Egypt

Malta

Dancing on The Nile

Athens, Greece

Cairo, Egypt

Rhodes, Greece

Athens, Greece Acropolis

Palermo, Sicily

Barcelona, Spain

On January 3, 2009 Dan, Lane, Ashlyn and I took off for a two week holiday around the Mediterranean. We stayed in Barcelona for the first two days taking in the amazing sites and artistry. This church above is the Temple de la Sagrada Familia and is still under construction was designed by the famous Gaudi. Many of the unique buildings around Barcelona were designed by Gaudi, and definitely give the city a bit of flair. We enjoyed our time in Barcelona and try to see as much as we could with the "hop on hop off" bus tour.

On January 5 we boarded the Royal Caribbean "Brilliance of the Seas" cruise ship for the remainder of our holiday. We planned this trip well over a year ahead, and to our delight we were upgraded to a fabulous room. I had been planning on all of us being cramped into a tiny space for the cruise, but luckily our room was quite spacious. The 6Th of January was spent cruising, which was a nice time to enjoy all the boat had to offer. Dan surprised me with a Thermo-Spa pass for the entire cruise, and the kids found that the Adventure Ocean Kids Club would be where the would spend most of their free time. Lane was old enough to sign Ashlyn and himself in and out, and they LOVED going there, which worked out that Dan and I could enjoy each others company in the Thermo-Spa as well.

On January 7Th we stopped in Palermo, Sicily. The port was within walking distance of the center of town, and really spent the day walking around the beautiful city taking in the sights. We are planning on a trip to Sicily in April with Filippo, (Dan's good friend who is the Italian Exchange Officer here.), so really did not feel the need to see it all. We figured that we will be back with a fantastic tour guide in April. Sicily is a beautiful place and as I have said before, I really love Italy. One of my favorite places that we have been. The 8TH of January was another cruising day, so of course another great lazy day. The ship also has a put-put golf course and rock climbing wall which we all tried out. (Dan and Lane were the only ones to make it to the top, but Ash and I gave it a good shot!)

January 9TH we docked in Athens Greece. We took the ships tour to the Olympic stadium and to the Acropolis. Lane had really wanted to see the Parthenon having just studied it in school. The views from the Acropolis were breath taking. Just truly amazing to see that it has stood for so long. Athens were having demonstrations that day, but we were not affected. The tour bus took us on a sight seeing ride, but the demonstrations had not started yet.

10Th of January we found ourselves in Rhodes Greece. This little Greek island was one of my favorite. There are tons of cats...yes domestic house cats just all over. Of course there were some area that smelled like a kitty litter, but on the whole a beautiful place. This was the first day that we could venture out without jackets, which was nice to welcome a bit warmer weather. Rhodes also had numerous ruins in the "Old town", which was such a stark contrast from the "New Town". The Old Town had the cobble stone roads and markets up and down them, where the New Town was just like any modern city. You could easily walk in and out of the "Towns".

January 11TH was supposed to be a stop in Cyprus, but unfortunately for us a storm was building and we needed to skip Cyprus and head to Alexandria Egypt. (so the 11TH was another day of cruising.) On the 12TH we disembarked the ship and joined another tour group taking us into Cairo. AMAZING!!! Our first stop in Cairo was the Citadel Of Salah Al-Din. This is where the Muhammad Ali Mosque is. ( no not the fighter!!) This was my first time in a mosque and found it funny that we had to remove our shoes before entering. Very beautiful once inside, Yet such a difference from the churches we have seen, there are no seats! Our tour guide Hala did a fantastic job of telling us about the Muslim traditions and beliefs and was very helpful with the history and facts of Egypt. After we left the Mosque, we boarded a dinner cruise boat to take us on a Nile Cruise. We enjoyed local cuisine, and were also entertained by live musicians and a belly dancer. The dancer pulled Lane and Ash up to dance with her, and while this is just Ashlyn's thing, not so much for Lane....but he did it!! After lunch was what we were all waiting for...we went to the Giza Plateau where we saw the pyramids, and the Sphinx. It was so sandy but really not too warm. Perfect time of the year to go. At the pyramids the locals are trying to get you to part with your money, and really are quite pushy. Always offering to take a family picture (with my camera....) then wanting money for it. Dan and Lane had their head wrapped in a traditional head gear for a "photo opt" then the gentleman wanted money, but the ironic part was that neither Dan or Lane WANTED their head wrapped, they just sort of come up to you and start wrapping your head. We managed to get away without paying them, but they were quite persistent. We offered to let the kids ride a camel, but they both had no desire to try it. From the pyramids we went to the Papyrus Institute where the showed us how they used to make paper. Here the kids got a souvenir t-shirt with their names written in Hieroglyphs. I picked out a Cartouche ring, and a beautiful jewelry box. We had a fabulous time in Egypt!!

The 13Th was a cruising day, and a much needed one after such a full day in Egypt. The 14TH was our last touring stop, and one of our favorites. Valletta, Malta was simply stunning. We could tell right away as the boat was pulling in to port that this was going to be great. We went out on our own, and fell in love with the island. I can easily see us going back there. The St Johns Cathedral was gorgeous, and they had two of Michelangelo's works on display....The Beheading of St John's the Baptist, and St Jerome. The Palace of the Grand Masters is now the Parliament building, but still a sight to be seen!!

January 15Th was our final cruising day, and we were trying to take in the last day of relaxing. We had a fantastic time on the cruise, and could not have asked for better waiters and stateroom attendant. They were great!! We disembarked on the 16TH and flew back home...now back to cooking and cleaning for me school for the kids, and work for Dan. I think that I can speak for all of us when I say we are ready to book the next holiday!!!