Day five of our Mediterranean Cruise...Rhodes and Lindos, Greece

      On day five of our cruise (November 2, 2010) we toured the Island of Rhodes, Greece.  We were able to visit Lindos and the city of Rhodes.  Again, the views were so very breathtaking.  We walked to the acropolis (highest point) and were definitely getting in our exercise daily on each of these stops.  We also enjoyed more shops in Lindos, our first stop, and later Rhodes.  I did buy some jewelry here and a lovely handmade olive dish.   We saw numerous olive trees on our stops so I felt an olive dish was a good reminder of this trip.  Although, the olives that are harvested here are made into oil.  Nets are place under the trees and they simply shake the branches or wait for the olives to fall.  It is difficult to get to a lot of the trees since they are on such high cliffs, hence the nets.  I love black olives now and have always used olive oil but now I have a new appreciation for this wonderful oil.  They also sold bars of olive soap that is suppose to be wonderful for your skin.  I bought a lot for friends.  I can't really remember seeing as many olive trees on this particular stop but they had the soap, oil, and handmade dishes!!

View as we traveled to Lindos.

Homes dot the cliffs.

One of the fortresses built on the Island of Rhodes in the city of Lindos.





More spectacular views from acropolis.

Finally...the acropolis...highest point!  Whew!! 

Shops along the narrow streets of Lindos.

     After shopping in Lindos, we boarded our bus again to go to the city of Rhodes which is located at the northern tip of this fabulous island.  Rhodes is known for its fertile soil.  They produce many fruits, vegetables and red wine.  While we were in the city of Rhodes we did shop for some local wine to take back to the ship with us.  You are able to bring wine back on the ship.  We often enjoyed a glass or two before dinner.  You can also take it to dinner and pay a corking fee of about fifteen dollars.

Day three and four of our Mediterranean Cruise

     Day three was our only day at sea on the Princess.  It was nice to take it easy for one day and be a little lazy.  We slept in, enjoyed the pool, read, and relaxed.  It happened to be October 31st so there were special activities for Halloween.  One thing that I saved from our trip was our daily newsletter,
The Princess Patter.  It has so much information in it about the place you are to visit and any activities for the day.  *A good tip is to take a close-up photo of the daily paper and then your pictures immediately following are of that port.  Then don't delete any photos til you get home so they stay in order.  It is difficult to go back and identify some of the places when you are going to a different port each day. 
     Day four was Santorini and I will always remember the beautiful white and blue buildings dotting the mountainous landscape.  The town we visited was so quaint.  The pictures tell it all.

A view from above...breathtaking!

White washed buildings cling to the cliffs.

Our ship, The Princess

You just can't take a bad picture here!!

Our view from the ship of our first Greek Island, Santorini

Shopping in Santorini was so quaint.  I loved the narrow streets,
white washed buildings, and stone streets. 

We stopped at a winery and this was our view!
Ahhhh!  I want to go back and start all over again!

     A volcanic eruption occurred about 1600 BC here in Santorini and it is thought that it destroyed Crete's ancient Minoan civilization and as a result we have  the "myth of Atlantis, the lost continent".  Archaeologists have unearthed remains of the Bronze Age city in approximately 1967.  So let your imagination run wild.  To me this is what made everything so fascinating.  We were actually visiting places that I had read about and had seen in movies with so much history.  Just to think that people lived here so many years before and that we are so much alike with similar inventions, hobbies, likes, and dislikes.   

Naples, Italy...Pompeii & Amalfi Coast

     Our second day of the cruise we went ashore to tour Naples, The Amalfi Coast, and Pompeii.  We began our day early at Pompeii when few tourists were there.  It was a great way to visit this ancient city.  The city is remarkably intact from the day of the eruption of Vesuvius in August 24, 79 AD.  Therefore, it is simply amazing and a MUST SEE.  Pompeii lay hidden under six meters of ash for centuries and was unearthed approximately two centuries ago so the history of this city is undescribable.  Again, I purchase an overlay book with dvd so I could see the before and after of each place in the city we were visiting and have historical information to refer back to. 




Looking up one of the many streets in Pompeii. 

 


First "fast food" restaurant. 
Customers stood and food was in round containers
that kept food warm and cold. 
I thought that was OUR idea!

 



Notice the stepping stones that people crossed on
when the street had water in it.

