We started the tedious job of actually putting stuff in the suitcases today.  Six weeks is a long time for clothes planning.  Several nights on the cruise are “chic” nights. To get into some of the restaurants they request guests dress up somewhat.  Of course, everyone has their own opinion of what that means.  For us, we’re shooting for a business casual look. Also, we eat in “Blu”, a specialized restaurant open only to Aqua Class guests, and it requires long pants and collared shirts as a minimum, already.  No shorts, t-shirts allowed, so this dictates packing clothes that can meet this minimum.

In an effort to reduce packing bulk and weight, we’re sticking with a just a few colors in clothing. For me that’s black or dark grey slacks, blue jeans for tours excursions, and navy or black shorts for the warm weather activities.  It also helps us limit our shoe choices.  I’m taking one pair of black dress shoes for slacks, etc.  I’ve also got sport shoes for touring in jeans or shorts, and sandals for the beach week and around the ship in the warmer weather.  I’ve got a few dress shirts for looking nice on the ship. I’ve also packed polos and button-down shirts for warmer weather and casual wear.  I have one sweater and a light jacket for layering when the weather is cooler in Sicily, Athens, and Petra.

Clothes selection, final condo prep, financial details check, and making sure we have all our paperwork fill up the rest of the day.  Finally the suitcases are packed enough to weigh, and begin the final adjustments to what is going where.  For us, limiting our bags to one checked bag and one roll-a-board each, is a challenge. At the same time we’re trying to stay below the 50 lbs. weight limit on the large bag.  Six weeks is a long time to cram into just a few bags.

SUCCESS!  We made the weight.  We’re close to the limits, but have extra room in our roll-a-boards if needed. We get to bed at a decent time, and sleep well, knowing we’re packed and ready.

The first thing we heard this morning at 5:15am were morning prayers being chanted/sung all over the city. We could hear it easily on the ship. It seemed to be coming from everywhere. It’s a unique sound and definitely adds to the sense of exotic we run into everywhere we go.

We split up our activities this morning for a while.  Judy has a hair appointment.  My first job (after breakfast of course) is to go pick up our passports at our assigned spot.  After passports, I went to Café al Bacio to work and kill time until I could talk to the Future Excursions people.  I’m working on a possible change of our room for our Alaska cruise in May.  We currently have a suite, but since we’ve learned to live comfortably in our Aqua Class cabin, we’re going to try and shift from our Suite to Aqua.  The Alaska cruise also has lots fewer sea days, so we’re going to be out of the room for excursions lots of days.

I’ve also been trying to arrange an appointment with the Excursions Director.  I can save 10% on our Alaska excursions, if I book them on board now.  Wasn’t planning to make these decisions so early, but I can always change them.

Judy and I meet up around 10:00am and exit the ship.  We boarded a shuttle bus for the World Trade Center (WTC).  There’s a big modern mall, but also a traditional souk, with some of the traditional Arabian items for sale.  I can hardly wait to do some bargaining with the vendors.  After spending a couple of hours and making a few purchases, we catch the shuttle back to the ship.  We cleaned up, did some packing, and eventually went down to Café al Bacio for our afternoon tea.

Judy’s view on the shuttle bus (that’s me)

Lunch at a mall Kabob cafe

They can put a lot of people on these little shuttle buses.  Fold down seats fill the aisles.  Hope we don’t have a fender bender.

Judy’s idea of fun….taking my picture as I tried to climb out of the front seat (over the transmission hump).  There’s no door for the front seat passenger?

I finally had a chance to meet with the Excursions Director, and set-up three excusions for our Alaska trip. I went back to the cabin to do some blog work, while Judy went walking around the deck.   She came in talking about the rain.  What?  It’s raining in Abu Dhabi?  Everyone’s probably excited, except it’s going to interfere with the big Formula One Championships.  I’m curious to hear how it goes.

