Mediterranean Cruise: Port of Livorno

Our port for Monday was Livorno.  This is another industrial port city, but it provides access to the wonderful region of Tuscany.  Knowing that most of the sights were quite aways from the port and wanting to make the most of our short time in this region, we booked a semi-private excursion for this day.  We shared a van with a couple from Chicago and a mother and daughter from Utah.  Our driver was at the ship waiting for us as we disembarked Monday morning.  He had a car seat in his van for Colin which was invaluable as Colin was able to get a couple of good naps in throughout the day.

Our first top was Pisa and its famous "Field of Miracles" containing the Leaning Tower, Duomo, and Baptistery.  We walked around and took a number of photos before hopping back in the van.  We drove through the Chianti region in Tuscany en-route to Florence.  We stopped at Pizzale Michelangelo outside the city, which is a hilltop square with a stunning view of Florence before driving downtown.  Upon arriving in the center of the city, we were given time to explore the city on our own.  

It was a HOT day in Florence, but we tried to make the most of our time there.  We started out with a lunch of caprese salad, pizza, and wine at one of the sidewalk cafes lining Piazza della Signoria.  We then took a walk along the Arno river crossing over the famous Ponte Vecchio ('Old Bridge').  We toured both the insides of the Santa Croce Church and Duomo.  Of course, we made a gelato stop as well.  

Because we were in Florence on a Monday, the city's two most famous sights, the Ufizzi Gallary and the Accademia housing Michelangelo's David were both closed.  I had been to both museums during my last trip to Florence, and David had no interest in either so it wasn't a big deal to us that they were closed.  I love the Tuscany region so much and hope to return again some day and be able to visit a lot of the little towns we didn't have time for on this trip.

After returning to our ship, we showered and dropped Colin off at Camp Carnival for dinner.  David and I had reservations for the speciality steakhouse, Fahrenheit 555.  We both thought the steaks were really good, especially after having not had a decent steak in the entire time we have lived in London.  Afterwards, we got drinks at the Alchemy Bar which mixes up speciality cocktails and then listened to some live music before picking up Colin and heading to bed.  Another busy but fun day!

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Family picture in the Chianti region of Tuscany

Piazzale Michelangelo

Duomo

Ponte Vecchio

Mediterranean Cruise: Port of Monaco

On Sunday, our ship arrived in Monaco.  This was a pretty spectacular port with gorgeous views of the harbor and multimillion dollar yachts.  We weren't as rushed this day so decided to have breakfast in the Havana Bar where they serve made-to-order omelets.  I had read that this was an easy port to do on your own so did not book any excursions for this day.  We got off the ship and made our way to the train station and caught a train to Nice.

Nice lived up to its glamorous French Riviera reputation.  We took a walk through the city and saw all the people sunbathing on the rocky beaches.  They city was preparing for the Tour de France which was scheduled to come through the following day.  After exploring the city, we had crepes for lunch at a yummy creperie before taking the train back to Monaco.  Colin got some much needed sleep in his stroller during our time in Nice.  He seemed to be feeling better as the day progressed.

After arriving back in Monaco, we walked to the Monte Carlo Casino.  Even for a non-car lover like myself, it was pretty amazing to see some of the vehicles parked in front of the casino.  We walked around a bit more after this and then decided to head back to our ship early for some much needed pool and relaxation time.

Colin got his first introduction to the kiddie waterslides on the ship this afternoon, and he was obsessed with them for the rest of our trip.  David and I had a lot of fun on the three regular waterslides as well.  After our pool time, I enjoyed a fruity pre-dinner drink at the rum bar (beer for David) on the Lido deck and then had another dinner in the main dining room.  It was another early night for us to help Colin get over the last of his sickness.

Beaches of Nice

I can't imagine it is pleasant to lay on these rocks

Monte Carlo Casino

Waterslide fun!

Twins

Miami Vice = Vacation

Mediterranean Cruise: Port of Marseilles

On Saturday morning, we woke up and looked out our balcony window to see we had docked in our first port:  Marseilles.  It was a very industrial port so not exactly the most beautiful view.  I had read that Marseilles was a gritty port city so had decided to make things easy for the first day and book an excursion through Carnival.  Our excursion involved wine tasting in Provence and a visit to the city of Avignon.  We had room service delivered to our room for breakfast since we had to get an early start and while eating decided we were crazy to take Colin on an excursion that involved wine tasting.  So, we brought him up to Camp Carnival and checked him in for the day so we could do the excursion on our own.

Our excursion started with a drive through the Provence region in France to a vineyard located in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, an area known for wine production.  The winery we visited was gorgeous with a castle and beautiful grounds.  We tasted four different types of wine and got a lesson on wine tasting and the history of the Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine region.  At this point, we were very happy we had not brought Colin with as there was no way he would have sat through this wine tasting.

