Punchy in Paris

Thirty days into the world’s best family vacation, we were definitely feeling the full effects of tired feet, sleep deprivation, monument overload, and a touch of homesickness !  But it was a phenomenal city to end our tour and one we are all keen to visit again. You can fall in love with Paris for any one of a hundred reasons — art, architecture, churches, gardens, history, shopping, food and nightlife — just to name a few.

The Eurostar trip from London to Paris is fast and easy -- although Zack forgot to pack a knife for his scone.

Hello Notre Dame! Arriving at our studio apartment -- we were surprised that the view from the room was even better than advertised.

We were as impressed with the size and beauty of the Louvre's exterior, as we were by the gems found inside.

This simple painting drew quite a crowd.

Sometimes you have to use your imagination to picture what these ancient sculptures originally looked like.

Queen of the Nile

All of the best sights in Paris are located around the Seine.

We enjoyed the Paris Cafe scene at night -- perhaps a little too much. Not sure how we started this contest to see who could fit the beer glass in your mouth, but some of us were more talented than others.

We may have set a record on day two in Paris that will stand the test of time.

Climb Notre Dame, climb the Arc de Triomphe, walk the length of the Champs Elysee, check out Musee de l’Orangerie, take in the impressionists at the Musee d’Orsay, tour the Rodin Museum, late lunch on Rue Cler, ride to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Then collapse for the evening.

On a day that brought us to the top of Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower -- our best elevated ambience award goes to the gargoyle riddled church tower.

The 80 scenes in this rose window at Notre Dame must be amazing up close -- but from our vantage point it resembles a beautiful kaleidoscope

Despite the crazy traffic circle, the Arc de Triomphe looks almost sedate compared to the pictures we've seen of Hitler marching triumphantly past it into the city.

After 300 steps up the Arc de Triomphe, you're treated to a stellar view of the Champs Elysses and the other 11 streets radiating from Place Charles de Gaulle.

The Musee de l'Orangerie is a worthwhile stop for the water lilly rooms -- designed specifically to house an impressive slice of Monet's great work.

We were out of gas by the time we reached the Rodin Museum, but even so, we really appreciated the unusual treat of seeing all of his great works in the mansion and grounds where he once lived.

The family was easily able to replicate the weariness of Adam in Rodin's The Three Shades

You have to stand about a half mile away from the tower to fit it all into perspective.

In the case of the Eiffel Tower, I'm not quite sure a picture paints a thousand words. The delta in height between the top of the tower and rest of Paris creates a sensation of height and distance not replicated anywhere else.

We made a game day decision to scrap the plan to visit Versailles on our last day in Europe. Instead we opted for an agenda-free day to sleep in a bit, do some shopping and just see whatever came our way. It was a great finale to a fabulous trip.

On a fairly lightweight last day in Europe, we enjoyed the festive atmosphere around Sacre Cour in Montemarte.

For our last hurrah in Paris (and Europe), we capped things off with a stunning night cruise on the Seine. The Eiffel Tower is a stunner again -- and tops this view each hour when it erupts into a light show.

Jolly Old London

We drove from Bath into London on Sunday — stopping first at Windsor for the Queen’s official residence at the palace and a peek at Eton College. This was the last we’d have a car, and by the time we finished with two major traffic jams on the M4 and then the Kanye West concert in Hyde Park — we were ok with that. The tube suited us all fine for the three days we rolled around London.

Windsor Palace probably wasn't this sunny and peaceful 500 years ago when Henry VIII was lording about

The staterooms at Windsor were the best that we toured all month -- pity we couldn't snap any pics inside the Queen's residence

First stop on our night tour of London was The Globe for fish and chips. This pub has served everyone from Shakespeare to Sinatra to the Panos' over the past 450 years.

Trafalgar Square was lit up and abuzz on Sunday night

It takes awhile to get used to the London Eye on the skyline -- but we left big fans

You can almost hear Winston Churchill's voice when you get your first look at the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben on the Thames

After a great tour of Westminster Abbey -- the ponchos made their first appearance of the month long trip

The ravens still rule the roost at the Tower of London -- but the Crown Jewels always steal the show

Nothing like a huge pot pie to take the edge off. We were lucky to get four seats upstairs in the famous pie room at Newman Arms for lunch.

It didn't happen often, but the skies did clear from time to time

Christopher Wren's beautiful St Paul's Cathedral is too large and wedged into place to easily capture it on camera. This is the best we could do -- and you still can't make out its massive dome.

