10.1.8 - It Begins

And so it begins again dear hearts

and innocent bystanders...

After last years Whirlwind China adventure the real drama began… Chuckie’s ensuing Cancer treatment followed by a painful and tedious recovery [so far so good].

• In March we flew up to North Carolina to drive Greg, Cristina and baby David down and move them into Casa d'Chaos along with two dogs and a fish.
• After their house sold, we flew back up and drove the furniture down and put it into storage…
• AND THEN…there was the "early" arrival in July of our latest Grand-Son Jonathan. ["Papa" Calls him Charlie]
• But More Importantly...

THE NOWAT ARE BACK!!!

Yep, those traveling Wackos are off again. Chuckie opted to celebrate his birthday in Italy but couldn't get the villa in Tuscany or wine tours for the dates he wanted. After agonizing a few months... [While the dollar weakened] he could only come up with a 12 day Mediterranean Cruise. Ok… not the most creative of choices, but it includes Greece and Turkey. Of course the "Ever Frugal" Chuckie [read that “Cheap Bastard”]  couldn't get a "deal" on a really EXOTIC cruise but his good buddy Bruce at Carnival Cruise lines got him a GREAT DEAL on a balcony suite aboard Carnival's Freedom and Chuckie juggled the SkyMiles to match what will hereafter be referred to as:

MedCruise 2008

http://nowat-medcruise2008.blogspot.com/

Sooooo… instead of a spiffy Alfa Romeo or a KungFu limo driver to log a bunch of miles, the obligatory U-turns and a Wacky story or two, while paying absurd lodging prices, this time they’ll use a floating hotel to sport them around several Mediterranean ports with a side trip in Florence to replace the Italian Leather hat lost on the turnpike….[don’t ask]….and back to Rome.
Since NOWAT has been converted to a Blog you will only get a NOWAT ***ALERT*** announcing a new post. The Blog should make it easier to upload daily photos and you can add your own comments which may, or may not get posted depending on the Dragon Lady's mood. You don’t have to wait for the alert. Anytime you're ready to catch up on the latest adventure of Chucky and the ever patient Dragon Lady, just logon to the blog site.

Ok... so here's the deal, we fly to Rome October 23rd arriving on the 24th, grab a room downtown and hop a train the next day to the port of Civitavecchia about 70 miles away for the following 12 day itinerary on the Carnival Freedom.

10/25 Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
10/26 Naples, Italy
10/27 Fun Day At Sea
10/28 Marmaris, Turkey
10/29 Izmir
10/30 Istanbul
10/31 Fun Day At Sea [& Chuckie's Birthday!]
11/1 Athens
11/2 Katakolon
11/3 Fun Day At Sea
11/4 Livorno, Italy [Firenze and New Hat!!!]
11/5 Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
11/6 Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
[previous links to the ports have been de-activated so you'll just have to research them yourself]

Then we'll spend a couple of days running around Rome or where-ever trying to catch up on things we may have missed or looking for a tchotchke she forgot to buy or a restaurant we heard about somewhere along the way before we head back on 11/8

Now its off to the library for some new Italian Language CD’s to refresh the lingo.

Stay tuned for the NOWAT ***ALERT*** and here’s the weblink again to put into your browser’s bookmarks for easy access.
http://nowat-medcruise2008.blogspot.com/

Ciao 4 Now,

Chuck and the impatient to get packing

Dragon Lady

[Wait… who’s she kidding… Chucky does all the packing!]

10.13.8 PROLOGUE

OK.... now lets check that again...
1 Return Language CDs to Library
2 Pick up re-sized Fat Boy pants at tailors
3 Check luggage for needed repairs
4 Finish downloading Audio Tours to MP3 player & Phone
5 Check Carnival website for Upgrade possibilities
6 Confirm Turkish tour count, get final payoff
7 Confirm Sara & Phyllis for Athens Tour, Pay Stephen
8 Cancel un-needed car and hotel rooms
9 Call Avis Italy, change Resv to Nov 6, D/O at FCO

MedCruise 2008 is just 10 days away and this is just TODAY's "ToDo's"!!! You should have seen yesterdays and last weeks...
Yeah...Chuckie's making Lists again [frequent senior moments and his AADD do not allow for mental check lists] and he hasn’t even gotten to the Dragon Lady’s list.
How the hell am I supposed to get any work done!

Oh... and just had my 1 year P.E.T. scan [4 months late thanks to the Medicos] I'll get the results Wed.

While researching this adventure, I found a Message Board on http://www.cruisecritic.com/ called a “Roll Call” in cruise lingo that has been a helpful exchange of info and ideas on this Cruise with some perpetual cruise types. If you're REALLY bored...you can peek in on everyone’s preparation at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=572038&page=54

This a very Port intensive cruise and reviewing all tour options for each port has been a nightly project, Mid-nightly that is... Trying to get Dragon chick to sit down long enough to discuss them is another issue. It’s a NO-WIN deal competing with 17 pounds of wailing grandbaby. Soooooo I retreat to the Bat Cave and try to work it out myself.

Via the Roll Call, we’ve hooked up with two retired Ohio school teachers who want to share the Turkish and Athens Tours. This will bring the cost down dramatically and that’s a good thing cause all the nickel and diming with this fee here, that train fare there etc… is adding up.