After our wine tasting was complete, we hopped on the bus and drove to Avignon, a small village in Provence located on the Rhone River.  The city's main sights are the Palais de Papes (Popes' Palace) and Pont Saint-Benezet Bridge. We were given free time on our own to explore they city and have lunch.  David and I enjoyed a kid-free lunch at a French cafe and had time for gelato after touring the Popes' Palace and exploring the city's other sights.

After Avignon, it was time to head back to the ship.  I had been worried about Colin all day so was very happy to pick him up from Camp Carnival.  He had a good day but had come down with a cold and wasn't feeling well by the time we picked him up.  It was the first formal night on our ship, but Colin was in a pretty awful mood during dinner since he was not feeling well so we didn't do much this night other than take a small walk around the ship after dinner and then put him to bed early.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape winery that we visited

Enjoying a kid-free day at the winery

Palais des Papes in Avignon

Avignon

Reunited with my baby

Poor Colin not feeling well

Mediterranean Cruise: Barcelona to Cruise Ship

We are back from our amazing Mediterranean Cruise.  I know I am going to forget a lot of the details of the trip so thought I would put together a number of posts with details and photos from each day of the trip as a "travel journal" that I can look back on.

Our trip started by flying from London Gatwick to Barcelona on Thursday, June 27th.  After a short flight delay, we were on-route to Barcelona.  We took a taxi to our hotel and then set out to explore the city.  Colin pretty much immediately fell asleep in his stroller so we stopped at a bar off of Las Ramblas for a sangria for me and a beer for David.  We walked down Las Ramblas stopping again to stock up on wine at a grocery store to bring on our cruise and then had a yummy dinner of tapas, paella, and sangria on an outside patio overlooking Las Ramblas.  After dinner, we walked down to the beach before heading back to our hotel for the night.

The next morning, we had to get up early to get in the sightseeing I had planned before boarding our ship.  We headed straight to La Sagrada Familia where I had pre-purchased 9:00am tickets.  I am glad I did as the line was down the block and around the corner for people who had not pre-purchased tickets.  The church is still a work in process but was amazing nonetheless.  After that, we hopped on the metro to visit the Picasso Museum where I had also pre-purchased tickets.  We then took the metro back to our hotel and checked out and took a taxi to the cruise terminal.

After arriving at the terminal, it took about an hour before we could board our ship.  Fortunately, the terminal had a kids' play area which Colin loved.  Soon, we were aboard the Carnival Sunshine!  We had decided to cruise with Carnival mainly because they are the only U.S. cruise line to have a free children's program ('Camp Carnival') that starts at age 2.  Most other cruise lines start their programs at age 3.  It was great for us to have a little time to ourselves most evenings and great for Colin to have a chance to be around other kids and get to play with a lot of new fun toys.  The Carnival Sunshine was formerly known as the Carnival Destiny before a multi-million dollar refurbishment this spring.  The ship was great with a lot of fun new features like a water park with three giant waterslides, two kiddie waterslides, and a splash zone that we had a lot of fun at.  There were a number of new restaurants and all of the rooms and common areas had been renovated.  I know Carnival is supposed to be at the lower end of U.S. cruise lines, but we were very happy with the ship, especially all the services they had for families.

After getting on the ship, we headed to our room to get settled.  We were in a balcony cabin, which was so worth the extra money.  I can't imagine ever cruising without a balcony again.  It was so nice to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine after Colin went to bed at night.  The rest of the day was spent exploring the ship and having our first dinner in the main dining room. We had anytime dining rather than a scheduled seating which worked out great as we usually arrived before most passengers so had no problem getting a booth for just the three of us.  Colin was always given crayons and an activity book and could order things off of an extensive children's menu.  Plus, we always had the iPad with us if he got antsy!

We were all very excited to be on the ship and ready for our first day at port in Marseilles!

Glass of sangria and a sleepy Colin in Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia

Inside of Sagrada Familia

Checking out our room

Exploring Camp Carnival

Pirate ship playground onboard

Our ship - the Carnival Sunshine

The Start of a Busy June

June is a really busy month for us.  It started out with a weekend trip to Woolacombe, which was followed by a week visit to the US for me and Colin, and is ending with us leaving for a Mediterranean cruise in a couple of days.  I thought I would share a few photos from the first two trips before leaving for the cruise.

Woolacombe is a seaside resort in North Devon on the southwestern coast of the UK.  Our friends Susan, Scott, and Alex won a weekend stay at a condo there and were so nice to invite us to go along with them.  Alex is almost exactly one year older than Colin, and the boys always have a great time when we get together.  We were able to take a combination of two trains and a taxi to make it to the resort after figuring out that renting a car would cost a fortune.  The weather was sunny and in the high 60s.  Perfect for playing in the sand on the beach.  Too cold for us Americans to swim but there were plenty of British people swimming.  The beach was gorgeous, and it was a great weekend getaway.

Colin playing in the sand during low tide.

