LIVE from Celebrity Reflection - 4/27/18 - 10 nt Italy & Greek Isles Cruise

We will be flying OAK to BCN and FCO to SFO in Oct on Norwegian and am wondering how Norwegian is. Wanted Premium Ec n from Rome but is sold out [emoji78] can’t believe how reasonable the prices are. Still haven’t purchased.

You can read my review of my experience going outbound from Newark to Rome on Norwegian in the early pages of this thread.

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We wrapped up our day in the Val d’Orcia with dinner in the small town of Monticchielo, about halfway between Pienza and Montepulciano. The restaurant we dined at, Osteria la Porta, got great reviews online and the owner of the inn where we were staying said it was one of his favorites in all of Tuscany. We asked to be seated on the terrace which had a fabulous view overlooking the valley. It was unfortunately a bit cool that evening with a slight breeze but we were determined to have a dinner with a view, as were the 6-7 other couples out there with us. (I think the staff thought we were all a bit crazy). Because of the coolness and the fact that we had a long drive back to the inn that evening we just went for starters and a pasta course and skipped a meat course and dessert. Food was okay. The starter I had was a cheese fondue in which the cheese didn’t really melt very well. Mike had the ribollita which helped warm him up. For the pasta entree I finally got to try the boar sauce which was a Tuscan specialty and was quite tasty, while Mike had a bolognese. I think the food cooled off quickly because we were outside. I’d definitely want to give this restaurant another chance when we didn’t have weather circumstances working against us. I would recommend a visit here. Reservations are a must. https://www.osterialaporta.it/it/

After dinner we drove back to the inn. It was dark by now and it was a bit of a scary drive through twisty hillside roads into a lot of dark wooded areas with animals coming out into the road a couple times until we finally got to the highway. We got back to the inn around 11pm. It was a long but wonderful day.

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Oh my goodness Mike your photos are absolutely fabulous. They are just wonderful.

DAY 5

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What a great photo!

DAY 6

For our final day in Tuscany we visited the hilltop town of Cortona which is at the far eastern end of the region about a 1hr 45min drive from our hotel. This town is famous for being the setting of the novel (and film) “Under the Tuscan Sun”. It was a Saturday which was Cortona’s market day. We were not visiting for the market but we still felt the pinch of parking. When we arrived around 11:30am (which was about 90 minutes later than I had wanted to arrive due to delays on our end) there were no free parking spaces left in any of the lots ringing the town. We circled these lots for at least 15 minutes and then decided to go up further and closer to the entrance to the main shopping street. Here we got lucky as there were several spaces available at a meter. It only costs a few Euros to park so my recommendation is to maybe swing up and check out the availability of paid spaces before settling on a free space further down the hill; it will save you a little walk uphill too.

By the time we started to explore the town we had a little over an hour until lunch as I had made reservations at 1pm at a local restaurant. I’m not sure if it was because it was our last day or the fact that we had seen so many other hilltop towns earlier in the trip but I was just not feeling this town. It was more crowded than the other places we had visited and the architecture didn’t really stand out. A few of the shops we entered had staff that seemed totally uninterested in any sort of customer service; there was just a real negative vibe to the place. I did find a nice art gallery though called the Galleria ****onale http://www.galleria****onale.com/?lang=en and bought a lovely piece by an artist named Bruno Nardi.

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For lunch we ate at a restaurant I saw highly recommended on Trip Advisor called Osteria del Teatro. The staff was very pleasant but the food was a mixed bag. The pasta course was good; I had the fagottini with goat cheese, pears and pesto while Mike had the caramelle, pasta with meat and tomato sauce. For the meat course we both ordered the pork skewers. Mine was not cooked thoroughly and I had to send it back. Even with the recooking though it was still pink so I didn’t eat much of it. Mike didn’t really care for the pork either as he found it too fatty. The server wound up taking my dish off the bill without us even asking due to me having to send it back which was appreciated. I’m not sure if I would recommend this restaurant based on the entree issue. But since it gets pretty good reviews this may have been an isolated incident. http://www.osteria-del-teatro.it/index.php?lang=it

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At the end of our Cortona visit we decided to grab some fresh sandwiches to take back to the inn with us to have for dinner as we just wanted to have something light and easy on our last night in Europe. We got to enjoy a few more scenic views on the drive back to the inn before making a stop at the ancient walled town of Monteriggioni. This town is noted for being completely encircled by its walls which are essentially intact not having been reconstructed like most other historical towns. That’s about it for what is interesting about the town. It’s very small and you can walk around it in about 15-20 minutes. It’s mainly tacky tourist stuff inside along with some private residences. You can walk up on two areas near the top of the walls for a cost of 3.50 Euro pp. (Only one section open currently due to renovations). This town is skippable unless you happen to be driving by and need an excuse to stretch your legs.

