Day 14 and Day 15

Yesterday we visited ancient Olympia! Amazing what was still preserved and reconstructed. We got to see the ancient stadium where the men competed NAKED! No women were allowed to attend except the priestess Athena. I also learned that they held games for the women a couple of weeks later after the men's competition and then they posted the women's names on the columns of Athena's temple.

The really cool part was seeing the statues of shame for the cheaters. If you were found to cheat during the games you had to pay for a bronze statue of Zeus that stood in a line next to the entrance to the stadium with your name engraved along the bottom. Totally cool.

Well today we had a relaxing day at sea. Me and mom got up and had breakfast and then went to a talk of Rome and how to get off of the ship, we also bought some new necklaces and bracelets in the jewelry store then we had lunch and I went off to the art auction and mom went out to sit on deck and enjoy the sun. We both met later to got and play 10 games for $10 Bingo and I won $100. I would have won $200 but someone else got Bingo at the same time so we had to split the prize. I then spent that money on the art that I bought at the auction. It was great.

Tomorrow we are getting off and heading to Pisa to see the leaning tower. Still no pictures I am starting to get really mad!

Love you and miss you

Becky

Day 13 Athens

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW

That is all I can say. We had all day but still didn't have enough time to do all of the things that I would have loved to do. OMG the Parthenon was spectacular. Out of this world amazing. Everything we saw was so so so amazing.

Me and mom are having fun but we are starting to get on each others nerves. I think Mom forgets that I truly do like to do things by myself and to have her almost afraid to do things by herself is funny.

Oh by the way Mom spent $10 and played BINGO and won $150! She was so proud of herself it was great. I just wish I would have been there to see the look on her face when she won (I was dozing and watching a movie in the room)!

So we go to Olympia tomorrow so I will sign off and see you all tomorrow.

Oh sorry about the pictures for some reason it is not letting me post them so maybe I will figure it out tomorrow. Funny that I can't call Jay and try to figure it out but that is too expensive.

Love ya

Becky

A Day at Sea

It seems like all I do during my day's at sea is sleep eat and sleep again. Yesterday was no exception other then they had a chocolate extravaganza and so I eat a lot of chocolate. I took some pictures as we sailed through the Aegean Sea it was beautiful and there were a lot of barges.

I think I keep saying a lot but I don't have a Thesaurus so I am sorry

Becky

Day 11 Istanbul Lara was right!

OK LARA if you are following I could spend weeks possibly months in Turkey. I am so glad that you convinced me to go. It has been awesome. Today was no exception.

I can say that I would have to have a driver and a guide because without them I would be totally lost. I thought drivers in the US were bad they are nothing they are great for that matter. Today we had several times that we had to wait for people to return to their cars and move them so we could get through. So someone would stop their car in traffic run in the store purchase something and then come back and go. Craziness, also the pedestrains were just asking to get hit running in and out of traffic and such I can't believe it.

We started at the St Sophia church then went to the Toekapai palace. We then went to a real Turkish rug factory and saw how they were made and had lunch on the terrace. We then hiked up to the Blue Mosque which was amazing. We are here during the holy month of Ramadan and we got to hear the calls to prayer this afternoon. They are beautiful and so heartfelt. It was interesting to see the rituals that they go through before and when they pray.

I thought it was very interesting to see the difference of the beliefs of the people. 90-95% of the people in Turkey are Muslim, yet I only saw a few women in full burikas and then alot of women with their head covered, but then I saw a lot of women without any head dress. So a lot of different cultures in one day.

We finished up the day with a quick shopping trip to the Grand Bazzar and a cruise on the Bospherus. All wonderful things to do. Unfocuntanatley it will still not let me post pictures so tomorrow we have a day at sea and I hope to be able to get everything posted but until then I will see you all tomorrow.

Becky

Turkey Day 10

Today was so cool. We visited the anciet city of Ephesus. They have only uncovered about 15% of the city and it is HUGE! We spenct about 2 hours there walking around and looking at the different sites located there. The Libreary of Celsus which I have seen on programs like National Geographic. I am glad that my knee is doing well because today could have been really bad, but it seems to be holding up as good as could be expected. We walked through the whole city coming at the end to the Ampitheather which could hold 25,000 people. It was huge. The sea use to come up to the city but due to earthquakes and silt depsoits it is now 4 miles from the sea. It is so amazing.

