A major attraction of this particular cruise was the number of port visits to places we have never been. Every port up until this stage was new to us with the exception of Lisbon, where Joe visited with some Navy buddies 30+ years ago before Julie came to London. That changed a little when we arrived in Italy for three port visits.
Neither of us have been to Sicily. I’m sure the island as a whole has a lot to offer, but the city of Palermo is a place neither of us have a desire to return. It was over-crowded with tourists and frankly unwelcoming. We walked down streets filled with tourists and then discovered the local market street where it was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with Sicilians enjoying their Liberation Day holiday. Eating with the locals was appealing to us, however it was so crowded we had difficulty finding a seat. It was also a little intimidating — there were critters and foods lining the street that were very unfamiliar to us. Joe is adventurous when it comes to trying new foods, but the scale of new things was somewhat overwhelming. By the way, good luck finding a public restroom in Palermo. That was an adventure, mostly negative, in and of itself.
Naples on the other hand is an area of familiarity. During our time in London, Joe was sent down to Naples to support the 4-star admiral for about three months. Julie came to visit for three weeks. Naples is not appealing to a lot of people, but we always found charm in its grittiness and the people seem to live life to its fullest. It is also a great place from which to visit nearby sites (Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, Vesuvius, Pompeii, etc.). We’ve been to all of these places so for this short trip we decided to visit Herculaneum. It was amazing if you are a fan of history and/or architecture. Pompeii is a more extensive and famous archeological site, and definitely worth a visit. Herculaneum on the other hand is a lot smaller, however it is also much better preserved due to how the Vesuvius eruption impacted this area differently. We spent our entire day visiting the site.
Livorno is a port city in Northern Italy that is close to Pisa and Lucca. We honestly had trouble figuring out what we were going to do for the day. When you put “Livorno” into Tripadvisor or Viator, all the tours are in places outside of Livorno. Fortunately, we had met a fascinating couple earlier in the cruise and the four of us decided to explore the city together. We did a boat tour through the canals, which was a good way to get a feel for the city and its history. They provided commentary in English, but they seemed to never take a breath when they transitioned between Italian and English so it was challenging to follow. The best part of the day was finding a very small sidewalk cafe and hanging out with J and M. Great people whom we had the pleasure of getting to know much better in Barcelona at the end of the cruise.
At this point in the cruise we were ready to stop being full-on tourists. The proximity of the ports at the end of the cruise schedule meant there was no day off to recover and adequately plan for the next port. First world problems. We feel very blessed and fortunate to have the means and health to undertake such an amazing adventure.
Well said
Love how the sun is too bright