Mokah's Travel Blog

Week two, finding a home

2011-10-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

This week we spent moving into our flat and settling into life as Florentines. We have shops around us and in the morning we have so many markets to buy fresh food that I am in awe. So much for Granville Island!! We have everything we could hope for except a third bedroom!! So for our journey to Italy our peanut is bunking with the parentals. It's been ok so far as we now don't lie in the dark silently hoping he'll pop off for the night but he is still waking up impossibly early never sleeping past 6. Also we may have a bed bug problem in the baby cot. There are a lot of bites on him and we don't think they're mosquitoes. This evening while the peanut screamed and chased me around the bedroom I took down his rental cot and put up our portable one. Hubby and kidlet are at a movie. But now only 1.5 hours late he is asleep so hopefully the bed bug issue is contained and the bites will disappear.

Now for the rest of our week. We had a great time exploring the markets and even cooking at home for the first time. I made a lovely pasta with tomato sauce, bread and a pomodoro e mozzarella salad. Hubby pinched his hand opening the wine causing himself not only a cut on his palm but also a large sized blood blister and a first hand lesson for the peanut on what words not to use in the future!! Peanut and I had our second music class and I have to say he is very excited about anything musical!

I celebrated the beginning of my 30th year on Thursday with a lovely breakfast in bed and a nice long solo shower!! We had a great lunch and I received some fantastic books on living in Italy as well as the trip we will take next weekend to my favorite place San Gimignano. I had a yummy coffee liquor dessert as my cake and then I went out to meet some ladies who are also expats living in Italy. We had a great time and I am glad to have some new friends.

We also spent some time finding a scoula for the kidlet, Italian lessons for the parentals and a potty seat for the peanut as this was the one item I forgot at home. Thankfully this item is a luxury and is not required. Though as many of you know we practice early potty learning with the peanut and as hubby took him to the bathroom one night he assumed that the peanut was done his business when in fact he was not. So while I'm cooking our meal I hear "Hunny, I need your help." To which I witnessed the peanut pooping on the floor while being suspended in the air by hubby. His comment was "he almost pooped on my foot!!" Kidlet and I descended into peals of laughter. What an enjoyable evening.

This weekend we spent sleeping in and bumming around on Saturday and then on Sunday we headed out to a ceramics and pottery show which only happens once a year. This was to be a lesson for the kidlet to hand in one of his projects for e-school. What beautiful pottery. To top it off there was an impromptu parade of military persons I think which was very cool. We tried hazelnut pancakes filled with ricotta cheese which is very common at this time of the year as it the hazelnut/chestnut festival time. We also popped into the library and got our own Florentine library cards!

Now it's Monday night and We have survived our first real day here, which included a visit to the scoula the kidlet will attend and then onto our Italian lessons until late afternoon. A note about the school. As we arrived there and were greeted by a nun, a very nice English speaking nun mind you but still a nun I thought the kidlet was going to turn tail and run!! I guess I forgot to mention it was a Catholic school. ;-) Anyway, that's beside the point as all public schools here are Catholic. We met the principal who was this tiny woman, and when I say tiny I mean the peanut looked big in comparison! She had to be well under 5 feet, a nun also and a very nice woman. She gave us a tour, talked about how many English students there were and introduced us to the kidlets classmates. He is excited to go to school in the morning. That's right, you read correctly he is excited to go!! I'm pleased as this is not only school, but a Catholic, uniform wearing Italian speaking school! However, there are children there which I think at this point has got to be better than hanging out with the aging parentals!

Our Italian lessons went well, I think I will have to practice a lot if I'm meant to speak the language in such a short time. But tomorrow our lesson begins with a trip to the market to learn the fruit and veggie words and hopefully learn how to choose different foods so I can also work on my next plan learning to cook Italian! Aside from our lessons this week, my goal before my next blog post is to get a successful haircut. I'll post pictures next week if it turns out, if not you'll have to imagine how badly I explained the style!!

Days 25, 26 & 27 - Traveling home & Toronto

2009-08-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

As I am writing this post, I am thinking about how much easier things seem to be when you are traveling! Now as I sit here at home in front of my computer many things are pulling me away all the time. Things that have been forgotten for weeks are now demanding attention!

But back to the remainder of our wonderful trip. We had a pretty uneventful return flight, though it was fairly inexpensive to upgrade to business class, so we did from Frankfurt to Toronto. This was pretty cool as the seats were of the pod style, and all three of us were pretty pumped about them! We arrived in Toronto for possibly the longest wait for baggage we have ever experienced! Finally 2 hours later we were navigating through the traffic in Toronto with no GPS system as none was available! Though we had our Iphones which were the live saving devices of our over tired existence at that point. We managed to get to The Fairmont Royal york where we were staying in one piece without too much trouble. We had a very quick snack and proceeded up to the room at 9:30 pm to crash for the next 12 hours!

Our day in Toronto was great, it was warm we got to see our condo investment being built and popped into a theatre to see the Harry Potter film we had been waiting for! It did not disappoint. As well, we managed to get together with our good friend Jennie whom Geoff and I traveled with during our very first trip as a couple 7 and a half years ago! We had a lovely dinner filled with great food, scenery and most of all conversation! We also saw Quentin Tarantino as he promoted his new film at the same theatre we had just been.

Our final day in Toronto, we headed to a hotel within walking distance of the airport to meet up with some of the kidlet's side of the family for a wedding. We bid adieu to the hubby and put him on a plane to Calgary to visit his brother, and off we went to a cottage in lake country!

The drive to the lake was few hours, though I traded the kidlet for his lovely aunt whom we haven't seen in a year so the conversation was great on the way out there! Josh enjoyed his grandfathers company and we all arrived in great spirits to a lovely cottage built by Nora's family in 1938.