We also visited the House of the Virgin Mary and St John's Bascillcia. They were also really cool. We got to see one of the 7 ancient wonders we saw where the Temple of Artemis use to stand. There is just 1 pillar still standing and the foundation. It was so special.

Funny story from this morning, my mom and I were eating breakfast in the dining room and the boat made a very fast turn. If you can imagine an 111,000 ton ship making a fast turn, anyway everything on the table leaned with great strain and we heard dishes and such falling in the kitchen. It was quite amazing.

Well I have to be up early tomorrow so I will sign off. It is about 10:30 at night and we have to be off the ship at 9am.

Goodnight

Becky

Turkey is Great!

Ok so I missed yesterday but I had a huge migraine and I could barely see straight. We got to Turkey yesterday and had a great time. We were limited to 5 hours so it was a run and grab kind of day. We landed in Marmaris and they have a beautiful port city. Our guide told us it was popular with the European tourist's.

I have to say that I had a lot of preconceived notions about Turkey. I thought it was mostly a desert but I am wrong it is so green and there are so many trees and so much agriculture. Turkey sustains itself with it's own agriculture and then sells a lot off to Russian and Eastern Europe.

The ruins of Kaunos were amazing. They have such amazing sites it is mind blowing. We took a boat ride up the Daylan River to get to the hike to see Kaunos. I hope the pictures are enough for you to see how wonderful. We got a fresh pomegranate it was great.

It looks like it will not let me upload images maybe in a little bit.

Becky

Hello, from Turkey

We finally have made it out of Italy and we ported at the city of Marmarius Turkey. The port is very hilly all the way down to the water. It is a resort town with a marina full of very large boats.

Our guide todays name was Mulock he said to call him Mike. He took us to the ancient city of Kaunos which was both Roman and Greek. It was a harbor city that is now miles from the sea. The rivers silt has land locked it. Kaunos was on the silk and spice highway coming from the east and did a very busy business until the discovery that the earth was not flat and you could sail to the east much cheaper and faster. Bummer for Kaunos. Turkey is forested and mountainous. The people grow all kinds of citrus fruit and Pomegranates. We ate one on the hike back to the bus. It was very delicious.

A Day at Sea

We finally get a day to rest. We slept in and had breakfast at the main buffet it was great. We then went to a discussion on Turkey and went to an art auction. I fell in love with a painting that was by Salvador Dali (although I didn't know it was his I really thought I might buy it). Yeah right.

I spent some time on the top of the ship and the water is so blue. As blue and the sky and not like the Pacific ocean it's kind of weird but awesome. We are so amazed every morning how blue the water really is. The weather was windy this morning and we walked around the ship like we were all a little drunk walking from one side to the other side of the hall all morning long. We have not gotten sick so that is good.

Tonight was elegant night and me and mom got dressed up and were able to eat a great dinner they had prime rib and lobster and all kinds of yummy yummy food. We then went to the after dinner show which was much better then the show last night.

Well I am going to turn in we have a long day tomorrow in Marmaris Turkey.

See you all later

Becky

Day 7 Sorrento and Pompeii

Yesterday we were in Sorrento and we drove down the Amafali Coast then we went to Pompeii. I wish that we would have had more time in Sorrento it is a great town beautiful and full of life. In Sorrento the people specialize in doing wood inlay and we went to a factory and got to see it done. It was awesome it is a real artist that does this with a hand saw and a very very small pieces. It was totally amazing.

We then went for a drive down the Amafali coast which was terrifying and so beautiful that I don't have words to describe it. I posted some pictures but they don't do it justice. We did have an amazing driver named Vincentzo who was HOT in every sense of the way but he drove the bus around corners and twisted that we thought impossible.

From there we drove over the mountain to Pompeii. In Pompeii they specialize in making Cameo necklaces. We got to go to a cameo shop and see an artist making one it was great. We then went to the ruins of the old city of Pompeii and is was cool to see a city that was buried in 600 BC and was still intact with fresco's and pottery and amazing stuff. The ash preserved it well. We then got back to the ship in record time and had dinner. We had a lot of fun. We were looking forward to sleeping in because of the "Day at sea".

Becky

Day 6

Drive all day and get on the ship.

Today we drove from Florence to the ship. I did OK on the main highway but when we got onto the twisty turny road I thought I was feeling green. We got onto the ship through security and we were ready to go.

