Barcelona SOS Mediterranean Greek Isle Cruise w/Paris and Copenhagen Review

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At this point it is about 11 and Salvatore explains that there is the outskirts of Florence as well as the city. Then he takes us to this stunning overlook of the entire city. There you can also find people selling all kinds of stuff i.e., scarves, souvenirs, clothes, bags and there is a public restroom.

 

What I liked about Rome In Limo is they took you to each location, even if it was a 5 minute drive, to save time because it could be a 20 or 30 minute walk for a tourist. Cai kept on saying I told him we would be walking a lot and although we did it was a lot less than I thought due to RIL's efforts. That is exactly what happened in Florence. Our first stop was down the street from Piazza del Duomo. We were given an hour to explore and some instructions on where to find the markets, places to eat etc.

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Picture taken from the overlook

 

I got them to take another family picture.

 

David replica at the overlook.

 

 

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Another one! Boy am I pushing my luck.

 

 

 

 

 

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The kids and I first went to see if we could get into the Duomo but the line was way too long. There were many, many people in this area and we ventured off to find something to eat on the way to the market. There were much less people going toward the market and we found a great little place to eat. At first I wanted to just grab a bite to go but then I thought, "Hey, we are here in Italy! In Italy! We have to enjoy and savior this moment!" and that is exactly what we did. We spent the rest of our time in this quaint restaurant eating and enjoying each other, the staff and the food.

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[Jazzzy]

Great review!

 

Subscribed and following along. Loving your writing style and photos.

 

I have a question about the private tour and guide in Cannes. Do you have his info/email? We will be there next summer and I would love to do the same tour you did.

 

Thank you :)

Jazz

[crvng4mr]

Great review!

 

Subscribed and following along. Loving your writing style and photos.

 

I have a question about the private tour and guide in Cannes. Do you have his info/email? We will be there next summer and I would love to do the same tour you did.

 

Thank you :)

Jazz

 

Thanks Jazz! I am glad you are enjoying it.

 

The company is called Revelation Tours. Michel is the owner and he is magnificent. Truly one of the best of our tour guides during this vacation. Here is his website http://www.revelation-tours.com/ .

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All of us back loaded into the van, we drive about 4 minutes and pullover so we can explore again. This time we can go to another leather market, Centro Storico (Florence's famous bridge), Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, Loggia dei Lanzi and the surrounding areas. I decided we would head to Palazzo Vecchio and see everything there as all the other things except Centro Storico and the market were practically in the same spot.

 

As we had more time to kill we walked through the leather market on our way back to the van. Wow, did they have some beautiful things. Silk ties, leather bags, leather coats and many other leather goods....but remember we only have carry ons, so no purchases for us this time. What I love so much about Florence is that there are artist all over performing, drawing etc. I love it's vibe! Can you tell it is now one of my favorite cities and I must go back to spend more time there.

 

So we get back to the van to hear that Salvatore and George had there own adventure while we were gone. George stayed in the van when we went out this time but originally Salvatore didn't know that. So he brought out his wheelchair and then closed it up to put back in the van but never did. Of course the drop off and pick up point you could not stay parked, so they drove around the block. Luckily, for some reason George said something to Salvatore regarding his wheelchair and he realized he ever put it back in the van. They drove back to our pick up point and there the wheelchair was on the side of the street where he left it. Whew!

 

Now it was time for us to high tail it to the Accademia!

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[Cancruz]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/14/4y7adu6y.jpg

 

 

If you ever get a chance to cruise with this family...go for it!

 

meraviglioso, compassionevole

[crvng4mr]

Salvatore parked the van about a block away from the Accademia and walked us to the ticket office to pick up the tickets we had individually purchased in advance. It was quick and easy and right across the street was the entrance. There was a line but it moved quickly. It was about 5 minutes before we were going through security inside.

 

The Accademia is a different type of museum. Although it is small, there is still room around the art and people so you really feel like you can take your time and enjoy all that it has to offer. I have read many times that all of a sudden the David is there but you really don't understand until you are just going about your business looking at art and turn the corner to see David in all his glory. The feeling was indescribable and actually took me aback. We spent a little more time there (use the facilities as they are free and clean) and headed back to the van. We were the first ones back and early.

 

Salvatore then moved the van closer so Susan wouldn't have to push George to far on the cobblestone streets and we talked about Florence and life. It was really a great conversation with him. Then we saw the others walking up he street and Salvatore got out to open the door. Well, since the weather was nice we had the windows open while we were waiting and my son thinks it would be funny to stick his hand out of the side window at Salvatore. Only thing is it wasn't Salvatore but a man walking by. It startled the man but he turned around and saw Cai and we all started laughing.

 

Last but not least we told Salvatore about our quest for the best gelato at every stop and he took us to this place that was amazing before the long ride back to port.

 

I must say that so far we had wonderful weather. I saw online the week before we sailed the area was going through a heatwave. Luckily for us it cooled off considerably and stayed a consistent 74 degrees as a high in Cannes and Florence, sometimes with overcast but that only lasted a couple of hours.

