Cruisin

The next part of our incredible adventure was a cruise through the Eastern Mediterranean. It was Eric's first time to Europe and his first cruise, so it was double the fun. We had so much fun going to the shows, relaxing in the sun, enjoying endless ice cream cones, and seeing everything that each city we stopped at had to offer.


Stop #1: Sicily. We went to a small beach about 20 minutes away from the port. It was an adventure all in itself between the crazy Italian drivers (I for sure thought we were going to die!) and our inability to speak Italian, but it turned out to be a fun day!

Stop # 2: Kusadasi, Turkey. Here, we had a tour of the ruins of the ancient city Ephesus that are over 2,000 years old. It was an incredible place with amazing ties to Christian history. The apostles Paul and John both lived here after Christ's death, and both of them, along with Mary, the mother of Jesus, probably walked the very marble street behind us. It was a HOT day, but totally worth the long tour with our amazing tour guide.

Stop 3: Athens, Greece. I couldn't wait to see this incredible place! It was another hot day, but the Acropolis and Parthenon were amazing to see in person. We also saw saw the Old Olympic Stadium where the first modern day Olympics were held in the late 1800's.

Holding the Acropolis in our hands, and Eric eating it :)

Stop #4: Crete. We went to the most beautiful beach we had ever been to. The water was crystal clear. Eric and I swam out to the island in the background below, which was quite the workout but really fun!

This marked the end of our amazing cruise and the first week of our European adventure, but there was still lots of fun to be had!