Rome, Day 1 & 2

Well, we had two wonderful days in Rome.  We took two golf cart tours, both night and day.

Sunday night we took a late night tour with a very sweet young man.  We saw all the famous Roman sites all lit up at night.  It was such a beautiful and fun tour.  We had lots of laughs with this guy.  For our last stop, he took us to a gelato shop where his friends work.  We skipped the long line (again like ballers) and entered thru a side door and got served the best gelato yet.

Monday morning, a very distinguished gentleman with a history degree picked us right in front of our hotel for a four hour tour.  Beth instructed him to take us to different places in Rome.  Kind of a hidden gem tour.  He was an 8th generation Roman so he knew every detail of this city.  We rode while he told stories and the history of the city he absolutely loves.  He spoke of underground Rome, which would be a whole new experience.  I think the Griffith family will be going on this tour in the future.  Beth has his contact information for future travels.

Anyway, along with some shopping and excursions on our own, that about wraps up the visit to this wonderful city. Our last stop was at Otaleg, a gelato shop.  This is ABSOLUTELY hands down the best gelato in Rome.  The pistachio gelato came in two types, salty or sweet.  We both ordered salty.  It had little chunks of roasted nuts.  So if you are in Rome and want the best to eat or even a class to make it, this is the place.

So, this was the end of our trip. I have been dreaming about going on another European Viking cruise since we went on the Baltic Sea cruise in 2018.  A lot has happened since then.  Originally, Woody and I booked this trip in July 2025.  Since that time, he didn’t feel like he would be able to go but did not want me to cancel.  I asked Beth if she would go in his place.  I’m sure glad she did.  I couldn’t have asked for a better travel companion.  She slowed her pace to match my not so good knees and found tours that I could handle without too much walking.  We laughed a lot and had an amazing trip.  I will remember it forever.

One last footnote.  I had Viking arrange the airfare so we would have transfers to and from the airport.  The flight home was on Air France.  I have to note that they win the prize for the nastiest food both Beth and I have ever received by an airline.  Who heats up scallops in citrus sauce in a microwave in a plane? It smelled horrible.  Also some kind of cold mushy asparagus with rhubarb sauce and bitter lemon desert? In the morning, when they handed out breakfast trays, I took one look and gave it back to him.  Just an FYI…

This is our hotel room.  Beth thought it was a bit like Anna and Elsa’s (Frozen) room.

Florence/Pisa, Italy, Day 2

 Today was a little trickier than the others.  I was sure glad I had my travel agent/tour guide Beth with me to get me to Florence and back…on time.  We didn’t miss the ship.We started off with an awful wake up alarm at 6am.  Beth was not sure she wanted to see David but I assured her she did.  When we made it to the taxi area, there were no taxis or shuttles.  Beth asked the port guy to send a taxi so it wasn’t too bad of a wait.  We made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare.

We had a guide for a short tour and skip the line tickets at 9am at the Accademia Gallery to see David.  I was surprised that it was so crowded already but he is a popular guy.

We looked at several paintings and some other sculptures by Michangelo but nothing can compare to David.  In 2015, I saw it with Woody during a tour of Italy.  It moved me to tears then.  Today it still moved me but no tears.

We took pictures of every angle while our guide talked about it.  The most interesting story was the way they kept him and other works safe from bombing during WWII.  They constructed brick beehive like structures around each statue.  I thought that was brilliant. I am attaching a picture from the internet.

After our visit with David, we had coffee, shopped and visited some of the many landmarks.  It was a busy fun day but my feet were rebelling a bit.  Beth had to visit some sites on her own while I sat and held bags.  It was all good.

We made it to the train station in time for our 3pm train.  The only item of interest on the ride back was a weird guy that sat across from Beth.  He started chewing on his shirt and shortly after, he fell on the floor and Beth.  Now that was something too.  We exited the train not long after that incident.

So that wraps up our cruise.  Tomorrow we get off the ship in Rome.  We have two more days before we head home.  It was a great cruise!

    This is the designer of a pretty purse Beth bought.  His grandfather started the business.