Live Celebrity Constellation 23 April 2024 Rome to Ravenna

[surfnsun]

9 hours ago, jbirds said:

lol, it’s post 107 and I realize now that it’s your lunch libation. Would love to have one though.

@jbirds Ah yes, the "Puny Portofino" pitcher.  We had that at restaurant right in "downtown" Portofino at the port and the name of the restaurant was called "Puny".  I tried with all my might to buy the pitcher, but they would not entertain our request.  Funny thing, is we had two punies, so we might as well have bought the whole bottle, but I'm not sure what that pitcher would have read.  Maybe not as much fun or quite as "puny".    

[surfnsun]

12 hours ago, TwinMamainMN said:

Oh! Tell us about shopping results! I would like to buy leather gloves (we live in MN so they would get plenty of use) and probably a small leather purse in a stunning color like eggplant purple.

@TwinMamainMN you will have absolutely have no issues with finding leather at any of the ports, although some tour guides will tell you to be mindful of who you buy from, i.e the street vendors or a proper shop.  But to us, it all looked like leather, smelled like leather, felt like leather, and was all super cute with colorful, fun styles.  No worries with that sort of shopping, especially in the Italy ports, so I would do it before heading out of Italy and onto Croatia, or again in Venice.  I found Kotor to have excellent shopping with lots of choices.  We purchased three small paintings from a local artist and a small plate for our floating shelf.  We bought a few tshirts in Venice for the guys and some small notepads with Venice scenes at St. Marks Square as I carry small notepads in my small purse, along with a Venezia ornament.  Of course, Sorrento is THE place to get Limoncello.  Of course, Ravenna is THE place to buy a mosaic, a cross in our case, and at three other mosaics for neighbors as well.  Along with some other small trinkets here or there, Morano and Burano was a must buy.  We bought a small, round lace and bamboo tablecloth from Burano.  From Murano, we purchased four glasses from a vendor that told us how to distinguish that which is handmade in Murano, versus that which is production.  Handmade is obvious as it has the signature of the artist at the base of the item along with a unique result of the glass being separated from the base and the artist tool.  Murano glass is sold at literally hundreds of shops, especially in Venice, but if you can't go to Murano and make sure you get the real stuff (they have some fake one's there as well), then look for the appropriate signatures with the original artist.  We also purchased some Murano glass pendants with chain necklace for our granddaughters and dice for our grandsons that don't break, even when throwing on the table! 

Edited May 16 by surfnsun

[jbirds]

43 minutes ago, surfnsun said:

@jbirds Ah yes, the "Puny Portofino" pitcher.  We had that at restaurant right in "downtown" Portofino at the port and the name of the restaurant was called "Puny".  I tried with all my might to buy the pitcher, but they would not entertain our request.  Funny thing, is we had two punies, so we might as well have bought the whole bottle, but I'm not sure what that pitcher would have read.  Maybe not as much fun or quite as "puny".    

@surfnsun Thanks for the info. We’ll have to try a puny!

[Sun Lover]

What is the general dress code for Italy?  I just read that in Rome you cannot have your knees or shoulders exposed.  Does that apply to other areas of Italy as well? We would be there in late August/early September and I know it will be really hot.  Does that mean we can never wear shorts?  

[TwinMamainMN]

1 hour ago, Sun Lover said:

What is the general dress code for Italy?  I just read that in Rome you cannot have your knees or shoulders exposed.  Does that apply to other areas of Italy as well? We would be there in late August/early September and I know it will be really hot.  Does that mean we can never wear shorts?  

Some churches will have signs requesting that you cover your knees and shoulders (especially St. Peter's in Rome), but if your skirt goes past your knees and is sleeveless, you can easily add a thin cardigan, lightweight shirt with sleeves or even a pashmina/shawl and it will suffice. When I was in Rome in 2000, we saw ladies with shorts tying a long shawl around them like a skirt and walked right into St. Peter's Basilica. Next summer when we do this cruise, I'm going to bring linen pants, cotton tshirts and light gauzy dresses.

Edited May 16 by TwinMamainMN
typos

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

52 minutes ago, TwinMamainMN said:

Some churches will have signs requesting that you cover your knees and shoulders (especially St. Peter's in Rome), but if your skirt goes past your knees and is sleeveless, you can easily add a thin cardigan, lightweight shirt with sleeves or even a pashmina/shawl and it will suffice. When I was in Rome in 2000, we saw ladies with shorts tying a long shawl around them like a skirt and walked right into St. Peter's Basilica. Next summer when we do this cruise, I'm going to bring linen pants, cotton tshirts and light gauzy dresses.