We eat dinner in Blu and head back to the cabin.  As we finalize our packing (luggage has to be in the hall by 10:00pm), I spend time going over finances and making sure all the bills back home are caught up and credited correctly.  We’re scheduled to disembark around 7:30am.  Gotta get to bed so I don’t sleep thru breakfast.

After breakfast, we met Boe and our driver at 8:00am, and made the short drive to the Grand Palace. We arrived just before the 8:30 opening, giving Boe the chance to give us some of the basic info about the Grand Palace.  It’s easy to lose track of which king built what (10 kings since 1882), but I believe it was built by Rama II, the second king of the Bangkok era.

About to enter the Grand Palace.

I can’t imagine anything being more gilded than these temples and shrines.  The Thai people love gold leaf.  Everywhere, gold, gold, gold!  Beautiful buildings with elaborate architecture and it all seems to relate to beliefs and the mythology of the beliefs (as they said).  Along the interior walls surrounding the temple area are 178 murals depicting the history of Thailand since 1782 to now.  It doesn’t sound like much till you see them, with all the intricate drawing and gold leaf.

 Wall mural samples

After the Grand Palace, we took a short ride to Wat Pho, the largest Buddhist Temple in Thailand and the home of the Reclining Buddha.  It’s huge, as you can see from the photos.  While we were in the Temple, we heard singing and came upon a singing contest with small student groups from schools all over Thailand.  There were judges and everything.  It made me feel right at home.  There were also groups warming up in various places around the temple. There was music everywhere!

Student singing contest with judges

 A scale model of Angor Wat.

Judy standing next to her birthday Buddha.  Our guide looked up the day of her birth (Monday), and she was able to put some gold leaf on her own Buddha.  Each day of the week had it’s own Buddha.

 The reclining Buddha

After the temple, we were dropped at the Bangkok Flower Market.  It’s a 24-hour facility with workers hauling lots of flowers, plants, vegetables, and herbs all over the building.  This is the only wholesale site for these items so it’s really busy.

 OrchidsLots of Thai pepper heat!

A few blocks from the Flower Market, we arrived at the river “Chao Phraya”.  It’s the main river of Bangkok, with boats and ferries everywhere. A steady stream of huge barges tied together were pulled and pushed through this segment of the river as we watched.

 Chao PhrayaBig barges

Lunch was good, with a few different Thai dishes picked out by Boe.  It’s hot and humid today, and the air-conditioning feels really good. We took our time finishing.  After lunch, we went down to the pier and boarded our own long-tail boat for a ride across the river to Thonburi, the ancient capital of Thailand.

Lots of chop as we cross the Chao Phraya.

A large variety of residences line these canals.  As we entered the residence canal area from the river, there was a set of locks where we waited as the water level was brought up to match the canal. (The river level was down slightly)  As we cruised through the canals, we had an occasional stop to visit some different temples.

Boe told us yesterday that water monitors were very prevalent in Thailand.  He showed us some “water monitor” key chains and large stuffed animals in the markets.  We saw some big ones today that weren’t stuffed.  They’re big, but apparently not aggressive unless harassed.  They like to climb up on the docks along the canals and sun themselves.

After the last temple stop, we caught a ferry back across the river to Bangkok, near the Grand Palace, and boarded our car back to the hotel.  We’ve had two amazing days of activities and sights.  I’m glad we were finally able to visit the city of Bangkok, and not just the airport as we flew thru headed to other destinations.

Up at 5:00 am today, making sure we get off to the airport in plenty of time.  Brad & Courtney are both busy today, so we’re using Uber for transport.  I-30 is closed in Arlington today for construction, so I’m anticipating lots of extra traffic on Hwy. 183 to DFW Airport.  There is also a Veterans Day Parade in downtown Fort Worth, so there may be some added traffic congestion going through town.  Judy reserved an Uber last night for a 7:30am pick-up.  At 7:10, she gets a text saying the Uber has been cancelled because her credit card needs to be updated.  Naturally there are issues trying to get it updated in the app on her phone, so I had to schedule the ride on my phone (thinking we’ll have a few minutes).  A note pops up that he’ll be arriving in three minutes.  Our relaxed final 15 minutes of prep turned into a hurried rush to the lobby for our ride.  He spots me, we load up, and we’re off to the airport.  Hope we grabbed everything.

