EUROPE The Trip of a Lifetime.

by Nancy Kivlen

Our first day at sea and our first day of rest in two weeks of nonstop travel. To say this has been a whirlwind trip is an understatement.

LONDON, Oct 8 to 11: We took Jetlag pills that our friend Mary recommended to us and this helped combat the jet lag feeling; but we didn't get over it entirely. By the time we got to the St. James Court (a Taj Hotel) it was already evening. In an effort to stay awake at least until 10pm we walked around Trafalgar Sq and had dinner at Prezzo a not so great Italian chain. We were tired, famished and in a fog, so it did the trick. Made our way back to the hotel for good night sleep.

When the alarm went off the next morning, it felt like the middle of the night (which technically it was). The Taj offered a nice English Breakfast and then we were off to the Tower of London. We had purchased the "London Pass" before we left the states, which I recommend if you are planning to make a lot of tube stops and visit many sights that charge entrance fees. The London Pass allows you to skip the line at the sight and just walk right in, saving hours of time if you count more than 3 or 4 sights.

After visiting the Tower of London, the Crown Jewels and the torture dungeons, we headed off to Kensington Palace where the highlight was seeing Princess Diana's dresses and then over to Westminster Abbey where everyone and their brother (Royal or not) is buried.

We wanted to have Indian food while we were in London, but ran out of time because we had 7:30pm tickets to see "Wicked" so we instead ate at the hotel's Michellin star restaurant Quillon, which featured south Indian cuisine. It was very good, but too spicy for some of us.

Then it was off to "Wicked" which Lynne and Ana had seen already (but wanted to see it again). It was the first time Maggie and I saw it and we both loved it.

The last day in London, we managed to pack in Buckingham Palace and the changing of the Guard (couldn't go in because the Queen was there). All of us got lost in the throng of people. Maggie had a pigeon "crap" all over her!! So she went back to shower and change, finally after noon we all met up back at the hotel realizing we were all lost, that made the most sense since the hotel was close by.

In the afternoon we made our way over to the British Museum (this is free to the public) and made a mad dash through the exhibits in two hours. Everything from the Rosetta Stone to the history of Stone Henge to Egyptian Mummies are exhibited in this vast museum. This turned out to be Maggie's favorite museum of all the ones we visited so far on our trip.

We finished the day at Harrods in Knightsbridge. None of us bought anything since the prices are outrageous, it makes Saks & Neiman's look like Walmart. This section of London is the Arab section, there are many Arab bars and restaurants where the men sit outside and smoke hookas while the women, dressed in silk veils are dripping with make up and jewels. From here we took a cab to one of the trip advisor recommended restaurants, WILTON'S. A posh and very British establishment. Our food was delicious, although very expensive. Between the four of us, we had Sea bass, Duck, Prime Rib and Salmon, all very good.

It was brutal getting up at 3AM the next morning to catch a 7AM flight from Heathrow to Charles de Gaulle.

PARIS: OCT 11 to 13: All of our pre arranged transfers (via bedsonline) worked perfectly. At each destination they were there to greet us and transport us on time. Maggie and I stayed at the Park Hyatt Vendome as I was able to get two nights comped there as part of Signature Travel Network's Mystery Shopper Hotel program for travel agents (this would have cost 1,700 Euros for two nights otherwise!!). Our friends, Lynne and Ana stayed right behind the Hyatt at a trip advisor recommended 3 star hotel, called Hotel Volney. While their introduction to the hotel was met by a rather nasty french woman, the room and hotel itself was very nice for a 3 star. It was modern and nicely furnished. It was less then a block to our hotel which was across from the Opera and the Ritz Carlton.

Upon arrival, we were exhausted and famished, so we grabbed a quick lunch near the hotel (salads, not very good). The theme of our trip was quickly becoming "I'm Changing Our Itinerary". Originally, I had set up a very aggressive sight seeing itinerary for both London and Paris, but as fatigue and time played a bigger role than originally thought, I had to alter our plans.

