Our Honeymoon
We decided to plan our honeymoon after the wedding when we had time to make all the decisions on where and what we wanted to do. Additionally, thanks to all of the generous contributions to our honeymoon fund by our wedding guests, we knew how much we wanted to spend on our trip. Two weeks after our wedding, after we had a bit of time to relax and unwind, I decided enough time had passed and started talking to MC about our trip.
MC was a little concerned about the trip plans as she had already visited some of the locations that we were considering. She thought that a cruise might be good idea, and I agreed. She let me choose port of calls. The cruising experience was so much better than I expected.
Our trip of a lifetime started on Thursday, June 7 and ended Tuesday, June 26, 2012. We traveled to Italy where we took a Mediterranean cruise to visit Greece, Turkey and more of Italy. On our way home, we stopped over in Paris.
Flying Out!
MC’s parents Carole & Robert were kind enough to drive us to the airport in Montreal on the Thursday. We had time to kill before our flight so we enjoyed treats from the bar as well as finishing organizing a few additional details of our trip.
We left around 5:30 PM on an Air France flight. What a terrible experience. There had to have been 20 crying babies, the seating was extremely cramped, and the air conditioning was not working and there was some smelly guy near us. On top of that, our in-flight A/V was not working correctly.
We arrived in Paris in the morning (+ 1 day) with enough time for a quick bite and to figure out the location of the trains and luggage storage for when we would be passing back through Charles de Gaulle. We took an Alitalia flight on our way to Rome. That was a nice change from Air France. There was more room in the seats, and we were lucky enough to have three seats for the two of us. It really felt like first class after the flight with Air France. Once we landed in Rome, we took the train into the city and found our hotel, the fancy Yes Hotel for one night. We changed and freshened up and we were off to start exploring the city.
Rome, Italy
Friday June 9 to Tuesday June 12
Rome was an amazing city and when people tell you that you walk they are right. We walked everywhere! Armed with our Rick Steve’s Italy book and a city map we toured many locations. We tried some great pizza on via del Viminale although there was only one basil leaf on our Margherita... why was not there more leaves?
We checked out of the Yes Hotel and checked in at the Corot Hotel on Saturday morning. The reason for staying at the Yes Hotel was that the Corot was available for our entire stay except for the first night. MC had asked the Corot to advise us of any cancellations or if they could recommend another hotel for the first night. They were kind enough to give us details of their sister hotel that had vacancy for the first night, however we decided on the Yes Hotel. MC had advised the Hotel Corot that we were booked for the Friday night. When we checked in at the Hotel Corot, they gave us trouble saying that their sister hotel wondered why we had not checked in the day before. I advised him that no, we had reserved at another hotel. And it became a big fight. Luckily we still had our accommodation for the few nights that we were there, but the issue did cause a little grief that was unfortunate.
After checking in, we walked to the Coloseum, and checked out the Roman Forum, the impressive Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, the Trevi Fountain, and also the Pantheon where MC had a little snooze on a patio. Later we walked the Dolce Vita Stroll (passeggiata) to the Spanish Steps.
We were really tired after all of that site-seeing and wanted to have a nice authentic Italian dinner. We considered a few options, and after some deliberation, decided to try Ristorante Donati, which was close to our hotel which was near Termini Station. The meal wasn’t great. It was also expensive. We later learned that Travelocity rating is a tourist trap. This is why following the advice of a travel book is highly recommended over the advice of the concierge at the hotel that already dislikes you. We discovered that Rome is a dream city at nighttime. Monuments are magically lit. We were at Piazza della Repubblica. We were wandering the city… more walking.
Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy
Sunday June 10
Cathy is the aunt of my sister in-law. She lives in Rome and works at the US embassy. She was kind enough to offer to show us around Italy during our stay. She figured that the historic village of Montepulciano would be a good day trip for us, and drove us the two hour drive North of Rome into Tuscany. The town is full of character and is a must see for any food and wine lover.
