WIND IN ITALY : PREPAID MOBILE BROADBAND

Read about Italian and Greek prepaid mobile broadband services on the web before we came over. Stopped in at a phone shop at Rome airport (Fiumicino / Leonard Di Vinci) on arrival and showed the guy my unlocked USB modem. He sold me a Wind SIM card for Euro 5 and told me to bring the SIM card to a Tabbachi shop and add Euro 20. He also gave me a sheet of paper with some SMS codes and an APN code. You have to SMS a code for the plan you want after you add the Euro 20. Did what he said and it worked perfectly. One month / 2GB of mobile broadband for Euro 25 is an awfully good deal, in my opinion.

Having mobile broadband helped me fill in the hours of waiting while Mrs. V was getting ready to be photographed. Also saved me from being held hostage by hotels trying to charge Euro 20 a day for wifi. If you're a frequent traveller it might be a good idea to get hold of an unlocked USB modem, if you don't have one already.

WHEN IN ROME....

Wednesday is our last full day in Rome and Mrs. V decides we have enough photographs and that we should go shopping. Ever noticed how holidays seemed to have morphed into extra long shopping trips? I refuse to shop at home and get agitated when we have to shop on holidays. Mrs. V is no dummy, though, and she suggests I buy a magazine and find a nice cozy wine bar to try out a few local wines. Space contraints thankfully mean that there are no ugly mega malls in downtown Rome but we find the next best thing - Galleria Colona Rome. A beautiful old building discreetly packed with shops inside. The Illy TreviTritone coffee shop has a pretty decent "wine by the glass" list as well.

Read somewhere that Montepulciano D'Abruzzo is a very "approachable" wine, so my first choice is the Cabiria. Wow, delicious! Euro 5.60 per glass or Euro 14.00 per bottle makes the bottle sound very inexpensive. I hold back, though, as I'd feel the full force of Mrs. V's wrath if I started guzzling bottles. Next glass was the Primitivo IGT Terra De Vulcano from Puglia. Read somewhere that Primitivo and Zinfandel are the same thing. This Primitivo not quite as sweet as the Zinfandel I drank on the boat but still very fragrant and drinkable. Last glass and I'm feeling adventurous. I try the most expensive wine on the list (Euro 6.60). It's something I've never heard of before - Grigolino (pronounced grin-yo-lee-no) Aldo Giardino from Piemonte. Bit of a dissapointment really. Thin with with a bit of a Port taste. Should have just stuck with the Montepulciano D'Abruzzo but I guess it's important to try a few others while I'm here.

TRASTERVERE TUESDAY

Tuesday and time to get photographed countless times in front of all the "famous" sites. First up is the coloseum. Amazing and we have the dozen or so photos to prove we've visited. Next stop - the Trevi Fountain. Also very impressive but not sure I want to toss money into a public watering hole. Third stop is the Spanish Steps. Another popular tourist spot and photo op must. By this time Mrs V has been distracted by streets full of designer shops and I can take a rest. Time to participate in my favorite travel pastime - soaking up history (not soaking up booze, but it's a close second). Plenty of history here to soak up and I'm enjoying the cool sunny weather of the fast approaching European winter - just can't get this same feeling back in Australia or Hong Kong.

After a bit of a siesta, I decide we should head over to Trastervere for dinner. I spotted some cool looking wine bars when we drove through the other day - perhaps we can find them again? Place looks completely different at night, of course, but still plenty of other dining and drinking options. Mrs V spots a restaurant called Il Duca and we sit down for some good food. Service a bit whacky but can't complain too much as they're struggling with translation nearly as much as us. A couple of wines in Enoteca Trastervere and we're ready to call it a night. Cab driver back seemed to be agitated for some reason and drove like a demon. Not even close to as scary as some Hong Kong taxi drivers but at least he was trying.

REALITY BITES?

The transition from cruise holiday to regular hotel holiday wasn't as tough as I had imagined. I expected to be pick pocketed at the station and then overcharged in the taxis and then harassed at restaurants and bars. When did I become so negative? The train station was orderly and there were plenty of police around. Taxi to the hotel was clean and comfortable and surprisingly good value. Every meal and glass of wine has been really good and around every corner is another amazing historical monument - just wish I'd come to Rome earlier.