Our quest to climb every dome and tower in Europe brought us to the top of St Pauls - only to discover a huge storm had rolled in.

Dodging the rain (and even hail) became a preoccupation most of the time in London

While the Roman's left a few interesting artifacts behind from their stay in the UK, the Brits were more than determined to bring back half of Greece to the British Museum

It was an exciting time to be in London -- as the world premier of Harry Potter 6 happened in Leicester Square while we were in town

A Little Night Music was a big hit with the whole family

The early bird gets to watch -- we learned the hard way that you have to get to Buckingham Palace early if you want to actually see the changing of the guard. Our 2nd attempt notched this spot on the fence.

The whole routine took 1/2 an hour and included two marching bands and lots of guys with guns. These two guys are finishing off the guard change while the band played a tribute to Michael Jackson (Beat It)

The London Eye experience was awesome -- and for once we didn't have to climb any steps to see the view.

From 443 feet -- London really comes into view from the Eye

London is such a great cityand we ran ourselves pretty ragged trying to take in just the big sights.  We managed to see plays on two nights — and the whole family enjoyed them tremendously. The Observer was a great drama put on in the National Theatre and Stephen Sondheim’s musical A Little Night Music at the Garrick Theater was a big hit too. Even the kids were still singing show tunes two days later.  London is also the first place where we could really feel the trip starting to wind down to a close — and with Paris in our sights we headed to St Pancras for the train ride across the channel.

Beautiful Bath

Bath was appreciated by the Romans and British royals alike. The natural hot springs were attraction enough to develop a city almost exclusively focused on tourism. Today it’s a perfectly preserved Georgian city with great sites, shopping, and restaurants. Architecturally interesting and just fun to wander around — Bath is the most popular tourist spot outside of London and just a couple hours away by car or train.

We stayed at a fantastic B&B that treated us to the best food of the trip each morning and enjoyed the local cider at some great watering holes. We even took in a George Bernard Shaw play at the Theatre Royal.

Bath is noted for it's honey colored limestone and uniform architecture style -- this wedge of The Circus exemplifies what you see all over town.

The River Avon runs right through the center of town

Like most British towns, Bath prides itself on plenty of greenery, parks and gardens

We saw scores of people in European squares doing the statue act -- but this guy was so good a pigeon actually landed on his head !

Bath Abbey is the centerpiece of downtown

Lovely Bath Abbey has some of the finest fan vaulted ceilings in the country

This "insider's view" of the abbey clock was part of the tower climb and tour

The view from the top of Bath Abbey

There are a lot of jokes that can be made about this chocolate sculpture

The huge, inexplicable hare statues sort of stood out in Victorian Bath's central plaza

The Athole House B&B was one of our favorite stays of the trip -- and Wolfgang was definitely our favorite host!

Driving the English Countryside

Who knew driving a big stickshift car on the wrong side of the road could be so much fun?  Well, it is fun for the driver at least — I’m not sure that everyone else would agree!

Having been herding around on public transportation since arriving in Europe, it has been fun to have absolute control of your day. If only those pesky roundabouts didn’t appear every kilometer or two.

We have three or four days to explore the countryside around Southwest England, using Bath as our base. And we spent the first half of it on the road taking in the gorgeous countryside visiting little piddly towns and big ticket stops like Stonehenge.  As Zack said, it’s almost too quaint — as every turn of the road unveils another thatched roof cottage, an ancient pub, or unspoiled little farm village.

A population of 350 people keep the medieval town of Castle Combe in good enough shape to consistently win the "Prettiest Village in England" award

Avebury features an interesting stone circle about a mile in diameter -- and plenty of sheep grazing nearby. We stopped here on the way to its more famous cousing Stonehenge.

We stopped for roadside potty break and noticed these rocks piled up in a field...

Salisbury is a fantastic old town with one of the prettiest churches we visited (and we toured 20 of them)

Dave easily manhandled England's tallest spire at Salisbury Cathedral

I wonder what Sunday attendance was like at St Michaels cathedral -- having a mile hike up Glastonbury Tor ensured that only the most earnest Christians worshipped here until an earthquake knocked most of it down. It was active from 500 to 1250 AD.

Glastonbury and The Tor have many mystical and mythical connections -- including fairies, King Arthur and Avalon. The nearby town now hosts the UK version of Woodstock each year.

Feeling a bit tired after hiking up the huge Tor hill at the end of a long day.