We went through the main gate of the city, and headed up the long uphill main street. We stopped at a shop where we had a wine and cheese tasting. Along the way up the street, we admired all of the old Italy architecture. The street ends at the top of the hill at the Piazza Grande where the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie is located as well as the city hall. We went in the city hall and climbed the tower, Terrazza del Palazzo Comunale. The tower overlooks the town and provides an amazing view of the Tuscany countryside. It was impressive and quite windy up there. We went for lunch at Ristorante ai Quattro Venti which serves typical Tuscan cuisine and where Cathy ordered for us in Italian. This was the experience we had been waiting for! The pasta was amazing as were the sauces and appetizers that we ordered. The wine was amazing and you can only drink it at the restaurant. It is not available for purchase. We visited the historical wine cellar from the 1500s at the Talosa winery. The cellar is several storeys below ground. The wine barrels had to be 20 feet in diameter, all full of the highly renowned wine, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. After a long amazing day, Cathy drove us back to Rome.
When back in Rome, we once again wandered the city at night, truly a magical experience. We visited the Trevi Fountain again as it is such an amazing place. There is a huge difference between the daytime and nighttime crowd.
Vatican City
Monday, June 11
We went to the Vatican City on the Monday. We visited the Basilica of St. Peters. We were lucky to have the guide book… it was like having a private tour. We spent a couple of hours in the Vatican Museum. All the sculptures are quite impressive. No cameras are allowed in the Sistine Chapel but I snuck a quick photo of the ceiling, like many other people.
MC really liked the Cupola san Pietro. She hadn’t been on her past trip to Europe. She admired the mosaic work. It was quite a challenge to climb up the tiny hallway to the top of the dome and we were rewarded with a nice view of the city with the Tiber River dividing it. We left St. Peters Square and headed straight to the Castle Sant’Angelo which is joined to the Vatican by underground tunnels. The Castle was closed as it was Monday and many tourist attractions are closed. We enjoyed a beer near the moat instead in the truly beautiful setting. We crossed over Ponte Umberto and walked in the neighbourhood of Trastevere. We found a restaurant recommended by our tour book Pizzeria “Ai Marmi”. It was quite a busy place. We were really hungry so it was a good opportunity to eat. Unfortunately we were quite far from the hotel. Our legs were tired so we took the bus back home.
On Tuesday, I went to do laundry down the street and then we checked out of our hotel. We then took the train towards Civitavecchia, the port of Rome. We managed to navigate pretty easily to the check-in at our cruise ship.
Celebrity Silhouette (our cruise ship)
Upon check-in, we boarded the ship and directly went to the dining room (buffet style) as we were quite hungry. For the remainder of our trip, we never went hungry! We would usually have breakfast (I was always having the same thing whereas MC was being creative), and then set out on an excursion in each port. At the end of each day, we would come back on the boat and have a drink and eat hors d’oeuvres. We had a bit of down time before getting ready for dinner at 9 PM in the classy dining room where we ate a four course dinner each night and drank lots of wine! I bought the premium drink package that permitted me to try many different varieties of wine. I had the help of Mario, our sommelier, at every dinner, who advised me of what wines to try and he helped me discover how much I like California Zinfadel.
We really lucked out with our cabin. As we reserved relatively last minute, there was a package that you could take that was a great deal, and we were guaranteed a room with a balcony, but we wouldn’t know the location at the time of booking. We ended up being located in the aft (stern) of the boat so we had a panoramic view and were able to see both sides. If we wanted to see the front of the boat, we tuned in to the tv channel that showed the view from the deck. The cruise ship was enormous although it didn’t feel crowded at all. There were around 3000 guests and there were about 1500 staff members on the ship. The pools were nice but we only swam in them a couple of times. MC had access to a nice gym but she didn’t have the energy that she thought she would have to complete her workouts. There were many activities on board but more often than not, we were out exploring or enjoying a drink.
For more info on the cruise line we chose, visit Celebrity’s website.
Off We Go!
The ship departed at 5 PM. We were having drinks and celebrating the sail-away with fellow guests. We met up with members of the Cruise Critics forum that had been a valuable tool that helped us in our planning. I highly recommend that source for information on the ports and for organizing private tours. While celebrating the sail-away we got to see our first of many beautiful sunsets.
Naples, Italy
Wednesday June 13
When we woke up, we opened our curtains to a beautiful view of Naples! We had our breakfast and walked past the Castel Nuovo. There is some nice architecture in the downtown squares. We followed a walking tour from our book up the main street to the Archeological Museum. Following the advise of our tour book, we had to try a sfogliatella at Scaturchio bakery. Although we have been told to sample some great pizza, we did not have the time to wait in line.