David and Colin walking the beach.

The water was so cold.  I wouldn't want to go in any deeper than this.

After returning from Woolacombe, we had one full day at home before leaving for the US.  This was my second time traveling alone with Colin between London and Wisconsin so I was a bit less nervous than the first time.  Colin did great on all of the flights.  He kept busy playing on the iPad (thank goodness for the Curious George movie I downloaded before the trip), eating snacks, and reading books.  We had a few problems on our trip home with a delayed flight, running to catch our connection, seats that weren't next to each other, and missing luggage, but overall everything went fairly smoothly.

We had a great time back in Wisconsin.  We took a day trip to Madison to spend time with our extended family and then spent the rest of the time doing fun summer activities in Door County and Green Bay.  I love Wisconsin in the summer - ice cream at Wilson's, Bay Beach, Door Country wine trolley tour, the NEW Zoo, and Plum Loco Farm were a few of the fun things we did while we were there.  It was great spending time with my family and also getting to do things that I miss while living in London (i.e. lots of shopping at Target and grilling out!).  It's sad to think that we won't be back again until Christmas.  Fortunately, I have a visit from my parents to look forward to in September.

Feeding horses carrots at Plum Loco Farm.

Chilling with my adorable nephew Griffin.

Colin on the ladybugs at Bay Beach.

Colin trying to visit the tortoises at the NEW Zoo.
 

Sisters on the Door County wine trolley tour.
 

This guy is so cute!
 

Future Best Buds

The busy June continues!  More to come after our cruise!

Where East Meets West: Istanbul

Istanbul has always been a "bucket list" city for me so I was really excited when we got the opportunity to travel there at the end of May.  Istanbul is located on both sides of the Bosphorus, the narrow straight between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea, which makes it the only major metropolitan area in the world to span two continents (Europe and Asia).  Istanbul's population is close to 14 million making it one of the largest cities in the world by population.  In comparison, New York City has a population of around 8 million.

Istanbul is one of three cities in the final bidding for the 2020 Summer Olympics along with Madrid and Tokyo.  The country seemed to lack the infrastructure to host an Olympics so it should be interesting to see whether they are selected.  There seemed to be constant traffic jams on all of the roads and the public transportation was limited and very crowded.  I wonder if the protests and violence currently occurring in Turkey will affect this bid in any way.  I feel very fortunate that we left a few days before this turmoil began.

One thing that surprised me is how much the Turkish LOVE children.  Colin was pretty much a celebrity there.  It was everyone too, not just women.  It was really unusual to see men in their twenties come up to Colin and rub his head and ask how old he was and try to chat with him.  Another plus of this love of children is that we got to skip a lot of lines at tourist sites.

It's hard to describe some of the amazing sites we saw.  Pictures are best.

Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) - One of Istanbul's most iconic landmarks.  Built in the mid-6th century, Hagia Sophia has been a church, a mosque, and is now a museum.

Inside Hagia Sophia

Inside Hagia Sophia

Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) - The vast majority of Turkey's population is Muslim so there are some amazing mosques in Istanbul.  Blue Mosque is probably the most famous.

Blue Mosque got its name from the amazing blue tile work inside.  Unfortunately, it is difficult to capture the scale and beauty with a camera.

Inside Blue Mosque

After dealing with months of terrible weather in London, it was great to finally get out the summer dresses.  This picture is taken on Galata Bridge.  In the background is Suleymaniye Mosque.

I loved the inside of Suleymaniye Mosque  Once again, the camera could not do it justice.

Wearing mosque appropriate apparel - no shoes, no legs showing for men or women, no hair showing for women.  The man to my left apparently did not do his research on this and had to wear a mosque provided skirt to cover his bare legs.

A Buckley family trip would not be complete without a boat ride.   Bosphorus Cruise between Europe and Asia.

Grand Bazaar - A covered market with over 4,000 shops.  A bit overwhelming and touristy so we didn't buy much here.

Egyptian Spice Market - I loved all the stalls selling different spices, teas, dried fruits, and nuts.  We tried some Turkish Delight (a jelly like candy covered with powdered sugar and sometimes filled with fruits and nuts) as well as some Baklava (layers of phyllo pastry filled with chopped nuts and honey).  The Turkish Delight was far from delightful, but I loved the Baklava in small doses.  The Turkish certainly seem to have a sweet tooth.

Topkapi Palace - the primary residence of Ottoman Sultans for over 400 years.    The palace was home to about 4,000 people including the sultan, his many wives and concubines, and slaves.

Topkapi Palace had the most gorgeous tile work.

Colin's favorite part of the trip was this fountain in Sultanahmet Park.

Next up on our travel plans is a trip back to the US for me and Colin.  Poor David is stuck staying in London and working.  I have realized that three months is about the maximum I can go before I really start missing my family and the US so can't wait to get back.  Plus, our stock of American food is getting low so I need to replenish it :)