Just Cruisin' (A Flashback)

Written on May 4, 2013

Tonight I am writing from the comfort of our wonderfully large white king-sized bed in our sizable ocean view cabin on-board Holland America’s Eurodam. We've been aboard since Monday, today is Saturday, and so we’re about halfway through our 11-night Mediterranean Cruise.

We departed from Rome, where we met my parents just two days before. They flew in on Friday and we flew in from Prague on Saturday, meeting them for the afternoon and evening, and spending all day Sunday dragging them around to show them as much of the city as we could, after exploring the Pantheon and the Coliseum. Whew! Early Monday afternoon we all boarded the ship (after a quick mishap involving a van and Drew’s iphone…funny story) and began to settle in.

The four of us before our first formal night

It’s been quite a change for Drew and I from the way we’ve been traveling since February 2^nd, let me tell you! 

• First of all, we are staying in the same room for eleven nights. Eleven nights! That hasn’t happened since we left home! It’s been really nice to unpack and live out of closets and drawers rather than organizational Ziplocs, stuffsacks, and backpacks! 
• Secondly, we’re with my parents! We’ve made many friends during our travels and even stayed with new and old friends along the way, but to actually be exploring new places and spending time with my parents is really awesome. 
• Thirdly, our “world” is much more confined causing us to slow down a bit. We tend to travel at a pace that not too many people could probably keep up with, walking an average of probably eight hours a day. It’s a bit of an adjustment to slow down due to processes, procedures and lines that are just part of cruise line traveling. Plus, when we’re on-board the ship there are only so many things to see and do. We’re almost forced to just relax and take it all in because there’s only so much we can do in the time allotted at each port and on the ship.  
• Fourthly, we’re eating (at least) three meals a day and the food is amazing! It’s still a bit of a challenge with my having to eat gluten free because I always have to ask and don't have quite the selection as everyone else, but overall the cruise line is doing a good job catering to me and giving me what I want. And Drew is enjoying eating whatever he wants whenever he wants. He’s gotten two appetizers or two desserts or even two dinners – just because they all sound delicious and – he can!
• Lastly, the crew aboard our ship is amazing and they treat us well. Our room is cleaned  twice a day, the sheets are turned down nightly with a chocolate left on our bed, fresh fruit is left in our room each day, and we have all the comforts of home (yes, even a washcloth!!)

It’s going to be a bit of an adjustment when we get off – but I am just happy we have a few more weeks of our adventure left. I’d definitely be pleased to have even more, but I suppose this journey has to come to an end at some point.

In case you’re curious for more details of our cruise,there’s a quick rundown of our itinerary below. I hope to write posts and share pictures from each port soon.

Monday – board

Tuesday – at sea

Wednesday – Kerkira, Greece (Corfu)

Thursday – Katakolon, Greece (visited ancient Olympia)

Friday – Santorini, Greece (amazing place!!)

Saturday (today) – Kusadasi, Turkey (visited the ancient city of Ephesus)

Sunday and Monday – Piraeus, Greece (Athens)

Tuesday – at sea

Wednesday – Messina, Italy (Sicily)

Thursday – Naples, Italy (tour to Pompei)

Friday – disembark in Rome, we’ll spend the day in the city until our flight to Bucharest, Romania

Drew's first cruise! He has no idea what he's in for...

The food! Oh, the food!

One of the two pools - this one had a retractable roof that blocked the wind

Another shot of our boat - docked in Katakolon, Greece

One of the nightly towel animals that awaited us. We loved these!

