Day 13 – August 19th, 2006

We write to you from this, our penultimate day on the boat. L We are sad to see our trip come to and end as we pull into our final port tomorrow. It’s back to reality soon. Today was an incredibly relaxing day at sea, but we thought of a few things we can share to give our readers a bit of a laugh.

First, to make you jealous: We slept in, had a nice breakfast, and spent hours at the pool and lounging in the sun. We won $44 at the casino on our last night to gamble. We got dressed up for formal night and had a delicious fancy dinner.

Now, to make you laugh: After searching for a good half hour for lounge chairs at the pool (we slept a little late and the crowd beat us to the pool), we finally found two right next to our new buddies from Florida. We listened to her for an hour go on and on about how she doesn’t speak to her mother-in-law and lost $5,000 in cash out of her purse at home. We definitely know more about this girl and her relationship with her in-laws than we ever should. It made us reflect on the great relationships we each have with our own in-laws. We’re hoping to leverage these great relationships towards future cruise/vacation opportunities – Libman/Brodsky Family Vacation ’08, it’s fantastic! J

But on to the good stuff- we had lunch today in the dining room for the first time. Usually we are off the boat during lunch time, but today we were at sea. When we got to the dining room, they told us we had to change because Seth was wearing a cut-off shirt without sleeves. Apparently they were fine with his swimming shorts and flip flops, though. After changing and going back down to the dining room (this had better be worth the extra effort of changing!), they sat us at a table with two other older couples - both from parts of California. The one guy worked for some sort of music industry, setting up concerts between big name entertainers and concert venues. We heard all about how Stevie Wonder and Jamie Foxx (Jamie Foxx?!) charge a million bucks for a concert but Stevie refuses to play for people who can buy a ticket – he’ll only play for charity events and fundraisers, etc. He also told us about how Los Lonely Boys are falling into a dangerous drug spiral. Los Lonely Boys??! Seth didn’t think they were popular enough to be able to afford a drug addiction. Seth remembered the concerts they were scheduled to play with Guster a year ago when they cancelled at the last minute for “family reasons.” We think we know what those “family reasons” are now. Anyways, he went on and on about how successful he is, yada yada yada. Then he tells us about how much money they spent on this cruise. Their flight that cost $2,100, which they then upgraded to first class seats. They told us about losing an easy 10 grand at the casino, and another 10 grand on shopping. Then we heard all about the 46 carat topaz necklace, earrings, and ring, surrounded by diamonds that he bought his wife. He wanted to get her a gown too, so she’d look proper when they went to all their fancy awards shows and whatnot. He said that he bought it for her to make up for the amount of money he has spent on himself lately - on his 2 new “toy” cars. The corvette he had wasn’t good enough because he wanted a T- top as well. On the way to the dealership, he saw a ’56 Buick original that he had to have. Let’s just say it was an interesting and entertaining meal.

Well, it’s been fun y’all. Tomorrow we dock in Venice and spend an extra night there. We’re a little concerned about getting our luggage from the ship to the hotel because there are no transfers available for our hotel and we’re going to need to take their version of a subway train (but instead of a subway, it goes on water, and instead of a train it’s like a bus, so it’s really nothing like a subway train) to get there. Loading 6 huge bags onto the “water bus(?)” could be interesting for the two of us. But we suppose if we survived our luggage ordeal in Barcelona, we can handle this. Besides, we’re not so sure we’ll be able to fly with any of our luggage back home – it seems as though the luggage restrictions have tightened up over the last week. We’re not sure if we’ll have a chance to post anymore, but we hope you have enjoyed reading about our journeys on our honeymoon. We have loved hearing your comments and knowing that at least a few people care about what we’re up to over here! We’ll be home Monday night and are looking forward to seeing everyone.

We are sitting downstairs in the atrium area preparing to copy and paste all this into the blog. Apparently tonight was the night for the formal champagne celebration. We’re sitting here in our hoodies and flip-flops while everyone else is still in their formalwear celebrating in a conga line to Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. Oops.

