Mediterranean - Florence

Our day in Florence began with a 45 minute drive from Livorno, the port city. Our guide took us on a walking tour of Florence, starting at the Museum of Arts where we were able to see some of Michelangelo's works, including the statue, David. It was amazing. We weren't able to take any pictures, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. We also saw the Duomo, the Baptistry, the Ponte Vecchio, River Arno, and the Uffizi.

The Uffizi was the original office buildings of the Florence government. The walls are covered with sculptures of famous people who were born in Florence. Among them were Leonardo da Vinci and Amerigo Vespucci. There was also a replica of the statue of David and another one of a guy holding the head of Medusa. Martin really liked that one.

The story of Pinocchio was written by a man born in Florence as well, so we saw this cool store of Pinocchio items. We also visited another cathedral.

Leaving Florence, we headed into the Tuscan countryside and arrived at Castello di Verazzano. Verazzano was the guy who founded the New York harbor and there is a bridge in New York City named for him - Verazzano Narrows Bridge. We visited his castle and had lunch there. It was beautiful with vineyards, olive trees and fabulous countryside.

Mediterranean - Rome, Vatican City

We arrived in Civitavecchia and boarded our tour bus for the hour long drive to Rome. We enjoyed a scenic drive around Rome. We didn't have much time here and we can't wait to go back and spend more time here so we can see things up close, but it was a good introduction to the city. We saw several old Roman buildings, statues, palaces, etc. It was really interesting.

The Royal palace was huge. Every Royal leader built additions to it, so it grew through all of the many Roman eras. The Pyramid was built during the time of one leader, who had traveled to Egypt and liked the Pyramids, so he had one built in Rome and is buried in it. The Colosseum was in really great shape considering how old it is. We didn't get to stop and go in, and the line around it was so long, but we'll get back another time.

We stopped at the People's Plaza and had an hour to run around and see some sights. We made sure not to miss Trevi Fountain, where we threw a coin in the fountain. The legend is that if you do that, you will return to Rome again one day. We also were told to get gelato at the Trevi Fountain and wow, it was so good. We also found The Pantheon, which was where the government of Roman times held their meetings. It was so beautifully refurbished. It was this huge building in the middle of this little plaza and was so overwhelming, I got chills when we walked around the corner and saw it. We had to hurry back to our bus for our trip to Vatican City.

In Vatican City, we were able to go through the Museum, which were many long corridors of ancient artifacts, sculptures, paintings and tapestries. Gold everywhere! It was very beautiful and cool to see how old they were. We were able to spend some time in the Sistine Chapel, but couldn't take any pictures. It was really amazing how much detail Michelangelo put into his work. Michelle thought the Swiss Guards were so cute, guarding the Vatican, like court jesters.

Behind the Swiss guards, 2nd window from the left, is the Pope's apartment. He didn't come out to greet us, but it was kind of cool knowing maybe he was looking out the window at us. You never know!

Mediterranean - Naples - Pompeii, Montserrat

Today the ship stopped in Naples, Italy. We had arranged a tour to Pompeii to see the ruins. It was a nice, clear day and we could see Mount Vesuvius very easily. Pompeii was an amazing city. The homes, streets, tilework, even the brothel, showed a very advanced society. It was a really cold day, but we still really enjoyed this step back in time. The 2 bodies enclosed in glass, were still encased in ash, but we could see their skulls, teeth, etc showing through. It was sad to imagine the way they died. The city was so big, much larger than we all imagined it would be. And, it was really fun spending time there with other Cruise Holiday friends.

Marty even found another Steelers fan, a nice older couple who we helped up the steep alleys. They were very nice.

Upon our return from Pompeii, we enjoyed a slice of Margaretha Pizza, which was created in Naples. We did a little shopping and then headed back to the ship, where it was warm and we could have a nice big lunch.

We had a nice day at sea as we returned to Barcelona. We had another formal night and the waiters served us Baked Alaska. Celebrity had it personalized for our Convention. It was really fun. We had a good time hanging out with our friends, playing in the casino, dancing, etc. It was a great convention.

Upon arriving in Barcelona, we disembarked the ship and boarded a tour bus to Montserrat. It was about an hour drive each way and the scenery was really beautiful. The rock formations on Montserrat were awesome. We walked around the area and were able to enter the Monastery church there, which houses the Black Madonna. After another 1 hour scenic drive back to Barcelona, we were dropped off at the Plaza Catalyuna and spent the night at our hotel.

We woke up the next morning and headed to the airport for a long trip home. It took us about 17 hours from start to finish. We had a short stop in Madrid, then a long layover in Chicago, and finally arrived home around 9pm. We were so tired and fell right into bed as soon as we found our beds. We loved flying on Iberian Airlines, where they had outside cameras and we were able to watch our take off and landing. That was pretty cool.

We were happy to be home, see the kids and get our lives back to normal. But, our Mediterranean trip will always be a wonderful memory. We can't wait to do it again someday.

Rachel's Freshman Year

Rachel's 1st year of High School has been busy for her and she has really loved it. She joined the Pep Squad and cheers and performs at all of the football games and some of the volleyball games. She has made a lot of friends and is looking forward to cheer and dance team tryouts.

Rachel and her friends had a great time at Homecoming also. They had an all-nighter, following up Homecoming dance with a visit to her friend's Quinceanera. They had a great time.