Kerkira, Corfu, Greece–April 28, 2014

 

Weather today not so good!  But off the ship we went anyway, umbrellas in hand. Took the city bus into the little marketplace.   Cute little village, lots of tourist shops and sidewalk cafés.  
Corfu is the second largest Greek island in the Ionian Sea.   It lies northwest of mainland Greece and serves as a major tourist destination and producer of olive oil and local wines.  Castles abound on this small island.   In fact, the Greek government has dubbed Corfu “castle city” because of its two prominent castles that border the town.  

We came across one of many "fish spas".   :)  LOL    Seems the fish nibble on your tootsies to remove the dead skin.   Yuck!   But very popular here.

Taormina, Sicily–April 26, 2014

 

Taormina is the only port that we tendered into.  As luck would have it, the seas were a little rough for tendering and the cruise director made an announcement that our tendering will not begin until the Captain is certain that it will be safe.   This is the second time we made it to Sicily, however, the first time I was quarantined to the cabin with either the virus or food poisoning.   The reason we took this particular cruise was because of this port!   So, I was going to shore even if I had to swim there!  My maternal grandparents lived here before they came to the United States.

Taormina has been a popular tourist destination since the 19th century.  With its extraordinary setting on the side of a mountain, the town offers stunning views of the coast and Mount Etna volcano.  Throughout the hill-town there are remnants of the Greeks and Romans, a charming medieval quarter and castle ruins.   Much of the town center is pedestrianized, and Taormina’s single main street, the gently climbing Corso Umberto is lined with chic boutiques, souvenir shops, elegant cafes, flower filled balconies, antique stores, churches, piazzas, palaces and other historical buildings.  

We shared a taxi with another couple which brought us up to the hill town.

Being here (at last) was very emotional for me.   I only wished that I was able to find some relatives, but the town that they were from (Ribera) was too far to try to get to with such limited time.   We wandered around the narrow cobblestone streets,and had some lunch in a café.  I don’t usually post photos of restrooms, but this men’s room is certainly unique.

Pizza, Pasta, Red Wine!   Doesn’t get any better than this!

Except for this………A CANOLI!

Our taxi driver arranged to pick us up at 4 so we had a full day in Taormina.   Back at the ship, there was another party in the pool area.   We loved this about Holland America.   Come back from our sightseeing and no need to change clothes to go to dinner!   The food was exceptionally good on this ship.  It’s hard to tell, but the chandelier was the New York skyline (the theme of the ship). 

Here we are after dinner on the deck of the ship with Sicily and Mt. Etna in the background.   

Today was day #7 on the ship and we have had a port every day.  Tomorrow we are looking forward to our one and only sea day of this cruise.   Finally, some time to rest!  

Capri, Friday April 25, 2014

Arrived at the port of Naples and went directly to the ferry terminal to pick up the high speed catamaran to Capri. 

The ride took about 45 minutes and was clearly not “high speed”.     LOL

Once we made it to Capri, we purchased our tickets to ride the funicular up the mountain to Anacapri. 

The views from Anacapri were beautiful.  We had lunch at a little café overlooking the port.