   


Theatre with seating of the wealthiest on the marble seats and poorer at the top.  Some things just never change!  There were assigned seats or "season ticket holder" if you will.

 









 


More vessels and miscellaneous artifacts. 
The condition of these pieces are amazing!

 



More artifacts found in Pompeii.  

 




A view of Mt. Vesuvius in the distance. 
This was the Forum.



 


Inside a bath house. 

 









  

   



      After our visit to Pompeii we toured the Amalfi Coast.  It amazed me that the homes were built on a cliff like area.  The views were breathtaking but to get to any of the houses would be a chore.  Our guide said that once people can no longer climb the steps they remain in their home and that is the way it is.  YIKES!!  We stopped in a quaint town, Positano, for shopping, pizza, and wine.

  

  Our final stop was a beautiful town for a look at the stores, cathedrals, and some more wine! 





Mediterranean Cruise (Rome, Naples, Santorini, Rhodes GR, Ephesus TKY, Mykonos GR, Athens GR, Olympia GR, Corfu GR, Dubrovnik CRO, Venice GR)



   

Standing in front of
Circus Maximus
(used for chariot racing & could accommodate up to 300,000 spectators)






      Welcome to Travel2Njoy.  This is my first try at blogging..  We love to travel and have been to quite a few places.   I am hoping that my readers will take away little tips that will help them to enjoy their travels as much as we have. 

Twelve Day Mediterranean Cruise

Oct. 29-Nov. 10, 2010 

(starting in Rome and ending in Venice)

Day One - Rome 

     Our Mediterranean Cruise began in Rome.  We flew into Rome a day early before the cruise began.  That meant one day to recoup from jet lag, set our watches ahead six hours, and go on a marathon three hour tour of this beautiful city before boarding the The Princess Cruise Ship.   Needless to say, we will return because that wasn't nearly enough time!  I would recommend arriving three to five days ahead of your cruise so you can rest and see as much possible at a more leisurely pace.  Also, this time of year the weather was very pleasant traveling temperature.  It was in the 70s and sunny.  Another good point about this time of year is that the prices are cheaper because you are traveling at the end of the season here.  We were able to get a bargain price of $1,200 per person with an obstructed view which merely meant that we had a window with a life boat below it.  It didn't obstruct our view at all and we were in our room so little that it did not matter.  We also had an AWESOME travel agent who arranged all our side trips.  There were approximately thirty of us in this group so our travel agent got us some outstanding prices.  A knowledgeable travel agent who gets back with you and knows about the places you want to go is KEY to a great time at good prices.
This was definitely a trip for activity.  We had a different port each day with only one day at sea.  So if you want the biggest "bang for your buck" go in the fall.  

Temples of Saturn and Concord (foreground)
with Basilica of St. Peter in (background)

     A "must do" is to buy one of the

Rome Past & Present books with CD on one of your stops.  I actually purchased  a similar book in other ports as well.  It includes information, pictures, and overlays so one can see what a place looked like years ago and what it looks like today.  

There is a lot of historical information at your fingertips and it is in an easy to read format.  The cost is approximately 15 Euros.  Hint:  You can negotiate the price.   I paid more than my friend but it was totally worth it. 

The Pantheon
(erected between 27-25 A.D.)

     Since our trip was a three hour tour, we actually saw many sights from the van which is not the best but worked for us since we only had limited time in this beautiful city.  We saw the Colosseum, Great Square, Roman Forum, Temples of Saturn and Concord, The Circus Maximus, The Theatre of Marcellus, The Pantheon, and lastly The Basilica of Saint Peter.  Unfortunately, because of our time restraints we were unable to go inside but the Vatican Square was breathtaking.  We were in awe of the architecture, statues, and history.  To think of all the times we had seen the Vatican Square in movies or on TV, it was so very exciting to be actually standing there.  The Pantheon is also amazingly still intact.   We were able to go inside and marvel at the beauty.  We stopped or drove by many other sights but it was hard to keep it all straight. 



Trevi Fountain



     Another favorite spot was the Trevi Fountain.  After we returned from our trip we watched the old movie, "Three Coins in a Fountain" and found it so interesting to see places we had just been.    

     At this stop we also enjoyed some Gelato (Italian ice cream), a MUST in Italy!    I highly recommend it!  Yummy! 

Day Two of our trip was Naples, Italy.  (to be continued)