Scott King and I are on a 10-night Mediterranean Cruise, starting in Barcelona, Spain and ending in Civitavecchia (a coastal town northwest of Rome) Italy, starting May 8, 2025, ending May 18. Our cruise ship is the Marina with the Oceania Cruises cruise line. See the following photo lifted from the Oceania Cruises Internet site.
Our 9 ports will be Barcelona, Valencia and Ibiza in Spain, then Tunis, Tunisia in Africa, Valletta in Malta, Argostoli in Greece, Messina (harbor city in northeast Sicily), Naples/Pompeii, and Civitavecchia in Italy. See the following map.
Before departing in Barcelona Scott and I spent a few days visiting a few attractions.
After we debark in Civitavecchia (sounds like chee-vee-tuh-veh-kee-uh), Scott and I will spend a few days in Rome and Florence before heading home.
Although the ocean cruise is only 10-nights, our trip is actually 22 days because we left on May 6 but won't come back to New York until May 28 as we will spend some time in Italy after the cruise, but more on that later.
May 7, 2025 (Wednesday)- Barcelona, Spain
I confess that I currently have jet lag, a 6-hour time difference, and an overnight flight on the 7th, with no sleep has slowed me down. Getting better now. so here goes our trip so far.
Barcelona is very beautiful even through weary eyes. We booked the famous Sagrada Familia on the morning we arrived, as we couldn't get into our hotel room until 2 p.m. It is worth going back to see it every time you go to Barcelona because they keep working on it, and it changes. Construction began in 1882, and it is stunning. It has been years in the construction and is almost finished. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The following photo is lifted from the Internet because I couldn't get one this good. It needs to be from a high place or a drone to capture it all.
We took one of the tower tours, which was an elevator ride up and a walk down. What you see is the tops of the ornate towers and a city view. The photo below is one I took after Scott and I reached the top.
What you really get is a very scary walk down the spiral staircase to the main floor. Scott and I agreed that it was the last time, even though we'll be back.
The stained glass windows inside knock me out. In the morning, the light comes through and the reflections on the floor make you want to say to the crowds, "Don't walk there." Photos of both are below.
The 6-block walk back seems endless, but the nap was needed and nice.
Our dinner was in a local watering hole with neighbors, no energy to go look for paella, as we knew we were going to do a paella thing the next port stop in Valencia on Friday.
May 8, 2025 (Thursday)- Barcelona, Spain
Thursday we went to the Palau Güell (pronounced kwell), an early Antoni Gaudí mansion, which was designed for the industrial tycoon Eusebi Güell. The word Palau translates to mansion or palace in English.
It is an early Gaudí Mansion that isn't as well-known as the Pedrera and Casa Batlló, but it was new to us and is worth a visit with fewer visitors and a fabulous self-guided tour. Very interesting to see how Gaudi did so many innovative things.
The following photo shows the main gates of the mansion (source, Barcelona Museum photo).
Even the stables (shown below) were gorgeous. The stables were for the horses and sleeping quarters for the servants.
The rooftop had the famous Gaudí chimneys (shown below). There are a total of 20 chimneys on the roof, which also serve to ventilate the house. The mansion is a half block from the Ramblas (the famous pedestrian-only street in Barcelona).
After that Scott and I headed back to the ship and took a nap.
May 9, 2025 (Friday)- Valencia, Spain
The next day on Friday (May 9th), we our ship ported in Valencia, one of the oldest cities in Spain, and the third largest city in Spain. Our plan for the day was the famous PAELLA (a saffron flavored rice dish that originated from the Valencia region). We'd booked a ship's chef's tour. We thought we were going to shop for the ingredients and actually cook, but instead it was an interesting trip across Albufera Lake in a local boat, which I dubbed a vintage zodiac.
The place we went (Restaurante El Redolí) had a huge kitchen with places for multiple fires and varying sizes of paella pans. The chef was world famous María José, who spoke some English and understood more, and had a great sense of humor. She explained so much with the local guide and our ship's chef. I could tell you a lot about paella now. Maybe another message that will be shorter. Let me say, it's called paella because of the name of the pan. I did get to stir in the huge beans and the dulce paprika. Mostly, we got to enjoy the result: chicken, not seafood, because that's not original to Valencia. The original would have included rabbits. Below is a photo showing Maria José in the kitchen.
The photo below was also taken at the Restaurante El Redoli, that’s me, Maria José, and Eva the culinary chef, ...I really liked them both.