Sure enough, on 121-North, there are two police cars blocking all the lanes driving very slowly? Not sure what that’s all about. We didn’t see any construction or anything else that would create a problem, but it got really slow for several miles?  Arrived at DFW before 8:00am, checked in, and worked our way through security (no lines). Once inside, we found a “Love Shack” eatery (Tim Love) and had a really good breakfast taco.  We’re ready for our flight.

While we sit, I started working on this blog entry, and Judy went for a walk.  When she gets back, she’s talking about our delay of almost an hour that just posted.  Ugh! We have a long layover in Atlanta before our Rome flight, so it shouldn’t be a problem unless we have more delays.

Oh yeah, I just got an article from someone on the “Cruise Critic” website talking about flooding in Petra.  No one was injured, but lots of tourists were scrambling for higher ground.  There’s a long narrow canyon everyone walks through to get to the historic site.  Apparently it turned into a river for a while.  We don’t get to Petra until Saturday, Nov. 17, so maybe it’ll be cleaned up and ready for tourists again.  Petra was one of the main reasons I scheduled this cruise.

Made it to Atlanta with time to spare (about 3 hrs.).  Had lunch/dinner at a Fridays, and now we’re waiting to board our Rome flight.  Our seats on the flight to Atlanta were comfortable.  Here’s hoping the Rome seats are as good or better.  It’s a 9 ½ hours flight, arriving in Rome at 9:40am.

It’s sad as we leave the ship today.  It’s been comfortable, and you know what you’re getting with a cruise.  There are no guarantees with our tours beginning today thru India.  Interesting times ahead.

Off the boat at our assigned 7:30am time, but no guide was waiting.  We’re off really early.  I probably should’ve tried to send a message and let them know how early we were scheduled. We patiently wait while the ship empties out.  Lots of people like us waiting on independent tour operators.  Thankfully we found a place to sit while we wait and the sun is hidden behind clouds.  It’s actually a comfortable temperature with a cool breeze.  Yesterday’s rain chilled things off.

Our guide, Faheem (Pakistan), and driver, Salvin (India), show up at 9:00, talking about the awful rains in Dubai (his home base) this morning.  Since they get rain only twice a year, the city hasn’t spent much on infrastructure to drain, so the streets quickly flooded (kinda like west Texas towns).  But after talking to him more, we realized his goal for arrival was 9:00am, so he’s right on time.

Abu Dhabi in the 60’s.

First stop is the Corniche (beach front) in Abu Dhabi.  We walk around the area, admiring the cleanliness and the views of the downtown skyline.  There is polished marble everywhere.  Then we make a long walk to the Heritage Village, a museum displaying the traditional desert living.  As we walk we learn more about Abu Dhabi and its ruling family, as well as all of the other UAE states (Dubai, etc.)

After the museum, we drive to the Emirates Palace Hotel.  It’s the same place we ate Saturday night after the mosque.  We got more of a tour today.  Faheem worked here in Hospitality for eight months, before becoming a guide.  We were especially curious to try the 23k gold leaf (real gold they say) topping for ice cream and gold flakes for cappuccino.  It’s fun!  While we sit in the “coffee shop”, we do a lot people-watching, checking out all the Emeratis dressed in their traditional attire.

Lamborghini and a Rolls in the background as we walk into the hotel

Yum!

After the hotel, we cruised down the main road for a daytime look at the Grand Mosque.  No need to go inside, since we had a good visit Saturday night.  Next stop was the Louvre Museum – Abu Dhabi.  They are associated with the Louvre in Paris, and the city is also building a Guggenheim “franchise.”  Unfortunately, they’re not open on Mondays.

Grand Mosque in the daylight

Abu Dhabi Louvre

Our last stop is “Ferrari World” on Yas Island.  It’s a huge indoor amusement park, connected to an even bigger mall, next door to the Yas Island Formula One Race Track.  We ate Indian food in the mall fast food court for a late lunch before entering the park.

