The Mediterranean

June 9 -
This day on the boat, we spent all day at sea. We napped, visited the restaurants and pool, spotted some new friends with whom we played "Farkle" and had the formal evening that everyone loves to dress up for. I, on the other hand didn't have a formal, so I wore what I wore, hoping my hair up-do would fancify it just enough.


*I'm sitting outside now on our little patio, and Emmy has just taken a seat next to me in her little camping chair, tapping her entire leg the way I move my foot when I type. Leave it to the little ones to melt my heart and bring my fidgeting to light.

 On to the pictures.. which are few, but Tessa and I had a lot of laughs - I love having a sister!

I didn't even bring my camera out until I saw the sunset.. it was just beautiful in its simplicity.

I took this picture of Tessa, thinking about all the crazy times she had trying to find hotspots throughout our bus tours, city walks, etc. This girl is tech-savvy!

Mark and I have since marveled at how few guests were aboard this ship. It was full, but it's organized to not feel full at all. The boat at times, felt just like it was ours and ours alone.. It was perfect.. and boy were we so spoiled!

If there had been people around, I really don't think I'd be laughing as hard or taking as many pictures as we did. Good thing the deck was empty.

Tessa did give me a few better ones too, thankfully. Gosh, I miss that girl!

And these desserts, too! We may have said, "One of each, please..?" : )

See the empty chairs? We were early diners.. we scheduled our days even older than the old people! ... Or you can go ahead and think we had the entire ship to ourselves.. wouldn't that be fun!? The dessert picture is a sneak of all the pictures Tessa took on her phone.. she got loads of good ones! I'll have to do a separate post for those!

Sicily and Taormina, Italy

While the kids finish up their nap today I thought I should continue on with the uploading of these pictures. I've misplaced the papers that tell me where and what everything was; well, there is one more place, but if I open up that drawer, I'm going to wake someone up. So enjoy the lack of words, and the ample supply of photos.

June 8 -
Beginning the day with the breakfast buffet became our routine. It was so nice to have all the meals included, making us feel like we didn't have to pile the food on to our morning plates just to get our money's worth like at a typical buffet (I know that was false comfort.. so believe me, when I say we ate our money's worth!). I loved having half a plate of fruit, 2 sausages, 2 [or 5] pieces of bacon, and a glass of ice water. After we laid the cloth napkins back on the table, we set off by bus to explore a bit, stopping at a few different places to take in what we could. Everything was beautiful, and warm, and full of color and life. There was bread in the churches, flowers in the streets, and shade under every tree (thankfully!).

                                     

                                         

Serene Sorrento - 'jewel of the Amalfi Coast'

"Perched on the shores of the Amalfi Peninsula like a white dove in a olive tree, serene seaside Sorrento lies on the southern curve of the Bay of Naples, with the famed Isle of Capri a few miles off its rugged coast, and volatile Vesuvius looming nearby."

Thursday, June 7, 2012
Sorrento, Italy
Depart: 6:00pm
Sunrise: 5:31am • Sunset: 8:32pm
Forescast: Sunny; 81ºF / 27ºC

I don't believe that I mentioned in the last post, that the eruption of Vesuvius occurred in AD 79.

Even Sorrento was buried under tons of volcanic pumice and ash. It took a while, but in AD 200, the survivors had restored Sorrento and it was restored as a thriving little gem on the western Italian coast. (if you can't tell, I'm paraphrasing the pamphlet we received on the city)

This was a simple day of relaxing and browsing the street venders, then the ally shops. We had to make a run to a grocer for me, where we found all sorts of non-touristy things, and still lots of fun. Tessa found her favorite treat, Bueno Bars, which she discovered on her trips to Spain; I loved them once I finally tried them. Turning our direction back to the touristy spots, we found some more gelato; though never again, did I find the gelato flavor I had in the streets of Rome, which will remain my favorite of the entire trip. Anyway, I found the kids Italian metallic balloons (I cannot blow them up for the life of me), string-pulling ornamental dolls we will hang on the Christmas tree, toy tractors for Mont and a vespa toy for both. Tessa found bottled up olive oil, after which we found some matching bracelets (we always used to match as kids!).

We ended the afternoon sunbathing, listening to the splashes of kids in the water below the pier. It was a moment where I wish I could have bottled up the scents, sounds and sights, always to remember the feeling.