Europe 2011-Cruise Day 5

Day 14-Day 5 of Cruise

St. Tropez

Our second to last port was St. Tropez. There wasn't anything artistic or historic to see, just lots and lots of beautiful beaches. We got of the boat and walked for a bit until we found a nice public beach. We spent a few hours there, the weather was beautiful. I was hoping for warm water, but sadly it was a little chilly. I did manage to get in and swim after getting too hot laying on the beach. It was a nice relaxing day.

Apparently Nate snapped some pictures of me getting the courage up to swim. Doesn't the water look nice and blue?!

Our beach spot. You can see our cruise boat in the background.

Europe 2011-Cruise Day 4

Day 13-Day 4 of Cruise

Nice and Monaco

Our second day at port in Nice and Monaco our friends took us with them to go scuba diving in Nice. We didn't have to be certified because we didn't go deeper than 20 feet and we were with a certified diver the entire time. It was cool to see all the sea life under the water, but I will admit that I didn't like being under the water like that. I never felt comfortable, but oh well, I did it. After scuba diving we walked around Nice for a bit. We had some yummy crepes and bought a few souvenirs. We hopped on a bus back to Monaco (where are boat was docked) and went up to the Prince of Monaco's Palace and grounds. We also saw were Princess Grace Kelly is buried. After going back to the boat for dinner (every restaurant in Monaco was expensive) we went to the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo. We only walked in and looked around the lobby area. We mostly sat outside the casino and watch all the expensive cars drive up. We were hoping to see some famous people, but alas we didn't. :)

On the boat to go scuba diving.

It would have been nice if Nate told me he was taking my picture. :)

Another view from the boat

Nate and I on the promenade in Nice.

The view if the harbor from old town Monaco

Princess Grace burial site.

Nate a.k.a James Bond in front of the Grand Casino, Monte Carlo.

Europe 2011-Cruise Day 3

Day 12-Day 3 of cruise

Nice and Monaco

We were at port in Nice and Monaco for 2 days so the first day we decided to take one of the cruise excursions to Eze and Nice. First we went to Eze. This is a little village tucked high above the French Riviera. There are only about 50 people that actually live there. It is mostly just expensive shops and restaurants, but it had some great views of the Riviera. We drove onto Nice which was about 20 minutes down the coast. We walked along the promenade, and found a pastry shop to buy a bunch of French pastries and they were yummy! Overall we enjoyed the excursion, but were grateful that we had another day to enjoy the area on our own.

Nate with Eze behind him.

Eze. It was like a little fortress with little walking path. There are no roads so if you live there you have to park your car below and walk up to your residence.

A beautiful view of the Riviera.

Walking along the beach front.

The main square in Nice.

Europe 2011-Cruise Day 2

Day 11-Day 2 of cruise

Portofino

Our second port was Portofino. It was a beautiful little fishing village. We were pretty worn out from our week and a half of previous touring so finally decided to just take it easy. There wasn't much to see here anyway, so we took it slow in the morning and then spent the afternoon in Portofino. We had some great Italian food, and hiked up to a castle "Costello Brown". We had some beautiful views and a nice relaxing day.

View of Portofino with some huge yachts. One of them had a guy from American Idol on it! :)

Me with our boat in the background. (right in the middle of the pic)

Nate with colorful Portofino. He fit right in with his shirt! :)

Another view of Portofino from Costello Brown.

Europe 2011-Cruise Day 1

Day 10-Day 1 of Cruise

Florence and Pisa

Our first port of our cruise was La Spezia. It is about a half hour train ride from Pisa and another half hour to Florence. We got up early and got of the boat as soon as we could. We hopped on a train headed to Pisa only to realize that we forgot to validate our train tickets which can bring a hefty fine, so we got of the train at the first stop it made before the train worker had come to check tickets. We ended up getting a taxi back to the main train station, which wasn't too far, and hopped on the next train to Pisa. This time we had validated our tickets. It was quite the adventure, but made us lose about an hour of our day. We went to Pisa first and only stayed long enough to take pictures and then we went on to Florence. In Florence we went to the Academia Museum to see Michelangelo's David statue. It was fantastic! So much bigger that I ever imaged. We then went to the Duomo Cathedral with the baptistery next to it with Ghiberti's famous "Gates of Paradise" doors. Although they were not the originals. They are kept in the Duomo Museum that was closed that day. We finally ended up waiting in an hour wait line to get into the Uffizi Gallery which held many paintings of very famous artists. We could have spent hours there, but only had one hour before we needed to get back on the train and back to our boat. It was a long day, but so worth it!