I was going to highlight the agenda for the various stops but as it stands some plans are still up for grabs ‘tween now and then so we'll just handle it on the daily report. [Say “Thank You, Chuckie for not boring us with the details this soon"].

One highlight worth mentioning, Thanks to #4 Son Stevie [OK, so he’s not really blood, but we practically raised him], we have a tour planed at Castelo Banfi winery in Montalcino [mid-way between Firenze and Rome]. Since its 2.5 hours up and 2.5 back [Not to mention all that wine tasting] we have a room booked overnight in the Tuscan Hills. I guess this will have to suffice for the Villa in Tuscany that we originally planned. And hey...now it WILL involve a spiffy Alfa Romeo [and probably a few Girare-U's... "u-turns"].

Stay tuned for the usual Departure Chaos… I'm sure it will be mildly amusing, remember China’s departure?

Ciao 4 Now,
Chuck and the Baby cuddling Dragon Lady
[Boy is SHE gonna have baby withdrawals for 2 weeks]

10.22.8 – Preparing to Get Outta Dodge!!

QUICK NOTE …regarding comments that NOWAT posts can be too wordy.

These aren’t the “CLIFF NOTES” folks.

As the header explains, NOWAT’s purpose is to document the sights, sounds, tastes, etc of our adventure; to Virtually take you along to see, feel, do, and experience exactly what we do, as we do it… with a little obvious editorial license. Sooooo…. If Uncle Chuck gets a bit verbose, well…as a revered Italian Crooner once sang, “That’s Life”.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled report.

“Chuckie, where’s my blow dryer?
-“In the Big Bag”
“No its not, I don’t see it.”
-It’s in the Publix bag to keep the cord contained”
“OK… now I see it, how about the Steam Iron?”
-“Under the Blow Dryer .
[SHEEEESSHH already she’s started with the “WhereIsIt’s… and we’ve just started the final packing]”
“What was that?”
-“Nothing Dear”
“Have you seen my red striped sweater”
-“Its on the bed under your black striped sweater, do you really need both… they're pretty bulky”
“You don’t want me freezing do you?”
-“I told you before… Layer…Layer… 55F-68F is not freezing dear!!!”
“KODAK… do we have enough KODAK, you know how camera happy you get, remember China?”
-“Plenty dear, besides there's the Digital with a 2Gig memory card a 1Gig spare in my phone”

Now if she'll just stick to getting the umpteen bags of makeup and pills organized, I can get the rest of this thing moving along.

Packing for an adventure with the Dragon Lady is just that… an Adventure. She’s had it all laid out on the bed and everywhere else since Saturday. Its not like we haven’t done this before… but it sure seems like it every time she starts sorting and resorting. Then she runs to the 'puter to check weather for the next destination [in this case 3 different countries on 2 continents over 12 days] the game plan changes and I have to repack her latest adds and minus’. [You DO know that I do all the packing dontcha?] Old military packing habits die hard, if not, we’d be lugging 3 times the luggage.

The last few days have become a blur.

• Total shopping trips since Friday = 7,
• Number of last minute “Honey I need more […] please go get some” = Too Many.
• The Excited look on her face at the thought of returning to Italy = PRICELESS

By 1230AM she finished emptying the closet and somehow I got the last of her “chill” protection into her bag and wonder of wonders… my bag is not bulging [and I have the larger one for all the extras - blow dryer, travel iron, chargers, Voltage adapters, all the shoes, etc]. As she slumbers, I scale the bags and mine hits 54 Lbs [funny… 3 hours ago it was only 36 Lbs?!?] so I had to take out some shoes, and transfer a couple items to her bag, which was already bulging but only 37 Lbs. I really should have taken my regular bag and a small carryon but I ain't repacking this now.

Before I forget, here’s a nifty website for those interested tracking the ship in real time. [You poor bored souls] Scroll down for a neat Web came looking forward and aft [“Back End” for you land lubbers]
http://www.seascanner.com/schiffsposition.php?schiff=Carnival+Freedom Maybe I'll try to rig a sign in front of one like we did at the Hotel Bel 3 in Sicily back in 2001

Today should be a Breeze [yeah, Right…] All I have to do is Grocery Shop for Casa d'Chaos for the next 2 weeks [Grandma has to ensure the GrandBabies don't starve] and maybe make a few more "Oh, can you get me more [...]" trips.

Stay tuned for the usual Departure Day Chaos.

Hmmmmm, just in case...maybe I should run out for a little more Kodak…

Ciao 4 Now,
Chuck and the finally packed/dreaming of Via Veneto, Dragon Lady

10.23.8 AND THEY’RE OFF!!!!

CHAOS??? ... YOU WANT CHAOS???

BUT…First things first…Before we can go any farther…

A BIG SHOUT OUT to Mr. & Mrs. Terry L. Rose Sr. for having the courage and foresight to give birth to Terry L. Rose Jr. THANK GOD FOR TERRY ROSE Jr!!!

Why you ask….read on…..

I wasn’t far off in predicting some sort of Chaos, except the chaos wasn’t exactly about “Getting Outta Dodge”. It surrounded my little DELL Latitude 620 laptop. Yep, the night before we’re to leave, the little bugger started to blackout on me and of course, PANIC ensued. It’s still under full warranty, DELL will replace the culprit parts but not until our return!!!

