 

We hit land yesterday and it was very cool!  I am under the weather, got a dumb cold and indeed have been relaxing with a capital R!    We arranged for our guide to pick us up at 2:30, so we didn't bother getting in line and relaxed and ate leisurely instead and it was so much more relaxed that cueing up to disembark!  After the initial crowd, we walked off easily and there was Daniel our taxi driver waiting so we were whisked away quickly.  Way ahead of the tour buses.


We found Daniel R. de Freitas through CC; he was incredibly knowledgeable about the history, and the flora and fauna of the area.  He had maps and pictures and info about the area and he kept us ahead the crowds most of the day.  We took the sleds down from Monte first thing to avoid crowds, it was the best fun.  Somewhere along the run they snapped our pictures and by the time we got to the end of the run, they had those pictures for sale!  I had to laugh, and they were awesome photos.  Of course we bought them.


Next we went to the Nun's Valley, we drove up through the lush forests of Eucalyptus, Banana, Flowers everywhere (and Daniel knew all the names) wild Birds of Paradise.  Madeira is an amazing island, former volcanoes had left the island with very fertile soil and everything grows here.  We also visited the Mini Grand Canyon, and the second highest sea cliff in the world.  We had some astounding views.  

Daniel dropped us back at the ship with plenty of time to spare, I would have stayed in town but I needed rest.  I have to say Daniel was a great guide, he can be found at http://www.daniel-taxidriver.pt.vu/  or jd@netmadeira.com.  I bought some Banana candy and a floaty pen with the sled ride floating by.  Total cost 4E!  Back on the ship, we leave at around 8PM but I am fast asleep already, trying to get well ASAP because after tomorrow, we are in Cadiz!  We ordered hamburgers and ravished them, then passed out from exhaustion!  


Madeira (Funchal)

May 1, 2009 Civitavecchia, Italy.  Guide:
Fabricio Melaragno

http://www.allarounditaly.net/ 



We finally hit Italy (Rome) and the tour with Fabricio (allarounditaly.net)
to Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoregio and everybody concurred that it was the
best tour ever.  It was a day to end all
days, these two towns were both incredible, but Civita di Bagnoregio was a
“once in a lifetime” moment that all who took the time to visit recognized.  We were appropriately blown away!



Our guide Fabricio was
both knowledgeable, and hilarious.  We
laughed so much I got cramps.  We learned
so much, and it was fun.   We did twice
as much as the tours available on the ship, and Fabricio surprised us with
wonderful towns and villages in addition to our planned itinerary because we
had the time to take it slow and cover a lot of ground.  And Fabricio got us past Police and blockades
to places no bus and many locals could not get to, I’m not going to give away
his secret but you will laugh and be so happy you booked him when you see
this!  A real treat J



There were 15 of us on
this tour, 8 in Fabricio’s bus and 7 in Alberto’s (also very nice) although
everybody wanted to be with Fabricio because he is so alive, so filled with
good humor and good intentions.   We
decided to cancel all the Princess tours and go with him everywhere!  So that will be 5 tours with him in Italy, and I highly recommend him to my cruise critic
friends.  

He promised us cheese
everywhere, it was a joke and we really appreciated how funny he is and what a
good guy he really is.  So I don’t think
that will be an issue but if it comes up, I’ll report it.  Don’t miss Civita di Bagnoregio!   Orvieto was pretty cool too, we visited the
catacombs and tunnels in the Tufa rock there and that was very interesting as
well.  The Cathedral in Orvieto is
magnificent, probably one of the nicest I have ever seen.  It was a great day!May 7, 2009 Rome with Fabricio http://www.allarounditaly.net/


Woke to perfect weather,
we pulled in to Civitavecchia, docked and were able to disembark by 7:15 am.   Our guide
was Fabricio again so we were all looking forward to an experience!   I had a check list of things to do, not so
much the classics because I’ve been several times on the classics tour, but the
weird and wonderful interesting sights that I’ve never had time to see.  



We had 2 van loads of
people, we all went to the Coliseum and forum first and then we broke off into
different tours, this worked out well because some of us dud not want to go to
the Vatican and others had to. 
I found the best “then and now” books at the entrance of the
Coliseum—it’s large and red with a DVD—for 25 E and it is the best book.  I had looked for this one in the states, but
its costs a fortune on Amazon.  It’s an
awesome book; you cannot do the Forum and Coliseum with out it.  You also cannot find it anywhere else in the
city, including inside the monuments, so don’t pass it up!