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After returning from our day out w spent the final evening of our trip just relaxing at the inn. We enjoyed finishing off most of the treats we had collected through the trip along with the sandwiches we had made up earlier that day out on the patio watching the sunset. We even had the inn’s resident puss join us for a snack. It was the perfect relaxed ending to a very active trip.

I hope you enjoyed the chronicles of our adventures. Not sure if anyone is still following along but if you have any questions about the places we visited just ask. Until the next cruise... [emoji846]

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Thanks for taking us along!

Mr. Wonder,

Thanks for posting. :)

Thank you, loved following your Tuscan adventure.

Now can't wait for your Edge experience.

Been following along since the beginning. We will be on the same cruise on June 8th. Love your pictures and appreciate your honest comments. I have became a fan, so I am now following you on Instagram. Thanks again and can't wait to read your next cruise adventure.

Lourdes

Thanks for the wonderful review!

Kim :)

Thanks for taking so much time out of your vacation to have us drooling over fantastic pictures & wonderful dialogue. Safe trip home

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Glorious pictures! Adore Greece and am following along eagerly :D

Great review, thanks for posting it all.m

Been following along since the beginning. We will be on the same cruise on June 8th. Love your pictures and appreciate your honest comments. I have became a fan, so I am now following you on Instagram. Thanks again and can't wait to read your next cruise adventure.

 

Lourdes

Thank you so much for following! [emoji846]

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Terrific review and lovely photos. Thanks for posting.:):):)

Now what am I going to look at and follow in the evening. I have so enjoyed your travels, comments and most of all your photos which have been spectacular and enchanting, full of colour and content. I am so going to miss them. I wish you both safe travels until next time and thanks for taking me along with you. Jane

My husband I were married on the island of Delos 25 years ago, and we were planning upon a return at the 30 year marker... I've just moved that up to the 26 year marker based on your pictures and reporting ; >) Gosh, I ADORE Greek food :P

My husband I were married on the island of Delos 25 years ago, and we were planning upon a return at the 30 year marker... I've just moved that up to the 26 year marker based on your pictures and reporting ; >) Gosh, I ADORE Greek food :P

Always happy to inspire! Greece is so wonderful. We really want to go back and spend multiple days on a variety of islands.

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Always happy to inspire! Greece is so wonderful. We really want to go back and spend multiple days on a variety of islands.

 

 

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You raise the interesting Choice between land based and cruise vacations.

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WonderMan,

I realize this trip is several months ago and you have since returned to "the real world." I have just re-read the entire thread for the 2nd time...the descriptions of your travels are amazing and your photos are beautiful. I have contacted several of the same vendors you used and hope to have the same wonderful experiences as you did. We are a group of 14 travelling next May (sadly, Reflection won't be in the Med next year...and our group isn't ready for the Edge yet)...but it will be RCCL. I appreciate all of the helpful tips.

Susan

P.S. Hoping you'll do a review of the Edge (this December if I remember correctly). I was booked on one of the now-cancelled preview cruises and have to wait to board Edge in December, 2019.

Great job on the review and pictures.

Absolutely fabulous!

WonderMan,

I realize this trip is several months ago and you have since returned to "the real world." I have just re-read the entire thread for the 2nd time...the descriptions of your travels are amazing and your photos are beautiful. I have contacted several of the same vendors you used and hope to have the same wonderful experiences as you did. We are a group of 14 travelling next May (sadly, Reflection won't be in the Med next year...and our group isn't ready for the Edge yet)...but it will be RCCL. I appreciate all of the helpful tips.

Susan

P.S. Hoping you'll do a review of the Edge (this December if I remember correctly). I was booked on one of the now-cancelled preview cruises and have to wait to board Edge in December, 2019.

Thank you! Glad my information was helpful to you. And yes, I will be on Edge for its maiden voyage 7 night sailing on Dec 9th. I hope to be able to share my experiences onboard while I’m sailing. [emoji846]

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