Mediterranean Babymoon!

I can't believe this is finally happening. When I was approached with the opportunity to take a cruise in the Mediterranean, I didn't think it would ever be a reality. Through much contemplation, calculating and re-calculating the travel budget, amazing parents and a teary eyed good-bye to our three year old son, we are finally on the plane to Italy. This is our first trip in 2 years and with another one on the way, we know the babymoon is a needed break! When we wake up tomorrow, we will be in another country. I can't wrap my head around it! We have a lot of flying and maneuvering airports before we will get there however. We make our connections on time and then get stuck in New York for an hour on the plane. My first thought it ''fix the luggage compartment below us so the door doesn't fly open when we are over the Atlantic Ocean and sink us''. My second thought ''Are you really going to make us sit on the plane when we will already be on here for the next 8 hours?''. Finally, with the luggage compartment fixed (hopefully), we are flying over the Ocean. I know this is going to be a long flight and being 5 months pregnant is not going to make it easier. I hope there is a good movie. . . Travel tip: Expect Delays

We touched down this morning and I am so happy to be on the ground and off the plane. After going through customs, and being super concerned and disappointed customs officials did not give us an entry stamp, we set out to find our luggage. Apparently a lot of flights land in Rome at 10:30 AM as there are 3 courosels of luggage. We finally find our luggage and it is time to get to the hotel to rest. Let the adventure begin. The taxi driver is great and tries to speak English with us giving us a brief tour of the city. The hotel is similar to bed and breakfast but in an apartment. We have one of the rooms down the hall from the main living room but we do get our own bathroom. Thankful for an eye patch, ear plugs and leftover affects of Dramamine, we rest for about 4 hours. First order of business when we wake up is to freshen up. The shower feels like the ones you take after a long work out or a 3 day camp trip. Second order of business, find a city map and make a plan for tomorrow. We head out on foot to the train station to get the schedule for tomorrow. Then the rest of our time is spent exploring the main part of Rome on foot. It is a beautiful city and the locals are out for their Friday night stroll. We stop at one of the many outdoor cafes to have dinner. Of course we had to try the pizza. While decent, it reminds me of the cheese pizza from school lunches in high school. Not quite what I expected. Kurt ordered a beer to go with his pizza. Except he ordered a litre instead of a pint. He didn’t have much room for the pizza or the beer after drinking about half. And I forgot you have to specify your water with gas or no gas. The Gelato was everything I expected and more!! The first of our many adventures to come! Travel tip: A Litre of beer is a lot of liquid

Today we wake up farely early to make sure we are at the Colesseum before the crowds. First we head to the train station to figure out what time we need to be back to get the train to Pt. Civecchia. On the way, we of course have to stop at a local café for an espresso. I feel like a local as we enjoy our coffee among other patrons on their way to work. The only difference is that we take our espressos to go (totally an American thing to do). The walk to the Colesseum takes us about a half hour. It is fun to navigate the streets of Rome. The buildings here are beautifully painted and flowers and plants cascade from almost every balcony. The Colesseum as well is something of beauty. It is surreal to picture it in its hay day busseling with roman guards, the wealthiest and poorest people of Italy as well as the latest Roman emperor. Standing in the middle with the grandstands surrounding you, one can feel the excitement of the arena and anticipation of the upcoming battles. As the Colesseum gets busier with tourists, I can also imagine the magnitude of the crowds gathering to watch the next battle. After the Colesseum, we look for a pizza restaurant that has great views of the plaza that was recommend to me by a client from Italy. We don’t find the restaurant but get a great view of the city and some of the parliament buildings. On our way back to the hotel, we stop at a local restaurant that has outdoor seating. The owner is very animated and goes to great lengths to speak English with us. I love traveling for this exact reason; finding a local restaurant and conversing with a local despite the language barrier. The owner informs us the smoke ring on our table is from a tear gas bomb during the recent protests in Rome. It is crazy to imagine thousands of people stood at this very spot only weeks ago protesting their dull economy. After gathering our bags, we head to the train station. The train ticket is only $9 EU and takes about an hour an a half. I think trains are one of the best ways to see the country. Once we get to the boat and make it through orientation, it is time for our first of many fabulous dinners. Tonight, we rent a movie. It seems so lame but we are on a date week so we are living it up! Travel tip: Trains can be efficient and cost effective

After the early morning, long travel days and stressful hours of work prior to the trip, we take this morning to sleep in. It feels so good to be on vacation and to have a leisurely morning. Being in our first port, we are eager to explore the island. Little did we know that our “exploring” would be mainly looking at closed attractions. Locals take to heart “a day of rest”. We do manage to find an old fort on a hill. There is not much information about the fortress but the view from atop the hill are beautiful. The rest of the afternoon, we walk around only to find that most of the shops are closed. So we head back to the boat to relax and play cards. We enjoy our second dinner onboard. The dinners are amazing. It is like having a date night with my husband every night. We drag dinner out as long as we can and we still manage to find things to talk about. It is so nice to spend time with my best friend! Travel tip: Sundays are a day of rest

