Buon giorno from cloudy Napoli

To pick up where I left off, we did get off the ship in Cannes after lunch while it was still drizzling a bit and did some shopping. We bought some olive oil soap and then went on a hunt for the fruit candies that Ed likes. We ended up in a candy shop that had what we thought was a bargain: 1 kilogram of the candies for 13 euros (a kilogram is a bit over two pounds). Unfortunately, what we heard in the French woman's accent was not 13 euros but 30 euros, so with the addition of the small box of chocolate caramels that I wanted, we walked out with about $55 of candy! Next time, we'll ask the person to either write down or point out the number to make sure we are absolutely clear on the price.

Our day in Tuscany was lovely. We began by seeing Michaelangelo's David at the Accademia museum, then we stopped at a leather factory that made beautiful wallets, handbags, belts and leather coats. We then visited Santa Croce church where many famous Florence residents are buried (Michaelangelo and Galileo among them). After that we stopped at Michaelangelo Square which overlooks Florence. What a bellissimo sight! We then headed out to Tuscany along the Chianti highway and stopped for lunch at a lovely trattoria overlooking the farms of Tuscany. After a stop for some delicious gelato, we headed for Pisa and the famous leaning tower. Then it was back to the ship for a quick shower before sailaway.

On Sunday we headed to Rome. This time, we visited in depth two places we had only seen from the outside on our visit in 2005: the Colosseum and the Forum. After that we stopped at the Pantheon, but there was a wedding going on inside so we didn't get to see the famous dome. We then went to St. Peter's Square and saw the Pope's Sunday address, which he gives in Latin and then makes a blessing in several languages, including English, Italian, French, German and Spanish. We had a delicious lunch of pizza and pasta and then we went back to St. Peter's Church (the rest of the group went inside, but since we had seen it, I had a latte, we picked up a souvenir for our cabin steward and then we just people watched in the Square). Finally, it was a quick visit to the Trevi Fountain to throw in another coin (it worked last time) and a photo op at the Spanish Steps before heading back to the ship.

We were very tired from all our travels, so we decided to take off today. We didn't sleep in, but the only thing we've done so far was track down a pizzeria recommended in the New York Times for its wood-fired oven pizza. We couldn't come to Naples and not have pizza, and mama mia that was fabulous pizza! Ed is taking a little nap and I'm about to have my first glass of wine for the day, but I wanted to write to catch you up on all of our doings.

Tomorrow we are at sea as we sail toward Venice. We will arrive there around 1 p.m. on Wednesday and then we have 1-1/2 very busy days planned. I'll be back after that visit to update you on our trip. Keep your fingers crossed for better weather in Venice!