Day 12 – August 17th, 2006

We woke up this morning to the boat docking in Athens! We’re back in Greece. This trip is incredible! We woke up bright and early at 6 a.m., had some breakfast, and then met our tour. Luckily our first stop on our tour, the Temple of Poseidon, was an hour and a half bus ride away, so we had a chance to get a bit more sleep. The temperature today was scorching, reaching what we think we converted to 104 degrees!!

We got off the bus at the Temple of Poseidon. After climbing to the top of the big hill, we saw the ruins of this grand temple, built 2500 years ago. We are absolutely amazed that these buildings remain from so long ago. It is unfortunate to hear that the reason why parts are destroyed is due to people, not to natural causes or weathering.

We stopped at the gift shop on the way down, where Amy found some books and posters that she wanted for her classroom, then back on the bus for an hour to reach the city center of Athens. We toured through the city on the bus, seeing Olympic stadiums and the homes of the President and Prime Minister. We then climbed our way to the Acropolis. Unfortunately the bus couldn’t take us too far, so most of the climbing was done by foot. It was hot!

Reaching the top of the Acropolis, we saw the magnificent Parthenon. Again, an incredible building still standing after 2500 years! It’s just hard to believe we were looking at something that old. We were blown away by the Greek’s knowledge of architecture and building materials. Again, it was another building that only saw destruction by the hands of people, not by natural causes. After standing for about 2200 years, it was bombed about 300 years ago as part of a holy war.

We spent time atop the Acropolis, then walked with our tour group to the Plaka (or flat lands – relatively speaking), which houses a large shopping district. We had lunch at a local restaurant. It was a traditional Greek lunch – pretty good. We sat with a nice couple from Nashville. They seemed to be pretty worldly, telling us about all of the cruising and traveling they had done. We were a bit skeptical of their worldliness though when they had no idea where Cleveland was, thinking Ohio was underneath Indiana! Oops!

After lunch we had some free time to explore the shops. We were a bit worn out from all the shopping at this point. There are only so many stores selling the exact same replica merchandise that we could handle – especially in the heat. We were happy to get back on the bus to continue our tour of the city and head back the boat.

Upon returning to the ship, we went out to the pool for a while. The sun cooled down big time and it was much more comfortable being up on the deck. Unfortunately, the main pool was crowded with a bunch of mischievous kids, so we headed to the adult pool. The adult pool was completely in the shade of the nightclub overhead, which is suspended over the top back of the ship like a spoiler on the back of a car. For this reason, the pool was frigid. After watching Amy’s teeth chatter away like it was February in Cleveland (note: it’s August in the Mediterranean), Seth decided it was time to get out of the pool and warm up under the sun. We relaxed for a long time, before heading to a late dinner at 9:30 p.m. Amy was so excited that crab legs were on the menu tonight!! Yum! Sittting one table over from us was that rude family from the Italian restaurant – they were at it again. It appeared as though they were having a heated conversation with the waiter, asking to talk to the head chef or something. They got up and left, and our waiter came over to fill us in on what just went down (apparently he could read us well and knew we were into gossip!). Apparently, the food was not up to their standards and they wanted to complain to the head chef that his food wasn’t any good. Keep in mind we just had king crab for dinner tonight. We’re glad we’re not the type of people who can’t enjoy a 12-day Mediterranean cruise because it’s not good enough for us. We’re loving everything about this cruise and would not change a thing (except maybe the length – only 2 days left?!?!). This is the perfect honeymoon. After dinner we went to see the Movie under the Stars – Over the Hedge, and then headed to bed. We’re looking forward to our day at sea tomorrow!