Before that day’s departure, we started our reading of the cruise… The Hunger Game trilogy. What a great story! MC was reading one book ahead of me. During our down time, I read a tonne. I was able to catch up to MC and when she fell asleep, I stole her book and started reading it. We had to share the last book.
Catania, Sicily, Italy
Thursday June 14
We had walked so much for the past few days that our bodies were killing us. We needed a break so we “splurged” on a mini train ride in the city of Catania. We were let off at the Teatro Bellini and walked over to Piazza Duomo. We went back to the boat early and enjoyed the amenities. MC got a pedicure and got her hair done. We had to look nice for the formal dinner that night. MC was breathtakingly beautiful and elegant that night.
We spent our Friday at sea, sunbathing on the deck. I was hanging out at the pool bar and making friends with the bartender. MC went to the gym. It was a nice day to recharge after the hectic port days.
Athens, Greece
Saturday June 16
When we departed the boat, we were trying to find the metro in order to head to the Acropolis. After a while, wandering for the metro entrance in Piraeus, we got in a cab… a 15 minutes drive away. The Acropolis sits on top of a giant rock said to be sacred and is the Greek civilization at its best. The Theatre of Dyonysus is simply grand, and the Parthenon is gigantic. Everything there is under renovation/conservation as it was supposedly the case 30 years ago. It was quite windy and so terribly hot, 42 degrees.
We walked in the Plaka neighbourhood and saw other ruins. Had lunch. We saw an amazing old Greek Orthodox church in the middle of a busy shopping district. We saw many sellers of fake handbags. We also saw the Parliament building and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
There was a dance party near the pool that night but because of our late seating for dinner and a long day, we didn’t stay out too late.
We were to visit Mykonos, Greece on Sunday the following day, but because of the sea condition (too windy) the port was closed and the stop was cancelled and the day was changed to be a sea day or, in other words, a relaxing day.
Ephesus, Turkey
Monday June 18
We had an early tour departure from Kusadasi with a group of 8 people to go to Ephesus to visit the archaeological site and the Terrace Houses. The group went off to visit an archaeological museum afterwards. Because we had seen plenty of museums on our trip, we decided not to go on this tour and instead we went to a little market… similar to Sparks Street here in Ottawa. We got to taste real Turkish delights at a local candy and nut place. Afterwards we were treated to a typical Turkish meal followed by a carpet making and selling demonstration we saw a silk carpet worth $60,000 US. We bought some souvenirs… evil eye amulets. Before boarding the boat, we went shopping in a Bazaar. What an experience. No prices were listed, however you had to negotiate the prices for everything. I bought a sterling silver necklace but I’m not sure if it was a good deal, and I’m also not sure if it is real silver.
Rhodes, Greece
Tuesday June 19
The ship docked near the medieval city of Rhodes. MC and I walked throughout the city. It is quite a beautiful castle with moats and cannons and had catapult balls everywhere is decorations. We toured the many shops throughout the village and MC bought some leather sandals and I bought a Greek t-shirt.
Santorini, Greece
Wednesday June 20
Santorini was undoubtly the most scenic location of our trip! We were most looking forward to the port of Santorini and had arranged for a tour. We departed the boat early, and had to take a tender to shore. We had two options to choose from to get up the steep cliff to the village above. We could either ride a mule or take a cable car. We opted for the cable car. It was kind of scary to ride up however, as the cliff was steep. We got to the top, which is the village of Fira. We met the cab driver who took us to Oia. The drive was very scenic. Oia was definitely the nicer of the two towns. It was picture perfect. We had a delicious lunch overlooking the ocean.
We travelled back to Thira. On the way back we stopped at a beach, where the sand was black as a result of the volcanic rock. We visited Gavala vineyards where they make Visanto, a mythical nectar, sweet like an ice wine. It’s a wine use in orthodox churches for Holy Communion. We brought back a bottle which we are saving for a special occasion.
Chania, Greece
Thursday June 21
When we departed the ship we caught the shuttle to the nearby city of Chania. I loved walking in the Municipal Market and taking pictures of the meat on display, still including the heads and eyeballs on the meat. We walked around the Venetian Port to the Firka Fortress. We returned to the boat, where we prepared for the formal night. Fortunately, we didn’t have to get up early the next day as it was a sea day so we could enjoy more wine at dinner.