The super creative towel animal we made for our room steward, Wibi :)

Venezia! (aka Venice) A City for Wandering

From Rome we traveled north to Sacile to stay with some family of friends from home. From there we planned to spend three nights in Venice before heading into Austria. That was until we saw how much hotels cost in Venice. Based on what I read, the only way to do Venice was to stay on the island; otherwise you’d have to worry about getting on and off each day and the time and money this would take. This turned out to be very true. The only problem with staying on the island is that most places are expensive. If they aren’t expensive, they tend to have pretty bad reviews and sound sketchy. We aren’t too picky and tend to figure that we won’t be in our room too much so there’s no point in spending too much on a place to stay. However, something about Venice made us feel differently and we decided to splurge on a nicer hotel, The Pasaro Palace. Instead of three nights, however, we cut it back to two and stayed with our friends in Sacile an additional night.

Us with our friends in Venice

Late Saturday morning our friends drove us the 45 minutes to Venice where we all boarded the “people mover” (costs one Euro per person one way) to take us to the island. We arrived and we were overwhelmed! It was surreal to be there. I’ve seen Venice on television and in movies, I’ve seen the Venetian in Las Vegas, and all of these things display a relatively accurate picture of this alluring and beautiful city, so the reality of walking through the streets of Venice took a little while to comprehend.

One of our first views of the city

There’s just something about Venice. It’s a maze of pedestrian streets and canals, but not an overwhelming maze. There aren’t any cars, which is phenomenal! However, there are a lot of people (especially on the weekend – we noticed a definite difference in the crowds on Monday as compared to Saturday and Sunday). There’s no lack of restaurants, pastry shops, mask stores (Venice has a huge Carnavale celebration every February), Murano glass shops, cafes or bars.

A giant meringue we bought

It’s fun to wander the streets, going wherever your whim compels you. Sooner than later, you’ll come to a dead end…at water. It’s amazing. It’s a sort of grid of street/canal/street/canal and it makes up a place like nowhere I’ve ever been. It’s inarguably romantic, but I can’t exactly explain why.

We saw the famous sights; San Marco Square, the Rialto Bridge, the Bridge of Sighs. We also did the gondola ride through the canals. They are not cheap – 80 euro for about 40 minutes – but we paid less for a little less time and it was sufficient. We rode through the quiet, off the main track canals, which is what I would recommend. You want to actually be moving through the water and seeing the city rather than just getting stuck in a waterway traffic jam on the Grand Canal.

Rialto Bridge in the background

As we tend to do because we enjoy it so much, we spent a lot of time just wandering, walking, window shopping and exploring. We had two half days and one full day and we both would have easily taken a few more (especially at our hotel!) We definitely plan to return in the future…

Us on our gondola ride

For more Venice pics, click here.

When in Rome...

Ah, Roma!

Us overlooking the river

Like many Americans, I've always wanted to see Rome. I’d heard and read stories from many people who just rave about the city. One thing I read before we came was something to the effect of the “grittiness” of Rome, but even with that grittiness you can’t help but fall in love. This didn't sound so great to me and so I tried to forget that I read it because I just didn't understand how I could love something described as dirty and gritty and crowded.

Well, let me tell you, that description actually makes a lot of sense and I truly did fall in love with the city despite of and because of its grit! I don’t know how to explain it, but it just gets to you. For me, it was a combination of two things that really put me over the edge: the beautiful ancient architecture around every corner and the food.

Ruins near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Everywhere you turn in Rome is another historically significant and beautiful structure. From the Coliseum, to the Trevi Fountain, to the Pantheon, to St. Peter’s Basilica to the random church on the corner; the beauty is overwhelming. There are fountains and plazas and huge Roman columns, you think you've gotten a handle on the city and seen so much and you turn the corner to find another grand and stunning building/fountain/sculpture/obelisk that you haven’t seen before!

The Colosseum

The beautiful Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon at Night

View from the Pantheon doors

And then there’s the food!!! With my diagnosis of Celiac disease just a few months ago, I was kind of dreading our time in Italy when it came to the eating part. I love Italian food, but since my diagnosis it’s been hard to find a gluten free pizza, bread or pasta that is actually more than just a way to satisfy my craving. I've yet to find any that’s really good. And then I came to Rome. Rome knows how to do gluten free and they do it amazingly well. Drew and I had many meals and often shared two entirely gluten free dishes so that we each could try more things. And all of it was delicious! He didn't feel like he was being cheated and I felt normal again! I found restaurants that had entire menus that were 100% gluten free (Mama! Eat), and many other places could make at least a few types of gluten free pasta or pizza as well. I was in heaven and for those three days we both ate extremely well and filled ourselves with lots of pizza, pasta and wine, and several cappuccinos and even gelato.

