The aerobics studio on the ship turned out to be a bust. It didn’t open until 6:00 AM and I needed to start my workout by 5:00 in the morning to be ready for our early morning excursions. I promptly set up camp on the top deck and did the program there each morning. What a sight for the cruise employee who cleaned that area. There I was every day watching a portable DVD player while trying to balance or stretch. The best part came as I often fell over as I couldn’t compensate for the motion of the ship.
It was all worth it to enjoy the sea breeze and watch the sun rise over the Mediterranean each morning. Not to mention afterwards I was ready to enjoy fabulous outings such as the one we took to Florence, Italy. We bussed there from the port of Livorno. Streets were packed with cars, busses, bikes, scooters, pedestrians and hordes of tourists. I advise Americans not to even attempt to drive there, and runners beware—watch out for not only the throngs of people, but also the decorative and protruding iron bars that are attached to eye level windows.
While in Florence we rapidly moved between massive churches marking various architectural achievements, historic monuments and learned about the cultural giants born and buried in the city such as Michelangelo, Dante, Galileo and Machiavelli. Though we didn’t do much in the way of shopping, opportunities abounded. Beyond our standard purchase of a magnet and shot glass (aren’t we common?), we also enjoyed our first gelato. Shannan had pistachio and I went for the tiramisu. They were and dog gone tasty!
No time to relax! Before we returned to the boat our boot camp style vacation took us to Pisa. All and all -- exercise to excursion-- I count this as a good day, and it’s far from over!
Tom
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