San Diego

pAs you can tell I haven’t posted in a while and am getting used to the site again. Anyway, we stopped into a hotel lobby to see a concierge. Since out time was so short he suggested a hop on/ hop off trolley we signed up and had a great tour.

First we crossed the bridge to Coronado. The skyline in the distance isTijuana.

We then toured Coronado. We got off at the Coronado Hotel which is definitely stunning. We went in to see the wood room which is entirely made of wood including the chandeliers which are in the shape of a crown.

View of Coronado Hotel facing ocean and view of ocean from the hotel.

We then reboarded the trolley to be taken to Balboa Park, Little Italy and Old Town. There is much to do in each location. We could have easily spent a day in Balboa Park. However time was short and we stayed on the trolley. We got off at the stop before our hotel to walk the promenade back.

view of our hotel & marina

We then went back to the hotel for some refreshments. It was a very long day, but we were able to see a great deal of San Diego.

We board the ship today and I don’t know when I’ll be able to post since wifi is sketchy on cruises.

I’ll leave you with a picture of the sunset from the hotel.

Panama Canal Trip

On the road again. We left New Year’s Day for a hotel near the Tampa airport. We spent the night to awake at 3:30am to catch our flight to San Diego. We arrived in San Diego at about 1:00pm pacific time. We headed to our hotel to check in and drop off our bags.

Time to sightsee. But first we needed food. The hotel is right on the ocean front by the convention center. We crossed the street via a pedestrian bridge to the gaslight area of the city

Naples

We had another day at sea as we traveled from Athens to Naples. The ship is really lovely and I haven’t taken pictures of the food since it would get to the point of being ridiculous. The presentation was always beautiful and the food delicious. I have added a picture of our table mates who were enjoyable company each evening. There is also a lot of maritime traffic so it is pretty at night to see the other ships all lit up. We booked a tour for Pompei after I spoke to an Irish couple who said it is a must see. Our tour didn’t begin until 1:30 so we had plenty of time before we left the ship. However, we explored the port. We got off and went to the terminal and surrounding area. There was the usual tourists shops so we just browsed. We then got ready and boarded our bus for the tour. Pompei is impressive! I was so fascinated I couldn’t stop taking pictures. I’ll only share some with you as I must have taken over 100. We were due to sail at 5:45 but didn’t get back to the ship until 6;00. When we were all on board – up went the gangway and we were on our way to Rome.’

Dinner group

Port of Naples

entrance walk to Pompei

Pompei

Ampitheater

House with courtyard

Athens

Our ship has arrived at Piraeus port in Athens. Shirley booked a tour so that she would see everything. I left the ship and was going to take a bus to Terminal A where I could get the Metro. However, there was a booth selling tickets for public transportation. For €4 I got 24 hours on public transportation and the bus picked us up at Terminal B and went to the Acropolis which is at least a 10 mile ride. It was a great ride through the city. I walked up to the Acropolis and then walked to the Plaka in search of wifi again. I ran into Brett and his brother Scott who were also on the ship. Brett just graduated from dental school and this was a celebratory cruise.We stopped at a restaurant and enjoyed food, drink and wifi. I went back to catch the X80 bus back to the port. I’m now sitting in the terminal because obviously it has wifi and I may not be able to connect again. Tomorrow is a day at sea and then on to Naples. It has been difficult to blog with the lack of wifi.

Port of Athens

View from Acropolis

Parthenon

Another view of Parthenon

Brett and Scott

Kusidasi (Ephesus)

More sailing on the high seas with good food. good company and good entertainment aboard ship. We reached Kudidasi and Shirley and I had booked separate tours to Ephesus. We each had a good tour, had dinner aboard ship and then went to see the evening show. Then it was on to the next port of Mykanos. We would dock at 7:00am.