We're Headed Home!

Well, it's officially here. Our month in the Mediterranean has come to an end, and it's bittersweet. We're so ready to come home and see everyone, but we never imagined we would make as close of friends as we have, and saying goodbye is gonna be tough. We've packed, swapped over 3,000 pictures (get ready), and "cleaned" our apartment. We'll be heading out of here about 2 am to head to the airport to catch our flight at 5 am. We've got right at 24 hrs of traveling ahead of us, so it's gonna be a long Saturday...especially since we gain a whole 8 hrs. Can't wait to see you all tomorrow!

Love and Miss,

Kam and Christi

What a whirlwind! There’s so much to tell, so I’ll try to make this concise. We’ll start with the cruise:

Friday: We ported in Mykonos first, which was the most picturesque night in Greece we could have imagined. We had dinner by the harbor with all the boats lit up, and we sat down just in time to see the sun set.

Saturday: We arrived in Turkey early in the morning and took a bus to the city of Ephesus, home of the Ephesians. We traveled high into the mountains to visit the last known home of Mary. After Jesus’ resurrection, John took her to the mountains as a refuge, where she would be safe from Roman persecution. It was such a surreal feeling to pass through the bedroom where Mary slept, and tradition holds that she and John are buried in the mountains. On the way out, we passed by the Wishing Wall where thousands of people have written their wishes. The landscape was so much more beautiful than we expected. In the afternoon, we visited the ancient city, which was still very much intact. On our way out, we visited the ruins of the Temple of Artemis—one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. Pretty amazing.

Patmos was our second island for the day. This is the island where John was exiled and the island where he had the dream vision that later became the Book of Revelation. We visited the actual cave where he had the dream. Inside, you can see the place where he rested his head, as well as the crack that resulted from the earthquake documented in Revelation. We also visited his monastery to round out the day.

Sunday: First stop was Crete, which was pretty disappointing. We were surprised because it’s such a large island, but the place where we ported made it pretty much impossible to see anything but the industrial side of the city. Santorini made up for it though. We sat on the uppermost deck as we neared the island, and it was honestly the most beautiful thing we have ever seen. The islands are exactly as you would imagine them, and of course the water is crystal clear. You are required to go up the mountain somehow – either on foot, on donkey, or in a cable car – because the entire city is on top of the mountain. Of course we opted for the donkey ride, which was hilarious. Ironically, I got the most competitive donkey who raced to the top, and Kam’s was a lolly gagger. He would stop in the middle of the street whenever he pleased, and Kam used ever trick from movies she’d ever seen to make a horse go.

Oh, and as for cruise ship entertainment, we saw a Latin dance show. Think sequin thongs for all and Latin men who took themselves very seriously.

Monday: We spent most of the day in an airport because our flight was delayed for four hours, so we made it to Rome just in time for dinner. We went with a couple of our friends to a restaurant and bar downtown that Elyse’s uncle suggested. Apparently a good friend of his owns the bar, and sure enough when we got there, Elyse’s uncle was smiling at us from a picture on the wall. Small world. We had a great dinner, and it wouldn’t have been complete without being given roses by Italian men J

Tuesday: No one, under any circumstances, should attempt to see Rome in a day. In twelve hours, this is what we did:

· Took a tour of the Vatican

· Saw the Sistine Chapel

· Saw St. Peter’s

· Visited my old apartment on Borgo Pio

· Took a tour of the Colosseum

· Walked through the Roman Forum

· Saw the Pantheon

· Threw our coins in the Trevi Fountain

· Visited the Spanish Steps

· Shopped on Via del Courso

· Survived

Neither of us even remembers laying down in the hotel last night.

Wednesday: Today was another travel day. We’ve been in airports and on buses all day, so we’re heading home to crash. We’re sorry the blog is so brief, but we’ll be sure to have pictures ready when we get home. We’ve resorted to washing underwear in the sink, so we are officially ready to be home. We miss you all tons and look forward to seeing you Saturday.

PS. We have requests for dinner, so be sure to ask us when we skype ;)

Love and Miss,

Kam and Christi

Last Day in Athens

Good news- today was much more low key than our last adventure. We spent the day shopping in Athens, and this afternoon we went to see the Olympic stadium. We've had about all the Greek food we can take, so we hunted down a true blue American restaurant and found TGIFridays. Burgers, check. Chicken strips, check. Five happy campers, check! Oh and what are we doing tonight? Calling it an early night and watching The Body Guard in our hotel room. We may be missing the comforts of home a lil haha. Tomorrow morning we leave bright and early for our cruise. We're pretty sure we won't have internet, so we'll be out of touch til Monday when we get to Rome. We'll check in soon!

Love and miss,

Kam and Christi