Room with a View

This week’s post is all about amazing ocean views.  Our cruise started out in Villefranche, France.  Even though it rained a few friends and I had a lovely lunch out in the port.

(Me, Hannah, Sanci and Nazar at lunch)

The next day we were in Livorno, Italy and I took a tour to Cinque Terre.  It is a set of five beautiful seaside towns.  Cinque Terre is a national park and territory protected by UNESCO.  We were able to walk around 4 of the 5 villages as well as on the Via Dell’amore (“The Street of Love”).  Legend has it that if you and your lover attach a lock to the fence your love will last forever.  It was a beautiful walk.  I ate lunch with our tour guide, Luca, and he ordered for the whole table.  We had the most delicious antipastos with fresh fish and muscles.  It was a great meal and day!

We were back in Rome the next day.  I did a tour called Panoramic Rome and was in Vatican City and St. Peter’s Square while the Pope was having Mass.  It was an emotional experience…realizing just how lucky and blessed I am.  There was a choir singing, the Pope in his red attire and so many people appreciating it all together.

In Napoli, I took a tour back to Sorrento and then the Amalfi coast.  I definitely want to go back to the Amalfi coast, it is stunning!  The high cliffs of the coast seem to drop right into the clear blue water.  There are 1,200 curves in the road along the coast and the road is so thin at points that I was afraid our bus would fall right off the cliff or would crash into the oncoming traffic.  There are so many amazing hotels along the cliffs.  Our tour guide told us that if we ever come back to visit, we need to stay in a hotel that has an elevator down to the beach because otherwise it is really hard to walk down all those stairs!  We even drove past Sophia Loren’s villa, definitely a room with a view.  I can’t wait to go back there and maybe see the coast from the water on a boat.

(In Sorrento)

(Sophia Loren's estate)

(The town of Amalfi along the Amalfi coast)

In Kotor, Montenegro there was another beautiful ocean view.  Some friends and I climbed up the mountain to St. John’s Fortress.  It was a long walk up the mountain and my legs were shaking when I came down!  Didn’t need to go to the gym that day!  It was thunder and lightning a few mountains away, but from the top you could see the lightning strike and hear the thunder roll.  It sprinkled a little, but not enough to ruin our climb.  Along the way, there were a few other forts that we walked through and took a few pictures.  Once at the top the view is amazing!  You could see the Solstice in the middle of the inlet, almost completely surrounded by mountains.  On the inland side of the mountain you were able to shout off the cliff and the echo was amazing!  You could hear it for a few seconds.  Maybe someday when I don’t feel like going to the gym, I will climb back up there!

One of our male singers, Tim, had a birthday this cruise, so we went out for a nice lunch in Venice and then wandered around the city after.  It was a lovely day, and every single place in Venice has such an amazing view of the canals. 

(Brook, Me, Sanci, Dejan and Tim on the shuttle boat)

Our final stop this cruise was Dubrovnik, Croatia.  We had beautiful weather and I was able to see parts of Croatia that I hadn’t seen the last few times I was there.  We drove inland to an oceanfront resort called Cavtat.  I saw some incredible yachts that would make my Dad’s mouth water! 

(Cavtat, Croatia)

Being in all these ports seems to confirm my love of the ocean.  I love the sea breeze in my hair and on my skin, the color and movement of the ocean waves, the sound of waves crashing against the shore, the smell of saltwater and even fish!  I miss Maine every day and not being able to go to North Haven this summer is going to be very weird, but being in all these Mediterranean ports eases the pain and longing.  I am so thankful for everything that I am getting to see, and I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.  Now, if only I had a porthole in my room, I truly would have a room with a view!!