So that was Greece...

Our last two ports of call were in Greece...the first in Pireaus (Athens) and the second on the island of Crete.  Whenever I think of Greece, I think of beautiful white and blue buildings dotting the coastline as far as the eye can see...but of course that is not really Greece...that is really just the island of Santorini in Greece.  That was where I really wanted to go in Greece, but unfortunately that was not one of our stops on this cruise...oh well.  

Because it was me and the two sickies (Jacob and Autumn have both been fighting a nasty cold that zapped their energy and makes them not exactly what you would call ideal traveling buddies :o) we took it pretty easy in both ports.  In Athens we booked a short excursion through the cruise ship that took us to the foot of the Acropolis/Parthenon and then to the old part of town with some cute little shops.  I was pretty disappointed with our view of the famous Parthenon from the bottom of the hill as it was mostly covered in scaffolding on this side and it was so surrounded by trees and foliage there just was no place to get a good shot :o(  The shopping was also pretty bleak and we ended up making it out without one single purchase...and if you know me at all you know that is no easy feat!  Our tour guide was funny, discussing their “creative” way of parking (i.e. double parking with your flashers on means you’ll be gone for 10 minutes...or 2 hours...she said all it really means is that you’re coming back...ha!), but other than that I was pretty disappointed with the time we spent in Athens.  Here are a few shots from that stop...

The next day we docked in Crete.  I had heard this was kinda the underwhelming stop on the cruise so I wasn’t expecting much.  We didn’t have anything pre-planned, but luckily right off the boat you could catch the city bus to Chania (the central old town on the island) for only 3 euros round trip.   So we hopped on, spent a few hours roaming around town...saw all the main attractions like the mosque and light house and were back on the boat in plenty of time to grab lunch and for my poor sick babies to take an afternoon nap!  It was a pretty relaxing day, but seems kinda wasteful...especially for those of us that could have been enjoying the beautiful backdrop of Santorini instead :o) Here are a few shots from Crete...

Tomorrow is our last day at sea before we arrive back in the port of Rome and make our way home.  I would say overall we’ve really enjoyed cruising.  For the most part the service and food has been good (that’s what everyone always raves about right?) we’ve seen lots of the inside of our cabin and had lots of time to relax.  I think it would have been easier to really enjoy all the amenities they provide if it was just the two of us...or Autumn was a little older and could attend the activities for children (you have to be 3), but all in all it’s been a good time...and who knows maybe we’ll do it again someday :o)

Click here to view the full Greece Album.

Rock Star tour of Turkey

Our cruise ship docked in Turkey today...this was the stop I was most excited about and even booked a shore excursion in advance.  I looked on Trip Advisor and found Private Ephesus tours to be the number one ranked tour and when I looked online at the prices, I was amazed.  Jacob, Autumn, and I got a private tour with guide and driver for $150!!  We thought for sure it was too good to be true, but it wasn’t.  That was way cheaper then the big group tours offered by the cruise line.  We felt like rock stars when we got off the boat and our guide was standing there with a sign with my name on it.  Our driver came and picked us up in a nice Mercedes van just outside of the port and we were off! 

Our guide said it would be best if we saved the House of Mary for last as that was where everyone would be headed right now. So we started our tour with St. John’s Basilica. It was amazing, when we arrived we got right in and had the place almost entirely to ourselves. The ruins of the church are all that are left, but it still was a lovely place to visit and hear stories about what it once was like. The apostle John was buried here, but his remains are no longer in the ground. She said they are unsure where they are as several different countries claim to have them, but they will likely never know for sure.

After a quick stop to buy Autumn’s belly dancing outfit (for only 8 euros by the way...I was so excited!) we headed to Ephesus.  This was actually the fourth city of Ephesus as it was continuously moving due to the ever changing landscape of this area (the sea is now 7 Kilometers further outland than it was back then...so the changing land/water mass and the malaria that came along with this natural phenomenon caused the city to uproot everything and move several times).  I think the thing that amazed me most here, is the way they let people just wander all over the ruins of this ancient city (as you can see in my pictures).  Almost nothing was blocked off.
  

And our guide (here she is with Autumn below) has been doing this for 16 years and she talked about an area of terraced houses that weren’t even there 10 years ago...they hadn’t been discovered yet.  It’s just amazing to think what else they are going to find in the next 10 to 20!

Here is the large amphitheater of the city.  It was their Colosseum of sorts, where they used to hold shows and gladiator battles.  It was even used by the Turkish people 10-15 years ago for rock concerts!  Our guide saw Sting there when she was in high school...how awesome would that be.  Unfortunately the use of speakers actually destroyed the top half of the amphitheater and it is no longer the venue for such things.

The most impressive of structures was definitely the library.  It’s amazing to see the longevity of things they built back then.  They definitely built things to last.

Next up was lunch.  She took us to a traditional Turkish restaurant.  We didn’t order anything, there were no menus, they just start bringing different dishes and you all share them.  There were many cold starters...yogurt with cucumber (very sour yogurt...not like what you would get in the US), carrots in a yogurt base, greens beans with egg, salad, and an eggplant dish.  I was proud of myself for trying all of them...I didn’t particularly like any of them and the eggplant one I had to quickly drink some water to get the taste out of my mouth, but atleast I tried :o)  The main course was good...chicken kabobs and “meatballs”...they looked like little football shaped hamburger patties, but the seasoning was quite tasty.  They were nice enough to make Autumn some french fries since most of the food contained yogurt, but she was under the weather and wanted nothing to do with food :o(  Poor thing.

