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

[Bimmer09]

Here's hoping the FBI doesn't come knocking on your door! Need more food porn! Thanks for taking us all on your journey!

 

I was up at 5 a.m. this morning. Am dressed, have an overnight bag packed and waiting for the knock...

 

NEXT UP....Rome at 5 a.m in photos.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

So we are asleep after our first day in Rome. A deep sleep helped by exhaustion and a nice big delicious dinner.

 

While we are snoozing here is a short video from the dinner....

 

[YOUTUBE]48YcBqfiCTw[/YOUTUBE]

 

I didn't have an alarm set to get up early but I woke at 4.30 and went to the bathroom where my watch was. I had two choices-go back for more sleep or go out for a walk.

 

I have gone out for walks before sunrise in just about everywhere we have visited as I like the empty streets and the quiet. The dark can be a bit creepy-especially in narrow dimly lit streets but I don't take much money with me (nowhere open to spend it). I do take about $3000 worth of camera gear though. It weighs 7 lbs so that's a handicap if I have to run from a mugger. I hold on tight to it and am aware of my surroundings, listening and looking.

 

So here are some pics from that walk. I didn't take a map but have a rough idea of where things are from my last visit.

 

Pantheon Square at 5 a.m

 

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Our hotel-Albergo del Senato

 

 

Fountain and obelisk in the square

 

 

More to follow

 

Norris

[hockeyguru32]

Avast there, shipmates!!

 

This is the tale of a daring sea voyage on the Emerald Princess, sailing from Rome to Barcelona in the year of 2015. If ye have a mind, pull up a comfy barrel, pour yerself a tankard o' rum (it's BYOB as I am not made of money), fill yer pipe with Old Ahab's Sea Shag, munch on some bole weevils and sit a spell while I tell my tale....

 

 

Norris

 

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! another Bimmer09 AKA Norris review........Barrel CHECK rum CHECK I'm good to go now!!!!! Continue my good fine sir and Captain of this review

[Bimmer09]

Piazza Navona fountain and church

 

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Empty Navona

 

 

 

One of the reassuring things found in this part of the city are the Police booths- a little office on the street with one policeman around the clock. I saw maybe 5 during my walk. Near a monument like Trevi there would be a police car keeping watch.

 

More to follow

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! another Bimmer09 AKA Norris review........Barrel CHECK rum CHECK I'm good to go now!!!!! Continue my good fine sir and Captain of this review

 

Now- that's the spirit!!

 

Canadian too- I think I have some Tim Horton's Tea Biscuits in the ship's pantry.

 

I dabble in ship design when I have a moment and disliking the Royal class sent some drawings to Ray Calouri. He questioned the "Rum Barge" which would be towed behind the ship.

 

I redesigned. This time I had the Calypso pool filled with dark rum with long flexible straws to each lounger feeding through a room-card reader (extra profits)

He nixed that as well. So much for "rum on demand".

 

Back to the drawing board...

 

Norris

[LucyDiamond]

Norris,

 

I just found your review and am loving it. Great photos and videos! I'm really looking forward to reading the rest.

 

Paula

[jtagphillycruiser]

I've been following along. This is getting so good. I can't wait to see your posts everyday. Thank you for sharing.

 

Joanne

[Bimmer09]

I'm loving your review and now dying to visit Italy.

 

Thank you and I'm glad you are enjoying.

 

Italy-yes. Unique. Amazing.

 

I went when I was 13 and had vivid memories that never dimmed but didn't return until 2014...too long. Now making up for lost time.

 

Lots more Italy coming up, day by day.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Norris,

 

I just found your review and am loving it. Great photos and videos! I'm really looking forward to reading the rest.

 

Paula

 

Welcome Lucy and thanks for the compliments!

 

I'm looking forward to writing the rest.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

I've been following along. This is getting so good. I can't wait to see your posts everyday. Thank you for sharing.

 

Joanne

 

Glad to have you aboard!

 

There's a cruise coming up in the hear future....

 

One more full day in Rome.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

These next few shots are from the ruins known as Largo de Torre Argentina, also known for the colony of stray cats that live here ( I saw one but it was dark)

It is 10 mins walk from the Pantheon on the way to Campo dei Fiore which we didn't get to visit this time. There's a lively street market there and lots of eateries. Next time.

 

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It was 6 a.m by now and people were waiting for buses and newspaper vans delivering todays news, so I wasn't the only one in the street anymore.

 

My next goal was to find Trevi fountain without a map...

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

I remembered seeing a sign pointing to Trevi when we crossed a busy street the day before so I made my way to via Corso. There was car traffic in the streets now as people headed to work.

 

Some buildings along the way.

 

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I found via Corso and the sign which led me into a maze of narrow streets. I saw one more sign and then nothing. I felt I had to be close.

A cafe had opened and there were a couple of Italians sitting outside drinking coffee so I asked them where it was and they pointed down the street.

 

Yes, there it was-sort of.

 

 

Fenced in by plexiglass as it was last year. I went for a closer look watched by 2 policemen in a car.

