Milan, Lake Como, Rome, etc.

Yikes!  It isn't as easy as I'd hoped to get internet access around here (don't tell my Dean.)  It's all a blur and a really long, convoluted story to explain why I'm feeling so frustrated here, but probably the main thing is that Norv and I both have been so extremely tired since we got here that we are not functioning at a very impressive level.  Our flight schedule was not a good one at all, getting two hours sleep the night before the flight, etc.  Anyway - another time.....

BUT - the main thing is we finally got on the ship, with Christopher and Greg in tow, and we've enjoyed our first beautiful and very rich dinner, our first orange drink with an umbrella in it,  and of course, the crazy wild drill with the life jackets.  We go to Naples in the morning, and have plans to catch a train to Pompei, Herculean, and then to share a true pizza before getting back on the ship.  I say we have plans because that's the way the last three days have gone; we have plans and then there's reality instead.

Of course, it is absolutely beautiful here, and we have seen some outstanding sights in a short time.  We rented a car (Passat) and drove from the airport in Milan to Lake Como (where George Clooney has a place).  Norv drives like a true Italian, top-speed, switching lanes back 

and forth, playing chicken with anyone who tries to impede our progress.  Very impressive.  The roads around Lake Como are just like in the movies where they twist and turn and there is only room for one car when two must fit.  We somehow found ourselves at the Swiss Border, so we did the only intelligent thing we could do:  cross over and buy some chocolate (get ready, Josie!).  Then we came back and drove around some more hairpin turns, stopped and bought some wonderful gelato, and generally just relished the beautiful scenery.

We had a plan (!) to drive to Siena, where we had a hotel waiting, through the Tuscan hills, taking the Chianti Road, just leisurely cruising along enjoying the incredible countryside.  Which we did, except that the maps and the roads didn't always match, and we arrived late in Siena where we proceeded to drive around and around and around the little circle of a town for more than an hour.  We couldn't find the hotel until after 10 p.m. and by then there was only a little deli open where we could get some dinner. The next morning, we discovered what a beautiful little walled city from the middle ages Siena actually is, and we explored the tiny little walled in streets for most of the day, lunching on the piazza, exploring the Duomo (cathedral) - you know, the things tourists do.

In the afternoon, we tried to leave Siena, but once again, it caught us in its vortex and would not let us out.  We went around and around and around until it finally relented and spit us out.  We have no idea how we finally escaped.  We then drove through Tuscany again, to the coast and through some little seaside resort towns like Capitola.  We went through Civitivecchia, which is where the port is and where we got on the ship today, and somehow, we found ourselves actually entering the port - gates and all.  We set off for Rome, where again we had a hotel room waiting near the airport where Chris and Greg were coming in this morning.  Again, we could not find the hotel anywhere.  All the helpful directions we were given seemed to only confuse us more. Again, dinner at 10:30 - but this time in a very sweet, outdoor ristorante.  So nice.

This morning, we had breakfast at the hotel with the boys (who loaded up on the buffet very well), and then tried to drive to the port, planning a brief stop to pick up a new battery for my camera (I had left mine charging at home in preparation for the trip).  This turned into a scavenger hunt around the little town of Citivecchia, with one shopkeeper of one tiny shop sending us to another and yet another, etc.  We finally got one at an astronomical price, but what else could I do?  Then the nightmare from hell began.  We drove to the port, right up to the Carnival ship, and found out there really isn't a place to drop off a Hertz rental car right there, as our travel agent had assured us.  Not only that, but no one in this town or on this cruise ship had apparently ever heard of someone trying to drop off a rental car.  They didn't know where Hertz was, they suggested we just leave the car in the parking lot for the 12 days, they kept telling us to just get on the shuttle bus and then we wouldn't have to worry about the car.  Norv and I were both working at half-speed by now (that's optimistic), but I swear, this situation would have done anyone in.  The stupid car kept dying, the little streets were suddenly 1-way, the Italians were trying to kill us left and right, and we couldn't get all the suitcases and the four of us on the ship sitting right in front of us.  Of course, we eventually got it all worked out, we got on the shuttle, and when my largest suitcase turned up missing from the shuttle bus, it barely registered on my alarm meter.  I just didn't even care.  I figured it would turn up - or it wouldn't.  And it did.  So maybe our luck is changing.  I know my narcolepsy and Norv's occasional befuddled moments are starting to abate somewhat.  He is outside right now on the balcony reveling in the full moon reflected on the sea.We think the worst is behind us - and having the boys to keep us on track will definitely be a plus.  They are loving the cruise ship and they keep things interesting!

  So keep your fingers crossed for us.  They say that the garbage strike in Naples, which has been going on for quite a while, makes the town very disagreeable.  Should be newsworthy.

Sorry to go on so long.  I guess I needed to vent.......