my random ramblingsan infrequent (and these days, mostly Mira related…) blog

early morning flight out of Newark, and on home with a connection through Salt Lake. picked up the dog, and it’s nice to be home again. was a great trip, and still managed to get back in time for New Year’s Eve in WY.

up early and out of the suite at the Paris Hilton. it’s sad to be out of that hotel and enchanting city so soon. taxi to the airport for an early flight, arriving in New York midday. taxied to the Chelsea Garden Inn under a light rain. stopped at a sports bar around the corner for a little food, then back to the room for a nap. still raining in the evening, which limits my ability to walk the surrounding streets. ended up at an Indian restaurant for a great Jain dinner.

arrived back into Genoa in the morning. was already packed, so was just a matter of leaving according to my deck. said goodbye to the ship, and after eventually locating my luggage, grabbed a taxi and headed back to the airport. flew into Paris, arriving late afternoon. taxied into the city to the Hilton Arc de Triomphe, where i received an upgraded suite, and probably one of the nicest rooms in the hotel and possibly the city as a whole. view of the Arc outside of the window, multiple rooms, and a fesh bouquet of flowers delivered after arrival. hard to beat my room at the Rome Cavalieri Hilton, but i think they did it. dinner at the Buddha Bar, then took a nice long walk along the Champs-Élysées. is a shame that i will need to leave this beautiful city in the morning.

very early arrival into Naples. got off of the ship and walked a fair distance to the train station. figured out which one i needed and was off to Pompeii. got there before the slam of the tour buses and had a fantastic day doing a self tour of the well preserved town. was an amazing archaeological site to visit, and was one of the highlights of the entire trip. enjoyed a terrific and long day, managing to walk the entire town of Pompeii, including the colosseum. on the way out, grabbed a mediocre pizza, then took the train back to Naples. opted for a taxi back to the ship and reboarded for the last night on what turned out to be an enjoyable cruise.

late morning arrival into Messina, a small Italian city on the eastern side of Sicily. filed into the tour bus during a light rain for the drive to Taormina, a picturesque town with quaint streets. toured the remains of the ancient theatre, then spent a few hours wandering the streets of this very pretty town. eventually took the bus back to the ship and we were off again for our next port of call.

another early morning arrival, this time in Tunisia, a country that i must admit was never one i planned to visit. got on the ship’s tour bus and made our way to Carthage. the ruins were quite interesting to walk through, and made for great photography. next up was Sidi Bou Said, which was a beautiful small town overlooking the Sea. we then loaded up in the bus again and drove to the ruins of a Roman villa. next up were the remains of a Roman aquaduct and a nicely restored colosseum. the final stop before our return to the ship was at a nice small museum with artifacts from Tunisia’s past cultures.

second of two sea days. Christmas day, and dinner in the fancy Italian restaurant on the ship.

first of two consecutive sea days as we sail west toward Tunisia. more time relaxing on the ship and hanging out with the family.

into Alexandria early. disembarked and met the private tour company that was to take me into Memphis and Saqqara, then on to Cairo and Giza. Memphis and Saqqara were especially amazing and unexpected. so many impressive sculptures, mostly of Rameses II, including the limestone colossus. the pyramids abound in Saqqara, with the most interesting being Djoser’s Step Pyramid. on to Cairo and Giza, where i was to see the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, the Sphinx, along with many other pyramids and ruins. even went into the burial chamber of one of the larger pyramids. definitely not a site to be missed in one’s lifetime! on the way out of Cairo, stopped for a very nice meal and also a tour of a papyrus shop and a rug store. back to the ship very late, and was able to drive by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on the way out. fascinating day, and glad to not have died on the Egyptian roads.

another early port of call. Rhodes has an impressive city wall lining the port, but perhaps not as impressive as Malta. jumped on the ship’s tour bus and made our way to the Grand Master’s Palace, which was beautiful and contained some superb frescos and mosiacs. drove through the old city on our way to see the ruins of the Temple of Apollo and the Acropolis, which provided great photo opportunities. when the tour ended, spent some time walking through the old city and wandering through the narrow streets surroundng the port. stopped at a cafe for a little food and sampled retsina for the first time, which i really liked. back to the ship and back on the sea for the next port. dinner was a formal night in the dinning room.