 

Instead of water in the fountain there were bags of cement, shovels and wheelbarrows. If Julius Caesar were alive he would have put 1,000 men to work and it would have been finished in a day.

 

 

Oh well. Next time!

 

Next I thought I'd look for the Spanish Steps but the roads from Trevi went uphill and standing at the bottom of those hills I looked at my watch and felt the sweat on my brow and decided against it as I had to be back at the hotel by 7 for breakfast (colazione). I pondered but returned back to Pantheon Square finding it without any signs as yesterday's walk came back to mind.

 

Daylight was approaching

 

 

 

 

Next up: breakfast then the FORUM

[donswife]

Well we've flown to Europe in Business Class and in Economy Plus on this trip and in Economy at the back of the plane where the people with the chickens in cages stand the whole way and Business is better by a long way. However tiresome the flight over is- I don't sleep in Economy Plus and the seats were designed on the cheap- once daylight comes and I look down and see Italy or Germany-all that is in the past. After the first quadruple espresso we are good to go...

 

It's so worth suffering some discomfort for 9 hours.

 

I hope you do it!

 

Norris

 

Thank you for the encouragement. While I haven't stood on an airplane with chickens, I actually have done so on a bus in China many years ago! :D Travel is an adventure!

[Bimmer09]

The hotel offers a small but tasty buffet of cured meats, cheeses, tomatoes and bread basically. As a nod to the Americans who visit there are scrambled eggs and "Bacon" (lightly fried prosciutto and delicious it is). There are elaborate glazed fruit tarts for the sweet tooth. Meusli, cereal, fresh fruits, olives, a toaster with marmalade and jams, croissants etc. Fresh OJ (not Simpson) and above all and first and foremost-Italian coffee!! I always start with a double espresso to give me the energy to lift and fill my plate.

 

There are two rooms- the big one where the food is and most of the people are

 

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and a little side room for quiet seekers-us.

 

 

We had bought our Forum tickets on line while in the USA to avoid having to wait inline on the day. It also allows you into the Colosseum but we visited that last year. Our plan was to be there soon after they opened at 8.30.

 

Delicious simple foods washed down with real coffee in a quiet elegant setting-a nice way to start the day. We were looking forward to similar in Sabatini's on the Emerald.

 

Today was our second and last day in Rome and the first and only day when we would wake there and go to sleep there. We intended to milk it as much as possible. How about some more coffee??

 

You guessed it....

 

 

Carol's double cappuccino and my double espresso

 

 

The CREMA in these coffees is ridiculous!! It is like a dessert and has to be eaten with the small demitasse spoon they give you. I leave it to last. OMG!!! We now have this coffee at home but we don't have their espresso machine nor the sugar they add as it comes from the machine to give it this foamy head. I've read that's what they do...but which sugar, how much and how and when is it applied?

 

 

 

We were there at a time when parents were bringing their kids to school-great people watching. These people really love their kids. Dads in business suits would be walking hand in hand with some precious little kid carrying a stuffed animal.

Kids in tiny crash helmets would be hanging on the back seat of a Vespa. or a bicycle. Some came in tiny cars and parked willy-nilly then walked their child over to the school around the corner. All the men and women look chic- often casually dressed but in quality stylish clothing.Ditto the kids. The men looked like Cologne models "the mark of a man is his scent...L'Uomo by Georgio Armani" All the kids looked happy and excited to be going to school on that Friday morning. We were happy and excited that very soon we would walk through the Forum.

 

After coffee and applications of sunscreen -we carry a little stick of sunscreen like a lip balm or lipstick, so easy to carry-we walked back to the Pantheon where the taxis stand. I asked the driver how much and he said 10 E. Always good to ask in advance so you don't get a shock when you get there.

 

And off we went!!

Edited October 9, 2015 by Bimmer09
spelling

[Bimmer09]

Actually nothing funny happened OTWTTF...although that huge area in front of the Victor Emmanuel Monument (Piazza Venezia) where many roads feed into a mighty square with no lanes marked might cause some nervous laughter. Somehow there are no crashes and not even a honk.Maybe best to look away-here's a 58 second video to distract you...

 

[YOUTUBE]NJxzP-qpDdk[/YOUTUBE]

 

The taxi pulled up with the Colosseum in view a few hundred yards up ahead.

Fine by us as we were going in a side entrance to the Forum. There was a short line at the ticket office-maybe 20 people but we bypassed it as we had our printed tickets. Bags were checked, tickets scanned and we were in and walking downhill to the site.

 

First impressions were disappointing- "this place looks like a ruin!" I said to Carol.

 

I wasn't going to take any pictures-"nothing to see here" but I did anyway....

 

While I don't have the map in front of me now I can't identify each building.It was the Downtown of Rome, the pulsing heartbeat, center of Government and Worship of the Gods, so lots of temples and former courthouses. There was probably a DMV for Chariot registration. The Vestal Virgins lived here (not a Roman girl band) and there was a two story shopping mall and lots of outdoor cafes and fast food joints.

 

There's a little book I'll show you that is essential when visiting. We got it from a retailer who's name is a big river in S.America.

