Europe – Day 6

Today is a day at sea and since we had to set the clocks forward, we slept in.

Barb isn’t really supposed to be in the sun so Ed sat up on the deck for a little while and then Barb and Ed went to the big brunch – what a feast they put on.

Since we hadn’t had anytime to look around the ship and see the shops we did that next and even though we had been on the ship just last March, it all seemed new and fun to walk around.

The slot tournament was at 2pm and of course we both played in it and neither of us qualified for the finals – but it was fun and it is what we do.

By then the sun was really out so we decided to go out on the deck.  Barb was very concerned about the medicine she was taking that said to avoid prolong exposure to the sun so she sat (and sleep) in the shade – boring!!

At 5pm we came in and Ed took a nap and Barb read about the ports we are gong to visit next.

Then it was time to dress for the first formal night and go play first a session of blackjack where we didn’t do very well.

After blackjack, we went to dinner and once again it was a good dinner.

We had seen the show last March and so we did not go to the show but went right to “work” playing blackjack.  Ed made part of what was lost during the day and we finished at 1:30am – time to go to bed – it was a fun and relaxing day.

Night- next stop Athens, Greece.

Brunch

Lots of choices

Barb in the slot tournament

Need a scarf for the evening

Europe – Day 5

What a great day to celebrate my birthday.  First my wife gave me a wonderful, thoughtful card and then we had a great day with our friends in port.

We arrived at the island of Sicily and the port of Messina a little early and everyone met us at our cabin at 10am and we went off the ship and got a rental car that Jeff had arranged for the drive to the town of Taormina as we have been to Messina before, but never to explore Taormina.  The last time we were here we took a trip to Mt Etna and our legs are not ready to handle a climb like that again.

So we picked up the rental car at the port and off we went to Taormina which is a charming hillside town on the east coast of Sicily and is on of the island’s main tourist resorts. 

It took about an hour to reach Taormina which was quaint but jammed with tourists.  We spent a couple of hours there wandering the shops and then got back into the car and went down the hill to a little seaside town for a late lunch.

There I had the best Italian meal that I have ever had – it was wonderful and also we were eating right along the ocean.

Then it was back to the ship to take a short nap, clean up and go to a welcome aboard cocktail party up on the lawn on the top deck.

Then we went to the casino for a session of blackjack where Ed lost just a little.

Dinner was again very lovely and as usual a fun experience and we have a wonderful wait staff. 

After dinner, Ed played blackjack and won some and Barb played slots and didn’t have any fun at all.  So, we finished up for the day.

We set the clocks forward and it is now 2:36am as I type this and I am ready for bed.

Tomorrow is our first real rest day as we will be at sea all day.  But since Barb is taking the medicine she has been taking, she cannot sit out in the sun very long.

What a wonderful birthday I had!!

Arriving at Messina, Sicaly

Ed's Birthday chocolate cake

Really fresh fish for lunch

The first two courses of Ed's lunch

Main course pasta

Barb and Vera in the Ocean

 A typical street

Europe – Day 4

We didn’t have to leave the hotel until 10am so we awoke at 8am after a great night sleep, went to breakfast and packed.

Just before 10am, all 6 of us piled into a beautiful Mercedes van, packed tight with luggage and went to the Celebrity Reflection.  This ship is only 1 year old and we have been on it once before.

The drive was a just about one hour and it took us 36 minutes to get through the check in and security areas and we were eating by 11:30am!!

To say that life is good and we are blessed is an understatement.

We sat around talking and then went to the cabin to unpack, take a short nap and go to the life boat drill.

Then it was time for a nap before meeting the Casino staff in a lounge area.  We knew our Casino Host Andrea and also the Assistant Casino Manager Tracy as well as one of the supervisors.

Then it was time to go to the casino and Ed did really, really well for the first night including building up 3 hours of playing time.  The “rules” of the casino are that Ed has to play at least 2 hours a night at a minimum of $50 a hand.  So, not only did we come out ahead, we played 1 more hour than we needed to which is good if some day we play less time.

Our dinner was at 9pm and it was, of course, very good. 

We then went to the 11pm show and went back to our cabin to go to bed.

Tomorrow is Sicily – night from the water – it is beautiful here.

The heavy room key

Loading the van

Breakfast on the rooftop

Our room

Europe – Day 3

Last night - a couple of pictures

Dinner with our friends - Barb, Barb, David, Jeff, Vera & Ed

5 in the back seat - Jeff, Vera, David, Barb & Ed underneath!

We had to get up early today as we had to be at the Vatican by 9am for our tour of the Vatican Gardens.  We ate upstairs on the roof first as the sun was breaking and what a great way to start the morning.

Out into the Rome morning we went, walking the two blocks to the subway and went to the Vatican.

The tour was amazing as we were walking in the gardens that the Pope’s had walked in the centuries past.  The gardens take up ½ of the Vatican grounds and we spent 2 hours with our guide walking through them – it was an amazing experience.  We did not see any of the Pope’s; however, one of the ladies on our tour fell and broke her femur.  When the emergency vehicle came, we found out that there were 3 on the grounds at that time.  Probably not bad when we found out that 25,000 people visit the Vatican every day!!

Then we went into the Vatican Museum and then to the Sistine Chapel.  We had been there before, but it is always amazing to be inside the Vatican.  We then went into St. Peters Cathedral.  To show you how big the Vatican is, when we left the Vatican Museum, we took a cab to the other side to St. Peters.  It took the cab about 10 minutes to get there in the city streets.  We were glad we didn’t walk.

After walking around St. Peters, we walked up to the subway station and took the subway back to the hotel.  We had been gone for 8 hours and almost all of it walking.

