Cruisin'

As promised, I'm posting about the cruise now and not a month late! 

May 27, 5am we left Huttenfeld for a 12 hour drive to Venice, Italy. The drive really wasn't too bad and we made it to Venice in time to check into our B&B and get dinner. Jeremy found this awesome loft apartment we stayed in, right in the heart of the city with some amazing views. We ate at a restaurant just outside our door, pasta of course. 

Saturday we boarded the boat and set sail around 5pm. We toured the boat  and went to our first dinner where we met our waiter for the week, Mohammed Abdul from Indonesia. It was mostly Italians so it was always loud and no understanding of waiting in line. Another thing, you get use to hearing the same thing 5 times in a row: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish...I think that's it?

On Sunday we had our first stop in Bari, Italy. We walked along the water and saw some fisherman cleaning their catch of the day, octopus, and the boys got to try a piece—talk about fresh seafood! We toured through the old part of the city, which was full of narrow little streets just crawling with people and lined with little shops and cafes. 

Day 2 we arrived in Katakolon, Greece, a short drive from ancient Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympic Games. Hands down the coolest history lesson to date. During the tour we saw the Temple of Zeus, Temple of Hera and the Olympic Stadium, among others. Pictures don’t do it justice, as usual. 

Olympic Stadium

Temple of Hera

The next day was our first stop in Turkey to the city of Izmir. The first stop was to Mary’s house where the Virgin Mary spent that last years of her life. We were able to walk through the small, stone house, which I couldn’t even begin to describe it was so amazing. The water fountains out front are believed to be sacred, so of course I drank plenty and wrote my wishes on the wall J

Mary's House

Then we took the bus to the ancient city of Ephesus. I couldn’t even start about all the history behind the city because there is just so much…google it! Ephesus was a hugely important Roman city and referenced in the bible numerous times. This place was unreal.

Odeion

Ephesus Library 

MSC Magnifica at night

Day 4 was our stop in Istanbul, Turkey. Jeremy had set up a personal taxi tour for the day, definitely the way to go! We saw the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar, Palace Cistern and had a traditional Turkish lunch. Istanbul is huge and so much to see and do that one day just isn’t enough. I see a return visit in my future!

  

Tons of fisherman

Blue Mosque 

Cistern

Medusa 

Hagia Sophia

Streets of Istanbul

First half of our Turkish lunch 

The Grand Bazaar 

Thursday was our day at sea and our one full day to enjoy the boat. That night was date night, the boys and I for the fancy Gala dinner.

The boys ate everything! Aiden with his smoke marlin

Connor eating his prawns, the fourth of our five courses

After the production with the tons of flaming baked Alaska's

There were different shows every night and after the final show you could take pictures with the dancers. Whitney was the only one to stay up late enough to meet the girls!

Our last stop on the cruise was Dubrovnik, Croatia, a day to enjoy and relax. I LOVED Croatia. We got off the cruise boat and hopped on a small boat for a little tour around the wall of the city before getting off for a quick tour through the old town. We got back on the boat to take us to Jacobs beach, a little beach with lounge chairs ready and waiting. I couldn’t get over how clear the water was! It was a “pinch me” moment for sure. Life doesn’t get much better!

Pulling into Dubrovnik

Our tour boat

streets of Dubrovnik

Jacobs Beach- just look at the water!

We all went to dinner for the last night on the cruise and the end to a fantastic vacation.

We started the drive home on Saturday and decided to stop halfway in Garmisch for the night and finish the drive in the morning. Home sweet home Sunday afternoon!