2ND BLOG-NOV/19 

LIVORNO:  A few weeks ago Betty made contact with Leonardo via a website called “Tours by Locals”. They discussed and arranged a tour for us when our ship was to be docked on Nov.12.  Betty paid for the tour for us and “our friends.”  Because our cruise started in Marseille rather than in Monaco, we didn’t dock in Livorno until the 13th.  However, Leonardo was able to do the tour that day.  

Early on the 13th Betty and I, along with Marlene and Neal, from LA, were picked up at the pier.  We first drove to Pisa and had a brief driving tour of this lovely college town prior to visiting the leaning tower.  We had not been here since 1983, and were impressed how lovely was the freshly cleaned tower. 

After Pisa we drove through several villages in the Luccan hills before stopping at the old walled city of Lucca.  We parked by the wall and walked into the beautiful city.  Betty’s leg was giving out so we dropped her at a sidewalk café and continued.  The siren song of shopping was ringing in Marlene’s ear, so we soon had to also leave her behind as well.  By the time Leonardo, Neal and I reached the central plaza the sun had gone and the skies opened to a very heavy shower.  However, I fortunately spotted a souvenir shop which was selling umbrellas for only 5 Euros. 

On the way back we had to drag Marlene from a jewelry store , but Betty was easier to extricate from her coffee and pastries. 

We next drove through the countryside to Fattoria del Teso, reputed to be one of the best wineries in Tuscany.  Here we were scheduled for a tour, a tasting and a “light lunch.”  The”light lunch” turned out to be six courses, each carefully chosen to match with one of the featured wines.  Our host would pour each of us a glass of wine and then leave the bottle in case we wanted more.  I managed to have only one glass each of the sparkling wine and the two still white wines, but when we got to the magnificent reds discipline had diminished to nothingness. 

We were next scheduled to return to Livorno for a brief tour of that city prior to boarding.  Leonardo, however, chose to drive four soundly sleeping tourists directly to the boat. Once aboard Betty and I crashed and didn’t wake until the very end of the evening dinner period. 

CIVITAVECCHIA AND NAPLES:  Civitavecchia is the port closest to Rome.  However, to take a tour in Rome would have involved about 11 hours there and back.  Instead we skipped Rome.  As it was raining Betty simply stayed on board and I made a brief walk through a shopping area. 

The next morning we docked in Naples (not originally on or schedule).  When we were last here we took a hop-on/hop-off bus and got soaked on the open deck during a heavy shower.  We thought we might repeat the bus, but a taxi driver at the port gate convinced us that he could show us parts of Naples not accessible by bus.  He was correct as he took us through the very narrow streets of the slums.  Sitting in his van was at least as exciting as the best carnival ride.  At one point he backed ½ km on a street only inches wider than his van.  On a couple of occasions we heard words exchanged between our driver and other drivers that must have included every swear word in the Italian language. 

We are now back in our room, having skipped lunch, in order to prepare our stomachs for tonight’s meal at La Reserve.  Once a cruise we do a meal in La Reserve where we get 8 or 9 courses, each perfectly matched with a great wine.  

GETTING THERE IS HALF THE FUN

CRUISE:  We are starting our traditional November cruise; this year going around the Mediterranean prior to crossing the Atlantic for disembarkation in Rio.  However, finding our way from Antigonish to the ship was somewhat of an adventure in itself.

After an uneventful flight to Toronto we boarded our Air Canada plane for an overnight to Munich.  Just before take-off some passenger inexplicitly left the plane.  We then sat for two hours at the gate as the ground crew searched for the guy's suitcase.  This, of course, caused us to miss our flight connection.  Upon arrival in Munich we spent the next 10 hours sitting in the airport before catching a Air Dolomiti flight to Nice.

Despite a mere one-hour flight, this small Italian airline served us economy passengers good food and a wonderful glass of Barbera from Piedmont.  Air Canada should be ashamed of its offerings of juice or water.

Our original plan was to meet up with our good friends Gerard and Marie-Claude Gleize in Nice.  They drove from their home in Aix-en-Provence and planned to take us sight-seeing prior to dinner at a local restaurant.  We, of course, didn't make it to Nice until 11:00 p.m.  Nonetheless, our great friends stayed around and met our flight.  We had a brief catch-up on the drive to our hotel.

The next morning Gerard and Marie-Claude had a social engagement back in Aix so we spent a rainy Sunday re-charging after the long flights and lack of sleep.  Nice is full of great restaurants and a sidewalk lunch of moules/frites and grilled sardines was a treat.  In the evening we scored a reservation at the restaurant which we had missed the night before.  This tiny family-run place had great food and we greatly enjoyed watching the quite ancient matriarch  terrorize staff and patrons alike.