Therefore…Departure Morning Chaos went something like this:
“Hello Terry, Chuck here.”
“Hey Chuck, aren’t you headed for the airport yet?”
“Soon… but here’s the deal; remember those screen “Poltergeist” problems I was having awhile back that disappeared as mysteriously as the appeared? THEY’RE BAAAAACK!
I was on the phone at 2AM this morning with the Dell Techies who informed me that my mother board and LCD screen need to be replaced, that this has been an ongoing issue, but they dont tell anyone until someone calls in with a problem… Ya Gotta Luv em.”
“How they gonna replace that stuff, you're on the way to Italy in 2 hours?”
“Yeah, that’s why I called, I need to borrow a laptop, I can’t chance this thing blowing up in Rome or wherever. The NOWAT notwithstanding, much of the coordination of our tours, reservations etc. depends on wireless internet access on the ship and some hotels. Worst case we'll have to use the ships Access Point but that may also be a challenge. Do you know where I can get a loner this late?”
“Well now, he says,” we can’t have that and of course the world must not be denied the NOWAT… not me at least. Not to worry, I have a laptop identical to yours that you can borrow but you'll never make it here and back with traffic this time of day, I'll meet you on the way to the airport at the Sheraton on Griffin and well swap out your hard drive for mine and you'll be good to go.”
“Man… you are a Life Saver; see you at 9:45.”

Terry met us on the way to FLL and in 1 minute we swap out the hard drive, boot up the laptop to insure all was well [welllll…so far] and he hands me another spare battery.
“You may need this”

Yeah… I'll say it again. Thank God [and the Roses’ Sr.] for Terry Rose Jr.

Sooooo… after 2 hours of hyperventilation, Chuckie and the Dragon Lady are at FLL. We quickly process check in [as quick as the laborious E Ticket Kiosk and international check in can be] past security [she DID NOT set off all the bells and alarms this time] and we grab a quick bagel and coffee. Now to find an electric outlet to start this little episode, don’t want to waste the batteries yet.

That’s when Chaos and Panic #2 set in…as he boots up, Chuckie discovers that the Wireless function on the substitute laptop does not work!!!

“Hello Terry…..”
“Uh oh…what now?”
“It’s about the Wireless Thingie on this laptop, it ain't got one.”
“Yes it does…probably the driver is not set up, I've never had to use it.”

He now walks me thru looking for the driver only to find… There AIN'T one!

“You’ll need to download a driver and of course without out internet access THAT is gonna be a neat trick. I know you travel with a thumb drive, see if someone using a laptop there will download the driver to your thumb drive and transfer it to your laptop.”

Fortunately we find a lovely lady, Sandy from Detroit, that graciously allows us to download an Intel driver from Dell.com and then the fun begins. The download rate for the 65Mega Byte file is… get this…..64kb per second!!! This means 20+ minutes to download and then...of course…

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin boarding Flight 1700 to Newark.” Oh Great!!!!!

Now we’re sweating this download… second by second..
“Chuckie… quit staring at the screen”, says Dragon Lady, “it’s like willing water to boil. We still have time.”
Yeah…. Right….common….common…17 minutes to go
Now they're boarding Sandy’s row…14 minutes to go…common….common
Sandy’s getting nervous, “Bring it onboard when its done I'm in Row 30,” she says.

WOW a real trusting soul! 12 minutes to go…common….common
Now they're boarding our row… 10 minutes to go…Common….common…..
There is still a line to board….5 minutes to go….Common….common….
Ok… its wrapping up….. Common ….common!!!!!!
Sandy comes back, “we still have time.”
The download finishes and now it has to copy to the thumb drive…. Common….common!!!!

DONE…We shut down laptop, hand it to Sandy, grab the thumb drive and with a Big Hug and promise that her name will forever be immortalized in the annals of the NOWAT, we all bolt for the gate.

Well Dear Hearts… that’s as much as this aging heart, two short powered and one extended battery can handle before we land and I can recharge them all and load up the wireless driver. Terry is waiting for a call and we'll document any other issues on the flight to Rome.
Are we having Fun Yet???

To Quote the Great Gilda Radner’s character: Roseanne Roseanadana
“Its AAAAlways Something!!!”

Ciao 4 Now,
Chuck and the happy Chuckie’s no longer hyperventilating, Dragon Lady.

10.23.8 CHAOS CONTINUED

After landing at one end of Newark Liberty Airport, [EWR], and finding we need to go to… the Other End of the terminal for Gate C121. And… of course Dragon Chick wants to stroll and window shop.. Unh Uh we need to hustle and find the gate first so we know what our time issues will be.
Once ALL THE WAY over there… we find a Starbucks to hook up, charge the batteries, and load the wireless driver…or so we thought…

“Terry, Ok… now walk me through this so I don’t screw it up. It took 25 minutes at 64kb to download this file.”
“Ok, find the file on the thumb drive, extract it, and find the setup file.
“Its not loading… got a screen “Intel Wireless can’t install, says there is no hardware”
“What… flip the ‘puter over and give me the DELL key tag number”
With that in hand, he'll call me back.
In the meantime I try a different install method… no go.

