As mentioned before, we had an overnight stay in Venice during our cruise. This allowed us plenty of time to explore the canals and alleys of this unique city and even get lost numerous times. The first thing we did once in the center of town was to take a walk across Piazza San Marco. It was packed with people, so we quickly took a vaporetto (water taxi) ride the length of the Grand Canal. This was a cheap way to see a ton of the city and get oriented with it’s layout.

From there we continued on the vaporetto out to the island of Murano. This island is famous for it’s glass, but unfortunately we arrived a little too late to see any of the glass making. We did enjoy the peace and quiet of the island for awhile, and when we were ready for dinner we headed back into Venice where we spent the evening before retiring to the ship.

The second day we arrived first thing at the Doge’s Palace and explored it for an hour or so. From there we went inside of the Basilica di San Marco, and enjoyed the view from the Horses Loggia. Next up on our busy day, was a trip to the top of the Campanile. Fortunately there’s an elevator in this bell tower, and the views from the top were very nice. Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the ship and onto our next destination. Here are some of my favorite pictures from this stop.

If judging solely from the number of pictures I took, Naples would have to be my favorite stop of the cruise vacation. And looking back on it, I may have to agree with that statement. What it may lack in famous landmarks, it made up for in sheer beauty and ancient history. I mentioned a wide variety of things to do in the planning post for this stop, and we did all of them!

Upon arriving in Naples, we took a stroll down to the train station walking through some run down areas. Needless to say, I was a bit concerned, but once we were on a train and moving out toward some other sights I knew we were going to have a good time. We stopped in Ercolano first, hoping to catch a bus to Mount Vesuvius. After leaving the train, we found the company that offers shuttles to the top, but they were not yet opened. I had also read that the city buses would stop nearby and one of them went to Vesuvius. Well after waiting for awhile at the stop, and after a few frustrating conversations with a mix of languages, we finally found a taxi driver who offered to help us out.

He spoke very good English, and said he would take us to Vesuvius, wait for us to make the short hike to the top, and then bring us back down to the train station for 35 euros. He said that we wouldn’t have to pay until back at the train station. So we did it, and I’m really glad we did. We talked with him throughout the 45 minute drive, learned about his life near Naples, and he even sung Italian songs to us. Well worth the cost. And so was the hike up to Vesuvius. Though the crater isn’t much to see (it’s a really big hole) the views of Naples and the nearby coast were amazing!

After this excursion, we proceeded over to Pompeii, which was just a few more train stops away. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much but I was absolutely blown away. This ancient city was buried in AD 79 by one of the eruptions of Vesuvius, and has been excavated since 1748. These ruins are so well laid out and organized, it is easy to imagine yourself living in those olden times. Seeing the plaster casts of some of the victims was horrifying, imagining being buried by the volcano. I’d highly recommend this site.

Next up on our tour was Sorrento, which was at the end of the train line we had already taken so far. This small town is built into and on top of the seaside cliffs. It’s a beautiful little place that I wish we could have spent more time in, but we had to move quickly if we wanted to make it to Capri and then back to the ship in Naples. We took a hydrofoil from Sorrento to Capri, which allowed for great views of the coast, and amazing sights as we pulled into the port on the island of Capri.

We didn’t make it up to Capri Town, as we just explored the port area, had lunch in a cafe overlooking the sea, and waited for our return hydrofoil to Naples. We didn’t want to push our luck too much and end up stuck on the island so we took an early boat back. Once in Naples we explored some of the city, ate a little more food, and then wound up back on the ship with a few minutes to spare. I really loved nearly every minute of our time in this port.

The third stop of the cruise took us to Rome, well actually Civitavecchia. Once again we quickly took a train from the port town to the city of interest, exactly as planned. The first stop we made was at Vatican City, and I’m glad that we did it this way. I’ve read all about horrible crowds for the various sights, but when we arrived there were more pigeons than people in Saint Mark’s Square, and we walked right into the Basilica with no problems at all. From there we headed off to the Vatican Museums (which houses the Sistine Chapel) and though there was a small line, it was nothing like I had imagined. So we took some extra time to visit various rooms, especially Raphael’s Rooms, and then finished off the visit in the Sistine Chapel, where photography is banned.

From there, we took a quick walk over to Castel Sant’Angelo, a castle with great views of Rome from the top. Once finished there, we continued walking and stopped by both the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain with little problems. Both were swamped with people at this point, but still worth a quick visit. One thing I quickly learned is how close together so many of the sights are, which makes for a perfect walking tour. Next, we visited the Pantheon and then continued over to the Forums and ancient Rome.

Our last stop of the day was at the Colosseum. I knew it was going to be an amazing sight to see, but I was completely blown away by the engineering and architecture of something this old. We ended up with plenty of time to spare, so we took our time walking through it, and even got audio guides to listen to along the way. I hope that some of my pictures do justice to this magnificent structure, but really you just can’t get a feel for it’s massiveness without actually being there. By far one of the cooler things I’ve ever seen.

