Italia - Venezia and Roma

I am so sorry this post is so late and I am SOOOO behind on posting! If I could just catch up it would be so much easier to post recent updates. Please stick with me! I will do my best to get updated ASAP! This post is a continuation of our 3 week trip in August - hopefully you are not too confused having to think that far back....I know I am!

Monday, August 15: On Monday morning we inspected our third of seven ships on this trip (Venice). We finished work around 1pm, went back to the hotel to drop off the bag and change clothes, and then went back into the city around 2pm. We walked through the Jewish Ghetto to try and go into a children’s bookstore (which seems to never be open) and met a Jewish man named Saadia. After talking with him for a few minutes we found out he has an uncle that lives in Colorado Springs and is the Rabbi of the Chabad group in Colorado Springs. It is amazing to me how small our world really can be. Saadia invited us to join them for Shabbat dinner in the ghetto on Friday night and Kevin and I told him we would do our best to be there! We continued our walk over to St. Marc’s and went into Hard Rock to find a pin for a friend of Kevin’s, but there were so many people in there you could not even turn around, so we escaped as fast as we could. We went to have some dinner at a familiar restaurant and the food was as good as always. We had a caprese salad and each had a plate of gnocchi pasta with a Gorgonzola cream sauce. It was delicious!! After dinner, we spent a little time people and pigeon watching in St. Marc’s Square, but it was so HOT again and we decided to go back to the hotel earlier than planned. I have never seen so many tourists in my life! There were people everywhere. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped in the grocery store to get some wine and the line to check-out was backed up to the back of the store. It probably would have taken at least 30-45 minutes to get through the line. We by passed that line and got some gelato instead. Then we stopped in a bottle shop closer to Piazza le Roma and were on our way back to the hotel. We got back to the hotel around 7pm, packed our bags again and called it an early night.

So HOT after work!!

One of the many canals. 

There were more pigeons this time than ever before!

The pigeons loved this woman - I am sure the bread in her hand played a role. 

This little guy landed on my shoulder without any bait!! Kind of cool and nasty all at the same time!! 

 Tuesday, August 16: Our flight from Venice to Rome left at 8am and we were at our hotel by 10am. We were pooped from going non-stop for the last 5 days so we decided to take a well deserved nap. We slept for 4 hours and when we woke up we spent some time catching up on emails. By the time we even considered going into town it was 4pm, so we decided to just stay at the hotel (our hotel was about 30 minutes outside of the city and it would have been almost 60 Euros just to get there and back). We had dinner at the hotel and enjoyed a nice and relaxing day!

This was an awesome shot of the island from the plane. It really does look like a fish! 

 Wednesday, August 17:

We left our hotel at 8:30 am to go to the ship. When we inspect ships in Rome we stay in Rome but the ships actually dock in a city called Civitavecchia, which is about an hour and 20 minutes north of Rome. Our hotel was right near the airport, so getting to the ship was a bit tricky. We took the hotel bus to the airport, then we took the airport train to Termini train station (Rome’s main train terminal), and then we took another train from Termini to Civitavecchia. We finally got to the ship around 11:30 and started working. We were on one of the bigger ships in the fleet and there was a good bit of work to be done. The hardest part of the day was moving one of the top rope anchors from one position of the wall to another. Now, this ship is different from most other ships in that it has 2 walls connected by a walk way. I had to go inside the wall while Kevin stayed outside and we tried (not well) to communicate through the empty t-nut holes on the wall. The inside of this wall was covered so there was absolutely NO airflow inside, and I was literally dripping sweat and hanging in a very uncomfortable position. I can honestly say it was one of the most uncomfortable situations I have ever been in! We got through it, but I was not a happy camper (or DRY camper) when all was said and done. In fact, I had literally sweat through my entire shirt and needed a replacement – fortunately the ship had some extras!! We worked until about 4:30pm and then started our journey back the hotel. We had to wait almost an hour at Termini, and did not get back to the hotel until about 8pm. It was a very long day!!

Not a happy helper!

YUCK! Thank goodness for the clean shirt!

Thursday, August 18:

This was the only day on this long trip that we were not working and/or traveling, so we decided to spend a day in the city. We woke up around 9am, ate breakfast, showered, and then went to the airport around noon. We decided to try and find a cheaper way into the city (instead of paying 14 Euros/person/direction) and fortunately didn’t have any problems making that happen. We found a bus from the airport to a metro/train station (Piramide/Ostiense) that only cost 6 Euros/person/direction and we hopped on the opportunity. It took about 30 minutes to get to the city and then we explored. I had planned to explore some of the cathedrals in Rome (aside from St. Peter’s) so our first stop was Basilicas di Santa Maria Maggiore – which is the largest cathedral in Rome that is dedicated to Mary. It was beautiful! The layout was very similar to that of St. Peter’s but it was neat to see a new place. I feel like every church in Rome is so extravagant and beautiful. Nothing in the U.S compares to what you see overseas! We spent about 45 minutes at this church and then walked about ½ a mile to the next destination which was San Giovanni Laterano – which is known as Rome’s Cathedral and was the first cathedral ever built in Rome. It connects to Lateran Palace which was the home of the pope before 1305. We entered this church from a back entrance and were a little disappointed in the appearance, until we realized we had not seen the full beauty of the cathedral from its proper entrance. The layout was very similar to that of Santa Maria Maggiore, but it was much larger and even more exquisite (I still prefer St. Peter’s, but it was beautiful none-the-less)!