Day 24 - Barcelona, Spain

2009-08-10T14:09:00.001-07:00

Our final day…. We had a full day at sea as we didn’t dock until 4:00pm. Geoff and I headed to the spa early this morning, as Josh headed off to say his final goodbyes to all his friends. We met and had burgers for lunch on the pool deck. This afternoon was spent packing, as it was quite a job after 22 days on board. With that finished, we headed to the pool deck to relax and read. Josh got another hour with his buddies and we had a nap on deck. Later we had to locate a few missing items. Last night Josh gave 2 of his rings to Geoff to take back to the room, but only one made it back. We are still hopeful it will get turned in. I lost a shirt in the laundry and Geoff lost a pair of pants. Though those items were located and we got ready for our Flamenco dinner in Barcelona.

The dinner in Barcelona was very good. Too much food, but really tasty. The Flamenco show was not quite as I expected, though it was very entertaining. Not only the women dance the art of Flamenco but men also dance. The dancing style is very emotional and passionate. The costumes were quite nice, and the band sat right on stage while the dancing was going on. The musician also danced while he sang. There were two gentlemen who clapped out the rhythm, which I found fascinating. A really nice way to wrap up our trip. Early tomorrow we are off to the airport to begin the trip home.

Day 23 - Florence

2009-08-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

So our second to last day, Florence. What a wonderful way to end our journeys. This is my favorite place in the world. We had originally planned to go to our little town of San Gimignano as Geoff and I loved it when we were here the last time. Though I think other guests didn’t know what it was, as our tour was cancelled. We decided to head into Florence for a day on our own wandering the city. The city was an hour and a half from Livorno where we ported, so it was an early day. We began our day at a church to plan our meeting point and time with the guide. We stopped and had a coffee at a great little coffee shop on our way out of the square. As we wandered down the street, we rediscovered a paper and ink shop that we knew from the past. We spent some time trying to find a piazza that I fell in love with 7 years ago, but in the end we couldn’t locate it.

We managed to find beautiful gardens that we toured through as well as an archaeological museum showing an excavation in the Middle East. There were many well-preserved artifacts. We had pizza at a sidewalk café, where I can’t remember the last time I had pizza that good. We also got a bit lost on our journey, but while we were lost we found another museum with artifacts from the life of Galileo. Geoff was in his glory there! They even had his pointer finger on display, which they collected after his death.

We then had to find our way back to the square s it was almost time to meet the bus again. It was a great day, though Florence is really a place to spend a few days wandering and exploring.

Our final onboard dinner we enjoyed with a gentleman and his sister from Boston. They were great dinner companions. We spent some time taking pictures of the ship as we are eating in Barcelona on our last night. As our journey comes to a close, I can’t help but feel a bit sad, as we have really enjoyed ourselves.

Day 22 Civitavecchia, Italy

2009-08-08T08:43:00.000-07:00

Today we docked in Civitavecchia 45 minutes from Roma. We decided to hang out in the port city instead of going all the way into Roma. As it’s Saturday, there was a market with fish, fruit, vegetables and just about anything you could want to buy. This city also has a statue, which cried blood, putting it onto the map. We spent a nice day wandering around, drinking wine and eating pizza. In the afternoon we found a place on the way back to the boat that serves melons. So we stopped and shared a ¼ of a watermelon. They bring the entire ¼ to you with a knife and fork! It was a great way to have lunch. There were also 3 Italian men who were having a very lively discussion about the price of watermelons. At least that’s what we thought they were talking about! We also stopped into a McDonalds to give it a try, and I ordered deep fried cheese wedges! Then it was back to the ship, the walk was quite long and hot so we had a nice rest before heading to dinner and setting sail to Florence!

Day 21 Naples & Pompeii

2009-08-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

So we hit Napoli and Pompeii today. Our tour started out in the town of Sorrento, where our guide Sasha had arranged a nice Italian meal for us. After lunch we watched a demonstration on inlaid wood carving. This art is absolutely beautiful, and they informed us that there is a lack of young people wanting to take up this profession. I bought a beautiful music box, which will make a lovely addition to our home. Then we had an hour or so to wander and shop. Sorrento produces many of the bottles of Lemoncello that you buy today, so of course we bought a few souvenir bottles. The lemons that are grown in Sorrento are huge, I have never seen anything like it!

The trip to Pompeii took a while, but we did get to have a quick photo stop. Once arriving in Pompeii we stopped to watch a man carving a shell to make earrings and necklaces. They were beautiful, but quite expensive. Then Sasha took us through the ruins of Pompeii. The preservation of the town of Pompeii is absolutely phenomenal! There are roads, where you can still see the groves caused by the chariot wheels. The shops which have been excavated are still intact with the exception o most of the roofs. The ash that fell caused most of them to collapse under the weight. The city sits on 4 square miles, so we only had time to see a portion of it. Our guide managed to keep us there until the last minute so we could see as much as possible. We went into a large family villa, where the frescos on the walls are still very much intact and visible. The original wooden door still stands as well, though caked in ash to this day to preserve the wood.

We also saw a brothel which during the excavation of Pompeii, they located 21 of them all on the same street. A phallic symbol at the beginning of the street on the ground marks the start. As well, there are phallic carvings above every brothel door. They also used frescos to depict specific positions available to guests! Our guide said that it’s due to the fact that many men were coming from other cities and possibly didn’t speak the language, so the images spoke for them!

We also saw the plaster casts of the bodies located in Pompeii. They have to pour the plaster over the bones to preserve them so they don’t disintegrate. There was even a dog forever frozen in terror from being chained up and left behind. A pregnant woman was found protecting her face, as the poisonous gas is what killed most people before the ash fell. Visiting Pompeii was an amazing experience, one that I fully recommend to all.

After dinner tonight onboard, we went to the show. It was a married duo that plays the electric violin and the guitar. They played some Celtic music and some other styles as well. They were quite good. Then it was on to perform in the superstar competition. There were 8 of us competing, and given that my cold is in the stage where I have a hard time trying not to cough, I thought I was not half bad. Geoff said he was impressed though. I didn’t make it into the top four, but some of the contestants they chose due to there on stage theatrics more than anything else. It was a fun end to a long day!

