Perfect middle trip

It’s been about three and a half weeks since I started my European holiday. Sometimes I just pretend that I am in college and on summer break and yet in a way, it is much better than that. I definitely feel that I am appreciating all of this more now than I would have then. The whole connecting with my roots thing is something that I am enjoying more now as well – speaking of, I heard from Jitka (my cousin in Prague) and will be spending July 9 – 15th or so with her in the Czech Republic after leaving Ireland.
Spain and Portugal were beautiful – Kristen and I stayed in Barcelona, Seville, Lagos, Salema and Lisbon. Highlights were definitely Sevilla (but so not the bull fight where neither of us actually realized that we were getting into and left early) and the Algarve Coast/Southern Portugal. I flew from Lisbon to Barcelona to meet up with Dad.
Now we are settling in on our cruise – day 3 – and loving it so far. It has already been the perfect itinerary for the middle of my trip. I have gotten to unpack for the first time and yesterday I even took two showers! The food is plentiful and pretty good and I must admit that it is pretty nice to be back at the gym. We spent yesterday in Villefranche and it was an ideal day spent on the beach, shopping, exploring, taking photos and sampling their boxed wine to wash down a crepe J
Day 5 -Italy has come and gone/ We did Pisa in the first day. The tower was cool and funny to see people taking all kids of crazy photos – our selves included of course. We came upon a bustling Italian café after and stopped inside for a red house wine, pasta dishes and bread with local olive oil. I stopped for gelato and a bit of shopping on our way back.
Day 6 -Yesterday we did Roma! Believe it or not, it has been about 15 years since I have been there and I was happy to be back. It was a process to get to the actual city from where we docked but worth it. Dad and I did the Spanish steps, the Trivi fountain and the Collesium all in just a few hours. The weather was perfect – the sky a perfect back drop for all of the photos that we took.
Day 7 – Santorini – probably my favorite destination thus far. The Greek Islands are like the most beautiful post card you can imagine with white washed buildings every which way. We became familiar with the local buses and ventured into Oia, Fira and Kamari where we sampled local, ridiculous food and soaked in our surroundings.
Day 8 – Turkey! We joined a tour for the first few hours that took us to Virgin Mary’s house where I saw the house she lived in her last few years and drank out of the love, health and money fountains (bring it!). The ruins in Ephesus were something not to be missed and I was glad to see the library, theater and very first advertisement! Dad didn’t encourage me to buy a genuine fake watch but we did pick up a few souvenirs before sitting by the water and enjoying Epes half liters where the waiter wouldn’t tell us how much they were until after we had a few – ahhhh….Europe!
Now we are back on the ship having recently inhaled two dinners (sushi and veggies followed by a magic performance and then pasta while watching the sunset). Bernie is in the house – ha. And I have been reading Bubi’s autobiography and learning so much about her childhood and my roots. Life is grand.