tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41128127587392945192024-02-06T23:33:47.775-06:00Sarah Travels the WorldSarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-4774499890115739682010-09-08T20:42:00.003-05:002011-07-26T00:23:59.508-05:00San Antonio: Day 8It's my last day in San Antonio. :-( It really has been a nice, long trip, though, so I can't complain too much! It's just never long enough when you're trying to catch up with friends and spend time with family. I'm glad I got to spend so much time with my brother, though. That was important to me.<br />
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During the night, the crazy rain continued. I woke up several times from either the thunder rattling the windows (and setting off car alarms!) or even just the rain beating the pavement. I checked the radar this morning, and it seems there is no end in sight. They estimate about a foot of rain before its all over. There is bad flooding for sure.<br />
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I woke up around 7:00am, said goodbye to Kristina, and then worked on getting myself and all of my things ready. At 9:30, Jon picked me up and we went to the Egg & I for breakfast. He dropped me back off at the apartment, and David picked me and my luggage up there. We went to say goodbye to mom at her work, and then David dropped me off at the airport a little after 12:30. Flying home was easy, if not a little drawn out (layover in Houston and stopover in St. Louis), but I made it home at 7:50! When I got home, I went for a quick walk in the cool weather to work off some of the calories I ate on the trip! I settled in, unpacked, and started downloading all of my photos!<br />
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I do have to say that it was a spectacular trip. It is good to be home, though!Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-91005002115667836522010-09-07T22:45:00.005-05:002011-07-26T00:24:04.956-05:00San Antonio: Day 7HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST LITTLE BROTHER IN THE WORLD!!!<br />
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This morning, I was up at 7:20. Tropical Storm Hermine was in the area, so it was pouring rain. It was kind of nice though, to have a rain on a quiet morning. I just hope the weather doesn't affect my flight tomorrow. <br />
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I washed some clothes and reorganized my suitcase a little. At 11:45 David came to pick me up and we drove to Universal City to have lunch at Felix's with Mama Ginny and Papa Dave, Aunt Barb and Uncle Steve, Aunt Gloria, and Amy and Joe. The rain and wind combo was really scary! There were several accidents on the highway, and at one point, most people were only going about 35 or 40 mph. There was pretty bad flooding, as well. The power flickered at the restaurant and a lot of the areas around Universal City had lost power. Aunt Gloria got a call that her neighbor's roof was blowing off! Crazy!<br />
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We had to have the restaurant embarrass Dave for his birthday, so he got the ol' sombrero happy birthday! </div>
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After lunch, David and I went to see Shannon at work. The area where she works (near The Quarry) was without power, too. The plan was for David and I to pick up Shannon's phone and take it the Sprint store right there to get something worked out for her, but the whole Quarry was shut down due to no power.<br />
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We drove back over to our side of town, and luckily everything was still open. We got the phone thing worked out, and by then, Shannon had left work. They closed up early because the electric company said the power would not be on in her building until either later tonight or tomorrow morning!<br />
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We picked up Shannon and then went to see mom at work for a little bit. Then we went to Best Buy just to look around. The rain had still really not slowed down all day! As Jon said, it was literally coming down in sheets and buckets! I was supposed to do a photo session with the Felux family tonight, but needless to say, that did not happen!<br />
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The three of us went back to their apartment and Shannon worked on baking a birthday cake. At 7:30, we met their friend, Carissa, for dinner at Shogun, which was fun. There was a boy at our table with his family who was also celebrating a birthday, so after dinner, they brought out some ice cream with sparklers for the birthday boys.<br />
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After a quick stop at CVS to pick up some Claritin (my allergies have been driving me nuts the last two days!), David dropped me off at the girls' apartment. Katie had to go out of town today, so Kristina and I just hung out and watched some Gilmore Girls, and I worked on the puzzle some more. I went to bed around 11:00pm.Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-11093173448479582702010-09-07T08:04:00.005-05:002011-07-26T00:24:10.165-05:00San Antonio: Day 6Happy Labor Day!<br />
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This morning, I woke up around 7:45. I got ready, and a little bit after 10:00, my BFF, Jon (hehe), came to pick me up. We stopped to fill up his car with some gas and then went to starbucks for a coffee, and then we got on the road to Austin.<br />
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Being goofy in the car</div>
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We arrived at Cheryl and Andy's house around 12:15. We talked a little and played with baby Virgil while Andy finished grilling burgers. Virgil is so stinkin' cute! He makes the best faces and he's pretty easy going! (Photos will be posted at <a href="http://www.sarahkatephotos.blogspot.com/">www.sarahkatephotos.blogspot.com</a> - check it in the next couple of weeks!)<br />
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We ate lunch (the burgers were so yummy!!), and then everyone got ready to go to a nearby park for some family photos. It was really hot, but in the shade, there was usually a nice breeze. I think I got some really cute photos! I can't wait to put them on my computer and get a good look at them!<br />
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After about an hour of photos, we went to Amy's Ice Cream for a treat to help us cool down. Jon and I said goodbye to the Terrels, and by 4:00-ish, we were back on the road to San Antonio. We arrived at Jon's church about 5:15pm. He has to go to Mass, and Kathryn came and picked me up for take two on her photo shoot! <br />
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First, we went right around the corner to Landa Library. We got some really good shots with a flowering tree, some columns, and a log cabin. :-) Then, we went across the street to the campus of <a href="http://web.trinity.edu/">Trinity University</a>. Both of my parents went to Trinity, and I attended Trinity my freshman year before I decided it was too small of a school and too close to home and transferred to Texas Tech. Being on campus was a little nostalgic, but they have built a lot of new things since I went there. Its still a beautiful campus. We took photos in the meditation garden by the chapel, against the brick of the bell tower, and in front of the "Birthday Fountain." (check <a href="http://www.sarahkatephotos.blogspot.com/">www.sarahkatephotos.blogspot.com</a> soon for post!)<br />
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At 6:30, Katie and Kristina swung by to pick me up. I went with the to the newly refurbished Pearl Brewery area and took some photos of them. It is impossible for them to make serious faces when taking photos! I swear! I got maybe a handful of normal faced photos, and at least 150 goofy ones! (check <a href="http://www.sarahkatephotos.blogspot.com/">www.sarahkatephotos.blogspot.com</a> soon for post!)<br />
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The sunset tonight was amazingly gorgeous!</div>
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By this time, after three outdoor photo shoots, I was hot and sweaty and was in great want/need of a shower! The girls dropped me off at their place so I could clean up, and then went to get some dinner. At about 8:30, Jon came and picked me up and we went to Chili's. I got a much needed and very delicious salad. After dinner, he took me back to Katie and Kristina's. We all sat in the living room for a while..Kristina watched the news, Katie read, and I worked on putting a few pieces into a puzzle that the girls just started. By 11:00, we had all gone to bed.Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-20717422903655804732010-09-05T23:58:00.003-05:002011-07-26T00:24:16.166-05:00Houston / San Antonio: Day 5I woke up about 8:00am, and so did Gammy. We got to sit down and have some fruit and cottage cheese for breakfast and talk a little bit. I woke David and Shannon up at 9:30 so that they would have some time with Gammy, too before we had to drive back to San Antonio.<br />
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We finished up our last chores for Gammy, cleaned up her kitchen a little, and by 12:15, we were on the road back to San Antonio. We stopped at Buc-ees for bathrooms and a snack. I love Buc-ees! It has the cleanest bathrooms you'll ever see at a truck stop, and it is a huge convenience store/restaurant. They are famous for their homemade jerkey and fudge. And Buc-ee the Beaver. Hehe.<br />
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We arrived in San Antonio around 3:30. David and Shannon dropped me off at my mom's house. I had originally planned to use her car this afternoon for a photo shoot that I had scheduled, but my clients went out of town for the holiday weekend at the last minute, so I ended up not needing to borrow her car. It worked out, though, because Katie and Kristina were in the area visiting a friend, so they were able to come pick me up while David and Shannon headed to a pool party.<br />
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Katie, Kristina, and I hung out at their place for a little while and I got freshened up a bit for dinner. At 7:15, we headed to ChaCho's! I had been looking forward to this dinner forever, even though my stomach is still sooooo full from the past few days! We got there, and at about the same time, so did Kate and her husband, and Kathryn. We ordered drinks (margaritas, daquiris, frozen jack and coke...mmm!) and food and soon we were joined Kandis and Greg, David and Shannon, Sofi, and Jon. It was packed and we remembered that it was karaoke night! Kandis and I signed up and eventually got our turn on stage! We sang "Love is a Battlefield" by Pat Benetar! Good times! <br />
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Spanish karaoke!!</div>
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At that point, it was almost 10:30, and we were all pretty tired, so those of us who were left decided to call it a night (we're so old!). Katie and Kristina had already gone home, so Jon gave me a ride to their place. I miss him so much! We had good conversation and lots of laughs in the short ride home. It's very good to see him. If only we could get a petition going to move him to Louisville. ;-)<br />
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When I got "home,' Katie and Kristina were starting a puzzle they had just bought. I stayed up and helped them put together all the outside pieces, and then, at about 11:30, we decided it was time for bed! <br />
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I went to bed a happy girl! Such a good day!Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-66368392014117587212010-09-04T22:32:00.004-05:002011-07-26T00:24:21.281-05:00Houston: Day 4I woke up a little bit before 7:00am today to get ready for the photo shoot I had this morning. However, Kristina called me around 8:30 and said that one of her kiddos was sick and she would have to cancel! Poor little guy! I was bummed, but Shannon was glad that she got to sleep in a little bit!<br />
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David and I made pigs in a blanket rolls for breakfast, and then around 11:30, he, Shannon, and I ran an errand for Gammy. Around 12:30, we went back to the house to pick her up for our second round of errands.<br />
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Our first destination was to drive past the house where Gammy's grandparents used to live. The neighborhood was founded in 1870 and has recently been re-enlivened. The houses are all so cute! Gammy said that her grandparents lived in that house from about 1915 until 1940. Very cool! It's going through some renovations right now, but she said it basically looked the same.<br />
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Gammy had this photo of the original house in one of her photo albums!</div>
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After that, we drove to Best Buy with the mission of helping Gammy pick out a new flat screen TV for her bedroom! I LOVE Best Buy, so that was a fun little adventure for me, even though I didn't purchase anything for myself.<br />
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We arrived back home around 2:00 and fixed some sandwiches for lunch. After we cleaned up, Shannon went and took a nap, and David and I worked on doing some chores around the house for Gammy. Among other things, David started to hook up the new TV, and we realized that we had picked up the wrong model! So, Dave and I went back to Best Buy to exchange it, and then we stopped at Kroger to pick up a few more things. Once we were back home, we started discussing picking up dinner to go from Carrabba's. I fixed a salad while David and Shannon went to pick up the food. We watched <i>Date Night</i> while we ate.<br />
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We had also bought a cake mix at Kroger, so around 9:00pm, I started to fix a birthday cake for myself and David. Instead of having 52 candles (29 + 23), we opted instead to get a number "5" candle and a number "2' candle!<br />
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We all went to bed fairly early...I think around 11:00... and slept very well!Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-80988915950712568132010-09-03T21:55:00.006-05:002011-07-26T00:24:27.829-05:00San Antonio / Houston: Day 3Happy birthday to me! :-)<br />
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I slept in until 9:45am! Katie and Kristina left a happy birthday sign hanging outside my bedroom door! It was a nice surprise to wake up to.<br />
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I got up, got ready, repacked my bags, and at 11:30am, David came by and picked me up. We stopped to fill up his truck with some gasoline, and then we went to pick Shannon up from work. She had a half day, and so was able to leave work around noon. She also just won a contest at work...guessing how many skittles are in a jar. Her guess was closest, so among other things, she won a jar of over 4000 skittles, so we had that along for the ride, too. We barely made a dent in it, though!<br />
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Big Texas skies</div>
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The Driver</div>
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Nap time! Shannon is somewhere under that big, floppy hat!</div>
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Air guitar to "You Can Call Me Al"</div>
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Shannon's "Pink Bear" wanted some skittles, too!</div>
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We drove the three-ish hours to Houston, but had to make a pit stop a little over an hour out in Lulling. A light came on David's dash saying that a bulb was out, so we stopped to check the brake lights. Sure enough, three of them were out, but thankfully the gas station we stopped at sold them. We were stopped about 20 minutes while we changed the bulbs, and then we got back on the road.<br />
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We arrived at Gammy's house at about 3:45pm. We sat and talked with her a bit, then David and Shannon went to the grocery store to stock up on the basics for her. She is having a lot more trouble getting around recently, so she appreciated that. I got a birthday phone call from my friend, Crystal, and we talked for about 20 minutes.<br />
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Once David and Shannon were back, we put the groceries away and then piled into the car and headed to our family favorite, Molina's! It just so happened that we ran into our cousins, Camille, Gene, and Jennifer there, and we were seated at tables right next to each other! I was glad to get to see them! A couple of birthday margaritas, some really good salsa, and excellently cheesy enchiladas later, I was a happy (and slightly tipsy!) girl!<br />
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After dinner, David, Shannon, and I went to Blockbuster and picked up a few videos. Gammy had a gift card that needed to be used, so we got three movies. Tonight we watched <i>Temple Grandin</i> with Claire Danes. I hadn't heard much about it, but apparently it won some Emmy Awards. I was pretty sleepy and still tipsy, so I dozed off and didn't really pay much attention, but everyone else really liked it.<br />
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I followed up with some emails and then we all piled into Gammy's bed and talked to her for a while until she was ready to go to sleep, Then, Shannon and I went on a little exploratory mission and looked through all of Gammy's old photos, books, and memorabilia. It is so cool that she has books from 1888, her father's college diploma from 1906 that is literally falling apart from old age, and old photos and newspaper announcements.<br />
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I stayed up much later than I had wanted to, but it was a great day!</div>
Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-60767592567123586192010-09-02T21:24:00.005-05:002011-07-26T00:24:32.536-05:00San Antonio: Day 2Nothing really exciting here...just a nice relaxing day spent with family!<br />
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I don't know why, but whenever I'm staying with Katie and Kristina, I trend to wake up so early! Probably because we always go to bed earlier than I'm used to! Lol!<br />
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So, I was up at 6:30. I talked to the girls while they had breakfast and got ready for work. After they left, I started to get sleepy again, so I snuck in a quick early morning power nap. Hahaha!<br />
