We Take Ourselves With Us

After boarding on Sunday, we had a sea day on Monday, giving us all time to sleep deeply in our inside cabins, explore the Koningsdam a bit, and just relax ... except, the captain had advised us that we'd be passing by the volcanic island Stromboli at 8:30 that morning.  So, Ned and I pulled ourselves out of bed and wandered the upper decks--from which we saw only ocean in every direction--trying to understand where a volcano could be hiding.  It turned out that it was hiding at 10:30--the captain had made an error in the timing. We made the best of it by going to an early breakfast in the still rather uncrowded Lido market. As 10:30 neared, I went up to the observation deck to grab some space at the railing--and in the distance, ta dah, a volcano appeared! Just a week earlier, Stromboli had erupted with fury, killing a hiker and putting the small villages at its base in danger.  As Penn wondered aloud, who would build a town on a volcano?  Great ques...

When in Rome, one must do the Colosseum, and in July, one must do it as early as possible before it reaches max occupancy and stops accepting visitors and those visitors melt in the summer Rome sun.  So, we woke early and grabbed what was a delicious, giant, and apparently free buffet in our hotel.  Well, no one ever asked us our room number or charged us, so grazie! We again dined al fresco at a table made for slow Italian meals with seats arranged to overlook the hotel's interior courtyard, complete with too familiar pigeons. After trying and failing to get a cab, I ubered it, which meant we got to ride in Rome to the Colosseum in a sporty Alfa-Romeo driven by a hipster Italian youth with slick hair and aviator sunglasses.  Living the dream, people :) It was a full-sun 90 degree day when we caught up with our tour guide, Fabio--an enthusiastic individual who seemed to speak at least English, Italian, Spanish, and a bit of Japanese.  To engage ...