“Chuck, we got another problem," he says on call back, “we downloaded the wrong driver. You don’t have an Intel adapter, it’s a DELL adapter. We need to download a DELL driver and guess what… If access there is as slow as FLL you're gonna really love this one… its 96Megs! Now, is there anyone around with a laptop again?”
“Of course not.” I tell Terry I'll call once we find solution at our end and of course… it’s coming up on time to board the flight to Rome.

After several queries in the area for access; one finally tells me there’s a Wireless Shop… where you ask… back the way we came in, by gate A-82…at the OTHER END OF THE TERMINAL… of course!!!

I grab the laptop, carryon’s and Illy, and we run [no REALLY… RUN] to gate A82…
50 minutes to departure.

At the wireless shop, Asst. Manager Richard tells me,
“We don’t have direct access, we piggy back the terminal system, and we can’t download on our business system.”
Say WHAT!!! …
40 minutes to departure

With a little Chuckie silver tongue [and a lot of whining] Rich concedes to try his personal laptop. After 4 attempts he finally gets the terminal signal which of course IS AS SLOW AS FLL...
35 minutes to departure.

Without the blow by blow again, but with all the stuff running on Rich’s laptop and the slow WiFi, it comes up on 20 minutes to make it back to C121 and only 60meg of the 96 meg file downloaded… which we still have to copy to the thumb drive, ‘cause, "computer whiz" Asst Manager Rich… sent it to his desktop instead of directly to the thumb drive.

Hey… wait; this is a Wireless Accessory Outlet!
“Rich, do you have any USB wireless adapters?”
“Nope, we used to but they discontinued them.”
“How about PCMC somethin’ or other card,” I ask showing him the slot on the side. [Quit groaning Terry]
“Yeah, we got that over here… ooooppps… sold out.”
This just keep getting’ better ‘n’ better!!!

The PA system blares, “last call for flight 40 to Rome at Gate C121…”.

We abort the download, grab the thumb drive, hug Rich, promise to immortalize him too, and Haul Ass weaving through the crowd of people back to C121… arriving at the gate literally out of breathe we find… the Jet way door closed but a kindly attendant, who took pity on our haggard look and “Wrong Terminal” excuse, checked our passports and sent us onto Flight 40 to Rome, which… was backed up at the cabin door.

Finding someone in our seats, we negotiate some swaps putting us across the aisle from each other instead of someone between us. It seems that half this section has swapped seats.

And….of course it’s a sold out flight, we’re in the back and there’s no overhead space left… or so the smirking early arrivers say.
Hey, it’s Chuckie…Expert Packer of Bulging Suitcases! After checking around, I find space for the camera case here… coats there, and the rolling ‘puter case right over my head.

The Good News: there’s an AC outlet at my seat to document the chaos.
The Bad News: I'll have to scramble Friday in Rome for a Wireless solution before boarding the ship Saturday.

As we pull away from the gate and halfway to take off... the engines shut down.
“This is your Captain speaking… no need for alarm, we just shut off the engines to conserve fuel. SAY WHAT?!?!?…. How the hell do you get to Rome with the engines off to conserve fuel?!?
”Because,” he continues after the collective gasp in our area, “we’re #26 in line for take off. No worry’s we'll still get to Rome on time, and thanks for your patience.”
An hour after scheduled departure, we fire up the gas guzzlers and we’re off to Rome.

Once in the air, dinner is served [Chicken Cacciatore or Lasagna… So, So… well it is a flight to Rome] but the Beer is good; expensive… but good.

As everyone settles in for our 8 hour nap… I wonder:
Sheeesh… and this only started 18 hours ago… what’s next?!?

Yeah…it just keeps gettin’ better ‘n’ better

Ciao 4 Now,
Chuck and the grinning while playing games on her personal flat screen, Dragon Lady

10.24.8 BENEVENUTO A ROMA

.

The plane ride from EWR was fairly uneventful. The average age of our section of the plane was close to deceased, quite jovial and full of pranks with each other, and most headed to one cruise or another from Civitavecchia including our trip on the Carnival Freedom… destined to soon become the INFAMOUS Carnival Freedom if NOWAT has anything to do with it.

Around 8:15 AM, half an hour late, our pilot found Roma-Fiumicino, [FCO] better known as Leonardo da Vinci Aeroporti di Roma without illy’s help, [Thank Heaven as many will recall her navigational skills or lack thereof, the last time in Italy]

Even with lots of new construction at FCO the signage was good, going through customs was fast, and the access to the retrivo bagagli [baggage claim] area was fairly easy. Getting the bagagli was not so easy. There must have been a porter mini-strike [I hear that happens often] as it took about 45 minutes to get our bags. Then the fun began.

We chose the Leonardo Express Treno [lots of stuff named after Lenny boy, all over Italy] for our trip to Roma Termini [the main train station in Rome] On the surface this looks easy, except that the railway station is 2 floors up from retrivo bagagli, which again wouldn’t be too much except… the escalator to the 2nd level was not working and it was a loooooonnnnnngggg way up the stairs with 2-50LB bags and the carry-ons. Dragon Lady was a “Draggin’ Lady” by the time we reached the ticket window.

