Athens (Piraeus)

The city we'll be in but not do anything. The ship docks at 4 am and our flight is at noon. We'll be home by 8 pm.

Nafplion

Excursion: MYCENAE & PALAMIDI

From Nafplion we'll venture to Mycenae and Agamemnon's citadel. We'll see the Lions Gate, a monumental statuary, and visit the Beehive Tomb. Back in Nafplion we'll visit Palamidi.

Katakolon

Excursion: ANCIENT TREASURES

Katakolon is the gateway to the mystical site of ancient Olympia, where the first Olympiad was held. We'll visit the Temple of Zeus, the Stadium and the Archaeological Museum.

Alexandria, Day 2

Excursion: BEST OF CAIRO OVERNIGHT

We start the day with a drive south to Egypt’s first capital, Memphis. Sights include the Temple of Ptah, the fallen colossal statue of King Ramses the 2nd, and the Alabaster Sphinx of King Amenophis the 2nd. We'll drive to the oldest, ancient cemetery of Sakkara and see the Step Pyramid of King Zoser. Next we'll visit one of the Mastabas (tombs) built nearby, and visit ones such as those of Ptah-Hotep, Mereruca, Idut or Ti. Finally we'll head off to the Giza Plateau where we'll see Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Some exploring and then lunch. After lunch we'll head back to the ship.

Alexandria

Excursion: BEST OF CAIRO OVERNIGHT

We'll take a bus ride from Alexandra to the legendary Al Qahira, internationally known as the teeming metropolis of Cairo. Highlights for today include the Citadel of Saladin, a drive through the ‘City of the Dead’, the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali and Liberty Square where the National Archaeological Museum is situated. Then onto the hotel for check-in, lunch and a short siesta. Next a visit to the Papyrus institute and to end the night a dinner cruise on the River Nile.

Iraklion

This actually was yesterday but I wanted yesterday's post to be on our anniversary. Today is our "Fun Day at Sea," so in other words on our way to across the Mediterranean towards Egypt.

Excursion: KNOSSOS & VILLAGE LIFE

The Palace of Knossos was the largest and most spectacular of Minoan palaces. It was the court of the legendary King Minos, father of the mythological Minotaur, half-bull, half-man. Then we'll visit the traditional settlement of Arolithos.

To Us

Wedding Memories...

1. Where/how did you meet: We met in November of my freshman year of college. It was his first year (he was on a 3-year course). We met online in a chat program called 'burbs. We met face to face at the Manchester Airport 20 months later when I went to go visit him for a month! He came back with me to Florida for a month and a half. We've been together ever since.
2. How long have you known each other: Since 1995 - 14 years.
3. How long after you met did you start dating: We talked online for about 4 months before we made plans to meet up. We were friends up to that point but decided that we wanted to be something more.
4. Where did you get engaged: At our house! In December 2006 he sent Dave & I an evite from him and Les asking us to become Marriotts. He figured since we met online, we should get engaged online.
5. How long was your engagement: 9 months.
6. How long have you been married: 2 years!
7. What is your anniversary: September 22, 2007!
8. How many people came to your wedding reception: about 60.
9. What kind of cake did you serve: I don't remember. I don't think I had any other than the first bite. It was from Uk.rop's and I remember being annoyed by the "gold" detail. I asked them specifically if it was gold looking or just yellow and the lady told me flat out it was gold. Yeah, it was yellow! I was mad because I had told her that if it was yellow I would just change the color. I only wanted gold if it was gold looking.
10. Where was your wedding: in RVA. Most of my family lives in Texas, my parents live in Florida and Kevin's family were all from England. I figured if there was going to be a lot of traveling they might as well travel to us.
11. What did you serve for your meal: Mexican themed food! We went to A Shar.per Palate. They were awesome!
12. How many people were there in your bridal party: 8 - 4 bridesmaids, 1 best man, 2 ushers and 1 junior bridesmaid. No flower girls or ring bearers though!
13. Are you still friends with them all: Sort of. My sister was the MOH, Chicken, SIL and a sorority sister were the others with a former player of mine being the junior bridesmaid. The only one I don't regularly converse with is SIL. Not since her tiff with Kevin anyways. The best man was Kevin's mate from middle school (who with his wife wrote the most awesomest recommendation letter ever for our home study!) and the ushers were a friend of his from work (in England) and a good friend of mine from college.
14. Did you or your spouse cry during the ceremony: No.
15. Most special moment of your wedding day: While Kevin and I were waiting to be introduced at the reception he took my hand and squeezed. We were finally husband and wife!
16. Any funny moments: I fell down on the dance floor! I was dancing the Cotton Eye Joe (the real one not the Red Ne.x version) and either I or my friend stepped on my train and down I went! The photographer was still there so he got a few shots of it as well!
17. Any big disasters: Nope!
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon: Two years later we're here on a cruise in the Mediterranean!
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change: Get automatic cars! Both Kevin and I have manuals and between his friends and family not wanting to drive in the States and my friends and family not knowing how to drive stick shift getting everyone to all the places was an ordeal!
21. What side of the bed do you sleep on: The side farthest away from the door. That way if someone attacks us, I can get away while Kevin is fighting them off! :)
22. What size is your bed: Queen
23. Greatest strength as a couple: Even though from the outside we seem like opposites, we are very similar in the ways that matter.
24. Greatest challenge as a couple: Early on it was adjusting to the differences between us culturally. Coming from different heritages, nationalities and religions there were some differences. It wasn't really a huge problem but we had to discuss things pretty early that most people don't face.
25. Who literally pays the bills: Kevin. I'm such a procrastinator that I never get bills done on time even though I have the money to pay them.
26. What is your song: We don't really have a song. There are lots of songs though that bring up happy, funny or special moments.
27. What did you dance your first dance to: "You'll Never Walk Alone" sung by Gerry & The Pacemakers. I was able to convince Kevin that we should get lessons so we had the whole dance planned out! This was good for Kevin cause he was really nervous about doing it and having the whole thing choreographed made it a lot less stressful for him.
28. Describe your wedding dress: White, simple and sparkly! It was empire-waisted with detail on top and in a band on the bottom. It had straps on the shoulder. Plus it was only $149! Steal!
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding: I'm not sure. They were all #ff6600y though!
30. Are your wedding bands engraved? No. Since the design goes all the way around they don't resize them they just give you a new one in a new size if it no longer fits properly. Funny story though, our bands are matching and only a quarter size apart. So when Kevin gave them to the priest, the priest had to ask Kevin whose were whose.

