Nothing Happens Here That Doesn't Happen There

I think I had the best vacation ever! For 12 days, I laughed with wonderful friends and saw and experienced things and places I never thought I would. We celebrated two birthdays and one U.S. holiday. There was one broken bone and no fights. We ate like kings and may have had a few drinks.

Our Boat: Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas

Very early on Wednesday, November 18th, four of us caught a train to the Frankfurt airport to fly to Barcelona, Spain to board the ship. Once we arrived at the port, we one of the first ones to check in for the cruise. At 11:30 we were able to board the ship, which didn't leave until 6pm. We had lunch and had our first requisite "drink of the day." We explored the ship and once we could get to our rooms, we all split up--some took naps and some continued to explore.

Amy, Will, and Dave with their drinks of the day

The next day was at sea, so we could do whatever we want. I think we all made it to the gym and then relaxed the rest of the day. That night was our first formal night for dinner, which meant we had to be pretty and Bond-like.

Dave, me, Amy, Will, Alicesara, Brandon

Our first port was Valletta, Malta. Brandon, Alicesara, Dave, and I got off and explored together since Amy and Will had been there before. I liked it and found the buildings interesting. It was the first time I had been that far south in Europe or that close to Africa, so the buildings were a little different and I liked them. Valletta was a very hilly city which made it interesting with the steep roads and steps. We walked a lot of the city and luckily we got off the boat pretty early, so we got to see the city before it was filled with people.

Our next stop was Alexandria, Egypt and we were there for two days. This is the port I was most looking forward to. Never in my entire life did I think I would be seeing the Pyramids. Never in my life did I think I'd be setting foot in Africa. We had booked an excursion from the ship to go to Cairo on the first day to see the Pyramids and the tombs, among other things. So we took a long bus ride, over 2 hours, south of Alexandria to Cairo.

They pyramids were amazing and HUGE! I thought they were out in the middle of nowhere; however, they were right on the edge of the city of Cairo. In the pictures below, the Great Pyramid, the largest one, is on the far left. The middle one at the top still has a cover of limestone on it. Apparently they were, at one time, covered in limestone, but the Egyptians chipped it away so they could use it.

After that, we went down close to the Pyramids and got some time to wander. We bought tickets to enter the middle one and saw the tomb inside (cameras weren't allowed). The pathway was low, but we didn't have to crawl, which is apparently what you have to do in the Great Pyramid. They advised against going inside if you were claustrophobic, which I am, but I knew I'd kick myself if I didn't go. And since it wasn't the height of tourist season, there weren't many people inside.

After being at the Pyramids, we drove a few hundred meters down to see the Sphinx, which I also didn't know was that close to the Pyramids. It sits right below.

From there we stopped at a hotel and had lunch. After that, we drove to what used to be the ancient capital of lower Egypt called Memphis and saw the ruins there. The ruins included a huge statue of Ramses II and the Alabaster Sphinx.

Our final stop before the papyrus institute was the oldest pyramid in Egypt. The Sakkara pyramids.

Cow transport

Thrilled to still be on the bus.

The second day in Egypt we had a tour of Alexandria booked. (Luckily, this one wasn't over 10 hours on a bus.) I saw a lot of stuff, but I don't really remember what some of it was. The problem with these bus tours was that you were on the bus more than you were off. The tour guide would say what we were stopped at and then usually, "you have 10 minutes--enough to make a picture."

After we left Egypt our next port the very next day was Limassol, Cyprus. It's a really small city, but we walked around and saw a few things since we were only in port for a few hours. Aaaaaand, then we stopped for a beer and lunch.

Olive oil press

The next port was Rhodes, Greece and quite possibly our absolute favorite. The city was cute and unique, plus we had one of the most amazing meals I've ever had in my entire life. We walked around and saw some things on the map, but really meandering was the best thing to do. We were all starting to get hungry, but before we grabbed lunch, we all really wanted to see the temple of Aphrodite. It wasn't as exciting as we had hoped.

Temple of Aphrodite

We sought out this restaurant Brandon found in a travel book, but when we got there and knocked on the door, this old man in broken English told us he was closed. However, he told us how to find another local's restaurant. All 6 of us heard something different and since we didn't understand Greek, we took the direction he gave us and found the place he was talking about. The owner, Theodore, insisted that if there were any of us who didn't want to eat there (initially 3 said they didn't want seafood and would find something else), that they not eat at any of the tourist restaurants where they try to get you to eat. He said those places were embarrassing to the city and the food was horrible. We all stayed and we sure were glad we did.

The food at Theodore's was amazing! The tzatziki was delicious, the calamari was probably the best I've ever had, the salad was so fresh, and the mussel dish was incredible. We also had the house wine, which was some of the best table wine I've had and at the end of the meal he gave us some homemade limoncello.

The restaurant owner, Theodore, and his dog Zeus.

The happy group with happy bellies.

Limoncello!!!!

Theodore managed to get some of his house wine into a 1.5L water bottle, which we smuggled on to the ship and promptly drank. He also gave us a second round of limoncello, since he saw we liked it so much

The next port I was really looking forward to was Athens, Greece. Never thought I'd see that stuff either. We (6) all crammed into a taxi and went to the center of all of the ruins--the Parthenon. We wandered around there, then had an obligatory gyro for lunch, saw the Temple of Zeus, and the original Olympic stadium. Amazing.

Temple of Zeus

Second round of gyros

Our last port before we had to come home was Palermo, Sicily (Italy). Palermo was not enjoyable. In fact, Amy, Will, Dave, and I decided that we disliked it so much that after 2 hours, we came back on the boat for lunch and didn't get off again. The boat was sailing at 6 that night. The best pictures I have of Palermo are from the ship.

We did have a lot of fun together and rarely acted like adults (as documented below). We made friends with a bartender, which was beneficial to all of us and to him (tips). When we weren't in a port somewhere exploring, we were probably laughing. I have great friends and wonderful memories; I'm very lucky.