 

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It shows you Rome today and has overlays that show you how it would have looked like in it's glory days. We first saw it when our Rome in Limo tour guide, Franco, used it to show us around last year.

 

Get the picture?

 

So here we go on a walk through the Forum on a sunny Friday morning before the hordes arrive...We came in at the halfway point so we would go to one end-nearest the Colosseum and then work our way forward.

 

 

Temple of Antonius Pius

 

 

Much more to follow....

Edited October 10, 2015 by Bimmer09
spelling

[Bimmer09]

Ancient brickwork-held together by cement

 

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Three 36 ft. columns are all that remains of the Temple of Castor and Pollox

 

 

I'm putting these photos up in the order they were taken as we moved from the middle to one end and then all the way to the other end.

 

 

[Bimmer09]

Now we are at the Colosseum end and the Arch of Titus

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I'm shooting high to get above the heads of tourists who have just come in at this end. It's hard to get shots without people walking through them so some patience may be required if it's really crowded. We are not the kind of people who have to pose in front of every statue or building. If we are visiting Pisa you won't see a shot of one of us pretending to hold it up-I think I have seen a few (LOL) like that. The building is the star, not us, so don't waste your time trying to sell us selfie sticks (which are now banned in some tourist sites/museums.)

 

 

The raised section here is part of the Palatine Hill which we walked partly last year. You can see a railing on the last building on the right which allows people to look down on the Forum in safety.

 

 

Carol was listening to Rick Steves via her phone and I was busy working cameras so she could tell you more of what we are seeing than I.

 

 

 

If anyone can identify this one then please chime in

 

 

[Bimmer09]

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More to come....

[Colo Cruiser]

THE STORY SO FAR...

 

 

We flew to Rome on September 23rd, a Wednesday, on the last scheduled DIRECT flight of the summer by United Airlines. We were first on the Waitlist for Business Class but all those people showed and so we sat in Economy Plus. We had an empty seat between us which came in handy.

 

The plane took off around 6 pm and we did the same as we were strapped into the seats and had no other choice.

 

9 hours of eating, drinking, watching on demand movies (about 200 to choose from) and using our Bose Noise Canceling headphones (highly recommended) we traded the darkness of night for views of the sunny beaches to the west of Rome and were soon on the ground, right on schedule at 10 am and soon in the crazy scrum of baggage claim-a case of too small an area for too many people.

 

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Once we had the bags and had passed through customs we were able to spot my name held aloft by our driver from Rome in Limo. We introduced ourselves in Italian, he took our luggage and we walked a couple of hundred yards to the garage where a black Mercedes E Class was waiting. He didn't speak fluent English but with our Italian, some mime and a few smoke signals we chatted on the drive into the center of Rome.

 

 

Our thanks as always to Jany from Rome in Limo who is always bringing her A Game when it comes to bookings.

 

NEXT UP.....

 

ROME

 

Norris

 

 

Hi Norris, how much was your RIL transfer?

[Bimmer09]

Hi Norris, how much was your RIL transfer?

 

Keith, welcome!

 

60Euros. A taxi would have been E44 once established with the driver (it is the law and they tried to charge Rick Steves more-the noive!!)

 

Mercedes E class, bottles of cold water. No lines-no brainer!

 

Rome in Limo rock.

 

The transfer from hotel to ship was E 160.

 

Norris

[Colo Cruiser]

Keith, welcome!

 

60Euros. A taxi would have been E44 once established with the driver (it is the law and they tried to charge Rick Steves more-the noive!!)

 

Mercedes E class, bottles of cold water. No lines-no brainer!

 

Rome in Limo rock.

 

The transfer from hotel to ship was E 160.

 

Norris

 

Thanks!!

 

You booked this ahead of time on their website, right?

How long of a drive?

[Bimmer09]

Thanks!!

 

You booked this ahead of time on their website, right?

How long of a drive?

 

Yes and paid for it in advance-if you pay on the day it has to be in Euros-no credit cards.

 

I'd say the drive was 40 minutes from the airport.

 

Norris

[Jasperdo]

I'm drooling over your Forum photos. Excellent as always. I feel the same as you regarding selfie. No one wants to see my ugly mug blocking the view of a Roman masterpiece.

[Bimmer09]

I'm drooling over your Forum photos. Excellent as always. I feel the same as you regarding selfie. No one wants to see my ugly mug blocking the view of a Roman masterpiece.

 

I can understand a group of teenage girls using a selfie stick to capture them having fun together but taking a selfie in front of the Mona Lisa is a bit narcissistic. I was happy to see the guards in the Accademia stop people using the selfie stick to photograph themselves with the statue of David.

 

 

Besides selfies there are some ethnic groups-I won't mention which as I like their sushi-who hog a statue or arch for 15 minutes while each of them in turn make the same pose with the arch as a background, while others like me are waiting to get a shot. Just get a group photo-I'll shoot it for you, then share it via e mail.

 

When I take a photo I shoot it fast if there are others around and then move out of the shot.

 

Good to see you here again, Jasperdo!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

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Tiny people look down from the Palatine Hill viewpoint

 

 

Beautiful weather today!

 

 

More to follow