Emerald Princess Rome to Barcelona September 26 -October 3 2015 in photos and video

[Bimmer09]

Couldn't agree more about the car! Talked to someone in our Alfa club who rented one for a day on their trip to Italy and had a blast.

 

Restrooms, yep, they don't mess themselves up.

 

Keep the good stuff coming and thanks again for the review and great photos.

 

Thanks for joining us here, and for the compliments!

 

I've never driven an exotic car like that Ferrari but imagine it would be a pleasure if you had the right roads to drive it on (that rules out Chicago streets)

You can rent exotics in Las Vegas and out of the city are some great winding roads...

 

More good stuff coming once we get off the bus.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

La Spezia is where we would leave the highway and climb up over the city to access the coast road to our first destination Manarola where we would leave the bus. We wouldn't see it for a few hours when we would find it again after our visit to Monterosso and our train ride.

 

It serves as a base for the Italian Navy and there will be a few warships in some of the shots from high above later.

 

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It looks like a pretty trim town at street level but we start our twisting climb to the heights. There's an MSC ship in port.

 

[Bimmer09]

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[Bimmer09]

We left La Spezia in our rear view mirror and were on the coast road, high above the sea.

 

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The steep hillsides are terraced-this is a wine growing region of Liguria

 

 

Manarola far below

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're here-the bus can go no further and we stop in a big parking lot

 

Norris

[hockeyguru32]

The cheque is in the mail !!!!!:)

 

I'm so broke I can't afford to pay attention but with the Master of ALL reviewers on CC by the name of Norris, I managed to sell one of my bottles of rum and my cheque is on it's way plus the 30% exchange rate and happy to do so

[Bimmer09]

I'm so broke I can't afford to pay attention but with the Master of ALL reviewers on CC by the name of Norris, I managed to sell one of my bottles of rum and my cheque is on it's way plus the 30% exchange rate and happy to do so

 

LOL-that's a great line in red!

 

I'm glad you're enjoying the ride.

 

Norris

[Pmorton3360]

Look forward to your posts and great pictures each morning. I'm not much of a picture taker, but yours are all I'll ever need.

[Bimmer09]

Look forward to your posts and great pictures each morning. I'm not much of a picture taker, but yours are all I'll ever need.

 

More pics on the way!

 

Norris, with thanks

 

[jsm4730]

Still loving your review, Norris. We took a similar trip in 2012 and I think our excursion to Cinque Terre was the best! We often struck out on our own but this Princess excursion would have been very difficult to plan, with the bus, the boat, the walk, the train..... I am looking forward to your photos of those fabulously photogenic towns! Janet

[Bimmer09]

The last picture I took as the bus was parking-you can see from the terraced hills that we are in wine country.

 

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This next one will give you an idea of how high we are- looking down from where the bus parked to a car park below which is still above the town. This is NOT a tour for anyone who uses a wheelchair or walker or a cane. To get down to town level we had a flight of zigzagging stone steps to negotiate first before a long downhill walk on the steep streets. Luckily we were the first coach to arrive so there weren't crowds to negotiate at this point.

 

 

We begin the long descent which soon strings out our group

 

 

Pedestrian area where only delivery trucks are allowed in

 

 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

Still loving your review, Norris. We took a similar trip in 2012 and I think our excursion to Cinque Terre was the best! We often struck out on our own but this Princess excursion would have been very difficult to plan, with the bus, the boat, the walk, the train..... I am looking forward to your photos of those fabulously photogenic towns! Janet

 

Janet- hang on to your hat....the pics are here!

 

Glad to have you following.

 

Norris

 

[Bimmer09]

We come to the town square at the top of the town before it gets really narrow.

There's a church and a chance to stop and rest for a minute.

 

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[Bimmer09]

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Back outside.

 

 

Walking downhill. There's a vineyard on the hill above.

 

 

 

I see people with hoods up-it may have softly drizzled which is fine by me or it might have just been too cool for them. Until we got down to the sea I was loving the temperature. Blazing sun I didn't need.

 

[Bimmer09]

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Just getting some local flavor. There's more to a place than the monuments or scenic views.

 

 



 

 

[Bimmer09]

We are big Rick Steves fans and have followed in his footsteps many times

From him we first learned about the delights of Cinque Terre and I am sure we are not alone. It's possible some Italians aren't big fans. Once quiet towns are now overrun by coachloads of people like us.

