Day One Hundred Fourteen - April 29 Ciao and Arrivederci from Italy. Time to say Goodbye Today is sadly our last port in Italy as we dock in Livorno. We began this part of the journey with a stop in Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia on April 5 and complete it on April 29. Livorno is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 157,000 inhabitants. It is the...

Day One Hundred Thirteen - April 28 Today we arrived at Civitavecchia, the port city of Rome. Approaching the port the huge Enel energy plant appears at the water's edge. The port is serviced by several ferry companies including Grimaldi, Tirrenia and Moby. Also in port today was a US Navy expeditionary ship. When any type of naval vessel is in port, all internet communications on our ship go down until we leave port. Leslie our cruise director provided us ...

Day One Hundred Twelve - April 27 During the previous evening, we sailed around through the Straits of Messina and are now on the western side of Italy. The ship's arrival was 07:00 but again we arrived in port about 30 minutes early. The bulk of the passengers who were going on tours decided on the ruins of Pompeii. Our ship tour was a walk through Naples, Secret Tunnels and a Pizza Lunch in the town that invented the margarita pizza. As you drive into Nap...

Day One Hundred Eleven - April 26 Today we arrived in the city of Messina located on the Northeast corner of the island of Sicily and is separated from the mainland by the Straight of Messina. It's population is roughly 250,000 and is the third largest city in the region behind Palermo and Catania. The island itself has 5 million inhabitants. As you enter the port your ship is blessed by the statue of the Madonnina del Porto as she holds up her right hand. ...

Day One Hundred Ten - April 25 Calm seas were the word of the day for our sail into Crotone today. As we approached, you could see a number of oil rigs dot the Adriatic Sea as Italy tries to find more sources of oil. Presently, Italy must import all its oil needs. The city of Crotone with its population of roughly 65,000 lies at the base of rolling hills where you can see wind farms to generate additional power. Crotone was founded by the Achaean Greeks abou...