The back of the Santa Maria Maggiore...

And then the front - such a difference in appearance! 

An exquisite ceiling. 

Beautiful stained glass. 

The backside of the San Giovanni Laterano. Can you see why we would have been a little disappointed, not knowing this was not the main entrance? 

From the alter looking toward the main entrance. Gives you an idea of the size. 

The Alter 

And finally the front of the building. This is what we expected to see! 

Trying to be artistic with the sun...not too bad if I do say so myself. 

Our next stop was just across the street to the Scala Sancta – The Holy Steps. These steps are believed to have been walked upon by Jesus himself during his Passion. They were originally located in Jerusalem, but were relocated to this location in 1589. The tradition is to climb the steps on your knees in order to be granted indulgence by the catholic church (forgiveness of your sins). We did not climb the steps, but it was very interesting to observe and learn about. Our final destination of the day was the Coliseum to play a game of Canasta – this has become a tradition of ours in Venice, and we thought it would be fun to implement in another city. Easier said than done! There were people everywhere, it was stifling hot, and there wasn’t a great place to sit and get comfortable. It was worth a shot, but didn’t work out so well. Because it was so hot, we decided to go back to the hotel early to cool off and eat dinner. It was a great day of exploring!!

Very neat experience!

Trying to be artsy again. 

Our attempt at a card game.

This building is just so incredible! I can't get enough of it!! 

The next 4 days of the trip played out like so: On Friday we flew back to Venice for a ship inspection on Saturday. Saturday afternoon we flew back to Rome for a ship inspection on Sunday. And Monday we flew to Barcelona to sign-on to a ship and work for the week on the ship (separate post to follow). Because it was so hot and we were busy working and traveling, we were not able to sight-see, so I won’t bore you with the daily details. It was a hectic and busy trip, but we certainly enjoyed spending the time together! Stay tuned for the next post about out adventures on the Brilliance of the Seas!! 

Always an Adventure!

On Thursday, August 11 Kevin and I began a 3 week trip over the pond. We flew from Colorado Springs to Dallas, Dallas to Madrid, and Madrid to Malaga, Spain. About 2 hours into our flight to Madrid, the captain came on the intercom and informed us that a problem with the plane’s navigation system would prevent us from continuing our trip across the Atlantic, so we made an emergency landing in NYC. We were greeted with emergency crews, police, and fire trucks (the problem was not that bad, I guess it is just protocol to send the crews when a plane makes an unplanned landing). We unloaded our first plane, received two $12 food and drink vouchers, got some snacks, and were loaded on our new plane within an hour and a half. The process was actually much easier than I expected it to be, and we received 5,000 bonus miles for the inconvenience. Our flight continuation was uneventful and we landed in Madrid only about 2 hours later than originally scheduled. Fortunately, we had a very long layover scheduled – 5 hours to be exact, and with the delay, the layover was much more tolerable (only 3 hours). We flew from Madrid to Malaga and arrived at our hotel around 6pm on Friday, August 12. We showered and went out to grab some dinner – a fabulous Burger King dinner (it was right next to the hotel and if we wanted anything authentic we would have had to walk about 25 minutes) – and then fell asleep early!

Our unplanned stop in NYC. 

 Saturday, August 13: We woke up on Saturday morning and went to the ship. We worked until about 1:30pm, went back to the hotel to shower and pack, and then checked-out of the hotel at 3pm. We really didn’t have much time in Malaga so we did not get to see much of the town, but from what we saw last time (June) we weren’t missing much. We flew to Palma de Mallorca, Spain that evening and arrived at our hotel around 8:00pm (we spent almost an hour at the airport trying to exchange currency). This was a brand new city for us so we decided to go out and explore – and try to find a place to exchange currency since we were unsuccessful at the airport (what international airport doesn’t exchange US currency?). I did not do any research about Mallorca before we arrived so I did not have any idea what to expect, but on our way to the hotel we passed this incredible Gothic cathedral so I decided we would go there – when Kevin and I travel together it is almost always my responsibility to plan our adventures and I leave the food aspect of things to him. We walked about 25 minutes from our hotel to The Cathedral and were once again unsuccessful at finding an open exchange office (we found one, but it was closed before 9pm). Instead, we decided to eat. We found this neat little restaurant near The Cathedral and ordered a large beer and a large sangria, along with a pizza and pasta. The sangria was AWESOME!! It came out with about 15 different colored straws in it that were about 2-3 feel long. It was quite an experience to drink! Thank goodness the drinks were good and fun, because the food was less than desirable….I would definitely go back for another massive sangria though! After dinner, we briefly walked around The Cathedral and then went back to the hotel around 11:30.