Day 11 – August 16th, 2006

We continue our travels today in Turkey, this time docking in Kusadasi. We’ve decided to explore the port city on our own today, opting out of an organized tour. We slept in a bit, had some breakfast, and then got off the boat when it docked around noon. Seth’s plan was to go up to the top deck and grab a slice of pizza before getting off the boat. When we got on the elevator, he got the best surprise of the trip – the person already on the elevator was holding a Burger King cup! That could only mean one thing – there was a Burger King nearby. We skipped the pizza and he was SO excited to see a Burger King right when we got off the boat. It was like a kid in a candy shop. His eyes lit up bright and wide as he wandered in and ordered his first Whopper in two weeks (they also had a sandwich called the “Big King,” which he can’t wait to see come to the states)! See Todd, it didn’t take too long for him to find his BK!

It was going to be hard to top that excitement, but we ventured into Kusadasi anyway to see what the town had to offer. We walked up and down the streets for a while, seeing the modern part of the city, as well as the Bazaar - second in size only to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. We walked around for a while, but the people were extremely pushy in trying to get you to buy their goods. It got tiring!

After a while, we went back to the boat for some afternoon sunning and relaxing! We then tried out the ship’s steak restaurant for dinner. We were hoping it would be a better, less daring experience than the Italian specialty restaurant. We were not disappointed. Amy’s shrimp cocktail appetizer was delicious and Seth’s 22 oz. porterhouse was just what he had been waiting for the whole trip (and this was in addition to two appetizers, a salad, and a desserts – gotta love cruises)! We were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was and in a nice, relaxing atmosphere. From start to finish, this dinner took about 2 hours, as opposed to the rushed 30 minute dinners we’ve been having in the regular dining room.

After dinner we tried our hand for a bit at the casino again, and then decided to head to bed. We have an early morning tomorrow in Athens!

Day 10 – August 15th, 2006

We arrived this morning in Istanbul. We’re in Turkey! Gosh, who would’ve thought this day would come. And to top it all, we beat Mom and Dad B. here. We’re pretty sure they’re not happy about that. We plan to buy something here to give to them to try to make up for it. As we pulled into port, we watched from our balcony as the sight of the large Turkish flag came into sight, surrounded by mosques and minarets plastering the coastline. We got ourselves ready and headed down to meet our tour group.

We’ve definitely run into our share of strange people on this cruise. Today was no exception. As we were walking down the gangway to the land, at the end they have a photographer there who takes your picture which you can choose to purchase later. We stop to have our picture taken, and the couple behind us jams in front of us, right as the picture snaps and runs down the rest of the gangway. They were trying to be the first on the bus to get a front row seat (which is definitely worth it). We complained about them on the way to the bus, but had our laughs when we boarded and realized the first two rows were saved for handicapped seating on this tour bus and they were stuck a few rows back. HA!

Anyway, back to Turkey. Our first stop on the tour was Topkapi Palace. This used to be the palace where the Sultan and his harem would live. It was in use from 500-1900, when they built another seaside palace. The Palace is closed to the public on Tuesdays, but our tour groups had private access. That was nice because it made it much less crowded. We were in awe at the architecture within the palace. The architecture in Turkey is so different from anything we have ever seen before. We got to see some of the old Sultans’ belongings - including thrones, swords, jewelry, and an 86-carat diamond. YOWSERS!

From the Palace we went to the Grand Bazaar. We went to a carpet store for a demonstration on how they make the famous Turkish carpets. It was cool to see how it was done. One carpet he showed us took 3 ½ years to make and enough silk to circle the globe! We then went into the Bazaar. It was intimidating at first. It was very crowded, and shop owners working their stands and store fronts would come after you trying to get you to buy their goods. We tried our hand at the haggling and negotiating. We think we were successful, being able to talk down a few different merchants into what we thought were good prices. Go us!

We met back up with our tour group and headed to the Blue Mosque. It was strange going inside of a mosque for the first time. We were both blown away by the incredible architecture inside with all of the blue and white tile work. Something else blew us away here. While standing in a group with the tour guide provided insightful commentary on the majestic building around us, some guy next to us unabashedly ripped one big time. There was no disguising it. Being the mature honeymooners that we are, we stepped away quickly, looked at each other, and burst out laughing.

