Mediterranean Cruise - Santorini, Greece

Santorini was one of the places I was looking forward to the most.  Every picture I've ever seen from there is gorgeous!  And let me tell you...I was not disappointed!  The views are even more stunning in person.  I really wanted to take the volcano tour and see the black sand beaches, but I really, really wanted to take in the sights in Oia.  Since we were limited on our time in port I had to narrow it down.  The times for the volcano tour wouldn't allow us to do anything else and the black sand beaches weren't close enough to Oia to give us enough time to do both and get back to the ship with time to spare so I settled on browsing through Oia.  When it was said and done, there was no way I was going to Santorini without seeing Oia.  If we are ever there again, I will make time for the volcano and black sand beaches.

We had to tender into the port and then take the cable car up to Fira's town center.  Once we got up to Fira we found the bus station to get our tickets to Oia.  This guy was knocked out cold!  I have to say that our boys were so awesome for the entire vacation!  Bringing a 6 month old and 4 year old touring through Europe was not the easiest thing we've done, but they are both excellent travelers which made things a lot more pleasant...for us and everyone around us! 

The bus ride up to Oia was terrifying for me!  I am NOT a fan of heights and this was just a little too much for me to handle.  We were literally going up in a huge bus with no railings on the side of road.  I'm talking a straight drop off cliff right on the side of the road!  I did manage to work up the nerve to look out of the window and take a few pictures.    

My first blue dome sighting!

Finally we made it to Oia and after a little walking we found those iconic views!  These are just some of the sights as we walked around.  We didn't really have a plan...except to stroll around and take it all in!

One day he will have an appreciation for everything he has experienced during this season of our lives.  My four year old self had such a different life than he does.  I love that he is so easy going and takes it all in with us :)

I think he was most excited to be vacationing with his Mimi and Pop!

You could actually ride a donkey up from the port if you really wanted to.  That was not happening!

After we got back to Fira we found a little place to sit down and have lunch.  He's out again!  See...such a good little world traveler.

Next on my list of things to do was get a fish pedicure.  It definitely wasn't the best pedicure I've had, but it was the most interesting!  We had a good time doing it!  Connor was a little confused though!  Haha!

Getting our feet washed by a couple of Greek men before the pedicure :)

We still had some time before we had to be back on the ship so we took the opportunity to stroll around Fira a bit.

I got a couple of these bracelets made for souvenirs.  He shaped the wire to spell out a name in Greek. 

I don't remember if these people were walking or riding a donkey down back to the port.  Either way they are crazy in my book!

We absolutely opted for the cable car ride back down.  I even worked up enough nerve to open my eyes!

Back on the ship and ready for a relaxing day at sea!

We were cruising back to Italy the whole following day so we took the opportunity to enjoy the ship some more.  Of course they hosted family activities in the kid's club.  The first one was scrap booking.  It occupied Connor for a little while but it definitely wasn't his favorite thing.

He didn't quite understand that we were supposed to put our own pictures on the page and insisted that we fill it up with pictures of the animals.  We let him just roll with it though.

A little lunch break and then back to the kids' club for another family activity.

They played Wii bowling!  Several kids actually showed up for this one and Connor was a little nervous when they first started.

Along for the ride!

Once he felt a little more comfortable he was all smiles and having a great time!

He actually did really good and got quite a few strikes!

Champion Wii bowler here!  He came in first place and got a gold medal.  He was as proud as a peacock about it!

Some nights the kids' club would take the kids to dinner and of course Connor absolutely had to go when they did this!  We dropped him off and brought Jameson to the nursery and enjoyed a nice dinner at the sushi restaurant on the ship.

I'm not sure where we were here, but it was a cool view as we cruised on by.

All smiles after coming back from the kids' club.  And still wearing his gold medal!

