Cancun - December 2004

This was the first (and only, so far) time in my life that I did not spend Christmas with my parents. Weird, huh? We left for Cancun on Christmas morning and returned on January 1st.

I'll start by putting it out there - it was not our best family vacation. Andrew got sick and DH is not really a beach person. We will probably never go back.

But we did make it to a place featured in "the book" - Chichen Itza. And, thankfully this was still when you could climb to the top. I didn't make it all the way up though because I was very afraid of falling on my way back down.

The other highlight of the trip for me was scuba diving off of Cozumel. I am a water person and love diving. I don't get enough opportunities to indulge this hobby especially given the climate I live in. I really need to live near an ocean.

Mediterranean Cruise - October 2006

My first cruise ever! And I loved it. I vow every year to go on another cruise, but so far haven't been able to work it into the schedule.

I won't be going into tons of detail, but wanted to document places I visited during this trip that are featured on "the book."

Athens
This was where we embarked on the cruise, but we arrived a day early to see some of the sights. We should have spent more time here.

The Acropolis - it was a beautiful, clear morning and I could see for miles all around Athens.

Turkey
First port.

The Roman Ruins of Ephesus

Malta
We went scuba diving.

Rome
I loved Rome and can't wait to go back.

Forum
Trevi Fountain
Vatican City
Coliseum
Sistine Chapel - we were the last group of the day and had it to ourselves
Mount Etna - we saw lava!

Monte Carlo
Fantasy day spent where the truly rich live, work and play.

The Grand Casino - I left them 20 euros.
Hotel de Paris - beautiful lobby, very expensive

We also went to the Jacques Cousteau museum, but it isn't in the book.

Barcelona
Museu Picasso - we nearly got kicked out because DH was taking unauthorized pictures.

Lisbon
This was the port where we disembarked. It was a national holiday and many things were closed.

Hawaii

DH and I (with kids and BIL) went to Hawaii in October 2001 and got married on the beach.


"The book" has one listing for each of the islands. We spent time on two: Kauai and Oahu.


I really liked Kauai. We swam, explored, went SCUBA diving, took a helicopter ride, enjoyed shave ice and went to the spa. It was easy to have fun and relax on Kauai.


I am not a big fan of Oahu. Yes, we swam, went to Pearl Harbor, climbed Diamond Head, went to the Dole Plantation; but Honolulu is just a city on a beach. Traffic is terrible, the local merchants are pushy about selling their junk to tourists, and it is very expensive.


We spent our last night in Honolulu at the Halekulani - and loved every minute of it.