On Wednesday, July 11, Kevin and I left for what may be my last trip for a while. On Tuesday, I officially submitted my application for the alternative teaching program I have chosen to complete in order to get my teaching license. I am excited to say I have officially passed my teaching test and been accepted into the teaching program! As soon as Kevin and I return from this trip, I will begin applying for full-time teaching positions and hopefully begin teaching this fall!!
That being said, I was really looking forward to this trip. We flew from Colorado Springs to Dallas and Dallas to Baltimore. We arrived in Baltimore around 6:30pm and proceeded to baggage claim. My bag didn't come off the carrier so I went to file a lost bag claim. Turns out my bag had been scanned but didn't come out on the belt. My first thought was that someone stole it, but after about 15 minutes, we found it! It would have been a long trip without my bag!! After we got my bag, we took the shuttle to the rental car facility and got our car. We made plans to meet a very good friend of mine from high school, so we plugged in the address and were on our way! We got a little lost, but ended up at the house around 7:45. Lucy made us a delicious pot roast dinner and it was great catching up with her! She had been living in Belgium for almost 3 years with her husband and two adorable kids, so it was so nice to see her. Kevin fell in love with Lucy's almost 2 year old daughter and it was so precious to see him interacting with her! I can't wait to see him with our own child!! We left Lucy's around 11 and drove to our hotel. We grabbed a quick drink at the bar before crashing!
Kevin's new friend, Gracie. She was so precious!
Lucy and I, great friends since high school!
We went to the ship around 9am on Thursday morning and got back to the hotel around 12:30pm. We showered and packed and then went to lunch. We ate at Dick's Last Resort, and boy was it fun! This is a restaurant where the servers are known for their sarcasm and entertaining service. I went with the girls in Vegas and have been ranting and raving about it ever since. We sure enjoyed ourselves! We left for the airport around 3:00pm and got ready for our flight over the pond. We left Baltimore at 5:30 and flew to Rome, by way of NYC. We had a great time in Baltimore!
Excited to experience the ridicule!
The servers make you these ridiculous hats. Mine was not nearly as entertaining as some of the other ones we saw.
On Wednesday June 20, Kevin and I flew to New Jersey. We had a ship inspection on Thursday morning, and had some extra work to do, so instead of flying home on Thursday, we extended our trip and planned to go to New York City for a few days after we were finished with work! We went to the ship pretty early on Thursday, just in case the extra work took longer than expected, and were pleasantly surprised when we were finished around noon! We went back to our hotel by the airport, packed our bags, and started our journey into NYC!! We took the free hotel shuttle to the airport and then got on a New Jersey rail road train to Penn Station. From there, we took the subway to Brooklyn and dropped our stuff off at our friend Ryan's house (he and his roommate Joseph were so kind to provide us a free place to sleep while we played in the city). We got to the apartment around 3:00 and visited with Joseph for a little while (Ryan was at work) and then ventured over to Times Square to get show tickets! Our main goal this trip was to get tickets to see The Book of Mormon so that was where we went first. They have a lottery 2 hours before every show and we made it to the theater with just 2 minutes to spare. If you win the lotto, you can purchase 2 tickets for $32 each and they are located in the front row or the front boxes. Because this show is currently sold out for the next year, this was our only chance to get tickets and there were lots of other people that were as hopeful as we were. Unfortunately, we didn't win the lotto on Thursday, so we decided to go see The VocaPeople instead. We got discounted tickets for the 7pm show and then grabbed a quick dinner before the show started. We went to a restaurant called Blockheads and enjoyed burritos and margaritas. These were not just any everyday margaritas, they were frozen with Coronitas (mini Coronas) upside down inside them! It doesn't sound great, but the combination was actually awesome. The beer gave the marg a nice bubbly sensation. We went to the theatre around 6:30 and took our seats dead center in the 3rd row! The show was great! Here is a YouTube clip for those of you that may not be familiar with this group:
Obviously they sing everything a cappella and they are awesome!! They originated in Israel and one of the original cast members was still in the cast! We had a blast! This show is actually Off-Broadway, so our stage door experience was a little different than usual, but we still got 6 out of 8 autographs! We were pretty tired, so we went back to the apartment around 10. Both of our phones were dead, so we went back to the apartment assuming someone would be there, but we were wrong. I turned my phone on and had about 4% battery, and was able to make a plan with Ryan. We went to one of the local bars in Brooklyn and waited. Joseph actually ended up coming to get us and we were back at the apartment around midnight. We chatted until about 2am and then crashed!
The view of the Statue of Liberty and the new World Trade Center from the ship.
This is hard to read, but this is the planning I did on the flight to New York. You can't have a successful (cheap) trip without decent planning. And you always need to have backup options!
My delicious Margarita and Coronita!
Excited about our first show.
Being goofy!
Times Square!
