Infinity v Constellation

It's only day two but the the comparisons continue. The entertainment schedule and standard are tried and true. High quality cover type acts are brought on board, interspersed with the on board troupe which is orchestra (8),singers(6), dancers(8) and acrobats (2).  This is exactly the same formula on both Infinity and Constellation. This cruise is fuller ie closer to its 2100 compliment, so seemingly the staff are more stretched.  This ship is also having an upgrade but we found out it was only going to take 5 weeks.

Zadar

Another good port of Call with a unique swimming spot known as the Sea Organ.  We have been to Croatia before but not to Zadar which happens to be where our neighbour across the road in Clifton Springs has his holiday house in the old country. This also has an Old Town with its Roman Ruins and has a shopping town known as SuperNova which we took two buses to get there. The Pandora stores seem to like the new shops not the old locations. Dubrovnik had no Pandora and She who collects Pandora remembered that Croatia was missing from the bracelet. So yet another charm, this time a golden charm, was added to her collection.  We went back by taxi, only 45 Kuna (7 euros).  We finished with a dip at the Sea Organ, where wave action generates sound through an organ.

Sea Organ Jump

A Roman?

A Charming Hunt

Koper the Clean

This place is spotless and there were no pressure salesmen anywhere to be seen and nobody asking for money.  As well, the old town village was very compact and also had a small beach with relatively cold water.  It is one of those pebbly tending to rocky beaches but if you have shoes it works. Slovenia is a new country so it was off to the Pandora store which we found in a huge HyperMarket typical of Melbourne.  Koper used to be an island but they drained a swamp and filled in the rest which gave them a huge flat flood plain to expand on.  Next time we might hire bikes to go further out.

Koper clean streets

Tito Square

Shoes for Shore for Sure

Vaporetto and People Mover

Six yar ago we got off a boat here and took the people mover to the end for a bus to Munich. This time we got off the Vaporetto at Roma and took the people mover from the start to the cruise terminal to board the boat. This closes a loop that took 6 yar to finish with a side trip to Australia in between. The Constellation is essentially a mirror twin of Infinity. It is a 3D spot the difference game. I already notice that a tricky sliding door has a more conventional door on this ship.  Many people are sitting in the heat for hours fully clothed as they did not put their swimmers in the carry on. Amateurs.

Liassidi Palace bus stop

Tiny Beans update

We know nothing compared to some. The lady at lunch near us had specifically travelled to Ballarat because her father served in WWIIand had leave there and raved about it all his life. She used the Roller Coaster at Luna Park. She travels the world by cruise ship to gain access to Roller Coasters having used over 1300 different roller coasters around the world. She has gained elite cruise class on nearly all cruise lines and is waiting for the first roller coaster at sea which is due on a new ship in 2020.

Dodgy Palace and other Venetians

We had a ticket for the Doge's Palace. The Doge seemed to require a lot of committees, judges and advisers. Room after room was for this council or that court or this waiting room for that meeting thru that concealed door.  Then you get to the prisons and the narrow Bridge of Sighs. It has taken 10 yar for us to cross that Bridge after we were put off by the Coke signs painted on it, which have been removed for the last few yar.  We continued on to the round tower of Bovolo. This one is not as well known but again after 10 yar we are allowed to go up, after repeated tries but renos had kept it closed for years.  The Tower is nothing special but the challenge is finding it, just set back from the St Marks square.

Liassidi Palace Hotel

Grilled Sea Bass for two

Massive Room of the Venetian Nobles

Looking out with a Sigh

Pedestal

Trains Boats and Bridges

We started with a taxi to get us to Termini Station. This station is one we have not used before but seems better organised than Milan. The Rome station is huge but we already had a printed ticket. The board said Gate B but all gates give access to all platforms, all 24 of them.  10 minutes to go, the board said platform 4, so easy for a change. We arrived in Venice at 2:45.  I already paid for a Vaporetto ticket before we left but a machine has to print it.  We used the counterclockwise 5.1 for the quickest route. The first boat did not let us board as we had baggage. No phasement. So we waited another 20 min and this time they let us on and we even found seats.  The hard part was when we got off the Vaporetto as my hotel map was printed incorrectly sending us the wrong way.  So we started the google maps approach but the phone was off line with no internet.  We got another persons phone and worked it out. Then it was back to the Giudecca Canal as those bridges have ramps for baggage.  We made it here after an hour of activity at 4:45pm and 32°.  I can see a bridge and canal going past the window and a pizzeria on the other side.

No this is not a mirror, the platforms fade into the distance

This is the 2nd time we have trained it to Venice

Trevor's Fountain

Last night we found Trevor's Fountain. I noticed some large cracks in it and had a premonition about earthquakes and how they have cracked this place. Sure enough a quake hit just after we left there, at 3.7 Richter.  We have been staying at the Gran Melia a high brow, very central hotel.  So why can't you have coffee in your room?  Why do the pool umbrellas not give enough shade?  Why are there so many families with very young kids here?  Why does the bath extend into the shower?  Why does the maid keep putting the doona back into the bed each morning after we pull it out each night?  These are puzzling questions. I never did get to see a library here. They have such weird operating hours.

