I arrived at a designated bus stop at 9:15 so as not to miss the pick up time of 9:30 and waited until 10:00 and studied the route sign and my paperwork and everything else was in Italian and nothing happened. Then a couple on my cruise also arrived and we had a nice chat as they were from Hamburg and it was there very first cruise and they were loving it. While we both watched the insane Italian drivers go around a large unmarked 5 lane traffic circle, we marvelled how they never seem to crash, as there is no right of way observed, it's just each for their own including cars, scooters, tour buses, trucks, and other strange looking 3 wheeled vehicles...amazing to watch!
Finally a lady in Italian shared the bus sign in Italian above us declared our tour bus stop #7 had been closed, and to walk to stop # 5 instead...boy I wonder how long we could have stood there scratching our heads?
So finally I board a full bus and head to the top open deck with everyone else cause its another gorgeous day and you get much better pics from the up there..it was 20 euros for their 2 hour hour long continuous bus loop A & B with a pre-recorded descriptive audio tour that synched well with the driver.
I stayed on the bus for one complete round of the narrated 'A' tour to getta feel for the major attractions and the neighbourhood logistics for walking afterwards. However there was an unexpected large political demonstration in the square and cops redirecting traffic and things turned into a mid day log jam. Waiting for the next jump off station was over an hour, so the sun was lovely however with no sunscreen I slowly turned to bake mode, and enjoyed the very slow moving scenery and crazy scooters weaving in and out and over sidewalks to escape the total gridlock.
Once we finally reached our next stop...I wanted to walk and find the large outdoor market we passed and of course I got lost per usuual and covered lotsa area and enjoyed it all. There were two cruise boat loads of tourists walking about and locals so even thru the narrowest long back laneways it was safe as can be and you just needed to be aware of scooters and cars screaming down these narrow cobblestone streets from accidently running you over?
The market was huge and tons of variety from fruit and veggies to fish and olives, from handbags to toys...grabbed some fresh fruit and slowly headed back to the dock, but not before enjoying another amazing italian cappucino, as they sure make great coffee in Italy! Hoping also to connect into their internet while I was enjoying the coffee and sunshine, however their service was down, so here I am playing blog catch up on my stateroom verandah, and having to limit my trip pics until I get a WiFi signal in a port somewhere?
Today I am really enjoying our first day at sea...relaxing and blogging and thought I would have to pass on the first formal dining night, as I could not possibly pack a jacket and tie, however the Vista dining room borrowed me a dark jacket and away I went with my running shoes and its all good when you gear down.
I sat next to a young 87 year old chap from Manchester who was sttending his 36th cruise and met more friendly Canadians...lotsa fellow countrymen on this cruise.
Tomorrow its our unexpected port change and my new excursion of the Archipelago and Islands at Olbia, Sardinia...more blog updates to follow! :-)
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