We woke up around 9am on Friday morning and left the apartment around 10:45am. Ryan didn't have to work so he spent the day with us!! We tried our hand at the Book of Mormon lottery again, but were unsuccessful again. Instead, we took the subway down to Katz's deli. My cousin, Jackie, met us at the theatre and then the 4 of us went to eat lunch. We met up with Ryan's girlfriend, Joy, and her friend, Donna. Lunch was delicious as always! As we were getting ready to leave there was a torrential downpour, so we stayed inside until the rain let up and then went back to the apartment to change clothes. We went back to Times Square around 5pm, for the 6:00 lottery for Ghost the Musical. A classmate of Kevin's from high school, and a former student of Lynn's, Josh Franklin, is currently on Broadway in Ghost so we were so excited to see him in the show!! We entered the lotto and Ryan's name was called, so we for sure had 2 out of 3 tickets. We were just going to go to TKTS to get the 3rd ticket, but Kevin's name was called too, so we got 3 front row seats for a total of $75!! Right after we got our tickets the torrential rain began again. We ran to a nearby brewery and had some drinks and appetizers before the show and were back at the theatre at 8pm. The show was great and the special effects were awesome! It is always so incredible to see someone you know on stage, and to see them on a Broadway stage is as good as it gets! We met Josh at the stage door after the show, and he introduced us to a few of the leads. He wasn't feeling well, so we didn't go out after the show, but made plans to meet on Saturday. We met up with a friend of Ryan's for a little while after the show and got back to the apartment around 1:30am. It was another fantastic day!!
Kevin and Ryan at Katz's Deli.
Jackie and I at the deli.
The torrential downpour that began right after we purchased our Ghost tickets.
Getting drinks and nibbles before seeing Ghost the Musical!
The Ghost marquee!
We were so excited to see Josh on Broadway!
Kevin, Josh Franklin, Caissie Levy, and me!
So excited!
This is Norm Lewis who plays Porgy in Porgy and Bess. I saw the show in March, but didn't get to see him because I went to a Matinee. Very cool!
We woke up around 9am again on Saturday and left the apartment around 11am. Can you guess where we went first? If you guessed the Book of Mormon lotto, you guessed right!! The lotto was at 12:00 for the 2:00 matinee, and this time WE WON!!! I could not believe they called my name! There were probably 150 people there and my name was 1 of 11 called! The best part about winning the tickets for this matinee is that it gave us a chance to enter a different lotto for Saturday evening! I purchased our 2 tickets, located in the front left box, for only $64, and then we went to lunch at Shake Shack! This is the burger restaurant we ate at in Dubai, that seriously has the best burgers I have ever eaten! This day was turning out to be incredibly memorable! We got to the show around 1:30 and had an absolute blast. This is probably the funniest show I have ever seen. There is definitely a reason it won 9 Tony Awards and is sold out for the next year! Sadly, the 3 main original characters had all left the show a few weeks earlier, but their replacements were great! We went to the stage door after the show, but because it was a matinee, I didn't expect any of the leads to come out. To my great surprise, they all came out! We were so excited! We had about and hour to kill before Kevin was meeting up with Josh and I went to another lotto, so we went to Ryan's restaurant and had drinks and appetizers. Around 5:45pm, Kevin and I went our separate ways. My plan was to try my luck at the Newsies lotto and if that didn't work, to go to the Peter and the Starcatcher lotto, while Kevin met up with Josh. Unfortunately, I did not win the Newsies lotto, but on my way to the next lotto, I noticed a standing room only line for Newsies. I decided to try and get tickets for Newsies this way, and was successful!! I couldn't believe in the same day, I had gotten tickets to two of the most sought after shows on Broadway! I was literally floating on cloud nine!! I met Kevin and Josh for about 20 minutes and then Kevin and I made our way to the Theatre. Little to my knowledge, Kevin had made arrangements with Josh, who had a friend in Newsies, to take us backstage after the show. I could not even believe it! This was turning out to be one of the best, most memorable, days of my life! Everything was falling into place! Newsies was also amazing! It was a little rough standing through the whole show, but absolutely worth it! The dancing was amazing! It was so incredible for me to be sharing these experiences with Kevin! I knew how much he wanted to see both Book of Mormon and Newsies and I was so proud to be able to make this possible for him!! After the show ended, we went to the stage door and met up with Garett, Josh's friend. Garett took us backstage and showed us some of the props and then we chatted for a few minutes on the stage. I could not believe I was standing on a Broadway Stage! It was such an incredible feeling and experience. The stage door was crazy with screaming fans, and it was almost impossible to find a decent spot, so Kevin and I started the journey back to Brooklyn. We got back to the house around midnight and visited with Ryan and Joseph before crashing around 2:00am. It was an AMAZING day!!
The best burger I have ever tasted! I sure hope they branch out soon!
I still can't believe we won the lotto!
So excited to see the show! The magical frog was excited too!
Rory O'Malley! He is an original cast member that has an incredible roll in the show. We loved him!
Does this really need an explanation?
Standing on the Newsies stage with our new friend, and Newsies cast member, Garrett Hawe! Such a surreal experience!
Our flight left on Sunday around 5pm, so we hung around the apartment for a while, before leaving around 1pm. This trip was so special and memorable for me! New York is truly an experience and I am so glad I got to share my passion of getting cheap theatre tickets with Kevin! To put it in perspective, we saw 4 Broadway shows in three days, and spent less than $250 total! We had an absolute blast and can't wait for the next trip!