 

So far Cai said he liked the Cannes tour better as he didn't feel the need for wifi in the car with Michel but was glad to have it in the car with Salvatore. Salvatore was still excellent.

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http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/14/4y7adu6y.jpg

 

 

If you ever get a chance to cruise with this family...go for it!

 

meraviglioso, compassionevole

Awe, thank you Susan!!!

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[Irish Cath]

loving your review Ayasha, what a lovely family you have. I completely agree with you on how seeing David for the first time takes your breath away, a real moment where the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. I'm sure you had a few more of these moments on your trip and look forward to reading about them !

[crvng4mr]

loving your review Ayasha, what a lovely family you have. I completely agree with you on how seeing David for the first time takes your breath away, a real moment where the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. I'm sure you had a few more of these moments on your trip and look forward to reading about them !

Thank you Irish! We did have only a few others as those moments are rare and sometimes dependent upon circumstances. It was even better as we were standing underneath David and I was explaining to my children why this piece was such a big deal. Then to see them get it and point out comparisons throughout the rest of the trip. #happymommymoment

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Of course by now we were well into our evening and nightly routine. Dinner is always at 6:30, Cai always meets us there and leaves right after he finishes dinner before dessert, Ciera and I go to see if anything is going on in the centrum, them we stroll to the Art Gallery and the outside deck or we go to the show. After that, around 10:30 we head to Park Cafe for a snack and lemonade to take back to the cabin to get ready for the next day. Cai comes in to find us knocked out at 1 am.

 

My cruise compass for this day says it was Country/Western Attire night. We of course were not dressed for it given the space in our carry ons. We did however see the Stage To Screen that night which was very good.

 

Next stop Civitavecchia......Rome! And Salvatore taught me how to say it correctly!

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Ahhhhh......Rome! Another marvelous stop I was looking forward to for so long. I knew this would be a spiritual trip but I didn't know it would be to the extent that it was for me. We are Roman Catholic and I grew up going to Catholic schools. I am also a spiritual person and this entire trip touched me on so many levels I can not even express it in words.

 

Of course now we have fallen into the typical morning routine for port days, and meeting everyone at Vintages before walking out to meet our driver/guide. Today there were 16 of us so we had 2 vans and 2 drivers. As expected Maurico and Nickola from RIL were waiting for us with a sign with my name on it. It took us a few minutes to split us into 2 groups. We all would go everywhere together though. So we head to Rome, which is an hour and a half away as 6 of us booked the third ring/underground tour at the Coliseum for 9:40 (as instructed by RIL). Cai picked our van and driver and we quickly learned why as there was wifi in the van. So the boys were split up for the ride this time. I can only speak for our driver Nickola but from what I heard from the others we had the better of the 2.

 

Nickola had a very heavy accent with a deep loud voice and was a big man, not big as in fat but big as in tall and had some weight to him. (Just the type I like ;)) Niko (Nickola) told us how the saying, "All roads lead to Rome" is really, "All roads lead from Rome" as the roman empire would set out to conquer other areas and build the roads from Rome to that destination. He also told us that people used to get paid in salt and the latin word for that and that is where we get the word salary. I knew neither things and he was very informative and funny.

 

Here are some things that will always remind me of Niko: There are lots of trees, I forget there name, that look like what he called broccoli so he calls them broccoli trees. Also he calls everyone on scooters mosquitoes, lol. He says they are pesky and when they hit a car it is like splat. Very funny guy! He also loves everything American and so his friends call him Niko the American.

 

*sidenote* Also this day there was word of a strike possible at the Coliseum and the Trevi Fountain was deep under repair, covered in scaffolding and no water, so we did not go there.

 

We ran into traffic and arrived late for our tour. I was very anxious as I know that for the 6 of us that was it. Maurico walked us past the line and talked to someone who worked there. After much heated discussion he had me go to the ticket window to receive our tickets and join our tour which already started. Of course I apologized profusely and handed him all the paperwork that was emailed to me. We receive our stickers for the tour but not our tickets for entrance. *all the paperwork was in Italian* So I had to go back to the window and the gentleman checked twice and stated we did not have entry tickets only tour tickets. Well you an't buy one without the other. Flustered and not knowing what to do I paid 60 euros for tickets to enter and we quickly followed another gentleman to catch up with our tour 20 minutes late now. Luckily, I took several deep breaths and 3 minutes later I was back to normal enjoying the tour.

 

I must say that anyone who goes or is going to Rome and the Coliseum the underground/third ring tour is a must!!!!! They only allow 25 people per tour and you must call directly to the Coliseum to purchase over the phone and then they send you an email confirmation which you bring with you to the Coliseum. I know there are outside companies that also offer the tour but you are charged more. Even with the hassle I would have definitely done it again.

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Sunflower fields. Who knew Rome produced a majority of sunflower oil?

 

Traffic

 

Broccoli trees [emoji1]

 

 

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