Cruisin' to GREECE!

Greece was one place that I had always wanted to visit and I think it will be a place that I will always want to visit again! I loved Greece I'm just not sure that I love big cruises - we like exploring on our own and on our own schedule. However, there were so many things that made a cruise great especially with a kiddo - food is always available, you only unpack once and all the travel arrangements are done for you. Carlie loved being on the "big boat" every morning we would ask her what she wanted to do that day and she would say, "play with my friends (the Zorich's room was right next door), go on adventures and go swimming!"
We left from Venice which was so easy since it is only like an hour from our house. Then we cruised through the night to Bari, Italy. It doesn’t have lots to offer families so Laura, her friend Emily and I got off the boat and did a bike tour while the dads and kids stayed on the boat and played in the pool. I bought Carlie some water wings (the only pool toy in Southern Italy) we thought she was too young for them and that we would basically just hold her the whole time. Well, little Miss Independent was so brave she wanted to do it all on her own! Dad even taught her how to float on her back and jump into the pool on her own!! Maybe she will be a pool rat like me after all!!
The next morning we arrived at a port outside of Olympia. We hired a driver and saw the birth place of the Olympics - pretty amazing. Did you know that only men were allowed to watch and participate and the athletes were naked? That night we had our first "Gala" night so we got dressed up for dinner and brought the kids!! There weren't a ton of kids on the boat I would say that the average age was 60 - 65 :-). The kids were sweet and well behaved so most people just thought they were adorable (of course)! It was an Italian cruise but there were lots of Germans and a big Japanese tour group.
The next day was a big one, we stopped in Santorini in the morning and cruised for awhile and arrived in Mykonos in the early evening. Both were incredible - we just wanted more time there!! Santorini looks like a picture it is truly hard to believe that it is real - even after being there! The 2 towns in Santorini are built on top of the cliffs and you take donkeys (or walk)to get up and down from the docks! Carlie liked the donkeys but did not want to ride on them. She is like that with horses too - whenever we see one or read about one she tells me, " I just look - no ride!" Mykonos was wonderful we had such a fun time wondering around the beautiful streets with white buildings and flowers everywhere. We found a great place to eat dinner (ask me about if you are ever headed there) and enjoyed a late night before heading back to the boat. Speaking of food - we loved Greek food so fresh and yummy!!! Although, I still prefer Italian wine!!
Our next port was Rhodes! Joe really wanted to find some beaches so we rented a big van with our friends and drove to the beach town of Lindos. A little storm moved in while we were there so we explored the town (white buildings with a castle perched on the hill overlooking everything) and just made a quick stop to the beach. Carlie LOVED the beach for the first time because we were in a little cove with no waves. She wasn't able to nap that day and REALLY needed one so Joe took her back to the boat for a little snooze. I got to explore (aka shopping!) old town Rhodes. It is a medieval walled city with beautiful buildings and modern shops built in where there used to be old dwellings and ancient shops.
The next day we just cruised and and enjoyed some down time on the boat. Laura's friend stayed with the girls while we got all dressed up (more pictures some where?) went to dinner and did some gambling at the casino!
The last day we stopped in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is another beautiful, walled ancient city. We explored around a little - you can actually walk all along the city walls. It was a hot day so we walked to a beach and cooled off in the water. Croatia has interesting beaches - there isn’t really sand just little pebbles. After that we cruised back to Venice and said goodbye to our "big boat"!
All in all it was a great trip with lots of fun memories! I'll post more pictures as I get them uploaded!

Saying Farewell to Venice!
Enjoying one of our dinners. Dinner lasted for about 2 and 1/2 hours every night. Carlie did amazing for only being 2 and a 1/2! She is wearing a dress that we got her in Greece that she loved and ended up wearing to dinner like 3 times :-).

Hamming it up in Olympia!

Carlie and Kelsey checking out the TALL columns!More Olympia

On your mark, get set..... on the ancient starting line!

The whole crew(Carlie is catching a quick snooze on Dad - her portable bed :-) !

Joe untying the boat!

Beautiful Mykonos!

"Little Venice" in Mykonos.

Mykonos windmills...

Santorini at the village of Oia.

More Santorini while Carlie catches a snooze.

Catching a nap after some "adventures"!

Old town Rhodes.

We rented a car on the island of Rhodes and found this little beach town. We let Carlie take her dress off and play in the water.

We turned our heads for a moment and she had taken her bloomers and diaper off too!

Dubrovnik....