June 7th - although honestly, yesterday and today run together a bit because we were up so early and got so little sleep. It feels like I had about a 20 minute nap between the time we got off the ship and our arrival in London.
We wake oh so early this morning to head up to breakfast at 6:30. We have to eat a quick meal and head back to the cabin one last time for our carry on bags. We arrived early at the Rendezvous Lounge, which is where our group is supposed to meet, and we sit to people watch. About half an hour before our schedule debarkation time, Dot and Russ arrive, and we find out we can actually leave the ship with them now. This is the fastest we’ve ever gotten off of a ship, but eevn after we got our luggage, we still have to stand outside for more than an hour and a half to wait for the tour buses to arrive. The tour guide - Fiza - tells us the buses are there, but they have to come in order, and the ship’s buses have priority. I’m not buying it because well after most of the other buses have gone, we’re still standing on the pier waiting in a virtually empty parking lot with plenty of room for our buses.
Today is June 5th, and it is a very sad day for me. It’s not sad because it’s the last day on the ship, but today is the last day for Eilis at kindergarten. I am missing her end of the year The Cheese Stands Alone production, and I am missing the reception to celebrate their graduation from kindergarten. I have felt homesick the whole trip, and missed Jim and the girls since we left Philly, but today, I really feel physically sick to my stomach. If I could have gotten on a plane in Monaco and headed home to be there for this, I would have 
It is June 4th, and we have had several days of long tours in a row. Brighid and I both feel like we could just stay in bed this morning, and the old cliche about needing a vacation after your vacation seems to be ringing true for this trip. It’s an early tour again today, but it’s only a half day tour, so we’ll have time this afternoon to rest up and recuperate from our several kamikaze style days of touring.
June 3rd, and we wake up this morning in Livorno, Italy. We are about an hour away from Florence, and we have booked another full day tour. We are on our way to Florence by 7:30 AM after a quick breakfast at the buffet. Our tour guide today is Ignazio, who will explain that he suffers from weather related depression. I don’t know what we’re in for, and pray along the way that Ignazio does not commit suicide in the front of the bus.
June 2nd, we are supposed to be the first ones off of the ship so we can meet the tour bus organized through Omni tours for our excursion into Rome, The Eternal City. This is the only tour we have booked that is not a Celebrity Cruise shore excursion, but there was quite a large group from Solavita going on this trip, so Dot and Russ signed us all up. Brighid and I were in Rome in November of 2000 with Jim, and we’ve seen many of the highlights, but the sights here are so numerous and so amazing, I feel like you could visit here every year for 100 years and only touch on the things you must see.
June 1st, we arrive in Naples. I have let Brighid choose all of our tours for this trip, and I have to say, this was not my favorite. She elected to stay in Naples, where we are scheduled for a tour of the Archeological museum and a visit to a pizza place for some authentic Napoli pizza. This is, after all, where pizza was invented.
May 31st is our second day at sea. We don’t have to get up to be anywhere in particular - although we have looked at the schedule of events and Brighid has her appointment for a make over at 11, with Dot to follow at 11:30. We placed our breakfast order outside the door last night, and we are hoping to have breakfat delivered at about 8:30. We woke up around 8, showered and dressed quickly, and breakfast didn’t end up showing up until after we phoned to check on where it was at about 9:15. The breakfast is way more than we can eat - I had ordered scrambled eggs and hash, and there is a mountain of both, plus potatoes. Brighid has a breakfast equally as huge, plus a plate of fresh fruit. They gave us a plate with four different pastries on it, as well as two croissants, so we wrap most of that and put it on the shelf in the room to enjoy later. There is also a yogurt, and a nice hot pot of tea. We really eat way too much, but it’s a nice breakfast, watching the waves roll past us, and it’s very relaxing.
Wednesday, May 30th - we can sleep in today! Yay! It’s the first time the whole trip, and Brighid is snoring away. The sun shines in at 5:30 AM, and when I wake up, outside my window is a group of scruffy looking men doing something nautical. We are right at ground level, and evidently, VERY close to the sidewalk. I get up and close the blinds, then go back to sleep until about 8.
Tuesday, May 29th, and we are up at the crack of dawn AGAIN to get ready for our excursion in Santorini, Greece. We pull in to anchor (we will be tendering over to Santorini), and the scenery is amazing. There are gorgeous white washed buildings, brilliant blue roofs, amazing blue-green ocean - this is like walking into a post card.
Copyright Anna Skamarakas 1985-2008 | 2009