Trip of a Lifetime

We saved our money and the day finally came... we cruised the Mediterranean! I had a great time right off the bat. Thanks to Tommy's wonderful parents, we were able to fly FIRST CLASS. I was very pleased and satisfied with the trip thus far. I was content with flying for hours eating my ice cream sundae, watching movie after movie with my down comforter, and land back at home.

My one trip out of the country to Tijuana did not prepare me for what was in store the next 17 days.

We flew into Venice. It was very hot and we had to haul our luggage 15 minutes to the water taxi. After a 20 minute ride we arrived in one of my favorite destinations on the trip! We stayed in a hotel for three days before having to board the cruise ship. The highlights of Venice were: a gondola ride(which is totally not like the movies... no singing, no privacy, not romantic), eating galatos wandering in awe along the alleys and bridges of Venice, seeing glass blowing and purchasing a vase in Murano, and walking around Burano (loved the bright colored buildings).

We boarded our ship in Venice. Our room was on the bottom floor but, had a nice window and close to the elevators. We were very pleased with our location. The ship had it all... a pool, work out room, food around the clock, amazing desserts, dancing, parties, and shows. One of the first nights our waiter at dinner said, "Anything is possible." It was our motto the rest of the trip.

The first stop was Dubrovnik, Croatia. It had the most beautiful water that I saw on the whole trip. The Old Town is surrounded by a huge wall. This is where we spent our time. We walked the white marble streets (yes marble), checked out the shops, ate gelato, and walked the wall. As we were enjoying the views from the wall we noticed some locals down below. The were cliff diving. It was very hot and the water was calling our names. Tommy and I booked back to the boat, threw on our swimsuits and set out on a search to find the locals. We found them alright, topless and all! We had a blast jumping though, of course Tommy jumped from much higher than me (almost from the up by the wall).

Athens, Greece was next. This was our least favorite stop. It was HOT, DIRTY, and NASTY. It was neat to see the Parthenon, Olympic Stadium, and changing of the guards. Besides that we really disliked it all!

My favorite place of all was Santorini, Greece! It was all around perfect. I kept asking Tommy if we could move there but he wasn't having it. The best part was the village of Oia. I love walking all around up and down pathways and stairs. I would love to spend days just wandering. We hit shops and ate a gyro. We even got to see a donkey taxi which was SO COOL! I watched the movie "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" when we got home. It was neat to see that we had been to every place shown in the movie. It was filmed in Oia.

Next was Naples, Sorrento, and Pompeii (Italy). I loved this stop as well. We spent most of our time in Sorrento and Pompeii. We had some amazing pizza (Naples is the birthplace) and visited a winery (where we learned about olive oil and mozzarella cheese). Pompeii was amazing! I could not believe how large it was. We spent 4 hours there, thinking we saw some cool things. After talking with Tommy's parents we found out that we didn't even see the 4 things that were their highlight of the city (from a previous trip).

Rome, Italy was really neat. Again, I could have stayed many, many days there. It was so cool to see all of the old buildings. There was so much to see and so little time. We rushed everywhere getting a quick peak at it all. We liked to visit the Pantheon, Mamertine Prison, the Forum, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and the Vatican. The gelato definitely wasn't bad either!

Florence and Pisa (Livorno), Italy was really neat. We saw the leaning tower and

then heading for Florence to do some major shopping, oh and see Michelangelo's "David." We went to where "David" originally stood (there is a replica, the real one is in a museum with a very long line) and then hit the market for shopping. I was on a search for the perfect leather purse. Unfortunately, nothing compared to the one that was back on our boat in one of the shops. I could't get it out of my mind. So, the purse I bought wasn't from Italy... but it was cheaper so Tommy was happy.

Nice, Eze, Villefranche, and Monaco, France were our next stop. Once again, it was a favorite. It was such a vacation spot with the beautiful water and beaches. The village of Eze was the neatest part. It reminded us of Santorini in a way. It was all on a cliff looking over the water. The whole village was made out of brick, kind of medieval looking. We loved wandering the walkways once again and admired the doors. France is known for their perfume factories. I was excited to pick up a bottle for myself!

The fabulous cruise ended in Barcelona, Spain. The Gaudi sights were actually really cool. He is a bizarre guy to create all those buildings and park. We enjoyed a tour of the city sitting on the top of a bus with headphones in our ears. We walked the Gothic Quarter, which took us right back to feeling like we were in Venice again. La Rambla was neat with all the street performers, booths and shops. It was interesting because Tommy could remember a few same ones from two years ago. I cannot imagine they make enough money to support themselves doing it. We attended church on Sunday with a ward in Barcelona. Sacrament meeting had the sound of multiple fans blowing, kids running around, and babies being fed (if you know what I mean). I learned what things were like for Tommy on his mission.

We had an unbelievable time. We miss testing gelato in every city and being waited on. But on the other hand, we will not miss hunting for a bathroom and possibly even paying to use it.The only thing I would do different is spend at least 2 days in every location (except Athens). It felt like a tease only have seven hours off the boat for an excursion. Thank you to everyone who may have helped contribute to our fun. I think it would be very hard to top this trip in the future. But... it doesn't hurt to try!