June 11, Rome

Rome! We are met by Vincenzo. He takes us to the Coliseum, Trevi, the Four Rivers fountain, Pantheon, scenic overlook, all before lunch at Salad Ricca outside the Roman Walls. Vincenzo buys our tickets, with our euro, and directs us to the Coliseum entrance with no line. We explore on our own. At our request, we are taken to the Pantheon. I inquire about the Four Rivers Fountain from the movie, Angels and Demons. Vincenzo directs us the 2 blocks to this lovely fountain. THe Pantheon is aweinspiring, a Roman temple with the first dome ever. It has an open eye (oculus) at the top and small drain holes in the marble floor. Now it is Catholic and the tomb of Rafael is here. No more Roman gods to see here. Next we are driven through the crazy streets of Rome to visit the Trevi fountain. After appropriate gawking and photo ops, we are ready for lunch. Vincenzo gives us 2 options, tourist or local for half the price. We choose local, of course. We are the first of the day at 11:45 for lunch of pizza, pasta, salad caprese, made with real buffalo mozzarella, Delicious. I have a Spaghetti Carbonara that is piping hot and delicious, Dan and I split a small half liter of wine.
Now we meet our guide Cecilia for a private Vatican Museum Tour. Isabel and I are showing off our knees, so we are given free paper pants to wear. Isabel is sporting a tank top, so she gets a paper shawl as well. The children are fascinated by the sculptures featuring naked Roman and Greeks, as well as the children of Ceasar. We arrive in the Sistine Chapel, so clean and beautiful now after the restoration. We are able to sit and admire this masterpiece for 20 minutes before the next group overwhelms the chapel. Isabel tries to hide behind the Polish organ, a gift from Poland to the last Pope, so she can stay here. We find here, nonetheless. Next we see La Pieta and the Basilica.
It is another scorcher here in Rome, 89 degrees F. We stock up on cold drinks and Vincenzo picks us up in the airconditioned Mercedes Benz van for the drive back to Civitivecchia. It is only 4 pm and there is no traffic. We are back on board for dinner and a show. The children enjoy the comedian and juggler.

June 21st Travel Day

We pack up and check out. Again mysterious charges on our taxi fare back to the airport. Self, look at the Aerobus again for next time. We had 3 flights ahead of us and arrived home about 18 hours later, all luggage and people intact. Thank you Trent for picking us up! We had a great trip, no major glitches, no doctor or dentist visits for once, and nothing lost or stolen. We highly recommend Rome in Limo for the Italian ports. We learned a lot, like we wouldn't drive ourselves in Italian cities, and that the buses and trains are a good option for our next trip to Europe. The international crew aboard the Brilliance gave us awesome personal service, I was addressed by name in many of the ship's venues. I booked another cruise of course, while on board. We spent lots of time together which is always a treat. The transatlantic flight was a dream.

June 20th, back in Barcelona

We check into the Royal Ramblas at 10 am and deposit our luggage into our rooms, We decided to visit Park Guell via the bus, number 24 will take us right up to the park. We are in no hurry. We walk up to Placa Catalunya and find the Tourist Info booth, down underground. The agent wants us to buy our tickets on the bus. We want to save some money and buy and 10 pack as we are 6. She is not keen on this, but agrees that we could do this in the subway station. We find this on our own and buy a 10 pack and 2 singles at the automatic kiosk, which has an English option. We then wait 10 mins for the bus on Placa Catalyunya. We see the aerobus and consider this for our airport trip in the am. We have a packed ride up to the Park Guell for 20 minutes. Everyone gets off here, and we enjoy free admission to a lovely Gaudi park. We have lunch there as well. We can see the Brilliance from here, as there is a lovely view down to the beach and port. This is a beautiful example of Gaudi architecture, and obviously popular with the locals, who are enjoying a Sunday in the park. After exploring the park, we head back to the hotel on a much less crowded bus. We relax and meet for dinner at the Pizza Grill next door to our hotel. We pack up and get ready for our early 7 am departure to the airport. Sad yet ready to return home, with much laundry to tote 3,000 plus miles. Delta makes us check 3 carryons at 25 dollars a pop at JFK. Welcome home!!