After lunch we were off to the House of the Virgin Mary.  Our guide was right, it was not very crowded at all by this time so we were able to take our time walking around.  It was amazing to think that Mary actually lived in the house and you couldn’t help but feel special being able to step foot where so long ago she once stood.  I said a quite prayer as we walked through the house and lit a candle outside.  We were able to fill a small bottle with water from the well by her house, said to be holy water, to take as a memento.

We also tied our wish “baby wipe” to this wall.  This is a tradition started by the Turkish people.  You take anything...a kleenex, a ribbon, a baby wipe :o) and secure it to a tree with a wish written on it to have your wish granted.  Because they were scared of people climbing the trees here to do it...they make a wall where you could secure your “wishes.”  We of course had to leave our wish on the wall with so many others... 

After a quick stop at the Temple of Artemis (a temple that used to have 127 pillars and only has one remaining...so not much left to see...ha!) we headed back to the cruise ship.

We were so happy with our private tour...they didn’t even make us visit a rug store...which is unheard of on guided tours in Turkey.  I would totally recommend this company for anyone planning a trip to the area.

We loved our time in Turkey and are hopeful we’ll get the chance to return someday soon.  Our next stop on the cruise is Athens, but with one sick baby and a husband getting sicker by the hour I think we’re going to take it pretty easy tomorrow and just do a quick tour of the city.  Hopefully everyone will be back to their happy healthy selves soon!

Click here for the full Turkey album.

Autumn turns 2!!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled cruise blogs to bring you this breaking news...I have a two year old!!

And she is a walking, talking, smiling, laughing little cutie pie!  She lights up our life every day and we are so blessed to have her as our daughter.  She is such a little toddler now and her personality is really starting to shine through.  Some of my favorite things she is doing are...

She says "Merci" all the time!  She's starting to use sentences now and has a huge vocabulary growing bigger everyday (today she added mustache to the repertoire :o)  I think her favorite sentence is "I don't like it"...ha!  Usually it's referring to food she tries.  She is such a sweetheart and will even share her favorite snack with you if you ask for some.  She sings all the time...her favorites seem to be the end of the "ABC's" and of course her French songs like "Bonjour"... complete with hand motions!  She makes the silliest faces...the best is her mad look where she glares up at you from under her eyelids.

She loves to wear Mommy's shoes...especially my big huge "ugg" style boots.  Peanut butter is her favorite food (at least for this week)...when she asks for it she just says "butter".  She really knows that "please" is the magic word and uses it to her advantage a LOT.  She can count to ten all by herself.  She loves to wear her rain boots (which is probably a good thing here in lovely Brussels) because she can put them on all by herself...the best is watching her take them off...she braces against the furniture and shakes her foot till it falls off.  She LOVES Elmo and asks to watch him all the time.  She loves to cuddle and give hugs and kisses.

She also LOVES doggies so that ended up being the theme for her birthday party yesterday!!  I had a blast finding ideas on pinterest...and luckily my parents were here to help us carry them all out :o)  It was so much fun having all Autumn's friends over to help her celebrate.  It was a great day and a wonderful way to end my parents stay here in Brussels.

Here are some pictures from the party and from our two year photo shoot at our favorite Abbey.

(this was the best shot I got of her adorable doggy shirt from Etsy)

I love you Autumn and I can't wait to spend many more years watching you grow into a wonderful young lady!

Cruising through the Mediterranean

First stop - Sicily!  We had gotten a tip that Messina, where our boat was set to dock, was not all that exciting so we should head up the coast to the small town of Taormina.  We had planned to take a train, but at the station some fellow cruise ship folks said their travel agent recommended the bus...and since the next train wasn’t for almost two hours we decided to tag along.  There was a bus leaving in a few minutes and although it was going to take an hour longer than the train it still seemed the better option.  That was until we were a few miles down the road and our bus caught on FIRE!!  That’s right...the bus stopped, we assumed just to pick some people up, but all of sudden the back door opens and we see the driver running to the back with a fire extinguisher!  We all turn around to see a huge cloud of smoke and flames shooting out the back.  

Jacob grabbed Autumn and got out while I quickly gathered our items and got off of there!  We were all coughing from the smoke inhalation, but after some water and fresh air, our lungs stopped burning and all was well.  Not the best start to the day...ha!  Luckily another bus came and picked us up and we were once again in route.

It took about two and a half hours total to get there and only left us about two hours for sightseeing before we had to head back to the ship.  We wandered around, grabbed a quick bite to eat and sampled the sicilian specialty, a cannoli...and can I just say, AMAZING!!  

It was really delicious...we were both regretting the fact that we shared one and didn’t have our own :o)  

Taormina was a charming little town, with lots of little alley ways  Here are a few pictures of Taormina and Europe’s largest active volcano, Mt. Etna (sorry it was a pretty hazy day so it's kinda difficult to even see)...it’s crazy to see snow atop a volcano...in fact I would never have guessed it was even a volcano if you hadn’t told me.

We decided to forgo our return bus tickets and take the much more reliable train on the way back.  We had a bit of time left to explore when we returned to Messina, so we strolled around town and agreed...although it was a bit of an effort to get to and our time there was brief, Taormina was definitely worth it.

Click here for the full Sicily Album...oh and a few of Autumn in her swimsuit on the cruise...although she didn't even want to touch the water because it was FREEZING!!

Next we head to Kusadasi, Turkey...