Mediterranean Magic: The Saga Continues...

So now it's my turn to pick up the proverbial pen and continue with the saga that was our Mediterranean Magic Cruise. I shall begin where Jackie so graciously ended, with Sicily...

Sicily, Sicily Sicily... What can one say about our experiences of Sicily? Well, for a start the weather wasn't great, it alternated between hot and cold and eventually rained which drove us back to the ship early. Secondly it was very small and the street signs were typically European (virtually non-existent) which resulted in us getting lost, often! And finally it was just a bit smelly... ALL the time!

To be fair, I probably should say that it was just Palermo that we didn't particularly like. I'm sure there are parts of Sicily that are great... we might just not ever make it back there to find them. There was at least one highlight in this day and that was the Opera House. We were able to take a guided tour which took us into the main hall, the royal box (where parts of the Godfather trilogy were filmed), past a practicing violinist into the rehearsal hall, and finally into a large domed room which had the most amazing echo acoustics.

The Opera House in Sicily

The markets in Sicily... Looks good, smells terrible!

After visiting the Opera House we wandered the streets, getting lost frequently, finding markets filled with the over powering oder of fish, and visiting churches which we couldn't get into due to the many weddings that seemed to be happening that day. For out final stop we visited the botanic gardens which were large and seemed to be packed full of cacti, potted plants and huge trees. It was while we were at the gardens that it started to rain and so we headed back to the ship, when on the way we found, and consumed, the cheapest gelato of the trip.

Playing in the Botanical Gardens

Playing in the Botanical Gardens

That evening Karen, our cabin stewardess, left us another surprise, Artie the Aardvark! Another towel animal, and this time Karen got a bit cheeky and added my sunglasses as prop. If we hadn't liked Karen so much it would've been weird to think that a stranger went into your room everyday and cleaned up your stuff, we were almost at the point of wondering why Karen hadn't laid out our clothes for us each evening for dinner... she obviously new what we had brought with us.

Artie the Aardvark!!!

Artie the Aardvark!!!

The next day saw us docking in Civitavecchia, Italy. Having already researched what was available to see and do in Civitavecchia, Jackie suggested that our time would probably not be best spent here, so we booked to catch the coach into Rome about 1 ½ hours away. Our coach dropped us off and the guide walked us around to our meeting point right in front of the Vatican. It was at this point we realised it was Palm Sunday and so Rome was probably going to be fairly crowded! We decided to, for the first time on the cruise, buy a ticket for a hop-on-hop-off bus to help us navigate Rome. We had a quick squiz at St. Peter's Basilica from a distance as there was a service going on in the courtyard out the front, which the Pope may or may not have been at but we couldn't see him from that far away. So we hopped onto a bus and made our way to out first stop the Pantheon, my personal favourite.  

Saint Peter's Basilica

On the open top hop-on hop-off bus

In front of the Pantheon 

Unfortunately we couldn't go in because there was a service going on and we didn't have the time to wait. We decided to walk to the next place the Capitoline Museum. This place is great, but we were only able spend a short while here as there was much more of Rome to see! We took a walk to where we though the next bus stop was, but unfortunately being Palm Sunday things were a little topsy-turvy and a street parade of many people dressed up in ancient Roman garb resulted in the buses not stopping at their normal places so we were unable to get back on. 

Part of the parade for Palm Sunday

The Trevi Fountain

Having wasted a good 20-30 minutes looking for our bus, we decided to make our own way to the next big monument the Trevi Fountain. 

Moving on once more we try to find another bus stop. Much walking, map reading, asking for directions, map re-reading, and realising you've been misdirected followed. Eventually we walked back to the original bus stop near the museum and caught a bus from there. We learnt a valuable lesson from this, never get off the bus and try to walk to the next stop... you will not be able to find it!

In the final 2 hours of the day we took a flying visit to the Palatine, Roman Forum and the Colosseum. 

At the Roman Forum

The Colosseum! Need I say more? 

At the Roman Forum

We would have liked to spend more time in each of these places but the mishaps with the buses means we didn't have as much time as we would have liked. We got to see all the big things, but not the insides and not in real detail.

Our final port of call was Savona, a little port in the north of Italy near the French boarder. During discussions over dinner with our fellow dining companions, Sarah and David, Jackie's fear that there was nothing to do in Savona was confirmed. So we booked an excursion to cross the boarder and visit the Principality of Monaco, and we were lucky enough to have Deb and Jim (our new Canadian friends) decide to join us. The 2 hour coach ride through Italy, across the French boarder and into Monaco was made more interesting by our guide who seemed to know everything about everywhere and she spoke the entire way there. Our first stop in Monaco was to the old town where we went into the Cathedral that Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier were married and buried in. 

Monaco's Cathedral where Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier 

The Grimaldi coat of arms show 2 monks because
that is how Grimaldi snuck into Monaco and took over  600 years ago.

This was easily our favourite church of the trip, it was beautiful, and Deb and I both HAD to get a commemorative coin to remember it by. Then we visited the palace and got to watch the changing of the royal guards. 

With Jim and Deb in front of the Royal Palace

Changing of the guards

Next we hopped back onto the bus and drove over to the other side of Monaco and visited Monte Carlo, the most opulent place I have ever been! The casino, hotel Paris and cars just reeked of abundant wealth and overindulgence! It even cost money to visit the public toilets, special thanks goes to Deb who very generously shouted us each a 50c wee each! 

In front of the Monte Carlo Casino

In fact we were very lucky with the people we met on our cruise and enjoyed their company very much! The very next day we woke up in Barcelona again, after a long and frustrating disembarking process we were able to collect our bags, catch an overpriced taxi to the airport and eventually catch our flight home. It was all in all a pretty dam good holiday... it definitely had its low moments (Sicily I'm looking at you!), but the highs far outweighed them.