Alicante, Spain.
Took a ship excursion to Guadalest which is a medevial hilltop town 1.25 hrs from Alicante. It was a very scenic drive with beautiful villages and countryside on the way. Guadalest is really small, quaint & charming. We visited a four level house & then views from the terraces around the town. There is a dam below that created a small lake which is small & charming. Plenty of small shops & other places to visit. Were there for about an hour before heading back to Alicante which is also a lovely city. Great esplanade & old town area plus I took ascensior to top of hill and the old fort for super views of the city & surroundings. Weather was bit overcast & some rain but I was lucky because when I went to Avignon it was sunny & beautiful. When we were on this ship the sky opened up & rained hard for abut 45 minutes. We were very lucky with weather throughout this trip. Next day went to:
Barcelona, Spain
Been here many times before & really love this city. A couple of years ago I met a guy there who was from Chile. We became friends & I visited him in Chile in '07. He is back in Spain & we met for the day to run around Barcelona. Covered a few new neighborhoods & several old ones before going back to ship. Got caught in showers a couple of times during my day here. Very little sun here also. Next stop was:
Marseille, France
This port doesn't have good transportation from port to town. It is about 4 miles & taxis try to rip you off (40 euros for 4 mile trip). Ship had shuttle but originally was not suppose to start until 8:30 am which was 1.5 hours after we docked but they started earlier (8am) so I took it. Wanted to go Avignon. Took Metro to train station & just missed the local train that I wanted which would have arrived right near center of town. I found out that there was an accicent on the tracks & only trains operating were on TGV High Speed which arrives in station 15 minutes by bus to centre. Avignon is really great city. Best know for Palace of the Popes. This was residence of papacy in 14 Century. Pople was afraid of invasion from Turks so relocated here. Place is enormous but mainly empty rooms. Spent about 1.5 hours here before visiting famous bridge that the French song was named for. Sorry but forgot name. Rushed back to bus then train into Marsaille. Walked around for short time mainly from train station to Vieux Port where I picked up shuttle back to ship. Was very surprised to see majority of population around Vieux Port was Muslim. Didn't see many French walking the streets.
Last stop before Civitavecchia was:
Livorno, Italy
Again, ship got us for shuttle into town. Cost was 5 euros which wasn't too bad. Met a great couple on ship earlier in week who joined me for day to Pisa & Lucca. We took bus to train station then train to Pisa. Walked around for awhile & really had lovely time. Decided to go to Lucca but this wasn't my best decision. When jumped on train tried to validated ticket before boarding but had difficulty so just got on train from Pisa to Lucca. Conductor wanted to charge us 40 euro each for failing to validate but she was nice & only charged us 40 euros total for all three of us. Spent around 45 minutes in Lucca before trying to catch a train back to Livorno. Had to buy fast train ticket in order to get back to ships shuttle on time unfortunately trains were running 30-45 minutes late so we missed our connection. Didn't get back to Livorno til around 6pm & took cab to ship. Whew!! Just made it with 15 minutes to spare. My travelmates were very understanding & great with all the agita we were experiencing. All in all was a good day.
5/15/10 - Arrived in Civitavecchia early in the morning. Stayed onboard until about 10 am. Really enjoyed the ship & was sorry to be leaving. It was raining quite heavily & was a bit chaotic leaving ship with my bags but was able to get a shuttle to beginning of port with only a 15 minute wait after navidaging through wheelchairs & people trying to get on the ship for the next cruise before boarding the shuttle. Walked to statione & got the train into Rome Termini.
I checked my bags at the station & walked around to find a room for next 10 nights. Hotel service at station only had rooms starting from 90 euros which was way over my budget. Went to 4 hotels before finding one that wasn't too expensive. Negotiated rate of 52 euros/night which is pretty good for Termini area. Had to change rooms a couple of times but all OK now. Breakfast good at hotel. Lots of pastries, yogurt, coffee, rolls, cheese & cereal.
5/17/10 - Met my friends from ship & spent day together. They have brother of a friend who is living in Rome & we walked around before we all went out to dinner in Trastevere at a great place. He was super in showing us some areas before/after dinner.
5/18/10 - Walked around a bit yesterday & found discount electronics store where I bought GPS. Brand is Mio which was cheapest. Will try for few days. In Rome you can exchange but no refunds. Also got a SIM Card when I arrived for phoning & internet but had problems configuring. Company I used, Wind, is low priced but poor support. Will not support from store but will from calling but little or no English. Was finally able to find office that had someone that helped me.
My number again is: 3273124102 if anyone wants to call.
Rome is still one of my favorite cities but still having problems with my feed but getting better. This is a terrific walking city.
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