Europe Finally!

Ok so I guess it's time to update this about our trip to Europe.  I'll give you a brief picture show with the main areas we went to, as 15 days abroad takes a while to do completely!  

We started off in Rome for a night.  Here we are at the Trevi fountain, which was much larger than I ever thought.  Watch your wallets here...

Rome was all cobbled

Our ship, the Carnival Freedom, had an outdoor movie theater.  Nightly selections were tailored to the places we'd been or were going to (Gladiator, Elizabeth, etc.)

Naples was our first stop.  We went to Pompeii, which was really cool.  I remember learning about that in school and it was one of those things that I always thought would be neat to see.  If you get the chance, it is worth it!

Our next stop was to Dubrovnik, Croatia.  Originally this wasn't on my top sweet places to go, but it was on the cruise itinerary so I didn't really have a choice...man was I surprised.  This was probably one of the most amazing places I have ever been to.  There is a walled city that was absolutely blown to pieces during their civil war, which wasn't too long ago.  When they rebuilt the city required everyone to use bright orange roofing tiles, to remember the city's history.  I'd go back in a heartbeat.

After Croatia we spent two days in Venice!  Here is Kristie sitting by the Grand Canal.

Rialto Bridge...

Of course we took a ride in a gondola.  It was a great way to spend our 3rd anniversary!

After a day at sea we stopped on the island of Sicily.  We took a trip to Taromina, which is a very small town just past the place where they filmed the Godfather scenes in Italy.  It was HOT that day.

On our way over to Barcelona we sailed by the volcanic island of Stromboli (yes, I got hungry just thinking about the name).  Apparently they didn't learn much from Pompeii (see above pictures) because there is a very small town located just at the base of the ACTIVE volcano.  Hmm...

In Barcelona we walked all over the town, mainly to see this chapel by Gaudi.  Yes, apparently the term "gaudi" actually came from the guy that designed this chapel and other structures around Barcelona and Spain.  It looked like a sand castle that was dripping with water...

Apparently we don't have the pictures uploaded from Cannes or Florence, but they were both pretty cool places.  I can see why people like that whole area of Europe because it is pretty amazing.  

It was a great, long trip, but it is always nice to come home.  Kona played the entire time with Champ, one of her best friends.  When we got home she slept for 13 straight hours and definitely was exhausted beyond anything I had seen before.

I couldn't think of a better way to spend our 3rd anniversary!