toby mercury and simon duanqi: September 2009

Thursday, September 24, 2009

italy slideshows - second batch (view on blog)

taormina (sicily) - we had hoped to see mount etna from taormina, but it was too overcast; still, taormina, while touristy, was nice enough to walk around; i especially enjoyed the gigantic cannoli (wish i could have taken a bite) and the impressive marzipan fruits

venice - after another day at sea, we arrived in venice; we docked there for two days; we were supposed to be at the cruise terminal both days, but somehow lucked out and were docked right by piazza san marco the first day (the ship's captain said it was only the second time in his career that he'd been allowed to dock there); on day one, i toured with mom and dad, which meant that after seeing murano and little else, we found a terrific park and spent most of the day there; on day two, i stayed onboard with nani and nana, and mom and dad had a fabulous day wandering venice; they saw some of the standard highlights, including the rialto bridge, and spent some nice time in what had been the jewish ghetto

dubrovnik (croatia) - our next destination after venice was the walled city of dubrovnik, which was absolutely beautiful; mom, dad and i did the highlights, which included a makeshift soccer pitch where i played with a tot just older than me and two - count them - two parks; talk about a good day!

sorrento/amalfi coast - following our last at-sea day, we docked in naples; it was rainy; once again, i was chaperoned on the boat, while mom and dad got off to see the sights; they decided that on their last vacation day they'd do an organized shore excursion; they chose one called "tastes of sorrento," which first visited a mozarella farm, next gave them free time for lunch (pizza) in sorrento, and finally concluded with a guided visit to pompeii; they had an awesome time and brought home limoncello (which for some reason they refuse to share with me)

naples/pompeii - mom and dad were impressed by all the innovations discernible in the ruins of pompeii; things like smaller, lighter stones carefully placed among larger, darker rocks, used as reflectors both in the pavement and in the interior of homes; the frescoes (they somehow missed the erotic ones) were amazingly well executed and preserved; the plaster casts of pompeii's unlucky inhabitants were haunting

onboard - last but not least, some shots onboard (including my 2nd birthday, onboard activities and my new friend, jackson)

italy slideshows - first batch (view on blog)

rome - we had only 24 hours in rome; i don't know which mom was more impressed with - the colosseum or these gigantic jars of nutella; i was most impressed with the park across the street from our hotel

portofino - this was the only port small enough that we had to cruise in on tender boats; we didn't do an excursion here; we just walked around and enjoyed the beauty; we also marveled at the size of some of the yachts

florence - we had two days docked in the port town of livorno; we spent the first, my 2nd birthday, in florence, which was just amazing; luckily, we weren't that hung up on seeing art, because the museums were closed (it was monday); but walking around was good enough; and we found the toy store to end all toy stores, so i was quite happy

pisa - nani, nana and i stayed on the ship while mom and dad ventured out into pisa and luca on our second day docked in livorno; they checked to make sure the tower was still leaning (as you can see, it was)

luca - next, mom and dad took the train to the quieter, less tourist-infested town of luca, which they enjoyed tremendously; on their way back to the train, daddy tried climbing the city's walls to get back in (silly daddy!)

messina (sicily) - after a day at sea, we landed in messina, which is the city in sicily just opposite the toe of italy's "boot"; we spent most of our day docked in messina in the hill town of taormina (see next slide show)