The view of the Cathedral on our walk from our hotel. 

My massive Sangria...the straws were SO AWESOME!

Isn't he so handsome!?!

I couldn't resist this one!

Sunday, August 14: On Sunday morning we went to our second ship of the trip and this time worked until about 11:30. We got back to the hotel around noon, arranged to check out at 4pm and went back to The Cathedral. We were still on the hunt for a currency exchange, but settled for an ATM instead - that was enough to at least get us back to the airport. We shopped a little (I bought a new bag) explored The Cathedral in the daylight, and then went to an Irish bar for some drinks and nibbles – it was SO HOT and a pint of something good was just what we needed. We went back to the hotel to shower, since we were sweating so much in the heat and humidity, and went back to the airport for our flight to Venice, by way of Barcelona, at 6pm. If you have lost count, we were in 10 airports and 7 different cities in 4 days! It was crazy! We landed in Venice around 10:30pm on Sunday evening for another ship on Monday morning.

Beautiful flowers everywhere! 

Windmills on our walk. 

The architecture all over the city was so unique. 

This is like the "tree of life" from The Lion King. 

More architecture. It reminds me of a chess board. I think this was some kind of government building. 

Just us in front of the beautiful Cathedral. Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to go inside. Maybe next time. 

A guard station in front of the Cathedral.

Barcelona, Spain

On Sunday, June 19 we flew non-stop from Malaga, Spain to Barcelona, Spain. We arrived around 1:30pm, relaxed at the hotel for a few hours and then went into the Gothic Quarter for some dinner and shopping!  I went into one of my favorite shops and bought 2 new pairs of pants and then we went over to our favorite little Irish Pub and had some pub grub – don’t worry, we ate some authentic Spanish food later in the trip! We got back to the hotel around 10pm and relaxed.

This seemed to be the trip or protests! We experienced the protests in Athens first, and then there was a protest in Barcelona as well! Too bad we didn't understand what the protests were about. 

So many passionate people!

 On Monday, we went to the ship. This particular ship was not in Barcelona as an Embarkation/Debarkation port, so the wall was open to climbers until 11am. We worked until about 12:30 and then got off the ship with the Sports Supervisor (Rich), his girlfriend (Lucy), and a girl that works in the Adventure Ocean Club (Michelle). We went back to the Irish Pub for lunch and drinks (it was a cheaper option than eating somewhere else) and then they had to get back to the ship so Kevin and I went back to the hotel and changed to go to the beach. We spent a few hours at the beach and then went to the local grocery store and bought some Salami, bread and cheese for dinner. We enjoyed a nice little picnic dinner and evening in our room.

The beach was so nice! 

This was a wedding gift we received. It is called a platy-preserve and you can carry a whole bottle of wine in a plastic container, making it more transportable! Thanks Karla!

Our dinner of champions! 

 We left the hotel around 11am on Tuesday and enjoyed our last day of sight-seeing during this trip. Our first stop was Parc de la Ciutadella. It was a beautiful park with an even more incredible fountain! I would say this fountain rivals the Trevi Fountain in Rome! The fountain is called the Cascada and was designed in 1875. It was exquisite! We walked through the park to the Arc de Triomf which was designed as the entrance to the 1888 World Expo. It was much smaller than the Paris version, but still a neat piece of architecture! Our next stop was the Picasso museum. Picasso was actually born in Malaga, Spain but lived in Barcelona for part of his child hood and young adult life. The museum featured all of his different stages of art work and it was awesome to see how talented he was. I am a huge fan of his cubism period and there were some neat pieces from that time, but it was interesting to see his sketches, portraits, and sculptures as well! After the museum, it was time for lunch! We went to a restaurant on Las Ramblas and enjoyed a traditional Spanish meal (croquettes and paella). Then it was time for me to do some more shopping! While we were in the Barcelona airport during a layover earlier in the week, I was handed a 5 Euro off coupon at Desigual, a very popular Spanish clothing store. I have always wanted to buy something there, but they are a little out of my price range. With this coupon, I decided it doesn’t hurt to look. So I went in and found not one, but two bags that I loved, one for my laptop and one as a purse. The gal gave me a total of 10 Euros off my bags and I basically got 2 bags for less than the price of one normal bag at Desigual! I was psyched! After a long, but great day we went back to the hotel and packed our bags for our early morning flight home. I always forget how much I enjoy Barcelona!

The incredible Cascada fountain!

The top of the Fountain. 

My husband the model!

Just us!

The Barcelona Zoo is connected to this park and we stumbled upon this awesome sculpture!

Close up.

The Barcelona Arc de Triomf. 

So handsome outside of the Picasso Museum. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any photos inside the museum so this is all you get. 

Tapas! So delicious!

Chicken Paella. I told you we would eat authentic food. 

My new bags! 2 for the price of one!