This week’s Random Journal Entry is longer than usual, consisting of 4 separate but related paragraphs from the same entry. We enjoyed the day so much that I had to share more than a single snippet.
April 21, 2010
This was a wonderful day, perhaps the best one yet. Highlights: walking tour of parts of Rome and Vatican City, dinner in the onboard Italian restaurant, and a Broadway song performance in the atrium.
Our tour was exactly as advertised. We met in the show lounge at 8:45 am, went down to the bus, and made the 1 1/2 hour drive to Rome. On the way, we were given our radio receivers for the walking tour. We also got maps and were told from the start where we would be spending our day. Essentially, one side of the Tiber River in the morning and the other side (Vatican City) in the afternoon. It ended up being an exhausting tour—although, perhaps the buildup of three consecutive days of long walking tours—yet well worth it.
Once back onboard, we thought about dinner plans. Our son had been talking all day about spaghetti and meatballs, so we looked at Papa’s Italian Kitchen. The meal was incredible. Appetizers—olives, oils, breads, tomatoes. Choice of more appetizers—I had Caesar salad, Neil [ed: my husband] had carpaccio. Oh—I almost forgot!—appetizers also included an antipasto platter that was superb. My entreé, veal marsala, was outstanding. For dessert, I ordered the cheese selection—and it was rolled out in a cart! Base cost for this restaurant was a very reasonable $10 per person.
After dinner, we went to the atrium on Deck 7 for a performance called Broadway in the Atrium. The production show cast members took turns singing songs from Broadway musicals that included Wicked, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Man of La Mancha. As I said to Neil right after the performance, all you need to put on a good show are a piano and talented singers—no fancy effects.
NauticalNotebook 