Day 3: At Sea- Olympics

On day 3, we were at sea for the day traveling to Turkey. To pass the time and enjoy the weather we decided to have little Olympics. Involved were rock climbing, mini golf, and shuffle board. We had a blast and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. I had a first and possibly a last that day. I was able to somehow overcome my fear of heights and climb to the top of the wall. I was shaking the whole way up and when I reached the bottom I was shaking so bad I was unable to stand. I am sure I could do it again but probably won't go out of my way to do it.
That night was also our first formal night. We all got to dress up and have an amazing dinner together.

Playing shuffle board

Paul, Jake, and Owen playing shuffle board

Owen on the mini golf course

Me after climbing the wall

Owen climbing the wall

Formal night (Captain's Welcome aboard reception)

Formal night sunset
Dinner on formal night
all of us together
top to bottom:
Dan and Meg, Jake and Courtney, Owen and I, Paul and Christina, Jake and Sarina

all of us again

Day 4: Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

On day 4 we ported in Kusadasi, Turkey. Here we did an excursion (tour) with the cruise. It took us to Ephesus where we saw the house where the Virgin Mary is said to have lived. We saw the open air museum, the Archeological Museum of Ephesus and the Basilica of St. John. All these places were just amazing.

View of Kusadasi, Turkey

Kusadasi, Turkey

Turkey's flag

St. John's Basilica

Open air Museum- theatre

Mary's House

getting Holy water

baptism pool at Mary's houseshow performed at the air museum

Day 5: Santorini, Greece

On day 5 we did an excursion in Santorini, Greece. We toured Erinia Cove and walked the volcanic island of Nea Kameni. Then we went and swam in the thermal springs of Palea Kameni. The springs were not that warm about 60 degrees and we all came out salty and brown but it was a great time. After touring the volcano and springs we got to go out and explore Santorini on our own. We went and had lunch at a Greek restaurant and I had my first real Greek Salad. It was pretty darn good and I don't think I could find one to match it. The city was full of shops and the views were absolutely fabulous.

Santorini, Greece

Santorini, Greece

Thermal Springs

View of Santorini from the volcano island

on the volcano island

Owen and Dan Hewes

Day 6: Corfu, Greece

On day six we ported at Corfu, Greece. We rented a couple of cars and drove around the island. We visited the Achilleion Palace in Paleokastritsa. It is a palace built by Empress Elizabeth of Austria in 1891. It was beautiful. We got to play in the water and just see how wonderful the area is.

Sunset out of Corfu

On the beach in Corfu

Achilleion Palace court yard

Panoramic view of Corfu

Corfu from the ship as we depart

France Ski Trip

We have returned from a great vacation. We spent a week in Chamonix, France skiing in the French Alps. It was pretty amazing. We went with 9 other people from the squadron and had a blast. Owen skied the most (5 days), I went 3. We did the bunnies first until we were comfortable and then tried out the blues. It has been quite a few years since either of us had skied. It wasn't to hard to catch onto again. It was beautiful weather most of the time, snowing Wednesday and Thursday, giving us a great day of powder skiing on Friday. Monday was pretty awful. We all went out and all day we struggled just trying to see in front of us. We had zero visibility most of the day. Tuesday I spent the day touring the village with another couple while Owen enjoyed a sunny day on the slopes. I was a little bummed I didn't go. Wednesday we all went up again and had a better day with a little more sunshine and then some snow, but at least we could see most of the time. Thursday we took the day off and went and did some more site seeing. Our chalet that we stayed in was fabulous. It can hold up to 15 people. It had a fireplace and hot tub and best of all an in house cook. She was amazing. She prepared 3 course meals for us every night except for Tuesday(her day off). We had things like salmon, duck, chicken, pork, and wonderful desserts. Each day after we had been skiing we would come back and she would have bread and a cake for us to snack on before supper. So you can say we were well taken care of and ate way too much. The Tuesday she was off we went out for the evening and enjoyed a wine tasting class, learning about the different French wines. Then had a wonderful French supper with lots and lots of cheese. Below are a few pics so enjoy.

Our Chalet in Chamonix (Andrea and Kyle)

Our Menu for Saturday- each meal was like this

Our group and a few other guest waiting for supper

Living room (projector tv)

Andrea and I (the only 2 girls on the trip)

Trying to figure out which way to go, we couldn't see anything

This is how bad it was on Monday

One of the ski resorts- Le Tour

Downtown Chamonix - This guys carriage said Dr. on it

My first taste of Susi- absolutely didn't like it

Wine tasting- pretty good wine

Look at the table behind and notice how much cheese they are eating

At supper having raclette(meat, cheese and potato) and an assortment of meats w/ sauces (cook yourself)

Our Restaurant

On top of a mountain having lunch (didn't ski down it was a black)

A view of Chamonix from the top

Mt. Blanc- highest mt in France- a view from our chalet

Another view of some mountains from the chalet

These pics are from Geneva, Switzerland- We flew in and out of there and were able to tour a little bit. The fountain in the back is-
Jet d’Eau fountain: the height of the jet is an incredible 140m, with 500 litres of water forced out of the nozzle every second at about 200kph. Each drop takes sixteen seconds to complete the round-trip from nozzle to lake

A very tiny cop car

Clock- made out of flowers

big checkers and chess boards

Central Perk in Geneva