Day 6: Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast

We arrived at our first port of call, Naples, Italy, early Tuesday morning. My parents, Todd and I got off the ship and met our private tour guide for the day. It was great using an outside company for the day instead of the tour provided by Royal Caribbean because we didn't have to ride a charter bus and had more say in what we wanted to do.

We started the morning in Pompeii, a partly buried Roman city near Naples. Pompeii was destroyed and buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and was discovered in 1599. They are still excavating and uncovering parts of the city today which is incredible to think about. In history class growing up, I never realized how big Pompeii actually was. We spent 2 hours walking around and barely scratched the surface. It's amazing to think that the ruins we were looking at were about 2000 years old. In the United States, if we went to a historical site, we'd think it was really old if it was 300 years old, but in ancient cities in Europe, historical sites are thousands of years old.

View of Mt. Vesuvius from Pompeii

Ancient ruins

Family photo before it started to get really crowded with tourists
Amphitheater

The last site we saw in Pompeii was the Garden of the Fugitives. In 1961, 13 hollow spaces left from decomposed bodies were found and filled with plaster to make casts. It was amazing to see the detail from the bodies, you could even see their facial expressions.

Garden of the Fugitives

We left Pompeii and headed for a drive along the Amalfi Coast. We stopped at several towns, including Ravello and Amalfi. Despite the roads being very curvy, the drive was beautiful. I will admit though that I was glad I took motion sickness medicine beforehand!

Just starting the drive along the Amalfi Coast

Stopping for a quick picture

Shopping at the ceramic stores in Ravello

Lunch at San Giovanni between Ravello and Amalfi

Best gnocchi ever, it literally melted in my mouth

You have to have real pizza in Italy...it was the best pizza ever (notice a trend here?)

Todd & I enjoying real pizza

No meal in Italy is complete without wine & limoncello

The view from lunch

Beach in Amalfi

Todd & I

Plaza in Amalfi with lots of cafes & shops

My Mom & I at the church in Amalfi

Gelato...yum!

Fruit stand set up along the coast

Gorgeous view

Another one of Todd & I

We had a long but great day in southern Italy on Tuesday. The views along the coast were breathtaking and exactly how you imagine the Amalfi Coast to look like. Since we had such a long day, when we got back on the cruise ship, Todd & I skipped dinner in the formal dining room and grabbed a quick dinner in the cafe before calling it an early night. We knew we had a busy next couple of days in Rome & Florence.

Day 4-5: Voyager of the Seas Cruise Ship

My parents, Todd, and I boarded Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas cruise ship early Sunday afternoon. Since we dropped our luggage off before boarding and they deliver it to your room later that day, we had plenty of time to explore the ship before changing and getting ready for our first night of dinner & cocktails.

The view of Barcelona from the top deck of the ship

Todd & I checked out almost every nook and cranny on the ship and were amazed to find an ice skating rink, climbing wall, basketball court, inline skating track, minature golf, and a promenade with lots of shops. We grabbed a quick bite to eat in the cafe and then checked out the fitness center. Remember, the food is all-inclusive so we could eat whenever wherever everyday....drinks on the other hand were not included and extremely overpriced. Since I hadn't worked out or run in 2 days, I had some major guilt going on and this little voice in my head reminding I was running a marathon in less than a month so Todd and I headed to the fitness center on the cruise ship for a workout.

View of a couple of the pools from the top deck....people we already in their swimsuits within 15 minutes of getting on the ship

After our workout, we went to our room and saw our luggage waiting for us outside the door. We showered up and got ready for dinner in the formal dining room. As you know from the other day, after dinner, the rest of the night was a night I'll never forget.

Posing before dinner

Enjoying a lava flow after dinner....it was half strawberry daiquiri & half pina colada

My fiancee & I

Watching the welcome parade in the Royal Promenade

Monday was our only day at sea before we had 5 straight days of visiting cities in Italy & France. It was nice to sleep in a little bit and get a run in on the treadmill. It was a very relaxing day and we spent most of it by the pool. The weather was absolutely perfect too.....sunny & in the 80s as we sailed to Naples, Italy.