We then crossed the Hippodrome to the Saint Sofia Museum. The history of the Hipodrome was impressive – there was an Egyptian obelisk was brought here from Egypt and spent the first 100 years on the shore until it could be erected inland. The Saint Sofia Museum was built almost 1500 years ago and is still standing strong. It was originally built as a church, but was converted to a mosque a few hundred years ago. Because of this, there were mosaics and paintings of Jesus and other Christian elements inside the mosque. Since the 1930s though, it has been used as a museum only, not as an active mosque. We toured through the museum, seeing its enormous columns and grand mosaics.

It was time now to return to our bus. While we waited for our driver to return, locals on the street saw easy prey in our tour group, trying to sell water, bagels on a big stick, pashminas, and other items. We still have ringing in our heads the sounds of “two for one dollah, two for one dollah!”

We got back to the ship and headed to the pool for a while. While in the pool we felt the reverberations of the jets of a Jacuzzi, however there were no jets in this pool. We looked at each other, sensing that the guy from our tour group must not be too far away. The sun tired us out though, and after a while at the pool (and a few slices of pizza), we came back and took a two hour nap before dinner! Dinner tonight wasn’t up there on our favorites list. Oh well. After picking at his dinner without eating much, the waiter offered Seth the choice of ordering a second entrée. Knowing that there was an all-you-can-eat 24-hour buffet not too far away, he declined. However, he did order two desserts to make up for it. After dinner we went to one of the lounges and watched the movie-version of Rent on the big screen. Then it was time for bed. Tomorrow we dock in Kusadasi!

Day 9 – August 14th, 2006

This morning we arrived in Mykonos, one of the Greek Isles. After a nice room service breakfast on the balcony, we got ready to see what this island had to offer. We decided not to go on a formal tour today, but to explore a bit on our own.

When we got off the boat, we took a shuttle into Mykonos Town. We were both expecting the island to be covered with bright white sand beaches as far as the eye could see with crystal blue waters. Well, it wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. We walked for a few minutes through the quaint but kind of dirty little town, and finally found a small (very small) beach. The sand was littered with cigarette butts and trash, and it was clear by the plethora of blue and white striped Princess towels that this was clearly just a tourist spot. Oh well, it’s a beach, we settled down for a bit.

The water was amazingly clear. We waded out for a while and enjoyed looking out one way to the vast openness of the Mediterranean, and the other towards all of the identical white buildings with blue shutters dotting the hillside. We could see little fish swimming around our legs in the water. Seth enjoyed seeing them; they kinda freaked out Amy. The feelings may have been reversed had there been dogs in the water instead of fish.

After lying out to dry off, we walked through the town for a while. There wasn’t much to it. There were lots of little touristy shops and restaurants. Everything was completely Americanized, it looked like a city made just for tourists. Everything was in English. We suppose if we had taken a tour around to other parts of the island it would’ve been different. (sigh) As much as we’ve tried out local food joints, we figured “burgers and hot dogs” wasn’t exactly the local delicacy.

We got back on the boat in the afternoon and enjoyed the afternoon sun for a while by the pool. It was relaxing lying poolside, soaking up the sun while watching The Incredibles on the big screen theater screen outside by the pool. We enjoyed dinner tonight. Seth got some good spaghetti and meatballs and Amy tried Mahi Mahi for the first time. It was actually quite good! Then, another losing round at the casino (we’ve gotta stop this!) and to the movie under the stars- Mission Impossible 3. Another successful day on the waters…tomorrow it’s off to Istanbul!

Day 8 – August 13th, 2006

Finally a day at sea! While we have absolutely loved everything we have seen and done on shore, we were relieved to have a day at sea to do nothing but relax (and sleep in a little, too). And relax we did! The captain informed us yesterday that at 2 a.m. this morning we would be passing an island which could be a beautiful sight since we had a nearly-full moon.