Next we went to San
Clemente Church, an incredible 3 level church where you descend to the bottom
level and discover the other river that runs through the city—underneath the
city and it runs right through this church. 
At the bottom is the ancient pagan church filled with ancient frescos
and just so incredibly old.  Next the old
Roman empire church, filled with more recent ancient artifacts!  Then of course the current church with its
Mosaics and Marble statues.  Wow!



Next stop San Pietro in
Vincoli where the famous statue of Michelangelo’s Moses graces this most
beautiful of churches.  Where can you
ever see this for free?  Also on display
are the chains of St. Peter.  One side
Catholic, one side Jewish!



We visited the keyhole, an
incredible place on the Palatine hill, as well as the mouth of truth!  Now I stumped Fabricio, lol, I wanted to go
to the Museum of Walls (Museo delle Mura) which he had never heard of.  It was so cool, you get to climb the ancient
walls and walk around the ramparts—truly a hidden gem here and we were the only
people in this museum.  Yes, it was good
to stump someone as knowledgeable as Fabricio—he grew up in Rome!



Onto the Ghetto and
Trastevere, we walked around the oldest area of Rome and had a great falafel!  Next we went to the Pantheon, probably my
favorite building in all of Rome.  It’s so awesome, inspiring in its simplicity
and beauty with its megalithic columns and gorgeous marble floors.



We did a quickie at the
Trevi fountain then finally hit the highlight; the Capuchin Crypt where we
visited the best crypt in all of Rome, a must see. 
Really interesting, you won’t believe your eyes!

Fabricio made the day
incredible, he knew every shortcut, every policeman and guide and got us within
10 steps of all monuments, gave us great background info and clear directions
and meeting times and places and it was so cool when he came looking for us
when we got lost!  We never felt unsafe,
but often grateful that we were not driving, this is an impossible town to
navigate.  We got back to the ship at 5:30 exhausted but very satisfied.  Tomorrow the Amalfi coast with Fabricio!  Hooray.

Rome (Civitavecchia)

May 2, 2009 Livorno to Florence with Fabricio

Having our guide pick us up again at Livorno, we all now feel like family with Fabricio!  He got us early, before any large buses had left the port and it was much easier than I had expected.  I had heard that this port was more difficult to maneuver, and I was expecting it to be a pain—somehow I imagined that I would not be able to find my guide, or that I would have to walk far to find him.  Not so, all private guides all right by the ship, in case anybody has the worries I had.


We zipped out of the port with our van filled to the brim with very happy campers; everybody by now has experiences a “large bus” tour and recognizes the gift of the private guides and small vans.   We don’t drive any expressways; instead we take country roads all the way into Florence.  Fabricio has many surprises in store for us today, we stop for some astounding views, he is trying to fill everybody’s wishes and it feels really good to know how much he wants us to enjoy this day.  We love him, and now we cannot imagine being without him anywhere.


We zip into Florence, passing crowds of people and lots of parked buses; they cannot get 5 steps from Academia like we can...  In the sea of ‘umbrellas held in the air’ we walk past them and straight into Academia (OK 2 minutes wait) where we are free to explore at our own pace.  Academia is perfect for a first timer; it’s beautiful but not too large so it’s a reasonable amount of beauty that does not overwhelm too much.  Well David is magnificent to see in person, as are Michelangelo’s haunting unfinished pieces—think prisoners in stone.  They are incredible, don’t miss Academia.  


As we step out of the museum, Fabricio is waiting for us.  We head back too the van and despite the massive crowds, he gets us to the Piazza Santa Croce in a few minutes.  5 steps and we are in the square.  After a brief explanation of the church, we get an hour to wander, shop the markets and grab a delicious sandwich all in the shadow of this beautiful church.   


Next we head to the Brunelleschi's Duomo, the lines are daunting and we decide not to try to get in.   As the day goes on the crowds become overwhelming to all of us and we spend more time walking and less time visiting monuments.   We shop a little then head toward the Ponte Vecchio which is way too crowded for me.  Luckily I pass this Cameo shop and I find the most beautiful Cameo I have ever seen1 Never mind the price.


Fabricio has gotten us no more that 5 steps from every monument, Piazza and Palace and he still has not tried to sell us any cheese!  I think he is actually allergic to many cheeses.  Anyway no cheese, but lots of special and personalized treatment that makes everyone who meets him really like him.  I am sad to not see him for a few days; he won’t drive to Monaco or Barcelona for me!  