Not sure what the real story of the Tor is -- but I know the view is truly inspiring and you walk down feeling pounds lighter.

Wells Cathedral is one of the oldest and largest gothic cathedrals in England -- and placed in a tiny little town that is now well off the beaten path.

We put nearly 400 miles on our trusty Ford station wagon

Goodbye Med — Hello Alps !

A very interesting series of train rides brought us from Tuscany up into the Italian Alps and then the Swiss Alps. We have learned to love the ease of European train travel where two hours and a beer later you end up in an entirely different world. (The washing machines take longer here than moving between climates.)  And it’s so much easier than all the nonsense of security and air travel.

Thanks to the Internet, we found a vacation rental condo / chalet in Zermatt, Switzerland and ended up in a terrific two bedroom chalet with a wraparound balcony for about 25% less than a normal hotel room in town. It provided a great chance to stretch out a bit, do some wash, and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Zermatt is a tiny little village at the foot of the Matterhorn — and it doesn’t allow cars — so you have to take a special train up into this pristine little village.  Perhaps best of all, there is absolutely nothing of historic significance here — so you have to just chill out in the great outdoors and enjoy it all by riding cable cars around and hiking from peak to peak.  I did Zermatt in 1983 with some college buddies, in 1989 with Karen and now 2009 with the whole family.  As far as these things go, not much has changed — which is why we love it so much.

This is the view from the balcony of our chalet at Casa Vanessa II

The first day in Zermatt we walked into town to get some breakfast and light supplies for our first hike. We took the cable car system from Zermatt up about 11,000 feet and walked around a glacier lake before starting the trek back down to town. Although it’s mostly downhill, it’s actually pretty strenuous and bites at your knees and achilles the whole way.  And it’s also unbelievably beautiful.

One of our favorite features of Zermatt is how the town disappears into a picturesque postage stamp as you head up the cable cars

What can you say?

Hiking down what might be the prettiest place on earth

As the glacier melts in the summer, it provides a beautiful back drop and audio accompaniment

This is the land of Heidi -- can you hear Edelweiss playing in the background?

These Swiss dairy cows thought Zack was very cute and authentic

The 3 1/2 hour hike took its toll -- Karen, Zack and Kayla enjoy the big down comforters. Who knew downhill could hurt so bad?

On the second day in Zermatt we decided to tackle the Kleine Matterhorn — the slightly smaller peak that sits up in the glacier belt. Of course we went up the easy way — taking three different cable cars over the course of an hour until we reached the 12,500 foot summit. You get a view of 20+ peaks, including the Matterhorn itself, and you’re deposited on a glacier where summer skiing is going full tilt.  We didn’t have time to put the skiis on this trip — but we had a ton of fun on top of the world.

The cable car station at Kleine Matterhorn (Little Matterhorn) is the highest point in Europe that mortals can reach without a pick axe.

Glaciers, glaciers everywhere...

You have to love a good snowball fight on July 1

This is the Glacier Palace -- they dug a really cool cave below the surface of the Little Matterhorn to show off what it's like inside the glacier.

As we headed down, a storm started to blow in -- and it brought this rectangular cloud along with it. Never seen anything like it -- and the camera captured it perfectly. It's a REAL 90 degree edge to a puffy cloud.

The view heading down from the Little Matterhorn -- and a neighboring cable car heading up

After the second day poking around the peaks of Zermatt we treated ourselves to a tremendous Swiss Fondue meal at the Stockhorn Restaurant.

Switzerland was a great way to break things up before heading north to the UK.  Tomorrow we head out on a 5:39am! train to Geneva before catching a noon flight to southwest England and a few nights in the great little town of Bath.

Florence – Birthplace of the Renaissance

An early bird train from Rome brought us into Florence by late morning. A charming medieval city that remains much the same today as it did 600 hundred years ago, we quickly discovered that its cobblestones and narrow streets were not very conducive to our caravan of luggage wheelers. We look like the Ringling Brothers Circus when we arrive in town and the route from the train station to the pension challenged our elephants!

The hotel Il Bargellino is run by a native Florentine (Pino) and his American wife Carmel. It was a very quaint two story B&B styled home that dates back to the 1500s. Best of all was the roof top garden terrace, which serves as ground zero for all of the guests. In the afternoons and evenings, the guests assemble there with their wine bottles to share their tales from the day. Everyone is so friendly — including Leopold, the resident parrot.

