Day 12: Livorno (Florence and the Cinque Terre)
This was to be a very special day for some in our group (as only Florence/Rome/Venice can be) and not so special for some. Tim, Rick, and several others in our group were off to Florence to see the highlights of the city with a tour guide who specialized in "Gay Florence". Apparently he was really a hoot, but their time with him was cut short due to a faux pax on the cruise line's part having to do with an unannounced stop at a leather factory outside Florence that went on way too long.
Steve and I were on our way to the Cinque Terre: a group of five small villages perched on craggy rocks by the sea on the northwestern coast of Italy. This was the only excursion that we booked through the cruise line so we weren’t really sure what to expect. It turned out to be a very enjoyable day – if a bit exhausting, but not terribly memorable. Not at all the spectacular day we had on the Amalfi Coast (I know, I know – I’ll finish writing it up when I have more time :-). We had our new friend Aileen with us – along with lots of the blue hair set from Jersey and Long Island, but that’s OK. We had a very nice day. The weather was as it was on every day of this trip – magnificent! I don’t know how we got so lucky, but we certainly have. It’s been in the mid to upper 70’s every day the last week – if not the whole cruise.
The villages of the Cinque Terre are terribly charming and picturesque, but we just weren’t WOW-ed the way we’d been by other places we’d seen: Venice, Santorini, Amalfi/Positano, Rome.
It was fascinating to see the mountains with the marble mines of Carrara in the distance from the highway. You could see the huge deposits and veins of marble from 10 or 15 miles away. Quite stunning indeed.
When we got back to the ship we were totally zonked and needed to rest before meeting Tim and Rick at the Olympic Restaurant for dinner (the specialty place with an added cover charge). We ended up having a wonderful dinner that was totally spoiled by a head waiter who had no sense of empathy or compassion for our friends dietary restrictions (Tim is allergic to cow’s milk). Hopefully the dressing down Rick gave the maitre d was translated to the waiter…Oh well. The food was very very good, and we had a lovely bottle of Stag’s Leap Cabernet with dinner. Yummy.
Steve and I were on our way to the Cinque Terre: a group of five small villages perched on craggy rocks by the sea on the northwestern coast of Italy. This was the only excursion that we booked through the cruise line so we weren’t really sure what to expect. It turned out to be a very enjoyable day – if a bit exhausting, but not terribly memorable. Not at all the spectacular day we had on the Amalfi Coast (I know, I know – I’ll finish writing it up when I have more time :-). We had our new friend Aileen with us – along with lots of the blue hair set from Jersey and Long Island, but that’s OK. We had a very nice day. The weather was as it was on every day of this trip – magnificent! I don’t know how we got so lucky, but we certainly have. It’s been in the mid to upper 70’s every day the last week – if not the whole cruise.
The villages of the Cinque Terre are terribly charming and picturesque, but we just weren’t WOW-ed the way we’d been by other places we’d seen: Venice, Santorini, Amalfi/Positano, Rome.
It was fascinating to see the mountains with the marble mines of Carrara in the distance from the highway. You could see the huge deposits and veins of marble from 10 or 15 miles away. Quite stunning indeed.
When we got back to the ship we were totally zonked and needed to rest before meeting Tim and Rick at the Olympic Restaurant for dinner (the specialty place with an added cover charge). We ended up having a wonderful dinner that was totally spoiled by a head waiter who had no sense of empathy or compassion for our friends dietary restrictions (Tim is allergic to cow’s milk). Hopefully the dressing down Rick gave the maitre d was translated to the waiter…Oh well. The food was very very good, and we had a lovely bottle of Stag’s Leap Cabernet with dinner. Yummy.
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