Having spent most of the summer getting settled into our new house or working, we decided to take a well deserved break and booked a western Mediterranean cruise with our great friends Jon, Marsha, and Julia Byrom. So four adults and three children - Abi 4, James 22 months, and Julia Byrom 16 months set off on what would be a wonderful, fun-filled adventure.
We caught our boat, The Norwegian Gem in Barcelona, Spain and spent the first real day of vacation sailing in the Mediterranean to the island of Malta. Early on the second morning Jon and I got up early and watched us sail into the port of Valletta, Malta at sunrise. Looking over our pictures from that morning only confirms how incredible this port call was - complete with Turkish architecture from the 1500s and the European-style fortification built in the centuries following. We were only able to spend a couple of hours in Malta's capital but it was enough to make us all hope to return to this unique island again one day.
Our next stop was the port of Naples, Italy where we decided to split our time between Pompei and Sorrento. Walking the streets of Pompei was surreal. From the frescos painted on the wall to the temples of Venus and Apollo, the level of preservation was stunning. I highly recommend it to anyone able to travel in Southern Italy. Then a short cab ride with Lelo - our Italian cab driver for the day - we savored an incredible lunch in Sorrento... mussels, gnoche, pizza, chianti. Cosi buon!
Our third stop was Civitavecchia which allowed us to train into Rome. In Rome for the afternoon we toured the city in an open-topped bus typical in most European cities. As with Malta, seeing the antiquities of Rome only encourages our planning for future travels in Italy.
Our last stop in Italy was Livorno which put us a 20 min bus ride from Pisa. This was the only day it rained and we decided to brave our way through it. Soaked to the bone, we still managed to pose in front of the leaning tower, find fine Italian leather purses for the ladies, and eat an incredible Tuscan-style lunch. The kids were just happy to play with the 3 euro umbrellas we bought in a futile attempt to stay dry.
Our final stop on the cruise was on the French Riviera and Monoco. It is perfectly clear why the rich and famous spend so much time in this beautiful part of the France.
If interested, follow the link to our photo album to see more pictures of our cruise and the places we visited.
