Our Cruise, Part 2

Oct. 21: Salerno

Our port stop was in Salerno.  We had the options of going to either Naples or Pompeii, on tours offered by the cruise line or on our own by train.  Helene and Loriane did go to Pompeii, but I opted for a quieter day, staying on the ship, sitting in the sun and reading a great book, Cutting for Stone. It was a beautiful day.  After Gloria and I had lunch, I took a walk into Salerno, which turned out to be a little disappointing as the whole town shuts down for the afternoon --- as is the practice in southern Italy, I learned.  I joined up with some other folks from the ship and we still had a good time.

Oct. 22: Civitavecchia/Rome

Civitavecchia is a port town 80k from Rome. The tour offered by the cruise line was 94 Euros, so we opted to do it on our own.  We were able to get a 9 Euro transit pass that entitled us to take the train to Rome and return, and use all buses and subways all day.  In addition we purchased a  “hop-on-hop-off” open-air tour bus pass for 15 Euros and we were all set. Loriane and I left in the morning, but by the time we waited for the shuttle from the ship and got on the train, it was just before noon when we reached the Vatican.  We managed to see quite a bit before catching the train back at 6:30 pm.  I am amazed how much we were able to visit. We were with a Jewish couple from Montreal, Jacques and Leontyne, who were pharmacists, and originally from Morocco. Loriane and Helene had traveled with them the day before. They were interesting, but also a bit irritating because they would incessantly ask questions of people to get directions etc. On the train to Rome they cornered this really nice Italian man, Alessandro, on his way into Rome for work.  He was very helpful and spent a lot of time giving us directions and plotting out a route for us.  He spoke English quite well.  The problem was that Jacques who is Francophone, thinks his English is great, but it’s not. So when we were getting embarrassed about Jacques asking questions over and over, and tried to thank Alessandro for his help, so he could get back to his work, Jacques pipes up and says, “Oh, this is good for him to be able to practice his English.”  He kept making embarrassing comments like this. Shortly after the Vatican, we decided to go our own way. We saw the Coliseum, the Piazza di Spagna (where we climbed the 138 steps), Trevi Fountain and lots more. The weather was like a perfect summer day.

I never thought I would get this fabulous experience. I hope see more of Rome again sometime, but I am so grateful to have been there at all; it was wonderful.

Oct. 23: Elba

Elba was our last stop.  It is a beautiful place, with wonderful beaches and mountains. Of course it is probably most known to us for Napoleon’s palace there, where he spend time in exile.  Gloria, Helene and I spent a few hours walking around the city, Portoferraio, while Loriane walked up to the fort.  The Isle of Elba is famous today as a tourist resort.

Oct. 24: Back to Switzerland

We arrived back in Marseille early Sunday morning.  Contrary to all the strike rumors we heard, we were able to get into port, and by about 10:00 am we were on our long drive back to Martigny.  It was snowing at higher elevations as we drove through the Alps. We went through Albertville, the site of the 1992 winter Olympics, and through Chaminox-Mont-Blanc.  We arrived in Martigny in the early evening, very tired.  Helene and Loriane have to be back to work Monday.  I’m going to be resting up and doing laundry.  I leave for Paris on Tuesday, Oct. 26 for 3 days.  Hopefully the trains will be running on schedule.