Planes, trains, and automobiles! And lots of boats. And a cable car. And one big ole ship. This pretty much sums up our trip through the Mediterranean, which sadly will be our very last trip in Europe as a family. (Well, for the foreseeable future anyway). I'm reflecting on this trip, and all the travel we have done while living here, with immense gratitude. It's a bittersweet feeling to be at the point in our journey. I look forward to what lies ahead, but I'm taking care to enjoy the fleeting precious moments we have together in this home where we became a family of three. I'm just glad that Theodore and I will be heading Stateside before the movers come and pack up his room. I don't think I could hold myself together seeing his room in boxes. (I'm tearing up a little just writing that. How silly am I?) Anyway, more on that later. I'm planning to hopefully get around to typing up a post that details more about our house, village, and our day-to-day life experiences here. I feel like this blog evolved into a travel log, because I knew I wouldn't remember all the little details of our adventures years later. But in reality, travel has only comprised a small percentage of our time overseas. I have left out a lot of things about living here that to me have become mundane at this point, but I suppose I might feel differently when we relocate to the other side of the pond. There are some wonderful, some aggravating, and some downright surprising little details about life here that I'd like to delve into at some point, because I know with time I'll probably forget some of these things too eventually. But for now, I'd like to review this AMAZING cruise we just took through the Mediterranean! Technically, we cruised through the Adriatic, Ionian, and Aegean Sea, but these are all seas within the Mediterranean Sea. This was a little geography lesson for me. Seas within seas? Who knew? (Not me, obviously, but my cartographer husband will snicker when he reads this). I know I pretty much always gush over somewhere we have just been, but we are seriously going out with a bang after this phenomenal trip.
Day 1: Venice
This was actually my third time to Venice! I have to admit, it was quite a bit more enjoyable the other two times I came without a toddler, mainly because of the heat though. Sightseeing in hot weather with a toddler on your back is a sultry, sweaty endeavor that I don't wish to repeat anytime soon. A stroller would have been out of the question in Venice though. Every bridge you cross requires going up and down several steps, and we crossed a bridge probably every five minutes at a minimum as we meandered through the canals.
TJ wasn't really loving life in the carrier though, so we let him loose when we got to St. Mark's Square. Yay, my back could finally breathe! But then we had a little Tasmanian Devil to chase...
Phew. After all that running around in the heat we needed a cool break. Gelato time! We went to a Gelateria that we had seen in a "Feed Phil" Netflix documentary a few days prior. I was super excited for this gelato. TJ was too.
Oh and here's mine...
Wah wah waaaaaaah. I got only two licks in before the whole melting glob slid right off the cone, hitting the ground with a heart-wrenching splat. What a bummer. At least the boys enjoyed theirs. And after the ice cream TJ finally succumbed to a nap in the carrier.
I was hungry and so tired of walking at this point, but we had to keep walking to keep TJ asleep for as long as possible. After an hour more of walking, he woke up and we finally got to sit down. We picked literally the first restaurant we came upon once he was awake, and promptly ordered a giant water and a bottle of refreshing white wine. I think I earned the wine after losing my gelato!
TJ enjoyed some yummy seafood and breadsticks. (He LOVES shrimp, almost as much as ice cream.)
He was a happy boy after lunch! Well, until a group of pigeons he walked by suddenly took flight and startled him. His frightened sobs reverberated through the canals for a couple minutes after that. (I don't love pigeons either, dude. I feel ya.) Then we made our way to the train station to meet my Mom! I was so excited to embark on this journey with her. She has been wanting to do a Mediterranean cruise for years, so it was pretty surreal that we were finally doing it! We took a water bus back to St. Mark's Square to show her all the main sights. I didn't want to walk another 30 minutes in the heat at this point, but the water bus was soooo slow and there was not much airflow in there. So I was happy to finally disembark, but in the hours that had passed since we were at St. Mark's, it had grown even hotter and significantly more crowded here. I'll be honest and say I was very over Venice at this point. The crowds and the heat had sucked all the magic out of it for me, and I was very irritable. Luckily, we found a restaurant with air conditioning, where we all enjoyed a cold drink and some much-needed respite from all the chaos. Then, per my request, we paid the exorbitant 50 euro fare to take a water taxi, instead of the water bus, back to the train station. It was worth every cent. Here we are just after passing under the famous Rialto Bridge, in our own private boat!
