Town of Corinth - A really bad Celebrity tour

We then drove to the ancient town of Corinth (pic. 1). Having paid $90 for the tour I stuck with the guide to hear his spiel. It wasn't too bad but after he was done he indicated there was a very small museum with 2 rooms and a couple of items. We had 30 min. to see the rest of the ruins, the museum, use the rest room and cross the road to see the ancient theater. With my broken toe I couldn't cover the ground that quickly. However when I got in the museum I realized that it as fabulous! They had wonderful items on display, all with nice descriptive labels. I had to hurry through and was the last person back to the bus. Here are some pics of items on display. Wow! I could have spent quite a bit of time looking at everything.

Then after he rushed us off he announced we had a shopping stop. Ugh! It was an 3x priced store that everyone agreed was completely useless. We could have easily used the extra 15 min. at Corinth. Back on the bus he announced we were going to stop for a bathroom break at the tourist trap we already stopped at to view the top of the canal. Since there had been bathrooms at Corinth and the shopping stop everyone vetoed the idea and we came back to the ship. Amazing how we had time for two extra shopping stops but he hurried us out of the site after 30 min. that we had spend 6 hours and 30 min. of our day trying to see. What a rip off!

I should have gone to the shore excursion desk to check to see if the shopping was part of the authorized tour but I was too tired and didn't think of it. I will try to do this tomorrow.

Day at sea 10.24

Today was a fabulous day for relaxing. I had the Indian food at the buffet and then took a few snacks and relaxed by the pool in the comfy couches. After that I went to the library, got a book and headed back to my room where I promptly took a nap.

Dinner was formal so I tried out my broken toe black tennis shoes, bought especially for formal dining. They worked so well that I signed up for a shore excursion to Ancient Corinth tomorrow in Athens. I had originally intended to do this shore excursion but had considered skipping it in favor of resting my toe some more.

After dinner we saw the best show I've ever seen at sea. Very talented acrobats, jugglers, body contortionists and strength performers took the stage and gave us a wonderful show (pics. 1 & 2).

Oct. 23rd, going to board the ship

After the delicious breakfast at the Valle del Marta (pic. 1) we headed to the ship for check-in (pic. 2). There was no crowd so we checked right in and headed on board the ship.

I had checked with the cruise line to see if there were any rooms available near the elevators from cancellations and they indicated I should check while on board. I suspected that they wouldn't check, and they didn't. They just said they were full. Oh, well. Afterward I relaxed in the lounge (pic. 3) before heading up to the buffet for lunch.

Exploring the ship

After lunch I snapped some pics as we made our way back to the room.

Pic. 1 is the aft outdoor eating area.

Pic. 2. is the indoor pool area which has beautiful plants and cushy seats.

Pic. 3 is the fountain in the indoor pool area. The water goes in different patterns and different colors based on music.

Theater and after dinner

We enjoyed a wonderful gourmet dinner. I especially enjoyed the crab and avocado appetizer (pic. 1). The french onion soup was delicious and not overly salty. However the leg of lamb was tough so I had to change to a veggie kabob with steak. We finished with vanilla creme brulee.

After dinner I saw the welcome aboard show which showcases the talent we will see throughout the cruise. Pic. 2 is the theater before the show starts. We have wonderful groups to look forward to. I think the entertainment is better than what I usually see on cruise ships.

Pic. 3 is one of the fun chairs they have aboard and Pic. 4 is a camel in the shopping area. The public areas of the ship are really fun and interesting to discover.

1st day in Italy

The trip to Italy was uneventful with the exception of it being an extremely rough flight. The captain seemed to not be able to avoid the turbulence.

I discovered that traveling by wheel chair provides distinct advantages when going through customs. The wheel chair handler went right around the line and out the door then passed our passports to the agent who processed them right away. He then got the luggage and went in search of our car. We landed early so the driver had not arrived yet. This gave us time to get Euros at the airport. When the driver arrived he loaded us into his Mercedes Benz van and off we went to Tarquinia (pic. 1).

We were staying at the Valle del Marta. They graciously served us breakfast when we got there as the flight arrived at 8 a.m. Unfortunately Italian breakfasts are bread and cookies. I was a little bit worried about the future breakfasts as the hotel is in the countryside and not within walking distance of shops or restaurants for us to pick up some supplies. The rooms were their cheapest ones. They were clean and beautiful but with a little tiny shower. Pic. 2, 3 and 4.

The hotel restaurant was closed for the season so they shuttled us to town for our meals. The quaint little restaurant for lunch (pic. 5) had excellent food. They had a voucher for the lunch program but we decided to order from the menu because the lunch voucher was 22 Euros per person. Unfortunately we forgot to bring our translation book and no one at the restaurant could translate the menu for us. The end result was a delicious smoked salmon and mozzarella cheese dish with lemon and cracked peppercorn and a wonderful pasta with asparagus and shrimp. The cost was 31E so we decided to use the voucher next time since it turns out to be a very good deal.

While at lunch we got a brief look at the town but didn't do any sight seeing. The rest of the day was spent sleeping and trying to get over jet lag.

Tarquinia Museum

The second day in Italy started with a breakfast of bread with chocolate spread and cookies. We asked for cheese, meat and milk in addition. All was cheerfully provided and we were so relieved to get some protein. The cheese was a very soft very delicious cheese, not like any I had ever had before. The meat was prosciutto and also delicious. It hit the spot and we were ready to take on the day. Pics. 1 and 2 are of the breakfast room.

The first stop was the Tarquinia Museum. It was housed in an interesting building. Pic. 3 is of the courtyard and pic. 4 is of the upper levels. Unfortunately there were no pics allowed in the museum.

The 1st floor collection was primarily of the stone caskets with carved figures on the lids and carvings around the sides. They were both wonderful and a little creepy when you were alone in the room with them surrounding you as they appeared to be looking at you.

On the upper floors were wonderful collections of pottery, coins, and a little bit of jewelry. There was also a display on excavation of the tombs as well as a recreated tomb.

The museum was well worth a visit but unfortunately they did not have any audio guides and there was very limited information in English so it was hard to appreciate the collection.

Pic. 5 is of the roofs of Tarquinia as taken from the museum window and pic. 6 is of the streets of Tarquinia. We had a little time before our ride came to take us to a restaurant for lunch so wandered to the market area and then through the very picturesque narrow streets.

I have a special gluten free diet requirement so the hotel came and took us to another restaurant for lunch. Unfortunately the 1st one we went to was closed. However we were eager to give another restaurant a try. Unfortunately this one was not as good as the first. We spent 65E on the meal and it was the first poor meal I have had in Italy. The bread which was supposed to be toasted was burnt, the pasta dish turned out to be the same dish as the day before but wasn't as well flavored and the meat was very tough. This restaurant was likely not a regular for our hotel, but was the only other restaurant in town that did gluten free. Thankfully the next day we returned to the first restaurant.

After lunch we were both booked for massages at the hotel to work out some of the kinks from the flight.

For the second night we ate in at the hotel and headed early to bed.