12 Days- 8+ Cities

Wayne and I had the opportunity 

to take a trip of a lifetime!

So we left on a Thursday from

 Cincinnati and ended up in...

Barcelona Spain

We spent 2 1/2 fabulous days exploring this 

beautiful and historic city!

la Sagrada Familia

We fell in love with the architecture of Antoni Gaudi!

Casa Batlló- Dragon House

Park Güell

Sunday afternoon we

boarded the Norwegian Epic

Monday went spent the day at Sea!

The Blue Man Group

Catching some great on board entertainment!

Tuesday morning we docked in

Naples, Italy.

And took the train to Pompeii.

Pompeii is very large and is still an active archaeological site.

To think the whole city disappeared in such a short amount of time...

The coliseum in Pompeii.  So cool!

Wednesday we woke up in a port right near Rome!

We took a fast train to Rome which

landed us right outside of the

Vatican! 

The Pope was out when we arrived.

Can you see him on the jumbo-tron?

We saw the Sistine Chapel!

The Spanish Steps

The Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon

With it's stunning open air domed ceiling!

And of course the Colosseum!

Beautiful sunset from the ship!

Thursday morning we woke up 

in the port of Livorno, Italy.

And took the train into Florence!

In most of the cities Wayne and I walked or braved

cheap public transportation, ie bus or metro.

In Florence, we spent the whole day walking

exploring this quaint city!

Ghiberti's doors "The Gates of Paradise"

The line to see Michelangelo's David was very long so

we skipped seeing this masterpiece.

Pulling out of the port in Livorno Thursday evening.

Sunset Thursday evening from the ship!

Friday we woke up in the 

port of Marseille, France.

Marseille ended up being a sweet surprise of a day!

See the church on the top of the hill?

We walked up to the top!

The view from the top was simply stunning!

Unlike Florence where they charged to view the inside of the 

cathedrals, the buildings in Marseille were open

to the public for free!

Wayne loved the contrast of the old building on the left

with the modern building on the right!

This city has a thriving artist community!

Wonderful back streets to explore!

Sunset from the ship Friday night!

Pulling into the harbor of Palma,

 Spain Saturday afternoon!

We spent Saturday afternoon exploring the city of Palma, Spain.

A beautiful city full of historical sites...

quaint alleys...

and lovely gardens!

The rest of the afternoon was spent under an umbrella reading

and napping aboard the ship!

Our last sunset aboard the ship!

On Sunday we were back in port of Barcelona

and took a plane over to Madrid!

We spent the next day and 1/2 exploring Madrid!

From the museums to the walking tours of the old city...

it was beautiful and fun!

Monday evening we flew to our final city!

Making the most of a 12 hour overnight layover in...

Paris, France!

The view from our hotel balcony!

Christine, I so wished you were here to see this with us!

Tuesday morning we left Paris and flew home!

Things we learned :

This trip was a total gift and blessing!

This was a perfect way to celebrate 21 years of marriage!

Thanks to my wonderful parents, the kids and dogs

survived our time away... even thrived!

We are cruise people, it was a great way to see so

many cities over such a short time!

God's world is beautiful!

Thank you Mom and Dad for:

the airline tickets

for taking care of the kids and pups

for cleaning the refrigerator :) and

the rest of the house!

for your unconditional love.

We love you!