The park has the world’s fastest rollercoaster.  They’re not kidding, 230 kilometers per hour in 5 seconds at the start.  Without goggles, it would peel your eyelids back. There are a few more rollercoasters and some 3-D rides, all well done.  Mostly, the park is a big commercial for Ferrari and Italy.  Around every corner are cars on display, and a couple of the rides simulated driving a Ferrari.  Also, for 800 dirham ($270 USD), I could drive a Ferrari around the racetrack for a half hour.  Not today. I’m saving my money for more of that 23k gold topping.  The entire park is built indoors.  It’s quite impressive (and comfortably cool).  No sweating it out in hot lines here.

After Ferrari World, we begin the drive to our Dubai hotel, Atana.  The highway is 14 lanes, so traffic isn’t a problem.  We arrive at our hotel around 7:30pm.  We’re surrounded by lots of tall buildings.  I’m anxious to see tomorrow, if Dubai can match the opulence we experienced in Abu Dhabi.

We really hate to leave this hotel.  Food and snacks are only a few doors away, and the location of the hotel couldn’t be better.  I hadn’t realized it before, but we’re only a four blocks from the American Embassy. Now that I know where it is, I could spot it from the windows in the Club Lounge.

View of the hotel as we came in last night.

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog that Judy lost her only functional pair of reading glasses as we transferred from a dock into a long-tail boat.  We didn’t see them fall.  As we pulled away from the dock, Judy was checking her purse, and realized they were missing.  The boat driver said something fell out of her purse.  Darn!  Guess we should be glad it wasn’t her phone!

Back at the hotel, later I went on a search for an optical shop to purchase another pair.  I also have her first pair, which lost a screw and had a loose earpiece.  I found a spot in a nearby mall, handed them the old pair and asked them to fix them (language issues).  They said they would try but couldn’t guarantee it.  They also checked the strength and showed me where the reading glasses section was.  Since we’ve been looking for weeks (as far back as Abu Dhabi) for a 2^ndpair, I went ahead a purchased a pair.  The workers told me to come back in 30 minutes to check if the original pair were fixed.  I also wanted to make sure the glasses were the correct prescription for Judy, and if the frames were fashionable.  Everything passed and I went back to the shop, where they had the original glasses repaired.  We’re back in top shape on reading glasses!

Caught a taxi in the lobby at 8:30 to head to BKK Airport.  The taxi prices are a set price from downtown to the airport, so no fears of any possible scamming by the driver.  We checked in easily enough with Bangkok Air.  We knew our luggage was going to exceed the maximums for these domestic flights in Thailand.  Fortunately, there is a set rate of 90 baht per kilogram for anything over 20kg. We’re at 27kg for each of our two checked bags, and are charged 1260 baht or the equivalent of $38.50.  I was afraid it might be the standard $150 per overweight bag.  What a relief.

Catching up on writing in the Bangkok Air lounge.

Bangkok Air has a convenient lounge for all their passengers with drinks, snacks, and wifi.  What else could anyone want?  (washrooms are just down the hall).  The flight departs on time at 12:05pm, is comfortable with lots of room, and takes slightly over 80 minutes.  The taxi from the airport to the hotel is also a fixed price, so no haggling necessary.  We’re checked into the Chiang Mai Shangri-La and in our room by 2:00pm.

After unpacking, we head out to explore the local neighborhood.  We found a local laundry a few blocks, so as we leave the hotel, we’re packing two bags of laundry, trying to look nonchalant.  Found the laundry, he weighed our two bags, and our charge was 148 baht, about $4.50.  A single piece of laundry would have cost that much in the hotel.

  DD Laundry, near hotel

After the laundry, since we’re saving so much money, I decided we deserved a foot massage, and found a local massage across the street from the hotel.  It was great!