Day 20 - Sicily, Italy

2009-08-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

Today we headed out fairly early for our token beach day. We were in Sicily today, which is the ball at the end of the boot, as one of our friends pointed out! The beach was sandy and hot; we enjoyed a few hours of sun, and all splashed and swam about. We also saw Mount Etna, a still active volcano. No lava was visible or anything though… Our beach outing included a drink and snack, though this was one place where English wasn’t the first or second language! It was an interesting experience trying to order our beverages. Then we decided we were hungry, so in I went to place our order. I did manage to order in my extremely broken Italian, and I even managed to get us coffees in the process! Though after obtaining said coffees, a small Italian boy ran into my arm and I proceeded to spill on of the drinks on the floor. He profusely apologized in Italian, to which I replied in English that it was ok. Then I think I was the topic of much speculation among the young boys as I am fairly certain they were all talking about me given their gesturing!

The bus trip back was one of the worst in my recent history. I started to get a migraine before boarding and then the bus was about 40 degrees and the road was very windy. I got extremely motion sick extremely fast! I was almost certain I was about to repeat my Mexico trip from so long ago. However, I did manage to make it all the way back to the ship without embarrassing myself, and into bed for a much needed rest. After resting we got ready and headed to our sommelier dinner. I have to say the people we ended up sitting with were some of the most interesting and enjoyable dinner companions I have ever encountered. They were a lovely gay couple with their daughter, who is also one of the dancers on the ship. Then we were sitting near our party planner Mary and her friend Jay. Mary is the one who introduces all the activities around the ship and makes sure people are participating and enjoying themselves. We met her during the first half, and have been visiting her since. Her friend joined us in Venice and we have been hanging out a bit with her, as she is a bit bored on occasion while Mary is working. Deb, Alexis, and their daughter Erica were great to talk to, and we had a very animated discussion all through dinner. Mary then convinced us all to take part in the Marriage game that she was hosting.

Geoff and I didn’t make the final cut, but the contestants were absolutely hilarious!! Afterwards we headed to the deck to watch the still active volcano Stromboli from the back of the ship. This was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! We could actually see the lava form the top of the volcano. I’ll never forget that scene. On our way to Pompeii to see the sights I have always wanted to see. Pompeii is on my bucket list and has been for a while.

Day 18/19 - Santorini & At Sea

2009-08-06T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well we hit Santorini again today, our only double port on this cruise. With the exception of course of Venice. This time though we did a tour. We got to climb up to the top of the volcanic island and look into the 4 craters that are accessible to tourists. The day was very hot, and the hike was about 30 minutes and all up hill with no shade. But I have to say it was worth it. When we got to the last crater, the guide dug a small hole in the ground and as we all put our hand in we learned how hot volcanoes can really get! The hole was maybe 2 feet deep, but when you touched the rocks at the bottom they were too hot to keep touching! Then she allowed us the opportunity to take a rock home, though I chose not to incase the old rumors are true! The Kidlet wasn’t so concerned.

After hiking back down the volcano, we got back onto our pirate ship style boat and headed around to the other side of that island for a swim to the natural hot springs. The change in temperature from the boat to the shore was quite significant. There is also an abundance of rust in the water due to the oxidization of the lava rock. So when we got out of the water, our bathing suits had a slight rusty tinge to them!

We had dinner in town and then on our way to the ship, we stopped for Ouzo at the same coffee shop we stopped on our first trip. This is the kitten I played with while we were there.

The following day was our final ship day; there was not so much activity so I will include it on this entry. Geoff had an early morning massage, I was battling the cold to end all colds, which I picked up late yesterday, so I quickly found our deck chairs by the pool and set myself up with my book in the sun. Kidlet headed off on his own to the kids program and I proceeded to spend the day by the pool, only pausing briefly to get my hair trimmed. The evening proved to be a bust as Josh wanted to eat and hang out with his friends and Geoff wanted to read, so I headed to the Broadway show. I missed it on the first twelve-day trip, and I have to say it was worth going to! Then I met up with the boys at the Broadway sing along in the piano bar. A nice way to end a day on board.

Day 17 - Argostoli, Greece

2009-08-03T04:57:00.000-07:00

Today’s tour of Argosoli was amazing! We started very early at 6:30am, but it was worth it. We started our long bus ride to the Melissani Lake down the winding roads of the island. We made one stop to take pictures of a lovely beach below. Then we arrived at Melissani Lake, where we descended to the edge of the lake through a small cavern. The boat ride itself was a bit short, though we got to go into a cavern on the far side of the lake. The picture opportunity was great! We hopped back on the bus then to head to the Drogarati Caves.

You descend to a depth of 95 meters down a series of steps. The stalagmites and stalactites are absolutely beautiful! We spent at least a half hour wandering and exploring these amazing cavernous spaces. When we arrived back to the bus the tour guide explained a few stories about the islands past. One of which was to explain why the typical Greek homes are painted white with blue roofs. The reason being that the Greeks were under Turkish and Italian rule for so long, no allowed to fly the Greek flag, so they painted their houses blue and white to make up for it.

The other story was about a boat full of Italians heading back to Italy after the end of the Second World War being torpedoed and the Germans killed all passengers. There is a monument on the hill for these citizens. They were lured on board by the Germans claiming the war was over and then later killed by those same Germans.

We also learned about the Saint Erasmus, the saint of good health. His body is still in a silver coffin in the monastery here. Every year on the day of his death, people flock to the small town to have his coffin carried over them to get good health. They also have a very intense christening involving 40 days inside the home after a child is born followed by a ceremony dipping the child in olive oil and washing the clothing after in the sea.

The tour had a lot of information and we were very impressed by all the sights. Then we ended up at a taverna for a quick bite before boarding the ship. I ordered what I thought was a glass of the local wine, only to discover I had actually ordered a bottle! Funny stories usually occur when there is a language difference! Now we set sail for our second day in Santorini!