The Leonardo runs every half hour and our wait was short. Then we had to wrestle the bags up the narrow train steps to a crowded compartment [seats 6] with just enough room to block the aisle with our bagagli leaving only one seat open for a scruffy young man with cute leather pants. No AC and the morning sun beating down on Illy made for a hot ride which we were happy when it ended on time at Termini. After a short look-around in the train station for a computer store, to solve our latest challenge and since the weather was great, not raining as the weather report had predicted, we felt optimistic & headed out the front door, waiving off the beckoning calls of the taxi drivers, thinking we'll walk to our Hotel.

WHAT WERE WE THINKING????

Google Maps makes it look close and it would have been even closer if Chuckie had remembered the side exit through the Alitalia office. So after walking 1/2 mile to get around the fence at the Piazza Cinquecento in front of Termini we wound up near the taxi stand at the side entrance. Pulling the bagaglio across the cobblestoned sidewalks and streets was becoming futile so we flagged a Taxi for a quick trip to the Best Western Hotel Globus located in the University area. I had forgotten the €2 surcharge for pickup at Termini as well a €1 per bag. What I thought was a €5 trip turned out to be double. …Still better than hauling bags that far.

We arrived at the hotel at 10:30 AM, Check in was smoothly handled by Cristiano Sandrecchi, a pleasant young man who brought us coffee while we waited for the room to become ready, and got us set up with internet access etc. Also on hand with a fabulous smile was Simona Scunca who made us feel very welcomed. Fortunately there is a data port in the room in addition to the wireless access throughout the hotel so downloading the wireless driver we need should be a cinch. WRROOONNNG!

Once settled in the room I tried to get online…wellll… “tried” is the operative word here. The hardwire connection showing as unplugged on the network monitor and nothing I did could find the connection.

“Hello Cristiano, is there a problem with the hard wired data port to the rooms?”
“No Signore Mercurio, but maybe your port is no good, I'll send someone up to check it.”

10 minutes later, not one but two maintenance guys show up and proceed to plug in testers, flip switches and “apropio Li”[there it is] we’re Hot.. Now to get online for the download.

Terry warned me not to be surprised if the ship wireless was slow… well it can’t be any slower than Hotel Globus!!! While it took 20 minutes to download the 64meg drive at 64kb per sec. at FLL, the “High Speed Internet” at Hotel Globus raced along at 16kb per sec! Slower than Dial up!!! This was gonna take 2+ hours so we figure we'll go to lunch and leave the laptop running. An excellent plan since we were feeling serious hunger pangs and were anxious to get to the city.
WRROONNG Again! In European as well as Asian hotels your room key must be left in a slot by the door which controls the AC, lights & all outlets. Of course when you leave the room, you need to take the key and the power shuts off to conserve electricity. So now to plan B.

We arrange with Cristiano to leave the laptop at the front desk on their connection so the download can run while we’re out and we headed for lunch.
First we head to the Metro station, 2 long, uphill blocks away, and decide to stop at Risto Bar Tavalo Calda for a quick bite at the counter, a Panini for her and Ravioli en Spinachi Bechamel for me. Not bad… a 3 on the Chuckie Food Rating scale. We then head to the Metro stop intending to go to Piazza di Spagna with a stop on the way at Fontana di Trevi. Unh uh… Dragon Lady gets side tracked by a street bazaar directly across the street so by the time we head back to the Metro, to by tickets at a vending machine, jet lag set in big time. It was now 2PM Friday and we have been ‘up’ since 7AM Thursday morning. [Chuckie only got 3 hours sleep the night before because of the DELL techie call]. We looked at each other and elected to go back to the hotel to retrieve the laptop, load the driver, and grab a 2 hour power nap. But not before she decides we just HAVE TO go a half mile past the hotel to the Basilica San Lorenzo, expecting to find a big cathedral.

WRROOONG for the 3rd time today. The “Basilica” is just a small church being renovated adjacent to the ancient community cemetery. What a place, the tombs and memorials were unbelievable. The cemetery was established in 258AD and after wandering around and taking a few pictures for NOWAT… we get chased out by the Carbinari who tell us “Foto’s se Prohibitivo”.

Back at the hotel, we find the downloaded driver had tried to load itself and had frozen. I took it to the room and after several attempts to square it away... HOUSTON… WE GOT WIRELESS!!!!
I was so excited, I tried to email Terry but of course I had the old BellSouth address, so I just called and told him the good news. He heaved a heavy sigh of relief, congratulated me on sticking with it and looked forward to getting his next NOWAT episode.

Hey…. No other major Chaos so far, after a quick cat-nap and dinner near Piazza I Spagna, we'll continue our Friday in Rome in the next episode.

This post was made while onboard the Freedom after dinner. some technical difficulties are keeping us from uploading and Photos. Hopefully the onboard internet manager can solve this hiccup. [N.B.: photos uploaded on return]

Ciao 4 Now,’
Chuck and the seriously jet lagged and now REALLY Draggin’, Dragon Lady.

10.24.8 ARRIVADERCI ROMA [for now]

Fairly refreshed from our nap, we dressed for dinner and headed for the train to Piazza di Spagna. Your have 3 choices of Tickets from an automat from 75 minutes of travel time to 24 hours depending on your needs. These are also good for transferring to a bus route that the metro doesn’t cover. A short wait put us on a colorful graffiti covered B Line train to Termini station for a transfer to the A Line taking us to Spagna [they shorten it for metro route map].

