Day #16 GBII – Sorting Photos

This is NOT my favorite part of recording memories.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE taking the photos, and doing the layouts, but getting a gazillion photos sorted is NOT fun. Slight exaggeration – it’s really only 1938 give or take a few…

I sit here with a bunch of boxes in front of me, not knowing HOW out of order the photos are, and dreading the very idea of going photo by photos and comparing them to the computer images…

But this time I got REALLY lucky! The photos are pretty close to being in perfect reverse order. So it’s just a matter of confirming none are missing, and putting them in the box.

However, I quickly realized I’d taken WAAAAAAAAAY too many.

After a couple of hours of going through them, these photos cover a travel day, plus 2 full days of the fourteen day visit to Italy, which we started in Rome. What a project I have ahead of me!

The couple of days it will take to get the photos sorted by days, then by venue, will be nothing compared to the time it will take to get them all in the albums. Even if I follow my quick template and don’t try to get too creative, it’s going to take weeks and weeks. I really need to rethink keeping this many pictures.

 

But then I start looking at them, and I have no idea where to start thinning them out. If I’m going to have any chance of reducing the number I need to put in albums, I’m going to have to just start at the source and not take so many!

Trouble is, I’m behind a whole bunch of trips, where I’ve done the same thing – click, click, click! Heeheehee!

 

Venice and Beyond…

The final stop in our cruise took us back to Venice, one of our favorite places in Italy.

The most crushing thing about our return was learning that our favorite restaurant, the one we had been dreaming of returning to for a year and a half, was closed on the only night we were there! Egads!

I told you we live for our stomachs! Heeheehee! But at least it is still in business, so we’ll just have to go back again!

Almost as bad, was that we hit rain, as well, so our view of the canal from our water taxi was from huddling inside, so I took minimal photos. But no fear, I DID take some!

 

 

 

 

 

Once we got off the canal and onto the streets, the weather cleared a bit, and without the shell of the water taxi to distort the photos, the pictures got a bit better.

 

 

 

 

 

In our few free minutes, we headed directly for a cafe and some espresso. Um. The best.

 

Now THAT’S how an empty cup of espresso should look…

I was sad to see the cruise come to an end, and sad to not have longer in Venice, but there were more adventures right around the corner…

 

Greece (sorta) and on to Bari, Italy

We did actually set foot in Greece, twice, so I’m going to count it as having been there, but I was not thrilled with the ports, and didn’t feel like we came even close to seeing what Greece is all about (so we’ll have to go back, right?)

Our first stop was supposed to be Zakynthos, but the seas were too rough to tender in, so we had to find a port, instead. I don’t even know what the name of the place was, but it seriously was not worth getting off the ship for, and I wasn’t off for long. Mr. Tattered didn’t even bother. I did get a photo of the flag, some crazy writing, and tried some ouzo in honor of an old friend, Nick Mavrides, who fed it to me back in my old Rotarian days and was impressed I could swallow it without coughing! Heeheehee!

 

 

 

Our second stop was in Corfu, and although it wasn’t quite as bad, they really had to reach for an outing, and we took perhaps the worst tour of the whole trip. I did take a few photos, but really, not worth the effort to show you.

So, Greece, the REAL Greece, is still on my list.

Our next stop was Bari, Italy, on the eastern coast of Italy. Our tour took us to Sassi de Matera, a cave village now a Unesco World Heritage site, but once a slum, the shame of Italy.

It is quite a bus ride away from port, and we were beginning to wonder what we’d gotten ourselves into until we arrived. What a hidden gem. We’d never seen anything like it.

Picture, if you will, the time of Christ. In fact, “The Passion of the Christ” was filmed there.

The whole village was built into side of the limestone rock. Not built of blocks of rock, but the rooms were actually dug into the soft limestone, then in some places built out from there. It is so hard to describe, and the pictures really don’t do it justice. It’s one of those places you really have to see to appreciate, but I’ll try.

 

We spent hours going up and down hills on cobblestones to get the best views.

 

 

 

One of the buildings, rather than being lived in, was set up as a museum so you could see how people lived in them…

 

 

 

 

I was fascinated by the water collection system… You know me and the crazy things that strike my fancy!

 

 

 

 

By the 1950’s, the whole area had deteriorated into a slum and eventually it was condemned. The Italian government relocated the entire population (approx 16,000 people) to the surrounding villages.

Then in 70’s, people who had grown up in the Sassi began to come back to see where they’d come from, and a movement was begun to rehabilitate it. Today it is a Unesco World Heritage Site, and over 3,000 people live and have retail businesses there.

 

 

It is immensely impressive, and if you’re looking to add to your bucket list, you might want to consider Sassi de Matera. In the world, it’s pretty unique.

Village of Taormina, Sicily, Italy

Combining my love of charming villages and ruins made Taormina a perfect tour for me!

Getting there along the coast was half the fun!

 

The village off in the distance had me licking my chops!

The village was the definition of charming – cute flower boxes all over the place, interesting decorative elements, inviting shops, cafes…I could have spent hours just walking along the cobbled streets taking an unbelievable number of photos. Oh, wait, I did!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ancient theater was magnificent. It is called Teatro Greco, but the ruins are primarily Roman, as the Romans rebuilt the theater on top of the remains of the Greek Theater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really hated to leave – I could have stayed a LOT longer than we did!