Day 16 - Corfu, Greece

2009-08-03T04:56:00.000-07:00

I feel like I should mention that I entered the Oosterdam Superstar competition last night, so think of it as a bit of a Canadian Idol competition. I will be performing for some judges a bit later in the cruise where I will likely sing I will Survive. More on that to come.

Today we visited the island of Corfu. This is a small Greek island, and we very much enjoyed ourselves. There was a short bus ride to the Achillion Palace, built for an empress named Sissi. This palace was very cool! She was an Austria Empress Married when she was 16. After bearing 4 children she took one of her daughters on a trip with her, which resulted in the child being killed. After that time, her husband’s family would not allow her to care for her children. She became depressed and began to travel. When she reached the island of Corfu, she decided to have a palace built there so she could live there, as she enjoyed this island and it’s history. She had a statue of Achilles for the courtyard and a painting in the palace. There are many Greek gods in statue form all over the palace. When she was assassinated, the German Feher bought the palace and lived there for quite a while.

After the tour of the palace we went to a Greek villa owned by a lovely Greek family. The mother had made many many Greek dishes for our lunch. We all ate until we were stuffed and they still urged us to eat more. It reminded me of the Ukrainian Polish sides of our families! The villa was beautiful, and there was a pool for us to swim in after our lunch. There were some traditional musicians and dancers that taught us some Greek dance steps. These were different than the Zorba steps we previously learned. There were also 3 terrier style dogs that wanted to play with Josh badly!

After our tour we headed back to the ship, it has to be one of our hottest days so far. We attempted to tan, though Geoff got a bit too much sun and we ended up retiring early as we have to be up for our tour tomorrow by 6:30am!

Day 15 - Dubrovnik, Croatia

2009-08-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

So I promised to tell you about the masked ball from last night, only I haven’t got much to say about it as I was feeling quite ill and went to bed early missing the entire thing. Hubby and Kidlet went and had a great time, but the details are non-existent. They said it was fun and they had a drink.

Today we were in Dubrovnik, Croatia. This is a beautiful place! We were all expecting something different here I think. We took the bus into the old town gate to join our kayak tour early this morning. We kayaked from the old gate to an island that has a monastery on it and then stopped by a beach at the entrance to a cave. The beach was rocky, but we got to snorkel a bit, though the water was pretty chilly. Josh and I jumped off the rocks into the water which was quite fun. Kayaking is quite a workout as it turns out. Though I think the hubby had a harder time of it. I was in the front of a kayak with a gentleman from Irving California. Josh was in the front of Geoff’s boat. So that meant Geoff had to over compensate for the Kidlet. He feels his workout was way harder than mine, though we were constantly paddling fast to catch up with the Californians children!

After kayaking, we decided to stay in town and go into the old village. This area is amazing! The buildings are quite well preserved and you feel like you are stepping back in time when you enter the gate. We wandered for a few hours taking in all the scenery and then sat on an outdoor patio for some lunch. The food was really good, I tried the traditional meat and cheese platter and the fish fillet and Geoff tried the traditional Croatian salad.

We did a bit of shopping and then hopped onto a bus to go back to the ship. We will be heading onto Corfu, Greece in about a half hour and we are off to see a Greek palace and have lunch in a private villa with dancing and music!

Day 13/14 Venice

2009-07-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

So we spent another day here in Venice the city of Romance. We took a bus boat to San Marcos Square and begun to wander from there. Geoff took us winding through all the side streets of Venice until we were lost and the compass on the phone came out. We managed to figure out where we were and decided to stop for pizza at a local joint. It happened to be right in front of a church, so I went in and lit a candle and said a prayer for Wes. We heard an update that nothing has changed which in itself is good as it hasn’t gotten worse. We decided to stay for the rest of our cruise with updates from home to determine if we require an early departure back to Canada.

We finally managed to find our way back to S. Marco after a few hours so we stopped to have drinks and gelato at a very fancy looking place right off the square. The gelato was nice after all our hard work. We did a bit of shopping where Kidlet managed to find a cool Murano glass item I’ll let him tell you all about when we return. Then we wandered back down to get a bus back to the pier. Along the way there was a band playing typical Italian music in the square. That’s why I would love to live here!

After a bit of a rest and phone calls home, we donned our fancy apparel and headed back into town for dinner on the grand canal. We took a taxi boat with 2 other couples from California and a little baby. The taxi boats here are a complete waste of money! They charge you insane fees when the bus is only 6.50 Euros! We dinned at a hotel restaurant on the waterfront and the meal was very nice. The view was amazing! Then wandering back we decided not to pay the crazy fees and take a local bus boat back. It was fun and definitely an adventure.

This morning we didn't get off the boat as we felt we had done all we wanted to in Venice. Hubby did a workout at the gym and the kidlet and I sat by the pool. I read my new book while he found some new friend and played giant chess and ping pong. We got an opportunity to go to the bow of the boat to watch the disembarkation and have some champagne which was nice and then just relaxed by the pool all afternoon. We will have another Masked ball this evening as it's the Venice departure tradition, so we will update you on that tomorrow when we arrive in Croatia.

Day 12 - At Sea

2009-07-30T00:04:00.000-07:00

So today is our final at sea day before getting back to Venice. We slept in and I missed the last Pilate's class, but I'll make it up somewhere. Geoff and I did the last cooking class where we made bruscetta with 12 others. It was a lot of fun! Who knew there were so many different types of bruscetta toppings! Then Josh and I went and learned a couple magic tricks with the magician from the other nights show. Be prepared to be had when we return!

We spent some time tanning and playing in the pool in the afternoon, before getting ready for a nice dinner at the Pinnacle Grill. Josh headed off to his pajama party and pillow fight, while Geoff and I headed to a romantic dinner and watched the show afterwards. The stage manager, one of the ones who was injured was back on board and the show was great! The other gentleman who was injured has been upgraded to stable condition and is breathing on his own. So surgery is not needed now. They expect a full recovery and are working on getting his family out to Turkey to be with him.

