What I got was a high speed ride into Rome. We passed by the Pantheon, the spire Constantine had built for his conquest of who knows who. I remember thinking, I have to photograph the type carved into stone to help my students understand serifs.
The hotel Eurostar was tiny but elegant. Julia was asleep inside, and hadn't gotten any of my frantic messages from Brussels, where I had been snowed in for thirteen hours, but luckily did have the hotel info. Otherwise it could have been a disaster: how could we find each other in Rome with no cell phone, no internet? Note to self: it would have been worth it to have a working cell phone because I spent about 75 euro trying to call and send email messages to update Julia on where I was. Note to Apple and ATT: if there are people here in Europe using IPhones, how can you be so regionally minded as to not offer a one, two, three week European or other world travel plan?
An insight into myself: without my IPhone I don't know what time it is, can't use GPS to get a map, can't use the wonderful app My Trip Advisor, can't make a phone call or send an email.
Once in the hotel, we caught up, talked for awhile, and fell asleep until 11:30 am. Checked out by 12 and went in search of food, since neither of us had eaten much the day before. We found a Sicilian restaurant and had some risotto, fried fish, and an antipasto plate. Then we picked up our luggage and walked to the Termini, bought tickets to Civittaveccio (under the watchful eye of a probable pickpocket). Our train was about to leave and we had to find where to catch it, Number 27, about a three block walk. It is easy to feel lost and stupid in a place where you don't understand the language, customs, or where to go. But asking people is most helpful, and Julia knew to stamp our ticket before we got on the train because a friend of hers was slapped with a big fine for not doing so.
The ride to Civitaveccia was alternately trashy and beautiful. The contrast between the old, sometimes ancient buildings and the many cell phone towers on top, the Italian way of using what they have to scrabble together chicken coops out of old gates, scrap wood, maybe even some duct tape. It felt like we were gaining altitude because every time we went through a tunnel our ears popped, but the Mediterranean must be at sea level, right? Another fact I can't check without internet access.
Our room in the ship was small but cocoonlike, and we never regretted not having a window.
12.21.2010
The daily cruise newsletter told us that about 9 pm we would be passing the archipelago off of Tuscany. We huddled together against the cool breeze as some tiny black islands and a larger one went by magically. We were the only people on the deck, and it was dark and almost cold and windy. The Mediterranean salty breeze is a real head clearer.
There was a Mariachi band that we listened to for a little while in one of the bars, then went to our room and finally watched the movie Eat, Pray, Love together. It was after midnight when we went to bed. I'm kinda proud of that.
12.22.2010
We hoped to get up early and catch the sunrise, and we did get up early, but it was cloudy and raining, so we watched the sky change from dark to medium gray as Savona, Italy emerged from the shadows, while we ate breakfast. Don't get in the way of a hungry qtip is my advice. They've been around long enough to budge in front of you just because they can. We both had custom omelets made, yummm, and have sworn off American coffee, switching to tea in the morning and getting due cappuccini in a small cafe in port.
It was raining as we left the Costa Pacifica, (pronounced Pachifica in Italian.) There was a tourist info stand right there where we got maps and a rough itinerary (I had maps all printed out but they got left behind in the bag that didn't make it to Rome in time.) We crossed the bridge, and walked to the Priamar, apparently constructed 205 BC, in alliance with Carthage against Rome, who overtook the rule of Savona around 200 BC. Later, Savona was under Byzantine rule.
We got pretty wet taking photos at the Priamar, so we headed into town looking for a fix of indoor warmth and due cappuccini, which we found at Caffeteria San Michele. It was lively with Italians enjoying a break from the drizzly day, just like us.
Photo captions: Views of Savona (and a little of our ship) from the Priamar and Caffeteria San Michele.
12.23.2010
Will arrive in Tunis today, with a booked excursion to Carthage and the market.
We thought we wouldn't spend much time in our room, but it is our cocoon that we emerge from and return to when we need a break from the action on the ship. One thing I really love is being in an international environment and hearing foreign languages (here on board every announcement is in Italian, French, English, and German, which can get tiring when the announcement is about Super Super Bingo). I love to eavesdrop. I can understand some French, a word or two out of most sentences. So far I can't separate the words in Italian but love the waviness of the sound of it. But after awhile we need to come back to our cocoon, update our blogs, watch a movie in English, so far Eat, Pray, Love 2 times and Inception once. Yesterday at lunch we both became undeniably sleepy and came back to the room for a snooze, We had a day at sea, and had planned a lot of exercise and Italian and craft classes, but we blew them all off to go in the hot tub and lay in the sun on the deck with provided yellow and black plaid blankies.
At 4 pm there is tea time, with snacks of course, but this is something I may carry back to life at home. A time for a break and a delicious cup of tea.
The shows in the evening are kind of bizarre but we go anyway to be entertained. Last night was a bunch of musical numbers and dances about sports. For example the song Kung Fu Fighting, sung by a male and female singer with digital musical backup, and danced by a troupe of maybe 15 dancers. There was also rodeo, basketball, soccer of course, this is Europe, motorcycle riding to the tune of Born to Be Wild. The evening before was a Cirque du Something, a duo doing some kind of clunky acrobatics and mime. I guess it is tough to do a show that appeals to all ages from kids to great grandparents, but I get the feeling Costa doesn't pay that much for their talent. However, I am sure we will attend tonight.
IPhone in Europe
I loved my IPhone until I took it to Europe. Why, ATT, can you not have a two to three week Europe plan, when I see many Europeans using their IPhones here? Or is it possible that in Europe the IPhone is not tied to ATT?
In airplane mode, I have only the date and time, and Scrabble. If I had the Internet, I could use my trip assistant, which would tell me places to eat and hotels nearby.
