Port 6: Messina Sicily

Today I feel better. I figured I could get off the ship and do the two stops in Messina. 

Our first stop was Toramina. It's a quaint little village up on a hill. Gorgeous views, small medieval roads and a ton of people. The first photo stop we made showed us Mt. Etna. It was steaming a little and I was hoping that a virgin had been sacrificed already and we didn't need to worry about an eruption.

I don't really recall the history of Toramina, but I did like the walk we did and enjoyed all the old buildings. 

Of course if there's a cat, you know I have to take a photo of this. This little guy just sat there and let me coo at him and tell him how pretty he is and thank you for letting me take a photo.

This alley way is like 24 inches wide. My ass wouldn't fit up there whether I go sideways or straight. We'd need olive oil to get me out of there.

At the end of the walk was this old Greek theater. It was fun to see the ruins and learn a little about the Greeks who settled there long before the Romans.

After the long walk down the main road, we stopped for me to use a restroom, conveniently in a gelato shop. I noticed they had afogatos and Janet and I both ordered one. I asked if they could use Nutella gelato instead of vanilla and they gladly did that.  I couldn't finish mine, but Janet finished hers AND the rest of mine.  

After our time in Toramina we drove even higher on the mountain to Castelmola. Not a very interesting village. I sat in a plaza while the rest of the group walked down this hill to see god only knows. While I was waiting though, I went into a shop and bought myself a pine cone. 

Ceramic pinecones are often seen in Sicily on balconies, walls or next to gates. The pine, as an evergreen tree, stands for health, vitality and constant renewal and is also associated with the divine, eternity or immortality. The pinecone with its hundreds of seeds stands for fertility and prosperity.

We had lunch in a nice restaurant in Castelmola and were back on the bus headed to this ship. 

Back on the boat, I was exhausted again and my tummy felt a little iffy. 

Port 5: Naples (Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri)

Sad day for me. I choose to stay behind again. The entire night I was up and down at least a dozen times with gastro issues and leg cramps. I think I walked a mile just in this room last night.

It was probably about 4am when I decided I couldn’t possibly go out and walk another 17,000 steps in the heat today. I have to get my legs in order and perhaps get as hydrated as I can.

I really wanted to see Pompeii, Capri and Sorrento, but my thought was if I can rest today perhaps the last three ports will be better and I’ve not seen those ports. Only wished I would have skipped Rome instead.

Janet wasn’t happy about this either. I think she’s sad for me and for her cuz she had to do this excursion on her own. Such a bummer.

I spent the day in the room drinking water like crazy. Drinking electrolytes like mad and generally stretching as best as I could.

I do feel better now, but I know tomorrow is going to be another tough day. The description says “approximately 1 hour of moderate to strenuous walking”. Great.

I think what bothers me the most is I am so miserable and it’s all my fault. I mean Portugal was difficult. But I never felt in Portugal like I did yesterday. I just wanted it all to end. I no longer wanted to travel. I am not sure I want to do Greece next year.

Port 4: Rome

My god! Why? Why do I have to be so dehydrated, out of shape and just exhausted all the time?

Today started well enough. I was able to get a few bites of bagel down, and knew I needed to eat more but couldn’t. I had no idea how disastrous that decision would be.

Anyhow, the day started off with a LONG wait for the excursion bus to pick us up. They called our number, we all walked out to the stall they said our bus was at – only it wasn’t. We stood outside for 1.5 hours waiting for this bus to show up. No one would tell us what was going on so we just stood there.

Finally the bus arrived, we piled on and took off for Rome. It took us almost 2 hours to get there due to traffic and an accident. When we finally got off the bus we met our tour guide and we were off. I could barely understand her so it made for a tough time paying attention.

Our first stop, The Spanish steps. This was the replacement stop for NOT going inside the coliseum. Yah not a good swap. There’s nothing interesting about the Spanish steps. 

Still we soldiered on to the Trevi Fountain. I’m starting to feel a bit weird by this point but kept going. I pulled out a protein bar hoping that would make me feel better. After she explained the Trevi fountain to us, we had some free time. I had to pee (or something else) so I went inside a gelato store, paid 1 euro and stood in line. After which, I just sat in a chair in the store.

My back was aching and my legs were feeling like logs. I was drinking as much water as I could and still wasn’t enough.

We started the trek to the coliseum which took us past the Roman Forum and some other ruins. She explained what they were but I wasn’t paying any attention. I hurt. All over. My back was starting to spasm a little and my right calf was trying to cramp with every step.

We left the forum and ended up in front of the colosseum. Such a magnificent building. I could stare at it all day and night. I marvel at how they were able to build that building without the technology we have today. I realize it was slave labor, but I’m talking more technical than that. So amazing. I was both sad and happy that we didn’t go into the building. By this time both calves were cramping and my shins were about to start to join the fun.

We walked a small distance for lunch in this amazing, kinda underground restaurant. I drank 9 glasses of water – NINE…and I still felt thirsty. And I didn’t pee a bit. I knew I was in trouble at this point for sure.

Our lunch was this yummy pasta in tomato sauce followed by veal, weed salad (that what I call a spring mix), and roasted potatoes. I’m not a fan of veal so I left that alone. Didn’t want to eat the salad because I didn’t want that to react to my already questionable gastro issues. The potatoes were good though.

We met our guide outside and we were off to find the bus that would then be taking us to St. Peter’s Basilica. Only, there was no way I was going to be able to walk that far. My legs were cramping all over the place. I asked our “assistant” tour guide if she could find a place for me to sit and it turned out the “grandma” on the trip and one other guest also wanted to sit. So where the bus dropped us off, she found us a little restaurant. We sat while the group went about there way. They had a pretty interesting bathroom.

