Rhodes

The very next day after Crete we docked at the port in Rhodes, Greece. We were not sure what to expect and loved waking up and seeing the medieval tours and walls. The whole castle like feel was very exciting to Peyton and she cam up with a very elaborate story about a princes and a dragon and us going on an adventure which helped get her going for the day and be pretty agreeable about walking around.

Here is a picture of the cruise ship, The Mariner of the Seas...our home for 12 nights!

John and I both really enjoyed this port. It has a lot of medieval history and influence which has left an old town surronded by walls and many forts. We did a walking tour on our own following an intinerary from our Lonely Planet book which was great and gave us the highlights of everything. What we found interesting was the mix of medieval architecture and then signs of when the Ottomans were in Greece and the mosques.

 

While we were walking we came across a store that was selling postcards and stamps and had a mail box right outside the shop. I only could remember my parents address off of the top of my head so we went ahead and wrote them a post card and sent it to them. Peyton was so excited and it was fun to do old school mail!

We found a restaurant to eat at and enjoyed some yummy food! I can not write enough how much I just loved being able to eat at nice restaurants, sit outside and also just people watch while we ate. No family sections in the back corner of the restaurant here! So much fun and I soaked it in!

Lots of wandering around, looking at shops, not buying anything but just enjoying soaking in a different country and the history associated with the island. 

The next night....we took the time to take some pictures of the kids and all get dressed up and get pictures done by the photographers on the boat. We didn't go to the nice formal dinner because we have the kids but I wanted to dress them up and have pictures done. 

What I didn't realize is how incredibly hard it would be to get Graham to sit still. So I essentially got the one above and that is it! He just wanted to climb and go everywhere! But aren't they both so incredibly cute in their outfits! Love dressing them up.....even if Peyton refused to wear any other shoes besides her dirty pink crocs. It was a battle I wasn't about to fight and honestly....I didn't care because that is who she is!

Our attempted photo session turned into Graham and Peyton playing tag along the boat. So much fun for both of them.

The next night we were heading towards Istanbul and going through the Dardanelles Strait into the Sea of Marmara. It was pretty interesting to watch this big cruise ship be guided by the two tug boats and navigate its way through this tiny strait. And we had gorgeous sunsets that night!

Crete

After a day at sea (I will do a combo post of our time at sea) we docked in the port of Chania, Crete. Overall opinion of Crete....way too crowded and touristy for me. Maybe other parts of the island would have been nice but where we were was crazy busy and so touristy which I didn't realize how much I hate until we were there! There wasn't many sites to see besides some museums but we had decided before the trip that we would be very selective in what museums we attempted. So, we had planned to just walk around, explore the historic Venetian Harbor and see what we could find. Our cruise arranged for transportation from the port to the city center on a public transportation bus that was I think 6 Euros total. Very helpful and convenient.

We walked around a market area which was mostly selling leather sandals. There were some pretty nice ones but I was in no mood to try on shoes with my traveling companions.

We saw an historic church outside the market area...

Loaded up with Peyton in the stroller and Graham in the carrier. We looked like crazy people! Another travel tip...make sure you have a good carrier when traveling with an infant, especially with a baby as big as Graham. I had gotten the Boba Baby Carrier while I was in Dubai the last time as it better distributes the weight, can allow you to carry them on your back and is designed to support a higher weight limit. It was a lifesaver! I carried Graham around Pompeii, on the train and back to the boat on my back walking 6 plus miles and I was not feeling the weight until just before we got to the boat. And we even used it around Istanbul to carry Peyton when she fell asleep in John's arms to help distribute her weight. 

We found a Starbucks which was such a highlight for me because it was a real, full menu Starbucks with all the new flavors of things and made correctly! I ordered a Mocha Coconut Frappuccino and it was delicious!

Here is the Harbor....

Peyton got a Nemo ballon and she was guarding our Starbucks drinks!