May 10, 2025 (Saturday)- Ibiza, Spain
Ibiza is one of the Balearic islands, an archipelago of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea, our 3rd port on this cruise.
The day started with a fantastic sunrise as shown in the photo below.
What was going on when we arrived in Ibiza was a city wide Middle Age festival with the streets lined with vendors of ordinary stuff, a lot of cheeses, and sausages. Lots of families with face painted kids etc. you get the picture.
We toured villages and their churches around the countryside. I worked at getting some artist shots. For all the affluence that comes with the party crowd there wasn’t that much wealth apparent outside of the main city. We visited the village of Santa Eulària, the patron saint of the island, and the village of Saint Gertrudis. Both churches were sweet with gold altars and some stained glass.
Everything is painted white and we were told using chalk I think they said for insect control. Interestingly they switched from chalk to chemicals but are going back to chalk. An explanation of cooking salt to make the chalk didn’t come across to me so I can’t give details about that.
The real estate in the town Ibiza is so expensive the locals rent or live out of town. The prices in the real estate windows didn’t knock this New Yorker out.
The following 3 photos are from the Puig de Missa of Santa Eulària des Riu, a church on the summit of Puig de Missa. At the foot of it is the village of Santa Eulària des Riu. It goes back to the 16th century.
The next photo was taken at the Castle of Ibiza, its origins can be traced back to the 7th century BC when the Phoenicians settled in Ibiza.
Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a sea day, and Monday will be Tunisia.
May 11, 2025 (Sunday)- Sea Day- Ibiza to Tunisia (La Goulette)
May 12, 2025 (Monday)- Tunisia (La Goulette)
This report covers Scott and my visit to Tunisia, Africa (our 4th port stop on this cruise). Tunisia is a North African country, bounded by Algeria to the west and southwest, by Libya to the southeast, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the east and north. Tunis is the capital and largest city of Tunisia.
Our ship docked at La Goulette (a port city), Tunisia early Monday. Our tour was scheduled for us to visit two different UNESCO World Heritage sites. One was to explore the ruins of Carthage, some of which were built during the Roman occupation. The other to walk through the lively Medina of Tunis, an ancient neighborhood full of shops.
The La Goulette port is about 25 minutes from Tunis driving over a causeway type road over a lake that might have been a "sweet-water.”
Later we saw seawater lagoons connected to the Mediterranean. The drive through parts of Tunis included a fascinating lecture about the Punics. The Punic people, also known as Carthaginians, were a Semitic people who migrated from Phoenicia (modern Lebanon) to the western Mediterranean during the Early Iron Age. Those Punics/Carthaginians were a hedonistic bunch it seems, the story continues from their invasion of Ibiza. In Tunisia, they were at war with the Romans in Carthage about 815 BC. The Romans won, then didn't return to Tunis for 1500 years. Go figure It was supposed to be 75F degrees, it was hotter, and they said that in July and August it goes to 49 degrees Celsius, can you imagine, that's over 120F degrees ...and humid. People live there??
Our first stop was an excavation site and cemetery as shown in the photo below.
The burial ground included mixed genders and ages, see the following photo.
The legend is that they sacrificed babies to the god Baʿal Ḥamon (the chief god of ancient Carthage, a weather and fertility deity). What I read about him didn't sound like he would have liked that. And they also worshiped Tanit, his female consort. She was the chief goddess of Carthage, a mother goddess of fertility and the moon. Tanit, we were told, went to Greece to start the cult of sacred prostitution. All of this through a guide's story. I can't verify it. I may do some googling when I have time. We saw what was to my eye a primitive excavation, and then we were shown how they not only excavate open areas but also under houses or, as the guide called them, villas. Not sure I would like living over an excavation. See the following photo.
Most if not all of the Punic ruins were covered up by the Romans and then by modern builders after that.
Below is a photo of a Carthage Punic Port for 100 warships when they were fighting the Romans.
The next thing was the Roman baths (see the following photo). I've seen Roman baths everywhere, even England. Most horrifying is that the toilets were flushed into the open seas. What we saw were the substructures that housed the plumbing and held up the mosaic pools that we are used to seeing photos of.
Then to the Medina (historic section) of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. It is a typical souk (aka marketplace), including a mandatory lecture about carpets, which I excused myself from. I was trying to buy some tchotchkes (aka small bric-à-brac or miscellaneous items) in the souk, but no one had change for Euros. I didn't want dinars (principal currency in the Mediterranean area), so no luck. See the following photo for Medina.