Kayla and Leopold got chummy on the first day at Il Bargellino

Florence is the birthplace of the Renaissance — and so we naturally spent most of our time in the churches and art museums that hold all of these treasures. We are all now quasi-experts on Italian artists for sure — and names of famous Italian lineages like Medici and Pitti just roll of the tip of our tongues.

The famous dome designed by Brunelleschi peeks around the facade of Il Duomo

The Byzantine era baptistry next to the Dome is home to the most amazing mosaic ceiling that we've seen on the trip

The contest to design these doors for the Baptistry is widely recognized as kicking off the Renaissance. Ghiberti won, ironically leaving Brunelleschi with lots of free time to figure out how to build the largest dome of its day.

San Lorenzo's reliquary houses the finger of the apostle Matthew. This whole idea of saving pieces of your favorite saints is new to us protestants from the US.

The ancient Ponte Vecchia bridge crosses the Arno River and is home to dozens of jewelry stores today.

After the high prices in Rome, we were glad to find the Euro Store in Florence. The dollar store in the mall has nothing on this place.

17 foot tall David is literally a larger than life stunning work of art. Zack covertly snapped this picture inside the Accademia when the guards weren't watching.

We headed up to a large piazza overlooking the city for a spectacular sunset

This dome climb was awesome and quite different than St Peters. At one point you literally head straight up the face of the dome, instead of spiraling around it.

After the hike up the 462 steps of the Dome, we were rewarded with this great view of the city

After two and half weeks in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, we are turning our sights north for a change of pace (and temperature) in Switzerland.  We embark on a 8 hour, three train journey through Italy and into the Alps for Zermatt !

Rome – Take II

Waking up in the port of Civitavecchia — we drew a long straw and walked straight off the cruise ship, no lines or waiting, right at 6:30am.  Hauled the 300 pounds of luggage we are carrying over to the station and caught an early morning train back to our hotel, beating the morning rush hour. (by the way, we’re not sure who actually works in southern Italy — as you never see a business person and the streets are full of men standing around)

Being ahead of schedule and without our hotel room ready, we hustled over to the Vatican Museum — the one really big site that still needed to be crossed off our list.  Over the past five years Dave has become a big Italian history and art nerd — primarily through reading books like The Pope’s Ceiling, Brunelleschi’s Dome, and Galileo’s Daughter. So this was a highly anticipated stop on the tour.

We are excited to be revisiting Vatican City and walking over the Vatican Museum

We were pleasantly surprised to not face massive lines as we entered the museum (although every room insides was packed like sardines)

Young Raphael's School of Athens adorns the walls of the Pope's Chamber in the Vatican Palace

Michelangelo's recently restored Sistine Chapel -- the 1st wonder of the Renaissance art world

23 years after he painted the ceiling, an encore performance produced The Last Judgement, an incredible alter wall fresco

This is one massive museum -- you could easily spend 4-6 hours here (well, at least some of us could...)

To each his own...Zack and Kayla enjoy the bread and pastry from the tasty Il Fornaio bakery

While Dave consults the map about our next stop -- Zack works the crowd in true Rome begging fashion

We spent the rest of the day tooling around some of our favorite piazza’s and sights and doing a bit of shopping. Oh yeah, and there was a 2 hour nap thrown in there somewhere too.

We leave Rome feeling like we really got a chance to know and appreciate it — yet there is plenty of meat left on the bone should we be fortunate enough to visit again.

Early to bed because we have a 7:30am train to catch to Florence.  Despite the number and size of bags in our entourage, we are getting efficient at packing up and hitting the road !

Cruise Wrap Up

Eleven nights and seven wonderful ports of call later, we were sad to say goodbye to the Celebrity Solstice and all of the good times that the family had on board.

Thought we’d throw in a few extra pictures from the cruise that didn’t quite fit into the “ports of call” theme of the earlier posts.

Rose on the veranda

Big soup bowls in the Murano dining room

Zack catches up on the news on formal night -- with flesh tone socks

The prettiest girls on board

Family photo opp on the last formal night

Kayla looking good in her new dress

24 years and still in love...

We’re heading for land — another day in Rome and then a weekend in Florence. The journey continues…

Touring Italy’s Amalfi Coast

It was tough to decide what to do in Naples — all of the advance advice from the books and Cruise Critics panned the port itself but raved about the ruins of Pompeii, climbing  up Mount Vesuvius, taking the hydrofoil to Capri, or doing the cliffside drive around the Amalfi coast.  Confronted with these choices, I know I spent more time doing research for the cruise stop than we were going to spend in the port itself.  And in the end, I left the playbook and did something completely different. We rented a boat and skipper to show us the Amalfi coast from the water!