Poor weather resulted in the next small glitch in our travel plans.  We were suppposed to board in Monte Carlo but the ship couldn't dock.  Thus, after sharing a van ride from Nice to Monte Carlo we boarded a bus for a 3-hour ride to Marseille, the closest port available to our ship.

Once aboard I saw to dinner reservations for the next few evenings while Betty spent an hour-or-so hunting for her misplaced room key.  We just managed to make our early reservation at our favorite French restaurant.  Perhaps Betty's leg brace served to jog memory traces, but in any event, the staff at Jacques remembered us from a previous cruise and we were greated like long-lost relatives.  The meal (Chilean sea bass salad, followed by lobster thermidor, and then crepes suzette) was wonderful; no doubt digestion being aided by a a couple of glasses of Champagne and then many glasses of an excellent Californian Merlot.

After dinner we went to a piano concert.  The young Italian pianist (known as the pianist with the hair, and who will be returning to Carnegie Hall in January) played familiar Chopin and Beethoven finishing with the three movements of the Moonlight.  The selections were interspersed with hilarious monologues.  Unfortunately only a few cruisers bothered to attend, having no idea what a great event they missed.  In the morning I met the pianist and his wife in the hallway.  They apparently are on the ship "on vacation" and I assume the concert is footing the bill.  They left me in charge of drumming up patrons for his next concert which will be in a couple of days.

Today our ship managed to dock in Monte Carlo instead of the scheduled Livorno.  We had a nice Livorno tour scheduled but fortunately our tour guide has very kindly transferred our booking until tomorrow.  As you can see travel plans are never as firm as one expects.

HONDURAS TO THE USA

ROATAN HONDURAS:    Honduras is a poor country with 66% of the population living below the poverty line.  It has a high crime rate, particularly the murder rate.  Thus, we were cautious about  our visit.

 Nonetheless, we found a tour online that sounded interesting and that was inexpensive.  We expected a van or bus ride to an area where we could boat through mangroves. 

To our surprise we were met on the pier by Carlos and his Mazda 3.  He proceeded to take us on a six- hour tour of the island that included stops at an iguana farm, an animal preserve; and a private boat with guide and driver to take us through the mangrove tunnels.  We stopped for lunch at a private beach. 

If Honduras is poor, one wouldn’t notice on the 35- mile-long island of Roatan.  Everything seems well kept, the houses are nice; some of them are magnificent.  Carlos told us that there is little crime on Roatan and almost no unemployment.  At one of our stops we met some people from North Carolina who told us that they holiday on Roatan every year. 

SAFETY ON BOARD:  After four days with no new gastro cases our special sanitation conditions have come to an end.  Salt and pepper grinders have returned to the tables and the outer doors of the public washrooms are no longer propped open. 

Most of you saw the news of the Viking ship that ran into trouble off Norway, with some passengers having to be evacuated by helicopter.  I don’t understand how this could happen.  With satellite coverage and modern weather forecasting ships should be able to avoid storms and high seas.  Twice in the past we have sailed toward major storms.  Once when we were in New Zealand a cyclone hit Christchurch.  The Captain simply sailed into Wellington and stayed there for three days.  Last year while crossing the Atlantic we came close to a hurricane.  Again, the Captain skipped two stops in the Canary Islands and sailed down the coast of Africa to safety.

In fact, there is currently a tropical storm off Cape Hattaras so instead of being in Norfolk we are temporarily sitting out the storm in Port Canaveral.  

FINAL STOPS:  We are now in a less exciting part of the world (the US).  However, we did have a nice beach day in Harvest Caye, Belize and we got in a little shopping in Cosa Maya, Mexico.  Thus, it is time to end this series of blogs and stop flooding your inboxes with messages.  However, a couple of short items first. 

EVEN OLD MEN CAN SING:  Oceania cruises boasts about the food; other cruise lines boast about the on-board entertainment.  We, however, are quite satisfied with the entertainment.  There is a 7-piece house orchestra, a 3-piece house band; as well as 12 singers and dancers permanently on board.  In addition, entertainers join the cruise at specified stops and stay on for one or two shows before leaving to join a different ship.   

One singer, a man named Mark Preston, gave a particularly good performance.  We had never heard of him, but when he was introduced it was explained that he had spent 11 years singing with the Lettermen.  Imagine how old he must be. 

BELIEVE THIS IF YOU WISH:  After a month at sea Betty decided she should have a check-up.  She visited the ship’s doctor and returned to her room with a big smile on her face.  “The Doctor told me that with the exception of one knee and leg I am in wonderful health.”  She expanded by reporting that the Doctor told her that she had the body of a much younger woman.  Ron's expression remained passive, so she continued: “He told me I had the skin of a woman in her 50’s.”  Then, she proudly declared that he had told her that her breasts were like those of a woman in her 40’s. 

Ron seemed underwhelmed, turned to Betty and asked: “What did he say about your 76- year-old ass?” 

“Oh” she replied, “Your name never came up.”