We woke up at noon (after turning the clocks ahead an hour), and finally made our way up to the top of the ship around 1:30 p.m. After a Mexican lunch at the buffet, we went in search of lounge chairs in the sun. There’s nothing like a couple of quick burritos in your stomach before baking out in the sun. Trying to find a lounge char was quite the trick! Most people had been up there for hours, so it was tough to find a place to sit. We bumped into a couple from Cleveland who we had met earlier in the trip and they had a couple seats nearby for us. Unfortunately, they were in a portion of the ship which was extremely windy, and not far from a couple of doors with signs that read “WARNING: ACID” and “WARNING: CHLORINE.” We decided to continue looking for lounge chairs elsewhere. Finally we found two chairs and stretched out to relax.

More chairs opened up around the pool, so we made our way to the poolside in front of the big movie screen playing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. We enjoyed our afternoon reading and sunning. Perhaps Amy enjoyed too much, because her legs look a bit lobster-like right now. And a sun-burnt lobster, at that. Oops!

We enjoyed the time in the sun, and then came back to the room to get ready for formal night! We met up with a couple we met earlier in the trip from Orlando. The guy, David, went to Michigan a few years before Amy. The four of us enjoyed the captain’s gala and a nice, leisurely formal dinner. It was fun getting to know other people on the ship and have some company one night for dinner.

We all went down to the Movie under the Stars screen after and watched Proof – not such a great movie. Gwyneth Paltrow played a brilliant mathematician; Seth had issues with this casting decision. We then headed to the casino (didn’t do as well tonight) and walked around the ship for a while. We were in the middle of water everywhere, so all you could see from all sides was blackness and stars. It was surreal. We walked towards the way back of the ship and stood right above the engines – the churning waters were reminiscent of our trip to Niagara Falls.

After a final stop at the late night buffet where Seth was sorely disappointed at the quality of the 2 a.m. pizza, we retired for the evening. We are looking forward to the beach at Mykonos tomorrow. We’re only there for a half day, so we’re going to try to get up a little early to make the most of the day.

Day 7 – August 12th, 2006

Today we docked off the coast of Naples, Italy. Walking off the boat, it seemed like there wasn’t a whole lot going on in the city of Naples itself. That image, combined with what we had heard from people about the area, led us to take a shore excursion to Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. We boarded the bus and were on our way.

We headed first to the ancient city of Pompeii. It was very cool! We made our way through the old streets, seeing ruins of houses, temples, and city shops. They have tons of recovered artifacts from the destroyed city. The neatest thing, of course, were the people who were frozen in time in poses they held as the city was coated in lava during the volcano’s eruption.

We headed fro m Pompeii to a coral cameo factory. We saw how the artist made cameos from pieces of shells and how jewelry was made with coral. We had some time to browse and shop if we wanted, but this jewelry wasn’t exactly Amy’s style, much to Seth’s relief when he saw the price tags!

Finally, we made it up to Mt. Vesuvius. The bus ride up the volcano was awesome! We got lucky to get the front seat on the bus. It was a bit scary watching our large tour bus climb up the incredibly curvy, winding, steep road. We were amazed that we made it through some of the turns.

We reached as high as the bus and cars could take us and got out to walk the rest of the way up. Yes - we climbed a volcano! The path was steep and gravel covered, but we made it up. The views were incredible - both looking into the crater of the volcano and out over Naples and the sea.

The walk down was scary. The path was completely covered with volcanic ash and pieces of pumice and you know we aren’t exactly the daintiest people around! We made it down with no problem though, to continue our interesting drive back down the steep, curvy road.

Boarding the bus, we returned to the ship, had some food, and sipped daiquiris in the hot tub. It was fun lying out on the back of the boat. The sun wasn’t too hot and a nice breeze blew across the ship.

We went to the dining room later to find a French dinner awaiting us - this could be interesting. We had been pretty adventurous and daring with our meals earlier in the honeymoon, but neither of us were willing to try out the frog legs. Eventually we found things we’d eat, and definitely enjoyed the ice cream sundaes for dessert!

After that it was back to the casino once again where we ended up a little bit ahead (very little bit – but at least it was ahead), then journeyed around the ship for a while. Then it was off to bed! We’re looking forward to the day at sea tomorrow. All this vacationing sure can be tiring!