Our skipper Francesca picks us up in our 21 foot traditional Sorrento vessel -- called a Smeraldo. The mast is cool but purely decorative.

Leaving the Marina Piccola in Sorrento

Zack and Kayla enjoying the sun deck as we head toward the island of Capri

The famous rocks of Faraglione -- where Bill Gates' boat was tied up the week before we arrived

Zack and Dave dive in to swim through the Green Grotto

Approaching the rocks of Faraglione on the south side of Capri

Kayla and Dave enjoying the open seas

Family shot by Francesca as we approach beautiful Positano

Our one hour stop in Positano was a tease -- we must come back !

The best pizza of the trip -- pizza margherita in Positano

Kayla reclines on the Smeraldo's sun deck as we head back for Sorrento

Athens — the motherland

Do you speak Greek? That was the question of the day during our visit to Athens. They check out my credit card, see the Panos name, and then the question is asked. My answer — “no, but I love Greek food.”

Of all the ports we visited, Athens wins “Last Place”. Congested, extra hot, dirty, and lacking any form of urban planning — we didn’t enjoy the hometown of Grandpa Tom the way we thought we might.  What it lacks in looks and charm, it makes up in Greek ruins and food. Plus, it was the last chance to sample the delicious Mythos beer — which we learned to love in the Greek Isles.

This ancient theatre at the foot of the Acropolis is still used for concerts today

Maybe we should have gone earlier...

We were bummed to learn the Parthenon was under reconstruction, until we learned that it has been this way since 1983. My speedy Greek brothers.

The urban sprawl of Athens -- millions of four story apartment buildings. With all of those beautiful Greek islands, would you choose to live here?

The was more room for a family photo on the back side of the Parthenon

The dual temple of Athena and Poseidon on the Acropolis

The doric temple of Hephaestus, the best preserved classical temple in Greece

The Temple of Zeus, 16 columns remaining out of the original 104

Yummm, traditional Greek gyros in the Plaka neighborhood of Athens

One extra bit of excitement was the attempted pickpocketing on the Athens metro.  We were crowded in a metro car and the guy standing next to me looks down and picks up a blue cruise ship wallet from the floor — he pulls out the first card and it’s Kayla’s cruise pass. Turns out that somebody had unsnapped the left thigh pocket of my shorts, pulled out this card carrying wallet the cruise line gives you, then dropped it when they realized it wasn’t worth anything. Well, it was worth something to us — it would have been a hassle getting back on board without it.  But the real blessing is that he didn’t try the right pocket — that was where my wallet was (where I thought it was safe and sound behind the two snaps on the short pocket.)

We’ve been a bit rough on our review of Athens here — but don’t get us wrong, it was still a great stop and something we wouldn’t want to have missed. But compared to the beauty of virtually everywhere else that we’ve been on this trip, Athens came up just a bit short.  At this point in the cruise, we head for our third day at sea — which we always enjoy — and then the final stop in Naples / Amalfi coast.

Ancient Ephesus

Port of call #4 for the cruise was the ancient (and dead) city of Ephesus. This was a port that we had been looking forward to because of the Biblical connections.  It’s a city that Paul visited multiple times and of course wrote Ephesians, the letter to the leaders of the early Christian church here.  Leading up to the cruise we did more research on the city and discovered that Ephesus is where the apostle John spent most of his later years and where he ultimately died and is buried.  It’s also widely believed that Mary would have been with him, as the apostles would have brought her with them as they fled the persecution in Jerusalem.

Even with such high expectations, the ruins and sights around Ephesus just blew us away. Ephesus is a “dead” city – it only exists as a ruin. And it is tucked into the Turkish hillside about 2 miles from the coast – but the really cool thing is that it used to be a major Mediterranean port in ancient times. For a variety of reasons the sea receded and now we have the additional challenge of trying to imagine how the city was situated along the coast. The Ephesian ruins are outstanding due to the overall size of the area, the number of buildings, and the quality of the now reassembled ruins (numerous earthquakes in region reduced everything to rubble – and left a piece by piece puzzle for the archaeologists to reassemble.)