We spent the rest of the day in the Louvre Museum, overwhelming as it is.

This evening we found a lovely restaurant somewhere between the Louvre and the Opera that had fantastic French Onion Soup and escargot. The weather in both London and Paris had been in the mid sixties with light rain off and on.

After a good night sleep we had a full day of sightseeing that started in the Montmartre/Sacre Cour area of Paris. It was a Sunday and there were many open air markets, the place was packed with people. We had lunch in the main square of Montmartre, a tourist trap to say the least. From here we headed over to Notre Dame and Saint Chappelle, two amazing Cathedrals that can't be missed when visiting Paris.

Afterwards the rain poured down and we headed over to the D'orsay Museum, which turned out to be Lynne & Ana's favorite museum of all. The paintings of Cezanne, Monet, Van Gogh and other masters should not be missed when visiting Paris.

For dinner we headed over to the Latin Quarter, not far from where we were to a trip advisor recommended restaurant called "La Petit Perigourdine" which turned out to be the least expensive meal we had so far on the trip and by far the best food (and wine selection). The Bordeaux wine, duck, veal and pate were all amazing. I will give this place five stars when I get the chance to write a review.

The next day was an early start, we had reservations to visit the top of the Eiffel Tower, where I had never been (to the top that is). A very cold, windy, sunny morning. At the top of the Tower you feel as though the wind will pick you up and carry you off. The views of Paris are amazing.

Once back at our hotel, we were picked up and transferred to Orly airport to catch our Vuehling flight to Barcelona. BTW, Vuehling airlines was great. They were the only airline that didn't charge Ana excess luggage (since she was way over the limit), their planes are brand new. British Airways on the other hand, charged excess luggage for each leg of the itinerary and the plane from London to Paris looked like something from WWII it was so old.

BARCELONA: Oct 13 & 14: We stayed at Hotel Neri a fantastic hotel in the center of the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. The hotel and the rooms are gothic in style, this is a fantastic 4 star Hotel.

This evening we headed out to a fantastic Tapas Bar in the Gothic Quarter. None of us could tell you what we ate, only that we thought it was fantastic. There was a line to get in, but because the hotel made a reservation for us, we didn't have to wait. All I can say about the tapas in Spain is that the combination of food that they put together is wonderful tasting. Things like shrimp and pate, or bread, jam and squid sounds horrible but tastes magnificent.

The next morning we took a cab because we had reservations to get into La Sagrada Familia and the Nativity Tower elevator. Once again, I was happy we pre puchased and arranged this in advance as the lines for both were around the corner. La Sagrada Familia never ceases to amaze me, for me, it's the most magnificent church I've seen and even though the renovations are still going on (and probably will be for the next hundred years), it is a tribute to Anton Guadi and his creation of modern art.

Afterwards, we strolled down Las Ramblas visiting the amazing Mercado in the center of town. Then we caught a taxi to the port where we boarded our Celebrity Cruise, The Equinox, one of their newer ships.

The cruise is full, packed to capacity. There are things I like about the ship and things I dislike. It cannot be compared with Crystal Cruises which is clearly a level above Celebrity and one of the last cruises I took. The food on the ship is fantastic. I'm not particularly thrilled with the 'classic beverage package', it seems as if everything you want to drink "isn't included", only the cheapest wines and vodkas. The cabin we have is a semi obstructed view, but part of the life boat sticks out and makes it difficult to take pictures from the balcony. The ports on this itinerary are amazing. It's perfect for what we are trying to accomplish with our friends on this itinerary (see as much of Europe as possible) as Lynne & Ana are first time traveler's to Europe. It also saves time and energy packing and repacking. But for myself, I think in the end, I'm just not a "cruise" type of person. I've probably traveled too much and too far to say this is my favorite way of seeing the world, because it's not. In the end, I prefer to hop on a train, or in a car and go. For me personally, I'm not someone that enjoys dressing up. I'd rather bring a couple pair of jeans and shorts and just rewear them over and over. Since cruises throw in 'dress up' nights, it's hard to pack for a trip like this.