Ciao, Venice!
Day 2: Setting Sail
After a full day out and about yesterday, the decision was unanimous to not go into Venice today. Instead we took a shuttle from our hotel to the ship, and boarded around lunchtime. Here we are on our balcony!
Pulling out of Venice on a giant cruise ship was a phenomenal experience. The sun was just beginning to set, and it was breathtaking to watch the city pass us by from up here. Some of the boats gave us friendly waves, while others gave us the international not-so-friendly hand gesture. (Many Venetians don't like the cruise ships being here and I can't really blame them. Sorry guys, we're leaving now!)
Ah. We finished the night at the roof top bar, watching the sunset as the Venetian lagoon slowly faded into the horizon. Thanks to Grandma for staying back with TJ!
Day 3: Bar, Montenegro
I spent a long time researching different activities and excursion options for Kotor. I was really excited to see the Bay of Kotor, which looked absolutely stunning in pictures. Wait, but where is Bar?? (Not the bar. We had all those located on our ship at this point, ha.) Until we learned our itinerary had been changed from Kotor to Bar, I didn't know this place even existed. Unfortunately, this is not going to be a "Oh we went to this hidden gem I have never heard of and it was amazing" type of story. In comparison to my research about Kotor, the city of Bar was quite a letdown. There really wasn't much to do in the city, which I guess was just as well since we didn't arrive until very late in the day. But Montenegro itself is a beautiful country that I'd love to spend more time in, and I really enjoyed the mountainous coastline views as we cruised our way into port.
In 1979, an earthquake devastated the city of Bar, so everything had to be rebuilt after that. The church below might look historical, but it is barely a decade old.
This olive tree makes up for what this church lacks in years, though. Estimated to be around 2,000 years old, it is considered the oldest olive tree currently living in Europe. That's pretty cool! So while Bar was my least favorite stop, and I'm still a little sad we didn't see Kotor, the town still offered something that wowed us.
Day 4: Corfu, Greece
From what I've read, Corfu's old town is worth a day's visit. I have no doubt it would be fun to wander, shop, and eat in Corfu. However, after all the wandering we did in Venice, I was more than happy that we decided to rent a car and explore the island a bit instead. I was ready to escape the crowds, see some beaches, and, most importantly, eat some delicious Greek food.
It took us about an hour of driving switchbacks through the hills before we finally came to the perfect beach. (This driving was cake compared to what we faced in Ireland though).
Did someone say cake? Time for lunch! No cake, but this was even better. We had grilled octopus, amazingly fresh tzatziki, moussaka, and baked feta cheese wrapped in phyllo drenched in honey and sesame seeds. I'm getting hungry just looking at this picture. And those views? This is Greek island perfection, if you ask me! After we ate as much as we possibly could, we unfortunately didn't have a lot of time left before we needed to head back to the ship. So we spent just a few minutes at the beach before getting back in the car.
Day 5: Santorini, Greece
Oh, Santorini. We've all seen pictures of the white-washed buildings with blue domes, perched dramatically on cliff's edge overlooking the cobalt Aegean Sea. I was certainly hoping to get a frame-worthy family photo of us standing right smack dab in front of those domes. (Spoiler alert: Didn't happen.) However, I was completely blown away with the natural beauty of Santorini. The island is basically a huge caldera, with some of the most amazing sea views I have ever seen in my life.
