Italy and Greece 8/23-9/5

Jim and I crossed a big one off our bucket list this year! We have always wanted to go to Greece so booked a 7 day out of Venice. Then that turned into booking a couple days in Venice then adding a few days to fly into Rome then taking the train to Florence and the next thing you know we are going for 2 weeks. It was the most magical 2 weeks of our lives and I still can’t believe we got to go! Rome was so neat to see! All of the history is unreal and the Vatican is a site to see itself! Florence was much more our speed though… smaller feel with perfect cobblestone streets with shops and restaurants and wine and unbelievable views! We didn’t get to stay near long enough so we will definitely be back. But the real surprise was Venice. As soon as I get off the train I was in love. What a spectacular city!!! The art the architecture the food the wine the prosecco 🙂 I could have wandered the alleys for weeks… all the shops and restaurants and music on the patios and artists in the streets… it was everything you imagine and more!

Then of course the real reason we went GREECE! We are cruise people so we felt right at home on the boat. It was Royal Caribbean and a smaller older boat than we are used to… honestly we preferred Carnival’s set up to Royal’s but we really werent on board much. Santorini was spectacular! Gorgeous views and WONDERFUL food… I was surprised that I enjoyed Greek food more than Italy!!! We toured a couple cities then ended at Royal’s private beach club which was PERFECT!! Great chairs and shade and perfect weather off the water… Athens was next and it was SO hot and SO big !! ugh It was so cool to see all the buildings that had survived for thousands of years… but probably not a place we would go back to…. but again GREAT food 🙂 Mykonos was next and was definitely our favorite! It was even prettier than Santorini and bigger! Lots of cute shops and restaurants (are you seeing what i like?!) We did an early tour here too so beat the crowds! Argostoli was last and one we hadn’t heard of. But we really enjoyed it! We did an easy day there just browsing the shops and restaurants 🙂

Anyway it was definitely a core memory for us 🙂 as we celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary and an early 50th for me. I hope we can go back very soon!!

Enjoy the pics!

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