Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

Reports about cruises on Aurora
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Kenmo1
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Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Relaxing with a glass of wine tonight before I start my diet tomorrow to shift the couple of pounds I have put on, I thought I would just do a quick review of our recent cruise. Excuse any spelling mistakes, me and white wine don't always go well together :oops: I've just spent a couple of hours doing the first batch of ironing and so grateful for today's lovely drying weather. Another batch to do tomorrow. I do make a rod for my own back as I refuse to do laundry on holiday (other than items that can hang up in the bathroom) but then moan all the time once home about how much I have to do. The daft thing is that our cabin A163 was next to the launderette so I could have easily popped in and kept on top of the washing but the lovely sunny weather we had for most of the holiday was too much of a temptation and I preferred to be outside. We qualify for half price laundry but never remember to use that perk. We had booked a saver fare quite late in order to meet up with my sister and her husband from Sheffield to have some quality time together and was horrified when the cabin allocation arrived - a launderette next door and the Riviera Bar and swimming pool above us but it was actually a decent sized room and the only sound we heard was about 6pm when the chairs and beds were being put away around the pool. The room was a good size with space to stand our two suitcases in a corner instead of struggling to put them under the bed. The bonus was a safe at eye level instead of what we have had on Oriana in the inside cabins which were low down in the wardrobes. I could get down on my knees to get things from the Oriana safe but would seriously struggle to get back up again !!! The bathroom was ok but on the first bumpy night was decidedly creaky. The cabin steward explained flannels are not provided unless requested. He also showed us where life jackets were but explained that we did not need to take them to muster. Also no turn down on first night. We were allocated 2nd sitting and my sister kindly swapped her Freedom Dining allocation in order to sit with us on a table for eight.

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Most of our recent cruises have been on Oriana and I had forgotten how much I prefer Aurora especially with its covered in swimming pool which even seems light and pleasant on a miserable day. The Horizon buffet has a lot of seating for two and seemed much lighter than Oriana. A lot of Oriana staff have moved to Aurora eg. along with some stewards/waiters there was Entertainment Manager Hughie Taylor so same old, same old jokes and same old acts plus Alan Carr in charge of restaurants. At the Captain's welcome party Alan Carr, who was stood across from the Captain, was getting far more greetings than Captain Patrick Maguire. The Captain was very pleasant and could occasionally be seen at the bottom of the gang plank as we got off in the ports. I also recognised quite a few ex Oriana passengers and there seemed to be double the amount of wheelchairs and walking sticks in use due to the combination of Oriana and Aurora regulars. Another surprise was the amount of seriously obese younger adult passengers, perhaps again more noticeable due to the joining together of the two ships.
The spacious Playhouse Cinema showed The Greatest Showman and Bohemia Rhapsody so my fourth visit to see both of these and I also went to see Rocketman (Elton John story) and Yesterday about a man who has an accident and finds out he is the only one who has heard of the Beatles. Both films okay to watch once but won't bother a second time. What was annoying was people coming in about 3/4 of the way through a film and walking across the screen instead of waiting for the next production of the films which were shown about 4 times a day. The funny thing is that I never go to the cinema normally when at home.
Went to the Peninsular Lunch on 3/10/19 but the room was packed and noisy due to the amount of Baltic/Ligurian passengers and a second lunch was held on 15/10 due to the high number on higher tiers. General moans seemed to be about a trial PO are running of not sending excursion brochures to some select passengers on Arcadia and Aurora and not giving them any notification. My sister was one of those affected by this but they could use the internet but not fair on those without access to the internet.