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Around 10:30, I decided I'd better get up and get moving, so I showered and got ready and waited to hear from my brother who will be my chauffeur for the day. Well, he'll be my chauffeur for most of my trip, really! (Thanks, Dave! :-)<br />
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He picked me up at 11:15 and we went to the store to pick up a few things. I bought some groceries...a head of lettuce, apples, soup, deli ham...so that I don't have to eat out much while I'm here. I want to be frugal with my money and my calories! I've lost 10 pounds since the middle of July, and I'm going to try not to undo it now! (Although you can be sure that I will be having some good Mexican food while I'm here! Oh yeah!! :-)<br />
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We went to David's apartment, had some lunch, and then watched "The Newsies." We used to watch it all the time when we were little, so it was just like the good ol' days! David's friend Tara came over for a little while, too.<br />
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Around 2:30, mom called David and said that her car was dead. So, we had to go get her at work, take her to buy a new battery, and then David replaced it for her. He's so handy! :-) We ran one more errand (Compass Trading Company for a new wallet!) and then we went back to the apartment. Around 6:00 Shannon got home and we got ready for dinner. Mom took us out tonight for our birthdays. We went for Chinese food, which, even though I didn't eat much, is now feeling a bit heavy in my stomach.<br />
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After dinner, David and Shannon dropped me back off at Katie and Kristina's. They were out at a work function that Kristina had to go to, so I just killed time on the computer while I waited for them. They got home a little after 9:00 and we chatted and caught up and just enjoyed each others' company.<br />
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I am so sleepy today. I know I'm going to sleep very very well tonight!Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-66071090304524802412010-09-01T23:36:00.010-05:002011-07-26T00:24:38.340-05:00San Antonio: Day 1I know I initially began this particular blog to countdown to and share my adventures in Europe last year, but I don't like that its now just sitting out there in empty blog space not being used. I decided that since it is titled "Sarah Travels the World" it is only fitting that I should use it to blog about any and all trips I take, no matter how big or small!<br />
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This week I am in San Antonio! I decided back in February that I wanted to spend my birthday in San Antonio surrounded by old friends and family. It also works out that I will be here for my brother's birthday, as well. Yay!<br />
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My flight left Louisville this morning at 7:00am. Which meant getting to the airport at 6:00am. Which meant waking up at 4:45am. Ugh. No one should have to see how dark it is at 4:45am...unless you are just getting home after a wild night out! Haha! ;-) Only kidding!<br />
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The first leg of my trip was from Louisville to Chicago Midway Airport. Since I mainly fly Southwest, I have become quite familiar with Chicago Midway. It is a nice little airport. The plane was only about 2/3 full, but I was in the last group to board and ended up sitting towards the back of the plane. Behind me was a family with three children all under the age of three! The parents were beautiful, and sweet as could be, but they couldn't have been more than about 22 or 23. The children were just as beautiful...round rosy cheeks, big blue eyes, soft blond hair. However, they were not happy campers this morning. They were crying and hollering for most of the 50 minute trip. Mom apologized saying that they were grumpy as a result of being woken up three hours earlier than normal in order to make the flight. I hear ya, kids! I then overheard them mention that they, too, were heading to San Antonio. I secretly wished to be seated no where near them on the next flight! :-)<br />
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After a brief layover, I boarded the plane from Midway to San Antonio. The pretty blond family was now seated about 5 rows behind me. Still within hearing range of the crying children, but not close enough to pierce my eardrums. I slept for about half of this flight, and read during the rest of it. Before I knew it, we were in San Antonio!<br />
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I gathered my suitcase from baggage claim, and headed outside to wait for my mom to pick me up. As I was waiting, I noted pleasantly that it didn't feel too hot...at 11:00am...in the shade. Aaaaaaaand, I soon changed my mind! Not more than 5 minutes in a car with broken A/C and I was longing for the cooler temperatures of home!<br />
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Before mom dropped me off at my brother's apartment, we made a couple quick stops. One stop was Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. I love that place...and not for the merchandise, but for the decor! :-)<br />
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Finally, mom dropped me off at my brother's place to hang out with him the rest of the afternoon. We sat on the couch and talked, played with the cute baby bunnies, and I watched him play the old Sonic the Hedgehog game on Sega!<br />
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This trip, which was intentionally meant to be all pleasure, quickly turned into a semi-business trip when I announced on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/skphotos">Facebook photography page</a> that I would be booking photo sessions while I am town. I now have 5 sessions (with a 6th one pending) booked over the course of the next 7 days!<br />
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The first session was scheduled for this evening. My friend Kathryn asked me to take some portraits of her to give to her family as gifts. We headed to the beautiful McNay Museum to find some pretty places to shoot. Not more than 15 minutes passed before it started to POUR! We thought that it was just a quick, passing storm and waited it out for a few minutes. But it lasted longer than we thought it would. After poor Kathryn was drenched and had makeup running down her face, we decided to call it quits for the day and rescheduled for Monday afternoon. It was such a bummer because the rain did stop shortly after, and the sky and light were so gorgeous! It would have made for great photos! Hopefully we'll have the same conditions (minus the rain, of course!) on Monday!<br />
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I went back to my brother's apartment and found him and Shannon on their way out the door to go to the pool. I said I would go with them, but I didn't pack a swim suit, so I would just sit on the side of the pool while they swam. Well, that didn't last long! Before I knew it, they had pulled me into the water, fully clothed! The pool was the PERFECT temperature and we had it all to ourselves. I think the last time I was in a pool was in 2006! It felt really nice! Now I want to go out and buy a suit so I can go swimming more while I'm here!<br />
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We stayed in the pool until about 9:15pm, and then I went back to their apartment, put on some dry clothes, and David and Shannon dropped me off at Katie and Kristina's apartment, where I am staying this week. I caught up with the girls for a bit, and then by 11:45, we were all in bed.<br />
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It was such a long day, but overall, it was a great start to what I'm sure will be a fun trip!Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-24116321117113126412010-03-10T11:18:00.006-06:002011-07-26T00:14:00.814-05:00New York Day Three/Going Home 12/14/09I don't remember what time we woke up this day, but we did get a pretty early start. Natashia had a 10:00am meeting at the culinary school, but we decided that we would go to Macy's to see Santa before she had to be there.<br />
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Macy's is HUGE! Towards the top floors, the escalators are still the original wooden steps from back when Macy's first opened in 1902 (although they have had metal treads added since then.)<br />
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The store was decorated really pretty, and Santa Land was awesome. To get there, we had to go up to the 8th floor, and then walk through a train car, complete with sound effects and vibrating floor!<br />
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Thankfully, we chose the perfect time to go as there was absolutely no line! We walked through a maze of Christmas trees and wintry scenes complete with ice skating penguins. We finally made it to Santa, and had our picture taken with him! When he asked me what my Christmas wish was, I told him I wished for health for my brother. :-)<br />
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We also found Mrs. Claus and took a picture with her. She was very cute!<br />
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After visiting Santa, we did a little browsing, and then stopped at McDonald's (one of many restaurants inside Macy's) for a quick breakfast before going our separate ways. Natashia went to her meeting, and I went south to Ground Zero. It was a pretty emotional experience, and very surreal to think that 9 years earlier, I had been at the top of one of the fallen towers. I walked around and took some pictures through the fences that surrounded what is now a huge construction site.<br />
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I also went right across the street to St. Paul's. It is an old chapel that has withstood many disasters, and now it is a memorial to the events, heroes, and victims of 9/11.</div>
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Nearby, there is also a little museum with more mementos from family members of victims, and also plans for the new World Trade Center and memorial that is being built. It will be quite impressive. A block away is St. Peter's, the oldest Catholic Church in New York City. Outside of it have been placed the famous cross-beams that stood in the wreckage of 9/11.<br />
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After about an hour and a half, I went to meet Natashia. We then headed over to Hoboken, New Jersey on the PATH train to go see Carlos' Bakery from the TV show, <i>Cake Boss</i>. We got a little bit of everything to taste, and ended up with enough to take home!<br />
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We also stopped at a little pizzeria and had a delicious lunch! So yummy! After lunch, we went back to Melissa's, I gathered all of my things, and was chauffeured to La Guardia Airport. When I checked in, I was told that my flight was delayed, and that there was a chance I would miss my connecting flight in Chicago. I decided to take that chance. I was ready to be home! My flight was delayed about an hour and a half, but I realized I was not the only one taking the connection out of Chicago to Louisville. With literally only a couple of minutes to spare, we all ran as a group to our next terminal. Thankfully, Southwest is a great airline and they waited for us all to board!! Everyone clapped when the last person got on the plane! I was so happy when I made it home! I spent the next day relaxing, doing laundry, and playing with my puppy! She was glad to have me home, too! Lol!<br />
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Overall, it was a fantastic trip! Paris was, by far, my absolute favorite city. I would go back there in a heartbeat, with someone or even by myself. I felt safe, welcomed, and at ease there. I could even see myself staying long-term. I enjoyed Rome as well, and would like to go back for a couple days to see things more in-depth. However, I would not want to go there alone, and would be very careful with my belongings. I was glad we had a male escort for most of the day when we were there. The same with Barcelona. I was a bit sad that we were so tired and not able to see all we had wanted, but it gives me a good reason to go back!</div>
Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-66190331370627630002010-03-10T10:05:00.007-06:002011-07-26T00:14:07.391-05:00New York Day Two 12/13/09<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
I woke up at 7:45am. Natashia was going to mass and brunch with Melissa, but I decided I would go by myself to Times Square and stand in line at the TKTS booth. I got there pretty early, and there wasn't even a line yet, so I decided to walk around Times Square. I enjoyed being on my own for a while. I did some souvenir shopping for my family, walked to and took pictures of the Late Show studio, and got a bagel for breakfast.</div>
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At about 9:30, I got in line at TKTS and talked on the phone with my mom while I waited. It started raining, but it was a soft, cleansing rain, so I didn't mind...it was actually kind of nice! I was towards the front of the line, so when it opened at 10:00am, I got through pretty quickly. I got two 10th row tickets for Irving Berlin's <i>White Christmas</i> for just under $100 each...didn't think it was that great of a deal, but I got them. After getting the tickets, I walked around some more, and then around 12:45, I decided to get some lunch before meeting Natashia for the show. I went to TGIFridays in Times Square and paid $26 for a turkey sandwich and a water. I figured it was worth it, thought, just for the experience of being right there in Times Square! A little before 2:00pm, I met Natashia in front of the Marquis theater, and we went in and got our seats for the show.</div>
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It was decent. There is still nothing that can even come close to matching the original Bing Crosby movie version. At the end, it started snowing over the audience as they were singing "White Christmas," and I did think that was pretty neat. Between the overcast sky and the short winter days, it was almost dark when we got out of the show between 4:30 and 5:00. But being in Times Square, you would never know it from all the lights!</div>
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It was still drizzling a bit, but we decided to take the metro to Rockefeller Center to see if we could get a better view of the tree. It was a lot less crowded, and I did get a few really good pictures. The tree is much prettier all lit up at night!</div>
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We were also there to catch the light show at Saks! The snowflakes on the side of the building blink in time to Christmas music. That was really fun to see!<br />
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Since it was so rainy, and we were kind of tired, we decided to go ahead and call it an early night around 6:00pm. We took the metro back to Melissa's, I took a shower and put on my cozy pj's, we ordered a couple salads for dinner, and watched some TV (<i>White Christmas</i> was on!). I'm sure we fell asleep relatively early that night.</div>
Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-23080382348539797582010-02-09T18:04:00.006-06:002011-07-26T00:14:13.655-05:00New York Day One 12/12/09I woke up at 4:00am, looked out the window...and saw LAND! Woohoo! I went back to sleep for a bit, and at 5:30am, our alarm rang to wake us up. We got ready for the day, finished packing, and had our last meal onboard the Norwegian Gem. The back deck was frigidly cold, but tons of people were crowded out there to get a good view of the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline as we pulled into harbor at 8:00am.<br />
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We went back to our room one last time to get our bags. My stomach was still not feeling well, but I was ready to get onto dry land. At about 8:30am, we left our room and went down to deck 7 to disembark! We ran into Jonathan and Maureen, and walked with them to the Customs checkpoint. Since they are Canadian citizens, we had to say goodbye to them and go through separate lines. It was a breeze getting through, and once on the other side, we turned on our cell phones for the first time in over two weeks! We made quick phone calls home to check in, and then were just about to head out to hail a taxi, when Jonathan and Maureen found us again! They had planned on walking to their destination, so we decided to join them on their walk, as it would take us exactly where we needed to be...the middle of Times Square! It was a much faster walk than we had anticipated, probably due to the good company! We stopped in Times Square for a few photos, and then said goodbye to Jonathan and Maureen. I will miss running into them all the time!<br />
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After we said goodbye, Natashia and I headed to catch the metro over to Long Island City. Melissa Vogel was nice enough to let us stay at her apartment while we were there, and it was a very easy and quick commute from Manhattan. Once we got to her apartment, we were content to sit and relax for over two hours. A little after noon, we took the metro back over to Times Square and walked around some. Then, we headed past Radio City Music Hall to Rockefeller Center.<br />
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It was so crowded, it made it very difficult to get a good picture of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. We decided to return later when it would hopefully not be as crowded. Meanwhile, Catherine Knox, an old high school friend of mine who just moved to the NY area, was at Rockefeller that day with her sister and daughter! Even amongst the bustling Christmas crowds, we managed to find each other with the help of our cell phones! It was very exciting since I had not seen Catherine in almost 10 years!!<br />
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We all walked down 5th Avenue, passed Saks Fifth Avenue and St. Patrick's Cathedral. We went inside Trump Tower to warm up a bit, and that is where we said goodbye to the Knox girls. It was much too short a visit, but still very good to see them. After we went our separate ways, Natashia and I walked passed the Christmas window displays at Bergdorf Goodman. They were interesting, but did not photograph well due to window reflections. Next, we made a brief stop in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel. One day, I would like to have tea or lunch there.<br />
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After our stop at the Plaza, we walked across the street to F.A.O. Schwartz. We wanted to go inside, but the line was really long, and I was starting to feel pretty sick again, so we decided to stop to take our picture with the Toy Soldier guys and keep on our way.<br />