Scrubbing on my feet before the massage

Time for dinner, and we walked down the street to a local restaurant.  I had asked the concierge about local Thai food, and it was his recommendation.  The food was good!

  Inside the restaurant.

   Steamed rice

   Cashew Chicken

We stopped at a 7-11 on our way back to the hotel, purchasing some soft drinks and ice cream (necessities).  Back in the room we get ready for our early (6:00am) departure for our temples tour of Chiang Mai.

Sleep for me was intermittent during the night on the plane.  I couldn’t seem to put more than 30-45 minutes together at any given time, and that only happened a couple of times.  Judy seemed to sleep better.

We arrived at the Rome airport around 9:00 am.  Immigration and Customs were quick.  Luggage was on the carousel when we arrived at Baggage Claim, and we found a Celebrity Cruise person checking on everyone.  We received instructions on where to go next.  We should have listened more attentively.  We ended up walking an extra half-mile searching for our Celebrity bus contact.  We had walked right by them just before we exited the terminal.  They were stuffed in a corner of crowded meeting area.  We dropped off our bags and waited for bus to arrive.

We boarded the shuttle bus around 10:30, and began the drive to the port of Civitavecchia, arriving around 11:50.  Check-in was quick and we were onboard quickly, searching for a place to settle until the staterooms opened up.  The rooms opened around 1:30, and we found our cabin, up on Deck 11, near the back of the ship.  It’s a great place to be.  We’re one deck above the Oceanview Café, where the ship’s buffet is located. We’re close to the elevators, which take us down to “Blu”, on Deck 5, the restaurant for Aqua Class cabins. It’s just what we need, close proximity to lots of food with minimum exercise.

After trying to settle in a little (our luggage hasn’t been delivered to our room yet), we attended the required Emergency Procedures exercise.  It’s 20 minutes of standing quietly while various staff in the room or over the PA exchange turns giving us instructions if there was ever a problem. After the meeting, we attended an informal sail-away “Cruise Critic” gathering where we exchanged greetings with several of the people we’ve been corresponding with.  Several of our early excursions were organized by Cruise Critic contacts.  We met our tour organizer, giving them the cash for our portion of the upcoming tours, and getting instructions for when and where we meet tomorrow afternoon for our tour of Siracusa, Sicily.

After instructions, we head to “Blu” for dinner.  It’s a great meal, but by now, we’re so tired (29 hours since we waked up in Fort Worth yesterday), we mostly just want to sleep.  After dinner, we head to the room to unpack (luggage has been delivered).  We finally find a place for everything, and zonk out.  I think I was snoring before my head even hit the pillow.  Poor Judy!

Moon over the ocean

Breakfast in our hotel was good.  There were lots of choices on the buffet, both Western, and Arabic.  I’ve never seen so much lamb turned into breakfast foods. Pork bacon or sausage, are not to be found.

View from our hotel room.

Our guide, Mohammad (Egyptian), picked us up about 9:20am.  We joined a single woman from Karachi, Pakistan (spoke decent English), and a family of three (4-year old boy) from Italy.  Our guide gave all the information for the tour in English, and then repeated it in Italian.  As the tour progressed, the Italian family spoke enough English to converse about the fact they were from Sicily, Taormina, specifically.  Our guide told us he sometimes has as many as three languages for tours off a cruise ship, English, Italian, and Spanish.  And of course, he speaks Arabic.

Our first point of interest is “The Palm of Jumeirah Beach”.  It’s the famous man-made islands built in the shape of a palm tree.  A large Atlantis hotel (same company as Bahamas Atlantis), is at the very tip of the islands.  A monorail runs the length of the trunk from the mainland out to the hotel.  There’s a really nice boardwalk (18km) along the rock breakwater protecting the entire complex.  Thousands of trucks were required to haul all the rocks in from Oman.  This was a HUGE project.  Lots of building still going on, hotels, residences, etc.

