SU Greek Isles Incentive trip 2019 - Greek Isles Cruise - Day 2!

So, many of you know that since Mother's Day this year I was having a horrible flare up of my Autoimmune disease.  By far the worst I've had in the five years since we moved to Arizona. After lots of blood work to rule out any thing else going on - I was at the point I was not sure I could do the Incentive trip.  We finally made the difficult decision to go on Prednisone - so I could do the trip!  But that stuff messes me up lol.  So we decided not to book any excursions - but to go, relax, do what we could and enjoy every moment - and that's exactly what we did!  

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Day 2 -

Got up after a great night's sleep (but with the wet towels on lol) and started the day with a lovely breakfast at the Sheraton Roma - as much Cappuccino as we wanted (those of you who know me, know that I was in HEAVEN!

The food is lots of breads, proteins and fresh veggies and fruit - everything was so fresh and yummy!  The croissants were especially yummy and served with many fruit jam choices - they are stone-fired - slighty crispy on outside and perfectly fluffy on the inside.

It was super hot out - over 95 degrees and extremely high humidity.  Paul and I decided to do the on and off tour of Rome after taking a bus into the city.  Including stops at the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum and more.  We were able to get off at any stop, spend as much time as we wished and then back on to the next.  At a few stops the bus was full, and there were so many people trying to get on because of the intense heat.  I really felt sorry for many - and heard that there were a lot of cases of heatstroke in the city.

At the Vatican the lines were especially long (up to two hours to get inside), but we were able to walk the grounds and get amazing pictures of the architecture.  Saw many street vendors and artists along the way.

This is the area we walked along -

Stopped in the heat for a water, fan and gelato break -

 We saw headless performers -

and performers in red high heels -

Awesome entrances -

The Colosseum was stunning -

Statues amazing -

We walked down along this river area and across a footbridge to get lunch at a sweet little restaurant -

Got ushered up to the upper room - which was soon full of people - who all seemed to know each other - whether they were there together or not.  Lots of laughter and chatter!

Just look at this beautiful window and ceiling, the shadows the light casted were amazing - I was mesmerized.

Simple lunch of sparkling water, Salmon/mozzarella salad and a simple tomato pasta - with a side of crusty bread.

This was the placemat -

Then more touring - the streets in many areas were very narrow - and our bus would just go down it with inches to spare.   Lots of areas were a white knuckle ride as we zoomed up to small vehicles, swerved around double parked vehicles and narrowly missed scraping walls, cars or even taking out pedestrians.

But the places we went were worth it - beautiful fountains with history that was so interesting -

And political buildings - there was a lot of trash around - and everyone was blaming the government -  just like home :)

The one thing that really surprised me was all the graffiti - it was everywhere - one second you are looking at magnificent works of art - and the next this -

Got back to the hotel late afternoon, and after another nap - we once again ate dinner poolside and relaxed. Bread, wine, seafood pasta and lambchops.  It was a bit cooler with a breeze and we sat there for a couple hours before saying goodbye to Rome.  Tomorrow - we get on the ship - bus leaves hotel at 7:30AM, so we need to pack!

 

Stop back in a few days for Day 3 of our amazing adventure!  ~Maureen

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