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We stopped at a little cafe for an energy boost on our way to Bloomingdale's. I think the window displays at Bloomingdale's were some of our favorites. After taking some time to look at them, we headed for the subway and took the train back to Melissa's. When we got back to her apartment, it hit me just how sick I actually felt. I decided that I really should try to switch my flight to go home a day early. Not only did I not think I could last much longer in NY, but I also thought that a full day at home before going back to work would be beneficial. I took a teensy little nap, and then a little after 6:00pm, Natashia and I headed to Lincoln Center.<br />
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We had tickets to see the Nutcracker Ballet. The show was ok. I have definitely seen better versions of the Ballet, and I was very annoyed that there were some culturally uneducated people in the audience who clapped after every single lift or spin instead of holding applause until the end of the piece. I wanted to scream, "We are not at a sporting event, people!" Lol! After the ballet, we walked just a few blocks south to go to a Christmas party. When we got there, I was slightly overwhelmed by the amount of people crammed into such a small apartment, and the noise level that went along with it. I know I was not the most pleasant party guest, but I really did not feel well and could not even muster the strength to fake being in the Christmas spirit. I was glad when Melissa offered to give me her keys and directions back to her apartment. Right as I was standing up to leave, Katie Couric arrived at the party! I was happy that I at least got to "rub elbows" with her before leaving. So, I went to grab my coat and purse, and headed to the elevator. As I was walking down the hallway toward the elevator, I heard the apartment door open behind me, and I saw that Katie was leaving the party, too! I slowed my pace, and when the elevator doors opened, I hesitated, hoping that she would catch up to me before the doors shut! Success! She and her daughter got on the elevator with me! I smiled and said, "Hello!" I then said, "That was a crazy party, wasn't it?", to which she replied, "Yes, it was! They are crazy, but we aren't so crazy!" She then got on her cell phone and spoke to someone whom she asked to "bring the car around." When the elevator landed on the first floor, we got off, and I wished them a good night. She cheerily returned the sentiment. :-) As I walked by the doorman, he whispered, "Was that Katie Couric?!?!" It was so cute how star struck he was!<br />
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Anyway, after leaving the apartment building, I walked down the street to Columbus Circle, got on the metro, headed back to Melissa's, and promptly fell asleep on the sofa.<br />
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<b>See more pictures from New York </b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2408884&id=16703694&l=1eb15499c0"><b>HERE</b></a>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-39408952714909489272010-02-06T17:52:00.003-06:002011-07-26T00:14:24.349-05:00At Sea 12/11/09Since I had already slept for 30 hours, I woke up at 3:00am and could not fall back asleep. I decided that I needed to get up, move around, and clean up a bit, so I took a long, hot shower. I was also pretty hungry, so I ate a few more crackers. <em>Under the Tuscan Sun</em> was on the movie channel, so I watched that until Natashia woke up. There was also a rainbow over the water since it was stormy.<br />
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The sea was still pretty rough, but I needed to get out. I was glad that Chad and Scott had invited us to join them at Cagney's for breakfast. While eating, we had a view of the pool deck, and we noticed several railings that had been blown out during the storms! Crazy! After breakfast, we went to the Shore Excursion desk to inquire about a discrepancy with the refund we were to receive for our Granada excursion. It seemed that they were trying to cheat us out of about $20 each, but we finally got it cleared up! We went back to our cabin for a bit to rest, and we watched some old Bugs Bunny cartoons on TV! I still was not feeling 100%, and my stomach muscles were very sore from vomiting and then not eating for a whole day. Around noon, Natashia and I went up to Chad and Scott's suite to relax and hang out for a while. They had ordered a pizza special from La Cucina, which was not open until later that evening! It was tasty, but I think my stomach was much too weak for it still. I had a stomach ache the rest of the day and most of the next. After lunch, we decided to watch a movie. First, we tried <i>The Riddle</i>. but it was very strange and very difficult to understand the accents of the actors, so we decided to turn it off after about 10 minutes. We then watched <i>The Secret</i> with David Duchovny. It was weird, but the plot was interesting enough to hold our attention. While we were watching, we had a good view of the stormy weather...and snow flurries!<br />
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After <i>The Secret</i>, we started <i>Victor, Victoria,</i> but only got part way through. Suzanne and Barbara stopped by for a tour of the suite, and we also gave our input to help Chad and Scott decide on their menu and guest list for their farewell cocktail party and dinner that evening. Eventually, we went downstairs to our room to get dressed for dinner. At 6:00pm, we went back upstairs for the Asian themed dinner the boys had planned. The food was all amazing, so I was so sad that I was only able to eat one bite of each thing because of my stomach ache.<br />
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After the lengthy dinner and conversation, we hugged Chad and Scott goodbye. :-( They let us take their VIP position at the Chocoholic Buffet at 10:30pm. We met Ryan, the concierge, downstairs, and we were allowed into the buffet before anyone else to take pictures! They were not able to do the full setup because of the rough seas, but the spread was impressive.<br />
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We each tried a bite, and thankfully it was not very good! It kept us from eating too much chocolate!!! We went back to our room, filled out comment cards for each employee that we had a good experience with on the cruise, and packed all of our things back into our suitcases. Between the two of us, our tummies were so upset that night, its a wonder we got anything accomplished! But, the weather had finally calmed down, and the ship felt like it was sailing on glass! It was a very welcome change!!!Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-55103948301494800282010-01-16T23:16:00.003-06:002011-07-26T00:14:30.560-05:00At Sea 12/10/09I literally slept all day long. I don't think I have ever been that sick and tired in my entire life. I woke up just a few times when Natashia was coming in and out of the room, but for the most part, I was out cold. I did manage to stomach about 12 saltine crackers and some ginger ale, but my stomach was still hurting quite a bit, so I just stayed in bed. I was pretty disappointed to miss a few things that day, like brunch at Le Bistro with Chad and Scott (although I heard it was the exact same food that is served in all the other restaurants, just in a fancier setting), the guest talent show (they did play it over and over on TV later...after hearing some if it while I was in and out of conciousness, I wasn't too disappointed that I missed it!), a meet and greet with Il Divo Fourever (heard it was too crowded to even get close enough to talk to them), the towel folding demonstration (learning to make swans and monkeys and dinosaurs!), and the Cruise Critics Farewell Dinner. I think the dinner with all of our new friends is what I missed the most. However, this particular day was the worst day in terms of the weather and the movement of the ship. There was a storm, complete with thunder and lightning. The few times I got up that day and looked out the window, I could not see more than 50 to 100 feet from the side of the ship! Visibility was horrible, and the ship was rocking and creaking as usual! For that reason, I was glad I slept all day and straight into the night!Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-10820977133021785732010-01-16T22:54:00.004-06:002011-07-26T00:14:36.896-05:00At Sea 12/9/09The sea was very rough all night! The worst it had been the whole trip...30 foot waves and winds at 95 knots (over 100 mph!). We slept until about 11:00am, and it felt great! At about 11:30, Chad and Scott called and invited us to join them for lunch in the Grand Pacific Dining Room. We met them at 12:15pm, had a nice lunch, and then they took us to Cagney's for dessert and cappuccino's! It was delicious! After lunch, we wandered the ship a bit and then decided we would try our hands at bowling! We headed to Bliss Ultra Lounge and got our lane, our bowling shoes, and bowling balls. The rocking of the ship made for a very interesting game! Our scores were very low as the ship threw many of our balls into the gutter...but I won!!! We found out later that we could have had bumpers put up, but I think it was more fun this way! At one point, Chad jokingly asked the attendant if we could ask the captain to stop the ship while we bowled! Haha! <br />
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After bowling, we took a swing through the Casino. Natashia did really well and doubled her winnings, but poor Chad went from $100 down to $.03!!! From the casino windows, we also had a great view of the incredible waves outside!<br />
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At 5:00pm, we went to Bar City for trivia. Again, it was a popular place since it was one of the most stable spots on board. After trivia, we said goodbye to the boys for a bit and went to our cabin to get ready for dinner. We had a 7:00pm reservation for the four of us at Teppanyaki, the hibachi grill. It was a fun experience, but difficult to carry on a conversation with the group since we were seated in a line. I did get to speak with a lovely older couple from Ireland...great accents!!!<br />
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<strong>See more pictures from "At Sea" </strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2407227&id=16703694&l=703dcea2e8"><strong>HERE</strong></a>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-83204694422267984102010-01-11T10:37:00.007-06:002011-07-26T00:14:42.469-05:00At Sea 12/8/09Again, the time change allowed my internal alarm to wake me up bright and early at 7:00am. I felt great in the morning, thanks to the motion sickness patch! I got up and moving and went to check my email, get some breakfast, and walk around the decks to see just how bad the waves were!<br />
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I went back to the room to shower and relax a bit. Both of us got up and moving around 1:30pm and went to Garden Cafe for lunch. At 2:30pm, we went to the Crystal Atrium for a showing of a short film by Disney, "Destino." It is a collaborative work begun by Walt Disney and Salvador Dali in 1946 and never released to the public. I did find it on YouTube, so here it is for all of you to see! :-)<br />
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After the film, we were feeling a little queasy and sleepy, so we decided to go to the room to rest a little. At 4:45pm, we headed to the Spinnaker for Salsa lessons, but the ship was litterally bouncing up and down so hard, that I decided to sit the lessons out and just watch. The lessons were a bit disorganized, and they covered just the basic steps I already know, so I really didn't miss out on anything. I did get to sit with Dawn and Antohony and have a good laugh watching Natashia dance with her stalker! He had his eyes on her throughout most of the cruise!</div>
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After sitting in the rocking lounge for 45 minutes, I was feeling really nauseous. Again, we went back to the room and took a short nap until about 6:20pm. At 6:30pm, we had plans to meet Jonathan and Maureen for dinner at Tequila, the TexMex restaurant on the ship. The cover fee for Tequila is normally $10, but they were running a two for one special, so we decided to try it. We received complimentary margaritas and chips, which was nice. We all ordered fajitas, and they were pretty good! After dinner, we went right down the stairs to the Crystal Atrium. <em>Il Divo Fourever</em> was scheduled to perform a "sneak peek" of their show on the steps in the atrium at 8:00pm, so we thought we would go see if they were up to par with the real <em>Il Divo</em>. In the end, we decided they weren't horrible, but definitely not the same! The man with the longer hair (third from left) was my favorite. He was the only one who managed to consistenly sing with any kind of emotion or dynamic variance! (Although the guy on the end got sorta close sometimes!)<br />
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While we were in the lobby, I decided to grab some of the more powerful motion sickness pills available at the Guest Services desk. Even though the patch was supposedly good for three days, I think it lost some of its potency in the shower. I was desperate to not feel so woozy! We decided to brave the Spinnaker once again to go watch karaoke at 9:30pm. After karaoke hour, Andy led a game called "Quest." The audience was divided into 6 teams, each with one team leader. To play the game, Andy would call out an item and each team leader had to go through their team to find the item. The first team leader back to Andy with said item got a point! For example, one item Andy called out was a set of keys! That was definitely not easy to find! Another item Andy asked for was a man wearing a bra! It got a little R rated at this point when old ladies started stripping off their clothes to help their team! The last challenge was to dress a man entirely in women's clothing. They then had to parade around the room! That was a good laugh!<br />
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After "Quest" there was a 50s Sock Hop! We stayed and watched for a little while before heading to our cabin and collapsing into bed. Not only did the rocking of the ship make us nauseous...it made us so sleepy!!!</div>
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<strong>See more pictures from "At Sea" </strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2407227&id=16703694&l=703dcea2e8"><strong>HERE</strong></a></div>
Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-39617253365095700302010-01-10T11:10:00.006-06:002011-07-26T00:14:48.165-05:00At Sea 12/7/09Day two on the Atlantic Ocean. Even though the sea was still pretty rough, we made it our resolution to try to stay out of our cabin as much as we could. When we got up at 8:15, we turned on the TV while we were getting ready and saw that the wave height was still very high...26.2 feet!<br />
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There was also a very nice collection of sea salt that had formed on our balcony!<br />
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We went to breakfast at the Grand Pacific. We opted for open seating and sat and chatted with with a very nice couple. They became new friends for us to bump into around the ship! After breakfast, we walked around the pool deck a bit. The pools were netted off, and the water was being slowly drained. What was still left of the water was sloshing back and forth! We joked that it was now a wave pool!<br />
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At 10:30am, we went to learn how to Cha-Cha with Charlie in the Spinnaker! There was a good turn out, and we had fun learning how to do the cha-cha. It made it even more interesting that we were all trying to keep our footing on the rocking floor!<br />
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(There weren't enough men to go around, so I had to be the boy.)</div>
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(With Charlie, our dance teacher)</div>
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After dance lessons, we went to the see the Bridge of the ship. It was really cool to see all the controls, monitors, and crew that were working around the clock to sail us in the right direction and keep us safe! They had a pretty nice view of the ocean, too!</div>
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After that, we couldn't find any planned activites that appealed to us, so we went to our cabin to rest and wash some clothes. After a while, Chad called us and invited us to come to their suite for dinner. They also invited us to come with them to the exclusive Captain's Cocktail Party later that evening! It was "Dress Up Or Not Night" on the ship, so Natashia and I decided that we would get all dolled up for the party! We went to a late lunch in the Garden Cafe, and ran into many of our new friends: Judi and Patsy, Helen and Frank, Suzanne and Barbara. Making new friends and running into them over and over is one of my favorite parts of cruising! After lunch, we went back to our cabin once again. The ship was passing by the Azores, so we watched the island of San Miguel roll by for a few minutes. It was a bit too chilly to be on the balcony, but we could see just fine through our big floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door!</div>
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At 6:00pm, we went upstairs to Chad and Scott's for dinner. They also invited Barbara and two nice women (Barbara Anne and Carole) from North Carolina they had met on an excursion. </div>
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They had quite the spread laid out for us...appetizers of cheese, fruit, and crackers, delicious champagne with strawberries, and cranberry vodka martinis! At 7:00pm, we went to make an appearance at the Captain's party. We met him and the other officers, had a drink, and sat and talked for about 45 minutes. Then, we went back to the suite for dinner. The table looked beautiful, and we even had namecards showing us where to sit!</div>
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For dessert, Chad and Scott had requested a special item not on the menu in the ship's dining rooms and restuarants...chocolate creme brulee!! It was so delicious! During dinner, we were discussing the rocky ship and sea sickness. Chad mentioned that he had some motion sickness patches, and offered one to anyone who needed it. I took him up on the offer, and Scott helped me put it on behind my ear. Right away, I noticed a difference! At 10:30pm, the other guests left, and the Fab Four went to Bliss! It was salsa night, and we had a super great time dancing and hanging out!</div>
