21 more days...

Breaking news here, while most of us will be paying for items in Europe via "normal" means, credit cards, cash and the like Mike will be paying for things in Europe with sexual favors (don't shoot the messenger).  I thought that these surveys would be helpful to gather information but never did I think that the surveys would be a tool for bribery.  Mike/Mo we will talk off line on this subject.

We clearly all want to see the Pompeii while Ken and Cindy want to also see Capri and Sorrento.  There's only so much dust we can take in a day :-).  As far as what the cruise line is offering we have a split decision from those who answered the question.  Two peeps (Mom and Dad) will be taking NP03 (Exploration of Pompeii) and  two peeps (Ken and Cindy) are leaning towards NP02 (Capri, Sorrento & Pompeii - NP02, Colloseum).  Mike/Mo or should I say Mo/Mike, I understand you may be leaning towards the on your own excursions.  Can wait to see everyone to catch up!

As far as the cuisine in Naples -- on the off chance I misunderstood I will apologize up front -- sorry Mo if I misunderstood -- Naples is the birth place place of pizza, unlike anything we've had in the states, please please eat a slice of pizza.  Karen, Ken and I will be nibbling on some bruchetta right after the pizza (did I mention the gelato?).  9:09 PM just happened to look at the excursion Ken and I might take and I'm uncertain if we'll be getting any pizza.  According to the description we will be having lunch at a typical restaraunt. We may need to reconsider.

We will be retiring the line of questions involving shopping and souvenirs. 

The next survey will be a little more racy so stay tuned.

22 more days...

Cruising with Cyn
Collection of useless information circuitous to the OPERATION: Poisson Rouge Adventure.


Naples is the first stop on our European adventure. 

Naples is not only picturesque, it's also one of the world's greatest cultural centers, filled with extraordinary works of art and architecture in the classical Greek and Roman styles. Several interesting tours are available of the city itself and the fascinating places that lie just outside of Naples. 

The One Thing You Don't Want to Miss
While you're in the area, you'll want to visit Pompeii [or Herculaneum!], one of the most famous excavation sites in the world. A thriving city 1,900 years ago, it was devastated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. when 30 feet of volcanic ash and pumice stone covered it. Enter Pompeii by the sea gate and take a short walk to the hub of the city: the Forum. View the lavish temples and porticoes that lay beneath the ash for centuries.

Other Fun Things to Do

• Take a boat trip to the entrancing Isle of Capri, and explore Capri Town. Wander its quaint streets and explore its shops and cafés. Discover the Gardens of Augustus, overlooking the famous Faraglioni of Capri and Marina Piccola.
• Take a ride up the Amalfi Coast. With its ocean views and beautiful vistas, it's one of the most breathtaking stretches of road in the world.
• Walk around and spend an afternoon getting to know the picturesque city of Naples.

Whatever you decide to do in Naples we want to hear about it!  Do share afterwards on deck 13 or at dinner.  As always take the survey below.

See ya in Naples

71 more days...

Cruising with Cyn
Collection of useless information circuitous to the OPERATION: Poisson Rouge Adventure.

This 6 week installment of Cyn's Cinema, we will be exploring movies that have been filmed in the regions we will be visiting. Take some time off from your everyday life and watch a movie with scenes from Barcelona, Naples, Rome, Florence, Nice and Toulon.

Let us know if you've seen any of these movies and what your thoughts are.