Blue Lounge

Cracked

Colosseum

We started another warm day by taxi to Constantine's Arch. This was the starting point for the tour of Ancient Rome. We went up to the Palentine Hill which originally were very expensive houses but were all demolished because the Emperor wanted the whole hill just for his one house, henceforth the word Palace.  We could see down into the Circus Maximus which has been completely stripped of its marble as has the rest of old Rome.  Some numb nut called Mussolini put an army parade type road right thru the middle of the ancient Forums. Now some other goose neck is putting an under ground railway thru there and have not got to far in 15 yar because they keep running into ancient ruins.  Der. Quite a few marble columns still stand because they are one solid piece brought out from Egypt and the raiders tried to saw the columns into pieces but the stone was too hard.  Another 10km day at 35°.
The Colloseum is big, it was built in a short two years because they made it as a circular aquaduct which they were already churning out.

Forums of Rome

Shows cut marks

Collosal



Vatican

We were told by the guide that this was a good day because we could still see some of the floor and not just shoes. After sorting out hundreds of small groups at the meeting point we proceeded to the Vatican entrance. On the way the queue for tickets was 1km long and would take 3hrs to get to the door by which time we would have finished our tour.  We followed like sheep thru room after room. I preferred the hall of maps and did get a photo of the Port of Ostia when it was working.  The Sistine Chapel is impressive, with the famous painting of creation at its centre.  St Peter's Basilica was huge and a bit over the top. There were a number of dead Pope's and many statue's.  Much of the time it was just a shuffling step but we made it to the end.

Evening view of St Peter's

Ostia

Inside the Mega Dome

Ostia Antica

There is also a Pyramid in Rome and I am not sure why that is there but it did show me where the train station to Ostia is.  We bought extra tickets to go to the beach which is two stops further on but we never made it there as the ancient Ostia site, which is the original Port for Rome, was so huge. It was covered in silt and now has been unearthed. We spent four hours touring the ruins with our guided ear piece. This can cause you to slow down.  As with all these ruins the good stuff has previously been removed. They had one indoor section where some of the statues were now placed.
Bronwyn gave us the tip but the secret is now out as there were many people Rome-ing!

Hotel Lobby Gran Melia

Those Egyptians

Some Marble survives

The main temple

Road to Rome

We got a freebie bus out of the port which took 20 min then the public bus to the station for 2€. We decided on the express train for 10€ which was the original idea even though we had  35 minutes to wait, as it arrived at the same time as the regional train anyway. So that was 40 minutes express at 140km/hr. After that it was another taxi for 7€ and we arrived at the hotel at 10:30am.  So we paid 31€ against the cost of a taxi all the way from Civvitevecchia which was around 250€.  The room was not available so we had a 4 hour stroll and got back around 3:00pm.  Everything here seems spectacular from the squares to the bridges and the buildings.  You can't have a piazza without at least two massive fountains.  We saw some famous spots but only went inside the Pantheon at this stage.

Emanuele II

Pantheon

Stage Shows

I can't really distinguish this cruise ship theatre with any other. The entertainment has been first rate. Even the on board crew have put on several big productions. There have been many scenery and configuration changes that I haven't seen on a boat. Lift well floors, gynormous screens etc. And this ship is being updated next year! Last night there were around 25 people on stage including the orchestra and there was still plenty of room.

Revolvers

Sea Day II

This cruise is winding down with an all day blue on blue view, although I can see two islands, a small boat and some flag markers floating past right now.  It is 11:00 am I have had a 30 minute bicycle workout which is at least the sixth time I have managed that. This is a better effort than previous cruises. We have some lounge type beds undercover but around the main pool it is hot and no breeze getting thru. I tried some after dark photos last night.

Arty Aluminium

RADAR

Music of the Night

Amalfi revisited

Salerno is a big tick for us compared to Sicily. Another town with only one ship in port, with the old town right at the port and the beach on the door step. We set out for the Gardens of Minerva. Navigating the old towns is tricky, especially up hill. The narrow staircases almost closed in on themselves. We started picking up tourists like the pied piper picked up kids. And when I got them their they did not want to pay the 3€ to get in. The gardens were good. Next stop was castle Arechi way way up and I found the staircase but there are roads that have been closed before the staircase. Plan b was bu no 19. We got the tickets and waited for the bus that never came. After 30 minutes we deciphered the schedule at roughly every 2 hours, so we will consider that one next time. So plan C prosecco on the beach.

What a clean city

from Minerva

Is Messina named after its Mess?