Once at Spagna we dd the tourist thing wandering around gawking at everything and everyone. Illy then spotted via Condotti [the Rodeo Drive of Rome] and had to stop at EACH & EVERY STORE. Gucci, Cavali, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and then some. Chuckie was thanking his lucky stars they were all closed, he could see the tchotchke list creating another Mortgage.

Hunger pangs overrode the window shopping and we started down various side streets in search to T H E restaurant for dinner. So many choices… so little time. We finally settled on Ristorante 34, a seemingly popular and busy spot run by and iron fisted Mama and her very handsome son. A zealous cameriere [waiter] took us back to the only open table on his station… right in front of the pantry pickup window, across from the kitchen door and the cashier, apparently a grandson by his similar features.

By now all the walking and dry air had Chuckie’s sore throat [which started before we left] in full bloom and starting to swell making it very difficult to swallow anything. As a result, we decided to share an appetizer, and main course, which DID NOT please the cameriere who was expecting a big Americano sized meal and big check. We did order a bottle of local Pinot Grigio that would have been better used in someone’s gas tank. Or maybe it was just Chuckie’s taster and raw throat at the time. The Caprice Pomodoro [Mozzarella and cherry tomatoes] was OK, as was the Fusilli with pancetta and mushrooms. Meal Rating: 3 - Service Rating: 1.
A couple cups of good Italian coffee and a few pictures around including MaMa with her Fillio and we were off by train to Piazza Barbarini and a quick stop at Fonata di Trevi so Illy could once again try to get the coins into the fountain. [It was closed for cleaning last trip and roped off too far back for her toss]

The Metro stop left us at the Hotel Bernini where the doorman gave directions to Fontan di Trevi with that great Italian stand by: “Sempre Diritto, Quatro Sinestra.” Is everything in Italy “Sempre Diritto”? [straight ahead]

After a quick stop for bottled water, Chuckie’s throat was really dry now, we proceed down the street… and I do mean DOWN the street to the 4th left, commenting that it was gonna be a really long walk back up. Arriving at the World Famous Fountain, we went straight to the edge so Illy could get the long overdue coin toss out of the way and she even coaxed Chuckie into doing another one too. After slipping on the wet travertine, and almost tossing himself into the fountain, the requisite pictures were taken, as well as a short video by Cecilia B. DeILLY, [which was too large to upload here] we headed back to the metro by a series of side streets which made the walk back up easier. We stumbled on a really great little bar “That’s Amore” which has pictures all over of the famous celebrities that had been there;

Sinatra & Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren, Gina Lolabrigida, Jack Lemon, Monroe and more.

Quick pictures and a couple turns later, we were back at the Metro station. 2 more tickets to ride, back through Termini and onto the B Line, off at Stazione Policlinico, down the hill and home safely at Hotel Globus by Midnight. After I finished the last episode around 1:30AM I set the alarm for 8AM and crashed.

Ciao 4 Now,

Chuck and the sleeping like a baby, purring all the way, Dragon Lady

11.25.8 ARRIVADERCI ROMA Pt 2

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We slept through the alarm and grudgingly rolled out at 10:30AM. [welllll it HAD been a long day] Having missed our chance to catch the early express to Civitavecchia [you'll understand why this was critical in the next episode] we scrambled packing to make the check out time… which we also blew past. But dear Cristiano and Simona were more than gracious and held our bags as we grabbed a quick lunch at the little bar across the street. [Cristiano made it clear that Italians DO NOT do Quick Lunch]

2 coffees, 2 croissants and a couple bottles of water later and after taking note of "Pagine Gialle", Rome's version of the Yellow Pages, we retrieved our bagagli and had them call a cab.

Getting a cab in Rome is unique. They push a button on a special machine that rings in the closest Radio Taxi station that dispatches a Taxi, printing out the Taxi’s number and the approx minutes till they arrive. Of course the meter starts as soon as they leave the local stand, which is exactly €2 away. This made the basic trip back to Termini more on the meter than the one coming, but there was no termini surcharge or bag fee so it actually was cheaper. Go figure…

Wanting to make sure I got the next express to Civitavecchia I bypassed the confusing automat and stood in line for an agent. Ticket in hand we checked the monitors for the "Binario” [platform]. Since it was only NOON and the train didn't leave till 1:46 it wasn’t posted. We wound up in the snack bar at a table near an outlet to edit NOWAT and of course… none of the outlets in the snack bar were hot so we burned out the extended battery which wasn’t holding an extended charge.

While Illy edited, I went in search for the AVIS location, which had moved to the opposite side of the station. I needed to know where to return the car rented for the Winery run.

When I returned Illy packed up the laptop and we went in search of the train, which originally was to be Binario #18, then #20 according to the nice Transit Polizia, who I had to find again cause that wasn’t the right train. After he apologized profusely we found it was binario #25. We'll great… but where in the hell was #25. Illy finally found a small sign pointing to the rear of #20 and “aproprio li” there it was… all….the….way…back….there. Now it was a race to get to Carrozza 006 Posti Finestrino 83 & 85 Mediano [Car 6, Seats 83 Window & 85 Middle].

With room for only her bag, the carryons and our coats on the overhead rack, the big suitcase had to stay in the corridor next to the cabin door, which of course blocked half the aisle as others boarded. And then we were off for a 90 minute run to the Port of Civitavecchia. With no major chaos so far, we settled in for a restful ride. We'll save arrival at the port and the rest of the day for the next episode.