Title	Year	Genre	IMDb Rating	Staring
Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit 2009 (TV Movie)	2009	Reality	6.8	Jessica Bouz, Kim Cloutier and more models
Synopsis:	There is no plot to this tv movie, just boobies
Sightings:	Filming took place in many different locations in which Naples is one.
Thoughts:	When I came across this movie, I included it for the guys!
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou	2004	Adventure, Comedy, Drama	7.2	Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum
Synopsis:	When his partner is killed by the mysterious and possibly nonexistent Jaguar Shark, Steve Zissou and his Team Zissou crew set off for an expedition to hunt down the creature. Along with his estranged wife, a beautiful journalist and a co-pilot who could possibly be Zissou's son, the crew set off for one wild expedition. Synopsis written by FilmFanUK
Sightings:	Filming took place in Naples, Rome and Florence
The Talented Mr. Ripley	1999	Crime, Mystery, Drama	7.2	Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Synopsis:	Manhattan lavatory attendant, Tom Ripley, borrows a Princeton jacket to play piano at a garden party. When the wealthy father of a recent Princeton grad chats Tom up, Tom pretends to know the son and is soon offered $1,000 to go to Italy to convince Dickie Greenleaf to return home. In Italy, Tom attaches himself to Dickie and to Marge, Dickie's cultured fiancée, pretending to love jazz and harboring homoerotic hopes as he soaks in luxury. Besides lying, Tom's talents include impressions and forgery, so when the handsome and confident Dickie tires of Tom, dismissing him as a bore, Tom goes to extreme lengths to make Greenleaf's privileges his own. Synopsis written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}
Sightings:	Filming took place in many different locations in Naples and Rome
Thoughts:	Finally a movie I've seen. Thought the movie was really good and have been trying to talk Ken into watching it.
Yesterday Today and Tomorrow	1964	Genre	7.3	Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni
Synopsis:	Stories about three very different women and the men they attract. Adelina sells black-market cigarettes in Naples, is married to the unemployed Carmine, and faces a jail sentence. She can avoid it as long as she's pregnant. Several years and seven children later, Carmine is exhausted, so jail looks inescapable as does her contempt for Carmine. In Milan, Anna drives a Rolls, is bored, and picks up a writer. She talks dreamily of running off with him until he dents her car; that gets her emotional attention. Mara, a Roman call girl, turns the head of a naive seminarian, prompting a run-in with his granny and a vow of abstinence. Mara's fizzy lover from Bologna grows impatient. Synopsis written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}
Sightings:	Doubtful for Naples, possible for Rome
Marriage Italian-Style aka Matrimonio all'italiana	1964	Comedy, Drama	7.4	Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni
Synopsis:	Domenico, a successfull businessman, with an eye for the girls, begins an affair with Filumena when she is 17 years old. She becomes a prostitute, but also becomes the mistress of Domenico. He eventually sets her up in an apartment, and she works for him in his various businesses. She secretly bears three children, who are raised by nannys. Domenico starts planning to marry a young employee. Filumena tricks him into marriage by pretending to be dying. Domenico annuls the marriage. Filumena then tells him of the three children. She says that one of the children belongs to Domenico, but will not say which one is his. You start to believe that all of the children could be his, and Domenico then marries Filumena again, this time willingly. Synopsis written by Steve Jordan {jordan@warwick.net} .
Sightings:	Shot in Naples.
It Started in Naples	1960	Comedy, Drama	5.9	Sophia Loren, Clark Gable
Synopsis:	Mike Hamilton, a Philadelphia lawyer, comes to Naples to settle the estate of his long estranged "black sheep" brother. Once there, he discovers that the deceased has left an eight-year old little boy named Nando, who is being raised by Michael's sister-in-law Lucia Curcio. Mike immediately disapproves of Nando's Italian-style (in other words "lax") education. To make matters worse, Lucia happens to be ... a sexy nightclub dancer. This is too much for a puritan like Mike and the only solution in his eyes is to have the boy brought up in the States... Synopsis written by Guy Bellinger
Sightings:	Filmed in Naples and the surrounding area.

Next week we're off to Rome.

113 more days...

Cruising with Cyn
Collection of useless information circuitous to the OPERATION: Poisson Rouge Adventure.

This 6 week installment of Cruising with Cyn, we will be exploring local cuisine from the regions we will be visiting. Ken and I will be preparing a traditional meal from Barcelona, Naples, Rome, Florence, Nice and Toulon. We will be posting the receipe and our review.


Pizza Margherita is a pizza prepared according to a recipe of the Italian chef Raffaelle Esposito. The pizza was first made in 1899 when Queen Marghereta visited Napels to escape a cholera epidemic in the north of Italy. The ingredients used to make a Margherita pizza, tomatos, mozzarella cheese and basil, imitate the colors of the Italian flag. Queen Margherata liked the pizza so much that she wrote a thank you letter to Esposito, who decided to name the pizza after the Queen.

Pizza Margherita
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/2 lb. plum Roma tomatoes, chopped 1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped 1/2 tsp. salt 1 12" uncooked NY Style dough crust 6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded 6 fresh basil leaves cut into julienne strips extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
• Combine 2 Tbls. olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, and salt in bowl.
• Allow to marinate while making dough.
• Brush dough crust lightly with olive oil.
• Top with cheese, then tomatoes.
• Drizzle with olive oil.
• Bake in preheated 500F oven on pizza stone for 8−10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.
• Remove from oven and top with parmesan cheese, then basil.
• Cool on a wire rack for 2−3 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.
• Serve with a glass of good red wine.

Join us next week when we be making a pasta dish from Rome.

162 more days ...

Cruising with Cyn
Collection of useless information circuitous to the OPERATION: Poisson Rouge Adventure.




O Sole Mio! Naples

We will be arriving in Naples, Capri ITALY! on Tuesday May 25, 2010 the first of five ports of call.

Fun Facts

Naples currently has a higher birth rate than other parts of Italy with 10.46 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.[cb says More about this later.]

‘Santa Lucia’, ‘O Sole Mio’ and ‘Funiculi Funicla’ have their roots in a festival hosted in the Festival of Piedigrotta, which began in 1830, in Naples, Italy.

Pizza was invented in Naples and is v-e-r-y serious business.

Web Bites

Naples is ranked fourth in Italy, for economic strength, after Rome, Milan and Turin.

Naples has over 440 churches.

Underneath Naples there is a series of caves and structures created by centuries of mining, which is in part of an underground geothermal zone.

ITALY HAS WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE CONDOMS - read about it here [cb says This may be contributing to the baby boom?!]

Just * The * Facts

Elevation: 289 feet
Latitude: 40 53N Longitude: 014 18E
Avg Temp: 64
Avg High: 72
Avg Low: 55
Avg Precipitation: 2
Naples is the third largest city in Italy, with a population of over 1.5 million.

See you next week on Deck 13 when we travel to the highly anticipated capital of Italy - Rome Baby Rome!