There is a lot of rubbish in the streets here. I am choosing to make it a no phasement moment and am moving on.  We did pick the eyes out of it such as the sweeping views from the Mausoleum. It was a bit of a navigation to get up to it, but there ia nothing that can't be found. The beach here was nasty so we retreated to the boat.  Next time we will venture further. Maybe even choose not to run the gauntlet at the other side of the port door where there was at least 400 metres of tour bombardment. We will be back in Sicily in two weeks at Catania, so maybe that will be better.

Early Port entry

A beaked Fish?

Valletta

Malta is a new country for us so that means finding the obligatory Pandora store, however we were told they had closed so we got the Swarovski equivalent of the Maltese Cross.  Valletta is very compact and walkable. We travelled nearly 10km in the heat. Our warmest day so far at 29°.  We checked out the Noon cannon, very loud.  Also the National Library.  Not to mention the Stamp Museum where school kids were taking a tour. They are big into stamps here. The building was four floors of marble staircase.  The Melbourne museum was closed down because it was expensive.

Early morning entry

Celebrity X

This ship has less gadgets so seems not to appeal to families as much as Royal Caribbean. It helps that the ship is not quite full, so plenty of beds even today when all day at sea. The towel policy is better here as there isn't one. No checking in or out of towels as they are everywhere. The birthday massage is in swing. I  just saw a guy walk into a mirror thinking his sunbed was down there. How disorienting.

Aromatherapy

Awakening

Birthday at Sea

There are some unique birthdays that come along but this is a new one.  Do you know how hard it is to get flowers delivered to a boat?  And this is a day at sea so unless you can get a fast moving charter to pull alongside or get a helicopter down on the deck both of which are reserved for emergencies or my preferred option of getting them dropped by a passing plane so I could lean out the balcony to grab them and then go surprise.  There have been emergencies, including getting the Cruise Director off the ship because he wasn't recovering from an issue!  Not a good sign.  So far the birthday schedule has been breakfast in bed, flowers delivered at 9:00 am and a bicycle session in the gym. Right now as I type this it is smoothies on the deck.

Blooming Sea Flowers

Ajaccio (Ah Jack See Oh)

This has been the ideal port.  The boat docks right at the towns center. No huge port, no other boats as there is only room for one.  The old town is 500 metres and the beach is 400 metres away.  There were jelly fish on the beach, so I tested one before plunging in as they had some short trailing tendrils but tendrils they were and stings they had.  This is another location we had not seen, being Corsica.  We are surrounded by mountains, so a more extended stay would need a car.  We have been to Alba and seen where Napolean was jailed, now we have seen where he was born.  The house was ransacked, given back, renovated, given away, bought back, renovated and now is a museum.

Infinity

A Lean to the Left

We took a trolley bus around Pisa which was all set up for the Illuminata. Thousands of candles covering the river bank buildings.  And 100000 visitors are coming tomorrow.  Back at the Tower the stabilisation has taken a half meter off the lean.  We weren't intending to go up but we have been up everything else and they still had a slot so we went.  I did not think it was going to be hollow. I assumed there were floors you could enter.  We spent a longish day but used buses all day and not our shoes.  We went out to the swimming areas. They no not what they do!! They pay to go onto lumps of concrete so they can lay on chairs.  A skirt was bought today as well as a small statue of Pisa.

No lean up close

40 yar ago this was a town square covered in cars and soot

Ile Sainte-Marguerite

We have been to Cannes before so we opted to take a small boat across to the island, just 15 minutes and 15€ return p/p.  This is a varied island with a Fort at one end also housing a Maritime Museum, mainly showing ancient boat wrecks and their salvage, like amphora. There is a bit of forest, like the Avenue of Eucalypts, where all we needed were Koala Bears.  And plenty of spots to swim.  Our lunch spot was on a rock seat with baguettes and wine from the kiosk. How civilised. The wine was 3€ and our ship was in full view.

The only street on Marguerite

Oil ain't just Oil

Toulon

This is a very big port that swallowed our boat as well as the French Navy. We had to get another boat once we were docked in order to cross the bay to Toulon.   This place was rebuilt after WWII so is more modern but still has that 5 story small balconied feel to it.  We walked across to the beach area at Le Mourillon where we had lunch. We picked a great place on the sand and had another champagne of our own a bit later.  The walking is testing us, this time it was nearly 9km so we are collapsing into the Hydro pool when we get back.

be Flowered

Big Beach Lunch



Nice is nice ...

but the sand can be measured with a 30cm ruler.  You wouldn't call it sand more like aggregate.  We took a taxi to Nice from Villefranche and spent about three hours on that side.  We checked out the old town and found the maker of pain and very fresh baguettes they were too. Also found a bottle of champagne so we lunched in style on the beaches of Nice.  But I would not recommend staying there. Back in Villefranche we found the pebbles there to be tolerable.   In this location there is no pier so we used the tender process to get to and fro.  Overall its worth a visit but don't linger longer.

Stony End

Castle Hill



Needs a closer look