The little lady and I had been discussing taking a bigger trip for a while, but most of the talking was just that--talking. Despite the fact that I'm not a beach guy and would probably go insane after a few hours of being in some beach resort with nothing to do, that's the kind of vacation I'd been dreaming about for the last year and a half. I suspect this is the result of two things:
1. I got really tired of planning activities before and during our 2006 Hawaii trip.
2. Between work and school, I've been busier than I ever have been in my whole life for the last year or so.
We finally sat down for some serious discussion earlier this week. We narrowed our possible choices to England, the Caribbean and a Mediterranean cruise. I was still feeling like I needed something sunny and relatively slow, so England fell out of the running pretty quickly. The wife kept lobbying for the Mediterranean, and the more I looked at different cruises, the more appealing it sounded. So, in the end, we settled on a cruise. Once a decision is made I like to move quickly, so the cruise is booked, the flights are paid for, and reservations have been made for a hotel near the Vatican City in Rome. It's ended up being a lot more expensive than I had originally planned for, but it's not every day you go on vacation or visit new continents and/or countries for the first time. I guess we'll be eating a lot of ramen this year.
I've never been on a cruise and don't know that I'll enjoy it that much, but the destinations look interesting and I've lately spent a lot of time reading about the history of that part of the world, so I'm looking forward to seeing and experiencing a part of the world that neither of us has ever visited.
We selected an 11-night cruise, which will depart from a port near Rome. We'll be visiting cities in Italy, Greece and Turkey. A map of our upcoming voyage:
This will also be the longest vacation I've ever taken from work--11 work days. I'm really looking forward to it. Now all I have to do is get through the next four months of work and school.
not only will you be gone 11 days, but the jet lag is going to really suck. and i have always wanted to go to turkey. should have asked me before you got the tickets!! if you fly to ireland (which can be cheaper) or england, then you can take a really really cheap flight on ryanair flight that will take you right to rome. i flew round trip to ireland from england for about 45 euros. nice and cheap. i still have hope that we'll go back to germany next year.
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