Our second stop was in the port town of Livorno, Italy. Once again, we stuck to our plan for the most part, though we did head to Pisa first and then Florence later. We did this as I had pre-bought tickets for us to climb the leaning tower first thing upon our arrival. Climbing the steps wasn’t too bad, and we were awarded with pretty nice views from the top. One problem is that there really isn’t too much to see in Pisa, so there wasn’t much to look at from up top. But we can now say that we’ve been to the top.

With little to do in Pisa, we immediately headed back to the train station and continued on our way to Florence. Once there, we headed straight for the cathedral known as the Duomo. And as if we didn’t climb enough for one day, we decided to hike the steps here to go to the top of the Dome. This climb was much harder, tighter, and crowded than the leaning tower, but the views from the top were absolutely worth it! I could have stayed there for hours, but being on a short stop, we headed back down and into the Piazza della Signoria after a quick stop for lunch.

The Piazza della Signoria is dominated by the town hall of Florence, Palazzo Vecchio, and the tower Torre d’Arnolfo, which were both great to see up close. Also in the piazza is a copy of the statue David, among many other sculptures. The original David was moved into a museum, which we decided to skip over due to long lines. Just south of piazza is the Ponte Vecchio, which is the old bridge flanked with shops that spans the Arno River. It also has very nice views looking down the river, which I snapped some of my favorite photos from.

With little time left, and an hour or so train ride back to Livorno, we had a glass of wine and were back on our way toward the ship. Florence is on my list of places that I could easily go again and spend more time. Pisa, on the other hand, I feel can be checked off the list and will likely not be visited again. Here are some pictures from this stop.

Here are pictures from our first stop on the cruise, Cannes, France. As mentioned in this planning post, we immediately left Cannes upon arrival and headed to Monaco first. We used the train system for our travel for the day, and the first ride of the day was about an hour long to Monte Carlo, Monaco. We were just barely able to catch the changing of the guard ceremony at the Prince’s Palace, which had a large crowd gathered. From there we toured the Cathedral and then the Aquarium.

Later in the day, after some lunch down near the port of Monte Carlo, we headed toward the famous casino. Despite what I read earlier, a jacket and tie are only required in the evening. So we tried getting into the casino, but they wanted us to drop off our backpacks first. Since we don’t gamble, we just decided to skip out on the inside, especially since you can’t take pictures. From there we headed back to the train station and headed back toward Cannes, stopping in Nice, France along the way.

Our time in Nice was limited as we spent a little too long in Monaco. Looking back on it, we should have skipped the aquarium, as it wasn’t as impressive as I was hoping for. We were able to quickly see the Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Nice, which is a very interesting building. After that, we strolled around the streets near the train station before it was time to head back to Cannes. Once in Cannes, we walked along the Boulevard de la Croisette before heading back for the ship. It was a very enjoyable day on the French Riviera.

Before embarking on our cruise vacation, we had an extra day or so to explore Barcelona, the city the ship would be leaving from. We arrived on Monday afternoon, September 1 after flying from Cincinnati to Washington D.C., continuing onto Paris as I mentioned yesterday, and finally a quick hop over to Barcelona. The first day we settled into the hotel and headed out into town for dinner and a little sight seeing around La Ramblas, the main street in town.

The next day we had to board the ship, but we woke up early enough so we could go out in Barcelona again before heading for the port. We went down the La Ramblas area again and then headed up to the top of the hill called Montjuïc, which had outstanding views of the entire city. From there we headed over to the La Sagrada Familia, which is the most famous building in town. This church is massive and has been under construction since 1882, with estimates for completion in 2026. Once spending a bit of time there it was time to head for the ship and start our fabulous cruise.

Well we are back in the good ol’ USA after a couple of weeks in Europe. Overall, it was an amazing trip, but at the same time it’s good to be back at home. The cruise went very smoothly, minus the last day at sea, which was cold, windy, and stormy. That weather led to a rather rough ride through the Mediterranean. And we did have a change to the itinerary, skipping Tunisia and instead heading to Palermo, Sicily, more on that later. I have nearly 1000 pictures that I’m going to slowly sort through and add to the site. Today I present the first few shots of our trip and some from a few hour tour of Paris.

And if you’d like to view photos of our wedding, those can be found on our photographer’s website. Thanks once again Joe, the pictures are awesome!