Ciao 4 Now,
Chuck and the happy nothing strange happened so far, Dragon Lady

10.25.8 SO THIS IS CIVITAVECCHIA?!?

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The trip in from Rome was pleasant… but debarkation at Stazione Civitavecchia was about to get VERRRRYYY interesting.

“ATTENZIONE Signore I Signora, se Arrivo a Civitavecchia”, blasted the PA…
But Chuckie was already in the aisle with the luggage laid out for a quick escape… the train only stopped for 5 minutes and a lot of people getting off here.

Now the fun starts…the train from Roma stops on the middle, Binario #2 while the one back to Rome departs on Binario 1 on the station side. Guess how you get to the Stazione and the street… on the other side of Binario 1??? Why…you go down the 30 step stairway, hang a left under Binario 1 and up the 30 step stairway to the Stazione piattaforma, with 2 -50# bags, 2 carryon’s, 2 coats and an agoraphobic Dragon Lady who freezes at the top of the steep stairway.

‘Huff…Puffff…. Hufff… Pufff, Damn …these things ain't getting any lighter Babe.”
“You're doing fine Honey,” she smiles following with the coats in one hand and the pillow bag in the other.
“Yeah but they sure don’t make it easier… It is NOT a handicap friendly country.”
“But you're not handicapped honey,” she smiles.
“If your need to pack half your closet and dresser for every trip doesn’t handicap me, nothing will!”
“What was that Honey?!?”
“Nothing Dear… just keep an eye on the bags down here, while I come get the laptop case, and watch your step, the treads are narrow.”

Then after a near hernia and wrenched back going back up Chuckie hauls the last bag up and stops for a breath on the Stazione piattaforma before heading to the front uscita [exit]. But, it only gets better.

Chuckie was told its only a couple of blocks to the port entrance and a free shuttle bus to the ship, so off they go hauling bags behind them along the picturesque marina walkway. Welllll…so much for a couple short blocks in Italy. A half mile later huffing and puffing again, they make it to the port entrance, and load onto the shuttle bus… as bag after bag gets piled on it occurs to them as first on, they will be the last off. Fine… more time to rest from the marathon bag pull.

Embarkation was quick and painless, good thing we made copies of our passports because they’re confiscated at boarding as they must be presented at each foreign port. The “Sign & Sail” card issued at embarkation will get us on and off the boat without an issue. It is also our only way to pay for anything while onboard except at the Casino which of course only takes good ole American Greenbacks.

We find cabin 8203 without issue and Surprise…Our favorite Caterers and Dear Friends in Vegas, Lenny & Donna have sent a delightful “Bon Voyage” Chocolate Delight and Bottle of Champagne which will immediately be put to good use. Youse GUYYYYSS!!!! Thanks so much!

Now it was time to head back off the ship to find bottled water, wine, and the Avis office so we can expedite the car for the Wine tour on return to this port. After some directions from cruise staff, who then decide the shuttle driver may not let us off at the north gate for the short route to Avis and the “Super Mercato” a cab is suggested. Hell no… we are the Wacky American Tourists and just love to walk and see it ALLLLL! Once off the shuttle at main gate we’re off in the general direction of the market and Avis. A local confirms our direction and in short time we walk right up to…the closed Avis office. Yep… now Chuckie remembers why he wanted to get the early express from Rome… the damn office closes at 12:30pm on Saturday. Sooooo…we’ll deal with adjusting rental times and returns when we get back.

Now it’s off to the Supermercato which we spot up the hill from Avis as directed by Paolo of Carnival. 15 minutes later we were walking out of “TODI”S” with a 12 pack of water, 2 bottles of wine and a good trek back to the port.

Of course our load doesn’t deter Dragon Chick from window shopping along the way when Chuckie spots a wedding in progress. DL quickly dissuades him from ducking in for pics like the last time in Castel Gondolfo; he’s always finding Brides wherever we go, the caterer in him just wont die.

We just make it to the shuttle as the doors were closing and after raised eyebrows as we pass our booty through the x-ray machines on boarding, were back in our cabin.

Our bags are still en-route so we head off for a quick snack since we haven't eaten since we left the hotel and we have the late [8:30]seating for dinner. So we're doing the Hot dog and Burger thing, and this bubbly blonde bounces over and says,
"You Must be Chuck... I recognize the hat".
It was Sara, one of our SchooldTeachers from Ohio that would accompany us on some Turkish and Greek Tours. We invite her to join us and along comes her bookend, Phyllis. They are quite a pair and we take to them immediately deciding that since Donna and Lenny couldn't make this trip, these were the kinda folks we're gonna love touring with.

After some sunset pictures across the harbor, we bid them Ciao till tomorrow and we head down to see if the bags had arrived yet. NADA, so we relax for a little while and the head to to dinner in our travel togs and find at our table #189, two Canadian couples, one from Ottawa and the other from Vancouver, along with a couple from Texas. After 10 minutes of conversation we can tell this will be a lively dinner group so we decide that we'll hang in at this table for awhile.