But onto the ports......

OCT 1 : Port of Marseilles. At 8:00am we met Emma the owner of Provence Xplorer. We spent the day with Emma who is a charming French woman that showed us the area in and around Marseilles. The first place she took us was Cassis, about 40 minutes south of Marseilles, we drove around the mountains and highest points of the Provence region and a national park to the town of Cassis. We boarded a small boat and visited three of the five 'Calanques', beautiful inlets with beaches in and around Cassis.

Afterwards there was an outdoor market where we each bought different things. Then Emma loaded us back into her van and off we went to Aix en Provence another 40 minute drive north of Marseilles.

This town was magnificent. Well healed cultured french residents abound in this ancient village full of pastries and wine shops. We stopped for lunch at Les Deux Garcons a restaurant that has been there since the 1700s. Back on the ship we got ready for our first 'formal night' on the cruise, but not before another pigeon pooped all over Maggie's head for the 2nd time!! Maybe they are attracted to her blonde hair.

OCT 1 : We arrived in Villefranche port along the French Cote d' Azur. Where we took a leisurely stroll through the town and caught the train to Monaco to visit the swanky town of Monte Carlo. We paid $100 for three cappachinos, a water and two finger sandwiches at Cafe de Paris just outside the Grand Casino. We saw the Palace from a distance, but ran out of time to get there.

Trying to figure out the correct direction of the train back to Villefranche was an adventure. The french have no signs or no one to ask and if they did, as you are all aware, they wouldn't have spoke English anyway. Stranded on the platform with other English people, Japanese and folks from Spain we were all wondering the same thing "which platform, which direction?" I had wanted to visit the town of Eze but because there was a train strike in certain villages, we were unable to do so. Instead we guessed our way onto a train which turned out to be the correct one back to Villefranche.

OCT 17: I made arrangements to spend the night in Florence. Something seemed horribly wrong that we would have to make our way back to the ship at 4pm when we were in one of the most incredible cities of Italy. When we got off the ship, we were met by Andrea, a young Italian man who worked for his Uncle Claudio, who I made arrangements with to pick us up at the port and transport us to Florence via Pisa. We arrived in Pisa early in the morning, it was warm and raining lightly. We took our pictures at the leaning tower and found a place to get cappachino before Andrea took us on the one hour ride through the Tuscan hills, past the town of Vince where Leonardo de Vince was born to our Hotel Carravaggio in Florence. Andrea was a charming young man who plans to visit San Diego in March to "Look for girls". I gave him the rundown of places he might find them in the gaslamp district of downtown San Diego.

Hotel Carravaggio was another hotel recommended on trip advisor, a 3 star. Everyone working at the hotel was friendly and very helpful. However, I would label this hotel more of a 2 star, it was very tiny, uncomfortable beds and small bathrooms/showers. I'm guessing that perhaps in comparison with other hotels in Florence this was one of the better ones and it could be that hotels in Florence are simply this way. But compared to the 3 star hotel in Paris where Lynne and Ana stay, Hotel Volney, well there is no comparision, the Volney was much better.

We dumped our day packs and headed off to discover Florence. I pre bought tickets to the Duomo and museum so we didn't have to wait in the long line. An amazing work of art it is the very center of all things Florence. Somewhere around here, we stopped for lunch and had the most amazing pizza I've ever eaten. We wandered around the San Lorenzo marketplace, a place to negotiate with the vendors on leather goods that are sold all over Florence.

Then we had 3pm reservations to the Accademia to see David and other sculptures of Michaelangelo. For me, this was the most magnificent piece of art I have seen. This is probably my 10th trip to Florence, but seeing David is breathtaking each and every time.

We headed down to Ponte Vecchio and the Arno River. It was Saturday and the place was brimming with people. For dinner we found another trip advisor recommended restaurant, Trattoria Nella, for me this was the best food so far of the trip. The linguine and clams were to die for and the chianti was a recommendation of the proprieter, went down like butter.