Today we are excited to get off the boat and head to town. A couple we met last night told us we could rent bicycles. So we grabbed the bikes and road into town. My first order of business was to find an internet cafe to check in with home and to get money exchanged to Euros. Since tomorrow is a Catholic holiday, we come to realize that most people took a 4-day weekend. Again we are in a small port town where everything is closed. We wasted a lot of time looking for a bank that would be open (none of them were) and for what we could see on the map but somehow could not find in reality. Finally finding the internet cafe, the lady was not helpful. She would only let me pay for 15 minutes or an hour, even though the sign clearly says I can pay for a half hour. To my fault, I didn't learn a view French phrases which I think would have gained me more honey. Our next plan of action was to rent a motorcycle to head to this gorgeous town about 45 minutes from the port. Again the rental place was closed. So that is when I had my break down. We are on our 3rd day on the boat and we have not seen anything but these tiny towns. I am also a little home sick missing our little boy. My husband is wonderful however and reminds me, we could be at work. We make the most of the situation. We head back downtown, find an outdoor cafe and have a long lunch. We even get to know the waiter who graciously lets us practice our French and gives us some tips for traveling when visiting a French island. The day was not what I expected and had quite a few bumps along the way but it is still nice to be on vacation. And you can do dinner and a movie anywhere which is how we ended the day! Travel tip: If you have no expectations for the day, you will not be disappointed by the adventure.

Knowing for sure that today was a holiday and that many things would be closed, we booked a shore excursion through the boat. We went to a small family owned vineyard. The property has been in the family for 20 years with them starting to make wine the last 7 years. It was such an interesting tour. They grow 4 types of grapes and all of the grapes are soft pressed to make the wine. The wines are also distilled in metal containers so they have a cleaner finish. We buy 3 bottles of wine and I am amazed how inexpensive they are. It is during this tour, we meet a wonderful couple from Germany. It is fun to visit with them about their lives and what they have enjoyed most on the cruise. While we are the youngest onboard the boat, we are finding if we are willing to visit with people and ask them questions, we can make fast friends. It also helps with the baby bump to talk about as an ice breaker. This afternoon, we head back to the boat in time to swim in the Mediterranean. While the water is cold (not as cold as Montana's lakes and rivers), it is great to go for a swim and act like kids! Travel tip: Swimming in the Mediterranean in November is possible but cold...go for it!

Today is a day at sea. I am leery of this because I don't want to spend the day seasick. We do take advantage of not having to be anywhere and it is so nice to sleep in again. We spend much of the day playing cards, reading and taking naps. Tonight we have a BBQ on the outside deck. It is cool but quite a spread. We arrive a little late and are not able to have our own table so we get to dine with another couple. At first I am dreading this but after a little small talk, the conversation flows freely. I am excited to meet even more people. We find we have more in common than one would expect. They use to farm so Kurt and the husband have some stories to share. The wife use to work in the travel industry so I enjoy picking her brain. After dinner, there is a dance party. It is so fun to watch people let loose. Many of them I'm sure have stressful jobs and busy lives. I love to see them relax and enjoy themselves. I must admit that I too can't resist the chance to dance! Travel tip: Dance like nobody is watching (You will never see these people again anyway right?)

Today we are in Mallorca and I am so excited because I heard they have great beaches. That being said, we are about an hour from the beaches and there are sights to see right in Palma. We decide to take a hop on/off bus. These are open air double decker buses that give you a tour of the city and the sights. We pay for our ticket and get head phones and a map. The buses allow for you to ride from sight to sight getting off at whatever sight interests you and then hopping on another bus when you are done exploring that sight. We decide to explore a castle on a hill over looking the city as well as the cathedral. The views from the castle are beautiful. The cathedral as well is a sight to see. You can see the different eras of architecture. I am bummed that we didn't make it to the castle where the King and Queen of Spain still vacation. But short on time and our stomachs growling, we decide to stop for lunch. I am so excited to be in Spain. It feels like home. I order my favorite food, the Spanish Tortilla. It is overpriced and not that great but still nice to be somewhere familiar. Travel tip: Hop on/off buses are great ways to see the city when you are short on time

