April 18

Even the ship ride from Greece to Rome was great - we passed close enough to Sicily to see Mt. Etna covered in snow and then we passed very close to Stromboli which is an island that is an active volcano - just kind of burps all the time but there are villages on a couple sides of the island. But one side had smoke and steam rising from it because of the lava and hot rocks falling down the side. It was great. Then the real treat - ROME! Definitely a place I want to come back to explore! We took a tour that took us the 90 minutes into Rome from the port and dropped us off in Piazza del Popolo and turned us loose for 3 and a half hours! What a wonderful tour! It was Easter Monday which is a major holiday in Rome so all the stores were closed and there really weren’t very many people around - all the Romans take advantage of the holiday to go to the shore. Ginnie and I walked down to the Spanish Steps and then over to the Trevi Fountain! Great googly-wooglies! It was so fantastic! I was absolutely amazed. So beautiful - and so huge! Words really can’t describe. We did manage to find a couple of open shops and browsed for a while and bought a few things even though we have already packed our “junque” in the new suitcase we bought in Kusadasi! Then we took a cab back to Piazza del Popolo and had lunch in a sidewalk café - 5 Euros for a 200ml Coke!! The little tiny Coke cost more than the sandwiches! After lunch we got back on the bus and went to the Coliseum - it too was fantastic. Amazing to imagine what it may have been like with 70,000 Romans cheering on the gladiators! After the Coliseum we went to St. Peter’s Basilica. The crowds were huge - we had to stand in a ling line to get into the church. BUT good gravy - I was absolutely stunned speechless. It is so huge and so absolutely beautiful - it just takes your breath away! Amazing - absolutely amazing. No good pictures from inside though - too immense for a flash and too dark to take pictures without - I can’t keep a camera still enough. Another coffee table book to buy. But it was so beautiful and so grand! Then the drive back to the ship though the Italian countryside which is green and lush - even have redbud trees (at least they sure looked like them) in bloom everywhere so even though I missed them at home I got to see some! All in all it was a fantastic day. Now just 2 more stops until we get to England and change ships for the trip to NY.