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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CADIZ - Friday,4/10/19 - We love Cadiz and usually walk to the right to wander through the parks with the sea on our right up to the beach and along to the Cathedral and down through the town. However, this time we turned left from the terminal and wandered along to the local ferry port which runs trips across to Puerto Santa Maria only to find out that the ferries were not running due to the previous day's bad weather and fog. A coach was therefore supplied but could only carry about a third of the number but would cost us the same, would run as close to ferry times as possible and would cost the same 2.75 euros per person for about a 30/40 minute bus ride. Actually it gave us more to look at although it was foggy for most of the time. We caught the 10.20 am and pre booked the 14.50 bus to return to Cadiz. At first we thought we had made a mistake in coming especially due to the fog but as it lifted it seemed ok. We sat and had churros and hot chocolate as my sister and her husband had never tried them. I think 2 plates of churros would have been enough rather than the four we ordered. There are a couple of bodegas there if you are interested in winemaking and you can go round them and a local told us there was a nice beach to head for. We walked to a lovely clean beach and in the distance at the end of the river we could see huge waves crashing against the rocks so we were quite glad we weren't returning by ferry. We then followed the promenade back along to the ferry port to catch the bus back across the bridge to Cadiz. Nothing spectacular but a nice change from Cadiz.

A very new and very young Headliners group did their first show that night in the Curzon Theatre called Fantasy. It seemed to be singing and dancing around a rather flimsy story line and reminded me of the Mama Mia film, outfits and songs to fit around a story.

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Sat 5/10 - At Sea. Gorgeous day at first and I sat at the back of the Terrace Bar deck 12 in the sun until some fog crept slowly round the aft of the ship. It was quite creepy for a while. Once the fog disappeared I spotted a movement in the water and saw a fin sticking out and a small whale crossed the wake.

Sun 6/10 - PALMA. We booked saver fare so would have paid £5 each in and £5 each back on the PO shuttle. Luckily, as we exited the terminal we saw a local bus marked Special to Palma and we paid 3 euros each into Palma and 1.50 euros each back to ship. It dropped us off nearer the town whereas the PO shuttle dropping point was on the seafront near to the Cathedral. We. therefore, had to drop down towards the front and wander to the left to get to the Cathedral area. Not a problem as we were in Palma from 9am to 5pm. We queued for about 3/4 hr to get into the Cathedral and then just wandered around the area before heading back to the bus for the return to the ship. Palma was very busy due to 4 large ships in port - Aurora, Aida stella/ MSC Orchestra and Seven Seas Explorer.

Mon 7/10 At Sea Went to see Dean Edwards as Phil Collins at 7.30 pm in Carmens. During 8.30 pm dinner 4 chefs wandered around the tables introducing themselves. After dinner we went to the 10.30pm Headliners show called the New Romantics about the Boy George, Adam Ant and Pete Burns era of pop music. I'm afraid that kind of music and the way out style of clothes the Headliners were wearing did nothing for me and I slept through most of the show. :crazy:

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Tues 8/10 - Malta - Again 4 ships in and Aurora had the furthest berth away from the terminal building so you end up back tracking over your same distance in order to get to the lift. As we have been a couple of times before we did some shopping in Valletta and visited an optician to sort out the nose grips on Ken's glasses as they were rubbing his nose. Due to the number of ships in port the town was heaving, especially Republican Street and it wasn't much pleasure trying to get through the crowds. Goodness knows what it is like in peak season.

Wed 9/10 - Messina - Not my favourite place to visit as we have been several times but surprisingly this was quite an enjoyable visit. At first it poured with rain and those who got off early got absolutely soaked in a torrential downpour. Once the weather improved we headed down to get off to find the area outside the ship fairly flooded and slippery. We headed up to the Montello Sanctuary first and the then walked up and across to the Church of Cristo Rei to see the Bell to Fallen and to go into the church which is beautiful and is covered with wall plaques to commemorate the fallen in the two world wars, quite moving. Back in time for my sister and husband to see the church tower clock display at 12 noon.

Thurs 10/10 - Naples An 8.30am start to trip on bus to ferry port to catch hydrofoil to do PO trip Capri on Your Own. The guide sorted the tickets as it would have been chaos with a lot of other ships in Naples. About a 50 minute crossing to Marina Grande, turned right as we left the port to buy a return ticket (4 euros) for funicular ticket. Funicular across the road on the left with a tunnel type entrance , quickly up to Capri then along to bus station to catch mini bus to AnaCapri for the squashed and hideous trip on windy roads to AnaCapri. We chickened out of catching the single chair lift to Mount Solaro? . Tickets for chair lift 12 euros round trip. Trip back to ship was on a ferry instead of hydrofoil. A lovely day.
More to follow tomorrow as wine is making me sleepy.
Last edited by Kenmo1 on 19 Oct 2019, 22:38, edited 2 times in total.