On our side, we are getting updates daily on Wes and I am planning on lighting a candle in a church in Venice for him today. We are hoping he makes a fast recovery and is on his way to being well again.

Day 11 - Katakolon, Greece

2009-07-29T05:59:00.000-07:00

Now we spent the day at Katakolon Greece, many of you are thinking where is that and why is it important? Well this is town where ancient Olympia is. We took a tour to ancient Olympia and saw the stadium. The weather was hot, but not too much new there. The ruins are not as well kept as those in Turkey and Athens, though still amazing to see. There were pillars that were laying toppled on their sides due to ancient earth quakes. One pillar cap was hundreds of yards away from it's pillar and this thing weighs a couple tons. The stadium was the best part as they have a start and finish line in the ground made of marble. These are the original lines. We had a little fun with a quick Olympic race. Our guide showed us where the actual Olympic torch is lit, not the place that I originally blogged. The torch is lit in Olympia by 9 women using a mirrored bowl and then the torch is used to signal the first race in the stadium. The torch is then carried to Athens where the ceremony takes place at the stadium I spoke of before and handed to our delegates. The torch is carried on a special airplane so the flame doesn't go out on it's journey. Very cool tour.

On to a Greek lunch and Zorba dancing before the end of the tour. We all got up and danced, drank Ouzo, Wine and had Greek snacks. We had a great time and enjoyed ll the foods.

We did a bit of wandering before we got back on board, where we found a olive wood store. They had the coolest stuff carved from olive wood. Geoff bought a mug for the collection and Josh a mortal and pestle.

The rest of our day was spent by the pool until we were able to get ahold of Geoffs parents to find out about Wes. We are talking to them daily to learn about his condition. Boat day tomorrow on our way to Venice.

Day 10 - Santorini, Greece

2009-07-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

So after finally arriving in Santorini, the boat didn't port, we mearly got off onto tenders and were brought ashore. The crew members who were injured, one was released and will join us again tomorrow. The other one has been moved to a different hospital better equip to deal with that type of injury. They haven't said what happened, but they are keeping us updated.

We almost got separated from each other as the kidlet and hubby got onto a tender and I got pushed to the back of a group of people, so when I got onto the tender they were not there. Once I got across to the other side though I managed to find them! We got into the line for a donkey transport to the top of the mountain. Santorini is very cool, it's situated at the top of a mountain and there were no vehicle roads up to the top from where we were dropped off. The ride took about 10-15 minutes and Josh rode with me, while Geoff tagged along behind. Though not for long! These donkey's were a little crazy and they all wanted to be first in line! So they rushed past all the others with little regard to their passengers! My foot and leg was jammed into many a donkey butt on our donkey's rush to the front of the line!

Santorini is an amazing little town and wandering around was very neat. We had lunch in a taverna overlooking the other side of the island on a rooftop patio. We enjoyed Ouzo and Greek coffee, and visited with some other people on the cruise. Again with the random cats, there was a kitten under a bench inside a basket at the coffee place. Very cute one too. Geoff wanted to finish off a video to submit to 23 and me so we went to a quaint taverna where the owner turned off the music to allow for the recording.

We did manage to buy some more clothing as well, we stopped in a women's clothing store and there was a beautiful silk gown. I tried it on and we decided to purchase it. The owner of the shop was so accommodating, and he was exactly the kind of person the books talk about when describing Greek hospitality. He gave us some free gifts, and showed us pictures of his family and his travels. He also took a few pictures of us together. A very nice man and we felt very well treated.

We took the Tram cars down to the bottom at the end of the day and ended up visiting with a family whose son is friends with Josh. This family lives in Hong Kong, we all enjoyed their company. We had a nice dinner on board the ship tonight with two older ladies from Jamaica and a gentleman from California. The boat is a little rocky tonight so we called it an early night in preparation for Katakolon Greece in the morning.

Day 9 - Kusadasi & Ephesus, Turkey

2009-07-27T00:05:00.000-07:00

So we went to The Turkish city called Kusadasi and got on a bus tour to the ancient ruins in Ehpesus. The ruins were some of the most impressive yet. They dated back 2000 years! There was a very intact and impressive library to go into complete with a secret tunnel to take the men to the brothel undetected! There was also a toilet house that still had 2 dozen stone toilet holes lined up in a row. These were for aristocrats and men only. The day was also quite warm, around 40 degrees Celsius.

After our stop in Ehpesus, we went back towards Kusadasi and stopped at a sea park, where we got to swim in a lazy river, snorkel with some fish, stand in a pool with 5 or 6 sting rays and go into a cage to swim with sharks! We especially loved that part! They had a pretty amazing dolphin show to finish off our day with.

On the way back to the cruise ship we took the option of learning how to make Turkish rugs, and I even got to add 2 knots to a beautiful silk rug! We didn’t buy one though, as we don’t really have anywhere to put it. The owner of the rug shop took us next door to have a traditional Turkish kebab experience. The food was quite nice, and the Turkish people are very hospitable, we were given tea and Raki at the rug shop and the restaurant gave us Turkish coffee and tea as well.

We got back on board and relaxed as we set sail towards Santorini. Though we ran into a slight delay, I guess a few crew members were badly injured late last night and we had to return to Kusadasi to get them medical care in the hospital. So early this morning the captain announced that we were several hours behind as we had to assist our crew members off the boat and into the hospital before continuing on our way. We are now just arriving in Santorini at 10:00am about three hours late. We are all hoping the crew members who were injured are ok.