After Dinner, a quick look around the boat and the brief welcome Show, then back to see if the baggage was in yet. Finally! After a quick unpack, Chuckie settles in to catch up the NOWAT and post Benevenuto A Roma when the uploading pictures issue came up. Nothing can be done ‘till tomorrow so we crashed late. Naples was going to be a challenge in the AM. We had no hard plans other than a ferry to Sorrento, and maybe another over to Capri . We'll see how that goes in the morning since there will be over 9,000 cruisers from 3 ships in port..

Next Stop…Bon Giorno Napoli

Ciao 4 Now
Chuck and the finally beginning to relax, Dragon Lady…
[by the look on her angelic sleeping face]

10.26.9 BUON GIORNO NAPOLI

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The morning did not start out good. The wake up call at 7:30 found Chuckie’s throat so swollen he could hardly swallow; a salt/peroxide gargle and 600mg Ibuprofin only offered minor relief. The only recourse is to head for the infirmary. Fill out the forms, wait for the Dr.
“Say Aaaahhhhhhh”
“Yep… not quite strep but not good”.

Sooooo… a 6 day dose of Prednisone to reduce swelling and because of the last years Cancer issue leaving his immune system a little lacking, an Antibiotic series just in case. Yeah… China was all about Illy’s slip and fall act… Now its all about Chuckie.
But wait… China was 1.5 hours at midnight in an emergency room with 2 doctors, x-rays, and meds= $75.
Welcome to American Captive Audience medicine shipboard style… 15 minutes and $175 later, we were ready to head out to find Sorrento via the hydrofoil from Naples’ Molo Beverello. [Beverello Pier]

After we found the Bigletteria [ticket office] we passed the 1.5 hour wait with a little café, some shots of local kids clowing around and searched for a few more KODAK moments. After shots of the Palazo Real on the hill, we crossed the street to climb the hill for pics of the Castelo Nuovo, now a museum] guarding the port. Then it was time to hustle back to catch the Ferry… at a different slip than on the embarkation schedule. We settled into window seats for the 30 minute trip and relax…for all of about 10 minutes… and DL heads out the back door to see if we can get topside for pics since the windows are too water spotted… “Authorized personnel only” so pics of Napoli in our wake from the rear deck suffice.

The ferry lands at the Dock in Sorrento which is waaaayyyyy down the hill from Sorrento Centro, so we set out to trek up…. And up…. And up, the VERRRYYY busy, narrow, winding street.
“Legs don’t Fail me now!!!!”
Only to come to a set of stairs that wrap around the retaining wall leading up of the city center; 130 steps to be exact. The last 20 steps on rubber legs had us looking like drunken seamen coming off the “Stairway to Sorrento”. Where was that Funicular Tram everyone talked about??? Oh here it comes NOW!!!!

We wander aimlessly around Sorrento for the next 3 hours, hitting every Limoncello store and tchotchke shop along the way and back. Tried a couple of Pharmacy’s for some sore throat and dry mouth remedies, but none had what we were looking for; On with the window shopping and the usual KODAK stuff.
After circling the town center and winding up over a gorge with an ancient Mill at the bottom [1565AD I believe]. We are in and out of more pottery and tchotchke stores until hunger set in and we found “Fauno Bar” overlooking Sorrento’s “Chaos Corner”, the congested city circle that seems to confuse all that enter it and cant find their way out [3 cops giving directions doesn’t seem to help].

We step over the sleeping Dalmatian guard dog to an upper table away from the profuse smokers that the Italians are, order a little Spuntio [Snack] some wine and relax to watch the confusion before us. Not without Chuckie spotting some really interesting KODAK Character Studies, including some Damn Cute Italian Kids that rated photos [remember his China Kids Photo album] as well as a local Fashionista… oh and Sleeping Dog as well.





The Fauno Bar is really MOD with each Waiter armed with a Wireless Order Pad that really expedites getting the order to the table. Not necessarily correct as twice we had to correct deliveries but overall food and service rate 4. It’s a VERY busy place.

Pranzo [lunch] and pics done, we head for a local tchotchke alley with a ton more Limoncello shops, each bottling their own in every imaginable bottle shape possible; stars, moons, castles, towers, world globes, violins… the shapes are endless. All other types of leather and fabric shop are about as well so Dragon Chick is in tchotchke heaven… but restrains herself ‘cause the prices aren’t right or the choices to her liking.

Time to head back down all 130 steps to the loooong down hill walk to a cute little Chiesa [church] at the harbor dedicated to the lovers of the sea to light a candle for her mom and mine [we try to do so in every city we can… it’s a Catholic thing]. and we were off to check the location of the Ferry to Naples. After 2 mis-directions we spot the Hydrofoil waaaaaayyyyyy over there and hustle to just make the boarding.
The trip back was as uneventful as the trip in with a few better KODAK subjects on the way out of the harbor.

Once back at the Terminal building in Napoli, DL remembers she has not picked up T-shirts for the Grand-Babies yet [apparently the plan is to get one in every port], so we pay the usual Kings Ransom at the Terminal “Captive Audience Gift Shop” where Chuckie’s Italian slips and he asks for Children’s Shoes instead of T-shirts and after a REALLY strange look from the shop keeper we get the terminology straight and DL has her Baby’s Napoli T-shirts.

Tomorrow… Roman Ruins, Rock Tombs and an interesting meal on the way to Caunos.

Ciao 4 Now,
Chuck and the getting the hang of this relaxing stuff, Dragon Lady