Lately I have been reading a lot of cruise boards, answering questions and trying to increase my knowledge about cruising and doing European ports on your own. You know how a couple of blogs ago I suspected that the whole reason people were willing to spend more in Europe is because it is supposedly the "trip of a lifetime". Well, yesterday I was bombarded with proof. Person after person claiming that they wanted to take shore excurions because they were probably only going to Europe once and wanted to "do it right". "Who knows if we'll ever go again?" they asked. My question is: so you want to pay more to spend your trip with a bus full of people who you have to wait for to use the restroom, shop, walk slowly, etc.? How is that "doing it right"? I just don't get it, although I do understand that initial thought. When James and I first booked our first cruise, before I had done any research, I was looking through the excursions and thought to myself "wouldn't it be nice to just do all excursions? Then we could be sure to see everything we wanted and not have to worry about anything." But I DID the research and realized that there was not a single excursion in Rome which included everything I wanted to see. And there wasn't one in Naples that included the Naples Archaeology Museum which houses the actual art and items found in Pompeii. Then I discovered the markup versus doing it on my own and that was it. Why do some people never let themselves get past that first step? Do I believe excursions are wrong for everyone in every instance? Absolutely not, but I think that most of the time, they are an insane waste of money. I just wish that people would DO THE RESEARCH. Figure out if it is right for them rather than just blindly hand over gobs of money without thinking twice. Okay, I will get off my soapbox. For now.
Now, for your reading pleasure, my thoughts of Venice, live from Venice. (Well, I wrote it while I was in Venice)
" Another good night's sleep last night, so yay! Today we get on our cruise, which I am really ready for. Italy by train has been great, but I am ready to just relax and to have some American conveniences. Yesterday was Venice, which is a very weird city. It is hard to explain, but I guarantee that when someone says something is the "Venice of the North" or of the whatever, they are talking crazy because there is no other Venice. Imagine a huge hedge maze with the hedges being 4 or 5 story buildings which are hundreds of years old. Every once in awhile, you cross a bridge over a canal, but can never really gain perspective as to where you are. Oh, and these bridges are all steps. No wheelchair accesibility in Venice. Now, add to the maze a DisneyWorld style crowd who walk like they do in a theme park, looking around, stopping for no apparant reason etc. The maze has signs pointing along the correct path to the major sites (Saint Marks, the Rialto, the train station etc.), and everyone stays on those paths, so they are jammed during the day. If you get off a path, it is beautiful and peaceful, but you might just find yourself at a dead end or a water's edge. No map can truly keep you from getting lost. Like I said, Venice is weird. I assume I will be back someday, but it isn't a driving desire like I felt/feel to return to Florence. And I would NEVER begin my vacation in this exhausting city.
Enough of that. So, another thing I am really looking forward to is American food. As much as I love Italian food, and I do, we broke down and got McDonalds last night because I was just craving different. I know, crazy. But it was truly enjoyed. I hope to post some more pictures later today, but I did already post some to my profile so take a look. Next up: cruise and Dubrovnik!"
Now, for your reading pleasure, my thoughts of Venice, live from Venice. (Well, I wrote it while I was in Venice)
" Another good night's sleep last night, so yay! Today we get on our cruise, which I am really ready for. Italy by train has been great, but I am ready to just relax and to have some American conveniences. Yesterday was Venice, which is a very weird city. It is hard to explain, but I guarantee that when someone says something is the "Venice of the North" or of the whatever, they are talking crazy because there is no other Venice. Imagine a huge hedge maze with the hedges being 4 or 5 story buildings which are hundreds of years old. Every once in awhile, you cross a bridge over a canal, but can never really gain perspective as to where you are. Oh, and these bridges are all steps. No wheelchair accesibility in Venice. Now, add to the maze a DisneyWorld style crowd who walk like they do in a theme park, looking around, stopping for no apparant reason etc. The maze has signs pointing along the correct path to the major sites (Saint Marks, the Rialto, the train station etc.), and everyone stays on those paths, so they are jammed during the day. If you get off a path, it is beautiful and peaceful, but you might just find yourself at a dead end or a water's edge. No map can truly keep you from getting lost. Like I said, Venice is weird. I assume I will be back someday, but it isn't a driving desire like I felt/feel to return to Florence. And I would NEVER begin my vacation in this exhausting city.
Enough of that. So, another thing I am really looking forward to is American food. As much as I love Italian food, and I do, we broke down and got McDonalds last night because I was just craving different. I know, crazy. But it was truly enjoyed. I hope to post some more pictures later today, but I did already post some to my profile so take a look. Next up: cruise and Dubrovnik!"
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