June 17th Corfu Jeep Tour

We signed up for the Royal Caribbean 4X4 Hidden Villages Tour before our cruise. Our party of 6 was able to get 2 Jeeps, so 2 adults and one kid in each, for this amazing tour of the island of Corfu. Our guide was Greek, though he grew up in Wales and spoke beautiful English. We drove up some winding roads to a hilltop village, and were treated to feta cheese, Greek Salami, ouzo, cucumbers, and wine. Here we toured a typical rural village. Then we drove some more to a beach front resort, where we enjoyed 45 minutes to swim either in the pool or pebbly beach, before a 3 course lunch was served by thoe hotelier and his daughters, featuring Moussaka, pasta with meat sause, bread with yogurt dip. We were stuffed. Then back in the jeeps for some scenic overlooks and shopping, and of course, gelato. Jack finds bubble gum flavor gelato here. 8 hours later we are on the pier at 5:30pm, hot and not at all hungry for dinner. I skip the dining room for a Happy Hour Spa Special complete with champagne, and Dan takes the children to the Seaview Cafe for Paninis and Pizza. It is the White party tonight, everyone on the ship wears white for the festivities.

June 16, Dubrovnik on Our Own

We arrive in Dubrovnik. We decide to split up, My parents head into town via cruise shuttle and we stay on board with the children. They are relaxing on the ship. Jack pulled a muscle in his leg and is walking slow today. We have lunch in an empty Windjammer. Isabel gets to make her own pizza, a treat she was looking forward to all trip. Granparents arrive at the Windjammer, and Dan and I head into town. We thought we would continue our climbing theme and bought tickets for the 2 kilometer wall, advertised to have 700 plus steps. Bring it on!! It was only 85 degrees today. We marveled at the beauty in this once war torn city, and noticed the new roof tiles throughout the walled city. We bought a tie at the allegedly first city to invent the tie, a navy blue bow tie for Jack that looks great on him. We enjoyed refreshments at a cafe overlooking the sea. Lovely.

June 15, Morning in Venice

We are still in Venice, and head back in for a family Gondola ride and hunt for masks for tonight's Masquerade ball. The weather for the first time has mild drizzles and clouds as we leave Venice. We rest up for Dubrovnik.

June 14, Venice in the Afternoon

We sail into Venice as we are eating our salads at the Main Dining Room. The view is even better from the top decks. After allowing the masses to disembark, we head into town to explore. Shuttle tickets were obtained and we headed on our private vaporetto to the Piazza San Marco. We shop for souvenirs and the obligatory gelatos. We are fortunately NOT divebombed by pigeons. We enter the Basilica and admire the marble, the horses, and mosaics. Dan volunteers to wait outside since my backpack is not allowed inside. We meander through narrow streets and observe the world cup games in the pubs. Dinner approaches and we head back to the Brilliance. Dan and I have a romantic gondola excursion booked, so we head out to the pier. Children and grandparents enjoy the Venetian show in the Centrum. Our romantic gondola ride features our own gondola, wine, and a singer who looks like Keifer Sutherland's Italian twin. We watch the sun set near the Rialto Bridge and contemplate the income of the gondaliers. The buildings are old and crumbling, though charming. Venice clears out after 6 and the Piazza San Marco is empty, but for the dueling orchestras and a handful of customers enjoying a late drink. A perfect day in Venice.

June 13, Sea Day At Last

The first 4 days of our cruise were a whirlwind of touring amazing sites. Now we get to relax and enjoy the ship. I head to the gym. The children explore the ship and investigate the kids club options. We spend some time at the pool. Grandparents and grandchildren commandeer the game room and play a marathon of board games. We prepare for our first Formal night, and get our pictures taken. Dan is looking like Vince Vaugh here, he doesn't like that. We are enjoying our Main Dining Room waiter and staff, as well as the Tutti Salad lunches and the Windjammer at breakfast. My mother has a personal chef making her special dinners. Very nice.