Getting ready for the hot walk through Ephesus

Zack's longtime love for archaeology leads to an unusual souvenir

The girls finding shade

Roman toilets come in handy

The ancient Library of Celsus looms behind Dave and Kayla

The Terrace Houses are an amazing reconstructive dig in progress

Turkey's amazing vegetation includes this fig tree

The Library of Celsus housed 12,000 scrolls and appears on the 20 Lira banknote

Spectacular from every angle

Paul regularly preached the gospel in the Great Theatre of Ephesus

Dave and our guide enjoy a fresh pressed orange juice

Who knew Turkey could look like this?

Dave and Karen at the ruined basilica of St John, where his tomb still stands

Karen tries to one up Zack at St John's Basilica

The "beloved one", the Apostle John, is buried here

When you see too many ruins on one trip, you turn to stone

Another spectacular Mediterranean sunset as we prepare to sail away

Istanbul ain’t no turkey

The trip of a lifetime continues into the enchanting city of Istanbul, Turkey.  A bustling and surprisingly cosmopolitan city of 15 million people, Istanbul surprised in nearly every way. A sparkling jewel with stunning vistas in every direction – perfectly clean with very friendly people – we had a fantastic two days here with our private tour guide Lale Kosagan.

From the ship you see these pictures of Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and the bridge that crosses from Europe to Asia.

Great view of Hagia Sophia from the Solistice

View of the amazing Blue Mosque from the Solstice deck

The Bosphorus Bridge connects Europe with Asia in Istanbul

After arriving Friday at 1:00pm, we started our tour with a stop at the Basilica Cistern, the ancient underground water system that held and supplied clean water to the palaces of the royalty more than 500 years ago.

The Basilica Cistern was very unique - underground waterworks that look like a cathedral

Onward to the beautiful Hagia Sophia, the fourth largest dome in the world and while a little smaller than Saint Peter’s in Rome, its unique design gives you a feeling of even more space. Originally a Christian church, then converted to a mosque, it is now a secular museum. It is very interesting to see the features of both Islamic and Christian worship now juxtaposed in one place.

Family shot in the park in front of Hagia Sophia

Juxtaposition of Islam and Christianity inside Hagia Sophia

Scaffolding at work on the restoration of the dome ceiling

Christian mosaic on the Hagia Sophia apse

Moving next door now, through beautiful parks and gardens, we visited the world famous Blue Mosque. While not even the largest mosque in Istanbul, it’s the most interesting architecturally and is decorated with priceless tiles. This is a working mosque and so we got to hear the call to prayer – and entered with the ritualistic removing of our shoes etc. Kayla’s kneecaps were showing below her dress, so she earned a blue wrap to cover them up as we entered.

The beautiful Blue Mosque

Inside the Blue Mosque - tiles dominate

They have VERY large columns in the Blue Mosque

Afterward we visited with a shy little boy who is touring the major holy grounds of Turkey with his family as part of a strange tradition. It turns out that he is about to be circumcised – and they wear these costumes as they traipse around the country. As if it wasn’t enough to be circumcised when you can remember the trauma, they make him wear this fancy costume as well.

Turkish boy in traditional garb before his circumcision

And continuing on with our whirlwind tour, we take in the Topkapi Palace – the monstrous grounds and 256 room home for all the sultans and their harems. This easiest parallel to draw is the Eastern version of the Versailles Palace + theCrown Jewels of the Tower of London. And with unspeakable Holy Relics thrown in (David’s sword, John the Baptist’s arm and skull bone, the Prophet Mohammed’s mantle, Moses’ staff and Joseph’s turban).

A sultan receiving room at Topkapi Palace

Divan style at Topkapi Palace

Bosphorus views from Topkapi

Walking with Lale at the palace

We conclude our ½ day tour at the pedestrian mall at Taksim Square – and dinner at 360 – a stunning restaurant with another amazing view of the entire city of Istanbul.

Busy pedestrian traffic at Taksim Square

The stunning view from dinner at 360 Restaurant

Dinner at 360 Restaurant - above Taksim Square

After Karen and Kayla retreat to the boat Friday night, where Kayla contemplated life as a conservative Istanbulian girl, Zack and Dave headed back out for a little local flavor at the nearby Ali Baba Nargile Bar and VIP Salon.

Kayla goes for the local look

Here Zack and his father discovered how to use the hookah pipe like a local and enjoyed Turkish coffee and tea.