 

Pompeii

At the half way point of the cruise (10 days down, 10 to go) we took a break. We were in Rome (actually a 2 hour bus ride away) and since we’d already been there and weren’t looking forward to so much time on a bus, we took the day to do some laundry and be bums. It was nice to have the ship pretty much to ourselves for most of the days – not a lot of people were doing the back to back cruises, and of those that were, most went on the trip.

Bright and early the next day we docked in Naples, and headed off by bus to Pompeii, and had the worst weather of the trip, thus far. It rained cats and dogs, but fortunately just for a short period of time, then it was back to dry and just a little cool. Perfect walking weather.

 

Pompei was one of the trips we were most looking forward to. Some of the iconic remains were on loan to other entities, but what we saw was pretty amazing.

Of course we expected excavated remains of the village, but they’ve added modern art to the area which for some people was a distraction. I loved it. The artists did the pieces in a way that, if you didn’t know better, you’d think they were actual pieces from the time. I found them to be incredibly moving.

 

 

 

The remains themselves were spectacular.

 

Pedestrian walkways – elevated so they didn’t have to walk in muck!

One Awesome Day after Another

It has begun to occur to us that we are on an incredible voyage.

Seriously. We are seeing so many different things, and each day brings a new, exciting adventure. We are having a hard time wrapping our brains around it all.

Today we docked in Livorno, in Tuscany, and our tour was to up to the hills of Lucca and a little wine tasting. Wine tasting seems to be a recurring theme! Heeheehee!)

Lucca provided quite the opportunity for my camera to get a workout…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving Lucca, we drove through the hills to a winery. Rose’ wine is all the rage now. Have you noticed?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The drive back to the ship was so much nicer with a little buzz on!

 

 

 

 

 

Leaning Tower of Pisa

We docked in La Spezia and hopped the tour bus for the trip to Pisa.

Now some people think this is pretty cheesy, but I didn’t at all. I like seeing the stuff on the road less traveled, but I really enjoy seeing the icons, as well. Although we’d seen a number of shows on tv about the Leaning Tower, we were still unprepared for how cool it is.

When you enter into Piazza dei Miracle – Square of Miracles – (after navigating a gauntlet of tacky souvenir stands – but hey, I LOVE tacky souvenirs!) the first thing you see is the Bapistry, then the Cathedral, with the free-standing bell tower behind it. All three are impressive structures on their own, and together they are pretty amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bapistry is the largest in Italy. It is acoustically perfect, and if you time it right, you can hear a short performance in which one person can sing a chord. Really cool.

 

 

Just a little piece of trivia, This is where Galileo was baptized. I thought that was pretty cool.

The Cathedral is pretty Cathedrally…beautiful, but I’m about Cathedralled out.

 

 

 

 

On the way back to the ship, we saw the Italian marble being mined from the hillsides. I may need Italian Marble floors…

 

 

 

I may seriously need to look into the possibility.

 

 

 

EV Day #28 – St. Mark’s and the Accademia

Well, we started the day with a lovely buffet at our hotel, the Hotel Principe. It’s a nice place. We were expecting small rooms, but they are a good size, with lots of surface space for storing our junkola, and a bidet (which has become almost mandatory!)

Our guides gave us our passes for the “vaporetti” or steam buses, which are really the only form of transportation available in Venice. No cars, no bicycles, no skate boards… just walking  and vaporettos. They seem just a little intimidating until you actually get on them, and then they make all kinds of sense. We’ve gone from being a little nervous to being anxious to try them on our own.

For our first outing on one, we went along the Grand Canal to Piazza S. Markos, for a tour of S. Marks Square, and S. Marks Cathedral. It was a rainy day, so the Piazza was quieter than usual. Even though it was a little sloppy, it was a pretty good trade-off.

S. Marks was built in the 13th century and has more than 45,000 square feet of mosaics inside (be still my heart!) The guide told us that photos were technically not allowed, but everyone does it, so she wasn’t going to tell us not to. I was hesitant at first, but once I saw the number of people doing it (and saw the poor quality of post cards they were selling) I couldn’t help myself. But I felt guilty. For what that’s worth. And I bought a few crummy postcards.

After a quick lunch, we headed to the Gallerie dell’ Accademia, where they house pre-19th century Venitian art.

I’m lovin’ the St. Mark Lions…

Dinner was at the Taverna San Trovaso, followed by a walk around town that MAY have involved gelato…what happens in Venice stays in Venice. Isn’t that the way the saying goes???

 

Update on European Vacation

Prior to moving onto Rome I had gotten a couple of days behind on the Chronicles of our European vacation. Since arriving in Italy our bandwidth has been terrible, and we can rarely get on-line except on our phones (which doesn’t help with the blog!) So, the whole idea of a daily travelog has gone out the window!

We’ve now been to Rome and moved onto Florence, and it’s slightly better here, but not enough to be able to get photos to post, so I’m afraid I’m going to have to wait to get caught up. Instead of doing a daily travelog, I’ll probably just condense the last two legs of the trip (Italy and the River Cruise.) I have soooooooooo many photos I’d love to be sharing with you, but maybe it will be less boring for y’all to see fewer, anyway.

Just wanted to let you know I hadn’t fallen off the earth, and that I’m thinking about you in and amongst all of our adventures.

As we change locations I’ll continue to try to download pictures!

Ciao!