Atlantis, and they’re building and even bigger one next door

Next stop was a viewing of the Burj Al Arab hotel, the iconic “Sail”.  You can’t get on site without a booking or restaurant reservation. Our hotel concierge worked to get us a reservation in the restaurant at the top of the hotel, but the starting price for a fixed meal was nearly $300 USD per person.  I guess pictures from afar will have to do.  The only rooms in the hotel are large suites encompassing two floors.  It’s very exclusive.

Burj Al Arab

We had time to visit a shopping area nearby.  It’s part of a complex of three hotels connected to each other by canals, referred to by the locals as Dubai Venice.

Next stop was the Marina District.  It’s a man-made waterway with some very exclusive hotels.  We walked around the boardwalk, admiring the boats, and amazing spiral tower.

The Dubai Mall and the Burj Al Khalifa is our next stop.  The mall is advertised as the world’s largest with more than 2500 name brand stores.  It contains a lake with fountains that “dance” similar to the Bellagio in Las Vegas. There is a light show that displays on the Burj Al Khalifa – the world’s tallest building.  There’s also a huge (5 stories) indoor waterfall at one end of the mall. The mall is huge.  We walked our legs off.  As we entered today, we saw some of the huge aquarium that’s also part of the property

The Waterfall

Burj Khalifa, 828 meters

It seems so much better when we stand in front of it.

 From the 125th floor observatory

 Lake where the fountains dance

Our tour ended around 2:00 after our trip to the top (125^th floor) of the Burj Khalifa.  We decided to stay at the mall and eat, walk around, while we wait for the fountains and light show that began at 6:00. We ended up in the Five Guys restaurant enjoying a vanilla shake, with a view of the fountains and light show.

The water show seemed average to us, nothing special.  We finally decided to head home, and as we were leaving, a light show began, displayed on the Burj Khalifa.  It was something!  With only 10 minutes left when it ended before the next fountain show, we decided to wait.  The 2^ndfountain show was much better.  Different music and fountain actions made a difference.  After the show, we walked to a taxi stop, bound for home.

Light Show!

Day 1 in Dubai has been one amazing thing after another!  What a blast, and our guide was good, getting us in and out of places quickly. We can’t wait till tomorrow.

Our 6:00am departure today comes so early.  Our guide, Fa, arrives just as we get to the lobby, so we’re on our way quickly.  We failed to pay attention to the weather (it’s been great our entire trip), and it’s raining this morning.

After a twenty-minute drive to the other side of Chiang Mai, we arrive at an intersection with a brightly lit shrine and several food carts.  There are Buddhist monks standing in groups in several places and people are placing food items in gold-colored bowls held by the monks.  They walk here every morning between 5:00am and 7:00am to receive donations and then walk back to the temple to distribute to those in need. The proper procedure is to place the offering of food items in the bowls, then kneel and receive a chanted blessing from the monks in return.  The rain makes it more interesting, combined with our repaired knees that don’t feel that great when kneeling on pavement.  We “soldiered through”, made our donation, and watched them walk back to the temple.  It was raining so hard we didn’t get many pictures.

We continued to drive up the mountain for 20 more minutes.  When we arrived at the small village that serves as the base area for Doi Suthep (the temple), Fa gets our tickets and we board a tram (funicular) to take us to the top.  What a relief!  I had read something about 300 steps to climb, but Fa decided it was too slick for us to take the stairs.  That saved us from wimping out.

This may not be my best look?

At the top, the temple area is beautiful and quiet.  We’re early, and few if any other visitors have arrived yet.  The rain is continuing.  No one may wear shoes in the temple area, so we’re walking around barefoot in the rain. Again, there’s so much beauty. The temple was originally built in 1572. There are lots of monks around doing their monkly duties.  In one of the smaller temples, we went in, trying to keep our heads below the level of the monk (as advised).  As we kneeled (ouch) he sprinkled water on our heads to purify us, and then chanted a prayer.  Normally, the view from the top of the mountain is gorgeous, but rain/fog is not cooperating.

 Not the best day for the panoramic view.