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At 11:45pm, we all decided it was time for bed, so we said goodnight. When we got back to our cabin, there was a friendly little dinosaur waiting for us with a very important message about the overnight time change once again!</div>
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<strong>For more pictures from "At Sea" click </strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2407227&id=16703694&l=703dcea2e8"><strong>HERE</strong></a></div>
Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-43531870301262488242010-01-09T23:06:00.006-06:002011-07-26T00:14:54.821-05:00At Sea 12/6/09Since we got an extra hour of sleep, my internal alarm clock woke me up nice and early at 7:30am. <br />
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Natashia decided she wanted to stay in bed a little while longer, so I decided to get out and head to breakfast to ease the rumblings in my tummy. However, my excursion was made difficult by the ship's rocking. Sitting in a restaurant at the back of the ship trying to eat while bobbing up and down did not go over so well. After a few bites, I decided I had better get back to the steady confines of my bed before those few bites made an unwelcomed reappearance! We ended up spending a lot of time in bed due to feeling a little bit seasick. We weren't alone in that! From this day until the end of the cruise, the sea only got rougher (up to 30 foot waves!) and stormier. A lot of people experienced seasickness and stayed in their cabins! It was even hard to walk...everytime you took a step in one direction, the ship would pull or toss you the opposite way! It made for some laughs, but overall, I think most of us would have prefered a smoother ride! Even the crew said this was the worst they'd had it in a long time. We tried Blue Lagoon again, this time for lunch at 1:30pm. The quality of the food seemed to be a little bit better than the first time we ate there, but nothing to get too excited about. After lunch, we went back to our cabin to settle ourselves a bit. <em>The Wizard of Oz</em> was the movie playing on loop for the day, so we watched a bit of that. It was funny because later that afternoon, I heard someone down the hall whistling one of the tunes from the movie! I guess since almost everyone was in their room, and there were only about 5 TV stations, we were all watching the same thing! At 5:00pm, we went to play trivia in Bar City. On our way out, we stopped to take a picture with our room stewards, Joseph and Cris! They were tons of fun and always so happy to see us, even though they told us they weren't feeling that great, either! <br />
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It felt a bit steadier during trivia in Bar City since it was in the center of the ship. Our team won!! The prize was another Norwegian Cruise Line pen, so I decided to pass my prize on to someone else. :-) At 6:00pm, we met the Cruise Critic group for dinner in La Cucina. Snorklin' Barb, aka Barbara Bush (yes, that is her real name!!) was the organizer of the event, and she did a great job! The restaurant was closed down just for us (I think there were over 100 of us there!) and we had a special menu with complimentary appetizers and wine. I think everyone really enjoyed the dinner, although there were so many of us, I did not get to talk to everyone! I tried to take some pictures, but, again, the ship was bouncing so much that it was hard to steady myself enough to get a good shot. <br />
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After dinner, we wanted to try and stay out and about so we didn't end up sleeping the whole day away. We walked around, and ran into Jonathan and Maureen! It was so much fun bumping into people all the time! It was like a floating mini-city where you get to know all of your neighbors! Jonathan and Maureen said they had been in bed all day, too, and were not feeling so great. On top of everything else, Jonathan said he had suffered from a pretty bad case of food poisoning the night before! We had planned on going to the show that night (it was an encore of The Second City improv group...we were really looking forward to seeing it), but just the thought of the rocking we would have felt sitting in the Stardust Theater (at the very front of the ship) made us nauseous. So, we decided to take some motion sickness pills and call it a night!<br />
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<strong>See more pictures from "At Sea" </strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2407227&id=16703694&l=703dcea2e8"><strong>HERE</strong></a>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-56340128965239531552010-01-07T18:08:00.033-06:002011-07-26T00:15:47.907-05:00Granada 12/5/09On our last day on land in Europe, we woke up at 6:00am. We went to breakfast at the Garden Cafe, and then went to meet our tour group in the Stardust Theater at 8:00am. We met up with our old friends, Judi and Patsy, as well as new friends, Helen, Frank, and Lorraine on the bus from Malaga to Granada. We really enjoyed spending time and getting to know all of them on this excursion! We drove about an hour and a half through the mountains to our destination. We passed groves of Olive trees and drove through the middle of clouds!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrSDMFjiuaf1j9NwnkSVxOD05_vlS7y2eOJ4moUrpBn3m4UnhQR4Xg0de5x19olIJrk_4TVJ9wP10gz33Q9lMThV0_9Kyma8_aQlY-Jxykh9jS_-EzRwcVrPSoEk3ieHEooOlJ0EdPBm0/s1600-h/DSC_0502.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424169430246101218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrSDMFjiuaf1j9NwnkSVxOD05_vlS7y2eOJ4moUrpBn3m4UnhQR4Xg0de5x19olIJrk_4TVJ9wP10gz33Q9lMThV0_9Kyma8_aQlY-Jxykh9jS_-EzRwcVrPSoEk3ieHEooOlJ0EdPBm0/s400/DSC_0502.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> On the way to Granada, we made an inexplicable pit stop at a restaurant/souvenir shop. We weren't really sure why we stopped when the drive was relatively short. With such a packed itinerary, we didn't think an unecessary stop would be the most productive way to spend our time. When we got to Granada, we went on a short driving tour through the city. It was really hard to see anything through the bus windows, and I was sad that we didn't really get to see the Cathedral aside from a quick drive-by with limited visibilty. I would definitely love to go back and see more of Granada someday. We kept climbing through the mountains, and finally arrived at the Alhambra. We met our guide, Carlos (very cute!), and started our walk through the gardens at Generalife. The gardens were pretty with the tall trees and hedges, but I'm sure it is much prettier in the spring and summer when the trees and flowers are in bloom. The view over the main palace and the city was also very pretty.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_6NhWo-4pITluDHRSrMfYNg3q_zgFthkS-CfnXWf5FbarGGJRKXnJ7BbfRA5eEHZGaLPw2qkAAho6KotzjHElJb8xbLnTzwg0-jOkb4OPazVZdE65YKwQ7Fs7MvRhiP1HOzj9y4cPJmd/s1600-h/DSC_0607.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424176014812192498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_6NhWo-4pITluDHRSrMfYNg3q_zgFthkS-CfnXWf5FbarGGJRKXnJ7BbfRA5eEHZGaLPw2qkAAho6KotzjHElJb8xbLnTzwg0-jOkb4OPazVZdE65YKwQ7Fs7MvRhiP1HOzj9y4cPJmd/s400/DSC_0607.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3w0J_kelLvjJf4pVvq4NKw6_Vay9oUzhyphenhyphen9a7zeBkzXTXKwTGsNZv8RbZsMEtUdqwDVeyTPh7bwXnx37X29-CUdiLqtKRCLJOO6uJ2uYyD_TpZy6TPpbu9Aj6vghUmSBj71z5tNizBn818/s1600-h/DSC_0597.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424173457071291170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3w0J_kelLvjJf4pVvq4NKw6_Vay9oUzhyphenhyphen9a7zeBkzXTXKwTGsNZv8RbZsMEtUdqwDVeyTPh7bwXnx37X29-CUdiLqtKRCLJOO6uJ2uYyD_TpZy6TPpbu9Aj6vghUmSBj71z5tNizBn818/s400/DSC_0597.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF7G7t1cU-r3hW8n080YQpLNLAMqSYU8ftJ9syn-vzNMXzXBeXruhCpb9lQw-orVKPrAHvq0de2MUZ6JH2moXkR-P7ji9blUKx8CNat_Xt_PR_rbQtCl11vcZVv3z-A7U3HIgOIKLCvuO6/s1600-h/DSC_0599.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424175130921921650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF7G7t1cU-r3hW8n080YQpLNLAMqSYU8ftJ9syn-vzNMXzXBeXruhCpb9lQw-orVKPrAHvq0de2MUZ6JH2moXkR-P7ji9blUKx8CNat_Xt_PR_rbQtCl11vcZVv3z-A7U3HIgOIKLCvuO6/s400/DSC_0599.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwObOh7aDCzWGaBuvMz2t5WNZpjzzYHmRmuTGMENEoHiuj3vUpZXtX5F-_fbzILE0ESRHjpBhf-cTRpuiEscXPOQvdgI6vcPG2XcCohFZ5Eq9szM4ObbQTJE3qjrEGvjf0NC0GYMZo-tQA/s1600-h/DSC_0601.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424175573818360562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwObOh7aDCzWGaBuvMz2t5WNZpjzzYHmRmuTGMENEoHiuj3vUpZXtX5F-_fbzILE0ESRHjpBhf-cTRpuiEscXPOQvdgI6vcPG2XcCohFZ5Eq9szM4ObbQTJE3qjrEGvjf0NC0GYMZo-tQA/s400/DSC_0601.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We walked through the palace at the Generalife, and then started to head for the Palace of Charles V. Before we went to the palace, Carlos let us have a brief restroom break. Natashia and I made use of the time by taking silly pictures, of course!<br />
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<center>(With Carlos!)</center><br />
When we got to the palace, it was really hard to keep up with Carlos (one woman put a glove on top of her cane and held it in the air to help everyone find the group if they got separated!), hear everything he was saying, and take pictures at the same time...so I opted for the pictures! I'm sure I could have learned a lot and probably enjoyed the tour more if I had been able to hear all the history of the Alhambra, but I also wanted to get some good pictures.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBsunGcFhJMAJiVJs0TpeBSPn4z4pm-hyLQhapg_-gNLJz0SCAfSu-65QmISjr5FAXfKzUx9MyKibwG3B7FoFlS0s-100zOiMI7hwbhSsK0E_LqUW9bOY36r6WrOIZnCVRzOD4rI_vVlW/s1600-h/DSC_0844.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424188807757770210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBsunGcFhJMAJiVJs0TpeBSPn4z4pm-hyLQhapg_-gNLJz0SCAfSu-65QmISjr5FAXfKzUx9MyKibwG3B7FoFlS0s-100zOiMI7hwbhSsK0E_LqUW9bOY36r6WrOIZnCVRzOD4rI_vVlW/s400/DSC_0844.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1trVhOv6azVbQwxQRhfVTIrEY6ITIOlWU92n3ftzKYJKI9_8S0UQxNW9EV3V-A37_0bV7c4caiQ1DVy4XSi24DppcgXYmWQLBOPTRrdol6LxCtHEueZwUl3Nb_OA_TksH5kZspW7nLcK/s1600-h/DSC_0900.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424212996892343682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM1trVhOv6azVbQwxQRhfVTIrEY6ITIOlWU92n3ftzKYJKI9_8S0UQxNW9EV3V-A37_0bV7c4caiQ1DVy4XSi24DppcgXYmWQLBOPTRrdol6LxCtHEueZwUl3Nb_OA_TksH5kZspW7nLcK/s400/DSC_0900.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpdSBmjdrwIqGrFsueXEu9eSaZ8syW97dVOj84WQumdCv4nCYjxs6RhcZ3GCvDFIVSy_pNAvwk9EAmaw0bzd0836C6VzT8N3Q2IOfQOiZ84QsNPXGyp1rEfJsE8aWoWPWe_09rqx45taD/s1600-h/DSC_0854.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424191164998430050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpdSBmjdrwIqGrFsueXEu9eSaZ8syW97dVOj84WQumdCv4nCYjxs6RhcZ3GCvDFIVSy_pNAvwk9EAmaw0bzd0836C6VzT8N3Q2IOfQOiZ84QsNPXGyp1rEfJsE8aWoWPWe_09rqx45taD/s400/DSC_0854.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> The architecture was pretty, however, after a couple of hours of going room to room (most of which looked an awful lot alike), Natashia and I were ready to be done with it and move on the next part of our excursion. Finally, it was time to go. We left Carlos and reboarded our bus back to the center of Granada. We went to a hotel where there was a huge buffet style lunch set up for all of us. It was a bit hectic at first, but once we got situated, we enjoyed the food and complimentary wine! They had some traditional Spanish dishes, as well as some American favorites. I was brave and tried some of the Spanish food, but I prefered the more familiar stuff (sorry, Raquel! ;-P). After lunch, while we were waiting for our bus to come around and pick us up, we noticed it was getting pretty late. We asked our guide if we were going to make it to the Albaycin. The Albaycin is the old Moorish part of town. It is set up on a hill opposite the Alhambra, and gives great views of the city and the Sierra Nevada mountains. According to our excursion description, we were supposed to go there for a short tour and photo stop. But, our guide said he did not even know that we were supposed to go there! We were pretty upset. Going to the Albaycin was one of the main reasons we chose this tour over others...and it was not cheap!! We had a pretty view of the Albaycin from the Alhambra, but it was not the same as being there!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhY5cDlG2u1VGhM9xOI7yVEugEfBMHisPNeIV4wPU7R510Xc42fnhvWJrDGKdzmfNUIf-gCix-yZeQy_Qb341aMX2a7hM0rncuTCYhFepC6gZmgEckk5U-8za9Zknovu2LbYoANMMYWNr/s1600-h/DSC_0911.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424193797893711122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhY5cDlG2u1VGhM9xOI7yVEugEfBMHisPNeIV4wPU7R510Xc42fnhvWJrDGKdzmfNUIf-gCix-yZeQy_Qb341aMX2a7hM0rncuTCYhFepC6gZmgEckk5U-8za9Zknovu2LbYoANMMYWNr/s400/DSC_0911.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Our drive out of the city gave us some really nice views of the snowy Sierra Nevada!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsCjYJ4eoT87ghe1S-N9lNlNl1OukkB8L1R1jy4fc4jomMMT5LA0K4_OxKuI_RE3EHdaZMvap7YvgLgL76VVA4KUthapw33D_SSNLDHens8jTYSrB9xsSiDFBUc_qyl841EHlKiYAdGh7h/s1600-h/DSC_0984.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424195983157205314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsCjYJ4eoT87ghe1S-N9lNlNl1OukkB8L1R1jy4fc4jomMMT5LA0K4_OxKuI_RE3EHdaZMvap7YvgLgL76VVA4KUthapw33D_SSNLDHens8jTYSrB9xsSiDFBUc_qyl841EHlKiYAdGh7h/s400/DSC_0984.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Ok, so some of you may have heard stories, but on the bus ride back to Malaga, while most people were napping peacefully, Natashia and I got a little silly! (Shocking, I know!) In our delirium, we took a series of incriminating photographs...I won't post any here, but if you scroll to the bottom of this entry, you will find a link to an album with all my pictures from the day. View at your own risk! Hahaha! We arrived back on the ship at 6:00pm. Along with Judi, we decided to go to the excursion desk to inquire about why our tour was cut in half. We were hoping for a bit of a refund, but were told we would have to wait a day or two before we could get an answer. Jumping ahead a few days, the first remedy that was proposed was the offer of Norwegian t-shirts. Needless to say, we were absolutely not thrilled with that idea. Judi took it upon herself to talk with Prem, one of the officers on the ship. Prem said that he would gladly get us a 10% refund on cost of the tour. It wasn't much for missing half of the excursion, but at least it was something. He said the refund should show up on our account within a couple days. We kept checking our account a couple times a day, and noticed that the charge had only gone down one cent. Finally, Natashia and I went back down to the excursion desk to fix the situation once and for all. The man we were talking to said that it showed the full 10% refund on his screen and that he didn't know why it wasn't showing up for us. He turned his monitor around so we could see what he was looking at, and I immediately noticed what the problem was...they had raised the price of our excursion $20 before issuing the discount so that it would still break even!!! We couldn't believe they would have done such a thing just to keep their money! Did they not think we would check on it?!?! Anyway, we definitely made sure it was put back to the original price and then discounted. Whew! So, back to the day at hand...after our visit to the excursion desk, we decided to wander the ship a little. These are two of my favorite pictures I took of the pool deck!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEq_DHmeeEoBaDGWUMA9Wxf6asVy6FXL918mNdQ2jIlcguBfrmFeZTaOFhwKs7Mu8zs73l4_sD2NrCIFHFTHiGkPssQnDiCBTAUbl0p83VN0Xi_XV1JXtYDfYDFeCLm0FFos8oiA7GEl55/s1600-h/DSC_1056.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424202403955836834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEq_DHmeeEoBaDGWUMA9Wxf6asVy6FXL918mNdQ2jIlcguBfrmFeZTaOFhwKs7Mu8zs73l4_sD2NrCIFHFTHiGkPssQnDiCBTAUbl0p83VN0Xi_XV1JXtYDfYDFeCLm0FFos8oiA7GEl55/s400/DSC_1056.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYoqQIgM6upCEIKzyM9SxZtxF4ez4YXhb-2razktW-KgOY7jQjvem1i2Rv2PRViHDLk7708ZbcGzKjvX1fuHZdcg7ztIPhsdU5g73cwcUTWSuYskhu3kCY_5eQ6AfAM909Vctfo2_Hgrg/s1600-h/DSC_1059.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424202870008152738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYoqQIgM6upCEIKzyM9SxZtxF4ez4YXhb-2razktW-KgOY7jQjvem1i2Rv2PRViHDLk7708ZbcGzKjvX1fuHZdcg7ztIPhsdU5g73cwcUTWSuYskhu3kCY_5eQ6AfAM909Vctfo2_Hgrg/s400/DSC_1059.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We ended up in the Spinnaker Lounge. We found a comfy seat and watched the sun setting over the water at port.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxM33RwIXQENxNwKVF4yyVB0aNvq2m_Lv4-qVjNCDI86re6UopT4acto28jTYJ8rzwlrdPt3jyQaElUhetbBi1NjyMzWeL9_4-kdOboSC7Wy2Too3M2OzGdWi9vdzkVlXZXXmMPKCJI4rS/s1600-h/DSC_1051.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424200681493034642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxM33RwIXQENxNwKVF4yyVB0aNvq2m_Lv4-qVjNCDI86re6UopT4acto28jTYJ8rzwlrdPt3jyQaElUhetbBi1NjyMzWeL9_4-kdOboSC7Wy2Too3M2OzGdWi9vdzkVlXZXXmMPKCJI4rS/s400/DSC_1051.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> The ship was delayed about an hour in leaving, presumably because there were some stragglers getting back to the ship! As I was taking pictures of the sunset, my camera battery died. I left Natashia to save our seat, and went back to our room to grab my backup battery. When I got to the room, I saw that we had a voicemail message. It was from Chad! He and Scott were feeling better and wanted to know if we were up for doing dinner! I ran back to get Natashia, we called the boys and agreed to meet at Le Bistro at 7:30pm. From the company and service to the drinks (I had 2 delicious cocktails called "Passionate Kiss," some cabernet, and an irish coffee!) and food (onion soup, beef tenderloin, potatoes, and HEAVENLY creme brulee!) right down to the Versace plates we were dining on, dinner was amazing! It was a leisurely meal, taking about three hours. I missed seeing the Rock of Gibraltar as we passed, but, considering it was dark anyway, I think it was worth it! After dinner, Chad and Scott invited us up to their Garden Villa Suite for an exclusive tour. All I can say is that it was almost 5000 square feet of incredible!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddFbXu-hvRq1r0lMIHp9hcdMGvGms_N-g71NoiquRWxjkkZcCB5ni4FtWvfNywXAoRLfXS4QxUePFvqVLQ10A_JVsMFY82do1tt9Ods9ySzLBOphI_UNyI2MZfh_hmjPFmeqsKZyWtLx6/s1600-h/DSC_1088.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424205247940146770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddFbXu-hvRq1r0lMIHp9hcdMGvGms_N-g71NoiquRWxjkkZcCB5ni4FtWvfNywXAoRLfXS4QxUePFvqVLQ10A_JVsMFY82do1tt9Ods9ySzLBOphI_UNyI2MZfh_hmjPFmeqsKZyWtLx6/s400/DSC_1088.