Mediterranean Cruise - Ephesus, Turkey

I was shocked at how much I enjoyed Ephesus.  It was pretty much lagniappe for me as far as our itinerary because I really had no desire to visit Turkey.  It turned out to be one of, if not the best day of the whole trip.  We all loved it!!  I booked a private tour through Ephesus Tours instead of doing an excursion with the cruise line.  It was awesome and cheap to boot!  Our tour guide, Zeynep was fabulous!  She was extremely knowledgeable and very accommodating.  She even stopped at a pharmacy for me to pick up baby formula.  It really made our tour that much better.

She picked us at the port in Kusadasi in a very nice and spacious van.  We definitely toured in style that day!  Our first stop was the House of Virgin Mary.  It is believed by some that Mary was brought here by Saint John and this is where she spent her last days.

This was a cistern of some type.  It may have been used by Mary and John as a baptismal. 

The scenery around the site was absolutely beautiful and so, so peaceful!

This is the front entrance to the house.  No photography allowed inside :(

Lighting candles after walking through the house.

Tap to receive water from the spring.  It is believed to have healing properties.  Our guide said it is also widely believed that drinking the water will bring fertility to women.  I was NOT drinking that water!  No way, no how!  I stayed far, far away...just in case ;)

The "wishing wall".  People write their personal intentions on paper, tissue or fabric and tie them to the wall.  I wish we would have known about this ahead of time so we could have been prepared to add to the wall.

Beautiful views on the way up to and down from the house.

Statue of Mary on the way up to the house.

Ephesus!  This was awesome, awesome, awesome!  I honestly think our tour guide made all the difference.  It was super cool to walk through this ancient city while learning about how they lived.  And supposedly only something like 10% of the city has been excavated!

Marble streets.

I know one of these is the sign for medicine.  I think the other may be for pharmacy.

Nike, the Goddess of Victory.

Ancient board game.

These are the floors of the houses that once stood here.  The tiles were laid in such as way that it looks like carpet.

Public toilets.  Clean water would run through the trough in front of the toilets.  They would dampen a sponge or towel there and use it to clean themselves.  When it was cold, those that had slaves would send them to the bathroom to warm their seat before going in.  The toilet area was actually a popular spot to socialize!

The Library of Celcus!  Wow!!!

I don't know why I was surprised, but it seems like every ancient city had a brothel.  The heart symbolized the brothel, while the foot showed the direction to go and that it was on the left hand side because it is a left foot.  Your foot had to be as big or bigger than this one to enter.

The amphitheater.

Going through one of the tunnels in the amphitheater.

So cool to imagine people in ancient times walking these same streets.

Better view of the amphitheater.  Zeynep told us that Elton John and Sting have both performed here!  She said that the Sting concert was actually the last concert it held.  They put a stop to the concerts because the noise level was starting to destroy the theater.

Old dog just hanging out in Ephesus!

Of course there are tons of little shops when you leave the city.  Our tour guide is very good friends with one of the shop owners.  He played checkers with Connor on this handmade checker board.

This single column is put together from fragments of what is left of the Temple of Artemis.  It is considered to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  Behind the temple, you can see a castle, Isabey Mosque, and St. John's Basilica.  

Next we had a traditional lunch.

After lunch we had a carpet demonstration.  This lady was in the process of making a carpet using the pattern in front of her.  So neat!  Of course they wanted you to buy a carpet from them, but they weren't pushy at all.  Their government actually pays them to continue the tradition so they get paid whether they sell one or not.

She even let me try a few strands.  So someone somewhere out there will have a carpet that I helped make :)

Getting the silk from the silk worm cocoon.

They took us into a room to show us a bunch of carpets.  We were offered drinks and I chose an apple tea.  BEST HOT TEA EVER!

They said it was okay to let the kids play so Jameson just crawled all over the room.  He loved being out to explore!

Connor sipping his Sprite.

The people working there had fun playing with the kids.

Crashed out on the way back to the ship!

It was a GREAT day!

Harry spotted this on the elevator in the ship.

That night we sent Connor to kids' club and Jameson to the nursery so we could attend a murder mystery dinner in one of the specialty restaurants on the ship.  It started off with champagne and hors d'oeuvres followed by a fantastic meal and a very entertaining show.  What a great way to end one of the best days of the trip!