Day 8 - Mykonos

2009-07-25T13:42:00.001-07:00

So here we are sailing away from Mykonos. What a fantastic day! This morning hubby got a massage and the Kidlet and I putzed around until 11. Off he went to kids club again and the hubby and I took a cooking class where we learned how to make Chicken Provencale, Alsatian Ham & Gruyere salad and prune & Armagnac soufflé. Everything turned out great and we had a nice meal with the chef and our classmate. Geoff made the salad by himself!

We docked around lunchtime and had a bit of a relax before heading into Mykonos. All the shops are generally closed from 1-5 for siesta so we thought we’d leave it a bit later. This is the traditional Greek town I had in mind when arriving in Greece! All the white and blue houses everywhere! Mykonos was built like a maze originally to keep out intruders and I have to say it is definitely a maze as we ended up a bit lost at one point!

We got an opportunity to try Greek coffee, it’s similar to Turkish coffee, but I think a bit more bitter. The Greek woman in the coffee shop offered to put some anti itch cream on my back, she was so nice! We wanted to go swimming in the ocean, but we left our swim suits on the ship. So we found a cute little swim shop where the owner was a young woman about my age or a bit older who was a past Olympic athlete in the snowboard category! A bit unusual for Greece hey? We bought a couple bathing suits and set of for the beach. The water was nice and refreshing.

Then it was off to buy a few more Greek souvenirs before a dinner on the water front. We tried a couple Greek dishes that we enjoy back home, and the food was very nice. There are a ton of cats and dogs wandering around who are fed by the locals, and we befriended a dark colored cat by feeding him scraps of my leftover fish. We thought he might follow us back to the boat! We got back on board and waved goodbye to Mykonos, a favorite so far…

Day 6 & 7 - Istanbul Turkey

2009-07-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

So we spent most of the 6th day on board the ship as we didn't arrive in Istanbul until 4pm. The Kidlet has been off on his own playing with friends most days at the kids club. He even had lunch with a buddy completely ditching the hubby and I! I went to the spa and had a seaweed wrap and massage in the bed that is like a water bed. It was very cool. Hubby got a tan by the pool.

When we arrived we got off the boat for dinner at a restaurant called the Babek fish house. The Kidlet was a great sport and tried a bit of everything and ate half a fish! I suspect it was because that was all they had! We also tried Turkish coffee! The restaurant was right on the Bosporus which is the body of water separating the Asian side of Turkey from the European side.

Day 7 was spent touring Istanbul with a private guide because our other tour got cancelled. She was a great guide and took us to the spice market where we bought some tea. We also got a lesson in spices and enjoyed some Turkish tea. They have small glass cups for the tea which are quite hot to the touch. They also have childrens tea, Josh picked kiwi flavoured.

Then we went to an underground cistern, which was very cool! It was used 1500 years ago to provide water for the city. They used columns from old Roman buildings when they built it, so all the columns are different. Even then they recycled! We also walked around an older shopping district and tried Turkish Delight as well as bought some to bring home. I also got to try baklava which was very yummy. Turkey is a Muslim country so every day at sunrise, lunch, mid afternoon, supper and bedtime there is prayers over a loud speaker for everyone to pray while in Mosque. We popped into a Mosque, basically it's a carpeted room with a small riser for the Aman and they all face towards Mecca and pray. Our guide dropped us at a mall where we had lunch and tried out Starbucks.

Then in the evening I sat with the kidlet while he had an early dinner and headed to kids club so hubby and I could go to a Wine paring dinner on board the ship. The food and wine were great! The chef is from Vancouver and he worked with Andrew at some point! Our table companions were a father and daughter from Toronto. The dinner was really nice, but the three of us were exhausted when we got back to the room so we all fell asleep fast.

I woke up due to the fact that I was eaten alive by mosquitoes the other day and I have about 20 bites all of which itch like crazy! So that's the third sort of illness in the family since we got on board, so we should be good now as bad luck comes in threes! We dock in Mykonos early afternoon where we will wander around and hopefully see the Greece I pictured in my mind!

Day 4 - Piraeus & Athens

2009-07-22T08:19:00.001-07:00

So off the boat we went in search of a taxi to take us into Athens. We actually got out of bed, dressed and breakfast done by 8:30am!! That is unheard of so far on this particular trip so I was fairly impressed. We got a very overly helpful taxi driver who quoted us half of what the first one had to take us the 13 miles into Athens from Piraeus. He wanted to take us on a driving tour of the city when all we wanted to do was get dropped off downtown so we could enjoy the city center! He spoke English, but not fluently enough so that we didn’t end up with a partial Athens tour before we got the message across that we only wanted to be dropped off. We did some shopping at the Plaka, which is a farmer’s market. We bought some traditional Greek clothing, which we will try out at dinner tonight. We also found a Starbucks! The first of our trip. So in we went to see if they had anything different and a Greek Starbucks card, no to both. Though the barista was very impressed with my mini Starbucks card, so I gave it to her to keep as it was out of money anyway. I think I made her day! We tried to have a snack at the McDonald’s, but they had no power so couldn’t cook anything. We ended up with some fries and a salad. We’ll try again at the next city.

After we met our cabbie again to take us back to Piraeus we were just in time to meet our afternoon tour. They were a half hour late getting started, but they said the Captain of the ship was aware of the delay and held the ship for us. The tour took us to The Acropolis and the Olympic arena. The Acropolis and the Parthenon were amazing! It was 38 degrees and no shade, but the views were amazing and the buildings were over 2500 years old! I have never seen anything like it. We took a ton of photos, so I’ll try to add them to the slideshow, though the internet here is excruciatingly slow!! On the way back from the Acropolis we got to take pictures at the Olympic arena where the first Olympics were held in 1896. This is also where they will light the Olympic torch for the 2010 games in Vancouver before passing it to our officials to take to Canada for the Olympic ceremonies in February! All in all a successful day, though it was hot I met a lot of nice people, saw some amazing sights and bought a few souvenirs.

Tonight we’ll lay low, I’ll get a pedicure and maybe catch the performance.

