Hilton Rome Airport Hotel

Well, we said arrivederci, Roma this afternoon and took the long drive to the port. Boarding was a dream because we are concierge class. In our cabin, we had two plates of fresh fruit, two bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne. The wine and one fruit were from Hilton Grand Vacation Club. (We booked through them). The rest is from the ship. We will get fresh flowers and fresh fruit every day. And we had a dedicated line for check-in. That made it much quicker. This ship is very health cons...

This ship is very nice. Our dining room waiters are better than wonderful. The first night we all ordered shrimp cocktails. He brought us each one and two extras. And he brought extra desserts also. Today we docked in Messina, Sicily around noon. Our excursion was to drive up Mt. Etna. The trip itself was fine. We saw lots of lava and even where the lava flowed down. And our tour guide gave us a wonderful travelogue showing us houses that had been damaged, destroyed and repaired. She said the...

Today was a day at sea. So we slept in. The day went much faster that I thought it would. The weather is beautiful. While Al was in the fitness center, I went to the art auction. They had several Agamagraphs, but they were priced too high. There are 99 out there, so maybe when we are in New York in September we can check the galleries we go to. Actually, very few people bought anything. This afternoon we were invited to a high tea for the concierge level and the penthouses. It was very nice w...

Hey guys, Well we have finally escaped the Chinese goverment and made it out of China alive. Just kidding. All I can say is that if you ever have the chance to visit Sperlonga, Italy PLEASE do so. You won't run into any large crowds, but you will see some of the clearest water in you life. The locals are fun and quirky and very hospitable to tourists. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I have never been to a beach where on one side you had the water and right behind you were majestic mountains. M...

The flight was mostly quiet. We all tried to sleep, and probably did, a little, although nowhere near enough for any of us. Just before we landed, I felt a sharp, stinging pain in my right foot, like a needle had been driven into my skin. It turned out to be Elena's pencil rather than a needle. I think the needle might have been better. But I let it go, we landed, got our bags, and ambled over to the Hilton Rome Airport. And all agreed that arriving at Fiumicino was a much nicer experience th...

Today

Today is our first full day in Rome. We arrived last night and ate in at the hotel. We got up early and headed into Rome by train. We arrived at the Termini to take the 110 bus around to the Colosseo. We got a quick tour then off to the meeting spot for our Vatican City Tour which we just "skidded" into! Almost missed it. After 53 of the 54 rooms at the Vatican Museum we SAW the Cistine Chapel!!! Yeah! Finally after 5 trips to Italy I finally made it! We then finished with a trip to the Vatican!

Today

Today Dave and Alan left to go home. Lori and I were going to try and make a trip to Siena but after trying to decipher the train schedule and how to get there we decided to stay in Rome. So we took the train into Rome then over to the Spanish Steps where we window shopped for a while until we found a shop that was "calling" our names! LOL! We decided that the girl inside the shop was the devil as she "made" us buy things! LOL! We decided instead of "the devil wears Prada" she was "the devil ...