While Santorini was incredible, it's quite an ordeal to get to from a cruise ship. The cruise ships anchor in a bay and tender their passengers to the shore of the small port, where they then have to take a cable car to get up the huge cliff and into town. Or if you don't want to take the cable car, you can walk up the 600 steps in the blazing sun, sharing your trek with donkeys who are also making the passage, while being careful to avoid their droppings. Or you can actually ride one of the donkeys, which is highly discouraged for multiple reasons. (I didn't need any convincing to avoid that option). We toyed with the idea of booking an excursion through the ship in order to avoid the cable car lines. They would have taken us by boat over to Oia, bypassing the cable car altogether. (Except we would have still had to take the cable car to get back down, as they don't run boats in the other direction for some reason). Anyway, we decided to rent a car because we couldn't find an excursion that hit everything we wanted to see, and it was also way cheaper to just rent a car for the day. But money is time, and we lost about an hour in line for the cable car and another 20-30 minutes getting the car. As a result, we didn't have time to get up close and personal with those blue domes, unfortunately. Oh well. Maybe another time. But I got to see the red sand beach! Pictures really don't do this place justice.
And the short hike to get to it was scenic as well.
Next we made our way to Venetsanos Winery. This was on my "must-do" list for Santorini. As soon as I saw pictures of the views on Tripadvisor, I was sold. And I don't need much convincing to indulge in a glass of wine on vacation, so combining those two things made this stop obligatory.
This is what the Santorini vineyards looks like! They're grown in a basket shape low to the ground to protect the grapes from the heat and strong winds that frequent the island.
TJ was loving life. He enjoyed the cheese, octopus, and couldn't get enough of the Dolma! He also made a lot of new girlfriends, as the female workers were all obsessed with him. I don't think he wanted to leave!
I certainly didn't want to leave either. I was loving every second of this.
But alas, leave we must. Onto the next adventure! Our goal was to get to Oia to get some pictures of the aforementioned blue domes. But once we got there we realized parking would be impossible to find in the town. By the time we found parking outside of the town, we knew there would be no way for us to make it to the town center and back, and have the rental car back in time. So we just had to settle for viewing it from afar.
Just above and to the right of TJ's head, you'll see the blue domes. Thanks to our camera zoom, I got to see them a little more clearly at least.
To really do Santorini right, I'd love to spend several days here, preferably with one of these pools in my patio. This is certainly what Greek island dreams are made of.
After I had snapped enough pictures, we made our way back to drop to car off and waited in line again to descend the cable car. We waited in line another 45 minutes, but it was 8 pm at this point, so significantly more bearable without the sun beating down on us. Thomas opted to the take the adventurous route, and made his way down the steps with his friends. HA HA.
Bye Santorini! We boarded the tender boat and made our way back to our ship to conclude an exhausting, but wonderful, day.
TJ was such a trooper all day, even with staying out way past his bedtime! (He snuck in a little car nap at the end there, so that probably helped). Even though we were pretty rushed, I still absolutely loved our time in Santorini.
Day 6: Mykonos
Mykonos has a pretty big reputation for being the celebrity party island of Greece. In fact, when I told my sister we were stopping here, she said, "Oh. Lindsay Lohan has a club there." Interesting. Obviously, we didn't have clubs or party beaches on our itinerary, but we sure did enjoy our stroll through beautiful Mykonos town, starting with a walk to see the famous windmills.
Windmills were first constructed by the Venetians in the 16th century. (Venetians ruled the island of Mykonos from the 14th century until the 18th century).
Pictured below is "Little Venice".
Then we happened upon one of the most striking and unique churches I have seen in Europe, and that's saying a lot! This is Paraportiani church.
And the one below was pretty cute too. (You know I love my blue domes.)
The water views from town were stunning as well.
But my favorite part was simply wandering the stone streets, lined with completely white-washed buildings, splashed here and there with colorful paint and vibrant flowers. Mykonos town is just gorgeous.
Thomas volunteered to take TJ back to the ship for lunch and a nap, as he was fussing and not wanting to nap in the carrier. (Also, I think this picture should be an ad for this baby carrier. Lillebaby, we'll wait for your call.)