Today we are in Valencia. This is where I studied and lived for 3 weeks exactly 10 years ago. I can't believe I am here again. Since I am familiar with the city and want to catch up with my host family, this where we are disembarking. We call my host family to make sure we are still meeting for lunch and then head for some shopping. My wonderful husband waits on a street side bench while I shop. I have been waiting for this all week. It is however, to buys clothes for when after I am pregnant while I am pregnant. Oh well can't return them! We decide to figure out our plan for getting to our next destination so we make our way to the train station. We are relieved to find there is a night train to Granada this evening and that we can store our luggage in lockers. Aaah it is so nice to be free of our luggage after wheeling them all over the city. We make our way to my host mom's new house. It is so great to see Mercedes again. She hasn't changed a bit. Well her hair is a little longer but she is still beautiful. I am so excited for her to meet my husband and to show her pictures of our son. She has made my favorite all time Spanish dish; Paella. I am so excited I can hardly wait for it to be done. Her son joins us for lunch which is great. He is our age and we enjoy getting his take on the economy and the ''crisis''. It is interesting to watch him and his mom argue. It is the same disagreement the young and old have here in the states. They converse only in Spanish and I find myself doing a lot of nodding and also trying to remember how to speak Spanish. We make it work. After lunch it is time for siesta but we really don't have a place to siesta. So we sit in the living room and watch a Spanish soap opera. While it is so weird to me, it is also nice to just spend time with my host mom. Once we say our goodbyes we are on foot again. We decide to walk around the city as we make our way back to the train station. I tell Kurt about my school, where we us to meet up to go out and try to navigate from memory (he is much better using the map). We even find my old apartment and I am taken back to when I studied here. When I was here those many years ago, my one dream was to come back with the love of my life to share that piece of me. And here we are walking the same streets I walked so many years ago. I can't believe it. We have to get back to the train station by 9 to get our luggage. Our train doesn't leave until midnight. So we have a lot of time to wait. Luckily there is one cafe that remains open. We take up residence drinking cafe con leche until they kick us out because they have to close. Next it is time for the train ride. I am so excited to get warm and to get some sleep. Ha! Just as in the states, there are really nice buses and then there is the Greyhound. When I was in Spain 10 years ago, I rode on some very nice trains. The night trains, are the Greyhounds of trains. It is cold, our seats don't recline, it is dirty and smelly and very noisy. It is going to be a long ride! But hey I am on vacation and could be working. Travel tip: Dreams do come true (and trains can also be inefficient and dirty)

We finally make it to Granada this morning. To say we are we are exhausted is an understatement. I don't know how baby managed! Our first order of business is to find a hotel. The first one we go to is full. We didn't know it but there is a festival in town and so most hotels will be full. However, luck is on our side. We found a hotel, named Anacapari, with a receptionist from the US who found pity on us. She gave us a large room off the lobby for a great rate! Finally we are able to sleep. I struggle to have a peaceful sleep because I feel like we are wasting our time when we should be out sight seeing. And that is exactly what we did when we woke up. First I must dig out the sweater I just bought in Valencia. Thank goodness. It is freezing in Granada. We would later see snow capped mountains. We start our explorations by walking the main plaza of course and then getting on the hop on/off bus. This evening we spend time getting in touch with our families in what is our first real chance at an internet connection. We also spend time watching TV in Spanish. It quite fun watching Sex in the City in Spanish. Travel tip: Be prepared for all types of weather when traveling in the Mediterranean in November

This morning we are up early to visit the Alhambra. The Moorish fortress is so large it is hard to take it all in. It has been passed from ruler to to ruler. We spend the morning exploring the difference in architecture and religious influence. And the gardens are amazing with blooming flowers, pools and fountains. We even get a chance to see a wedding party in one of the gardens. I am thankful it is a beautiful sunny day so we can appreciate the beauty of it all, but it is still cold. This evening we head to a Guiness Bar to have a beer (well hot chocolate for me) and a soccer game. It is fun to be in a bar where people are really into the game. Travel tip: It is okay to long for the comforts of home

Its off on another train ride today. I am so relieved when we walk on the train and find comfortable seats and a table. The Train is not very full so we can sit back and relax. It is a 2 hour trip and absolutely beautiful. We get to see rolling hills full of olive trees. We also observe small communities where people are going about their everyday lives. I definitely feel like I could live in Spain. Upon arrival in Sevilla, we find a hotel and set out to explore the city. This time we opt for a stroll versus a bus. It is such a great way to see the city. The main plaza has a fountain and the streets are lined with orange trees. We enjoy a wonderful lunch of Paella and Sangria, typical Spanish fair. This evening we go out like the locals to enjoy the weather and the beautiful city lit up at night. There is a river that runs through the center of the city. We hit the river at sunset to enjoy a stroll along the river trail and to watch kayakers out for some exercise. Aside from Valencia, Sevilla is my favorite Spanish city. Travel Tip: Walking through the city is the best way to take in the local culture

Before we head to Madrid this afternoon, we have to see where Christopher Columbus is supposedly buried. The Cathedral looks like the many we have seen on this trip but it is the bell tower that most intrigues us. So we climb to the top. Quite a work out for me but worth the view at the top. Our last and final train is the best one yet. It is definitely a business type of train. I am amazed how many people make the hour long commute to the capital. After checking into our hotel, the next thing on the list is dinner. We made a loop around the block and decided on a tapas bar. They bring out fresh hot appetizers every 20 minutes. The way you pay is how many tooth picks are on your plate. It is the best food we have had yet. And the atmosphere is perfect. Tons of locals eating good food and talking about life. The perfect end to a fabulous dream come true. Travel Tip: If the restaurant is full of locals, it means it is the best in the area.

Getting on the flight is bittersweet. I am so excited to see my baby boy after two weeks but so sad to leave my dream come true. It will be nice to get back in the swing of things, but I have a hard time trying to imagine with 2 kids how my husband and I will ever take such an elaborate vacation. I am also not looking for the 8 hour flight in the daylight. The flight takes as long as I imagine (plus delays of course). But finally we are home with a million pictures and even more little moments. Travel Tip: Home sweet home (and customs in Amsterdam is very confusing).