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> After a little while, the boys decided it was time to go to the Casino to play the quarter pushing machine (haha, I don't know what it's really called!) and to the Champagne Bar for another drink (a yummy fruity martini)! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5s4lnBafQnYwwtwu5h38HbBgJRu2LYSPtzgmJvEjdEkXjLoLHvYFTzPzVsFU11okJFLJYA26cnj0rdG_0mvFoFugF6QsNuNHlYnKmlZrn0U3p6H4TdIiysWPawOZ59rHWfsCzx0kMZjz6/s1600-h/DSC_1083.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424209014934483026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5s4lnBafQnYwwtwu5h38HbBgJRu2LYSPtzgmJvEjdEkXjLoLHvYFTzPzVsFU11okJFLJYA26cnj0rdG_0mvFoFugF6QsNuNHlYnKmlZrn0U3p6H4TdIiysWPawOZ59rHWfsCzx0kMZjz6/s400/DSC_1083.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjw-9e2wc6EIR8guyG79mCNu5tKi-PeUXWAVJYFSK8UfYEqaeF7wIaycR1B0z2E3CW-8uSCtqZGrnjtqfnYBJta1ubiyWHGKjmsufbgULr6JgQC1pGP-52NPBtJm-UPLfPWxJFupwsiV2/s1600-h/DSC_1086.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424207376992648466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzjw-9e2wc6EIR8guyG79mCNu5tKi-PeUXWAVJYFSK8UfYEqaeF7wIaycR1B0z2E3CW-8uSCtqZGrnjtqfnYBJta1ubiyWHGKjmsufbgULr6JgQC1pGP-52NPBtJm-UPLfPWxJFupwsiV2/s400/DSC_1086.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0M34EyWkMRpo9eB69zcB1XRKlTmiAbHvMmdr5jcfUQaDy3pDb4yGiT-Hvp3q-v_ECGcJquOLmyORjCgT283JA2Ef7n5h2zcNgqPPcaB1MZmyaAu4otHpDyngDJXcyT6NPxD1XpKf0iEe/s1600-h/CSC_1165.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424207788811773586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0M34EyWkMRpo9eB69zcB1XRKlTmiAbHvMmdr5jcfUQaDy3pDb4yGiT-Hvp3q-v_ECGcJquOLmyORjCgT283JA2Ef7n5h2zcNgqPPcaB1MZmyaAu4otHpDyngDJXcyT6NPxD1XpKf0iEe/s400/CSC_1165.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOS04zzO7re9cZw0Bu57Zmd2wuCV7YXxdoVlJoxYiuUmfdYM0J-fy38Vf_l0x_8UqelqHsOYGNUCYxaJ04r0Nud3XIJJW20fuqElRy5cM3J5ZXRh9nDoEShFppQ0_6VXlyFpUrKJOb69g0/s1600-h/CSC_1164.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424217683346850466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOS04zzO7re9cZw0Bu57Zmd2wuCV7YXxdoVlJoxYiuUmfdYM0J-fy38Vf_l0x_8UqelqHsOYGNUCYxaJ04r0Nud3XIJJW20fuqElRy5cM3J5ZXRh9nDoEShFppQ0_6VXlyFpUrKJOb69g0/s400/CSC_1164.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Chad was getting sleepy, so we went upstairs to put him to bed, and Natashia and I got to try out the fabulous massage chair in their suite! Then, Scott, Natashia, and I went to Bliss for a little bit before heading to our respective rooms for bedtime! When we got to our room, we received the first of six notices to turn our clocks back one hour that night. I definitely have to say that the gradual, 6 day change back to U.S. Eastern Time was very nice considering the jet lagged alternative!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkoYFhixjli8T-hDdxSfAc780Mpwc-khudDhO5cNrwKKo8osd8erx3SejbXagymgjZQesJzV6cQtQ0om4QD6gqdG1Cq6AzvJyJsYKB1cvUaL_nagGOK-WXoJcOtOOs0B-kAIxLeu6Cztn/s1600-h/DSC_1145.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424222958030311250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkoYFhixjli8T-hDdxSfAc780Mpwc-khudDhO5cNrwKKo8osd8erx3SejbXagymgjZQesJzV6cQtQ0om4QD6gqdG1Cq6AzvJyJsYKB1cvUaL_nagGOK-WXoJcOtOOs0B-kAIxLeu6Cztn/s400/DSC_1145.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
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<strong>See more pictures from "Granada 12/5/09" <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2408355&id=16703694&l=322ba767fa">HERE</a></strong>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-37118007015085493392010-01-03T00:25:00.022-06:002011-07-26T00:15:24.315-05:00At Sea 12/4/09It was our first day to truly just sleep in, and we certainly did not waste the opportunity! We slept until 11:30am!!! We couldn't believe it, but we must have more tired than we thought! As we got up and got ready for the day, we passed the Spanish island of Ibiza. I also talked to Chad on the phone. He said that he and Scott were feeling a bit under the weather, but they definitely wanted to do dinner sometime soon and would let us know when they were feeling up to it. We went to the Garden Cafe for lunch, and sat outside on the patio. It was surprisingly warm and very pleasant! As we were finishing, Jonathan and Maureen found us! It seemed like we kept running into them throughout the trip, but we definitely didn't mind! They sat down with us and we all talked for a while. We agreed to meet for dinner later that evening. After lunch, I checked my email again...my dad had emailed me to let me know that David's lung surgery would not be until after I got home, so I felt a bit of relief knowing I would at least be stateside when he was going under the knife. In the afternoon, Natashia and I walked around the ship a little bit. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqgO4OlV_kR2956-EFCgW1_9_El-k3tWpdYgEMLYQ0ozdnYvE9450Il0Wem8VjCzQYHh8QB25GGlCidyUwGLpgi3xznD4RvXbgE1SBhXTjJJsupH5KTxsOsj8RMqMT11UUquRbGCEg5YV/s1600-h/DSC_0392.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422732169559029666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqgO4OlV_kR2956-EFCgW1_9_El-k3tWpdYgEMLYQ0ozdnYvE9450Il0Wem8VjCzQYHh8QB25GGlCidyUwGLpgi3xznD4RvXbgE1SBhXTjJJsupH5KTxsOsj8RMqMT11UUquRbGCEg5YV/s400/DSC_0392.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-szD4nQh9L1Or5cRNlV9jeC5eL0hhdc7rVY3H12M2S6YJGzSdyVvPhqZMaKbZgPIIbHTuSf96XnMKnllDor5tn46CBk6BbQYNE44AjLjbTRHRYgPfZgozfOhXjsRcCll-GfCqtev1URTX/s1600-h/DSC_0329.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422733152955948754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-szD4nQh9L1Or5cRNlV9jeC5eL0hhdc7rVY3H12M2S6YJGzSdyVvPhqZMaKbZgPIIbHTuSf96XnMKnllDor5tn46CBk6BbQYNE44AjLjbTRHRYgPfZgozfOhXjsRcCll-GfCqtev1URTX/s400/DSC_0329.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We had big plans to attend the champagne art auction and to play a few rounds of Bingo...but we ended up back in our cabin taking a long nap! We got up in time to meet Jonathan and Maureen at Magenta for dinner. We opted for open seating, and shared a table with a nice older couple from Dover, England. We had a good dinner and good conversation.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeMU8-BHyKVYd3THH_tgcOye1GkLSpJtQr0ZOOF87N8-rP7p67OhcQv9jtimF3WrJnfWdK0FAvUuA-NoPgztVV6jGvQUpkR_FaFIhwOqZc7lrqvBqgUkv_X7mh5o7GuyS9rr5tICO4UQ4/s1600-h/CSC_0404.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422730644949700690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaeMU8-BHyKVYd3THH_tgcOye1GkLSpJtQr0ZOOF87N8-rP7p67OhcQv9jtimF3WrJnfWdK0FAvUuA-NoPgztVV6jGvQUpkR_FaFIhwOqZc7lrqvBqgUkv_X7mh5o7GuyS9rr5tICO4UQ4/s400/CSC_0404.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> After dinner, Jonathan, Marueen, Natashia and I went to Stardust Theater to see the Second City Improv Comedy Troupe. It is the group from Chicago that is responsible for the careers of comedians such as Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Nia Vardalos, Martin Short, John and Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bonnie Hunt, Ryan Stiles, Bill Murray, and Mike Myers, just to name a few! Basically, everyone who has ever been on <em>Saturday Night Live</em>, <em>MadTV</em>, or <em>Whose Line is it Anyway?</em> Lol! Their show was outstandingly funny! I enjoyed it very much! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzo9B6dfJGBpMBlKsxqPKUOZ1MeZ7prw8QWECPNjAPsDrMI79Pk8y8gkf2MHXzpzGGH-0nJXAygksxe5-Z__Jh6h9NN_eww31Zoir9OdDsg7qCKzzpsaUuDza2dJO3IFFvh9iBPyrzQi2/s1600-h/DSC_0422.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422736277324500770" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzo9B6dfJGBpMBlKsxqPKUOZ1MeZ7prw8QWECPNjAPsDrMI79Pk8y8gkf2MHXzpzGGH-0nJXAygksxe5-Z__Jh6h9NN_eww31Zoir9OdDsg7qCKzzpsaUuDza2dJO3IFFvh9iBPyrzQi2/s400/DSC_0422.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> After the show, we got ready for the White Hot Party in the Spinnaker! The lounge was all decked out with white decorations and ice sculptures. Everyone wore white (some people wore their bathrobes and bedsheets...Andy and Rob had on fluffy angel wings!) and we danced to Techno/House music in the strobe and black lights! It was pretty fun! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXyuCA_qjdnuPNqqN7qKBOmpknDwVISxinDoXRyLfp9VM_it3Sm_Vrip3SuJ-wHhSLfTKWj5FAPnndp2qgn5LYddohsarmPrRiZRNLMIgiov-nD8NteEDT0fHcSJ8SVSFQNGlKVbBR4vnu/s1600-h/IMG_4846.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422738164274420802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXyuCA_qjdnuPNqqN7qKBOmpknDwVISxinDoXRyLfp9VM_it3Sm_Vrip3SuJ-wHhSLfTKWj5FAPnndp2qgn5LYddohsarmPrRiZRNLMIgiov-nD8NteEDT0fHcSJ8SVSFQNGlKVbBR4vnu/s400/IMG_4846.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFdgeQkpe9GRPbhxDDQ29WqiNy5_VstcAtNCHk4tRnF8TTpZjDADdcnTnJz6RMyQ3zPZDOSGaA2qF-mLqfL6-CNn7BLZUjkxXdlHQ-N_mmED9W8q3w-u8J-83kxRnSoRD2-gckC2AcVz0T/s1600-h/IMG_4843.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422738483589531938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFdgeQkpe9GRPbhxDDQ29WqiNy5_VstcAtNCHk4tRnF8TTpZjDADdcnTnJz6RMyQ3zPZDOSGaA2qF-mLqfL6-CNn7BLZUjkxXdlHQ-N_mmED9W8q3w-u8J-83kxRnSoRD2-gckC2AcVz0T/s400/IMG_4843.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> They had a shadow box screen that the cruise ship dancers were behind, and then they gave everyone a chance to get in on the action! Rashaan, one of the ship's dancers, decided to do a naughty strip tease behind the curtain, and Ruben, one of the guys from <em>Los Locos Ole</em> gave it a good shot, too! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDdslSS7zgispW1EzdV3j2461e6OSoRxCbh6xrwWkq1rjcO3cn4ldiZUlJCPe1ycyQbKzcDDHMGkQfWJ0pkWowSjj7f4Bf9hFMh9s_aZTc_7DDNPaQEEQEgiTHI9DytmbklKgTGKE5A1K/s1600-h/IMG_4859.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422738034695401602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDdslSS7zgispW1EzdV3j2461e6OSoRxCbh6xrwWkq1rjcO3cn4ldiZUlJCPe1ycyQbKzcDDHMGkQfWJ0pkWowSjj7f4Bf9hFMh9s_aZTc_7DDNPaQEEQEgiTHI9DytmbklKgTGKE5A1K/s400/IMG_4859.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
After the main White Hot Party ended, there was an after party in Bliss Ultra Lounge! We went for an hour or so, and then by 1:30pm, I was pooped! I went back to the cabin and hopped into my cozy, Italian-made bed and sheets! :-)<br />
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<strong>See more pictures from "At Sea" <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2407227&id=16703694&l=703dcea2e8">HERE</a></strong>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-31602783447012431782009-12-31T22:50:00.026-06:002011-07-26T00:15:38.963-05:00Ajaccio 12/3/09We got a gorgeous view of the sunrise over the mountains on the French island of Corsica! Thank goodness I just happened to wake up at 7:15 so we could see it! I had to wake up Natashia so she could see it, too! From our balcony, we had a front row view of the sunrise, and also of the snow capped mountains! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJHEpz_dqIr5wgpAyMJDU4zSuZVIE56WvQD_HxcpWQuz4w6RL38hNp7oGXxGf5bLWpBRL0f0dG9T_2yJM4mondjjbbVZaR1Wua6QXx_X1eb9Eqf19XBQV_uXCmPhODGmTbp_iixEarB-R/s1600-h/DSC_0038.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421631553127341570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJHEpz_dqIr5wgpAyMJDU4zSuZVIE56WvQD_HxcpWQuz4w6RL38hNp7oGXxGf5bLWpBRL0f0dG9T_2yJM4mondjjbbVZaR1Wua6QXx_X1eb9Eqf19XBQV_uXCmPhODGmTbp_iixEarB-R/s400/DSC_0038.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0CQul8ryk99Onb6Y9Mq6hVHKaEXRyMiAaIe0ehrsCz1BXHtQp1iWVdOmP73K64jbxaV_7oY4Go9bMr6IpYyJe7SPf-0rFm_YxuwbdY_Oal2FCrn7xjnghj9WlStvrACChMyDWbUKQUdgp/s1600-h/DSC_0011.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421632639682728146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0CQul8ryk99Onb6Y9Mq6hVHKaEXRyMiAaIe0ehrsCz1BXHtQp1iWVdOmP73K64jbxaV_7oY4Go9bMr6IpYyJe7SPf-0rFm_YxuwbdY_Oal2FCrn7xjnghj9WlStvrACChMyDWbUKQUdgp/s400/DSC_0011.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> It was a slow morning...we didn't dock until 10:00am, so Natashia and I took our time getting up and ready for the day. At 10:00am, we walked down to the 4th deck and got off the ship. We walked through the port and towards the Town Square. We passed a market on the way, and had fun looking at all the flowers, wines, cheeses, fruits, and veggies that were for sale. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtp2eNOZ2lJNZ4IPZDcsF3hAs_8kSu_Pa5tKH953QvMLAyqysw6sSEgqxP6X1JgSfbv3PkSrBiz5MCXvBcfEn0vsM4ZcaMjiWmj4pKxBp0gfp9iYRyC0eIsnr78TsO8BRatEEHHws01zTd/s1600-h/DSC_0051.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421634501040139634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtp2eNOZ2lJNZ4IPZDcsF3hAs_8kSu_Pa5tKH953QvMLAyqysw6sSEgqxP6X1JgSfbv3PkSrBiz5MCXvBcfEn0vsM4ZcaMjiWmj4pKxBp0gfp9iYRyC0eIsnr78TsO8BRatEEHHws01zTd/s400/DSC_0051.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9xK34r0oKcZJeAWlwfiElBJimUOFfLlQZRnHOvl97ApW5NLsD-MYtkuWH8VoWE7eIEiCaJa09J_udHERf0pMWGAktr35p-6jvQ9zgzpP2dWf0CS7g4y9VcCTLR4V3bZjP9S-qrujRclE/s1600-h/DSC_0086.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421634101864543202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9xK34r0oKcZJeAWlwfiElBJimUOFfLlQZRnHOvl97ApW5NLsD-MYtkuWH8VoWE7eIEiCaJa09J_udHERf0pMWGAktr35p-6jvQ9zgzpP2dWf0CS7g4y9VcCTLR4V3bZjP9S-qrujRclE/s400/DSC_0086.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8kt-mEjAeDCz1BAIJzTZ8SQGQwUtrhDmal22LcDyJYPtLVU88sddaPGQhSTpyH2ICtP_m8lzH27o6pwFyeTRu1mKecaaqnXOMjbfi1V0h2z8tKe2udHXY6YqJDBRMj2qO5EU67EF2sM2b/s1600-h/DSC_0089.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421634929881737970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8kt-mEjAeDCz1BAIJzTZ8SQGQwUtrhDmal22LcDyJYPtLVU88sddaPGQhSTpyH2ICtP_m8lzH27o6pwFyeTRu1mKecaaqnXOMjbfi1V0h2z8tKe2udHXY6YqJDBRMj2qO5EU67EF2sM2b/s400/DSC_0089.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We walked along the coastline and in a couple of minutes, arrived at the old walls of the Citadel. Down in what used to be the moat around the fortress, there was a donkey and a goat. I made a bleating noise to greet Mr. Goat, and an elderly woman standing about 10 feet from me exclaimed, "Oh! Did you hear the goat! He's talking to us!" She thought I was the goat! Hahaha! I didn't want to disappoint her, so I just went along with it! :-P <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfoE1sWK_l5jAtjqgDjHNjwYOcaRhDQcExJnVqHMHqJjqBvW9e13gkfLNt_u21OFg04pZtTlWZr680hk08Pe6hMEUJ9jbL7RgPurYdN1aVrw87IPU8OVEHqm-nJ-53jC1PQ5V7cFFYjjtH/s1600-h/DSC_0112.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422126408143736706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfoE1sWK_l5jAtjqgDjHNjwYOcaRhDQcExJnVqHMHqJjqBvW9e13gkfLNt_u21OFg04pZtTlWZr680hk08Pe6hMEUJ9jbL7RgPurYdN1aVrw87IPU8OVEHqm-nJ-53jC1PQ5V7cFFYjjtH/s400/DSC_0112.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6cIpg-o2u77pRQkGF9AsTJp7IkB8zok5Ax1x_5ZPETKXXlT85YDJcaT61ZZknH01sQCVNDke1YWwZvSeywDv67Fudo0Glhw2jLSWuuPXlayFvlzZv7Oebb3d9giFXq3uodiKR5ufizGJ/s1600-h/CSC_0998.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421635551248572386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6cIpg-o2u77pRQkGF9AsTJp7IkB8zok5Ax1x_5ZPETKXXlT85YDJcaT61ZZknH01sQCVNDke1YWwZvSeywDv67Fudo0Glhw2jLSWuuPXlayFvlzZv7Oebb3d9giFXq3uodiKR5ufizGJ/s400/CSC_0998.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Beyond the Citadel was the beach! The water was chilly, but beautiful! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tapJqc1SugI9hSywVw72Eu_nMnNqnxBZdN3lIlRNKMsrWmMQr0qh7KOvSgo80uteZk-2BA40sPvK3GRX3ZNaE_-XN68cVp9OXA1y8_KiCUQx7aGLCEE5yHd1GNnet_QAn3XkLo-34u75/s1600-h/DSC_0127.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421636729341432674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tapJqc1SugI9hSywVw72Eu_nMnNqnxBZdN3lIlRNKMsrWmMQr0qh7KOvSgo80uteZk-2BA40sPvK3GRX3ZNaE_-XN68cVp9OXA1y8_KiCUQx7aGLCEE5yHd1GNnet_QAn3XkLo-34u75/s400/DSC_0127.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfWKg6HRwvNaQNoEShyUesixr-gCGHaUxQ8iJ1d-U8WZSgWpmbLXOyh13IW8aT3hc64Oi931JNKs1VGy5YdL9P5oYSZG6DfS3aixithfTErk8xmCVJ0v8Oj9Z62g_Pz1uDhTizz6AsKcfM/s1600-h/DSC_0135.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421637248620985186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfWKg6HRwvNaQNoEShyUesixr-gCGHaUxQ8iJ1d-U8WZSgWpmbLXOyh13IW8aT3hc64Oi931JNKs1VGy5YdL9P5oYSZG6DfS3aixithfTErk8xmCVJ0v8Oj9Z62g_Pz1uDhTizz6AsKcfM/s400/DSC_0135.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Next, we headed across the street to the Cathédrale Notre Dame de l'Assomption. This is where Napoleon Bonaparte was baptized and attended mass as a child. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPL4g8ymR9-Ym8dmyM6BUADi89NKAFjyBQfM3zM0uyQSa98LRmDZVnYBo9aLngOfwMdI03m6rAGFHOY3RpwneKb0yvcS8XoLpg17v8rDrxo0tw-GJAmNJevUDUR_r4i72PwC6nhhQcYri/s1600-h/DSC_0143.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421638725550088642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPL4g8ymR9-Ym8dmyM6BUADi89NKAFjyBQfM3zM0uyQSa98LRmDZVnYBo9aLngOfwMdI03m6rAGFHOY3RpwneKb0yvcS8XoLpg17v8rDrxo0tw-GJAmNJevUDUR_r4i72PwC6nhhQcYri/s400/DSC_0143.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaElKRLjQIXOHCnJtCv3S-tBaKOTXl1GKGpubvrv018p02MmDOOzyUFgjUOLiNEXwDpUe2ZSQkf2_2Uoi9fHINbFbf7HUIgI5LwXcKqkBsVO146VhLpXImY8-3BNsqU42A77u1tdd_7g-/s1600-h/DSC_0223.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422131147810909906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaElKRLjQIXOHCnJtCv3S-tBaKOTXl1GKGpubvrv018p02MmDOOzyUFgjUOLiNEXwDpUe2ZSQkf2_2Uoi9fHINbFbf7HUIgI5LwXcKqkBsVO146VhLpXImY8-3BNsqU42A77u1tdd_7g-/s400/DSC_0223.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We meandered through a few of the narrow streets and found Napoleon's House. We did not want to pay the admission fee, so we just took pictures at the front door and went on our way! There are two main shopping streets in Ajaccio that run parallel to the coast. This was our next destination, but we also wanted to find a post office. We stopped in a park on the way, and I successfully asked three young men how to get to "la poste." They gave their answer in French, and I understood it! I was quite proud of myself. :-) Of the three languages in which we had to communicate on this trip, I enjoyed using French the most! Anyway, we found the post office, sent some more post cards, and then did some window shopping. Natashia had certain items that she was looking for, but I had already promised myself that, in order to save money, I would not buy souvenirs aside from the postcards I was sending. When I travel, I am usually quite satisfied to let my photographs and my memories be my souvenirs! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdkllcvZ1wNqYRAUBzYk3luTijOhFkurMbnsyjltWn6GlkUL5_WQNr1pjVXWhyphenhyphenLvcUwSLrXzCae0H8e6o7ZlBYgkyGdkpuZSGOTvhwEulEgbxxQcWnb4NJXyJ3skkxNiLS5OQECl6YwFC/s1600-h/DSC_0267.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421643241554813570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdkllcvZ1wNqYRAUBzYk3luTijOhFkurMbnsyjltWn6GlkUL5_WQNr1pjVXWhyphenhyphenLvcUwSLrXzCae0H8e6o7ZlBYgkyGdkpuZSGOTvhwEulEgbxxQcWnb4NJXyJ3skkxNiLS5OQECl6YwFC/s400/DSC_0267.