 

There will also be (usually) women selling pashminas outside of churches.

 

And yes, the shorts applies to guys too. I saw more than a couple of guys at St. Peter's with a purchased pashmina tied around their waist because they thought it was a women-only thing.

[rimmit]

They used to sell paper pants for guys outside St Peters.  Not sure if they still do that.

[Sun Lover]

What about when we go other places beside churches?

[Travelling2Some]

1 minute ago, Sun Lover said:

What about when we go other places beside churches?

Here's the thing:  When we go out to walk around any city in Italy (or Spain, or France) we naturally encounter "unplanned" churches as well as churches we planned to see.  The churches in these countries are almost always worth dropping into as they are beautiful and full of art - like free museums!  Even on a practical level, churches give you a nice cool place to sit and rest a bit.  Therefore, we always wear clothing that meets church standards when walking about the cities.  That's our habit and reasons but you can do it differently if you prefer.

[surfnsun]

25 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

Here's the thing:  When we go out to walk around any city in Italy (or Spain, or France) we naturally encounter "unplanned" churches as well as churches we planned to see.  The churches in these countries are almost always worth dropping into as they are beautiful and full of art - like free museums!  Even on a practical level, churches give you a nice cool place to sit and rest a bit.  Therefore, we always wear clothing that meets church standards when walking about the cities.  That's our habit and reasons but you can do it differently if you prefer.

Absolutely agree.  I saw some of the most beautiful churches by simply getting lost walking around a city or town and going inside while passing by.  And during the hot months, it will be even more tempting to intentially look for one to cool off and rest.  I don't recall seeing anyone selling anything to cover up, but I did see folks pull some attire out of their bags and wrap it around their shoulders and/or waist.

[tcmagnum]

On 5/4/2024 at 2:52 PM, surfnsun said:

Ok guys, so I think some of yous (NY accent impression) in the know have been holding out on me and didn't mention how spectacular Venice will be!  The drive from Ravenna was about 2 hrs 15 min with a private car hire.  Our hotel is right on the Grand Canal and is spectacular and pretty fancy!  But that doesn't keep Watson from goofing off.  We have three nights here with two tours that should be great.  I'll report on those later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was very behind on reading your trip report, but I wanted to get to this day with you.

I had a feeling you would be blown away by Venice.

We cruised out of Venice on the Connie back when cruise ships were allowed to cruise out of Venice and LOVED IT!!!

There is just something about the architecture and the food and the wine and the people and the lighting and the sounds.

Our favorite day was the day we just walked around and kept getting lost.  Then a rain storm hit and we ducked down an alley to a cover.  We were motioned into a wine store by the owner and we spent hours there just tasting and talking and laughing.  Perfect day.

We also stayed at the same place on the canal.  Magical!!!

[surfnsun]

14 minutes ago, tcmagnum said:

I was very behind on reading your trip report, but I wanted to get to this day with you.

I had a feeling you would be blown away by Venice.

We cruised out of Venice on the Connie back when cruise ships were allowed to cruise out of Venice and LOVED IT!!!

There is just something about the architecture and the food and the wine and the people and the lighting and the sounds.

Our favorite day was the day we just walked around and kept getting lost.  Then a rain storm hit and we ducked down an alley to a cover.  We were motioned into a wine store by the owner and we spent hours there just tasting and talking and laughing.  Perfect day.

We also stayed at the same place on the canal.  Magical!!!

That is a wonderful memory!  Thank you for sharing!

[tcmagnum]

24 minutes ago, surfnsun said:

That is a wonderful memory!  Thank you for sharing!

No.  Thank you.

We've been on the Connie twice and we miss her.

You have got us pulling out our pictures - so yay!!

 

[lesteele]

Thanks for all the wonderful info.  Fantastic Job!!  Going back to Brindisi, do you remember if there were any tours offered outside the city by companies at the pier.

 

[surfnsun]

11 minutes ago, lesteele said:

Thanks for all the wonderful info.  Fantastic Job!!  Going back to Brindisi, do you remember if there were any tours offered outside the city by companies at the pier.

 

Connie did not dock at the city center and we took a 15 min shuttle offered by Celebrity into the city center.  Although it is possible to dock at the city center and there was one ship in that port, Connie docked a good  bit down the road.  We departed from the shuttle and immediately looked for our private tour guide, so I was not paying much attention to others at the pier, although I do remember having to look beyond several other people waiting for the shuttle to arrive.  I can't say for sure if they were prearranged tours or companies offering on-the-spot reservations.  Having said all that, it wouldn't surprise me if they did offer tours outside the city at the pier as it's a pretty small port that it seemed one could easily tour in just a couple hours.