 

We help some of the local shops but are in the way of the average citizen who misses their quiet village and just wants to pop out to buy some carrots or fish or walk her baby in the pram. One such lady with a cart wasn't going to let a crowd of tourists stop her walking up the hill and with a "scusi" forged on ahead, parting the swarm. I fully understand. Let's all be mindful of the people who have to live in these tourist places.

 

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I like to peek into shops

 

 



 

 

A street we have just walked down

 

[Pmorton3360]

Had to upload the picture of the stairs to my album. So beautiful. Enjoying after spending time cleaning leaves from gutters and grass.

[Bimmer09]

Had to upload the picture of the stairs to my album. So beautiful. Enjoying after spending time cleaning leaves from gutters and grass.

 

I walked past the stairs then thought "wait a minute" and went back.

 

Glad you like it.

 

Norris

 

[jtagphillycruiser]

Beautiful pictures. I too love to take shots of the back alleys; windows & flower boxes. This installment is so excellent.

 

Joanne

[Bimmer09]

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Beautiful fountain on a flight of steps

 

 

 

Here on the map you see the 5 towns laid out- Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. We only get to visit two during our excursion.

[Bimmer09]

Beautiful pictures. I too love to take shots of the back alleys; windows & flower boxes. This installment is so excellent.

 

Joanne

 

Back alleys and side streets rock!

 

This town was full of window boxes and laundry hanging to dry...which says Italy to me right there.

 

We are down by the water now so some good photos up ahead...

 

Norris

 

[Bimmer09]

Another pretty, colorful shop

 

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Carol's camera sees a cat grooming itself

 

 



 

[jerseyridgearts]

I walked past the stairs then thought "wait a minute" and went back.

 

Glad you like it.

 

Norris

 

 

an especially romantic capture....love all the street scenes too...oh and the vinyards, vistas, ports....ok....just love it all....

[Bimmer09]

an especially romantic capture....love all the street scenes too...oh and the vinyards, vistas, ports....ok....just love it all....

 

Hopefully you like rocks and sea too...

 

Norris

 

[Bimmer09]

We have reached the end of the town. At this point we have a choice: we have a 30 minute break during which we can go shopping or follow the guide out onto that promontory you see at right. We decided to go shopping- for coffee!!

 

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As we gathered in a group on the quayside I noticed a cafe (that pink building) and so our plan was to go there. There was no one sitting outside when we had passed a moment ago. Yep-all the seats were empty so we had our pick and made our choice. A friendly waitress approached and we ordered two double espressos. That done Carol went in to use the bathroom, while I sat quivering with anticipation at the thought of an espresso doppio, a clean ashtray (portacenere) and a cigarette. During the time it took for the coffee to come and the return of Carol (Mission accomplished) there were now 14 people seated and a line for the bathroom. It would remain this way for the duration.

 

Oh man!! Fist bumps as we tasted the coffee (4E for a double). Now I'm happy!

I'm people watching down by the harbor. It's overcast but warm enough-just nice.

 

A Chinese couple try to barge their way past the restroom line and a waitress from inside comes out and tells them in English-this is Italy, you wait your turn!!

The couple were angry at being foiled and were loud and making gestures of an unseemly kind, but she sent them packing. Nice one!

 

Someone nearby, an American gentleman (boy will this sound familiar) within whose veins ran the DNA of not only Albert Einstein but also Steven Hawking was heard to complain about the number of toilets in this cafe, which was about the size of a normal Starbucks in a small town. And I quote "they should build at least 3 toilets out here on this patio"....I guess the tables aren't earning their keep...no wait a minute, I just ordered "same again" for a total of 16 Euro in a 30 minute span. I think that would yield more to the owner of this tiny cafe than the toilet would. How much is one willing to pay to use a toilet versus a free one that involves a wait? Bladder management is something we learn as kids. If you're "bursting", see the line and turn around and find another cafe or offer a couple of bucks to whoever's at the front of the line.

 

We enjoyed our sit-down and our coffee more than you'll ever know.

 

Here's the amazing young waitress who served a swarm of people without ever losing her big smile and doing so in 3 languages -Italian (to us) English and French to the couple beside us in blue. This is the scope of the terrace in the photo-without the 3 new bathrooms.

 

 

At the end of our time the next event would be the arrival of the boat that was going to take us to Monterosso...

[flyawayca]

I've been taking my time, reading your posts and immersing myself in your photos for almost a week now. I am finally caught up and ready to make myself known. Sure, I could have caught up faster but I kept having to stop, find my husband, and show him a photo about every 5 minutes :D

 

I'm so happy I swung by the Princess CC forum. Thanks for taking the time to post this amazing review and I look forward to continuing along with you through the rest of your photo journey :)