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Around 1:00pm, we found a cute little cafe to have some lunch. The owner of this restaurant was very friendly and helpful. He recommended we try a wine that I ended up loving (Moscato), and I had some delicious homemade lasagna and a huge salad...all for only about 12 euros!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6foJKZ2COBdd3RoOUclIJV1bXMlLgYvIhpfErx8DPfcuNYeJ0ySeGc2hUvujlLaLQo0Fjp-EbCcbafBqgKpcDJUuCsxUfgJyLS7ZW0HnMvvDgQ4yFLsx7nSAzQROo6o7EPCs3e0R5rij3/s1600-h/CSC_0442.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421641542993818578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6foJKZ2COBdd3RoOUclIJV1bXMlLgYvIhpfErx8DPfcuNYeJ0ySeGc2hUvujlLaLQo0Fjp-EbCcbafBqgKpcDJUuCsxUfgJyLS7ZW0HnMvvDgQ4yFLsx7nSAzQROo6o7EPCs3e0R5rij3/s400/CSC_0442.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfRF4xL1QBTIcZVxc2vCVJzCnFFplGqUYN-t1lATJRTZPd602Z-FJ9eZcX6GOBxeXRVEFdGc1UKXmcx6v5RvWd0lvzW5hKrNeBaXH83_bt7g54Pj6709McqKDdem2jh16rXczR66CqSSHQ/s1600-h/DSC_0286.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421642846552187842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfRF4xL1QBTIcZVxc2vCVJzCnFFplGqUYN-t1lATJRTZPd602Z-FJ9eZcX6GOBxeXRVEFdGc1UKXmcx6v5RvWd0lvzW5hKrNeBaXH83_bt7g54Pj6709McqKDdem2jh16rXczR66CqSSHQ/s400/DSC_0286.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> After lunch, it was starting to rain lightly. I wasn't interested in more window shopping, but Natashia still hadn't found what she was looking for...so we decided to split up for the afternoon. I went back to the ship, took a long, hot shower to warm myself up, drenched myself in body lotion (don't you just love that?!?!), and rested up a bit while Natashia shopped. Natashia got back to the ship at about 4:30pm. She had used the calling card to call her mom in the port building, so I decided that I would go call my dad before all aboard at 5:00pm. We ate dinner at the Grand Pacific Dining Room. We got there about 15 minutes before it opened, and there was already a line! We requested a seat at the window so we could watch when we were leaving port. We admired the Christmas decorations in the room as we ate. A woman at the table next to us was celebrating a birthday, and she shared her cake with us, so we got a nice little extra dessert! At 7:45pm, we decided to go to Evening Trivia in the Spinnaker Lounge. We ran into Judi and Patsy there and decided to be on their team. I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure we did pretty well. :-) We also met James and William, two guys who were traveling home after two years overseas in the Peace Corp. After trivia was over, we went to talk to Rob "Sugar", the Assistant Cruise Director. He had a contest going on that day...a prize to the person who could guess his real last name. With just two clues, I correctly guessed that his last name is Barker, and I won a Norwegian Cruise Line pen and a free Bingo card! Woohoo! Lol! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFspcTjqQjBZafq84_fdnDMU7dNXLOW_5R_dyTe2I-RXZMp2_yyF4ope87F9AVKZOVwH5rhpXjF0X9g4niGm2di4wBUS0xItav6agw4K_C-J9Dtzi-QqQA3hsEz3LWzHhwvFQjMjZt_ml/s1600-h/CSC_0013.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421653557105750210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFspcTjqQjBZafq84_fdnDMU7dNXLOW_5R_dyTe2I-RXZMp2_yyF4ope87F9AVKZOVwH5rhpXjF0X9g4niGm2di4wBUS0xItav6agw4K_C-J9Dtzi-QqQA3hsEz3LWzHhwvFQjMjZt_ml/s400/CSC_0013.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We went back to our room to rest. I also called Chad and Scott and left a message that we would love to have dinner with them one night soon. At 10:45, we went to a game called <em>If You Know It, Sing It</em>. I knew it was a crowd participation game, but I was not prepared for all that it entailed! I ended up being a very content observer of the crazy festivities! :-) By that time, the ship was rocking and rolling a bit, and there was a light rainstorm, so it definitely helped lull me to sleep...but not until after some precautionary motion sickness medicine! That night, the storm picked up and the ship started its creaking...a noise that became very familiar to us as we crossed the Atlantic! <br />
<br />
<strong>See more pictures from "Ajaccio 12/3/09" <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2406968&id=16703694&l=6f2cb9b864">HERE</a></strong>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-24415240871430586312009-12-25T20:44:00.031-06:002011-07-26T00:16:01.257-05:00Rome 12/2/09We ate breakfast, as usual, on the back deck outside the Garden Cafe. It was especially brisk this morning, so we ate quickly and then went back in to warm up before heading off the ship. We exited the ship and got on the shuttle bus that dropped us off at the edge of port. From there, it was about a 10 minute walk down the street to the Civitavecchia train station. We rode the hour and a half to Rome, got off at the Rome Ostiense station, and took the Metro to Circo Massimo. When we got to ground level, we came face to face with ancient Roman ruins! It was so neat to see them and think about just how long they have been there! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6ebObjdNrhyphenhyphenxdH0ZwOkL_1o5KSdm0baS14f9w7T3rXRjyUIOWQclB69uB_U9MC1lClPfTSzHwb6hkSuqIgMba0duPUWQJ6zvWV65GIV1zdJ_Td0XrEPOgejvinmyYf_ZXXIdyq96eFS_/s1600-h/DSC_0433.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419372708116046722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6ebObjdNrhyphenhyphenxdH0ZwOkL_1o5KSdm0baS14f9w7T3rXRjyUIOWQclB69uB_U9MC1lClPfTSzHwb6hkSuqIgMba0duPUWQJ6zvWV65GIV1zdJ_Td0XrEPOgejvinmyYf_ZXXIdyq96eFS_/s400/DSC_0433.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We walked just a few blocks and came to the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine. Very cool!!! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhavvr8d6rsZbMEtt0zwMAYjSO_TxJsJqAkcGmE6L9ZWG_7trVGp7zt_EqKquCyhl2-M00332dgyIZ5b9QAcSwUOwifJbh2uQXf6Lq0t8BnaWv_11f5rxCRG6wwHdvpAbRgG9w_Yq5L8KwP/s1600-h/DSC_0438.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419374763012328578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhavvr8d6rsZbMEtt0zwMAYjSO_TxJsJqAkcGmE6L9ZWG_7trVGp7zt_EqKquCyhl2-M00332dgyIZ5b9QAcSwUOwifJbh2uQXf6Lq0t8BnaWv_11f5rxCRG6wwHdvpAbRgG9w_Yq5L8KwP/s400/DSC_0438.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvJkjbBe1kdxjACKRAJhlmv9d5_unb0jKxx3nhH3mXOORqvBRkfUgryH_tnsZiknXbBC3HcABCZ81lOpksYzHrobbooXG97tqPX5sfocTOyFuNME-CU7Szal2O-F34_YXVzrmenXhWWcc/s1600-h/DSC_0468.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419375957254957362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrvJkjbBe1kdxjACKRAJhlmv9d5_unb0jKxx3nhH3mXOORqvBRkfUgryH_tnsZiknXbBC3HcABCZ81lOpksYzHrobbooXG97tqPX5sfocTOyFuNME-CU7Szal2O-F34_YXVzrmenXhWWcc/s400/DSC_0468.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Next we walked past the Roman Forum. It was really neat to see the combination of old and new in the city! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghNW2KijZpj6nlK-Sd-e6Q4K8R5NfLtxtQYw3Xz8MUUZYlWXCSmdi6_tkmRwRHzpL8oq3SViTDJuTPzvmRVk8yQvlKTWm4f8S-E7fPWAX6G0PmP_CJDFjSouMbhlA2Rxn4apoEALhq-8Pg/s1600-h/DSC_0485.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419376861711194530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghNW2KijZpj6nlK-Sd-e6Q4K8R5NfLtxtQYw3Xz8MUUZYlWXCSmdi6_tkmRwRHzpL8oq3SViTDJuTPzvmRVk8yQvlKTWm4f8S-E7fPWAX6G0PmP_CJDFjSouMbhlA2Rxn4apoEALhq-8Pg/s400/DSC_0485.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Just a few steps away we found the "Wedding Cake Monument." It is a monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2gBFhZyZErstLaGpxSq96BaAH93N8KGuHP9gDPEQbsfGQvwHE9Be0IsAh4980cuoiuSeNeTh9M4rTAnDposPOtDZApGcIVPLpJlKkH3bkpA02cZOR7LfwFJG7yPbkz7bRs2MRW8YTzQN/s1600-h/DSC_0507.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419377646613453378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB2gBFhZyZErstLaGpxSq96BaAH93N8KGuHP9gDPEQbsfGQvwHE9Be0IsAh4980cuoiuSeNeTh9M4rTAnDposPOtDZApGcIVPLpJlKkH3bkpA02cZOR7LfwFJG7yPbkz7bRs2MRW8YTzQN/s400/DSC_0507.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Next, we meandered our way to the Pantheon. We thought we had passed it and were just about to stop and consult a map when we looked up and found ourselves right beside it! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2qS6-sMG-4r1PTsj0jwiLvykLobCia829bODYANIEH2AYdwUC_HQsKWWpgb1ErNtXgOFpH3g45ENGAQSL2oG_ujVXeuk_jyYMSnOZ9pTQlb6mKOy8XjROn5hbg3sSdNVbZu7IeaQaJNn/s1600-h/DSC_0539.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419379396734362322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb2qS6-sMG-4r1PTsj0jwiLvykLobCia829bODYANIEH2AYdwUC_HQsKWWpgb1ErNtXgOFpH3g45ENGAQSL2oG_ujVXeuk_jyYMSnOZ9pTQlb6mKOy8XjROn5hbg3sSdNVbZu7IeaQaJNn/s400/DSC_0539.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxi7El3v6hqiR39VSNGy4zI5vAZljFIiEZr8BG69XGzWmYsX79D_6Hjfag5wVMeOpuSVC09zVIQmPAh5T5lxvW9VUrS_ut8XmBlT2FoJwurFc8ugLOeTML2YLwWQub7MspawVf1rVa6Rp3/s1600-h/DSC_0546.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422121286908490466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxi7El3v6hqiR39VSNGy4zI5vAZljFIiEZr8BG69XGzWmYsX79D_6Hjfag5wVMeOpuSVC09zVIQmPAh5T5lxvW9VUrS_ut8XmBlT2FoJwurFc8ugLOeTML2YLwWQub7MspawVf1rVa6Rp3/s400/DSC_0546.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We went inside and got some pictures, and then we found a friendly McDonald's just across the plaza to go to the restroom! We were scheduled to meet Natashia's friend, Luke, in front of the Pantheon at 11:30am. Luke is a seminarian in Rome, and has been there for a couple of years. He offered to be our private tour guide for the afternoon! While we waited for Luke to arrive, what did we do? That's right, we got gelato! This particular place had some interesting flavors... (The blue one is called "Viagra.")<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdWsVuD9eurUq-keNDOdqiI7SBHXNOKodsNxJwnenHyTewYtJEFUD7ctOUbr8-w0m3S-BTfp0AO3-9hIRXE7z11S8IBUrEMAB4IHJ9rWQqHmbOTR977wvehbZGdz2F4raDNRF981deReT/s1600-h/DSC_0590.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419382414388000210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdWsVuD9eurUq-keNDOdqiI7SBHXNOKodsNxJwnenHyTewYtJEFUD7ctOUbr8-w0m3S-BTfp0AO3-9hIRXE7z11S8IBUrEMAB4IHJ9rWQqHmbOTR977wvehbZGdz2F4raDNRF981deReT/s400/DSC_0590.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> When Luke arrived, he immediately led the way to the Trevi fountain. We stopped briefly to toss in our coins, and then headed to the Spanish Steps. We also got to walk through the first McDonald's built in Italy! Lol! It was really nice to have Luke with us. We moved much faster because he knew exactly where to go without looking at a map. We also felt a bit safer having a man (and a seminarian!) with us! After the Spanish Steps, we took the metro straight over to the Vatican. I knew it would be cool to be at the Vatican, but I was not prepared for how emotional my reaction would be! As soon as St. Peter's came into view, tears sprang to my eyes and I got choked up! It was such a powerful experience!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMo_ECKzhyphenhyphenmVfbVCQ1Y1ISn2FVI8FzqBFBds0nW68K-7Oufja4mmSzWF4Z1wRgvRK7a2Pg_YaIglD1e1uCYtwUATZ0x7MfyDcxX7D64av3ytuRiFlL46neWw2pSUGK0i0BE-cIH5EA_Z6/s1600-h/DSC_0678.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419391656573228642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyMo_ECKzhyphenhyphenmVfbVCQ1Y1ISn2FVI8FzqBFBds0nW68K-7Oufja4mmSzWF4Z1wRgvRK7a2Pg_YaIglD1e1uCYtwUATZ0x7MfyDcxX7D64av3ytuRiFlL46neWw2pSUGK0i0BE-cIH5EA_Z6/s400/DSC_0678.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> There was not a line to get into St. Peter's, so that is where we went first. Again, it was such an emotional experience! It is soooooo beautiful! There aren't even words to describe it! And Luke was an AMAZING tour guide! He was so knowledgeable about everything from the floor tiles, to the artwork, to the relics and tombs in the church. It was a priceless experience! Here are just a few of the pictures I took. (I think I probably took 300 in St. Peter's alone!) <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8PQNlyi6TlwiQw2Q-SrNt4bkbm8w9j6intq1LuxlY2EiYSXV95MrhEUfkPTktEv0WSM9eubsEJDAHuOXYcK4QBSUOX9ahrEjDuAKpzASa01fkmvIUSfcJ-vkKWIjRonzXWTQ94S7U4T3A/s1600-h/DSC_0697.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419393624302168402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8PQNlyi6TlwiQw2Q-SrNt4bkbm8w9j6intq1LuxlY2EiYSXV95MrhEUfkPTktEv0WSM9eubsEJDAHuOXYcK4QBSUOX9ahrEjDuAKpzASa01fkmvIUSfcJ-vkKWIjRonzXWTQ94S7U4T3A/s400/DSC_0697.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib15HL4exOSwC6uevdxMdirUsugkct18xNx7xBocp5LATnMS-KVYn8Z9os6LVfqhaMXGVFrs7dqxJK64Z2Ot7-9vCIkuszsPaFT1sqehxQOOhE2uQDl4exjg8yfYHYb3SJTACEQVtm7xYK/s1600-h/DSC_0714.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419394133916856994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib15HL4exOSwC6uevdxMdirUsugkct18xNx7xBocp5LATnMS-KVYn8Z9os6LVfqhaMXGVFrs7dqxJK64Z2Ot7-9vCIkuszsPaFT1sqehxQOOhE2uQDl4exjg8yfYHYb3SJTACEQVtm7xYK/s400/DSC_0714.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOdQcMcnLYNpmeErqcZE7tOOCO9UQtisdizcpbhP8y_H1LosiN8eq4sIVTgEAkY0o6JcpcvB_c5UfdmwJB8K9jvYqMvNZgAVQbTl7c1hzFiyfYOaiXuAkmpyYBjIV3FONFBW_7C4egcKi/s1600-h/DSC_0752.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419394653208638978" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOdQcMcnLYNpmeErqcZE7tOOCO9UQtisdizcpbhP8y_H1LosiN8eq4sIVTgEAkY0o6JcpcvB_c5UfdmwJB8K9jvYqMvNZgAVQbTl7c1hzFiyfYOaiXuAkmpyYBjIV3FONFBW_7C4egcKi/s400/DSC_0752.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgELT8AGYefPec5_pc6qleM0oORDQjqHur26BKnvXlS0kBaRjadrhLBMSuqutu929MU-1KA1guGjwaY4BGETlmCWnK_Kjubjpg_4MHBpeQvbOvomPzVyhKix_jSEbuzBEIiUIgG9_XVQXx9/s1600-h/DSC_0776.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419395791857716050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgELT8AGYefPec5_pc6qleM0oORDQjqHur26BKnvXlS0kBaRjadrhLBMSuqutu929MU-1KA1guGjwaY4BGETlmCWnK_Kjubjpg_4MHBpeQvbOvomPzVyhKix_jSEbuzBEIiUIgG9_XVQXx9/s400/DSC_0776.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> After our venture through St. Peter's, Luke took us down into the catacombs. There were tombs of past popes, including Pope John Paul II. Luke also told us about how the existing St. Peter's was built on top of the original St. Peter's that was built by Constantine. You can see some of the original structure beneath the catacombs...if you know where to look! There is a little hole that you can look through, but you have to practically get on your hands and knees to do it! It was worth it, though! Pretty cool! On our way out of the catacombs, we stopped to take pictures with the Swiss Guards and to mail some postcards back home! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUx-AK7Ob_5TvykpCYfoyv8yvZsgISG-hP_mhpNLm44M9CjUrbzNMS7zde6QsYnFHRtcqJhemYl_XWE2YagZTrFECk8lMKqym294UjWuUJRxJXspW8mX5DVF1iINzCAkqrnVevCp8jUhd/s1600-h/DSC_0828.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419406104646527058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUx-AK7Ob_5TvykpCYfoyv8yvZsgISG-hP_mhpNLm44M9CjUrbzNMS7zde6QsYnFHRtcqJhemYl_XWE2YagZTrFECk8lMKqym294UjWuUJRxJXspW8mX5DVF1iINzCAkqrnVevCp8jUhd/s400/DSC_0828.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> By then, it was about 2:30pm, and Luke had to leave us to go to class. We went our seperate ways, and Natashia and I started walking towards the San Pietro train station. We stopped on the way at a cute little restaurant for lunch. Our waiter was adorable...we didn't get his name, so decided to name him Marcello! :-) We caught up with some of our new cruise buddies on the train back to Civitavecchia. When we got to the station, we called our moms, got our last Italian gelato, and then walked back to our shuttle bus stop. We went back to our room to rest, wash some clothes (there was a clothesline in our shower...very handy!), and clean up for the evening. We went to the show called "Colorz." It was put on by the ship's singers and dancers...we were not too impressed. I think years of singing and dancing combined with watching shows like <em>So You Think You Can Dance</em> has spoiled us both as to what real talent is! :-P At 8:30pm, Los Locos Ole performed an encore of just their music in the Crystal Atrium. They stuck around after their performance for an informal meet and greet! <br />
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<center><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwF4RWUuewYw-cqtZNr0DUuE8hPk82I77upyYJh8azbrX2PY5jfJ0V_8jK8UZq0LbahZFl7sl5-ZB9FSIM64A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></center><center> </center><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmYKwa4rj0cOHq4yFm6lG5gTeQEHVqsucUxxG9Pu8CY1o8z1Sf68ZYXCmBlk_euD6oeqWWRidqTUGy8xqqVy_o44Q7LO0sgbeW8Iy_IVXnBjiKRUI_8tyiiPLt4c6j6mX6Yw6ghPG_euo/s1600-h/DSC_0897.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419400604360293122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQmYKwa4rj0cOHq4yFm6lG5gTeQEHVqsucUxxG9Pu8CY1o8z1Sf68ZYXCmBlk_euD6oeqWWRidqTUGy8xqqVy_o44Q7LO0sgbeW8Iy_IVXnBjiKRUI_8tyiiPLt4c6j6mX6Yw6ghPG_euo/s400/DSC_0897.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We went to dinner at Magenta, and then got a little bit gussied up and headed to Bliss Ultra Lounge a bit before 11:00pm. We were already tired before we went, and as a result, we were acting pretty goofy! When we got to Bliss, it was pretty much dead, so we decided to call it a night! <br />