We also went to a rooftop with some lovely mosaics. The next photo is of me on top of the rooftop. After that is a photo of just the rooftop lifted from the Internet.
We passed lots of locals in traditional garb congregating in the shade. See the next two photos for some local folks.
Even though this visit doesn't sound enthusiastic, it was fascinating as the culture is so different. Our guide told us that the three major religious groups (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) got along. There are villages that are primarily each religious group, as well as the folks that live and work in Tunis. Today was a nice trip.
May 13, 2025 (Tuesday)- Malta
Today Scott and I arrived in Malta, our ship docked at Pinto Wharf, located in Valletta, Malta. Malta is an independent island country in the Mediterranean Sea, located south of Sicily and north of Tunisia. Malta is our 5th port (out of 9) on this cruise.
We opted to go to the cities of Rabat and Mdina, thinking we would have time to explore Valletta later on our own. 😞, we didn’t.
However, we had a fabulous day. Our guide, a local lady, had interesting takes on almost everything. The first one that comes to mind is her talking about local life while we were driving. She mentioned that water was a problem. The rivers were dry so the water came from underwater springs, which wasn't enough for the exploded population. So they "took the salt out of the sea water. That made the water crazy, so they had to add local water to calm it down." You have to love those explanations for scientific things like desalination.
She talked at length about the influx of people, especially from Europe, specifically the Scandinavian countries where the income tax is so high. In Malta, it maxes out at 35%, 6.1% goes for social security and pensions, not the same as the USA. Almost every sentence had something to do with the Knights. That's a lot of narrative and fascinating; that's not going to happen in this missive.
Our guide also talked about the pirates as Malta's strategic location in the Mediterranean made it a hub for pirates, only some were called corsairs, meaning they were paid by the royalty to rob and plunder. Someone asked her about the color coding they saw in the stores. She said, "Corsairs were illiterate, so they had to color-code things for when they went shopping. Red for wine, blue for whatever, etc.”
Did you ever think about pirates shopping? I can't believe they would color-code things for them to steal. I told you we had quite a good time.
Our first stop was in the Catacombs of Rabat, see the following photo for the entrance to the St. Paul's Catacomb .
The entire town has catacombs underneath it. They have been cleaned out so they were used as bomb shelters during WWII, jails during the time of St. Paul. (That's a whole, big story that I don't remember reading about in the Bible.) And as shelter in the 1693 Earthquake. The Mdina, the city, aka suburb, next door has no catacombs because when the Arabs came, they cleared them out to make their city clean. I don't know what year that was. I lost track after laughing so hard at our guide's desalination explanation.
There was major ventilation in the catacombs. They used to have burial feasts in them because there was no smell. Three days of dining and debauchery, I guess. See the dining table and couches around it to recline to dine. The next photo shows a stone table known as an agape table.
They even had special little vaults for the fetuses resulting from miscarriages. All sizes.
After that was the Cathedral of St. Paul. In summary, he was on his way to Rome to be tried for preaching Christianity, when his ship wrecked off the coast. After his rescue, he healed many people. Our guide said St. Paul was quite ugly but had major charisma and the people loved him, so he went about doing his healing thing in the daytime; at night he was locked up in a vault (aka catacomb). St. Publius was a catholic bishop who stood up for St. Paul, and when a ship finally came to take them both to Rome, the bishop was condemned to death for that and was thrown to the lions. The top of Mdina Gate in the following photo is decorated with reliefs of St. Publius, St. Agatha, and St Paul, the patron saints of Malta. St. Publius (the bishop) on the left is shown with a lion.
Well, one more thing. It's hard to see because I couldn't get close to the mural of St. Paul and the shipwreck that is over the altar. The following two photos are one I took, and one from the Internet which shows a better view than mine. The mural shows St Paul is in the forefront of the ship, looking upwards to the Eternal Father who is sending his angel to comfort the saint and reassure him that all the persons on the ship were to be saved.
On the floor was a mosaic of Jonah and the great fish, see my two photos below, the second one is a crop of the first one.
There are two cathedrals, the other one is in Valletta (which we didn't see) and is called a co-cathedral, because Malta was only allowed one, but the Knights wanted their own, so that's what it was. I know this sounds like I'm making it up.
We also went to the Dingli Cliffs, the highest part of the Island. They were considered a natural defense against the pirates. It's easy to see why in the next photo that I chose not to go close to the edge.
