Mediterranean Cruise - May, 2005

As a prelude to Bill’s Beirut trip, we decided to take a Mediterranean cruise on the Holland America ship Rotterdam. We also took the opportunity to book ourselves some extra time in Venice and in Rome.

We started in Venice, where we had booked ourselves into a highly recommended little hotel on Lido – one of the many islands that make up the City of Venice. As son as we arrived at the Venice airport, it was obvious that we were in for a unique experience. Following the directions we had been given, we found ourselves on a water bus (aka vaporetto) which shuttled us across the lagoon to Lido. We then hopped a city bus and rode to the Hotel Buon Pesce. The hotel was a real gem, clean, quiet and with a view of the lagoon. It also had the benefit of being a bus stop on one of the main bus routes which circle the island.

After relaxing a while, we hopped on another bus and vaporetto (they really are a neat way to get around Venice cheaply and quickly) and went over to the main part of Venice. We spent the next few days exploring, using only public transportation. We managed to see just about all of Venice and the other islands in our few days there. On the last day, we treated ourselves to a water taxi ride (70 Euros!) over to our cruise ship. The ride was a bit pricey, but very convenient with all our luggage.

We boarded the Rotterdam and found our room. The ship was very nice, roomy, but not too large. In the afternoon, the ship left Venice and headed out into the Adriatic. As we left Venice, we sailed past the city (and our hotel), giving us some wonderful last looks.

We spent the next ten days cruising the Mediterranean, stopping and touring at ports in Italy, Croatia, Turkey, and Greece. We saw many wonderful old Roman and Greek ruins, as well as some modern cities. Although the touring was fun, some sites (particularly the Acropolis) were extremely crowded which detracted a lot from the experience.

At the end of the cruise, the ship dropped us in Civitavecchia, which is the port for Rome. We took a cab from the port to our hotel in Rome. We had found the Daphne Inn in a travel magazine, and it proved to be a wonderful choice. The staff was wonderful – actually, the owners were most of the staff. The Daphne was located just a few steps from the Piazza Barberini, a main square in Rome. In addition, we had booked a personal guide to show us the city. Katie Parla was a wonderful young lady who knew the city intimately and showed us as much of it as our energy would allow.

Our “Roman Holiday” was a great success. We left after four days to board a plane to Beirut.