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<strong>See more pictures from "Rome 12/2/09" </strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2406682&id=16703694&l=b369504bb3"><strong>HERE</strong></a><strong> and </strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2406785&id=16703694&l=9f8a2caae8"><strong>HERE</strong></a>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-36834636858229785672009-12-21T17:29:00.023-06:002011-07-26T00:16:15.247-05:00Florence/Pisa 12/1/09We had our wake up call set for 5:00am! We heard it, and laid back down. I planned on just shutting my eyes for a few more minutes...but a few minutes turned into an hour! We woke up, got ready, had breakfast at Garden Cafe, and by 7:30am, we were headed off the ship. We had to ride a shuttle bus from the ship to the middle of the town of Livorno. Then, we had to buy another bus ticket at a news stand to take us to the train station. We got in line at the train station and got our round trip ticket to Florence with just minutes to spare! We ran to our platform, validated our ticket, and got on the train in the nick of time!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FdH6xYG9Hy4paVsuTwAGgf0JJtztNHZepnXdZzTlbAL4JD02HHpZL_imvp3v8QG9QWboVv0l8B6fupgnds1o4_AtEzqp5YNqYAUHJOsWxQqiKPXlVRk0_qCO5fVL2Vpec78qQEMCrfAZ/s1600-h/DSC_0170.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417836883370058434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FdH6xYG9Hy4paVsuTwAGgf0JJtztNHZepnXdZzTlbAL4JD02HHpZL_imvp3v8QG9QWboVv0l8B6fupgnds1o4_AtEzqp5YNqYAUHJOsWxQqiKPXlVRk0_qCO5fVL2Vpec78qQEMCrfAZ/s400/DSC_0170.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> On the train, we met a woman from the U.S. who had been living in Florence for a few months. She was very nice and gave us some good information about catching the train back from Florence. We exited the train station in from of the church of Santa Maria Novella. We walked East and passed the church of San Lorenzo and lots of street vendors, mostly selling leather. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCkrWHQVEinRJ7eVYnj4HGG1QRwHo-d21uqYBtqfVs7I3WTP9v-1P-S8u68upvtr3Suvk9wcMEbbkSFrc1bSjDR419Iay-S3Nve-N_-34Dvo7czuQdoq8XWCVvKPWFjv-WA6zU5G9FCfx/s1600-h/DSC_0215.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419342788462083714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCkrWHQVEinRJ7eVYnj4HGG1QRwHo-d21uqYBtqfVs7I3WTP9v-1P-S8u68upvtr3Suvk9wcMEbbkSFrc1bSjDR419Iay-S3Nve-N_-34Dvo7czuQdoq8XWCVvKPWFjv-WA6zU5G9FCfx/s400/DSC_0215.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We passed a little cafe, and the proprietor saw us out taking pictures. He spoke to us in perfect English and asked where we were from. When we told him Texas, he produced a Longhorns keychain from his pocket. He said it was a gift from his good friends who live in Texas. Small world! We continued to walk, and before we knew it, we could see the Duomo peeking out at us above the rooftops!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKRtVdKsgvgqkUCc-7n7Ly5Hzbb4OcRcfulVn3K1IPoMe7PYxioolaSK02_Ck2CpasWz2gjlMrRti3HVdztDmShEvFsIk96UPOQR8JVMH8AJRgaBw3rBVbqFdNgaxFWuAjipAerpkdxQg/s1600-h/DSC_0223.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419345283598631042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKRtVdKsgvgqkUCc-7n7Ly5Hzbb4OcRcfulVn3K1IPoMe7PYxioolaSK02_Ck2CpasWz2gjlMrRti3HVdztDmShEvFsIk96UPOQR8JVMH8AJRgaBw3rBVbqFdNgaxFWuAjipAerpkdxQg/s400/DSC_0223.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> When we got up right next to it, I was utterly amazed! It was so breathtakingly beautiful...and HUGE!!! I think my jaw was on the ground the whole time we were there! It felt like something out of a dream! I was stunned!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9DAgOq-Vi45b3IY3uiiJTXTmrYlsOhYKPJkhOPC20rL1t1-FMIPDQoifWuR-lYReSFn8W8ro0Uxw27ISG9FSzC8uCq2pnAps92pwmyLFiI1Ps-sOM4v3Pv-cSD6UbhCS3-6No1uUiemp/s1600-h/DSC_0226.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419347187547255410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9DAgOq-Vi45b3IY3uiiJTXTmrYlsOhYKPJkhOPC20rL1t1-FMIPDQoifWuR-lYReSFn8W8ro0Uxw27ISG9FSzC8uCq2pnAps92pwmyLFiI1Ps-sOM4v3Pv-cSD6UbhCS3-6No1uUiemp/s400/DSC_0226.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1mkkCh0ZA94MVAvpEfujb0awZLzrlM4N9t2ldYDdg14hQ2SeVrlX3CGtg34_9EAp_07GzVdk621EsAFOOTWJKsAeuYXeGSCi9eKlL8ElAtvrEumbJ2ztiKuEIDTK8BqCnrVx7ezcqdqW/s1600-h/DSC_0235.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419349776993120274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1mkkCh0ZA94MVAvpEfujb0awZLzrlM4N9t2ldYDdg14hQ2SeVrlX3CGtg34_9EAp_07GzVdk621EsAFOOTWJKsAeuYXeGSCi9eKlL8ElAtvrEumbJ2ztiKuEIDTK8BqCnrVx7ezcqdqW/s400/DSC_0235.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IkQhyphenhyphen3Buq_x8cNA5EAOk38wl1OXMhzf3oFKK1yamiskkJohA_TPinNJ7UKMF-NDR8i9UF-0ChYGJ_1AF0l8DXlDsQSvBDdf86pD3j_oqgAMkCLcZ1nr0EArXdre1O6dmniVqLeFYL8f4/s1600-h/DSC_0251.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419350307687911826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IkQhyphenhyphen3Buq_x8cNA5EAOk38wl1OXMhzf3oFKK1yamiskkJohA_TPinNJ7UKMF-NDR8i9UF-0ChYGJ_1AF0l8DXlDsQSvBDdf86pD3j_oqgAMkCLcZ1nr0EArXdre1O6dmniVqLeFYL8f4/s400/DSC_0251.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> After the Duomo, we headed to Piazza della Signora. This is where the Uffuzi Gallery is, but there are also statues out in the courtyard, including a replica of Michelangelo's David. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAaCUGzqiqvnhk4zxVYKfdDE174aUVeCFSht7qGAvXrJnxLXjlqgeps_k0yuYxz1LkZEvhrQA2TvfRHkphwbP4WX3GLEtGgmOxU7jUthFhcn-F5o-P_4KJy-uwmP421x1RjuAkJXLZGnmH/s1600-h/DSC_0267.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419351689543240930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAaCUGzqiqvnhk4zxVYKfdDE174aUVeCFSht7qGAvXrJnxLXjlqgeps_k0yuYxz1LkZEvhrQA2TvfRHkphwbP4WX3GLEtGgmOxU7jUthFhcn-F5o-P_4KJy-uwmP421x1RjuAkJXLZGnmH/s400/DSC_0267.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> It would have been nice to go into the Uffuzi, but there just wasn't time on this trip. Definitely a reason to go back! We continued to walk and ended up next at the church of Santa Croce. The facade looks very similar to the Duomo, just smaller. :-) We headed to the Arno river, and it was so beautiful! Storm clouds were starting to roll in, and it drizzled a little bit, but not too bad. We walked along the river to the Ponte Vecchio. It is the only bridge in Florence to have survived WWII...supposedly because Hitler thought it was too beautiful to destroy!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39zMzOd1Xb6irOeA1sQ9VyjL8oizNPwJKfApBT1jKTVnqxgTDS5yvqOK807ubtP3aF9YNWHCos_DI56etoR3fT0rr1SlPTkvtGGdyANvBq4ypoY9L4j9s5dIUuFvA79rvOQvH7yf0mIYc/s1600-h/DSC_0305.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419353440174218722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39zMzOd1Xb6irOeA1sQ9VyjL8oizNPwJKfApBT1jKTVnqxgTDS5yvqOK807ubtP3aF9YNWHCos_DI56etoR3fT0rr1SlPTkvtGGdyANvBq4ypoY9L4j9s5dIUuFvA79rvOQvH7yf0mIYc/s400/DSC_0305.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBb69tC6RUXkgMALmWjcYJ0L0_TDHtPXBBNfOQSyo8TMq9TrY3alPmKdVkMpUQSF1yImd4gtwhFPGTqJOIcG1uxsyogf5TtjVsC1VfmBKy5mq98B_DAWsxw4UV7r5Sj-5kB_vJBkVWRLdl/s1600-h/DSC_0312.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419355902483949250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBb69tC6RUXkgMALmWjcYJ0L0_TDHtPXBBNfOQSyo8TMq9TrY3alPmKdVkMpUQSF1yImd4gtwhFPGTqJOIcG1uxsyogf5TtjVsC1VfmBKy5mq98B_DAWsxw4UV7r5Sj-5kB_vJBkVWRLdl/s400/DSC_0312.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6FQuFAGiYAq4Q9iUWG7mbSnlGSCUaR2xV4WgMfiU7L4EpmUWkiMvecNDWR4Bism9oFX7d387zzHV9gutUspok4FJYriw1y4MuKs2weXrLYFvO9AnkKtZ6PZMu2F6xppKCnqfOotUleKMk/s1600-h/DSC_0335.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419356929440178530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6FQuFAGiYAq4Q9iUWG7mbSnlGSCUaR2xV4WgMfiU7L4EpmUWkiMvecNDWR4Bism9oFX7d387zzHV9gutUspok4FJYriw1y4MuKs2weXrLYFvO9AnkKtZ6PZMu2F6xppKCnqfOotUleKMk/s400/DSC_0335.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We went to the middle of the bridge, got some pictures, and then started heading back towards the train station. The rain was starting to pick up, so we decided to stop at a little cafe for some lunch. I got a huge plate of delicious, homemade pasta, and Natashia got a Margherita pizza. We each had bites of both, and they were so good! After lunch, we got our first taste of gelato. I wasn't too impressed with it overall, but it was very pretty to look at and fun to say I had it in Italy!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56EHvRikwtjdmTFksMd-G8eLdYvxtCxGYvWNfI713IWsuI1eA_KvXaxRrtFrueCpnlVUtHbOWntpRwTt8mvqmZJ08lo7g-1dGcBXJeLeN50f5ASm8JoLKYvF4K0GMSxCZae_Wntq1KAcx/s1600-h/DSC_0359.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419355058381770530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg56EHvRikwtjdmTFksMd-G8eLdYvxtCxGYvWNfI713IWsuI1eA_KvXaxRrtFrueCpnlVUtHbOWntpRwTt8mvqmZJ08lo7g-1dGcBXJeLeN50f5ASm8JoLKYvF4K0GMSxCZae_Wntq1KAcx/s400/DSC_0359.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> As we ate our gelato, we walked back to the train station (in the rain!). We looked at the schedule boards and saw that our train was leaving from the platform furthest from the door in just a matter of minutes! We RAN to the other end of the station, went to the wrong platform first, then got to the correct train only to remember we hadn't validated our tickets...so I RAN back to the validation box and RAN back to the train and got on just before the doors shut! Whew! We settled into our seats on the train started our journey to Pisa. We thought it would only take about 45 minutes, but we soon realized we were on a local train, not an express. It stopped in every single little town between Florence and Pisa! If I remember correctly, it took at least an hour and a half to get to Pisa! Once we were there, we quickly walked 20 minutes to the Field of Miracles...where the Leaning Tower of Pisa is located! Upon first glance, the tower was much shorter than I had thought. I don't know why I thought it should be much taller...I guess after seeing the Eiffel Tower, anything looks short! Lol! Anyway, we only had time to get a few pictures before we had to run back to the train station.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVS4uSwl1536yXCP_TTLEgtIDGW-iTNOaBlg5UML86a67a7VFemlsLOpWIHy54K2pGceRhiOxAWxK9EgNT50J5fJEZj5CyoENebJgxCncv0WUwxu4Hod7eFkEii0b6qlWYn4eXPnxlz5SO/s1600-h/DSC_0384.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419359141121891698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVS4uSwl1536yXCP_TTLEgtIDGW-iTNOaBlg5UML86a67a7VFemlsLOpWIHy54K2pGceRhiOxAWxK9EgNT50J5fJEZj5CyoENebJgxCncv0WUwxu4Hod7eFkEii0b6qlWYn4eXPnxlz5SO/s400/DSC_0384.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vdsareiu1e-ekOQnSuGwlZSQXnxsVHlo-qP5wXZgA_6VMncOreIDghvqFTWtjiyh7uaSrChBB5tiOVq-8Q85_yP5xIXdMmE6G5HtiHmmS6dbn6OxcJLiM_buz5IDHK4T5uiJhd_De6th/s1600-h/DSC_0395.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419360102534772786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9vdsareiu1e-ekOQnSuGwlZSQXnxsVHlo-qP5wXZgA_6VMncOreIDghvqFTWtjiyh7uaSrChBB5tiOVq-8Q85_yP5xIXdMmE6G5HtiHmmS6dbn6OxcJLiM_buz5IDHK4T5uiJhd_De6th/s400/DSC_0395.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vUyQUSsXW-CIGjmf3ASFBpJfN6E1URribcPpY3n5EzA267H84igWVAmwR-PgoOIXgi3PQlRH9_Pi__aS5mY-zVurEUo3zJnVtCVuXJ1vfeNN6Dec1o1LuJfBv9E2bfUptUSgFrFtkHE0/s1600-h/DSC_0398.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419360993422529842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-vUyQUSsXW-CIGjmf3ASFBpJfN6E1URribcPpY3n5EzA267H84igWVAmwR-PgoOIXgi3PQlRH9_Pi__aS5mY-zVurEUo3zJnVtCVuXJ1vfeNN6Dec1o1LuJfBv9E2bfUptUSgFrFtkHE0/s400/DSC_0398.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We got to the train station right as our train pulled away, so we had to wait about 20 minutes for the next one. We were getting a little nervous about our time until we saw that some of the crew of the ship was waiting for the train with us, too! We got back to Livorno Piazza Grande a little bit after 5:00pm, and went to wait for the shuttle bus that would take us back to our ship. When we arrived at the bus stop, a woman from Princess Cruise Line was there. She told us that the Norwegian bus service had ended at 5:00pm! There was a mini crowd uprising because we had been told multiple times that the buses would run until 5:30pm! The woman called the bus driver and told him we were waiting, and he did eventually come back for us! We made use of the time we were waiting by getting more gelato! We made it back to the ship and had dinner at the Blue Lagoon. It is supposedly the place to go for good old fashioned "comfort food"...burgers, fries, chicken fingers, etc. Unfortunately, we were definitely NOT impressed with the quality of the food. Oh, well. After dinner, we went to the Stardust Theater to see "Los Locos Ole" in what they called a "Comedy Flamenco" show. It was hilarious!!! It was three guys playing guitars and singing, but they mixed it with a great sense of humor...lots of physical comedy. It was good fun! After dinner, we ran into our friends, Jonathan and Maureen in the stairwell. We ended up chatting with them for a good while before heading back to our room. Before bed, we ventured back out into the ship to explore a bit. We walked through the casino and then I sent an email home (for $.75 a minute!). Then, it was time for beddy-bye!<br />
<br />
<strong>See more pictures from "Florence/Pisa 12/1/09" <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2406682&id=16703694&l=b369504bb3">HERE</a></strong>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-55488626227805172442009-12-20T17:19:00.018-06:002011-07-26T00:16:38.145-05:00Cannes/Monaco 11/30/09We woke up at 7:30am, got dressed, went down for breakfast, and then the ship docked in Cannes, France at 10:00am. We took an excursion with the cruise line to Monaco and Monte Carlo, so we were instructed to meet in the ships theater until it was time to go. Once we got there, we met Judi and Patsy. I had chatted with Judi on Cruise Critic and on Facebook before the trip, but they became good friends during the trip. Once it was time to go, we were hearded off the ship and onto tender boats. The bumpy ride took us to shore where we got on numbered buses for our tour. The drive to Monaco took about an hour and a half. We drove through Cannes, and then through beautiful countryside, passing through Nice on the way to Monaco. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLk8aXGe0SRk1gBQJhKg4-0BSA885qsnn9XpvG3xIEIZUvMNj-iDlSZWsZwp90G6grAeLktxXdX5GtwfLrQ4rcvZqQfHXtnobproOo-BFCLPQ06X9W4cY2dKU2nfoe6AQaXjbNFDOTmkrb/s1600-h/DSC_0742.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417463381830497938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLk8aXGe0SRk1gBQJhKg4-0BSA885qsnn9XpvG3xIEIZUvMNj-iDlSZWsZwp90G6grAeLktxXdX5GtwfLrQ4rcvZqQfHXtnobproOo-BFCLPQ06X9W4cY2dKU2nfoe6AQaXjbNFDOTmkrb/s400/DSC_0742.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Our first stop in Monaco was on top of the "Rock." We passed the Oceanographic Museum and the Cathedral of Monaco (Prince Ranier and Princess Grace were married there). Then, we moved on to the Palace of Monaco. We had a little bit of free time to wander the area and take some pictures. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4INxieMooPkPQayG6O_9LqUyBsd8IZRFf_G3PhQ9ciSn7hoY5szblVhkmou_ToxDu6l8adkmArvMFjSF2AkqISKR01QYKaTlKs0HTcXgm31d303LXi9rywKz3PDObqGeqGsfPKleOkK8/s1600-h/DSC_0842.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417464636844529602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4INxieMooPkPQayG6O_9LqUyBsd8IZRFf_G3PhQ9ciSn7hoY5szblVhkmou_ToxDu6l8adkmArvMFjSF2AkqISKR01QYKaTlKs0HTcXgm31d303LXi9rywKz3PDObqGeqGsfPKleOkK8/s400/DSC_0842.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOENFe9AyuYfxMAkwBqT6fGXGNrXv2WHW0d5_wXI3YVdjYn8ap6Lm8kFjBJJw308ERFVk47OX8Zw5vbY2OzXmzQM_HtyS4-awQH4nSE7bkecU-F9MTmi-jqaQ01gclmGt_ScAC6FVANK-n/s1600-h/DSC_0850.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417465060429642002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOENFe9AyuYfxMAkwBqT6fGXGNrXv2WHW0d5_wXI3YVdjYn8ap6Lm8kFjBJJw308ERFVk47OX8Zw5vbY2OzXmzQM_HtyS4-awQH4nSE7bkecU-F9MTmi-jqaQ01gclmGt_ScAC6FVANK-n/s400/DSC_0850.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdSTvEjLdLo8PJZIlJXNbZoVHmz7U8OQBdwiqOXexrJcd-rFyECdaR1TjIhRGpRuOZ0Z62pgAc2Jh3sYyIXzwrSUALHjfWdKm0ItYsEQU20ztxu27DqFdnQjyo15qCCHOhGeeWm2Kb8PS/s1600-h/DSC_0897.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417465468428016402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHdSTvEjLdLo8PJZIlJXNbZoVHmz7U8OQBdwiqOXexrJcd-rFyECdaR1TjIhRGpRuOZ0Z62pgAc2Jh3sYyIXzwrSUALHjfWdKm0ItYsEQU20ztxu27DqFdnQjyo15qCCHOhGeeWm2Kb8PS/s400/DSC_0897.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We also grabbed lunch at a little deli/cafe nearby before having to meet back up with our group. Our next stop was at the casino in Monte Carlo.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6gGnBMhF49kEluWJUI2s0bRCHGmYOMbaxfUwEmLup1e_9OXscV50P_-2XF-BcRQRx-yqdq4ZR01wADAcLsZn_Zsw7cueCpkaI0DacTqAdhiY9jw_XExMu60uz4F7aq_Mgj-YSseQF6p5L/s1600-h/DSC_1006.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417466048187024786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6gGnBMhF49kEluWJUI2s0bRCHGmYOMbaxfUwEmLup1e_9OXscV50P_-2XF-BcRQRx-yqdq4ZR01wADAcLsZn_Zsw7cueCpkaI0DacTqAdhiY9jw_XExMu60uz4F7aq_Mgj-YSseQF6p5L/s400/DSC_1006.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We had some free time there to explore the area around the Casino...shops like Cartier and Louis Vuitton...Maseratis and Lamborghinis parked along the street. We just kept to the window shopping and picture taking!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_fRcYyjvJS53LE18Tx4iL2QcpRJn52MlQvkcs_vnz0KQ01PAXzxYD4S5eyPgCL3dVi7_8WgX2FSwyILh_FAqI70uls9wxssTavt5BPl6UQceAfpF-iLwMZfTd_XxijOFML4snfpdRda4/s1600-h/DSC_0009.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417468155937765282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_fRcYyjvJS53LE18Tx4iL2QcpRJn52MlQvkcs_vnz0KQ01PAXzxYD4S5eyPgCL3dVi7_8WgX2FSwyILh_FAqI70uls9wxssTavt5BPl6UQceAfpF-iLwMZfTd_XxijOFML4snfpdRda4/s400/DSC_0009.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyNzn8P9_Tz-LrRgturzc2chlQ4ibQ166hQPtO_PIEwo6SK9jaZALytmkvqU8iEVoJcDbVePuvU86LHLds3TxqvVt8ab_pAJaZRpFmwsa56ECI7chU61_IgQ5hJUpaeW01Cvu_9gqTyOEm/s1600-h/DSC_1022.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417468648518752178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyNzn8P9_Tz-LrRgturzc2chlQ4ibQ166hQPtO_PIEwo6SK9jaZALytmkvqU8iEVoJcDbVePuvU86LHLds3TxqvVt8ab_pAJaZRpFmwsa56ECI7chU61_IgQ5hJUpaeW01Cvu_9gqTyOEm/s400/DSC_1022.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> <br />
<br />
<center>(Fun with reflections!)</center><br />
On our way back to the bus, I heard someone calling out my name. It was Chad! He had sent me a message on Facebook before the trip and we had agreed to get in touch while on the cruise. We headed back with Chad and Scott, chatting and showing each other pictures of our dogs while we walked! We drove the hour and a half back on the bus, got back on the tender boat, and reboarded the Norwegian Gem.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIR3_7xDxF018174jWRxRMIdTElgeuBrXYw2qs1XLMdERJfXisuTA3ZPb4riMGHKbJuDTyDHmzMpyuHwwyTBhkvPpP7nLk9bco4iBI3ayiPU-wIzKhx_J6zU8PTVMFGK0uaN1Cb1h3na7/s1600-h/DSC_0100.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417469576200557778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOIR3_7xDxF018174jWRxRMIdTElgeuBrXYw2qs1XLMdERJfXisuTA3ZPb4riMGHKbJuDTyDHmzMpyuHwwyTBhkvPpP7nLk9bco4iBI3ayiPU-wIzKhx_J6zU8PTVMFGK0uaN1Cb1h3na7/s400/DSC_0100.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Back on the ship, we headed to the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. We were a little late getting there, so we missed most of the officers welcoming us onboard, but we stayed for a bit and met up with a lot of the people I had been talking to on cruisecritic.com prior to the cruise.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaYYSxdZLX9q7Lz0YZ58oJX-RDIf0a90Tm83h5SPxkFYNgTMRP2cbWWHwycaj9mjoWjwxBNIJfomJyab2318P0eJjagYanD8Mh-eoDokcRswoFAzeowUHuLwRhbp5IcRwNusOjWchmW84/s1600-h/DSC_0141.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417470364073001234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaYYSxdZLX9q7Lz0YZ58oJX-RDIf0a90Tm83h5SPxkFYNgTMRP2cbWWHwycaj9mjoWjwxBNIJfomJyab2318P0eJjagYanD8Mh-eoDokcRswoFAzeowUHuLwRhbp5IcRwNusOjWchmW84/s400/DSC_0141.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We also met Andy, our Cruise Director. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5uhx665yxCzTqMk-Pm8m81L_ItUxENX1S2cmSy6156v7OFB_Ba4HgtcPu1qqBc8XqkDHWP0ZqNPXC1BwatUO8pbork3MdVrYJES4UD2oCAJReLuk2NG8l5JpbJW6kx-IQaK1_op4pGCA/s1600-h/CSC_0139.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417471953689666722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5uhx665yxCzTqMk-Pm8m81L_ItUxENX1S2cmSy6156v7OFB_Ba4HgtcPu1qqBc8XqkDHWP0ZqNPXC1BwatUO8pbork3MdVrYJES4UD2oCAJReLuk2NG8l5JpbJW6kx-IQaK1_op4pGCA/s400/CSC_0139.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We took the opportunity to ask him a question about the itinerary that had been delivered to our room. We noticed that on one of the sea days, the show was listed as, "International Super Group Il Divo." Well, we kinda didn't believe that, so we wanted to ask Andy if it was the <em>real</em> Il Divo. He said that it was!! We were so excited! We vowed to get to the show hours early in order to ensure a front row seat! Anyway, we met Judi and Patsy in the Magenta dining room for dinner, and then went back to our room for a rest. Singin' in the Rain was on one of the limited TV stations we got in our stateroom. Its one of my favorites and Natashia had never seen it, so we watched a little bit of it. We ventured out for a late night snack, and ran into Dawn and Anthony. We talked to them for a while, and then went back to the room to start winding down for the evening. The seas were a bit rough (although it was nothing compared to what we would be experiencing later on in the cruise!), so we took some motion sickness medicine and got rocked to sleep by the movement of the ship!<br />
