This is the final (finally!) group of shots. This batch includes shots from Sicily, Elba and finally my last 2 days in Rome.

While on Sicily I was lucky enough to visit the town where they filmed the Sicilian scenes from The Godfather. I even managed to snap some photos of the very proud actress who played Apollonia’s mother in the movie. She greets tourists at the door of her home when she is in the mood. Luckily she was in the mood when we were there. As she didn’t speak much English our guide translated for her, but you can tell by her movements and expression how much that experience meant to her all these years later without having to say much. Sicily in general was a beautiful place. I could actually see myself living there.

From Sicily it was on to Elba. Elba was the home of Napoleon’s exile palace from 1814-1815. I would say this place seemed the most like a “resort” town more than any other. Everything shuts down for lunch and most shops seemed directed toward beach going clothing and resort wear. It was pretty hot that day so finding a Lemon Granita was on our list of must-dos.

After Elba it was time to head back to Rome the next day to disembark. I had booked a room at a hotel that had been converted from a monastery (Hotel Camilla Savelli) because I wanted to stay in the Trastevere District this time in Rome. I was blown away by this place. It was beautiful, in a fantastic neighborhood and walking distance from a great open-air market and shopping district across the Tiber River, and up behind it was the private Vatican residences.  It was a wonderful way to spend my last day of the trip before flying home the next day. Last time I stayed in Rome I stayed at the Sofitel Rome Villa Borghese up near the Spanish Steps and not far from the Trevi Fountain. As much as I loved that location I vowed on my next visit to stay somewhere near the Trastevere and try some of the food there. I wasn’t disappointed!

If you haven’t noticed by now, it was sunny every day. Even the one day it rained (the first stop in Rome) it was sunny until we got back to the ship - poured down rain with an electrical storm, but by sunset it was clear again. It was in the 80s and 90s the whole time, so any time spent ashore was usually followed by some time by the pool.

This batch includes shots from Athens and Santorini, Greece. Both places I’ve been to before. I find Athens to be a city of ruins everywhere you look. I’m talking the historical type. It amazes me that you can practically trip over some historically significant building or object every block. The photo of me on the steps of one of the museums we visited show the happy, relaxed and smug smile I must have had on my face the whole trip. Santorini is an island I don’t think I can tire of from it’s beauty.  Then we returned to Kotor for another day which allowed us to see the town within the fortress this time, and still have time to enjoy the sunshine on deck in the afternoon. On our way out of the Gulf of Kotor I witnessed my first triple rainbow. I think it was just another example of the sights I was witnessing on this trip. The last shots are of Corfu, Greece. I didn’t get off the ship here since I have been here before. The town is not that big and as pleasant as it is, I found it to be more about tourist shops then anything else when I was here last in 2012. Still, I find the sight of the town at sunrise to be quite breathtaking from all the colors the sky casts.

At one point during the trip we had stopped by to say hello the Maître d’hôtel for the ship and it turns out he wasn’t only a friend of my aunt’s, but I have been on 2 previous trips with him. He actually remembered me from the last time I saw him. As usual he made our trip even more special with treats sent to the room nightly (too much to keep up with) and how an already great diner service got more incredible. I can’t say enough how great he always has treated me and those I’ve been with when he is on board.

Next group of shots include photos from Sorrento and Pompeii, Italy. Then on to Crete, Greece. We were supposed to stop at Kusadasi, Turkey but all the original stops in Turkey on this trip were canceled due to political unrest in the past month, so our two stops in Kusadasi were changed to Kotor, Montenegro. As much as I was looking forward to visiting Turkey again - especially Istanbul - the stops two stops in Kotor were amazing as the area was so picturesque. The last stop in this group was Mykonos, Greece. This will be my 3rd time visiting there and every time it has been sunny and beautiful. This time we started the day at the beach and by mid-day we were off walking the shopping district. One thing I have to say about everywhere I went on this trip was everyone I encountered was cheerful, happy and very friendly.

Next up are photos from Genoa, Cinque Terre, and Rome. It may seem like I hardly took any photos of Rome - and in comparison to other locations on this trip, this is true. This is my 3 visit to Rome or 4th if you count twice on my last trip to the Mediterranean where I flew into Rome, stayed 3 days, boarded a ship for 14 days, finished in Venice then took a train back to Rome to spend 2 more days before flying home. However it adds up, I have taken a lot of photos of Rome over the years. This part of the trip we were there for a day. I had requested with the Vatican Archeological Department to tour the necropolis under the Vatican. I have done this before with my ex-wife when we were married and were so impressed with it I felt my parents would find it intriguing. Before we were dropped of at the Swiss Guard gate our driver took us to see the firing of the Canon of the Gianicolo that fires daily at noon on Janiculum Hill. I didn’t know anything about that until that day, so that was a plus.

At the end of my trip I disembark in at the Rome port as well and spend the night before flying home the next day. More on that later.

And here are the photos for part 2 of my Mediterranean shots:

It’s been almost 8 months since I got back from the Mediterranean and after culling down thousands of shots, it’s time to post the whole collection. I took most of the shots with my LUMIX GX8, a few (surprisingly few) shots with my Leica Q, and another handful with my iPhone. I have to say, unless I was shooting selfies I wasn’t too impressed with the “smearing” my iPhone 6 did. Many of the shots taken with the iPhone look like a “paint by numbers” when it comes to sharpness, but that’s why I brought my GX8, right? After going through the Leica Q shots I have to say that yes, it is one fine camera, but I was so self aware carrying that camera around, I do not regret selling it when I got back home. With travel I find the ability to throw my camera with my 14-140mm (28-280mm M4/3 equiv.), and a couple of Leica primes and I’m good to go. Anyway - this was vacation, not work, so these are my “snapshots”. I spent very little time setting up any shot since it was constantly “go-go-go”.

Since there were close to 400 shots when all is said and done (approx. 100 shots a week for 4 weeks) I broke it down to 5 groups.

Here is part 1. Stops in this group were Barcelona (where I flew in and caught the ship a couple of days later), Cartagena, Spain then to Gibraltar UK, and Marseille (Provence) France.