute ride. Not expected was the late departure from the originating station which was about 5 minutes. The train we were in was in very bad shape on the outside and was completely covered in what seemed like several layers of dirt along with bold, graphic, somewhat artistic graffiti. The interior was fairly clean of debris but the plastic seats seemed to have been scuffed by shoes. Nonetheless they were hard and got harder as the train became later and later as we stopped and left each station.

We arrived in ercolano which is the name of the train station and walked downhill to the entrance of Herculaneum. A rather nice fellow asked if we would be interested in visiting Mt. Vesuvius after seeing the Herculaneum and we said no which he respected and kindly moved on to the next visitors. We then proceeded to a building about 200 meters from the entrance to buy tickets and get a free guide. At the back of the building was the ticket entrance and further on was a booth renting audio headsets but unfortunately there was a sign saying they were on break. The whole complex is contained in what amounts to be a giant hole in the ground surrounded by current dwellings. As we walked down what we thought was the entrance ramp we discovered our guide did not match up with the building numbers and briefly wondered if a previous offer of an English speaking guide would have been helpful. Oh well, my main intent was to get an “overall” impression of what it may have been like to live in that era and not so much in the minute details. After a sun baked hour of traipsing about the ruins we finally ended up where we should have begun our tour. It was the lowest point in the dig and housed vaulted rooms that opened to the original beach which was now behind what I estimated to be at least a 50 meter wall and maybe higher. All in all it was stunning to be walking the same streets that ancient peoples must have walked over 1900 years ago.

Exiting the dig we walked the long gradual hill back to the train station passing what looked like the best sandwiches and pizza around. However our plans included catching the next train back to Sorrento and catching a burger at Waves before it closed at 4:00pm. Also I had read a New York Times article about how the mafia made money by burying toxic materials illegally at a fraction of the legal price somewhere around Naples. It was only years later when the U.S. Navy, who had a base nearby, discovered the toxins had entered the ground water. (Story can be googled if you want more detailed info.)

 

On to our almost missing the ship. When we got to the train station DW had been advised to enter through the Sorrento entrance and not the Napoli one, advice which seemed reasonable but often disregarded. While standing on the station platform and tired from all the walking we decided NOT to wait the additional minutes for the 1:53 pm DD express train but instead just take the now delayed next train scheduled at 1:28 which arrived a few minutes later. Once aboard we thought we were on a straight shot train to Sorrento like the one we took from Sorrento and paid little attention to the announcements made in Italian. Tired but happily engrossed in reading our guides and reliving our visit to Herculaneum we did not notice the trains passengers dwindle to just a few passengers in addition to us. Finally we reached the end of the line and it was not Sorrento. Little did we know that our train would slide over to another track without our knowledge and end up out in the beautiful Italian country side albeit much closer to Mt. Vesuvius. A charming Italian woman, one of the few passengers left in our car, quite emphatically told us something in Italian that may have been translated to “you missed your train transfer” or worse as she chuckled. As we looked at her with little acknowledgement to what she was saying her son muttered “no apish”. We then quickly became somewhat of celebrities as one by one people tried to explain in Italian that we needed to wait for the train to go back 6 stations and get off to wait for the next train to Sorrento. While DW tried to use our limited train schedule (because they do not put all the stops on it) to figure out the earliest we could make it back to Sorrento the conductor came up and explained in his best limited English that he announced the necessary train transfer to Sorrento and once again told us what we needed to do. He also told us we would not be leaving for 50 minutes. Now DW was worried as her calculations now put us back to the train station at 5:47pm. With the last tender at 5:30 and the ship leaving at 6:00 we were in seemingly dire straights and contemplating having to catch a flight or train or taxi to Rome our next stop. (To be continued)

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Its like a thriller I don't think I will be able to sleep tonight !! I told you you missed your vocation Write a book!!

 

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Thanks, now off to dinner at the Terrace ... giving Sydney a break. Wait to see what magic he surprised us with when we got back yesterday. Will work on the continuation when we get back from dinner.

Thanks, now off to dinner at the Terrace ... giving Sydney a break. Wait to see what magic he surprised us with when we got back yesterday. Will work on the continuation when we get back from dinner.

That should brighten up my afternoon work load!