Poolside buffet

Todd catching a few zzz's.....probably while I talked wedding with my Mom

Belly flop contest at the pool

Gotta love the Europeans in their speedos....I believe this was the winner of the Mr. Sexy Legs contest.....the ladies were loving him

Todd & I enjoying the specialty drink of the day at the ice skating show before dinner

It was amazing what the skaters could do on such a small rink

First formal night at dinner

My parents bought a bottle of champagne at dinner to celebrate our engagement

It was nice to have a day to relax at sea and take advantage of all the activities on the ship before a busy next few days. I loved being able to lay out at the pool....while admiring my new ring of course!

Day 1-3: Airplane, Munich Airport, Barcelona

Todd and I left on Thursday, September 16 for a 10 day trip with my parents throughout Spain, Italy, and France. We were flying into Barcelona and would stay there for a few days before getting on a cruise ship for a 7 day Mediterranean cruise that would take us to Italy and France. We flew into Philadelphia and then flew into Munich before finally landing in Barcelona. There were some pretty bad thunderstorms flying into Philly so they shut down the airport and we weren't allowed to get off the plane. By the time we got off and figured out that we had to go to a terminal on the other side of the airport, we had about 10 minutes to make our flight to Munich. I felt like the family on Home Alone sprinting through the airport. They had already called final boarding but luckily hadn't shut the door yet so we made it in the nick of time. In fact, we had to kick some people out of our seats on the plane because they thought no one was going to sit there since they had already called final boarding. We flew through the night and landed in Munich at 3:00 AM our time but 9:00 AM in Munich. We had a couple hours to kill before our final flight to Barcelona so Todd and my Dad decided to grab a beer. Yes, at 3:00 AM they got a beer at the airport.

Todd & I at 3:00 AM with his big beer

We arrived in Barcelona early in the afternoon and checked into our hotel. We walked around the city a bit, grabbed some food, and made it an early evening since we were pretty tired.

My parents, Todd, and I got up early Saturday morning to see the sights in Barcelona. Our first stop of the day was to the most famous sight in Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia. It's a Catholic church that has been under construction since 1882 and isn't expected to be finished for another 20 years or so. Antoni Gaudi was a famous Spanish architect who designed the church. It has taken so long to complete because of all the intricate details and the fact that it's construction is supported solely on private donations and the money from the admission to get in.

A poster announcing the Pope is visiting La Sagrada Familia in November

One side of La Sagrada Familia

A view of part of the ceiling inside

Some of the intricate details on the outside

The other side of La Sagrada Familia....you can see all the construction work

It was an amazing sight to see but after a few hours wandering around inside, outside, and in the museum, I was ready to go. We headed down a street with some other famous buildings that Gaudi designed.

Todd & I on a mosaic bench designed by Gaudi

An apartment building designed by Gaudi with a great rooftop terrace

One last building by Gaudi....the front of the building was covered in colored designs

We walked down La Rambla, a street in central Barcelona that is very crowded with tourists and locals. Along the way, there were many street vendors and performers trying to earn a living.

La Rambla

Off the main street, we stopped in the market for a quick walk around. I was curious what the market in Barcelona would have that's different than in the U.S.

Mercat de la Boqueria
Lots of booths with candy

Lots of fresh fruits & veggies....I noticed bananas were really expensive there too

And lots of disgusting animal products like tongue, brains, and heads

We walked all the way down to the lower end of La Rambla to the Columbus Monument. The monument was built to remember that this is where Christopher Columbus stopped after his famous trip. You can tell that at the top of the monument, he's pointing to America.

Columbus Monument

We were able to take an elevator to the top of the monument and have some amazing views of the city.

A view of Barcelona from the top....you can see La Sagrada Familia in the back with the construction

View of La Rambla

View of the port & cruise ships

Todd & I posing on the lion at the bottom of the monument

We stopped for a quick afternoon snack and took a quick nap before heading out for some more walking along La Rambla and a late dinner.

Todd with a homemade waffle topped with gelato

Todd & I on the balcony of our hotel room

The restaurant where we ate dinner

Real Spanish Sangria....delicious!

After a great night of sleep, we got up on Sunday morning and had breakfast before heading over to the port to get aboard our cruise ship, Voyager of the Seas, for the week.

Best hot chocolate of my life....it was so thick, it was literally melted chocolate and no milk

Nothing like a healthy breakfast of churros & hot chocolate