When we made it back to the room, I was a complete mess. The gastro issues were back. Both legs were cramping at any given time. Trying to stretch one muscle almost always started another cramping. I was completely miserable. In fact, I only took 18 photos in Rome. EIGHTEEN!! That's so not like me.

I drank some electrolytes and a massive amount of water. I thought for sure that would fix my cramping issue and life could go on. Fingers crossed.

Port 3: Florence / Pisa

Today we docked in Livorno. Nothing interesting to do in Livorno so we headed off to Florence and Pisa. I’ve been to both but I don’t think I could ever get enough of either place.

Pisa is the same as always. Tons of people and yet such an amazing thing to see. The tower is still leaning.

We had 45 minutes give or take so we took our crab photo and then I took off to find the bathroom.

I’m feeling better today. Actually, started to take the Imodium correctly and it seemed to do the trick. So yay.

Back on the bus we headed to Florence.

What a city! So many amazing things to see there. Our guide took us throughout the old city. We started at Santa Croce church and had about 30 minutes of free time to go to the bathroom and wander around. Just as we were gathering to leave the skies opened up and just down poured on us. So we stood under awnings for a bit to let it stop. Then it was off to see the medieval town. He took us through narrow passageways trying to avoid the crowds and it was fantastic.

In one of the small alleys he pointed out a wine window to us. The tradition of the wine window dates back to the 16^th century when aristocratic families were granted permission to sell the wine they produced in the countryside to consumers directly through these windows without a middleman or being taxed. It’s brilliant.

Next stop was Ponte Vecchio. It’s a bridge that is over the River Arno. It is the only bridge that was not bombed during WWII and was left standing. It originally housed all butchers but the rich got tired of the smell and so kicked them out and now it’s all gold jewelry and pick pockets.

Following that it was off to the Piazza della Signoria statues. Some amazing works of art here.

Finally it was time for lunch. Our guide took us to a nice hotel that was once a palace for lunch. The palace was once owned by the Borghese family. Now it’s a fancy hotel and delicious restaurant. We had pesto lasagna, some turkey and potato thing and a dessert. I ate very little even though I was starving because I just wasn’t sure how my body would react.

Next stop, the Duomo. It’s such an amazing building. The three colors of marble really make this a masterpiece.

After that the guide walked us back to Santa Croce church and gave us about an hour of freetime. Janet and I took that time to get some gelato and just sit.

As we got ready to get back on the ship we decided to do a selfie in front of the ship. The wind was blowing so hard that we had a hard time getting our crab hats on. Then we started giggling and that made it worse. After we took the photo we laughed even more. Our crab limbs are all over the place.

Leaving Livorno tonight is a rocky one. The wind has the water all churned up and we are rocking back and forth. Good times.

Port 2: Cannes / Nice

I sure needed the rest yesterday and I'm hoping it has me ready to go today for Nice. 

This excursion is a short 4.5 hour trip so I'm hoping my stomach keeps the grossness at bay. Fingers crossed. 

Cannes is the only port we had to tender in. Instead of using the life boats like normal we got to get on a ferry like thing instead. 

Our tour started with a drive to Nice. It's only about 30 minutes away. The countryside is pretty and entertained us all the same. 

We drove down the English Walk for about a half of mile. And not really the interesting side of it. The bus then took us up a big, windy hill to the top. We stopped, got out. The tour guide pointed out the restrooms, which I gladly took advantage of. 

When we all got done with the potty, the tour guide was gone and so we all got back on the bus. Apparently, she took those who didn't use the restroom down the trail to see some garden or something. 

So let me get this straight. We drove all the way up this hill to go potty? Lame.

Back down the hill, the bus dropped us off and we walked to the "Flower Market". Only the "Flower Market" on Monday's don't sell flowers, but more garage sale stuff. So boring. But at the end of the market was a bathroom and for 1 whole Euro I got to use it. 

After that the tour guide gave us free time. Janet and I found a cafe and sat in the sun drinking Fantas. I wasn't really up for more walking and there wasn't anything to see anyhow. 

When we got done we walked back up the street to the plaza with the naked guy and waited for the tour guide. 

All in all, WORST EXCURSION EVER! Totally not worth the money and one of the most boring excursions I've ever been on. Honestly, I'm not sure what I expected. I hadn't been to Nice since 1987 Senior Skip day and maybe I was thinking it was a cooler place than it was. 

Back on the boat and my tummy is still not behaving. I ate a bit more tonight, but not much. Trying to keep relatively boring foods in my system. 

Tomorrow we're in Florence and Pisa. That should be exciting. 

Port 1: Marseille France

We got onboard pretty easily yesterday. Not too much hassle or chaos. I mean there's always chaos because of the number of people. 

Our first meal on the ship was at the Brazilian Steakhouse. My god the amount of food they put on our plate was amazing. There was chicken, pork, sausage, flank steak, filet mignon, and lamb - which I passed on. They included some sides that were sautéed mushrooms, fried yucca, some potatoes and I think beans.  To say we had the meat sweats would be putting it mildly. 

Something got in my gut overnight and I had what we are now calling the "Jenns". I couldn't be too far from a bathroom. I was exhausted, dehydrated and had loose bowels. So, I opted to stay on the ship and send Janet to see Marseille and Avignon. 

It was a tough decision to make, knowing I'd be losing money, but it was the right decision to make. As Janet was gallivanting around France, I was in the room sleeping and getting my steps in to and from the bathroom. 

Maybe tomorrow will be better.