12.23.10
Tunis
Left at 8 am on the tourist bus and as soon as we got out of the dock area realized we had made the right decision. Very few women on the streets. Our tour guide took us through the ruins at Carthage, and explained that while the Phonecians were the original inhabitants, they built wood houses on mud bases. When the Romans came, they burned Carthage for 17 days, then largely built on top of it. So what is left is Roman ruins. Except for a canal the Phonecians carved out that is still in use today. Also, there were some baby mausoleums that were used when families were required to sacrifice their first male child for the good of the family and the people.
The souks at Medina are markets, tiny spaces crammed with a specific sort of goods, like leather, gold, ceramics. we were treated to an explanation of rugs: wool woven are the least expensive and poorest quality. There are both sheep's wool and camel wool. Moving up the line, next is cashmere. These are not woven, but tied using knots, and take months to complete. Top of the line is silk, also knotted by hand and take twenty-one months to complete. One of our group bought one for 4500 euro.
On the way back, our guide talked a bit about Tunisian society. Health care is free with a 25 dinar copay. When a couple divorces, the man loses everything because he has to pay the lawyer, even if the woman has a job and more money. The children stay with the mother until age 15, when they can choose which parent they want to live with.
I noticed few women on the street, some in hijab, some not. Older ones vs. younger.
Watched Inception and kept dozing off, which is ironic, I maintain maybe the best way to watch it.
12.21.2010
Photo captions: The canal the Phonecians built in Carthage that is all that is left of a city that was once the largest city in the world. Roman ruins in Carthage, a three foot high sage plant, and a view of Tunis from the ship.
12.24.2010
“You're not a tourist, you're an art student.”
-Julia's art teacher at Hamilton College in Madrid
12.27.2010
At Sea
Yesterday our port was Kotokolan, with a trip to the ruins of the site of the first Olympics. The Greeks didn't use marble, unlike the Romans, and their ruins are centuries earlier, and truthfully there isn't much left but pockmarked discs that used to be part of columns. But, we decided to do it on the cheap and take the train, 10 euro round trip for two, instead of the 40 euro each it would have cost to take the bus and herd around a guide. It had it's plusses and minuses. The plusses were eavesdropping on a French family with a young child that was making rhymes of the alphabet. For instance, Monsieur F est un chef. Monsieur B, il va tombe. There was another French father whose children were not anywhere near as well behaved who was raptly watching, almost glaring at the fun the little boy, his brother, sister, and mom were having to pass the time. The train was crowded, mostly with tourists from the boat.
When we got to Olympia, it was lightly raining. En masse, the tourists on our train figured out where we had to go, and the cost of entrance was minimal. We wandered around for about an hour, hoping to glom on to an English speaking group from the boat, but everyone we encountered was either speaking French or Italian. Julia was afraid her nubuck boots would be ruined, but after a day has passed, they seem to be fine, if a little shrunken. I was wet through and through, and cold, so when we got back on the ship we hopped into bed and watched Toy Story 3 again and filled in the blanks from what I had missed the night before when I dozed off.
I did doze off again, and slept so deeply that when Julia woke me and said it was six fifteen, I had to ask her what that meant. What it meant was, we are scheduled for dinner at 6:30 so it’s time to get up.
We dressed (gala again, so I had to trot out the same tired skirt I've worn all week) for dinner, and once again had way too much. Allen, our main server, has taken to offering us many desserts. Last night was my first Baked Alaska, along with some chocolate raspberry cake from our neighboring table, who were having a birthday. I have given up trying to control how much I take in at dinner and am almost looking forward to being able to choose how much I ingest. However, this week of holidays and desserts has been wonderful. And, I don't need to have dessert in order to be satisfied.
My recommendation is to sign up for a tour in Tunis, and maybe one or two other places, and go it on your own in the smaller ports. You could actually walk everywhere except Mdina in Malta. And I do highly recommend the trip to Mdina on one of the outdoor double decker buses that cost 10 euro, not the 40 euro trip on the Costa plan.
Today we have a day at sea, on our way to Civittaveccia, where we disembark tomorrow morning. There are a plethora of activities to choose from, exercise, Italian lessons, how to detox for weight loss, and of course just doing nothing, reading on the deck, lazing about. June, our dinner mate, is having a birthday party for her daughter Melissa tonight, I'd like to get a drawing done for both of them but who knows.
My tee shirt smells like it dried too slowly, so there is one more casualty to my dwindling wardrobe.
We are now passing by an island with a small town by the sea, and a few settlements up farther in the hills. I wish I had a world map, or at least a detailed map of the Mediterranean, this is all so fascinating to witness firsthand. And internet access so I could look up the history of the places we have visited without a guide and those we have passed by without stopping. The ancient Romans have been everywhere we have been on this trip. I thought I saw a piece of an aqueduct on this island we are passing.
Two things I never want to forget: the humid Mediterranean air and the beautiful light in the mornings and evenings. Julia and I struck out for the most part on seeing the sunrises and sunsets, a combination of rain, not having a window, and needing to sleep.
While I am still proud of packing lightly, I am sick of everything I brought and feel like I have worn it all 3 times at least. I am tempted to buy something for tonight's dinner but will instead do a different combination of pants, boots, top and scarf that I haven’t done before. I wish I had brought more scarves and jewelry, note to self.
This trip has been one of the most memorable of my life, many thanks to Costa staff and the general organization of the whole cruise. I would recommend a Costa cruise to anyone who wants to experience Europe without having to pay attention to every little detail like lodging and meals. This cruise is friendly to all ages from toddlers to seniors in wheelchairs.
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