Sailing from Naples to Palermo
Thursday Evening, 13 October 2016
Thursday Evening, 13 October 2016
I know it has been several days since my last posting, but I have been very busy getting settled on the Koningsdam, exploring this very large new ship, and spending the first shore day in Naples. But I hope to catch up soon. We are sailing tonight from Naples to Palermo, another city I have visited previously, way back in 1990. But more of Naples and Palermo later. First I have to catch up on . . .
Civitavecchia, Italy
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
After checking in and rearranging my luggage and my face, I set out to explore what "Citi" has to offer, which is not much more than a few historical monuments and a very large, mostly industrial, port. But the sun is shining and the sky is a bright Mediterranean blue, so I take a short walk through the town to the harbor and its main monument: Michelangelo's Fort. Built in the late Renaissance to a design by the famous artist, it is a huge stone block that can be viewed from the exterior, but is not open to visitors.
A small section of the Renaissance city wall still stands and is used as the base for a row of apartment buildings. There is a nice seaside promenade lined with small hotels and many restaurants. The modern railway station stands at the end of the promenade. I stop for lunch at an outdoor cafe, fortunately covered with awnings, because there is a great, but brief outburst of showers.
It's a short walk back to the hotel and a bed that is too welcoming to avoid after several days of travel. I will report on my introduction to the the ship in the next blog entry.
After checking in and rearranging my luggage and my face, I set out to explore what "Citi" has to offer, which is not much more than a few historical monuments and a very large, mostly industrial, port. But the sun is shining and the sky is a bright Mediterranean blue, so I take a short walk through the town to the harbor and its main monument: Michelangelo's Fort. Built in the late Renaissance to a design by the famous artist, it is a huge stone block that can be viewed from the exterior, but is not open to visitors.
A small section of the Renaissance city wall still stands and is used as the base for a row of apartment buildings. There is a nice seaside promenade lined with small hotels and many restaurants. The modern railway station stands at the end of the promenade. I stop for lunch at an outdoor cafe, fortunately covered with awnings, because there is a great, but brief outburst of showers.
It's a short walk back to the hotel and a bed that is too welcoming to avoid after several days of travel. I will report on my introduction to the the ship in the next blog entry.
Albidini Palace Hotel
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| View of Fort from my Terrace |
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| View of my Wrap-Around Terrace |
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| Hotel Grand Staircase |
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| Hotel Grand Entryway ***** Renaissance City Walls |
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