Dave learning the Nargile (hookah) ropes

Zack working the hookah pipe at Ali Baba's

On Saturday morning we were back on the road, enjoying our Mercedes van ride with Lale over to the Asian side of Istanbul and back to the European side for shopping in the 600 year old Grand Bazaar.  We did not visit all 4,000 stores – but we did buy a few trinkets you won’t easily find in Austin, including Zack’s new Hookah pipe and festive cap.

Karen and Kayla cruising Istanbul in our Mercedes tour van

Panos family on the Asian side of Istanbul. We love Lale and her hats !

Zack goes native with Nargile Pipe and fez

Cruising lovely Mykonos

Just 90 miles away from Santorini, we made our second stop of the cruise at Mykonos, another blue and white idyllic island – this time with fewer cliffs and more accessible beaches.

Dave and Zack in Mykonos Town

Windmills outside Little Venice in Mykonos

Zack and Kayla ready for Mykonos journey

Kayla soaks it all in near the windmills, with the view overlooking the outcropping of homes and restaurants on the water known as Little Venice.

Kayla outside of Little Venice in Mykonos

Soon, the transportation decision confronts us again – and Dave opts to rent the four wheel ATVs for just $20 Euros – the perfect way to explore the island on our own.

Zack and Kayla on ATV in Mykonos

Dave and Karen overlooking Psarou Beach on Mykonos

After taking in a couple of beaches and the obligatory Greek salad lunch at the tavern on the bay, Zack and Kayla swam out to the rocks. Don’t worry, Kayla quickly recovered from her fall and laughed it all off.

Beachside Taverna at Paranga Beach, Mykonos

Zack and Kayla sunning at the rocks in Paranga Beach

Kayla bites the dust at Paranga Beach

She's ok -- and laughing already

Back on the ship, as we sailed away from Mykonos to start our longer journey to Istanbul, we were treated to a magical Mediterranean sunset.

Mykonos sunset

Back onboard the ship, the highlight of the evening was clearly Zack’s mastering of the game of craps in the casino. Perhaps his father is too good of a teacher, as Zack won $105 and his dad only won $45.  No pictures of this one – but you can imagine the smile on his face.

Let’s see if his luck continues…

First stop — Santorini !

Never has a place looked even more beautiful in real life than the pictures. The amazing volcanic island of Santorini – where the water and sky are really this blue and the buildings are really this white. Another perfect weather day, 85 degrees and sunny without a cloud in the sky, we arrived at Fira, Santorini in the early afternoon on a spectacular sail in.

Dave and Kayla on Santorini Sail In

Now, the first decision is how to get up the 850 foot cliff that confronts you in the port. I suspected it would be the cable car, and while Zack wanted to walk, in the end Karen surprised us with the idea of taking the donkeys up the hill.

This was truly one of the highlights of the trip – nothing beats an out of control donkey who takes you wherever (and whenever) he pleases up the zig zag path. Here we learned that it was a good decision to not walk, as you must dodge the donkeys and their poop the entire ride up. Kayla’s little white stead gave up around ½ way up the hill, so she had to change donkeys. That gave the donkey in front of Karen just enough time to take a long pee on her leg, soaking her white pants up to the knee !!  While this sounds problematic, perhaps you have not heard of the great shopping in Santorini, where Karen quickly converted her new badge of honor into a new Greek dress.

Kayla takes off on Santorini donkeys

Zack and Karen on Santorini donkeys

Zack enjoying Mom's donkey mess

Karen after her donkey attack

From there you just walk around visiting all of the stores and restaurants along the way, pausing from time to time to take in the amazing views that surround you.

Karen sporting her new donkey-induced dress in Santorini

The view from friendly Christos' porch in Fira - our ship in background

We took the bus out to Oiai, the little town at the end of the island, where we had lunch on the edge of the cliff (Greek salad of course) – and just lots of smiles at idea of being in such an amazing place.

Delicious Greek salad in Oia -- look at that block of feta !

Dave and Karen at the restaurant in Oia

Zack and Kayla along the walkway in Oia

The proud flag of the Panos motherland flying in Oia

Heading back to the boat for our 10:00pm departure, we made the easy decision to take the cable car back down!  As you can see, Karen enjoyed this trip even more than the donkeys.

Karen enjoying the 900 foot descent back to port

Day at Sea

As the cruise departed Monday afternoon from the Italian port of Civitavecchia, we knew that we made the right decision to cruise early instead of at the end. It was the perfect antidote to the hustle and bustle of graduation, packing, the four flights over and the busy days in Rome. The ship is gorgeous, and because it is so new, it feels more like a floating 5 star hotel than a cruise ship.

