....on this date in 2004, Justin and I were on our first Mediterranean cruise, by ourselves. "By ourselves" I mean just the two of us, planned and executed by me. We had a marvelous time, made many good memories, and experienced much. Justin also enjoyed our trip, which was pretty cool for a young man his age, 16 at the time, to be walking the ruins of Pompeii like he did. We did manage to locate an address in those ruins mentioned in one of the books he had read in Latin class, which was the goal in the first place.
One thing I learned was I should have pre-arranged our first shore excursion because those planned were full and we could not get on the first one to Pompeii. I was absolutely determined to get that boy to those ruins, so I ventured out to the parking area where the taxis were all parked, waiting to take others from the ship on outings. One man swore on his son that he would get us to Pompeii and back again (his son was not even there!). Justin was extremely reluctant to do this, saying it was okay to not go, etc. but I insisted we were going to do this. "Mom, you trust everybody!" and I did trust this man.
He even took me to an ATM and showed me how it worked because I had also failed to get currency to use for paying for taxis! Yes, he could have robbed me blind, but he did not. In fact, he got us to Pompeii and back again, waiting for us the entire time we were walking the ruins and touring the sites. I did not pay him until we were back to the ship so it wouldn't have benefited him to ditch us! I gave him a tip besides because I was quite appreciative of his coming through for me where I had dropped the ball. Believe me, for that time on, I made sure we were pre-booked on our excursions.
It was on this cruise, also, where Justin and I were introduced to Sarah Brightman and her singing of "Con Te Partiro", or "A Time to Say Good-Bye" which played as we sailed from the ancient port of Dubrovnik. Normally we sailed at dinner time so we would miss this, that at every sail away this song was played. It was afternoon as I was standing on the deck and watching the city go by while this lovely song played.
I was entirely mesmerized by the sights and sounds, and wished that Justin had not gone down to the cabin to watch '24' on his computer. I wanted him to hear this and see what I was seeing. Just then the automatic doors opened and there came Justin with a look on his face. "Mom, do you hear the music that's playing?" I did, I did! We asked in the gift shop if they knew who sang the song and if they sold it there. The clerk said many people ask about it but no, they didn't know the singer or carry the CD.
At the dinner table, we asked our tablemates, a Jewish family plus a Jewish couple, if they knew the singer or the song. They did! The dad, Yehuda, told us all about Sarah, how she was married to Andrew Lloyd Webber and starred in "The Phantom of the Opera", etc. Justin and I determined to get her CD when we returned home. At this writing, 4 of my 6 slots in the car CD player are hers! Like I said, great memories made....
