Our Mediterranean Adventure: Day Five & Six Cruising

Dear Em,

* This is one of ten posts recapping our California adventure. See also Day One Boston to Barcelona, Day Two Antibes & Nice, Day Three Pisa & Florence, Day Four Rome, Day Seven Athens, Days Eight, Nine, & Ten Turkey & Lots of Cruising, Day Eleven Capri, Italy, Day Twelve Cruising & Returning Home, & Your Own Adventures with Grandma & Papa. *

We spent Wednesday & Thursday cruising on the water. It was much needed. We had spent so much of the previous days waking up early, walking & adventuring, & heading to bed late. It was such a nice change to have a couple days without plans. 

On Wednesday, we woke up late- 10am! After breakfast, we headed to an open deck in our bathing suits. We sat in lounge chairs in the sun & read, looking at the Italian landscape (we cruised the bottom of the Italian boot between the Italian mainland & Sicily) as we cruised by. We passed by a smoking volcano, saw a sea turtle float by, & found a pair of Dolphins jumping in the waves. 

We went to a fancy art auction on board the ship, where the first painting sold for $21,000. Then we left the fancy art auction. Sure, there was champagne, but expensive art just really isn't our scene.

After a yummy dinner, I put sweatpants on for the very first time since I left for our trip. It felt so great to relax. We went outside to the open deck, sat on lounge chairs, covered ourselves in pool towels, and watched a movie on the big screen.

That night we got to talk to you, & my body relaxed that much more to hear your happy, little voice on the other end of the line. The only tough part of the trip has been being away from you, but it's been easier knowing you're happy & healthy & having a great time with Grandma & Papa. 

On Thursday morning, I woke up happy to have an extra cruising day to continue to recover & refuel from all the previous days' activities, especially since went through a time change overnight. We woke up late & relaxed, not truly getting up from bed until it was time for lunch. Instead, we stayed in bed & read & looked at photos & videos of you on my phone.

We went to a buffet dining restaurant for lunch. There are so many different kinds of food, something different for all of the various people who are traveling on this ship from all over the world. I think our favorite buffet style foods were the make your own sandwich bar & the curries (Daddy also liked the desserts). After almost every meal (& sometimes in between), I grabbed a yummy vanilla soft serve ice cream cone from the self serve station. It was one of my very favorite things about the trip.


After lunch, daddy & I went for a walk on the open deck. It never gets old to see the royal blue water surrounding the ship. I don't think I've ever seen ocean water in such beautiful, bright colors before. 

We went to the main theater of the boat to watch a movie. I wondered if spending days being confined to the ship would get boring, but the ship is so big it's like a small town square. There's always something to do on one of the numerous levels. 

After the movie we played a game of shuffleboard, with the open ocean as a view to our game. I think the constant view of the ocean & its surrounding coast will always be one of my very favorite things about this trip. 

We had another formal dinner night. We don't have much of a reason to get all dressed up these days, & I kinda really enjoyed getting fancy on the cruise. After dinner we headed to a cabaret show. The female performer had an amazing voice, but there was a little girl in the front row of the theater who stole the show for me. After the performer sang "Let It Go" (is there no place we can go to escape that song?), the little girl sang a couple lines into the microphone. It was incredibly sweet & made me incredibly homesick for you. I couldn't help but think of how much I missed my little girl. 

You wrote us an "I Love You" note before we left, & we kept it on the top right hand side of our mirror.

After the show, we headed to another cruise activity- the game show 60 Seconds or Less. Glen ended up being a contestant on the show. He had to line up as many people on the cruise ship as he could, & he won! We ended the night at a British pub sing along- singing along to do many oldie but goodies. 

We headed to bed, not too late, to prepare for another busy day of exploring sights & activities. We're having a blast, but we miss you like crazy. This is the trip of a lifetime, but your little text messages to us are probably what put the biggest smile on my face each day.

I love you so,
Mommy