Cruise day: 124/152
Ports days: 60
Sea days: 64
Countries: 20
Continents: 5
Ports: 44Let me start off by saying that the internet on this entire world cruise has sucked. It does not even resemble anything I would expect from a company that markets itself as a premium cruise line. All around South America, all we got were excuses. They blamed satellites. They blamed passengers’ smartphones that upload images to the cloud, even though we’re at 55% passenger capacity. They blamed an antenna amplifier that has been repaired. At this point, all these are just excuses. Royal Caribbean has figured out good quality internet with nearly 7,000 passengers on the ship. Carnival has it figured out with 5,000. Why can’t Viking get reliable internet for passengers paying a premium to cruise on a supposedly premium line, especially with only 500 passengers? The internet has become indispensable for many of us, and we were promised internet service. Many days, we simply don’t have it. Lately, it works and then quits entirely (like I did as I was writing this). Wake up Viking. This needs to be fixed. Now.
We docked a little late this morning. We followed an Oceania ship in so I don't know if that put us a little behind schedule.
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| This tug was putting on a nice show |
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| How do you know you're special? When they have your logo painted on the dock so nobody else can park there. |
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| Buses were ready to go before we were docked and tied up |
The day had been predicted to be rainy, but like yesterday in Rome, today turned out to be beautiful with the temperature approaching 70 and plenty of sunshine. We started our day with a drive to Pisa.
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| A fort near Livorno's shipyard |
There is no parking near the Square of Miracles in Pisa. The bus parked and we headed out for the 800-meter walk to the square.
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| The entry gate to the Square of Miracles |
The first thing you come to is the Baptistery. It was designed and built in the 12th and 13th centuries and is the largest baptistery in Italy.
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| As you pass the baptistery, the next building you see is the Cathedral of Pisa. |
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| The cathedral was built in the 11th century and consecrated in 1118 |
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| The front door is solid bronze |
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| As you walk past the cathedral, you spot its bell tower - lovingly referred to as the Leaning Tower of Pisa |
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| The tower began to lean almost immediately in the 12th century due to unstable soil |
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| Many projects have been done to stabilize the tower - at this point, it appears stable and it is monitored constantly with dedicated sensors |
Here are our obligatory holding up the tower tourist photos.
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| Arlona - doing her best lean |
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| They no longer ring the bells in the tower as the vibrations could be dangerous |
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| Arlona spotted the gelato |
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| A statue of a fallen angel |
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| Statue of Romulus, Remus and Capitoline wolf |
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| The walls around Pisa as we were leaving |
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| On the walk from the bus to the Square of Miracles and back, we spotted two of these scales on the sidewalk - like anyone on a five-month cruise wants to step on a scale... |
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| We also spotted a few typical Italian fountains |
After Pisa, we were off to Florence.
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| San Marco Museum |
As we came out from the narrow road, we caught our first view of the massive Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and The Baptistery of St. John right next door.
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| The tri-colored marble on the facade is said to represent faith, hope, and charity |
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| The eight-sided Baptistery of St. John |
The three doorways to the baptistery.
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| We took a break for lunch and then continued on |
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| Our guide said the locals do not like the overly ornate facade |
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| The Virgin Mary is shown with the baby Jesus as well as flowers to remind us that this is St. Mary of the Flowers |
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| In an interesting design idea, this image of God looking down is up near the top of the facade |
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| The Florentine Lily - pink flowers on a white background |
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| To get some perspective on size - that gold ball on the top is large enough to hold a Smart Car or golf cart |
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| This is the oldest structure in Florence, dating back to the 6th century, the Pagliazza Tower is now home to the Hotel Brunelleschi |
Our next stop was the Palazzo Vecchio, a kind of open-air museum with tons of sculptures, including an exact replica of Michaelangelo's David.
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| A statue of Leonardo Da Vinci - he had no actual last name as his parents were not married and in those days, a child was not allowed to take a non-married parent's name |
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| Ponte Vecchio - a medieval stone bridge |
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Michaelangelo's Church
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| Florence's Colosseum - somewhat smaller than Rome's, and now repurposed |
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| These wine windows used to appear all over Florence - you place your cup with money and knock - the storekeeper would open the little door, take the money and fill the cup with wine |
Our final stop was the Piazza di Santa Croce.
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| Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence |
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| The designer was Jewish and was allowed to include this subtle Star of David into the facade's design |
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| An unhappy-looking Dante |
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| See that white bar above the doorway arch? That marks the waterline from the great flood of November 4, 1966 |
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| We relaxed on the piazza with Limoncello spritzes |
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| We bid farewell to Florence in the distance |
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| Back in the port at Livorno |
Tonight, we had a new magician perform, Kristian Grey. He was entertaining and worked well with the audience. It did put me a little behind getting this done and I'm now pushing midnight. That is also due in part to the fact that the internet keeps going down completely, halting me. Viking, are you listening? It sure doesn't seem like it.
We have another long day tomorrow in Eze & Nice, France, and Monte Carlo, Monoco.
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