June 12, Naples

Another hot Mediterranean day dawns and we are in Naples. Stephania meets us at the pier and takes us up Mt Vesuvius so we youngsters can climb some more. We arrive at 8:30, it opens at 9. We enjoy the view and the friendly dogs until we can pay our way and start the long dusty and steep trail up to the crater. Sneakers are good here, it is a dirt path with pebbles. We are greeted at the top by a knowledgeable guide, and souvenir stands. Isabel is happy to reward herself for a tough climb with a necklace of volcanic rock for 4 Euro. Scientists from the Volcano station are rappeling down into the crater to take samples. We head back down as the tourist buses drop their hordes onto the trial. Many of these tourists have inadequate footwear. Stephania takes us to Pompeii, where our private guide Lucia takes us around for 2-3 hours. Luckily Stephania had umbrellas to shield my parents from the ever present and blazing sunshine. The baths were amazing to see. Gelato cooled us off before we arrived at the House of the Faun. The wild dog situation is vastly improved here, our guide explains the Humane society has stepped in. I am afraid for the ruins, as they are exposed to the elements. They need a dome to protect them. The mosaics are gorogeous. Next we obtain cold drinks and souvenirs and embark on our scenic drive to Sorrento. Stephania arranges reservations for a delicious lunch of pasta and pizza, with a gift of a shot of lemoncello from the owner of the restauarant. Sorrento gelato (nutello, banana, and chocolate chip are all voted winners) is sampled on the way back to the van and we are whizzing past lemon trees and olive gardens along the coast back to Naples and our ship. We appreciate the drivers from Rome in Limo, and she presents us with a bottle of Lemoncello as a gift.

June 10th, Livorno/Pisa/Florence

June 10th, docked in Livorno. We are picked up at the pier by Elisabetta of Rome in Limo. She brings us to Pisa as planned by 8:15, we are able to purchase tickets for the first tour up the tower at 8:30. My parents elect to skip the climb. We are alone in the tower, it was awesome! The marble stairs are weathered after hundreds of years of rain and people. The children ran up the stairs and enjoyed the view. The parents walked up and also enjoyed the view. The tower is clean and white and airy to climb. Not claustrophobic at all.

By 9:15 we are on the road to Florence. We wanted to climb the Duomo, so we were dropped at the Basilica, and after a hunt for the bathroom (one Euro, please) we queued up for this. This climb IS VERY claustrophobic, especially after the catwalk, where I turned around to the down option. I went to the halfway point, the catwalk to study the scary pictures of hell, and the nice pictures of heaven; while Dan and the children made the final ascent to the top. My parents met us afterwards for lunch at a tourist cafe on a lovely plaza. We opted for indoors as it was 89 degrees. The lasagna was given 4 stars here. Then we walked to the Pont Vecchio, the Piti Palace, and shopped for football (soccer) jerseys. Soon we were picked up and whisked back to the ship in time to have our 6:00 dinner in the lovely Dining room. We loved Elisabetta, and she followed our planned itinerary perfectly, thank you!!

June 7th 2010, Monday

Full Day in Barcelona before the Cruise.

We have breakfast in the market off Las Ramblas, the Boqueria. We enjoyed the bustle of the fish, meat, and fruitsellers. We select fruit, croissants (chocolate and plain) and coffees. A pleasant Mexican expat serves us at the Dunkin Coffee and explains the coffees and the low rate of Englsish speakers in Barcelona. We meet many Americans traveling here, and are happy to direct them to the coffee and criossant stands.

My parents join us and we meet up with the Fat Tire Bike Tour. This group of 20+ is outfitted with bicycles and we are off to the Cathedral, the City Park, the Sagrada Familia, the Arch, the beach, and the Music Hall. We have a lunch on the beach, pizzas, the ubiquitous ham and cheese sandwiches, sangria, Coke Zeros, and cheese.

After dropping off the tour, we walk to the chocolate museum for chocolate treats, thick drinks with cookies for dipping, and chocolate for later. The grandparents and children cab it back to the Ramblas hotel. Dan and I meander the Gothic quarter, buy souvenirs, and have Cava at a cafe across from the Casa Batlo (a Gaudi building not far from Placa Catalunya). We meet for dinner at Taller de Tapas. A full day, and we are tired from jetlag