May 14, 2025 (Wednesday)- Sea Day
May 15, 2025 (Thursday)- Argostoli, Greece
Our ship was ported in Argostoli, Greece this morning. Argostoli is a town on the island of Kefalonia in the Ionian Islands in Greece. This is our 6th port (out of 9) on this cruise.
The Ionian Sea includes over twenty beautiful Greek islands in total. Kefalonia is the largest of the Greek islands in the Ionian island chain.
Some know this but I didn't... there are two sets of Greek islands. the Aegean islands: Mykonos, Santorini, etc. between Greece and Turkey. And the Ionian Greek Islands: Corfu, Ithaca, etc. We were in the Ionian group, with similar beautiful beaches. Our stop was the capital of Kefalonia, Argostoli The main drag had the normal souvenir shops, two banks and a few hotels. I especially liked the name of this hotel... DUH!!! (See the following photo)
The town was small and not too interesting except that it had a bay where the loggerhead turtle hung out. Everyone stands on the break wall and watches, holding their camera and their breath for a turtle to come up for air. I got lucky and got a couple of photos. See the photo below, but you’ll have to look closely as it was taken with my iPhone and the turtle was a long way off, but that’s its head sticking out of the water.
There are a lot of reasons why the loggerheads are attracted to this harbor including a variety of food sources, including natural prey and, unfortunately, human-supplied items like fish scraps and bread, the latter raising concerns about the turtles long-term well-being. Also the harbor offers a sheltered, and shallow foraging area.
Kefalonia is home to two of the seven sea turtle species that exist in the world, loggerhead sea turtles and Green sea turtles. The loggerheads are the most significant species on Kefalonia's beaches. These turtles migrate across the Mediterranean for food and warmer waters, returning to Kefalonia to reproduce.
The following photo is of yours truly at the “I Love Kefalonia” sign at the harbor (I'm behind the red heart), the sign is close to both the above hotel and where I took the turtle photo.
The excursion of the day was to visit two of the many caves on the island. Our first cave, the Drogarati cave, was huge and magnificent with the requisite stalactites and stalagmites. All in shades of brown, so the following photo doesn't do it justice.
It was steep to get into, drippy and damp; the climb in and out making you feel like a real spelunker. It is said that 20th century opera icon Maria Callas sang in this cave, If true I bet it was great with the wonderful acoustics.
The next photo is just of a sign pointing the way to the Drogarati Cafe.
The second cave we visited was quite interesting, the Melissani cave and lake. On the side of the island there's a place in the bay that has a series of sinkholes. The sea water goes into those holes and two weeks later comes out in the underwater lake and the cave on the other side of the island. It was discovered when the ground over the cave collapsed and the lake was visible and the current noticed. Scientists put dye in the water on the East side of the island and timed it when it got to the lake.
We climbed down into the cave, got in small boats, rowed across the lake around a corner to see where the water exited, and rowed back again. The half hour tour took a nano second, but was beautiful. See the following two photos.
Then we bussed back across the island to Myrtos Beach (see the next photo), the beach is stunning in a high end village called Lassi where the rich and famous come. Aristotle Onassis’ island Skorpios is nearby. He came there to socialize sensibly. The name Lassi is an Irish young girl. It was named that by a British governor because he thought the area was fresh like a young girl. Makes you wonder, doesn't it. We didn’t get to swim but we did go look for more turtles.
May 16, 2025 (Friday)-Messina (Sicily), Italy
Scott and my visit to Sicily was too short, even though we took an 8-hour tour. First, I must tell you that I went to a party and a nice young MD from Sicily was there. Of course, I engaged him in conversation and revealed that we were going there on a cruise. He asked where we were docking, and I said Messina. His response was, "The first thing you do when you get to Messina is get out of town." I immediately went to my computer and cancelled our city tour and booked this long day to go to Mount Etna, the main reason I wanted to go to Sicily all along.
The first part of the tour was to Taormina, a popular medieval city in the hills. The winding road was beautiful and not scary, as we had a very hip, competent driver and a good guide who told us the history all the way up. We had a lovely walk through the town looking at cafes, down alleys, and at window sills, ending with a so-so tour of the Roman area. Most of the sidewalk images are self-explanatory. It is a very beautiful place with exquisite structures mixed in with contemporary shops. The following 2 photos are a couple of street views.
The next photo is of an ancient Roman amphitheater we saw on our walking tour. There was a Bvlgari fashion show scheduled for the area, so most of the ruins were covered with lighting structures and sound equipment.
