Our Trip to Italy and more
As the big day of departure arrived, we were excited to embark on a journey dreamt of decades before. We were headed for Italy, the land of my wife’s ancestors. As a young girl, she had longed to visit there on a cruise ship. So, that’s what we did.
Our cruise lasted seven days, leaving from the port of Rome, a town called Civitacchivia. The cruise ship, the Silver Spirit of the cruise line Silversea, departed at 6:00pm on Saturday. But first, we had to get there. We flew from our hometown, Houston, Texas to London, then on to Rome. Rome to Civitacchivia was about an hour’s bus ride. The section below called The Journey has photos of the trips going to and coming from Italy. (If you want to skip this section, you won’t be missing much.)
This was my first cruise and my wife’s second, and the first time to Italy for either of us. We chose Silversea as our cruise line primarily because of the itinerary. We were looking for a seven day cruise and we wanted one that took us to as much of Italy as possible, with Sicily and Venice being a must see. The time of year was also important to us since we didn’t want to visit when it’s cold. Silversea fit all our criteria. An added bonus was that the Silver Spirit was a new cruise ship, having made its maiden voyage in December, 2009.
We loved the experience on our cruise ship, the Silver Spirit. The food was exceptional, the service was top-notch. The entertainment was enjoyable, and the amenities, like the spa, jacuzzi, sauna, and steam room, among others, were a delight. Our cabin, number 647, housed a wonderful queen-size bed, sofa and chairs, two TVs, a bathroom with shower (tall enough for my 6’2” frame) and bathtub, and a great balcony. There were glitches along the way, to be sure, but nothing to overcome the overall excellence of the ship and its staff. The section below called Silver Spirit has photos of the ship.
Each of our five stops were memorable, three in Italy (Sorrento and Capri were one stop), one in Montenegro, and one in Croatia. We visited three UNESCO World Heritage sites, properties of outstanding cultural and natural value. There is a section of photos for each, so you don’t have to go through one seemingly endless slideshow. There is also a section called People and Everyday. The photos there are not your picture-postcard type scenes, but rather snapshots of the people and activities we encountered along the way, some photographically better than others. But they hopefully give you a sense of what the locales are really like.
I hope you enjoy.
The Photographs
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Italy----
