A Roman Sojourn

Is it a capuccino? No! It was a savoury dish made of pork, potato and cod! Yes it played with the time but tasted fantastic!

Happy to report that disembarking at Bari was a dream. Cabins were available until 10am, breakfast ran at the usual time, and suitcases only needed to be out 45 minutes before collection — after which they appeared, as if by magic, on the pier. No fuss, no overnight luggage anxiety, no queuing in corridors waiting. A model disembarkation.

What we didn't realise until too late was that we could have stayed for lunch, stowed our bags on board and explored Bari before returning to collect them. A genuinely fantastic service — and one that would have been considerably more useful had it been, at any point, communicated clearly. Finding information about anything on this cruise, it must be said, required more effort than it should have.

Walking off was exactly that, walking off. No checks, no queues, nothing. A taxi was called for us and we were at Bari Centrale by 9:45am, which was earlier than expected and left us sitting on a shaded platform bench in what was already, at that hour, a genuinely aggressive heat.

The train to Rome was, unfortunately, well populated with Australians. Travelling with children. In first class. The noise levels were considerable, the suitcases were enormous and strategically positioned to block carriage entry, and we had to walk around to the other side to board. We survived four hours. Barely.

What we almost didn't survive was the 300 metres from Roma Termini to our hotel. Thirty-four degrees, no shade, full sun. By the time we checked in, we were comprehensively drenched. Any plans involving shopping had melted, quite literally, somewhere on the cobblestones outside the station.

Our brief overnight in Rome was sponsored by Amex. We had travel and dining credits to fund our stay as well as an evening at All'Oro, a Michelin-starred restaurant a short taxi ride away from the hotel. The meal was a playful, elegant take on Italian classics — exactly the right way to mark the end of a very good trip.

Docked at Bari

Bari Centrale. So grateful for seats and shade

Hurray for freebies?!

Our very minimalist room in Hotel Palazzo Montemartini, funky interiors in an old building

Bathroom

Restaurant All'Oro