2010 March – Mediterranean Cruise
Published Sunday, March 7th 2010 - Updated Sunday, January 16th 2022
Day 1 – Houston to London to Rome:
We flew from Houston to London – a trip of almost 8 hours! We arrived there all jet-lagged but the moment we set foot in the city (we had a few hours before our flight to Rome), all tiredness vanished and we ran from post to pillar soaking in London!
Planning a trip to London? If so, then Madame Tussaud’s is a must-see, to admire and take pictures with your favorite celebrities (Politics, Sports, Hollywood, AND BOLLYWOOD). After spending a couple of hours there, we went to see Buckingham Palace even though it was brrrrrrrr cold outside! We missed the Changing Of The Guards, but it is a must-see at 11:30 AM.
Need fast and convenient transportation covering all of London? Then use London’s underground trains! 6 hours just flew by and we rushed back to the airport in time to catch our flight to Rome, Italy. Because we reached past midnight, the train service had stopped. We had to grudgingly take a taxi to our downtown hotel. Finding a Burger King at 1 AM to feed the family in an unknown city was no walk in the park, but we managed.
Day 2 – Rome to Port Civitavecchia:
Rome is so full of history …. we boarded a tour bus and the first stop (OF COURSE!!) was the Colosseum! We spent about 2 hours there and then jumped back on the bus. This time it took us to a different country…Vatican City !!! Since it was past noon we missed the Pope but got to see his residence from the inside and outside.
The visit to St. Peter’s Basilica was the highlight, but the walk up the 762 steps to the top of the dome left us drained (I wonder if that is the Stairway to Heaven? :-). The view, however, … absolutely worth it. Because it was a Sunday, the entrance to the Sistine Chapel/Museum was closed… This was something that we grossly missed.
The Pantheon was not too far… It was awesome seeing the ancient Roman Temple from inside. Our last stop on the bus was the magnificent Trevi Fountain … pictures galore!! No trip to Rome is complete without sinking your teeth into their awesome gelato….of course we indulged.
Later in the afternoon, we caught the train to the Port of Rome, Civitavecchia, and boarded our cruise ship, Costa Pacifica after a bunch of misadventures…late train arrival, missed port bus, lost luggage, crying kid, and an almost missed ship – but whew, we made it in the nick of time.
So glad we took the balcony room – the rest of the evening was spent looking at the reflection of shining portlights in the dark blue sea.
The first-night sailing was a lot of fun and uneventful. But we were happy to reach our very first port. Glad we took the balcony rooms so we could see the city all along as we pulled into various ports. Since we had already spent some time in Italy, and we wanted to add more countries to our repertoire, we decided to take the ship’s excursion tour to Monte Carlo and Monaco.
The 1.5-hour bus ride was a dream as we drove through the Italian countryside and then passed through France.
Monaco is famous for its princely castles. We saw the Changing of the Guards here at the prince’s residence since we had missed it in London. The whole ceremony was very grand, as was evident by scores of people watching it. Luckily, we were at a higher level so we could also see the awesome view of the rest of Monaco alongside.
Monte Carlo is world-famous for its Grand Prix race tracks, but we used our time walking around the gorgeous city. This is a perfect place for window shopping for people on a budget like us.
The biggest advantage of the cruise ship was that sleep at night and in the morning you were at a different port. Our stop the next morning was Barcelona. We decided to go local this time and took the metro around the city. Stopped at the very famous (and still under construction La Sagrada Familia) cathedral. It was spectacular!! From there we went to the Gaudi park designed by Gaudi with so many unique and interesting structures. On the way back we strolled through Las Ramblas street with a multitude of activities, shows in progress there. A full-of-life and active city. (The only problem was that we got pickpocketed there - in a very daring way! They took all our cards and cash right out of our bag and we did not realize until 10 minutes later - be VERY careful there!)
Dinner was on the ship again after moping for a bit about the setbacks. :(
Our next port of call was Valletta, Malta. Perhaps I would have never added it to my itinerary had it not been part of the ship's itinerary! But it was a good experience. It is mostly famous for Pearl shopping - but after being pickpocketed the previous day, we were not too interested in shopping there! Roamed around the small city, took lots of pictures and saw the ships berthing and sailing from a distance - it is a major port!!
Just like Maletta - this would never have been in our itinerary, but we are so glad we did this!! Being on a different continent was such a great experience .. we took the ship's excursion - for the fact that we could stay together in a large group instead of venturing out on our own. We were not exactly sure of the safety factor in there.
But it was quite a nice experience - the tour bus took us to the Roman Baths which were absolutely gorgeous. We got a chance to visit the local souks (markets) and then saw the small villages with world-famous white homes with blue doors - it was an out-of-the-world experience. of course, the bargaining and yelling in the street shops reminded us of back home (India). We even went by a very beautiful mosque but were not allowed to go inside.
A day well spent in a different country/continent that we may not have ever thought of on our own!
A small island off Italy - this was absolutely the highlight because of its pristine beauty and small-town charms. We took a tour bus to the very active volcano Etna which is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily between the cities of Messina and Catania. The climb up to the ski lifts to get a view of the mountain was really something, but the awesome views along the way did not let us feel it that way! Even though we got a chance to roam around the little town after that and indulge in some authentic Sicilian food and shopping, we could not get the views of the stupendous Mt Etna from our heads, even after we got back on the ship. Navigating the roads along with the olive trees and the beautiful Sicilian scenery was another great experience to cherish!!!
This was our last night of sailing and we partied a lot on the ship (mostly ate!!) to celebrate our cruise!! Once we got off the ship, we got a chance to spend one more night in Rome. Too bad it was a Sunday again so we missed the Sistine Chapel one more time but even walking around the streets, having some gelato made the trip worth it.
We took a flight to London from there, and during our stay of 2 days there, we indulged in a lot of sightseeing as usual. Madame Tussauds was fun! Got on the 'London Eye' to enjoy breathtaking views of the city, took several trains to various parts of London - walked around Trafalgar Square, and finally left for home (US).
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