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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Looking forward to the next instalment .

Lindsey

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Will finish the review as confined to barracks today as Ken is 'suffering' from another of the joys of cruising, a nasty cough and cold which the two ladies who were on our dining table were also suffering from for most of the cruise. No doubt it will be my fate by the end of the week. :roll: Another two batches of washing out on the line as another lovely sunny day. We were very lucky most days with the weather in the ports and it always gave me great pleasure to watch the Sky News/Weather in the mornings to see how good our weather was and to see how miserable it was where we live. Very mean of me, I know, but nothing worse than paying for a cruise only to end up with bad weather while it is glorious at home.

Fri 11/10/19 Civitavecchia Having been here several times we previously said next time we would do an excursion but nothing much jumped out other than Rome but that is a very long day and it followed on from Malta, Messina and Naples so we felt it would be better to have a quiet day just wandering and relaxing. However, my sister and her husband were very lucky with their choice of shore excursion, a new trip called Undiscovered City of Bagnoregio which can only be done in a small group as it has protected status. Apparently not for the faint hearted or those with mobility issues and an 8.30 am start returning at 4.30 pm but they and some others we spoke to thought it was wonderful. It is an old 'city' in the region of Lazio high up in the mountains and is steadily falling down the mountain due to landslides. The only access is via a bridge and numbers are strictly controlled. There are only 8 full-time inhabitants but it is popular as a second home retreat in the summer but is known as the dying city. Look up the stunning pictures on google to see the WOW effect which my sister said was everywhere. We are hoping to do this excursion next time we have a Civitavecchia stop.

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Our one annoyance with the stop in Civitavecchia was that the Horizon newspaper said the shuttle bus would drop us at the Port gates where we used to get off some years ago but the bus took us to the bus station about a 15 minute walk outside of the main town. No problem for us but not much fun for those with mobility issues. There were 6 cruise ships in that day, Aurora, Viking Sky, the hideous looking Celebrity Edge, Costa Diadema, Silver Spirit and across the harbour Celebrity Infinity. It was also a changeover day for the Costa ship and the Celebrity Edge. After wandering around the town we headed for a walk along the prom and after the long walk back it seemed pointless to walk to the bus station for the return shuttle so we wandered back down the harbour looking at all the ships. Why is it Aurora ends up in the furthest away berth from the town - cheaper?

