Capri

Our second Cruise port stop was Naples. From here we decided to get on another boat and go explore the island of Capri and its famous Blue Grotto.


When we arrived in Capri, we switched to a smaller boat to head to the Blue Grotto. At the blue grotto, we switch to an even smaller boat to enter this small hole in the wall. It was a boating extravaganza ;)


Once we entered the cave, this amazing blue aura appeared in the water around us. The reflection from the sun in the water of the cave was just magnificent.  Our boat driver sang while paddling us around the cave a few times.  The visit was short, the cave was small and it was crowded with many boats.. but the experience was still quite enjoyable.


After our quick Blue Grotto excursion, we climbed to the top of Capri to have some delicious Naplesese pizza.


We finished our day by exploring the cute city. 

Orvieto and Bagnoregio

The first stop on our Cruise to Dubai was Civitavecchia (the Rome port city). Since all of us had been to Rome before, we decided to book a private tour and explore Orvieto and Bagnoregio.

Cita di Bagnoregio is a small town near Rome that sits on a hill, like a lot of cities in the region.  It was abandoned for a long time, but now has about 15 inhabitants that most likely are there to caters to tourists.  The base of this city is eroding slowly, so eventually, it will slowly be abandoned again.


From here we set out to Orvieto to see their famous cathedral and the other sites in the city



We also had enough time to take a tour of some of the tunnels below the city that were dug through the years. They were used for different things: such as cellars, water storage, and even as a coup for pigeons.


Lastly, on our way back to our ship, we stopped on top of a hill to admire the view of a big lake in the region. 

Barcelona to Dubai Cruise

We decided to join Jen’s parents on a 16-day cruise from Barcelona to Dubai on a new Royal Caribbean ship called the Spectrum of the Seas. This was a good way to spend some time with them and relax. The Spectrum was a brand new boat and our portion of the trip was considered the inaugural trip.  The full journey was destined for Singapore where the boat would be stationed to serve the Asian market. 


Although this was a long cruise, it only stopped at the following ports: 
  • Barcelona 
  • Civitavecchia (Rome)
  • Naples
  • Athens
  • Aquaba
  • Dubai

The rest of the time we kept busy with multiple activities. Here are a few that we enjoyed: 

  • Progressive Trivia: Every day, we participated in a trivia contest that tested random knowledge. We learned a lot about South Africa (since that's where the trivia host was from), a lot about different phobias, and what random groups of animals are called.  Did you know that a group of owls is called a parliament?


  • Flow Rider: Yay


  • iFly: No better way to dry out your gums 


  • Fencing: This was their first attempt at having this activity on a ship, so the experience was pretty short, but it was fun to give it a try since neither of us had ever tried fencing before.. plus there is nothing like being equipped with a sword and saying, "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!" 


  • North Star: The North Star is a big bubble on top of the ship that gives you a bird's eye view of the ship. It seemed like a silly idea at first, but in the end, we were surprised at how impressive the view actually was.


  • Morning Yoga: Every other day they had free yoga classes :)


  • Comedy, Music Shows, and movies on the top deck: At night we had a variety of entertainment opportunities with semi-known performers.


Jen's parents stayed on the boat for another journey all the way to Singapore. But we had to go back to work after Dubai. 

All roads lead to Rome

After travelling so many roads around the world, we finally made it... to Rome!  It was only a quick 3 day stopover on our way back to Montreal.  Too many things to see/do and so little time... so we just visited the major sites and will leave the rest for next time :).

As part of our "quest" to see the Wonders of the World (no, not really), we had to see the Colosseum and neighbouring Foro Romano (Roman Forum).


We also popped by to visit Pope Francis, but he wasn't home... guess we'll just have to come back!


We spent the rest of the time casually wandering the streets of Rome to see what else the city has to offer.


Oh!  Of course we can't forget the most important part of the trip.. the Gelato!  During our 3 days, we visited what the internet considers to be the best gelato places in Rome.  Miam miam.  :P