Day 2 & 3 - Onboard to Athens

2009-07-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

So here we are about to get off the boat in Athens, and I thought I would update you on what has been happening over the last few days. We left Venice early Monday morning and have been sailing since. Today is Wednesday. We ported around 6:00am.

So on the first day, we had our lifeboat drill. As we were walking down to deck three, the Kidlet informed us he was not feeling well. So down we went, he did make it through the drill only to inform us that he thought e might throw up on the deck before we could get back to the room. Off come the life vest on the Kidlet and the hubby and he carried the Kidlet through the ship towards the infirmary. The elevators were taking forever, so we opted for the stairs instead. Picture this: The hubby toting a 60 pound nine year old who’s all legs down 4 flights of stairs followed by me carrying the two life vests and a hat, not having enough time to take my vest off yet I looked like a walking traffic cone! We got to the bottom and went through a door to the infirmary level, only to discover that it was the crew only area! Some crew member took pity on us and helped us rush towards the infirmary, however, down in the crew area they were cooking bacon….. And that’s as far as we got. After the fact, the Kidlet is feeling much better and it was a one time incident which happened outside the guest area, so no one even saw him.

Kidlet and I headed out for dinner together, it was a formal night, so we were loo king good…. The hubby was getting his cough checked out and ended up missing dinner. We got ready for the masquerade ball, and might I say all three of us looked spectacular! The ball was great, however, this is the only picture of the Kidlet with his mask on for as we left the room off it came and he refused to put it on again. We danced, drank and even went to the dance club afterwards.

Yesterday we spent the day hanging out on the boat, I took Pilates, the Kidlet went and hung out at the kids club and then the hubby and I went to a wine tasting where we proceeded to drink too much and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and the hubby slept! The Kidlet headed out to his movie night at the kids club and he was the last one to roll into the suite at 10:00pm! The hubby had been sleeping for some time by then… No more excessive drinking on the ship.

Now we are off to the Acropolis and to explore Athens for the day…

Day 1 - Venice, Italy

2009-07-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

So today after getting a fantastic amount of sleep we set out to complete our final travel task, the unpacking! I quickly discovered that this boat has less closet space than the last boat we were on, so with the three of us it was challenging. We persevered and were successful!

Off to a quick breakfast, which really occurred around lunch time and we were off the boat to explore Venice by foot! We got espresso at a cute little cafe and I was able to practice a bit of my Italian, it's coming along. Then we wandered aimlessly through the streets of Venice. This is a really cool city. I am going to do some research before we hit Venice again in 2 weeks so I understand a bit more about how and why the city is full of canals. After a long afternoon, the hubby, kidlet and I were tired. Though tomorrow we have a mask ball on the ship in true Venetian fashion, so off we went in search of the perfect masks for the party. We found some amazing masks! We will be a great looking family tomorrow night.

Then we had a traditional dinner at a pizzeria, and headed back to the boat to get our tickets for the gondola ride. Our gondola ride was great! The gondolier was called Sebastiano and we had a little convoy of 4 gondolas, one containing a singer and an accordion player. The trip was great, we rode with a couple from Ontario Janet and Rob, he used to be a home inspector so he was telling all kinds of things about the buildings we were passing.

The unfortunate part of our day occurred when we decided to skip the planned transport back to the ship and wander. We did find some great gelato and some amazing music being played, what sounded like opera Kelly, but couldn't find the source. However, when we went to get back to the boat, the water bus is much like a Japanese subway and we didn't get on after waiting about 25 minutes already, so we took a water taxi. Very expensive, don't try this!! Now we are t the suite and I think we'll call it an early night as there is a lifeboat demo at 9:15am and the kidlet is already bemoaning the early wake up and we haven't even gone to sleep yet!! Looking forward to our first full day at sea as we haven't even explored our ship yet!

The Journey That seemed to Never end!

2009-07-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

So we are finally here in Venice, though if not for a huge delay and a definite possibility of losing one or both of my other traveling companions for reasons I can't go into here.... Anyway, what happened was after a very colorful cab ride to the airport and learning all about our cabbies family history, our flight was delayed getting into Vancouver by 15 minutes. Now you may not think that is a big deal, however, if you have to get to another gate at the Frankfurt airport in under 45 minutes, you can not do it! So we did enjoy our flight to Frankfurt though, the hubby upgraded us to business class as he was still slightly under the weather.... Anything to get better seats!! The flight was uneventful, though I have a heck of a time trying to sleep on airplanes, so after 10 hours, and way past my bedtime I was looking forward to boarding our short flight to Venice and getting a nap. The boys however had a bit of sleep on the first flight so they were slightly more functional than me. When we arrived at our new gate at 12:25, the flight was slated to leave at 12:30 they informed us that we were already bumped to another flight and would need to get new boarding passes. Our new boarding passes were standby only so the first flight came and went and when we didn't get on, we booked ourselves on the first available flight that would allow full booking.... At 9:55pm! So here we are stuck in Frankfurt, exhausted and frankly, I was not a happy Mokah at that point. We had talked to Dale our Saviour and were informed of our insurance paybacks so we proceeded to get a day room at the Sheraton for a quick nap. Boy did I need that!

Finally boarding our plane and getting to Venice we discovered that due to our late arrival, the shuttle to take us to the boat was closed for the day so we had to find a cab. However, the drive to the boat was great, it's the festival of the Redeemer here right now in celebration of the end of the black plague, so they had amazing fireworks which we watched all the way to our Cruise ship. Check in was no problem and when we arrived in our room, we discovered that due to the festival, our gondola trip had already been re-booked for tonight!! That was the best news I had heard all day. After a nice cup of tea, we all crashed for the next 10 hours!