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Sat 12/10/19 At Sea About 10.15 am Aurora suffered a power failure which took about 15 mins to completely sort and being in an inside cabin there was total darkness. I won't go into details of where I was in the cabin but you can use your imagination :oops: Ken was busy looking for the torch we had taken but we couldn't remember where we had put it and it was too dark for a while to find it. Once everything was sorted we noticed the temperature control had reverted to the mid point whereas we had put it on cold and I understand the lifts all went to deck 7. It was the Peninsular party tonight and some serious groaning when the Captain mentioned Iona
Sun 13/10/19 Cartagena One of my favourite places to just wander. As it was a Sunday nothing much opens until 10 am so no need to rush off. We had already planned to find the lift which takes you up to the Castello de Concepcion but instead crossed the road immediately ahead of the dock and went up the set of white stairs in front of us and turned to the right and followed the road up through Parque Torres to the castle to take advantage of the lovely weather and the excellent views. I think it was 2.75 euros per senior citizen entrance fee but well worth it. We came down in the lift but there was so one to pay so not sure if we should have paid at the bottom where quite a group had gathered. Apparently the castle was being closed for a few hours for some sort of event so we had been lucky to get there early. We then paid the man in the booth in Calle Gisbert for tickets to the Air Raid Shelter tunnels (2.50 euros per senior). Very interesting but it does make you think about how the ordinary people suffer when those with their over-inflated egos and greed cause wars. Watched the Great British Sailaway once the ship left Cartagena and the passenger choir did a show but the biggest distraction was a couple of dolphins leaping high out of the water at the back of the ship. No flags issued, presumably another cost cutting. The Headliners show tonight was Applause, songs from shows and very good.
Last edited by Kenmo1 on 20 Oct 2019, 12:30, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Mon 14/10/19 Gibraltar from 1pm to 6pm Sunny at first at sea but steadily got cloudier and Captain warned us there was a chance of rain in Gib. Today was also pre-registration day for the 2021 to April 2022 cruises. We already have 3 booked for 2020 and looking at the booklet that was left in our cabin the night before we didn't feel inclined to rush to the Loyalty desk to register. Far more important to get our priorities right (well mine not Ken's)) and get organised for our usual walk into town for a visit to Debenhams and M&S. Had an early lunch to keep our strength up for the shopping and we were off the ship just after 1pm. Bought a few things but not as much as usual but on returning to the terminal a lot of people had obviously purchased their duty frees as there was quite a queue at the table set up in the terminal for PO to collect the drinks which still had to be handed in. The entertainment tonight was the 4tunes who are always very good and we also visited Carmens at 7.30 pm to listen to the on board group Equinox who were very good. Not sure what has happened to Caravan who were always the on board group on Aurora for many years but who transferred to Oriana for their last few cruises.
Tues 15/10/19 The first of 3 days at sea As it looked like our final sunny day, we sat at the back of the ship enjoying the sun and watching the dolphins leaping out of the water. Went to Carmens for the 7.30 pm show with comedian Herbie Adams, totally crazy, very un-pc and hilarious but didn't find his 2nd show a couple of days later quite so funny. The 10.30 pm show in the Curzon was a Celine Dion tribute- very good.
Wed 16/10/19 A very rough sea day so took two Stugeron which knocked me out for a couple of hours.
Thur 17/10/19 A rainy day spent packing. The new Headliners show Astonishing was on in the evening. Given a gold envelope to open later in the show for a clever card trick. Worth seeing once.

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

#11

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Kenmo1 wrote: 20 Oct 2019, 12:18
No flags issued, presumably another cost cutting.
I believe that it is more to do with reducing one time plastic than cost saving - but the two may go together!

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Fri 18/10/19 Disembarkation Off ship by 8.10 am and on 8.45 Red Jet back to Isle of Wight. Unpacked in morning with the intention of shopping after lunch but that idea was scuppered when the new car we bought in July wouldn't start. So phoned Ford Assist and an AA man called at 4 pm. Battery totally flat but he could see no obvious reason but he did say it was the 2nd one that day with the same problem which had been left standing for a long period. Once he got the car going he suggested we did a long drive to help charge the battery so took a longer route via Shanklin and Sandown to get to Tescos at Ryde. Just got to hope it starts tomorrow !!

That's it - a good holiday on a lovely ship and nice places to visit. Going to try out Azura in April, then 2 more on Aurora after that.

Maureen

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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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david63 wrote: 20 Oct 2019, 13:17
Kenmo1 wrote: 20 Oct 2019, 12:18
No flags issued, presumably another cost cutting.
I believe that it is more to do with reducing one time plastic than cost saving - but the two may go together!
Yes I believe it's to do with plastic and pollution.

I'm still reeling from the anger on Facebook at having to request face flannels. What's the problem? If you want one you can have it. If, like me, you never use one, why waste energy washing one that's not been touched?

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Mervyn and Trish wrote: 20 Oct 2019, 13:36
I'm still reeling from the anger on Facebook at having to request face flannels. What's the problem? If you want one you can have it. If, like me, you never use one, why waste energy washing one that's not been touched?
Yes, I read a long post yesterday on facebook and the administrators finally turned off the responses as it was getting unpleasant and personal. The two ladies on our dining table assumed that the cabin steward had just forgotten to leave them as they don't use the internet so were totally unaware that they now needed to request them.