Celebrity greeted us with a champagne bucket in our room as we arrived from Rome

After sailing away, we enjoyed a lazy day watching the blue waters of the Mediterranean. Zack started his day with his first room service experience, enjoying a cup of Earl Grey (which he now consumes at prodigious rates – even with pizza!).

Earl Zack takes advantage of all the fringes of cruising on the first morning

From time to time we would catch a good glimpse of land, particularly as we rounded the boot of Italy between the mainland and the island of Sicily. Today was all about getting perhaps too much sun on the decks and exploring the ship.

The med is a shade of blue that you don't see anywhere else

Sailing between Sicily (here) and the mainland -- around Italy's boot

As we approached happy hour, it felt like a good time to enjoy Zack’s coveted Limoncello purchase. He fell in love with the bottle and the idea of a Lemon Party aboard the cruise. Unfortunately, it did not meet his expectations.

Locally produced Lemoncello for the Lemon Party on balcony

Zack's refined palette doesn't approve (kudos to Kayla for capturing his candid reaction)

It was also our first formal night, which we enjoyed in the specialty dining experience of the Murano restaurant. A beautiful dining room with service, presentation and food as good as anything we’ve had on land.  The family glam was a sight to behold, don’t you think?

Dave and Karen before heading out to formal night

Zack and Kayla dressed for dinner and casino action

Rome in a Day (or so…)

We survived the four flights over – nearly 24 hours from door to door.  And, most importantly, all of the luggage arrived at the same time too! Resisting our urges to take “just a quick nap”, we unloaded our stuff and headed out to explore Rome in the afternoon (the doorman needed four trips to bring our bags up the tiny two person elevator in the loft we rented).

Saint Peters Basilica seemed an appropriate first stop.  An icon of gigantic proportion to start our journey. We decided to take in the Dome climb (an elevator ride and then 350 steps) before our legs gave out on us. Zack enjoyed the views but was uneasy with the ledge and perspective looking down into the cathedral.

Mass was going on as we walked around above it, with the latin verses creating a slightly surreal feel to the whole experience. Back on the ground, the late afternoon sun combined with the remnants of incense to create an interesting effect.

Feeling much better the next morning, we made an early departure for a full day touring ancient Rome. Starting with the 2,000 year old Pantheon – we then worked our way over to the Roman Forum / Ruins and all that had to offer.

Then we walked over to the Coliseum for a visit to the scene of Gladiator and this very impressive façade and interior.

It didn’t take long to learn to love gelato. We plan to be experts by the time we depart after the cruise.

This full day in Rome was capped off with a two hour night walking tour of the great piazza’s and fountains of Rome including Navona, Trevi, Spanish Steps and concluding it all with a very late dinner on the square in front of the Pantheon.

With  just a few hours to spend before finding the train and leaving for the cruise port, we decided to stay local to our Trastavere neighborhood and explore the delightful churches in the area. This included Saint Cecilia’s (the martyred namesake for Kayla’s best friend Cilla) and Santa Maria en Trastavere – a 900 year old church over the site where the first Christians worshipped in Rome.

Twas the Night Before Christmas…

and all through the house, people were packing and weighing and repacking and topping off and double checking and in some cases…repacking.

Heading into the big day we have it all in four duffels, two rolling suit bags — and the carry-ons.  240 pounds of sheer necessity to get us through the dog days of summer in Athens, flurries in Zermatt, and cool drizzle in London.  It’s a lot of stuff to haul around for a month — but where will we put the souvenirs?

Final Shopping in Progress

This weekend saw a lot of last minute purchases being made.  Dave is most excited about the new camera upgrade. After six years with what used to be a state of the art Panasonic, he splurged on the new Rebel T1i, the latest Digital SLR from Canon.  Lots of cool and complicated features to learn. But at 15 megapixels and with swappable lenses, this thing is amazing. It even shoots HD video. I hope to figure it out before we go — Zack’s graduation will be a good trial.

Here’s a link to the details of the new camera.

Loading up the new blog!

The countdown for Europe has begun — we’re now less than two weeks until we land in Rome !

Our itinerary and key travel information can be found on the right side of  the blog.  There are additional trip details on the About page. Just click the menu above.

There are many things we are excited to see on this trip — but the Coliseum will be the first biggie we take in.  Here it is in all it’s glory. We’ve made that the header graphic of this blog as well…

Roman Coliseum