We rode the tram back to the bottom, and began a short drive to another temple near the city.  It’s called the Tunnel Temple.  It’s built into a hill with lots of small rooms branching off the main tunnel for some serious meditation.  Above it all is a shrine built in the Sri Lankan style (as opposed to the Lanna or Bangkok style)

Next stop is a restaurant for breakfast.  We had a chance to try Thai food cooked in the Northern style (different peppers and curries).  It’s slightly different and good.  After breakfast, we’re taken back to the hotel where we caught up on our sleep.

We finally cleaned up and headed out to make a laundry swap.  We picked up our batch from yesterday, and left some more (can’t beat the price, less than $4 for the 2^ndbatch).  We returned to the room, dropped off the laundry and headed out the local night market.  We walked about 10 minutes and began to pass shopkeepers setting up on the sidewalk. We made a few small purchases, but kept walking until we finally reached the big market area.  This market opens every evening at 6:00, closes at 11:00, and is open every day of the week.  Everything “Thai” that anyone could want can be found here.

  How about some fish to feed on the dead skin on your feet and legs?  It’s a “Fish Spa”.

We shopped for a couple of hours before eating dinner in a Thai restaurant in the market.  The food was good and cost about $5.20, including drinks.

  On the way back to the hotel, on the sidewalk.

It’s been a fun evening of hanging out around the locals, the expats, and the tourists. We made our way back to the room to prepare for our long drive tomorrow, even farther north, to Chiang Rai, near the borders with Myanmar and Laos.

Our favorite meal on our most recent cruises has been the breakfast in Blu.  We sleep well and wake up early (body clocks not adjusted yet). Breakfast was indeed great, and an added treat is the view of Mount Stromboli, a big, active, volcano, from our window seat in the restaurant.  Vacation has started!

After breakfast, I headed out to check the game area for table tennis opportunities.  There are two tables, and several good players are already going at it.  After playing a little and walking around the ship, I meet Judy in one of the lounge areas for an official “Cruise Critic Connections” party.  There are snacks, etc. and a great view of the ship’s passage through the Messina Straits.  Italy is to our east (port) and Sicily to the West (starboard).  It’s narrow passage, and there are lots of ships traveling in both directions.  This is one of the spots where the captain earns his pay.  Back in our cabin, we relax and then begin getting ready for our afternoon excursion to Siracusa.

The Straits of Messina

The group (8 of us) meet at 1:45 and we’re able to exit the ship (docked in Catania) quickly, once we were cleared.  We meet our guide/driver, and start driving to Siracusa.  It’s an hour and a half drive, and the guide begins to tell us how tight our itinerary is.  2:00pm is late to disembark a ship and begin touring.  He keeps trying to make the point that there’s little chance to do everything we were promised.  He’s in a tough spot.  He’s in a car with the actual guests.  Whoever defined the itinerary and confirmed prices, etc. is back in the office trying to dodge the blame for promising, but most likely not delivering.

Sure enough, in Siracusa, we had three main destinations, the Roman Ruins Archealogical site, the Duomo (cathedral), and the Church of Santa Lucia (Caravaggio painting).  Due to our late start on the day, and new winter schedules, the Ruins, are closing as we drive up (3:30pm?).  We head on into town where we get the chance to walk around some interesting narrow medieval streets, enroute to the Duomo, and the Caravaggio painting.  Of course, Church of Santa Lucia (painting) is closed on Mondays, and the Duomo is almost ready to close.  We walk through the Duomo, with it’s interesting mix of Roman and Greek architechture.  After the Duomo, our tour options are limited, so we opt to sit in a café along the waterfront, enjoying a light dinner, and the beautiful evening.  It’s warm, we’re off the ship, no wind, and the setting sun makes a beautiful picture.

These are the relics (bones) of Santa Lucia

We make the drive back to Catania.  On our way back, Michelle, our tour organizer, convinced the tour company to refund some of our money, so we got 30 euros refunded.  Back at the ship around 7:30, we freshen up in our cabin and head to dinner.  The traveling and jet lag are beginning to have an effect.  Sleep couldn’t come soon enough.