What annoyed my sister was the fact that certain people on Aurora and Arcadia had been chosen to NOT receive shore excursion brochures and she was one of them without being told this. Apparently it was a random selection so staff at PO Southampton were unaware who had been selected for the trial. She uses the internet so was able to book her small group excursion that way in advance but some of the elderly who don't use the internet would have had to rely on a very good travel agent to advise them of this. Also if you book in advance of the cruise you can't use your OBC although you do receive the loyalty discount so a lot of people who waited to book excursions on board found that the very popular ones were full up.


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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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My travel agent Traveland are cruise special.ists and charge you £25 to book excursions. Fortunately I book on line. If you are selected for this trail then you should be told.

By the way Traveland operates door to door service ,currently approx £160 for me rising to £182 in 2021. However they are not going to be operating the transport for cruises under 14 nights. This let's them out of Iona 7 nights etc. So have chosen a 19 nighter for 2021.
It will be very hard for me to get to Southampton otherwise, even Eavesway are cutting back on the Southwales route. Still I suppose I could take the cruise connect coach but would still have to get to the pick up point.

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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It does seem very odd to cut back on the excursions brochure. Excursions are a major income stream so it's weird to save a few bob if you lose any of that income as a result. Some people choose to "go green" and do everything on line, which is fair enough. But if someone hasn't made that choice it's strange to assume they don't want the paper copy.
Last edited by Mervyn and Trish on 20 Oct 2019, 14:30, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Hi Maureen, We were also away on Azura the last 2 weeks and i can agree with your comments regarding wheelchairs etc, far more than on any other cruise weve been on and yes the amount of grossly overweight passengers !!! no wonder we had to Bunker twice.! By the way, did you notice us overtaking you on Thursday ? We got into Southampton Thursday night, on the berth around 11-30, Capt Turnball explained that he kept the speed up to get infront of a weather system. Glad you enjoyed your trip.
Mel

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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I 'went green' several years ago, and didn't receive an excursion brochure as a result.

However, a couple of years ago, I started receiving them again, which suits me, as it's sometimes nice to browse the old fashioned way, and not look at a screen.

I still book the excursions on line, though.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, Maureen. Aurora remains my favourite ship.
Gill

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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screwy wrote: 20 Oct 2019, 15:38
By the way, did you notice us overtaking you on Thursday ? We got into Southampton Thursday night, on the berth around 11-30, Capt Turnball explained that he kept the speed up to get infront of a weather system.
Yes screwy, we did see you overtake us which was frustrating as we seemed to be dawdling back to Southampton. Captain Maguire said you needed to be in Southampton by 2 am Friday in order to have some work done before the next cruise but nothing was mentioned about the bad weather although we had rough seas on the Wednesday so Captain Turnball probably didn't want that weather system slowing him down.

Did you like Azura ?

Maureen

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Thanks for sharing Maureen. I enjoyed reading your review.
Gill

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Kenmo1 wrote: 20 Oct 2019, 16:23
screwy wrote: 20 Oct 2019, 15:38
By the way, did you notice us overtaking you on Thursday ? We got into Southampton Thursday night, on the berth around 11-30, Capt Turnball explained that he kept the speed up to get infront of a weather system.
Yes screwy, we did see you overtake us which was frustrating as we seemed to be dawdling back to Southampton. Captain Maguire said you needed to be in Southampton by 2 am Friday in order to have some work done before the next cruise but nothing was mentioned about the bad weather although we had rough seas on the Wednesday so Captain Turnball probably didn't want that weather system slowing him down.

Did you like Azura ?
Hi,yes we did and must say I really liked Capt Turnbull. He did say that a satellite antennae needed replacing.We did have rough seas after leavin Lisbon on Tuesday and all day Wednesday.
Maureen
Mel

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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Kenmo1 wrote: 19 Oct 2019, 22:31
Montello Sanctuary
On the Messina day the church we visited first was called the Santuario di Montalto not the Montello Santuary in case anyone wants to wander up there for the superb views.

Maureen


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Re: Aurora 1/10/19 to 18/10/19 to the Med.

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Thank you for your very interesting report Maureen.

Lindsey

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