Sorrento, Italy April 25, 2017

For our last cruise port we visited Sorrento, Italy.  Sorrento overlooks the bay of Naples and you can usually see Mt Vesuvius quite clearly.  We had been here before so instead of taking an organized tour we rode the shuttle bus into the main part of the town.  The town is located high above the port with a winding steep rode that is quite narrow which makes for an exciting ride!  The shuttle bus drops you in front of a very large shop with all sorts of merchandise from huge ceramic animals to expensive jewelry.  Two of the things the area is known for is inlaid wood pictures and ceramics.  Being that it was a national holiday in Italy many of the regular shops were closed, but the tourist stores and cafes and restaurants were all open.  It did appear that they were getting ready for a parade or celebration as they started to block off the main square and street just before we left to ride the bus back down to the pier to catch a tender back to the ship.
We had a nice lunch back on the ship and then spent some time packing our bags as we leave the ship tomorrow in Civitavecchia which is the port for Rome.
We have enjoyed our cruise very much on the new Seven Seas Explorer but are looking forward to getting home.

Clear view of Vesuvius across the Bay of Naples

Dock area with town above on the top of hill

Nice old building around the main square

Main square

Narrow tree lined street next to the gift shop

Tenders going back and forth to the ship

Taormina, Sicily, Italy April 24, 2017

The port for Taormina is Naxos and this was our first port where we anchored and used tenders to get ashore.  This process always takes longer as they call you to the tenders by your tour number and it takes a bit of time to get everyone on board the tenders.  Our tour was by bus to Taormina, an ancient hilltop city.  The weather was bight and warm so the city was packed with people, both tourists and locals. We noticed that there was a lot of painting , cleaning, repairs, etc going on and were informed by our tour guide that the up coming G7 meeting was being held in Taormina.  We also saw many official looking men is suits walking around with clip boards and gesturing a lot!  One can only imagine what a security nightmare it will be with all the narrow streets and alley ways.  There are many high end shops in addition to the usual tourist shops, lots of cafes and small restaurants.  We walked with our guide through the main part of the wider street that goes all the way to the Greco-Roman theater.  It was quite a climb up the uneven stone steps to the top of the theater, but the view was very nice.  We passed on walking down to the stage area and left the tour to walk back through the town to find a cafe.  We ended up eating gelato!  We met up with the tour and went back to our bus for the ride back down to Naxos so we could go back on the ship before afternoon tea and trivia. I can't even describe how difficult it was for our driver to get the (full size) bus out of the parking garage.  Wish I had pictures.  The opening to exit was barely wider than the bus and the driver had to negotiate between support poles to even get to the exit, it was amazing that he never hit anything.

Mt Etna was smoking a bit

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Our ship from top of hill at Taormina

Greco Roman theater is still used for performances

Corfu, Greece April 23, 2017

Another nice sail into port with clear, cool weather.  Rather than taking a tour we rode the shuttle bus into town.  Being a Sunday many of the shops were closed but the sidewalk cafes and restaurants were very busy with many families enjoying the nice day.  We walked around a bit and then had a crepe and coffee at one of the cafes before going back to the ship.

The main plaza with residences and shops around the perimeter

There were nicely landscaped areas with lots of flowers in bloom

There were lots of restaurants along the plaza