drron29

The great theatre. At times it was crowded. The small theatre. The middle section of this wall was the new method of construction to lessen the effect of earthquakes.

So our exploration of Pompei begins. Amazing to think most of the construction here took place over 2000 years ago. Also the walls were on the seafront. Now 700 metres away. Also pre Roman ruins. Now inside the walls.

We collect a bottle of water from the Hotel Victoria and are allowed to use their toilets. I presume what they charge for the water is the cost of the toilet stop. Preparing for lunch and people off to the lav. And the first view of the ruins. Who buys this stuff? But soon off to what we have come for.

Well we are back although for a while we wondered if we were on the right plane. On approach to the Sunshine Coast airport in Queensland the Purser began welcoming us to Adelaide South Australia and telling us we would need to change terminals if we needed to connect to another flight. We only have 1 terminal. A sheepish apology followed. So back to this report. The next morning it was off to Pompei. So more views from the bus. First impressions aren't great.

ak1004 try cruising with some one with claustrophobia. Small cabins are just not on. SS Verandah suites on the Muse class ships are the smallest acceptable so Crystal will never be on our radar.

A belated welcome to the 70’s mysty and to the real beginnings of life. Good enough to still do what you like and old enough to have an excuse for everything else. I have really enjoyed my 70s so far and I just hope the second half will be as enjoyable.

Well I actually enjoyed the Polar plunge so did 2 more. As I said a great endorphin to.

You know I would always follow your recommendations.😁

In La Dame it is the included wines for that night which are served as far as I am aware. certainly asking on a later night in Atlantide I could get the red served in Atlantide and Rojaan had the same white wine shae had had previously. I think it was pointed out that wine pairing was available when given the menus but no pressure to do that. We were offered the included wines for the night and accepted those. As for OBC someone can always find some thing in those mysterious parts of the ship called Boutiques. I will be taking a few days off as we are spending 4 days in Melbourne and not taking this computer.

So to dinner. The menu at the SALT kitchen. One of the things I enjoy with cruising is that the wine is served by the glass so Rojaan could have her sav blanc and I could drink a red wine. There was a very nice carmenere from Chile that I had on the first night. Tonight though this one I really liked. So contrary to a few others i have enjoyed the wines on the ordinary list. I have never had a bad wine on Silversea. I have tasted quite a few which i did not like but that doesn't make them a bad wine which implies poor winemaking. Now for 8 years I supplied the wines for the blind tasting competition for the Hunter Valley Wine club. Often they came from my cellar. On a few occasions I supplied a wine from what was considered a bad year in the Hunter but I had considered worth cellaring. On most occasions no one thought the wine came from the region. On one occasion the wine maker was taking part in the tasting. not one person picked the wine. The winemaker though made a classic statement - "just goes to show I am a better winemaker than even I thought. So don't worry. the best wine is the wine you like. Rojaan only had a main and dessert. she chose the duck. I started with the Amalfi caponata and then had the fish. For dessert we both had the lemon and almond sponge cake.

Lovely afternoon light. Then the lights come on.

So back to the dawn. Back in Sorrento now. A walk from the tour bus back to the shuttle stop. Back on the ship and the flowers have changed.

The last of the restaurant. Back on the bus.

We went downstairs to the kitchen which was immaculate. They also have accommodation upstairs which I reckon would be essential if you were having dinner here. The road down to the restaurant was narrow and twisting.

Now back up to the restaurant where we were served a typical italian platter each. Then the wines. One white which I gave to Mrsdrron and 2 reds. Not that great.

We are now at the restaurant which has some lovely views behind it. But first a visit to the cellar down a narrow path. It was a rather disorganised cellar and not all bottles were top notch. The pope officially opened the cellar.

The sea stacks of Capri.

OK just park where you want with the bus right behind. At one stage a little later on the driver got out and I guess was saying some rude things to another who also just stopped in the middle of the road, The Capri armada.

Vesuvius to the right of the bus. And the Isle of Capri to the left.

he next morning we awoke off Sorrento. A tender in then a small bus to take us up the narrow road to the top and our tour bus. We were off to a wine tasting at a Michelin starred restaurant Quatro Passi which was a fair drive and a lot of very narrow bits of road.

And then it was time for dinner. Some slight changes to the Atlantide main menu for this second voyage. Rojaan started with a dish that I have no memory of. At least I remember mine it was the roasted cauliflower and fried chickpeas and was very nice. For mains Rojaan enjoyed her red prawns and my prime rib was excellent. When we got back to the room a belated birthday cake. We had got back to the suite too late for it to be delivered on the day and the next day was change over day so tonight it was. It was a whole cake but we just had a small piece. The rest was in the fridge.

Then walked around the ship and a few sights.

And back to the Dawn. Back at the ship we lunched on the Pool deck. Rojaan had the Caesar salad with chicken and I had the tabouleh though they did try and hide it under the green leaves.

Now time to head back to the ship. Then past Tarquinia.