To get back into shape, Ed iced down his knees while Barb took a short nap.  Barb is still struggling and Ed’s knees hurt so we don’t walk as fast as we used to this trip

Palm trees in the Garden

The English Maze

A fountain in the Gardens where the former Pope lives

One part of St. Peters

The ceiling in one of the hallways in the Vatican

Europe – Day 2

We slept in until 8am and then went up and ate at their roof-top restaurant.  What a nice, top quality place it is.

Then it was out and up two blocks to the subway and one of our favorite places, this great big flea market that is only open until 2pm.  Who knows where they get their merchandise, but wow is it cheap.  Barb bought 4 scarves and a great leather carrying case with also a smaller purse inside and Ed bought a shirt.

Then we took the subway back to the main station and boarded a train to take a 41 minute train ride to the Pope’s summer residence.  The ride was fine; however, we then had to walk up hill on a winding road for 30 minutes until we reached the town which is high above a volcanic lake - really picturesque!!

The town is very, very small with one 3 block in and then a center courtyard and at the end is this massive building which is the Pope’s and they do not have tours but it was neat to see the town and the view was fantastic.  We spent some time wandering the stores, Barb bought 3 more scarves and then we were told there were stairs down behind a church and so we took them, cutting our trip down by 15 minutes.

Back to Rome, we dropped off our packages and then took the subway to the Spanish Steps and walked around like tourists. 

Back to the hotel, we met Jeff and Vera and another couple David and Barbara, who are playing blackjack with us and we went to this delightful Roman restaurant.  We spent a couple of hours eating and drinking wine.  Then we asked the owner where the best gelato place was and instead of giving us direction, he took us in his car – a VW Jette – with 2 in the front seat and 5 in the back seat, 3 guys on the seats and Barb and Vera on our laps.  What a nice gesture the owner did and we laughed getting in and out of the car.

A short walk back around the hotel and it is now midnight and time to finish the blog and go to bed.

Barb is still a little shaky but doing better than last Saturday. 

Night from Rome another nice day.

Breakfast

You just gotta have another one

A long walk up - 30 min.

Old and new friends!!

Europe 2013 - Day 1

The trip started out when Ed arrived home Sunday afternoon from Chula Vista to find Barb really, really sick.  As a matter of fact, Barb told Ed that she wasn’t sure she should or even could be going.

Barb had gone to the Doctors for the second time on Friday and he gave her new medicine and told her he thought she would be ok.  So with that in mind, Barb decided to wait and see how she felt Monday morning.

We were all packed on Monday morning and Barb felt like she was gaining so off we went to Rome.

 We flew from Bloomington to Chicago and then on to Rome.  Both of the flights went well and we landed in Rome just a little ahead of time.  It took an hour to go through Customs and get our luggage and find out driver – we were then on our way by 10:30am.

We met out driver and for the first time had no problem with fitting our luggage into the car as we were able to pack one less big suitcase – hope we didn’t forget something!

The ride in took about an hour and our room was ready at the Hotel Columbia.  This s a very nice, small clean hotel but as a typical European hotel, the rooms were small and somewhat spartan, but that’s just fine.  The hotel is close to all of the areas that we want to visit and close to the Subway/Train stations.

We ate lunch at a street shop down the street and then we were off seeing the sites that we had picked out.  The first was a big park, and then we took the subway over to the Trevi Fountain and again each of us threw in 3 coins – who knows, we just might be back.

We walked and walked seeing the sights and finally ate dinner at a sandwich shop close to the hotel.

As I am writing this, we have been up for 29 hours.  My knees are hurting but Barb is better and already asleep – s goodnight for the first day.

Hotel Columbia Lobby

Lunch

Hotel Columbia

e

Trevi Fountain and yes, we both threw in 3 coins!

Spring 2013 – Day 9

Ed was up at 7:30am as we gained an hour of sleep and it was a good thing because deck chairs were going fast.

Barb came up shortly after that and it was a beautiful day at sea – calm winds and about 80 degrees.

There were a couple of empty chairs in front of us and a couple sat down and we realized that we had been in the Jacuzzi with him yesterday and they were from Boston.

To make a long story short, we were talking about what we did and Ed mentioned Bloomington Gold. They knew about the show and he said that he has always wanted a ’03 Anniversary Convertible.

After he found out that Barb had one, we spent about an hour talking Corvettes. He is planning on going to Mecum’s Houston auction so I gave him the name of the Corvette expert with the staff there. It’s a small world.

We then ate healthy at the Aqua Spa, stayed out until 2pm and came inside and packed. We packed in record time and then changed clothes and went for a walk around the ship.

The show was early and it was just fair.

As we do, we met Jeff and Vera for dinner and it is always sad saying good bye to such a great staff as we had at dinner.

We then went to the casino for the closing session of this trip, knowing that we were a little up and hoping to improve.

Barb lost at the slots, but is up a little for the trip, which is great. Ed started with a huge losing streak and changed tables. With only $200 or his original money, he quickly had a huge streak which puts us up significantly for the trip - WOW.

We are finishing packing and will be leaving the ship at about 9am. Our plans are to go check in at the airport and then take the Marriott shuttle to one of their hotels, lay out by their pool, eat lunch and then take the shuttle back to the airport for a 5pm flight which will get us home before 10pm tomorrow.

It has been a wonderful trip. We loved seeing our old friends Jeff and Vera and also friends both old and new in the casino.

It was a great trip – see everyone at home.



Going out for an afternoon walk around

Ready for dinner time

A "perch" in the reading area

In the Aqua Spa

Our dinning room staff