We got lost which is easy to do walking back to the hotel. But people are very friendly and helpful in the bustling tourist city.

OCT 18: We woke at the crack of dawn and headed off to the Firenze train station to catch our 7:30am train to Rome. As I stated before, this is my preferred mode of travel in Europe. Easy on and off, the train stations for the most part are all centrally located. We arrived in Rome at 9am (earlier than the ship would have gotten us there) and immediately headed over to the Colosseum where we had tickets so we didn't have to wait in the long line. Now we are getting into things built in the 1st century, from here we headed into the Forum another magnificent ruin, home of the Senators or heads of Government from the 1st century. It was a hot day in Rome, 80 degrees with humidity.

We wondered over to Trevi Fountain which is being reconstructed, so not a recommendation until it's completed. There are hundreds of places to eat in this area so we settled on one and I had another amazing pizza, this will be the destruction of me in Italy. The food is just too good!!!

We headed off to the Vatican where we met Enza our tour guide from the Walks of Italy. Enza was fantastic, giving us the entire history of the Vatican, the museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Bascillica. We spent the next three hours with her as she navigated our way through the most magnificent part of Rome, Vatican City (technically it's own country).

We skipped lines throughout this tour and it became clear that taking a tour such as this is the only way to see the Vatican. The museum of the vatican houses works of Dali (gifts to the Pope), Rafael and Michaelangelo. Packing ourselves into the Sistine Chapel to see Michaelangelo's greatest accomplishment was overwhelming, hot and humid. From there, Enza navigated a special entrance for us into St Peter's Bascillica. The next day Pope Francis was going to ordain (someone, didn't catch who) and there were thousands of Cardinals in town which we were priviledged to see walk through St Peter's on a 'practice run' for the next day.

We departed St. Peter's and met our driver from Walks of Italy who transferred us for an hour to our Ship in Civitivecchia where we re embarked on our Celebrity Cruise.

OCT 19: Another early morning disembarkation, we met Arturo from AP Tours at the dock in Salerno where he took us on a beautiful ride to Pompeii. Another warm 80 degree day, it was good to do Pompeii first before the crowds arrived. This amazing ruin from the 1st century has captured a city ruined from the eruption of Mt Vesuvius. Once of the home of more than 20,000 people, Pompeii is a tribute to those who died from this disaster.

After Pompeii we drove along the Salerno bay up and down hills until we crossed over a steep mountain and onto the small winding road of the Amalfi Coast. The town of Positano sits squarely in the mountain hanging over the cliffs of the coastline.

Arturo took us to a restaurant at the very top of a cliff. The restaurant hung over the side and had magnificent views of the coastline and the island of Capri. The lunch was amazing. Unlimited anti pasto, pasta, red wine and desert ("bad Italy, bad Italy"), after shots of limoncello,the fear of my weight gain is now becoming a reality.

We continued down the coast passing one amazing village after another until we came to the town of Amalfi. Adorable, and home made gellato shops are everywhere ("bad Italy, bad Italy"). Not to run our own magnificent coast line down, but I have to say Highway 1 in California looks like Iowa compared to this mountaineous, village laden, cliff hanging, two lane (really one) drive. It is the most beautiful drive you will ever see. Ancient watch towers, cathedrals and walled cities dot the entire coast line.

Because it was such a beautiful Sunday, it seems as if everyone in Italy had the same idea, to get out and drive the Amalfi Coast because the ride back to our port of Salerno was bumper to bumper traffic and a true 'nail biter' to see if we would make the ship in time or not!! Arturo was the best guide ever, he navigated us through the tiny lanes and we made it back to our ship with twenty minutes to spare!!

Which brings me to TODAY. Our first at sea day. Needless to say, I slept more than twelve hours. It's another beautiful day as we leave the Mediterranean and head to the Adriatic Sea.

We still have three more ports to visit and I will catch up on those on our next at sea day.

As our friend Lynne has said to me over and over "this is a trip of a lifetime". I agree, it's magnificent for sure.

Lm