The next photo is one of many typical window sills we passed. Note the male and female pots.
The big story was about the flower pots, the girl, and the man. It seems that when the Moors took over the city, a young Sicilian maiden and an Arabian Knight fell in love when he spotted her tending her garden. After a time or when his tour of duty was over, he had to go back to North Africa. He explained that he had to go back to his wife and children. She didn't take that news very well and cut off his head. Whereupon she planted said head in her garden. Her vegetation flourished, making her neighbors jealous and wondering how she managed that. When the truth was discovered, the neighbors started planting their flowers in two pots, one for each of them. The moral to the story is, "don't cross a Sicilian woman."
On the way back to the bus, we noticed a bunch of tourists like us crowded into the narrowest alleyway I've ever seen, to the Vicolo Stretto restaurant. Of course, I had to fit myself into it, too. The most notable thing about it if you look at the sign next to where I am, there is a Michelin 2-star restaurant (Vicoletto Restaurant & Wine) up the alley I wonder if anyone could come back down the alleyway after a big dinner. See the following photo.
The drive back down the mountain was still beautiful. The driver stopped and let me take the following photo. We had to go all the way down to go back up Mount Etna.
I have read and wanted to see Mount Etna for as long as I enjoyed medieval stories when I was a kid. I used to draw forts and castles, I was so entranced, then I grew up and drew other things, but curiosity never dies, I guess. So it was with delight that I switched to this tour, even though it was twice as expensive. They call her a mountain, not a volcano, as volcanoes are male and mountains are female, La Muntagna is the Sicilian term for Mount Etna and referred to as her.
The sad part is weather-wise she was socked in. Part of the way up the winding road to about 10,000 feet, it was foggy inside the bus and outside the bus, plus the defroster didn't work very well. A tourist loaned the guide his shirt so she could wipe down the inside of the windshield. We were happy we had a young hip driver.
When we arrived after the perilous journey, we saw the following sign. YAY!!! Cheers for the driver. "VISITATE I CRATERI SILVESTRI" translates to something like "visit the Silvestri Craters" in English. The Crateri Silvestri, also known as the Silvestri Craters, are two main volcanic cones located on the southeastern slope of Mount Etna. They were formed during the 1892 eruption of the volcano.
Then we looked at the view at the southern (aka lower) crater (following photo). Go figure, travel halfway around the world, well, not quite, 😞 and this is what you get??? We went inside the Ristorante La Cantoniera Etna for a lovely Sicilian meal, fresh salad, two kinds of pasta, wine, and yep...cannolis. Molto Bene as I think the way they say "very good."
Back outside to look at the crater. Ever the optimist I climbed to the rim, the view hadn't improved as shown in the next photo, as you can see (or not see) the crater was still socked in with fog.
On the way down, a breeze came up and voila! I got to see the inside of the crater (photo below). As soon as I took the photo, the fog returned, so I got a little lucky. Look closely and you can see people down in the crater (5) and on top of the rim (10).
Below is a Getty Image of the two craters, courtesy of the Internet. We were at the one at the lower elevation (smaller one in the photo).
The hour and 40-minute drive back wasn't as foggy, lucky for the driver; he had no one to help him as everyone fell asleep after the wine and the climb. Like we made the climb with our feet and not in a bus. 😀
May 17, 2025 (Saturday)-Naples/Pompeii, Italy
We say farewell to our beloved ship, the Marina, tomorrow on Sunday. In the meantime, we will have dinner at a special steak house on board the ship, plus a magic show, happy hour, and packing. And turning in our bonus points for swag. I did the art scavenger hunt and got 20 points good for a pair of socks, not enough for a baseball cap.
I was so busy writing about our specific experiences that I didn't give much detail about places Scott and I have visited on this trip. Like the dates, the Romans, the Greeks, the Muslims, the Byzantines, etc, when they invaded and left. Nor did I give temperatures and animal sightings; although there weren't many animal sightings. Almost all of the Mediterranean spots were invaded and scarred by the above troops. Many people were killed or died. I didn't write down the dates when the guide gave them to us because we were walking and I was trying not to fall down. Most every place had uneven walking and lots of stairs, did I say lots of stairs, I could repeat that, but I think you get it.
