Buongiorno! Bryce and I recently returned from a 7 night Norwegian cruise on the Western Mediterranean. Naples, Rome, Florence (Italy), Cannes & Marseille (France), and Barcelona (Spain). It was an absolute whirlwind adventure, to say the least. We were completely exhausted but very satisfied after each day, knowing we had managed to squeeze in all the major sites and still have some time to enjoy the culture food. Lasagne, gelato, pizza... We also learned some interesting facts: for example, did you know the difference between a "trattoria" and a "ristorante"? Ristorante is a restaurant, with hired employees and kitchen staff. A trattoria is a family owned eating place - family recipes served up by family members. Good to know, right? Also, apparently daVinci is not Leonardo's real last name. He's from the town "Vinci, Italy" - Leonardo "of Vinci", get it? Crazy! Anyway, enough of the random facts - on to the photos!
Our Boat: Norwegian Epic
Naples: Mt. Vesuvius
In Naples, we climbed over the retaining wall and sunbathed on the rocks like the locals. The sea wasn't very clean, but we swam anyway - a welcome relief from the 40C heat! Overall, Napoli wasn't a very clean city, but pretty nonetheless, especially from a higher elevation (as you can see above). And still with the beautiful Italian architecture (that's a shopping mall ceiling in the photo below!)
Rome and Florence after the jump!
