Cruise with Norma and Stacy Part 1

I got to end the summer with a Mediterranean Cruise.  My friend Norma and I flew out of Houston around 12:30 on Friday afternoon.  We met our friend Stacy and her mom in Philidelphia (They are from the town in Illinois where my siblings live.) Their friend Mary Alice came too. We got to Barcelona early in the morning on Saturday.  Norma and I were staying at the Hotel Principal and the others were staying at Hotel Monc Blanc so we went our separate ways.  Both of the hotels were supposed to have wi-fi, but neither worked so we had a hard time communicating. Oh technology!  Our room wasn’t ready so Norma and I walked around and came across some kind of sailing event.  We took a nap in the afternoon then walked another 5 miles in the evening.  It is really warm this time of year and crowded. 

On Sunday we headed over to the ship, The Norwegian Epic.  It was the largest cruise ship I have ever been on.  It holds 5000 guests and crew.  We counted 20 or so lifeboats with a capacity of either 293 or 267 so I think we are covered if we go down!  There are many restaurants, several pools, a casino, a rock climbing wall, bowling alley, ice bar, etc.  It is HUGE.

Monday was an at sea day so we just walked around, looked at the shops, worked out, went to the spa, read on the lounge deck, etc. 

On Tuesday we docked in Naples. The others went to Pompeii, but since I have already been, Norma and I went to Sorrento.  We drove along the coast for an hour and twenty minutes of so.  We then got about an hour and a half to wander around Sorrento.  It was a nice town – we saw a beautiful cathedral, amazing views, and got a free gelato J  Sorrento is famous for it’s lemons – I got a Christmas ornament (I get them from most places that I go) that had lemons on it.  We also got some nice lemon drops and lemon/pistatio nougat. We went back to Naples and Norma and I shared a real Napoli Pizza. I asked for a lemonade and the waiter said they didn’t have it so I asked for water with lemon.  He brought me a small pitcher of water and this glass of lemon juice.  It is at least a cup of pure lemon juice!!!  It would have taken 2 gallons of water to dilute all that lemon juice!!  It also took several packets of sugar J

That whole glass is pure lemon juice!

On Wednesday we ported in Civitavecchia, close to Rome.   Norma and I were supposed to go to a hilltop town, Orvieto, but I was really dizzy and didn’t feel well so I stayed on the ship.  It was a good choice because it is blessed hot here and I wanted to be well enough to go to Florence and Pisa on Thursday.  Norma enjoyed her trip to Orvieto – there was an amazing church there where a miracle happened.

It is fun sharing a room with Norma – I miss her!  We had so much fun laughing together.  Every morning, I am awakened by the loud grinding etc. that happens when the ship docks.  She had no idea what I was talking about when I complained about it because she sleeps through it.  One morning, she happened to be awake when we docked and was astounded at the noise!  “That is what I have been sleeping through?!?!”  Ha!  I wish I could sleep through anything like she can.