On Thursday June 7, Kevin and I flew to Rome! We flew from Colorado Springs to Washington Dulles, had a 6 hour layover, and then flew from Dulles to Rome. We arrived in Rome around 8:30am on Friday and stayed at the airport for about 2 hours while we waited for some friends of ours to arrive. Our friends arrived around 10:45 and we made a plan to meet later in the day. Kevin and I took the Leonardo Express to Termini Station and went to our hotel. We couldn't check in yet, so we changed clothes and started walking to our meeting point. Our friends rented a car because they were driving up to Montepulciano later that day and they got pretty lost on the way. We finally met them around 2pm and grabbed a quick lunch before they left for Montepulciano. Our plan was to go to the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon but our friends needed to get back on the road. It was so great to see them, if even just for a short visit! Kevin and I went back to the hotel around 3:30pm and took a nap. We went out for dinner around 9pm and fell asleep around midnight.
Our friends Josh and Sharina.
We woke up around 1pm on Saturday and left the hotel shortly after. We ate lunch at an Irish pub and then made our way over to the Trevi Fountain. I have been to the Trevi Fountain numerous times and I am always amazed by how spectacular it is, as well as all of the people always there! I read somewhere on this trip that Rome collects more then €3,000 per day from the fountain! That is crazy!! When we were done with all the people, we went over to the Pantheon. When we got there, we realized we couldn't go inside for about 45 minutes so we found a restaurant in the piazza and enjoyed a bottle of wine. It was so fun to people watch in such a beautiful space. We went inside the Pantheon around 6pm and then made our way over to the Colosseum. We made a pit stop at the cat sanctuary and Capitoline Hill before reaching the Colosseum. We walked around for a little while, spotted 6 brides, and went back to the hotel around 8pm.
This sign makes me happy. There are so many incredible things to see in Rome and they are all relatively close together.
We found a spot away from the majority of the people!
We actually asked someone to take this photo for us, and it didn't turn out half bad. There are a lot of people out there who are not the best photographers!
This is a panoramic shot that Kevin took on his phone. It gives you an idea of how small the space actually is and how many people there were!
The Pantheon!
Kevin being creative while we drink our wine and wait to go inside the Pantheon.
Yum! This was a great spot to relax and people watch while we waited!
This is the oculus inside the Pantheon.
The cat sanctuary is located in these ruins which is where Julius Ceasar was murdered in 44 BC!
A statue of Romulus and Remus and the She-wolf on Capitol Hill.
Overlooking the Roman Forum.
Our first trip to the Colosseum this trip.
We woke up at 6:45 on Sunday morning and caught the 7:42am train to Civitavechia. We got to the ship around 9:30am and were done around 11:00. We got off the ship with the Sports Supervisor, Sergio, and grabbed lunch at a restaurant in Civi. It is always fun to spend time with the people we work with! We got back to our hotel around 3pm and took another nap. We woke up around 7pm and realized there was a soccer game going on, so we went back to the pub, got some dinner, and watched the game. We really weren't very tired after our long nap, so we decided to go out and take some night photos! Our first stop was the Colosseum. We enjoyed the view for a little while, and then made our way back to the Trevi Fountain. It was so nice to see the fountain without so many people! Around 1:00am we decided to head back to the hotel. We crashed around 2:00am.
A massive statue in Civitavechia. Sergio is on the left.
Another successful attempt at being creative (Kevin's idea not mine)!
And another. If you look closely, you will see our reflection in the glass (again, Kevin's idea, not mine).
In front of the Santa Maria Maggiore.
The second visit to the Colosseum. I LOVE this picture! For any photographers out there....nothing was edited. This came straight out of the camera!
This is the Arch of Constantine.
This is another one I LOVE! We were out late enough that there weren't very many people out and the colors were spectacular!
I may have impressed myself just a little :)
Piazza Venetzia.
Back at the Trevi Fountain. Everything was so beautiful all lit up!
This is the whole fountain! I was able to capture this because there were not as many people!
Just the two of us! I sure love our adventures together!
Our plan on Monday was to go to the Catacombes, but after doing some research, and learning that we wouldn't see any bones, we decided not to go. Instead we had a very low key day. We ate lunch around 3pm, walked back over to the Colosseum and Capitoline Hill to do some shopping, and then went back to the hotel. We watched Angels and Demons and fell asleep around 1am.
Our delicious lunch. I could eat pasta all day everyday and not get tired of it!
We woke up around 6:45am on Tuesday and went to the ship. We were done working and back in the city by 2pm. We dropped the bag off, grabbed lunch, and then went over to the Vatican Museum. Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there, so we went to St. Peter's square instead. We got back to the hotel around 7pm, packed our bags and fell asleep around 9pm.
Our 3rd and final visit to the Colosseum (this trip).
A statue above the entrance to the Vatican Museum.
Beautiful St. Peter's!
Our flight home left at 11:00 am on Wednesday. We had an awesome trip!