Santorini

Excursion: GREEK STYLE FIESTA

We’ll drive to Pyrgos village and visit the Monastery of the Prophet Elijah, the highest point of the island. Leaving Pyrgos we head to the northern end of Santorini to the village of Oia and then a local winery for lunch. After lunch is Fira town, the picturesque capital of the island built on the rim of the caldera wall.

Mykonos

Excursion: MAGNIFICENT DELOS

Not far from Mykonos lays the island of Delos, the ‘island of light’. According to mythology, Zeus, the King of the Gods, fell in love with a beautiful Titaness named Leto, but when his wife discovered his infidelity, she forbade Mother Earth to give Leto refuge. Lonely and pregnant, Leto wandered the earth until the island appeared amid the waves so that she would have a place to give birth to twins: Artemis, goddess of the hunt and virginity, and Apollo, god of truth and light. Sights include the Avenue of the Lions and Mt. Kynthos.

Ephesus (Izmir)

Excursion: MAGNIFICENT EPHESUS

Today we’ll visit Ephesus, an ancient city that was dedicated to the goddess Artemis. Her temple was once considered the Seventh Wonder of the Ancient World and attracted pilgrims worshipping the female; first Cybele, then Artemis and finally the Virgin Mary. Sights include an amphitheater, the Library of Celsus, the Temple of Hadrian, the Scholastic Baths, the Lower Agora, State Agora, and Odeon. Afterwards, we’ll visit a carpet weaving center for refreshments and the opportunity to learn about carpet making before returning to the ship in Izmir.

Istanbul

Excursion: OTTOMAN TREASURES

We'll visit the Blue Mosque or Yeni Cami, Topkapi Palace and the Grand Bazaar, one of the biggest covered markets in the entire world.

Traveling to Istanbul

Today we landed in Paris at 11:30 AM)(6:30 AM RIC time) and somehow have to make it through CDG in 65 minutes to catch our flight to Istanbul. You might think it would be easy lest you forget Customs & Immigration as well as the hugeness that is CDG (so I've heard). Good luck to us.

We'll land in Istanbul around 4:55 PM (10:55 AM RIC time). We'll take a taxi to the ship and then plan on crashing until tomorrow morning.

Today is our cruise to Egypt!

Well not really. But today we're getting on a plane and starting our vacation. I'm really looking forward to this trip because we've been talking about going to Egypt for a while. I've scheduled posts that say what we are going to be doing on each day. I'm hoping that once we get back I'll fill in what actually happened along with photos. Okay need to start reading up on the places we're going so I'll catch up with you all when I get back.

Labor Day Recall

The drive down wasn't that bad. Kevin had a meeting get pushed back and so he ended up not leaving the house till 12:00 so we were half an hour off. Usually we handle it in three hour shifts and did this time as well. We got to my parent's around 1am. myDad actually let Les and Dave sleep in our room which isn't normal, but starting Saturday morning, they became outside dogs.

After their swim lesson in the morning (where we learned Les doesn'tuse her back legs when swimming) we left for Chicken's house. J is college football obsessed so we watched that, ordered in some Chinese food (which J doesn't like but was willing to endure since it meant he didn't have to leave his TV) and just hung out. Chicklet was a little angel. I even held her after her second feeding. Kevin held her right away and then again when I was done. I think he's ready for fatherhood. We left before dinner and when we got home myDad was out grilling (he's got the mac daddy setup!). myDad and I stayed up to watch The Sou.nd of Mus.ic. That movie is seriously a long a$$ movie! It's like 4 hours! Okay, I looked it up on imd.b.com and it's only 3 hours long....that's still long for an old movie. It'd be like a 6 hour movie in today's time, right?

I got Kylee done in enough time but didn't redo Chloe's head. I realized after I made them that their little button eyes are probably not kid-safe so I told Chicken and J that they could cut them off and I would reattach them when Chicklet was older. When I gave the dolls to Chicklet, J was so awesome. He took them to Chicklet's room and put them in the crib! Most of her dolls are on a high shelf in her room and I know that that's where they'll prolly end up, but still, it was cute to see him do that.

Sunday we went to Bus.ch Garde.ns. My mom had free tickets for working a big event held in February. It was a nice day for it and I got a hat for our cruise! Afterwards we cooked out again and then played Phas.e 10. It took 3 rounds for me to get the first phase done, but then I caught up and was in even in the lead once. Then Kevin won.

Monday morning came too soon and we had a 12+ hour drive ahead of us. But myMom and I got some shopping done at my favorite teacher store and then Kevin and I said our final goodbyes to Les and Dave. It was so sad. Les was all excited (she can sense when we're going on a trip) when we came out that last time. But we managed to drive away. We got home about 11:30pm.

So now that my 3.5-day weekend is over, I can relax and rest.