Monday afternoon we cabbed it down to St. Peters and walked around the Vatican city. Impressive! Temperature plumetted so we found refuge in an exhibition hall - Matteo Ricci (1552 -1610). Lots of display items about his travels to China in the very early days. I especially liked his Chinese character lesson books - just like what I've been struggling with these past ten years or so. Next stop was lunch in a nice ristorante (http://www.perdincibacco.com/). Quattro frommagio pasta and a nice glass of Malvasia Puntinata from Lazio. Especially liked the wines by the glass list - modern local choices at good prices. Last stop was a shop where Mrs V found me a nice purple pullover - size was XXXL - sizes here even whackier than Hong Kong or maybe the cruise buffet effect was more pronounced than I realised?

NAPLES / NAPOLI

We arrived in Naples early Sunday morning. The cruise ship terminal is right across the road from some great historical scenery like the Castel Nuovo (New Castle) and the Royal Palace. One of the highlights of this cruise is the amazing views you get from the top deck when the ship is in port.

After going on quite a few guided tours, we decided today it was time for some DIY travel. Plan was to take a taxi to the train station where we would catch a local train to Sorrento. We’d walk around the town, perhaps have some lunch and then check out a few shops. We were ready for the taxi trying to rip us off and declined his offer to drive us to Pompeii and rebuffed his suggestion that the train tickets to Sorrento were 19 Euro each. Picked up a day return ticket to Sorrento for 5.30 Euro each and then jumped on the local train for the 90 minute scenic trip.

Had an unusual experience when we arrived at Sorrento train station. An obviously overweight elderly woman hiked up her skirt and urinated right there on the platform in front of us. Not a pretty sight but something you probably wouldn’t see on a guided tour. Rest of the day was pretty uneventful, thankfully, and the walk around the town center was very pleasant. Guided tour is probably the better option if getting photos of famous sights is your priority (Mrs. V fits into this category) but self guided travel is the way to go if you want a more authentic, less sanitized experience (my preference).

SATURDAY AT SEA (7 NOV, 2009)

Saturday was the second full day at sea of the cruise as we made our way back to Naples from our last Greek Island visit at Santorini. Mood in the ocaeanview café was pretty somber after the sad event of the previous evening. I give the ship credit for keeping the passengers informed of what was happening and not trying to hide the bad news.

Mrs. V and myself decided it might be a god day to do a bit of exercise to see if we could reverse some of the damage done by the mass of food we’d consumed so far during the cruise. First up was the table tennis competition. Not exactly Balls of Fury but pretty competitive anyway. I got knocked out in the first round so we skulked off to the East Coast swing class in the Quasar nightclub. Managed to pick up the basic step but got lost as soon as the instructor moved into the turns. Ever noticed how dance instructors jump from very basic to very complex in just one step? Maybe I’m just a slow learner. Anyway, managed to work up a sweat even if I did look like a klutz.

Dinner was to be a formal event in which you have to wear a tux or a suit. Glad Mrs. V packed my wedding suit and happily surprised it still fits seven years on. Most of the guests looked great and the slick onboard photography operation was ready to pounce. It’s a great idea to get some professional photos taken when you’re looking your best. Just wish I’d had some plastic surgery before the cruise!

SANTORINI & SUICIDE

Friday we arrived in Santorini for the day. We joined an afternoon bus tour that would take us to the village of Oia, and then back to Thira where we would ride the funicular back down to the port. Positive surprise of the trip occured when the bus stopped in at a winery called Santo Wines. I'd been reading about Greek Dry Whites in Decanter magazine and one of the 5 star awards went to a wine made by this company - Nykteri - a blend of three local white wine grapes. This same wine was available for tasting and I managed to gulp down quite a few glasses in our brief 30 minute stop. Delicious.

A sad event occurred a few hours after we left Santorini. A female passenger jumped off deck 14 into the sea. Another guest saw it happen and alerted the crew. A search was initiated with other cruise ships and a coastguard helicopter joining in. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate her and eventually the ship had to leave the area to make the long journey back to Naples.

RHODES

Docked in Rhodes today. Port only a couple of hundred metres from the old walled city. Pretty amazing place full of multiple layers of history. Another place you could spend weeks in without seeing everything.

Sat down for a plate of Dolmades and a glass of Ouzo at Christina's family restaurant. Christina very patiently listened as I practiced the few lines of Greek I've picked up while waiting outside carpet and jewelry shops. Ouzo much better than I remembered and quite a good kick for the rest of the days sightseeing. Dolmades also very nice. After six days on the floating buffet, I've yet to feel hungry and I'm really having trouble appreciating the many and varied local delicacies.

Leaving here tonight at 6PM (Thursday Nov. 5th) and heading for Santorini where we'll no doubt be seeing more jewelry and carpet shops mixed in with some local tourist highlights. I'm looking forward to trying a few Greek white wines and disappointed we don't have any on the boat. Adio!