(I don't remember if I said that the cruise company paid for this tour. We had to be off the ship for six hours because of the outbreak of stomach illness. We could either go on the tour or sit on the dock while the ship was cleaned.)
We had more trouble getting around in the streets than the last time we
were here. My husband is using a mobility scooter which had to be loaded into a compartment under the bus and then taken out when we got there. The guide didn't wait for us to get off the bus and so we were far behind and couldn't hear anything he said.
Rome was/is not set up for scooters. A walker worked pretty well but the scooter had to be lifted over ever curb. Sometimes people helped us, sometimes they didn't.
I was also unhappy because the seat belts on the bus didn’t work. I tore my pants a little on the part of the seat that stuck out. I didn’t say anything because I already damaged these pants with a ball point pen mark on the pocket. Also, it’s really hard to get bad gelato in Rome but we managed to do it today.
Rome was/is not set up for scooters. A walker worked pretty well but the scooter had to be lifted over ever curb. Sometimes people helped us, sometimes they didn't.
I was also unhappy because the seat belts on the bus didn’t work. I tore my pants a little on the part of the seat that stuck out. I didn’t say anything because I already damaged these pants with a ball point pen mark on the pocket. Also, it’s really hard to get bad gelato in Rome but we managed to do it today.
Nevertheless, we soldiered on with help from our fellow passengers to
get over the curbs. Happily, the lunch at a local restaurant was probably the best
we have ever had on a tour.
We went to our fourth life boat drill. We met our new dinner
companions. Only two couples showed up. One couple has been married for 62
years and they have been on more cruises than they can count. The other couple
has been married 44 years just like us. They are old cruisers, too.
They started comparing cruise mishaps and it was
interesting. One couple was on a rafting trip in Alaska when the bottom of one of the boats ripped out and a woman fell out through the hole. She was okay but was
treated for hypothermia.
The other couple was in a bus accident in Alaska when the
bus slid off the road in a rain storm. The bus fell over on its side blocking
the only exit. They had to kick out a window and crawl out. They had some
exposure to the elements and lost some of their personal property
including their underwear. They were not
injured and continued their cruise.
