Catch up day

First I want to say, we are on the beautiful EMERALD princess, not the RUBY. LOL. So now that you & I know what ship we are on, I will try to bring you up to date. 

Today we awoke at 7AM  to Capt Martin Stencel announcing that we were going to miss Cannes. That was ok with us as we had decided not to go ashore anyway, so we went back to sleep.   Ed got up before I did, so when I did, we got dressed and went up to Sabatini's for there wonderful breakfast. And now I will go back in time and try to catch up. 

The first day was Palarmo, and I told you all about that, then it was on to Salermo, it was an early get up so no Sabatini's we ordered room service. Then found our tour to the buffalo mozzarella tasting & Paestum Escavations.  This was a very good tour. The buffalo mozzarella is really special, seems there are many rules, as to what can be called "buffalo" mozzarella.  And it doesn't keep longer then a week. And they don't ship it out of country, as tree mozzarella is NOT pasteurized. We had a nice tasting, of bread, wine and cheese. Ed and I missed the gelato, and buying the wine, but that was ok. 

We then boarded the bus for The Paestum Escavations, we had no idea what o expect here, and we were really blown away. It is located in the eastern part of the Gulf of Salerno, 10 km from the mouth of the river Sale in the territory of Lucania and the northern boundary of the region in sec. IV BC it used to be called Great Greese, and was one of the richest and most flourishing Greek colonies of southern Italy on the west coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was over 2,500 years old and when settled it was ideal for farming. It had been hidden until WW II, when the Americans found it by accident, looking for the caves the Germans were hiding in. And over the eons if the people of Italy hadn't used the stones to build new things more would be in tact, it was all and all a great tour with a great guide!

After Salerno, we had a sea day, and we went to the meet and great, on the morning. And then it was on to the sale, for Tee Shirts for Ed, as we didn't bring any, on purpose so he could get them to wear on the cruise. Now I am not sure it will be warm enough to we are them. As it is about 60 degrees today.  Then we went to the Pub lunch it was goog as usual. So now it was on to the hot tub to relax before getting ready for the first formal night, eat, drink, eat, drink, rest dress eat drink......... Well somebody has to do it, right?

Next day Laverno,  up early, to go on our tour in for wine tasting, this was a private tour that Craig, organized back up in the hills of Tuscany.  Highlight was going back to San Gimignano and do a bit of shopping, then it was on Castillo Vicchiomaggio to tast white Chianti, it was very good and we bought a couple bottles to have on the ship. Then it was on to revisit the Verrazzano wine store, Ed was very happy, and we ordered a case of wine to be shipped home. 

We then went to lunch and a tour of Castello Sonnino, it is located in Montespertoli. They have 45 hectares of vineyards we were not taken by the wine here, but the tour was great and the linchpin good but a bit pricy. The olive oil they prouduce was great, and I regret not buying any, so I will try to get some on the ship, as it is very good too. So all and all it was another good day.Tomorrow, we go to Genoa. 

I will try to publish so photos tomorrow.

We are in Salerno

Well I should say we "were" in Salerno,,,,, now we are headed to Livorno. I have to catch you up on. The goings on, since we boarded this beautiful Ruby Princess! 

Our boarding was uneventful, but my internet has been very eventful! The blog gave me a huge challenge as it was hung up some wear, I have no idea what has gone out and what hasn't.  So if it all looks weird know I tried. It seems I can't send more then one picture at a time if I use the app, and I can't get to my photos if I use on line. So now you know my limitations. :) 

We boarded, and found our cabin,,, we knew wher that was,,, after doing 49days last year in the same cabin. LOL I was the first person to board,, how about that!  We all had our bags befor the muster drill, who say Italians are slow. So Jim and Ed made reservations for our dinner table with the head waiter. And then they made reservations for the first night at the Crown Grill, while I unpacked. 

We had a lovely dinner and went to bed early as we all had to get up early, for our tour in the morning. 

We set the alarm for 0630 and got up got dressed and headed to Sabatini's my favorite breakfast venue. Then down to meet our guide Barbara from  Benvenuto limos.  She was wonderful and I would highly recommend her.  

She took us to Monreale first, it was a suburb of Palermo up on top of a small mountain that has  a magnificent cathedral and as we were there on a Sunday they were performing a baptism, and we were able to see some of it, and we could even take pictures! Then we were given a private tour of an art museum that was closed as it was a Sunday! The lady that guided us around the museum, was so sweet, she showed us so much, wow talk about feeling special. 

Then we had an espresso to becom refortified, and it was down the mountain to Mondello, by the sea! And a very nice lunch. Barbara, became part of the Lonneville and Masek family, it was a wonderful lunch of clams and pasta, after a bit of a walk around, our driver picked us up and we had a tour of the highlights of Palermo Sicily, what a grand way to start.