We found a place to eat off of the Harbor (I had read that they were not that great and more for tourists) and we LOVED where we ate. I don't remember the name :( but it was small family run place and the son was our waiter and his mom cooked. It was delicious! As you can see...Graham loved eating all the new foods. Here he tried Greek Moussaka which is a casserole made by layering eggplant with a spiced meat filling and it is topped with a bechamel sauce (creamy) and then baked. Delicious!

I know it isn't too original but I had a Greek Salad and some local Crete wine. The salads were so fresh and the feta was delicious! Such a wonderful lunch!

We walked around some more and I found a store selling local artists sculpture and ceramic pieces. I had stopped earlier in the day and we went back because I loved a couple of things in there. After some discussions and negotiations we came home with this lady sculpture....

Overall a good day exploring Crete and we headed back to the boat to rest and then have dinner and prepare for the next day and our next port....

Sicily...the Town of Taormina

The very next day after setting sail from Rome we docked in Messina, Sicily. We had read that there wasn't too much to see in the actual port of Messina so we made arrangements to take a ship excursion of them providing transportation and us doing the town on our own to Taormina. 

As a tip for anyone traveling to Messina on a cruise ship....this was the only excursion we booked with our cruise line because we had heard that the train/buses were complicated and unreliable and it seemed worth it to just have the cruise line arrange for transportation for us. I don't know if the public transportation would have worked but I do know that this way prevented us from having to take a train, a bus, and then a taxi....one bus seemed a whole lot easier!

It was such a picturesque and cute town and what I imagined small Italian towns to be like. The 45 minute bus ride was rough....we had no idea what our "vacation routine" should look like with the kids and Graham was not having sitting still (seems to already be a theme on the trip). Once we got there though and got settled, we walked around, enjoyed the breath taking scenery.

We grabbed some panini's for lunch, wandered around some more and found some gelatto. Which we enjoyed tremendously throughout much of the trip! I think we tried almost all the flavors offered.

Graham has always loved his bed, with his nighttime music and routine for sleeping. He never sleeps in the car or stroller and so I didn't know what we were going to do on the trip but as you can see Graham napped in the stroller! It took some work at first but by the end of our trip he was a pro....we just reclined him, gave him a blanket and he would fall asleep and on some days had several naps in the stroller. Defiantly adapted to our nomadic life and made it so much easier! Tip....bring a stroller that fully reclines...it helps so much and also lightweight blankets like Aden and Anais Muslin Swaddle Blankets. Because they are so large and lightweight, they are awesome at covering the stroller to block out sun, covering up as a comfort blanket without getting too hot and are the best! We use them constantly in Saudi and they were a lifesaver on our trip!

We walked and enjoyed more sights.....

Peyton bought her prize for the trip....of course it was in the first place we stopped and at the first toy store she saw...she named it Sicily.

While Graham was napping we stopped and had a drink overlooking the ocean. Breathtaking! So beautiful and it was so nice to sit out a real restaurant with my husband, wear real clothes, eat outside where men and women are mixing and enjoy a glass of wine...bliss!

Peyton is such a goof ball! Then we got ready to head back to the cruise ship with these two happy kids. I am so in love with them!

Traveling and Setting Sail!

We left Saudi on the 15th and headed to Bahrain to catch our flight to Rome (via Doha). Our flight wasn't until 10:15 AM and so we thought we had plenty of time but we didn't account for the traffic in Saudi. Everyone was trying to get to work when we were leaving and it was crazy. We finally got to the Bahrain airport, rushed into the airport, checked in and made it just in time. And we made the quick flight to Doha and then the five and a half hour flight into Rome. Peyton was great as usual and Graham was great for his age but it is next to impossible to keep him sitting still. The kids interests are running, climbing, jumping, screaming with joy and loud toys....all of which do not go well on airplanes. We didn't bring a car seat since we didn't need it when we got there and so I know that made it harder but either way....I am DREADING flying home with that boy. We finally got to Rome, got our bags, found the shuttle to take us to our hotel, found some food and we got everyone to bed. A long day...