My first meal in Rome: Gluten Free deliciousness at Mama! Eat

Gluten Free Nutella Pizza for Dessert at Mama! Eat

If you’re a Celiac, you MUST go to Rome. You have to go out to eat in a place where it’s not a big deal and people just nod and hand you their gluten free menu. You have to taste the best gluten free pizza and pasta in the world. You just have to. It’ll be worth it.

And if you’re not a Celiac, you’re still going to love Rome. It’s beautiful, romantic, and full of amazing food in addition to all the legendary sites!

Gluten Free French Fry Pizza at Voglia di Pizza! Yum!

One of our many Coffees in Italy

I was very sad to leave Rome…luckily we will be back for two days in just a couple weeks, as that is where our cruise departs from. Super happy about that!

Inside Vatican City

Vatican City

Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain at Piazza Navona

For more pictures of beautiful Roma, click here.

The Plan - Jobs, House, Trip

I mentioned last time that I was waiting to hear what was going to happen with my job when the hubby and I leave for our Round the World Adventure.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last week Friday I got my answer.

While I am out, they are going to hire a new employee to take my place.  This person will be hired as a temporary employee with the possibility of full-time hire.  Basically, if the newly hired person turns out to be more amazing than me or is set in their role by the time I return, I will have to find a new job.  However, there is the possibility that I will be able to return to my job, depending on the outcome.

The hubby and I have been analyzing a lot of things, reviewing our options, our budget, and different scenarios.

This is where we stand today:

• We will be gone for approximately four months
• Upside:  This allows us enough wiggle room in our budget to keep our house without renting it out, preventing the headache and work of packing up all of our stuff, finding a renter, and paying all the fees of property management. If we can find someone we know who needs a place to stay for a few months, we would happily rent it out to them, but we don't want to have to worry about moving all of our stuff out.
• This also, in theory, might increase the chance of me returning to my job.  The less time the new person has to get comfortable and get into the job, the better the chance that my employers will welcome me back.
• Downside:  This will cause us to have to eliminate some of our destinations in order to get the free-flowing aspect out of our trip.  Which leads me to the next point.
• We are going to focus our attention on some key destinations in South America, and spend the majority of our time exploring Southern and Eastern Europe.
• A key component of this trip is that we have the ability to "not plan" every day, every destination or every experience.  We want to experience more of our world organically, allowing our whims and interactions with other people to guide us along our journey.  By reducing our footprint a bit, we help to ensure that this will be possible.
• The first month or so, in South America, will be a little more planned down to the date and location, simply because of what we want to see and the amount of time we want to see it in.  But once we arrive in (tentatively) Italy, things can start to flow naturally.
• We will leave in February.
• Due to some constraints of our destinations in South America, specifically Machu Picchu, we have pushed back our departure date by a couple weeks.  We really want to hike the Inca trail, but January is, on average, a very rainy month and not the most pleasant time to do it.  The trail is closed in February, but reopens in March.  If we start elsewhere in South America and make our way to that area in the beginning of March, we are *hoping* it will work out that we can hike the trail (weather dependent).  Plus, it's not high season, so we have a much better chance of getting into a hike with the "play it by ear" attitude that we are adopting if the weather isn't cooperating.  (We will still visit Machu Picchu either way, but if it's gross weather we would just take the train...the easy way).

So, that's where things stand now.  It's exciting because we are starting to finalize some  plans and make real decisions.  I am currently working with airtreks.com to figure out our flights, and we hope to book at least our flight out soon!  THEN it will be officially official! ;-)