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I recently escorted a fabulous Mediterranean cruise on the Celebrity Galaxy.  Father Jim Wilmoth of St. Roch Catholic Church in Indianapolis was gracious enough to agree to accompany our group of 44 people as we embarked on a fabulous journey that began in Rome. 

Our group traveled to Rome two nights before the departure of our cruise.  Upon our arrival in Rome, we were met by representatives from Driver In Rome, a reliable transportation company in Italy headed by Daniele Melaragno.  Our driver took our group for a visit of Saint Peter’s Basilica on our way to our hotel, Domus Sessoriana, where we spent two nights pre-cruise.  Domus is a converted monastery hotel with accommodations that are simple and clean but, most importantly for a summer stay in Rome, they are air-conditioned.  The service of the hotel staff was great - they even helped me pre-arrange a simple birthday party complete with a delectable tiramisu birthday cake for my husband.

Domus is in close proximity to several major churches containing important relics so the location of the hotel worked great for our group since a walking tour with Father Jim was included in the package I offered.  Father Jim began our tour at Santa Croce where we able to view such important relics as a large fragment of the Good Thief's cross; the bone of an index finger, said to be the finger of St. Thomas that he placed in the wounds of the Risen Christ; two thorns from the Crown of Thorns; a nail used in the Crucifixion; and one third of the Title of the Cross that shows the word "Nazarene" written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek.  Our group then visited Saint John Lateran, the Pope’s Cathedral, before proceeding across the street to Scala Santa where the devout members of our group together on our knees ascended the 28 marble stairs which are reputed to be the steps walked up by Christ on his way to trial before Pontius Pilate.  Our walking tour continued for several blocks until we were rewarded with our arrival at the breathtaking basilica of St. Mary Major.  Both the exterior and the interior of this church are stunning and relics of the Holy Crib are contained inside.  Several within the group then ended their walking tour with a visit to the Colosseum and Forum, both within walking distance of Domus Sessoriana.

When our check-out day arrived, Daniele Melaragno of Driver in Rome met our group at the hotel.  He directed and helped with the loading of all of the luggage and then he transported the group to the Vatican Museum where we enjoyed a tour that included the Sistene Chapel.  This was a perfect end to our time in the Eternal City and we then embarked on our voyage aboard the Celebrity Galaxy.

The Galaxy is now approximately 11 years old, yet I found her to be well-maintained and in great shape.  However, for those that prefer all of the bells and whistles offered on the newer ships, it should be noted that the Galaxy is set to undergo a major renovation in the spring of 2008.  The itinerary presented on the Galaxy is one of the best offered in the Mediterranean and a brief description of each port follows:
 
Sicily - Many in the group opted for the Taormina On Your Own excursion offered by Celebrity.  With Mt. Etna as the backdrop, Taormina is quite the picturesque Sicilian town.  Quaint shops and restaurants line the streets and the Botanic Gardens and ruins of the Greek Theatre add to the charm of this city. 

Mykonos - Mykonos is the windiest of the Greek Isles.  It should be noted that this is a tender port and the seas can be pretty choppy and rough.  Celebrity only offers one shore excursion on Mykonos, which is a trip to the island of Delos.  Several in the group opted for this tour and, though they enjoyed the tour of Delos, a couple of them experienced nausea on the boat that took them there.  We did not personally take the tour to Delos and instead opted to tour Mykonos on our own.  We walked and shopped around the town, walked to the windmills, and took a public bus to Platis Gialos, a nice beach where we enjoyed a delicious lunch at a seaside restaurant.

Kusadasi - I arranged a private tour to Ephesus for the group.  The Best of Ephesus tour is a full-day tour that included a buffet lunch.  The old town of Ephesus and the surrounding area is an archaeological wonder and is filled with significant religious sites such as the theater where St. Paul preached to the Ephesians and the House of Virgin Mary where the Virgin Mary spent her final days on earth.  Our guide was knowledgeable and provided extra religious information that was of particular interest to our group.  As part of the tour I was able to pre-arrange for Father Jim to celebrate Mass at House of Virgin Mary, which was a highlight for everyone.

Santorini - This is probably my favorite island of any that I have visited anywhere in the world.  On a previous visit, we rented a van and toured the sites of the island including the Boutari Winery, a couple of beaches, and the ancient ruins of Akrotiri.  On this visit, we saddled up a couple of donkeys and ambled up to the town.  Since we had already visited Santorini, we opted to do something different on this visit that may be of interest to those who are more active.  We hiked a rough trail that links Thira/Fira, the town where the tenders arrive, to Oia, the town located at one of the ends of the island.  The walk is 12+ km (over 7 miles) each way and it is difficult in places where the walk is uphill and rocky.  The July temperatures that registered into the 90’s also added to the degree of difficulty.  The hike was great and rewarded us with dramatic views of the coastline, but it would definitely not be for most people. 

Rhodes - Many in the group toured and walked around the old town of Rhodes since it was just steps from where the ship docked, but a few of us opted for the tour to Lindos.  Lindos is a very interesting archaeological site that is located above the Bay of St. Paul where St. Paul arrived on the island of Rhodes.  After our excursion we toured the old town of Rhodes on our own.

Athens - On our first visit to Athens in 2003 we did a full-day tour that included Athens and Cape Sounion and many in the group chose this excursion and were quite pleased to experience the contrast of the busy city of Athens and the site of the Acropolis/Parthenon with the more serene and stunning ruins of the Temple of Poseiden located at Cape Sounion.  Since this was our second trip to Athens, we opted for a tour of Corinth.  This tour was very interesting since it included views of the canal, a boat ride on the canal, and a visit to the ancient city of Corinth where St. Paul preached to the Corinthians. 

Naples – As we did on our first visit to Naples several years ago, most in the group chose some type of excursion that included Pompeii, Sorrento, and/or Capri with Pompeii being a definite highlight for everyone.  Since we had previously visited those sites we decided to just do Capri on our own.  The Galaxy docked near the ferry terminals and we made our own arrangements to go by ferry to the island.  Once there, we walked up to the main town of Capri (this is a fairly long, uphill walk and the preferred way to reach the town would be via the funicular).  We took a public bus from there up to Anacapri where we rode the chair lifts to the top that provided some amazing vistas of the island.  Afterwards, we went to Bagni Tiburia, a local beach where we enjoyed a nice lunch.

We hated to see the cruise come to an end, but disembarkation post-cruise made it easier to accept as everything went very smoothly, in fact it was probably the easiest and quickest disembarkation that I have ever experienced.  We were off the ship by 7:15 and we were easily able to make our 11:30 flight out of Rome.

My words cannot do justice to the wonder and beauty of the sites of the Mediterranean.  If you, too, would like to experience the wonder of this area of the world, just give me a call! 

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