The Friday was spent at sea. Celebrity had prepared a brunch… a celebration! That evening we discovered the Molecular Bar. They served amazing drinks that were made with dry ice and rose petals among other ingredients. Very cool!
Venice, Italy
Saturday June 23
We entered Venice though the canals until we docked. We walked through the city, crossing the many bridges to arrive at Piazza San Marco. We visited St. Mark’s Cathedral and the Doge’s Palace before heading back to the boat for our last night and last dinner.
We checked out on Sunday morning June 24. We found a place nearby that would store our luggage and we went to explore the city again. While a beautiful city, we were struggling with what to do. We took a tour on a city boat, much like a bus which allowed us to see the city from another perspective. We visited the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. The air conditioned building was very welcoming to us on this hot day. We walked to the S. Maria della Salute, where MC almost got arrested for touching a statue! I like to say that but it wasn’t the case. When we thought we had seen enough, we checked in at the very modern Quid Hotel in Mestre, which is the Venice mainland.
Padova (Padua), Italy
Monday, June 25
We had decided that we had seen enough in Venice on our first two days. We consulted the Rick Steve’s book and he recommended for us to go to a nearby city called Padova. The trip to Padova was only a 7€ train ride away. We got a map at the tourist information point and went to explore this university city. We started off by visiting a chapel, Cappella degli Scrovegni. It’s a well preserved attraction featuring Frescos by Giotto, some of the earliest paintings created in the Renaissance. We then went to the farmers market at Piaza della Fruita. They were closing shop but we got to see it including its old building, Palazzo della Ragione. We headed off to Piaza del Santo that had the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua. We were quite surprised by this religious shrine that is considered Vatican City property. It’s part of a pilgrimage where people come to pray for St. Anthony, patron of lost causes. We stopped at Piazza dei Signori where MC tried the local drink, a Spritz, made with Aperol. She liked it so much she had a few of them. Back in Mestre, we ate at a chicken place, Galloway, before going to bed. I was a little grossed out as the translation used for chicken in Mestre is apparently Rooster, and I couldn’t get the images from Chania’s meat market out of my mind, so I opted for the burger which was gigantic!
Paris, France
Tuesday, June 26
On the last day of our honeymoon, we had to get up super early in order to catch our flight to Paris. We had chosen for a long layover there to see the city. MC had been to Paris twice in the past, and I really wanted to see it. She was a great tour guide! On the train going into the city, I told her I wanted to see everything Paris has to offer! And she actually planned out quite an itinerary and I must say that I saw everything I was hoping to see (even though I didn’t really know what I wanted to see apart from the Eiffel Tower).
We started off at la Grande Arche where we could see in the distance the Arc de Triomphe. That’s where we went next. MC made me believe we had to cross the 8 lanes at the round point (l’Étoile) to visit it. Silly MC! Then she showed me the tunnel. From there, I wanted to walk to the Eiffel Tower. I was so impressed with it that I needed to take a picture of it every… 500 meters MC says. Since our time in the city was limited, we didn’t wait in line to go up the tower, but we saw enough. Next time we go, I’ll make sure we climb the tower. We went to see la Cathédrale de Notre-Dame de Paris… only the outside of it. We stopped for some people watching at a French Café on the Seine River. We saw the Louvre only for MC to hang the pyramid. We walked through le Jardin des Tuileries and took the metro to the Funiculaire de Montmartre. La Basilique du Sacré-Coeur and Montmartre had an amazing view of the city.
After seven hours in the city navigating the metro, we arrived back at the airport for another transatlantic flight. I was crossing my figures that the flight home on Air France was better than what we went through two weeks prior. Things were going well, there were hardly any babies, the air conditioning was working, and the A/V was working. Dinner was being served, and there were 2 choices, chicken or fish. I do not eat fish. When the flight attendants got to me, they had just given away their last chicken. I was livid! I didn’t eat dinner and couldn’t wait to land in Montreal. We landed in Montreal where MC’s parents came to get us. We were now entering our 24th hour without sleep. MC wasn’t as talkative as her mom hoped. In Casselman, I picked up our car and drove us back to Ottawa. I think we were in bed at midnight. I had taken the rest of the week off but MC had to work on the Thursday and Friday. It was good timing that the Canada Day long weekend was that weekend so we could recuperate from our great trip!