So Mom and I had some mother-daughter time, indulging in delicious Greek delights by the sea! Not pictured is the second best calamari I've ever had in my life, which arrived a few minutes after this photo. (Tapas 24 in Barcelona was where I had my favorite calamari of all time, in case you're curious. Thinking about it now, I am tempted to fly back there before we leave Europe. Don't worry, Thomas, I'm halfway kidding.) Anyway, this was the perfect way to end yet another wonderful adventure in Greece!
Day 7: Kefalonia, Greece
Today was Theodore's first ever full-on beach day! Sightseeing is great and all, but in this heat, a beach day was more than welcomed. And I was so excited to finally witness his first experience with the ocean. He was just thrilled to run amuck and not be confined to the carrier. I failed at taking many pictures of him in action, but it was definitely a successful day for this happy beach boy!
After beaching it pretty hard for several hours, we put sleepy Theodore down for an afternoon nap in the room. Then Thomas and I went up to the top deck of our ship to say goodbye to Kefalonia. I was sad to be leaving Greece at this point, but at least we had one more stop before vacation was totally over.
Day 8: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Dubrovnik (aka King's Landing for all the Game of Throne fans) is an enchanting city on the Adriatic Sea, rich in history, impressive architecture, and unbelievable natural beauty. No wonder they shot so many scenes from Game of Thrones here. I felt like I was walking on a movie set the entire day. Intrigue literally lies behind every little nook and cranny of this city. We started the day out at Pile Bay.
GOT fans might recognize this as "Blackwater Bay".
Then we decided to hike up to the fortress, called Lovrijenac. Some scenes from within the Red Keep were filmed here, so we figured it would be neat to check out. It was a bit of a hike up there, but the views along the way were definitely worth it.
And here we have "The Red Keep".
It was fun wandering through the fortress, but even more amazing to marvel at the scenery from up here.
Wow. But it sure was HOT. After going up all those stairs with TJ on my back in the relentless sun...it was time to put the hair up. And this was also when we decided we would definitely skip out on walking the city walls. I'm sure it would have been an enjoyable endeavor on a cooler day, but it was a hard pass for us today. Besides, we didn't really think we could beat these views anyway.
We took a different route back down from the fortress for a little scenery change-up.
Now we actually enter the city walls to wander the old town, amongst thousands of other cruise ship passengers and Game of Thrones fans.
My favorite part about exploring any European city is peering down the narrow little alleyways. If those alleys could talk, I'm sure they'd have hundreds of years worth of interesting stories to tell.
And if you're not convinced that Dubrovnik is just beyond captivating yet, here's a few more picture to win you over.
I loved wandering the streets, but I truthfully was quite jealous of these people on Sea Doos.
And then I was also wishing I had my bathing suit to enjoy this cool little roped off swimming area. I totally would have jumped right in.
But since swimming and Sea Doos were out, we decided to escape the heat with an aquarium visit. This was actually TJ's first aquarium experience! It was small, but gave us a much-needed break from the sun. And TJ was of course happy to run around for a bit.
Next we decided to check out one more famous Game of Thrones filming spot: Jesuit Staircase, which is where Cersei began her Walk of Shame.
And of course we climbed to the top for another fantastic view.
Needing yet another break from the sun, we stopped for lunch and drinks at this cute little restaurant before we made our way back to the ship.
Bye, Dubrovnik! So I definitely want to spend more time in Croatia one of these days. Well, I wouldn't mind spending more time in Greece or Montenegro either. Cruises are great for cramming a lot of places into one vacation, but it did feel like our time was pretty limited at most of our ports. This worked out fine for us though, as a full day of travel and sightseeing with a toddler can be a bit much. I was able to get a nice little taste of every place we went, and maybe one day I'll make it back to some of these places for more. All in all, the cruise was such a perfect way to finish off our travel here, with just the right mix of relaxation on the ship and adventures on land. TJ now has just one more country to add to his list this year. Country number 20 will be....The United States of America!