After receiving our luggage (my bag by the way had been immersed in water so everything was wet). We walked down for the welcome speech what to do and what not to do. We then went back to our cabin and then to dinner which was real food and delicious. We then just as we were finishing dinner had a mandatory fire drill which was a lot of fun!

We then went to the Internet cafe and we are back and ready to go to bed so we can get up again at 6 am. I don't know how early mornings and late nights are a vacation but hey it's Italy. I can feel all of the movements on the ship so I don't know if I am going to be sick or not I guess we will see in the morning how I feel. Just wanted everyone to know how much fun we are having and that we will write tomorrow when we get back from Sorento and Pompeii.

Becky

Florence Day 5 - The Duomo

Today we toured Florence the center of the Renaissance. De Vince, Michelangelo, Dante, The Medici Family and many more were all from Florence.

In the center of Florence stands the magnificant Chruch of Santa Maria Del Flore or the Duomo for short. This church took a 140 years to complete and is the 3rd Longest just behind 2nd St. Pauls in London and St Peter's in Rome. The Outside facade is made of White, Red and Green Marble. The colors stand for Charity, Faith, and Hope. It is more fancy on the outside than on the inside. Standing next to it is the Baptistry with copies of the gold covered bronze doors ( the originals are in the Duomo Muesuem).

Inside are some very beauitful Stained Glass Windows but that is about all. You can climb about a million stairs and go to the very top of the outside of the dome. Not something this chick would do in any lifetime. Well our internet is almost out. Blog you soon.

Florence Day 5

We were in Florence today. We started out at the National Acedemy and saw the David. It was amazing I did not know that it stood 17 feet tall. The size was overwhelming and so beautiful, also learning about the statue itself and that it was all done from his head and not a model. The veins in his hands and neck look so real it blows my mind that it is made out of marble. We were not suppose to take pictures but our tour guide told us if we were careful we could take just a few and that is what I did. From there we went the the Catherdal which if you look at the picture of me and mom you can see the dome and the clock tower just up and right of my head. The outside of the church was great but learning of the inside was even better. You can pay about $10 and climb the 468 steps to the top of the dome and see out through the city but that was too long to go and we didn't have that much time (plus I think mom didn't want to do it).

We then walked to the famous bridge that was the only bridge in Florence that was not destroyed in WWII. It is like a shopping bridge not a regular bridge. All of the shops on the bridge are jewlers and they had awesome stuff! We the stood in line to see the world famous Ufifizi Gallery. It has alot of Renissanse art and alot of Roman marble sculpture. It was really fun but alot of the same stuff over and over. I did get to see the world famous Birth of Venus by Botchelli. It was great and you could see the movement in the picture of her coming ashore. We also saw other famous painting's by DaVinci and Rapheal.

We watched down the the "straw market" and looked at some cool Italian leather stuff that was priced ok. We then went and we then met our group and walked back to our bus at sunset and went to the Michangelo overlook and took pictures at sunset. That is where the picture of mom and me was taken.

Today was a very busy day and I am very tired so I will turn in and try to get some rest. Tomorrow we will drive 5 hours and board the ship. We are excited to get on the boat and not have to unpack and repack stuff every couple of days.

Love you all

Becky

Ravenna Day 3

Today we were in the city of Ravenna a small costal town on the Adriac Sea. It has some of the best ancient early Christian churchs in the world, the oldest being built in the middle 4th century. We visited 5 churches all the World Historic Socities Hertiage 's Registery. The Mosaic were enough to take your breath away. Anna our local guide was most impressive with the knowedge of the history of the area and the sites themselves. Well, I had better sign off as it is now 1:30 in the morning here and we have a 6:30 wake up call. This trip has just begun and already it has surpassed anything I could have imaged it would be. We visit the statue of David in Florence tommorrow. Ciao.

Ari the Tour Guide

This is Ari our tour guide with Fun for Less Tours. He is from Swizzerland, and spent alot of his youth in Italy. He is one amazing gentleman. Very, very knowledgeable in history, art, and architecture. He gives us a run down on every city that will visit before we get there. Its history and the things that made that region important. Plus he knows all the best places to eat that have great food and do not cost an arm and a leg. He will be with us until we leave Florence.