We are just leaving Cannes now on our first stop of our cruise. The sunset is beautiful and the long islands are very tasty! We had a great day today exploring Monaco first, then a brief stop in Nice, and a little sightseeing in Cannes on the way back to the ship. Our stay in Barcelona was very nice, but cut a little short due to overall exhaustion from our trip overseas. And we did have a few hours to spend in Paris on our layover and were able to see the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, among other sites. I’d love to start sorting through pictures and uploading some, but I think we forgot to pack the cord I need to transfer them. I’m going to see if one of the shops onboard has anything I can use. I hope everyone who was able to attend the wedding had a good time. Talk to you all after the cruise!

As mentioned yesterday, we spent Sunday roaming around Bryce Canyon National Park. Though this is usually grouped into the same sentence as Zion, the two parks are very different. Bryce Canyon is at a higher elevation than Zion, so cooler temperatures. Also Zion seems many more tourists than Bryce Canyon does, though you still need to try to avoid the massive tour buses. And while Zion actually is a canyon, Bryce really isn’t a canyon and is actually considered a natural amphitheater created by erosion of the land plateau.

I’ve heard that sunrise is an amazing sight to see at Bryce, and though we tried our hardest to get there early, we didn’t make it until 8:30 or so. Still the light was pretty low, and we immediately headed for a couple of the overlooks to take in the sights and get some pictures. Soon enough, we started encountering larger crowds, and decided that it was time to get away from most others with a hike down into the amphitheater and surrounding areas.

We started at the very crowded Sunset Point and quickly moved through the switchbacks and down into the hoodoos. This trail is called the Navajo loop and it leads down through Wall Street, a very narrow slot canyon. Once we reached the much less crowded floor, we headed further out on the Peek-A-Boo trail, with excellent views of the Wall of Windows along the way.

Once we completed the Peek-A-Boo loop we opted to skip the remaining Navajo loop that we had not done yet, and instead started the Queens Garden trail. This trail leads to one very famous hoodoo named after Queen Victoria, which it supposedly resembles. Once we arrived at the sign marking Queen Victoria, I must admit that I didn’t see it. I saw the rock in question, but didn’t see how it could look like the Queen. The sign does say that the formation is continually changing, so perhaps it is not as defined as it once was?

After seeing the Queen, we finished off the hike by continuing up the trail to Sunrise Point. From there it was a quick half mile or less hike back to the car at Sunset Point. All things considered this trail was an awesome way to see the park, though if I did it again I would likely skip the Queens Garden section. The highlight of the entire trip is definitely the Peek-A-Boo loop. And even though this park is amazingly beautiful, I may have been a bit spoiled at Zion the previous day.

Southwestern Utah on Dwellable

Early Saturday morning Kim and I headed for the airport to catch a flight to Salt Lake City, where I am currently sitting in a hotel room doing some work. Kim has been working the past few days in and around SLC. But before all of the work, we took the weekend to head down to southern Utah and check out Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks. You may recall our trip last year to both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, which are also in southern Utah but on the eastern side. Our trip this time took us into the western side of southern Utah.

After our arrival, we quickly got down to Zion as fast as we could. Once on the shuttle system, we immediately headed for the far end of the park and to the Riverside Walk. This is a simple paved trail that runs along the Virgin River. This wasn’t our goal of the hike though, as at the end of this trail is the Zion Narrows. Hiking the narrows requires you to actually wade through the river, which is surrounded by a narrow canyon on both sides. There is a full or multiple day, sixteen mile hike that you can do in the narrows, but we opted to just see a mile or so of the end. Since it was so hot out in the middle of the afternoon, walking through the chilly water was quite nice even though it was thigh deep at times.

After the Narrows, we headed for the trail that would lead us to Angels Landing, which is regarded as one of the best hikes in any national park. I wanted to wait until later in this day to avoid any potential crowds and the extreme heat, which worked pretty well. The hike starts off flat and paved, but soon enough enters switchback after switchback as you start climbing the near 1500 feet in elevation gain. After two miles you reach Scout Lookout, which seems to be an excellent place to view the canyon, but just wait until you ascend the last half mile out to Angels Landing.

This last section of the trail can be seen from Scout Lookout, and at first it scared the crap out of me. You can tell that parts of the trail are just a couple feet wide in parts, with steep cliffs on either side. Also some of the climb up the ridge is very steep and the park system has installed many chains along the route to assist with the climb. Being slightly afraid of heights, I wasn’t sure I could go on from the landing, so we sat there for a bit. Eventually a large butterfly flew past us, right along the ridge and up toward the landing. After my brother passed away, butterflies have held a special meaning to my family, so this was a sign to me that I should get off my butt and finish the hike. And I’m so glad that we did. The view from the top of Angels Landing is absolutely breathtaking, and words cannot describe it.

I hope that some of my pictures turned out well, and I will be sure to sort through them as soon as I get back to Denver. I would have to say that the Angels Landing hike was one of the coolest things I have ever done, if not the best. And overall, Zion is such an amazing place to visit. Even though I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon, I’ve been told that Zion is the better of the two.

Washington on Dwellable