Naples was not excluded from all the above-named invaders, so the history is lengthy. I can write briefly about what I found to be the most interesting and curious. The Greeks were the first invaders, kicking out the Oscans who were there 9-8th century BC, but I saw no evidence of that. Our guide contrasted the Greeks with their love of beauty and the pagan gods with the Romans and their love of competition and excellent engineering skills. And it was fascinating what the Romans completed in the 90 years they were in Pompeii. I'm pretty impressed.
We weren't in Naples long enough to explore the city as we opted to go to Ancient Pompeii with everyone else from everywhere else. They said it wasn't very crowded now, May, only 3 cruise ships in town. In June and July, there will be a minimum of 7 cruise ships. Now you know when not to try to visit Pompeii. Even walking and gawking with wall-to-wall people, it was fabulous. We had an excellent guide, thank goodness.
In Pompeii I was grateful for the guide. I could go back and maybe get around on my own, but a guide is better.
I admit, Pompeii overwhelmed me. I don't know where to start. I recall that one of my dad's favorite LPs (remember LPs?) was "Neapolitan Mandolins” by Gino Del Vescovo. As I reflected on being there, I didn't hear a single mandolin being played. Sort of sad, since the sound seems to have so much emotion.
In Pompeii there is ongoing construction and restoration. Fascinating, as there are several colors of residual materials, with ash being the most common.
The showstopper when you enter is, of course, the amphitheater, shown in the following photo.
There is a larger arena that we couldn't see because of the construction/restoration work. Our guide was well informed and said she had to change her spiel regularly as they uncovered more and more material and subjected it to DNA and other research. We walked along the main thoroughfare where there were shops lining the street. She said you could tell the shops because there was a groove across the front of the opening for the shopkeepers to put board in when they weren't open for business. She pointed out several shops and this one is a fast food place. See the following photo.
The shopkeepers lived above their stores and had neither kitchen nor bathrooms, so when they wanted to eat they went to these shops. The cooks made the meals in the back over a fire and brought kettles of boiling water under these counters onto which they put the food. The steam from the boiling water kept the food warm.
The streets where you can see the grooves of the wagons was also the open sewer, yuk. (See photo below).
The openings where there were no grooves in the front were usually places where people lived. I think they were wealthy, they had several rooms and often 2 stories with the top one being for guests, because they were too hot for the rich folks. Many of those homes had murals and mosaics. One of the things I found kind of cool was the white bits on the floor. They only had moonlight at night, and they had open skylights, so the white bits reflected the light so they could see where they were going (see photo below).
And the skylights (following photo) weren't solid; they collected rainwater in troughs that went into a cistern under the floor and there was a hole through which they accessed the stored water. I know it's clear as mud.
The photo below is of a fresco we passed in Pompeii.
Another fascinating thing is that when the mountain erupted, the other side of the mountain got hot water and lava, but Pompeii got ash. This covered everything and everybody and encased them in an eggshell-like covering. Time made the organic material go away. When the archaeologists, smart folks that they are, discovered this, they filled these ash molds with liquid plaster, and that's what you see when you see bodies from Pompeii. This one (next photo) was thought to be a pregnant woman, but DNA discovered she wasn’t pregnant.
We went to the red-light district as well. It seems that prostitutes were better off than most women because they were businesswomen. Wives had to stay at home and be wives. Sometimes, slaves were prostitutes and earned enough to get their freedom. And some prostitutes made enough money to open their own businesses. The primary customers were sailors who had spent months rowing across the Mediterranean and wanted some Rest & Relaxation, but they didn't speak Neapolitan, so the house (lupanar, I think) where they paid had paintings depicting the various activities they could buy and how much it could cost them. I didn't include those as this is not an X-rated travelogue; they are explicit even though they are faded.
The bed/couch they used looked very uncomfortable, so I'd guess it was a pretty quick process (see next photo).
By the way, these women were called "lupae (aka female wolf)" because they attracted the attention of men by howling like wolves. Google prostitution in Pompeii if you are curious. There is information about protection against disease and pregnancy there as well. Our guide didn't go into much detail, but she did point out the most famous penis in the world, a sign in the road directing the men to the lupae.
And lastly, there were temples to the gods and more houses, but this is too long, so I'll not go into that, as many of you have been there or have read about it. Below is a photo of Mount Vesuvius in the background, with me in the front.
Back to the ship to pack. We will debark the ship Sunday in Civitavecchia (a town northwest of Rome) Italy. After we debark, Scott and I will spend a few days in Rome and Florence before heading home. More on that later.
May 18, 2025 (Sunday)-Civitavecchia, Italy-Disembark