The next morning we woke up, had breakfast at the hotel and got Graham down for a nap thinking we had several hours until our driver was supposed to come and take us to the cruise ship. As soon as I got Graham down and John and Peyton went for a walk around the town we were at....the driver shows up. I forgot I asked for an earlier pick up time....UGH! He was still a little early so I just worked on moving bags from our room into the hall and as soon as John and Peyton came back we were off to the cruise ship.

We cruised on Royal Caribbean International's Mariner of the Seas and it was wonderful! Tons of praise for the staff both on the shore and onboard, the boat and amenities and how much cruising with kids made things easier. Our check in went smoothly and we got on board and found some lunch and then got settled in our rooms. We booked two adjoining interior rooms and that is the way to go when traveling with little ones. I will do a later post when our cruise portion of the trip is over and convey specific kids and cruising tips and advice. 


We took some time to walk around the boat and familiarize ourselves with everything....Graham LOVED looking at the ocean...

I don't remember much else of that day besides the muster drill and then being tired and wanting some rest and knowing that we would be in Sicily the next morning so that precious day at sea which equals rest and relaxation was two days away....but Graham decided to start early and watch us sail away from his lounge chair.

That night we set sail away from Rome and heading towards the island of Sicily....

Volcano we saw on our way to Sicily

Home Sweet Home

We are finally HOME!!! 


We had a lovely holiday but 20 days of traveling around Europe with two kids is a lot of work and there is nothing like your comfy bed and the kids toys and your house! What is crazy is that we are only here for 19 more days and then we are off again for our trip back to the States. We have so much travel planned for this year that it is just going to be a whirlwind of packing, traveling, unpacking and repeat. 


Since I don't have that much time before we head off again I am going to try and be diligent and blog about our trip but it might take some time. We did manage to visit three different countries, eight different cities and took around 1000 pictures! I feel so incredibly blessed to take a vacation like this and see as much as we did and for John to have as much time off as he did (and he still has time off for a trip in October and December)! Living overseas can be tough, frustrating and overwhelming but this is a sweet reward for the time here. 


Stay tuned for our crazy adventure through Italy, Greece and Turkey!

Family picture on Mars Hill in Athens, where Paul preached. 

We had just finished reading Acts 17 and seeing the Acropolis behind us and seeing what Paul saw when he taught was amazing....

"Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands." Acts 17:24

SUYL- Living Rooms

I am participating in Kelly Korner's Show Us Your Life series on our houses...and this week it is our living rooms!


In March I did a whole house tour of our new house in Saudi (well by then we had been here 10 months but it was when I finally got around to it).


But specifically here is the living room....

I wanted to show our old house in Texas and what our living room there looked like....

And then onto our company/cookie cutter house in Saudi...we have tried hard to make it our own and more cozy....seeing these pictures really makes me want to paint but I don't want to repaint it when we leave and the ceilings are huge!

We have a long rectangular room that runs along the middle of the house seperating the bedrooms from the kitchen. The room has two functions...main living room and dining room (and we don't have an eat in kitchen so it is our only eating area). Here is the main living room.

 In the corner is an antique wooden door with lots of intricate carvings that is from Afghanistan. You can see more pictures of it here.

 You can see the dining room in the background.

My desk that I got from Altar'd Custom Hand Painted and Refinished furniture outside the Houston area. I love it! We bought it when we knew we were pregnant with Graham and needed to turn the office into a nursery and it fit in our kitchen bay window. Also...the dresser that the TV is sitting on is from her as well. I love having a dresser for a TV stand because there is so much storage and useful drawers.

In our new house we have a secondary living area which we LOVE. I am so thankful for this space. It is split between a more casual sitting area and a playroom. 

Thats our living room and playroom/living room! Hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to visiting lots of other spaces!