Recently I was asked this question and thought I’d share it with my readers here on the blog..

1. What is the best cruise for Europe?

There are so many that the first step would be to decide what area of Europe you would like to see. I can only tell you about the ones that I have been on although I have several others on my bucket list. We did the U shape cruise from Rome around the boot of Italy to Venice. Stops included Rome, Sicily, Dubrovnik, Corfu and Venice. Each stop was a different cultural experience. Another cruise we took was the Baltic Seas Cruise with stops in Copenhagen Denmark, Stockholm Sweden, Helsinki Finland, St. Petersburg Russia, and Tallinn Estonia. Again great variety of cultures to experience. This was one of my favorites because I had never thought I would visit some of these countries in my lifetime. I made a video showing what you see on the Baltic Seas Cruise. Seeing the pictures & video of these travel destinations might help you decide whether this is a cruise you would like to take. http://bit.ly/HrKjbH We also did some canal cruises. You can see those at the same website. On my list of Europe Cruises is the Greek Isle Cruise, A cruise going through Holland to Italy. I am taking a group to Turkey on an escorted land cruise in September if you would like to look into that. I hope you find a cruise that you enjoy. It is a great way to get to see many cultures in one trip.

A place frozen in time, that is what I would call Pompeii. You will get that heart pounding fear but thrill of seeing what happens when a volcano encases a city of people. Watch this video show as a preview for travel tips and information on travel in Italy by Debbie Gerber and Boomer & Senior Travel TV.

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Deciding what kind of vacation is your best choice is most of your vacation enjoyment. The question answered in this Quick Travel Tip Video is if a Beach Vacation is your best choice for a couples vacation.

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Debbie Gerber and Boomer & Senior Travel TV take you on a day trip from Rome to Tivoli Gardens ( Villa d’Este ) Italy by train and bus. Villa d’Este is also known as Tivoli Gardens. It makes a nice day trip out of Rome. The gardens feature the water organ, fountains and pools of water. Travel to Italy with a side trip to Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli train, Tivoli Gardens bus, things to see and do in Rome Italy.

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Before you exit the train station at Pisa look for the sign in the front lobby that says Tobacchi. I would assume that this is just a tobacco shop, not so, they sell bus tickets here too. The ticket when I was there was 1€. Look to your right and across the street as you exit the station. Look for the building NH Cavalieri. This is the bus stop. The bus will have an electronic sigh that says Lam Rossa. The bus is yellow and has a red strip on the front bumper. Check with the driver before boarding and as for the Torre stop. You will see the Field of Miracles piazza and the Leaning Tower of Pisa through an arch just across from where the bus stops.

Get off the bus and go through the gates. It will open to the piazza where the Cathedral, Baptistery, and Leaning Tower of Pisa are..

The Baptistery is the first building. It is a cylinder shaped building almost as tall the Leaning Tower with a large dome topping it. The cathedral is the square looking building next to the Baptistery and then you can’t miss the Leaning tower of Pisa. The Memorial Cemetery is a short walk to the side of the Cathedral and along the main walkway are two museums and tourist souvenir shops lining the sidewalk. It is a busy place so don’t get separated. The funniest site is everyone trying to outdo  the other in a pose with the Leaning Tower of Pisa. There are several standard poses one pose is to look as if they were holding up the tower, another one is to bend over so it appeared the tower is leaning on their back, and of course there is the one holding it up with one finger or pretending to try to push it back straight.

We first went to the museum bought our tickets. It is located straight ahead of where you entered and on your right. It is where there are many of the original drawing for the frescps that are famous. They are light drawing and were the pattern for the paintings. Visiting this museum before going to the other buildings was a good education and made the many paintings and frescos much more interesting.

In the Baptistery the Font is beautiful with a statue of St. John the Baptist rising above the font. They did a sound demonstration that reminded me of monks humming. The guide stood at the  side of the font and sang long tones. Each tone rung out and echoed out from under the dome and about the font.

If you can time it so that you are there for a sound demonstration it will be very memorable. I can still hear it quite impressive.