The leaning tower of Pisa. It was a very beautiful tower. I thought it was famous only for leaning, but it was very pretty besides.

Ghiberti's "Gates of Paradise", Florence

Duomo Cathedral. This pictures doesn't do it justice. The colors on the outside were beautiful.

A copy of Michelangelo's David in the main square. We couldn't take pictures of the original, so this had to do! :)

Europe 2011-Rome Day 3

Day 9-Day 3 in Rome

This was the day that we met up with Nate's company for our cruise. The cruise offered Pre-Embarkation excursions, so we chose to do St. Peter in chains, the Colosseum, and the Roman Forum. It was another awesome day although it was a bit hard for us to be 'stuck' with a tour group and guide because we had been doing everything on our own up to this point. If we had been on our own we could have spent many more hours touring the Colosseum and Roman Forum, but we were still glad for the free opportunity to see them.

Michelangelo's Moses, St. Peter in Chains, Rome

A close up of Moses (and Nate) :)

Our first glimpse of the Colosseum.

Nate with one of the arches (can't remember exactly which one) in the Roman Forum.

More of the Roman Forum.

Another Arch. Our tour guide was going so fast, that I couldn't keep track of which arch was which.

The outside of the Colosseum.

The inside of the Colosseum.

Arch of Titus

Europe 2011-Rome Day 2

Day 8-Day 2 in Rome

We got up early because we had a reservation for 9:00am to tour the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. I was of course most excited to see the Sistine Chapel and I will tell you it did not disappoint! It was awesome! We toured the Vatican Museum first and then went to St. Peter's Basilica. We decided to pay and climb the dome of the basilica and it was totally worth it! It was a hard climb, I think around 550 steps, but the views from the top were awesome. After St. Peter's Basilica we walked through the Borghese Gardens. We wanted to go to the Borghese Gallery, but failed to make a reservation which was required to get in. We finally made our way to the National Museum and toured that. We met up with some friends from Nate's work and ate dinner. It was a great day!

Apollo Belvedere, Vatican Museum

School of Athens, Vatican Museum. So cool to see in real life!!

St Peter's Basilica. It was and enormous building. The picture does not even show a part of it.

Climbing the Dome. Some parts actually curved in as we were rounding the dome.

The view of St. Peter's square from the top of the dome.

St. Peter's square.

The Boxer, National Museum, Rome.

Discus Thrower, National Museum, Rome

Europe 2011-Rome Day 1

Day 7, Day 1 in Rome

We got the airport in Prague and had a little problem with our ticket confirmation numbers for our flight to Rome, but luckily we were able to contact Nate's travel agency through work and made in to our gate just in time to eat lunch and board the plane. We didn't get in to Rome until around 2:00 so we didn't have much day left. We tried to make the most of the day. We walked from the train station to Campo di Fiori. Then we followed a path that took us to the Piazza Navona and then the Pantheon. It was awesome! After spending time walking through the Pantheon we walked up to the Trevi Fountain, which is famous because it is said that if you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain you will return to Rome someday. Sadly it was so crowded that we didn't get the chance to test our luck with the fountain. We ended our first day at the Spanish Steps. They are suppose to be a romantic spot, but they were so busy with tourists that it was chaotic, but fun to watch all the people!

Piazza Navona

The Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

The Spanish Steps

Europe 2011-Prague Day 6

Day 6

Our last day in Prague we didn't plan any tours, but just went back to some places we wanted to see again, and did some last minute shopping. We climbed the tower of the Astronomical clock which gave us awesome views of the city. We also went back up to Prague Castle and saw a few sights again there. We went back later in the evening to old town square and Charles bridge, to see Prague at night. Everything was lit up and beautiful. We didn't get to stay as long as we wanted to because of the threat of rain. We got back to our hotel just in time before it started pouring.

Our hotel. We were on the 4th floor in a studio apartment. It worked out perfect for our visit.

View of old town square from the top of the astronomical clock.

Another view from the clock.

St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle. We saw many wedding couples getting pictures all around Prague.

Proof that we were both in Prague together.

Jan Hus monument and us!

Prague in the evening. Can you see the storm clouds?