history lesson as we drove the hour into Rome. He first took us right to the steps of the Coliseum, showed us where to buy tickets without the line, and then directed us to just walk into the Coliseum, avoiding all nasty lines. It worked! We wandered the Coliseum for a half hour, taking pictures, enjoying the views. We met back up at the van and were given a quick driving tour. Over here is this, over there is that. It was all so overwhelming. Rome is a city that needs at least a week, not 10 hours! But the driver was entertaining and interesting. And we were treated to the best of Rome driving. They think nothing of space between vehicles - scooters and motorcycles buzzing by at 40mph inches from cars. I had to quit watching the driving it was so nerve wracking. We stopped at this church that I keep calling the Pantheon, but probably it’s something else. Pretty, pictures, repeat. A
nd then we went to Trevi fountain. Now this was something! It was so huge and gaudy and amazing and marble it almost had a Las Vegas feel to it. Beside the Sistine Chapel, this was my favorite stop.Rome had become increasingly hot so it was wonderful to be able to hop back into the van, blast the AC and cool down. Our driver was working with other drivers from his tour company and was literally able to drive to the steps of these monuments. Later we heard that those on the tour group from the ship were dropped off at one site and had to walk to the next, all the while keeping track of their 80+ member group. Private was definitely the way to go.
At this point it was lunchtime so Giovanni recommended a local restauran
t that was open only to clients of the tour company and would provide an authentic meal. The restaurant only had 3 tables of people, AC, wine from a homegrown vineyard and the most amazing food. Appetizers were a selection of cured meats and cheese, followed by lasagna and then lemon veal chops. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the heat hunger, but I thoroughly enjoyed it all. Everyone in our group bought a bottle of wine and we still got out of there with a 3 course lunch for 20Epp. Wonderful.Next we were whisked away to the Vatican where we met our private tour guide, a dude from the States with a passion for all things Italian. The Vatican museum is enormous and overwhelming and mobbed with people. He was wonderful about keeping ou
r interest, pointing out the highlights and keeping us in the air conditioned rooms. It was all so fascinating. Everywhere you look is a piece you could spend half an hour with, but you must keep moving! We managed through the mobs of people and eventually settled for awhile in the Sistine Chapel. It was full of wall to wall people and there’s no talking or photos allowed, so the din would rise and the guards would yell at everyone. The ceiling was, of course, breathtaking. Our guide was wonderful about answering our questions and pointing out obscure parts. Next we walked through St. Mark’s Basilica. Wowsers, they spent some money on that thing. It was huge and ornate and beautiful. We emerged overwhelmed, bid goodbye to our guide and began the long ride home, during which we all passed out. Rome was amazing. We definitely want to go back and spend more time there. We just won’t be doing the driving.
The next day we were up again for the last of our private tours, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. We met our lovely driver, piled in the van and headed to Pompeii first, to beat the crowds and heat. There we met our guide, an Italian professor who gives tours during the summer. He was very informative, direct and entertaining. You could tell he was a professor by his exclamation that “he already told us that!” if we had a question. Luckily there was no test at the end. When we first entered the site he found his guard friend and we were led into a part not normally seen by the public, a large bathhouse. It’s amazing how much has been restored, mosaics, tile floors. You could see the lead pipes and where they had a heated pool. Pompeii is so much larger than I thought, and well
developed. It was so interesting to see how they managed the running water, the markets, and the homes. Our guide was very knowledgeable and led us to the parts we might remember later. As the hoards of tourists started arriving he would tell us to hurry along, “The barbarians are attacking!” We were also let into a private residence that still had amazing frescos and beautiful marble walls. Most of the artifacts found in the city have been relocated to the museum in Naples, but what was still there was really interesting. Pompeii is another place where you could easily 
spend a week. We were so grateful to have a guide, otherwise we would have been wandering the hot streets aimlessly.We met our driver a few hours later and set off on the second part of our day, driving the Amalfi coast. All of the amazing photos you see of the Italian coast, this is where it is. The road is two lanes, full of twists and turns and drivers who think nothing of oncoming traffic. But the views! We stopped first in Sorrento for an hour of shopping and lunch. We were lucky enough to trip across a shop selling beer to go, which thankfully made Chris a much more pleasant shopping partner. We loaded up on limoncello and other goods. We met our group at a local restaurant for delicious pizza and wine. We grabbed a canolli for the road and set off again.
Our driver pulled over at an overlook of Positano for pictures and he bought us the most amazing cherries. Fresh cherries while I take in this amazing scenery? Yes, please! Chris and I declared Positano the most beautiful city we’d seen and started picking out which villa we’d move into. We were then let loose in Positano for another hour of shopping. Chris was showing signs of crabby, so we walked down to the beach and dipped our toes in the ocean. The beach was rocky but beautiful. By the time we walked back up to
do more shopping Chris had heat stroke and was not doing well. In hindsight we should have just changed into our swimsuits and headed back to the beach, but we just bought a lot of water and waited at the car for our group. We were all exhausted by this point, but there was no way we were going to sleep through the drive home.As we were waiting in line to get back on the ship I pointed out to Chris one of the ladies we had sat at dinner with 2 nights before passing us going the opposite way. They were this absolutely adorable couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. As we got further up the line I noticed her husband getting really upset about where she could have gone, how could they have let her go, the ship was going to leave without her! I told Chris to go ahead and board and I would help him find her. He was absolutely distraught. We looked all over the terminal and didn’t see her. We figured she had slipped by us and was back on the boat. As we waited in line to get back on Chris found us and said that he saw her on board. We accompanied him to their ca
bin and gave them a lecture about staying together. They were so adorable and appreciative and invited us in to see the suite (making us feel awesome about our steerage cabin) and to see the magazines their grandson was in. There were both so cute you wanted to squeeze their cheeks. Eventually they let us leave and we met with them many, many times over the course of our cruise. Chris and I weren’t sure what it meant when the people we liked most from the cruise was the couple celebrating their 60th anniversary. Either they’re young at heart or we’re secretly old fogies. Our favorite vacations are cruises, though. Hmmm.Thankfully, the next day was an at-sea day. By this point our legs were thoroughly exhausted and we didn’t want to see another church or artifact all day! We found an awesome spot up at the pool and settled in for the day. We slept, read, entertained ourselves, took a nap, watched tv and then enjoyed formal night. Next up, Venice!
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