<br />
<strong>See more pictures from "Cannes/Monaco 11/30/09" <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2406406&id=16703694&l=994b196916">HERE</a> (Album 1) and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2406455&id=16703694&l=b9cc900d20">HERE</a> (Album 2)</strong>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-72143416294363707782009-12-20T15:59:00.023-06:002011-07-26T00:16:51.603-05:00Barcelona 11/29/09We set our alarm to wake up at 6:30am. We cleaned up a bit, then went to the dining car for our breakfast. It was included with the price of our ticket! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmVLyUWkOIS1ktsV8GIqCdbRqRXKc95l227UvFoyUiEJweqYATUCWdUgdqCRtPweMXvDf-8skbEYdHex89mXaNx8xcYE0o080c_p-aRAaulAinorgEQMYtvT149wMwXWUzoG9jJkGhDYg/s1600-h/IMG_4793.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417442758391924786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmVLyUWkOIS1ktsV8GIqCdbRqRXKc95l227UvFoyUiEJweqYATUCWdUgdqCRtPweMXvDf-8skbEYdHex89mXaNx8xcYE0o080c_p-aRAaulAinorgEQMYtvT149wMwXWUzoG9jJkGhDYg/s400/IMG_4793.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We arrived at the Barcelona Franca Station at 8:30am.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCpLUl5wgrqTWBW7MxNKDyeOs7U4jFSd5r5jymNuyDHFzqz1aSU1jCTJH_j5gxDfq5ZBpDuhYXNE3d2EXsvUeAPUZ6Bl5T48p0rOuHw0P60hpxhzty6j7Ol6NjUnRCwqVoQQ6RQ2c8GM3/s1600-h/IMG_4802.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417443087014600690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCpLUl5wgrqTWBW7MxNKDyeOs7U4jFSd5r5jymNuyDHFzqz1aSU1jCTJH_j5gxDfq5ZBpDuhYXNE3d2EXsvUeAPUZ6Bl5T48p0rOuHw0P60hpxhzty6j7Ol6NjUnRCwqVoQQ6RQ2c8GM3/s400/IMG_4802.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We took a taxi from the station to the port. The first glimpse of Barcelona and then of our ship at port was VERY exciting! We dropped our bags off at the terminal, and then got a cab back into Barcelona. We had the taxi driver let us out at the Christopher Columbus monument. There was a marathon in Barcelona that morning, and we got stuck for a while waiting for the runners to pass while we were trying to cross the street!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FdSddSpblzZqtT2UcEdM21k3YwZI9lO6LP_EZRFvhfTZ01_rtNsl6jSjN5o7esN2xrlk3hYUSgFcQxhXSPRc0PIvLUL2QhvfKopo_mFGJrXK8p-XqHhM0O1Yero4TaHn1GnAkT2OgTnt/s1600-h/DSC_0469.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417443826812254386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-FdSddSpblzZqtT2UcEdM21k3YwZI9lO6LP_EZRFvhfTZ01_rtNsl6jSjN5o7esN2xrlk3hYUSgFcQxhXSPRc0PIvLUL2QhvfKopo_mFGJrXK8p-XqHhM0O1Yero4TaHn1GnAkT2OgTnt/s400/DSC_0469.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We had so much planned for Barcelona, but we were exhausted from hitting Paris so hard, that we only saw three things from our list. First, we took the metro to see Casa Mila. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphenzBAIjON1v3RWA9AGZcZTTalXoroxkxbgcdLC2jSm0Kigd5S3MTEVd4EAIiWThyOGIrNDvUwrBdE7bXqHbwJ6mTQl6z_kDPupTqcYO6HBGCCQGSia9Vx9ULqfc4VYuR0uJKer2sNOfyQ/s1600-h/DSC_0481.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417444651183197570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphenzBAIjON1v3RWA9AGZcZTTalXoroxkxbgcdLC2jSm0Kigd5S3MTEVd4EAIiWThyOGIrNDvUwrBdE7bXqHbwJ6mTQl6z_kDPupTqcYO6HBGCCQGSia9Vx9ULqfc4VYuR0uJKer2sNOfyQ/s400/DSC_0481.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> I really wanted to see Casa Batllo, but we overshot it on the metro, and I was too tired to turn around and go back! Then, we walked to La Sagrada Familia. It was pretty incredible! It has been under construction for over 100 years, and still has a lot more work to be done.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIyPRJXFaIYaakSfU-g__nO_Rc1haiiFTvlIqCZgCtQpG5mWNDEK_DLZ0s20lELPARwICv1Uci6szppPXbAYz1Pq4Tg9JRrX0etsiEfF1QAKgtXgUM57ke6satF-3hxFz3y7fPBb2FNz8/s1600-h/DSC_0491.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417446748497698194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEIyPRJXFaIYaakSfU-g__nO_Rc1haiiFTvlIqCZgCtQpG5mWNDEK_DLZ0s20lELPARwICv1Uci6szppPXbAYz1Pq4Tg9JRrX0etsiEfF1QAKgtXgUM57ke6satF-3hxFz3y7fPBb2FNz8/s400/DSC_0491.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewOz9USr2ksrxpcHmmLeQbLM9VC9bn4Kpx7rnBqc2_wAVKNW_5hxROu4iGHl5qv_JpUSylAnL_UK20JDi5SGXL3HLJqUtQTkrIjC0nptgAPVFDxUFFVTnKoi-VlyPwgoI0ytXeL_yyBxV/s1600-h/DSC_0517.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417447024785180338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiewOz9USr2ksrxpcHmmLeQbLM9VC9bn4Kpx7rnBqc2_wAVKNW_5hxROu4iGHl5qv_JpUSylAnL_UK20JDi5SGXL3HLJqUtQTkrIjC0nptgAPVFDxUFFVTnKoi-VlyPwgoI0ytXeL_yyBxV/s400/DSC_0517.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Next, we took the metro over to Placa Espanyol. We walked up to Palau Nacional on Montjuic. The marathon was ending here, so it was packed with people and music. I was sad that the big "Magic Fountain" was not on, but the palace was pretty, and we could see Mount Tibidabo in the distance.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SrsFwiGEdrErqD9wfe8eTbYMTHVxVX2IhePvyURdydBEtFqdIW8OPUrOU165Ox7HbZzJa9B6AZVUpmGtW3pQsKy9BLN4jaNzqGgVYb15-dLkLmzFgRaBKd-1egQPRmB8E6n-__wipRzc/s1600-h/DSC_0540.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417447929754947650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-SrsFwiGEdrErqD9wfe8eTbYMTHVxVX2IhePvyURdydBEtFqdIW8OPUrOU165Ox7HbZzJa9B6AZVUpmGtW3pQsKy9BLN4jaNzqGgVYb15-dLkLmzFgRaBKd-1egQPRmB8E6n-__wipRzc/s400/DSC_0540.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNHk6cbqHfZC1cGgUUmFj8IIpjDSUiiWSTzu_I4ohXYXvAE3CDhVfKssjUlxoG92cofVE5jFgtgY4HRDxsJIh30FJerBguDfnaOkGf0CUsJUbC2pNuBEwyELgsU1BX7d-s0BAyMbFGiOm4/s1600-h/DSC_0553.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417448472759636514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNHk6cbqHfZC1cGgUUmFj8IIpjDSUiiWSTzu_I4ohXYXvAE3CDhVfKssjUlxoG92cofVE5jFgtgY4HRDxsJIh30FJerBguDfnaOkGf0CUsJUbC2pNuBEwyELgsU1BX7d-s0BAyMbFGiOm4/s400/DSC_0553.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We were pretty much wiped by then, so made our way back to the ship via taxi. We stood in line to check in, and then we were on our way on board the Norwegian Gem!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRcdi-k-dU_2ZY9gdWvYQ_coRDE8muzEP0v4HwloPhJnhNmbvxxqEM1VGQgg96C9_k9OfogG_5yO7mjyVOde5YcNRUF8qIzhkplgpG6ZhgJz4zH6F_pIN11tk4LnFMZLcVELWbRcG0__gt/s1600-h/DSC_0562.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417448955574906274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRcdi-k-dU_2ZY9gdWvYQ_coRDE8muzEP0v4HwloPhJnhNmbvxxqEM1VGQgg96C9_k9OfogG_5yO7mjyVOde5YcNRUF8qIzhkplgpG6ZhgJz4zH6F_pIN11tk4LnFMZLcVELWbRcG0__gt/s400/DSC_0562.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We were given a celebratory glass of champagne as we got on board. Then, we had lunch in the Grand Pacific Dining Room. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oGK2VTWLb-jrgVQOOnY4ID4gHmJXB1oXPupncZhz5hjAZga-AhstozLnRjYdjuRXBau1o1zn229aKgG93uNZYoWS-2jK6N1RXhD1Xmzb6Q_or9d-0V1H4QD18Jv9X8QFOab9HAibBSFu/s1600-h/DSC_0570.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417449871794117010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oGK2VTWLb-jrgVQOOnY4ID4gHmJXB1oXPupncZhz5hjAZga-AhstozLnRjYdjuRXBau1o1zn229aKgG93uNZYoWS-2jK6N1RXhD1Xmzb6Q_or9d-0V1H4QD18Jv9X8QFOab9HAibBSFu/s400/DSC_0570.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> After lunch, we were allowed to go to our stateroom. We had intentions of unpacking and getting settled in, but once we got into our room, we both fell asleep for about an hour!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Y0UNQuQoHPCkH7zepmvi5yO-vsuyTRy0I6nZw91A-wW_ZUw-XbIPIGKc2rXykUxwEZgHwzvyJGfcw90A_ylkNNDmugeWZ9lsJ6yXzKpScAqqOyjUlh1gHtuxu6Tzy14D_q5p7Gf018Wx/s1600-h/DSC_0107.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417451433725161570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Y0UNQuQoHPCkH7zepmvi5yO-vsuyTRy0I6nZw91A-wW_ZUw-XbIPIGKc2rXykUxwEZgHwzvyJGfcw90A_ylkNNDmugeWZ9lsJ6yXzKpScAqqOyjUlh1gHtuxu6Tzy14D_q5p7Gf018Wx/s400/DSC_0107.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We woke up at 4:00pm, walked around the ship a bit, went to the muster drill at 5:00pm, and then went to have dinner at the Garden Cafe. After dinner, we caught up with some of our new friends from Cruise Critic out on the patio. We stayed and chatted for a little bit, and then Suzanne and Barbara took everyone up to see their suite and the private courtyard that all the suites share. After a bit, we went back to our room to unpack and get organized, take hot showers, and hit the hay.<br />
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<strong>See more pictures from "Barcelona 11/29/09" <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2406374&id=16703694&l=1963da833b">HERE</a></strong>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4112812758739294519.post-18762191448928824442009-12-20T15:00:00.022-06:002011-07-26T00:17:01.273-05:00Paris Day Two 11/28/09We had our wake-up call set for 6:00am, but when it rang, we chose to ignore it and sleep for three and a half more hours! When we finally got up and got ready, we ventured out to grab a bite for breakfast, and then took the metro over to the Latin Quater. Our first stop was the Church of the Miraculous Medal. It was the site of Mary's apparition to St. Catherine Laboure in 1830. The incorrupt body of St. Catherine Laboure lies in the sanctuary of the church.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyiaM274eOC6XK3Mx8chl_-Gj_QQBsSxJ5wi8MayN11SsD0W5WpzYooqUSr0lnBE3sSMmR1yUpy_Vw5Pls-7_FWTfablFc9Of6mRTMr07bcw75Y0UcqKJXRVdKksVY63jG-lgrZslfIwrI/s1600-h/DSC_0278.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417427287348747090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyiaM274eOC6XK3Mx8chl_-Gj_QQBsSxJ5wi8MayN11SsD0W5WpzYooqUSr0lnBE3sSMmR1yUpy_Vw5Pls-7_FWTfablFc9Of6mRTMr07bcw75Y0UcqKJXRVdKksVY63jG-lgrZslfIwrI/s400/DSC_0278.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> After our stop there, we walked through the streets, stopped to get a taste of french chocolate, and wound up at St. Sulpice.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhroCiKQ1Z0e2GvciFmChKDU6o2pmUDuU45KrUuON9T1xI2LZA_Yr3feGYFfkeFVH7OC2vGARsJkuih_TGnXbytZ427DB2MKKjLHrvOHQsOeBpVGwxlnOulRXeJtsj3NZk_Yx0oE_0MkXH6/s1600-h/DSC_0302.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417428304390737202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhroCiKQ1Z0e2GvciFmChKDU6o2pmUDuU45KrUuON9T1xI2LZA_Yr3feGYFfkeFVH7OC2vGARsJkuih_TGnXbytZ427DB2MKKjLHrvOHQsOeBpVGwxlnOulRXeJtsj3NZk_Yx0oE_0MkXH6/s400/DSC_0302.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> Our next stop was Notre Dame.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifk5BqoueUfXB5dB1cav2MSEimn5E8YprVHBVJKEq1d-2ZTkb0qzPy9QtuW-CmUV2gUSDnHY-MlEIdWMfVF9zajbX6jVhrNBVXByauZmaUlx3Rw02Lk0Asu92mS9zdeW2et7lDlfrKGd2K/s1600-h/DSC_0343.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417428652247298274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifk5BqoueUfXB5dB1cav2MSEimn5E8YprVHBVJKEq1d-2ZTkb0qzPy9QtuW-CmUV2gUSDnHY-MlEIdWMfVF9zajbX6jVhrNBVXByauZmaUlx3Rw02Lk0Asu92mS9zdeW2et7lDlfrKGd2K/s400/DSC_0343.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgSHmTiTN1mGJMkjsVMUwyg1IqeMLW1_EZ23KQPeR3i8WeVFH88BwGu1lE-06fxBZ4u_FcgQ-QUvT00MBAPwlgXfdRe7G8bU1Kw9rmQ0mFNY5buR8P-C2ZUma-BgUuZOCi2OKAwDQ4_Z4/s1600-h/DSC_0375.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417429271335147234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgSHmTiTN1mGJMkjsVMUwyg1IqeMLW1_EZ23KQPeR3i8WeVFH88BwGu1lE-06fxBZ4u_FcgQ-QUvT00MBAPwlgXfdRe7G8bU1Kw9rmQ0mFNY5buR8P-C2ZUma-BgUuZOCi2OKAwDQ4_Z4/s400/DSC_0375.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We crossed over to the Ile Saint Louis where I got a crepe with Nutella, made fresh before my very eyes!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOeFdx5UQy4x9VwhgYO_f2AgpaHdzlpjpAHauVCrvdfGuqWWuIVsDgf5EzSKBA7logbiYY5VwL0zeZcAgy7xkJyVT3l26bIg1NQ58nJrSfh-wWkj9YfGKkpm3oGZGI_D0j4swsrqD8Vjf/s1600-h/DSC_0417.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417430959034879842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPOeFdx5UQy4x9VwhgYO_f2AgpaHdzlpjpAHauVCrvdfGuqWWuIVsDgf5EzSKBA7logbiYY5VwL0zeZcAgy7xkJyVT3l26bIg1NQ58nJrSfh-wWkj9YfGKkpm3oGZGI_D0j4swsrqD8Vjf/s400/DSC_0417.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> After that, we hopped back on the metro and rode up to the Montmartre area. Our first stop was the Moulin Rouge!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj0uvu6SSxjnCeftC0Rj_0AM3JbIAZnlso9KZyMjKduYkVXbkEyfrVhEu81U63t8hbIVeeOgP0dl9TwYZ73z6__lbIg6qzdN0LqnobJIjA90klUlMYFZiHjs_knJeYTf-T2tG1IWLyUooR/s1600-h/DSC_0428.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417431489348698130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj0uvu6SSxjnCeftC0Rj_0AM3JbIAZnlso9KZyMjKduYkVXbkEyfrVhEu81U63t8hbIVeeOgP0dl9TwYZ73z6__lbIg6qzdN0LqnobJIjA90klUlMYFZiHjs_knJeYTf-T2tG1IWLyUooR/s400/DSC_0428.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> We walked from the Moulin Rouge down a very racy street, and headed up the hill to the Sacre Couer Basilica. It was starting to drizzle and was very cold, but we made it up all 350+ steps to go inside the church. We could not take pictures inside, but it was gorgeous! We sat for a minute to rest and get warmed up. There was a group of nuns decorating the altar while we there, so we got to watch them for a little while.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZN-CJ9VvVY_YrU_3gCxBI22itRPaoj-FEIkrPmhh5qMEkmaTryu1MBNGzDzCru4MZpZX4PZR-O2QTuupDmCPkxe4HK1R_IS9I_AqGk7mQCD75BkAvllybudDwMe2ZjLlrQnL8pgkd9v6_/s1600-h/DSC_0441.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417432751563445410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZN-CJ9VvVY_YrU_3gCxBI22itRPaoj-FEIkrPmhh5qMEkmaTryu1MBNGzDzCru4MZpZX4PZR-O2QTuupDmCPkxe4HK1R_IS9I_AqGk7mQCD75BkAvllybudDwMe2ZjLlrQnL8pgkd9v6_/s400/DSC_0441.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWgow1ArtlYut4kCwGupRoEprigkN55D604zMV54ec9bLUsR6D9jZaTv5NQ_p6-8EzH0PIyC6Zk8fmoL-ePKDwDFHsWEaI7VDwab98Mjxb-ZSyanuRIUK5g-2BYwKqN-rVrmo_m7LL5gJ_/s1600-h/sacre%2520coeur%2520interior.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417432903548531682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWgow1ArtlYut4kCwGupRoEprigkN55D604zMV54ec9bLUsR6D9jZaTv5NQ_p6-8EzH0PIyC6Zk8fmoL-ePKDwDFHsWEaI7VDwab98Mjxb-ZSyanuRIUK5g-2BYwKqN-rVrmo_m7LL5gJ_/s400/sacre%2520coeur%2520interior.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
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<center>(I "borrowed" this picture of the interior of the Basilica from Google Images since it was so pretty!)</center><br />
We left Sacre Couer, and by that time, the rain had started to pick up. We went back to our hotel, picked up our bags, and took the metro to Paris Austerlitz train station. We got some dinner and waited in the terminal to board our train to Barcelona. I had to use the restroom, and was desperate enough to pay the fees required to do so! At least it was very clean!!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbZYZPb03D3I5F_XtaOnW9e-_O15QsmPj5Ci67x4TjQzDJx2JFHbxaqO2PloKjQPTCr0WOQ8CiAj56H2f7rUymI-X-0LhImiCl2y_EOGgqiwwZ7h48gz_ZfZX69x6ZKqTkgvyT5WjjmWE/s1600-h/IMG_4767.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417433801600614514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbZYZPb03D3I5F_XtaOnW9e-_O15QsmPj5Ci67x4TjQzDJx2JFHbxaqO2PloKjQPTCr0WOQ8CiAj56H2f7rUymI-X-0LhImiCl2y_EOGgqiwwZ7h48gz_ZfZX69x6ZKqTkgvyT5WjjmWE/s400/IMG_4767.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a> While we were sitting in the train station, Jonathan and Maureen, a couple about our age overheard us and we struck up a conversation with them. It just so happened that we were all traveling to Barcelona and would be on the same cruise together! Small world, eh? :-) Jonathan and Maureen were so sweet, and we were very glad that we met them! Finally, a little after 8:00pm, we boarded our train. We were in a different car than Jonathan and Maureen, so we said goodbye and see you on the cruise! Natashia and I found our cabin, and had a good laugh at how tiny it was!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYZCbNAO2ilQEZWTGWI2wuprRCO1-3uv9b2kVlRMSQUdGKnTPmeAMZojm-1wJGOvYGaBC6l5lWVIFXjWdYbf4DTR1kWwSUwbF2o-wBS1fQVIE747EUEFXmH5WHZMMI7fCAV5H3Xx3BKwx/s1600-h/DSC_0454.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417437071635130962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYZCbNAO2ilQEZWTGWI2wuprRCO1-3uv9b2kVlRMSQUdGKnTPmeAMZojm-1wJGOvYGaBC6l5lWVIFXjWdYbf4DTR1kWwSUwbF2o-wBS1fQVIE747EUEFXmH5WHZMMI7fCAV5H3Xx3BKwx/s400/DSC_0454.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
The conductor, who was very nice, came around at about 10:00pm to bring our beds down from the wall. Even though I was exhausted, sleeping was not particularly easy, just because of the motion of the train. We were traveling through the Massif Central Mountains and the Pyrenees Mountains overnight, which caused some ear popping and a bumpy ride. I'm not sure what time I finally fell asleep.<br />
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<strong>See more pictures from "Pari Day Two 11/28/09" <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2406347&id=16703694&l=268a7a436c">HERE</a></strong>Sarah R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15305475509432214788noreply@blogger.com0