May 6, 2009 Volterra and San Gimignano (out of Livorno) Guide: Alberto from allarounditaly.net  

Leave as early as possible to avoid traffic!  We started out at 8 rather than 7:30 and it made a big difference in the amount of traffic we hit since we had to drive close to Florence—it took us a grueling 2.5 hours to get to our first stop San Gimignano.  Later I realized that our guide had taken a more scenic road that was slower and we had to drive through the outskirts of Florence.  I would leave early and take the toll road to get as quickly as possible, and I would go to Volterra first because it is much more charming and there will be the greatest opportunity to be alone in this town without many tourists


Having said that less is definitely more on this excursion.  We were going to try to fit in Sienna as well but this significantly reduced the amount of time we would have had to wander these lovely towns.  We ended up choosing to spend more time in each town and less time driving around because it’s not fun around Florence, just congested.  


Volterra is incredibly interesting and quite walk able, there are nooks and crannies everywhere and lots of ancient churches and buildings, including many towers.  We found an ancient Greek forum, a fort with walls you can walk, and lots of photo oops everywhere.  This is the place to buy Alabaster; we found demonstrations and great shops selling the most unique items including statues, lamps, tiles, and dishes.


Florence (Livorno)

May 8, 2009 Amalfi Coast and Herculaneum (Mama Mia, shut up your Face!) with Fabricio

 

Naples was our last day with Fabricio; he took 14 of us in 2 vans along the Amalfi Coast to Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello where we ate a slow and delicious lunch that was the best meal we all had in Italy.   It was perfect weather, warm but not hot and with out a cloud in the sky.  We loved the hairpin turns and beautiful countryside.  

This was another incredible day with Fabricio, by now it seemed like many people came running over to say goodbye to Fabricio in the morning and afternoon and for good reason.  Fabricio completely made our tours in Italy, whenever we had him we laughed, learned, and did it in quick time and always landing close to sights and way ahead of the large buses.  Fabricio did raise an umbrella a few times in the van to make us feel like tourists!  We all laughed so much we cried, you know how that goes.  

 

Fabricio Wanted to get us on the Amalfi coast ASAP to avoid the crowds and buses, so we went there first and it was mind-blowing.  We stopped in Positano and walked, snacked, shopped, and then took off to Amalfi.   We loved the tour, we changed plans when we hit crowds and finally Fabricio took us to a lovely cliffside restaurant where we all (14) sat and ate the best meal of the whole trip—the freshest pasta, salads, and pizzas and more.  It was another highlight, we did not pay a fixed price and instead choose what we wanted and paid for that.  We ate and drank like Kings and Queens for under 30 E!  No cheese at all here!

 

Next we went to Herculaneum and Fabricio had arranged for a professor to guide us through and we all really loved it.  It is smaller than Pompeii, more complete and better preserved, was home to the wealthiest people and therefore the nicest frescos and mosaics, and finally it is much less crowded than Pompeii!  Another hit with all the gang, we also bought more “then and now” overlay books.  Do buy them when you see then, you often never find them again later in the day.  One couple in the group decided to build another home based on the things they saw in this incredible town where the elite lived and prospered as a colony of the Roman Empire.

 

It was so sad to say goodbye to Fabricio, he is the nicest guy, so polite and so funny and so many of us CC people had the privilege of using him and his associates and we all appreciated what a joyous man his is and how filled with life he is.   I enjoyed every moment with him as did all the people on my tours, he is a gem.  I had read some stuff about Fabricio taking advantage of people and forcing them to buy a thousand dollars in cheese but he never brought us to any cheese place, or any place where we were told to shop.  I am a giant pain in the rear, I am a researcher and I teach ancient civilizations so I brought checklists of places to see and Fabricio greeted each list with joy and pleasure—he loved that I found places that he had never been.   He even found the Museum of Walls for me, it was very cool.   Fabricio is the best I’ve had, I feel safe and know he will take good care of me and whoever is with me, always mindful of our time limits and always leaving a wide berth of time in case of emergencies that could impede our getting back to the ship on time.  Everywhere we went after Fabricio (except in Turkey with Kagan) we missed him so!

 
I even had an opportunity to use a phrase Fabricio taught us all in the dining room!  The sun was blaring in my eyes and I asked for the shades to be pulled, mostly because I had a migraine in the morning and was sensitive to light.   Another man at another table started complaining about this and I stood up and shook my hands (like Fabricio in traffic) and said ‘shut uppa your face’!  I know I’m so bad. 


Naples

And Fabricio got us past Police and blockades to places no bus and many locals could not get to, I'm not going to give away his secret but you will laugh and be so happy you booked him when you see this!Back on the ship, we enjoyed not having to do muster again, nanana J  I notice that as the days float by, I am really having a great time.

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