Venice - Day 2

The Grand Canal of Venice

Venice was toppest on my list of places to see in Italy. I had heard about the smelly canals and that it was dirty. But upon arriving in Venice the city won me over immediately. It was quint and quite with a bussel of activity all its own. It was like stepping back in time. The whole city can either be accessed by water or walking the narrow walkways and bridges.

We first visited a church the Fraires Church that has some most impressive art work in painting and tombs. Then it was on to St. Mark's Square with water coming up into the square at high tide and everyone just walks on temporary raised sidewalks. No problem. The Venetians have dealt with water for centuries and will not stop without a fight to the bitter end.

Day 4

Me at the really big beautifu church. Look at the mosiac floor! The huge mosiac in the church

Me and mom at the last church we saw

We were in Ravenna today. We walked around and saw 5 different chruchs they were all great but the some of them were decorated to heavily with the mosiac's that it was almost over done. Yes, dad, I said 5 churchs. You should be glad you are home. In fact, me and mom were talking about your would have wanted to fly home today.

The mosiac's are the considered to be the best in the world and they are spectacular. They do not disappoint.

Well it is almost 1 am and I need to go to bed. Tommorrow we will be in Florence and we will get to see the original David among other great pieces of art.

Good night

Becky

Day 3

The Laguna at sunset

Mom on the water taxi on

the Grande Canal

Me and mom in St Marks Square, the Basilica is behind us!

Yeserday we spent almost 13 hours in Venice. I was awestruck. It was beautiful, and the people were so nice. We were afraid to venture out on our own because the many streets and canals and I see how many people get lost in Venice. We has a wonderful time though and I would love to return again one day. There was so much to see and so much to do that we only got to do a couple of things.

We started out at a very old church that we were not "officially" take pictures in but our tour guide Ari told us to do it incognito. We have some really beautiful pictures of Venice and the canals.

Mom and I went shopping and I got a beautiful glass pendant and earrings from the Murano Glass blowing factory. We went to the factory and had a demonstration of glass blowing and a discussion on how they color the glass. It was amazing it took the glass blower about 5 minutes to make a great vase. 5 minutes and vases like that cost like 450 euros which is about $700 dollars for 5 minutes. It was crazy. We also did some shopping and had a delicous pastery and gellato for dinner (really healthy stuff).

That night we took the water taxi done the Grand Canal and got to see all the palaces at dusk and night. This is where the second picture was taken. It was so amazing I can't describe it and do it any justice.

My favorite picture is at the top I took this on the Laguna at sunset right in front the of the palace. The view was beautiful and I could not resist taking a few more pictures.

I will post today's stuff on another post.

I miss everyone!

Love Becky

Day 2 Verona

Today we landed in Milan and took a very nice Motorcoach (bus) to Verona. What a beautiful city! The main streets where there is pedistrian walking only are paved with the local pink marble. It is pretty amazing to see things that in some cases are over 2000 years old. One thing Becky and I did notice was other than a park with a fountain, there are not alot of trees for shade. Thank goodness it was cool and sprinkly. Tommorrow is Venice and we will be late so there will not be a post until the next day. Day 4.

48 hrs no sleep

In Front of the Arena in Verona

On the airplaine

Hello everyone

We are here and just finished with our first day of touring. We were in Verona today and saw the Juliette house and Dante's memorial, and Marco Polo's grave and the Arena. It was beautiful.

I am exhusted. I didn't really sleep on the plane. So I have been awake for over 48 hrs except Mom let me have a 10 min power nap before we got to Verona. Mom was able to sleep (I was way jelous) so she is feeling a little better then me. We went straight from the airport to Verona so nice that I have my PJ's on in the pictures. Oh well not a whole lot you can do about that.

We are going to Venice tomorrow and I am way excited! We are doing so really cool stuff there and I know we will have so much fun! I have to go to bed talk to everyone later!

Oh and Dad if you are reading this I hope you got my email about calling AT&T because my phone is not working at all!

Love Becky

Are we Ready

I think we are ready. I hope we are ready. I am wishing that I would have asked the Dr for some Xanax oh well too late now! As you can see from our bags they are full of just about anything.

See you all bright and early at the airport

Becky

Luggage Packed and Ready to Go

We have gathered all the clothes, cameras, chargers, medication, shoes, jacket, books, snacks, sunglasses, sunscreen, hat, swimsuit, batteries, tickets and passports and we are ready to go. I think!!!!