Packing, Packing & More Packing

2009-07-16T22:47:00.000-07:00

Really you can never pre-plan enough when going on vacation with your family.... Okay maybe you can! We have been packing for what seems like days, though I know it's only been a few hours. We are getting ready for 24 days overseas. That can cause even the most relaxed person to go into cardiac arrest. I have been organising my business to be taken over by my mom (Thanks again mom) and getting my two children, oops I mean my kidlet and the hubby organised for 24 days without cell phones! I know, it sounds scary at first, but the more I toy with the idea the more I am growing accustomed to it. The bags are in fact packed, the firs aid kit containing every possible English over the counter med for kidlets is in there, and I have various hats, bathing suits and sun screen for the hot temperatures we are about to experience. The one hiccup in the journey, the hubby is sick. Now that may not seem like much, but we're talking I hope it's not flu like symptoms by the time we get to the boat kind of sick. Today he looks slightly better than the horrid he looked yesterday, but really, we are leaving tomorrow I am hoping we can upgrade that slightly horrid look to a healthy hubby in time to answer any possible questions when boarding!

The kidlet and I made use of our time yesterday while the hubby was recovering though and enjoyed the Science center here in Vancouver. They have a special exhibit on the science of fear and I did enjoy trying to convince myself that there really wasn't a live spider in the small black hole they wanted me to stick my hand into! Here is a pic of me learning how to use the diablo. I was moving really fast, that's why it's blurry.... really.

Now it's off to bed to mentally prepare for the 11 hour trip of a lifetime strapped into a seat big enough for only the smallest of humans filled with recycled air and many many germs!

Picture Perfect Wedding

2009-07-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing time at the hubby's brother's wedding on the weekend. Me and the kidlet hung out with sister-in-law to be at a splash park in the heat of the day Friday. There were a handful of kidlet's running around enjoying the freezing water spraying from all kinds of water toys. Then it was off to the rehearsal and dinner. The hubby and the brothers hit the golf course to golf 18 holes while we were getting tanned. The dinner was a nice meet and greet of all the relatives we haven't seen in a while and an opportunity to meet all the new ones.

Wedding day....

The weather was beautiful and warm, the scenery was amazing and the bride was stunning. As she walked down the aisle to violin and guitar music, we were all rendered speechless by the beauty we saw before us. The sun shone down as if to agree to the union. A beautiful simple ceremony including the sister-in-laws kidlet caused more than a few eyes to mist. After the vows were said, off we went to hit a few balls on the driving range. The reception was nice, and the music was great. All the speeches were eloquently delivered and the dancing began. A beautiful day made way for a beautiful night. Visiting and dancing throughout the night, and as we headed back to our suite we reflected back to the events of the day.

Gift Opening....

A lovely close to the weekends events gave us all a chance to visit with the newly weds, and enjoy the faces of the couple as they opened all the gifts. We said our goodbyes and headed out to take the kidlet back to the driving range too hit a few more balls.

Driving off to Nanaimo once again to get on the ferry back to the mainland, we assumed that the process would be easier this time out. Boy were we wrong! A 4 hour wait to get on the ferry, had us questioning how often we would be making the journey out to the island in the future. Finally arriving back at the condo around 12:30 am we fell into bed for some much needed R'n'R.

Trouble Usually comes in Threes!

2009-07-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

Well here I am finally at the Crown Isle Resort in Courtenay BC. It took an entire day to get here from Vancouver! Now when I said trouble usually comes in threes I meant not today, today it came in sixes! We started off early as the water in our condo was being turned off for the day, so off we headed one by one into the shower to be ready to be water free by 9:00 am. Yes I know that sounds late to some of you, though for us our kidlet sleeps until 10:30 if we let him! After some prodding he was up and getting ready too. The plan was to hop into the car, head over to our favourite sandwich shop, Tartine on our way to the Horseshoe bay ferry for our departure at 12:55. Downstairs we trudged packed up our little mini cooper and turned the key.... nothing. So we tried again.... nothing. Then we also noticed that our license plate was expired, add one more stop to our day! After plugging in the car, we went our separate ways, The hubby off to get the registration, and the kidlet and I to procure the sandwiches. After meeting in the park for a quick lunch of aforementioned sandwiches we headed back to get the car. It started!! However, the battery needed to be replaced, so we rebooked our ferry crossing and headed to get a new battery installed. While we were waiting for our battery, the hubby and the kidlet partook in a bit of car racing with the mini, Mini car race track. The battery installed off we went in search of the final key to our day before heading to the ferry terminal, gas. On our way to the terminal, the hubby all of a sudden realizes that his cell phone is no longer with us. So back to the condo to send an email message to the phone to locate it (isn't the IPhone impressive?) it told us that the hubby had left it at the Mini dealership when they were racing the Mini cars! Now it's 2:30, almost a full 2 hours after our supposed departure, but we head on back to retrieve the lonely phone. Finally we arrive at the ferry, only to be denied access to the first ferry due to it being full. 5:15pm we drive onto the ferry!!! An interminably long line to get food has us all at each others throats due to hunger pangs, but we make it and get to Nanaimo to make the final leg of the trip to Courtenay. Arrival at 8:30pm. At least our room is gorgeous and there is even a separate room for the kidlet to sleep!! Perhaps our luck is looking up!

Vancouver Before the Storm

2009-07-08T20:58:00.001-07:00

So here we are the kidlet and I awaiting the arrival of the hubby before we're off on our first adventure of the summer: wedding number one! The hubby's brother is getting hitched on Saturday, so we've flown to Vancouver in preparation for the ferry and drive to island in the morning. So far so good, we managed to pack up all the required items for two weddings and a 4 week cruise to Italy and Greece. That was a battle! Thank goodness for on board laundry services! After getting all the bags packed, we loaded my parents van and off we went. Getting through the airport with the kidlet and 4 bags in tow alone was quite a feat, though we managed to get loaded into a cab and on our way. There has been copious amounts of rain here, no surprise there, but we have enjoyed it so far. The ferry has been booked, so tomorrow, we are off on the next leg of the summer, the wedding. I have to say I am looking forward to seeing the kidlet dressed in his finery and ready to usher all the guests to their seats!