Italy and Greece - and let's not forget a day in fascinating Malta!

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Off we go, into the wild blue yonder - overnight to Frankfurt on Lufthansa. It was nice to hear German after so long.	2 flights later - Arrived in Rome and went to Civitivecchia	We went to our cabin & found birthday & anniversary greetings. We're also celebrating Howard's 10 free yrs from cancer.	Our home for 10 days
Took the train to Florence and went to Plaza Michelangelo. First city, first bride! Saw another here a few minutes later!	Florence from Plaza Michelangelo	The Ferrari was more interesting to Howard than David	The crew welcomed back tour participants. We got there right before. Howard videotaped the whole welcome.
Into the "boot" of Italy to Amalfi for a short 6 hours. This is the cathedral in Amalfi	Inside the Duomo (cathedral) in Amalfi	Amalfi was our second city, and here is our Amalfi bride!	A very interesting balcony in Amalfi
Lamps, statue against Amalfi coast backdrop.We took a bus to Positano......	Narrow, twisty streets - at one point, our bus had to back up so another bus could pass!	Positano from where the bus drops you off - then you walk down the hill!	Torre (tower) along the Amalfi drive
On to Sorrento (4th port): on the west side of the boot. This is a view of the jagged buildings and coastline, Sorrento port	An obscene sign!	We took the "Circumvesuviana" train to Pompeii. It reminded us of the LIRR - funky, but it got us to Pompeii!	Pompeii ruins
There were a number of stray dogs at Pompeii - stray dogs and cats are not uncommon in Italy and Greece	Art work from long ago at the brothel	Lemon shop by Pompeii entrance	On to Sicily and Taormina: The Greek Theater in Taormina
Greek Theater detail - as you can see from this picture, Taormina is up quite high	From Taormina, I took another bus to go up some more to Castelmola!	Taken from entrance to castle atop Castelmola	Window in Castelmola
Mt. Etna, doing a bit of spewing, early in the morning as the pilot boat leaves us	Another bride!!!	Bread and chocolate - what more do we need? (Taken at Polo)	On to Malta, south of Sicily. Valletta is a fortified city on both sides. Cruising into the port was AMAZING!!!!
Marsaxlokk boat and buildings	Luzzi boats at Marsaxlokk. It took me a long time to learn how to pronounce and spell that word!	A fisherman painting his boat	3 colorful boats
Loved those funky Valletta buses - complete with funny names, pictures of the Virgin Mary, and young drivers blasting EuroPop	Typical corniche. Malta's fascinating - they speak English & their own language, use lira, & drive on left side of the street!	They were always painting something on the Insignia. In Valletta, it was the anchor!	Between Malta and Greece, we spent a day at sea.
John from England - one of Howard's restaurant friends	To get to town from the marina on the island of Santorini, you could take donkeys, cable car, or walk with the donkeys.	We took the cable car!	The town of Fira (Thira) on the island of Santorini
We rented a 4-wheeler and drove around the island! Best day yet!	A bird's eye view of Santorini from the ATV	Beautiful town of Oia, on Santorini	Santorini Folk Museum, Fira
Santorini church	Another church	At a couple places, we stopped at the ocean, once chatting with Italians from another cruise ship, and took yet more pictures.	An Oia bride. This time, the fiance was taking the pictures - and Ruth snuck in a few as well!
Oia church	The view up top at Oia was wonderful!	Saying goodbye to the wonderful island of Santorini	Old windmills near the port of Rhodes in the Dodecanese islands.
Rhodes - Marine Gate. Rhodes is very close to Turkey and has many Moorish influences.	Suleyman mosque, Rhodes	Flag outside a hotel, Rhodes	Someone in Rhodes was quite adventuresome!
You tend to forget that people live inside the walls at Rhodes....	Toscana, one of the two specialty restaurants. We ate here Oct. 4. Ruth had fantastic pasta; Howard had surf and lamb turf!	The pool at night was quite different than the pool by day	A quick stop at the uninhabited island of Delos.
Delos lion - reconstructed but still mighty.	We must have made this guy and the gods angry - what a storm!	Delos in the rain wasn't fun, but those of us who stuck it out were rewarded with a rainbow!	Ruth got PRETTY wet on her trip to Delos - but at least she managed to keep the cameras dry!!!
On to Mykonos, in the Cyclades islands: Paraportiani church from rear	Byzantine icons in one of the churches	"Little Venice" part of Mykonos	The 4 windmills in Mykonos
A typical street - designed to foil pirates (and tourists, too!)	Another church	White pelis are a mascot of sorts in Mykonos.	Oh so sad - our last night on the Insignia!
Howard and Polo staff surprised me with anniversary cake	We spent one night post-cruise in Athens at the Ledra Marriott. We enjoyed their hot tub!	Roof top Marriott pool, with Parthenon and Lycabettus views.	View from our balcony at the Marriott
The mighty Parthenon on the Acropolis - built 447 BC!	Syndagma metro station, Athens - about 7 blocks north of the Marriott	We saw a number of fashionably-dressed Smart Cars in Athens.	Not much in the way of flea markets near Monastiraki metro station, but the gyros were great!
OK, I forget what church it was, but I remember it was in Athens, and we saw it from near the Acropolis!	Lycabettus Hill, shot from near the Acropolis. Wanted to take a cable car up there, but ran out of time and energy.

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