So this past May, my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with a trip to Turkey, Greece and Italy. We’d been to Italy before and loved it. This year, we opted to do a Greek Isle Cruise first to kick things off. We flew from here to Istanbul, then spent the night. The fol
lowing day, we boarded our ship, The Wind Spirit. This isn’t your typical cruise ship. It’s small–like 130 passengers. Very intimate and you pretty much can meet and mingle with everyone on board. 
I have so many photos of the trip it’s impossible to load them all. This is the view of our “clipper” ship from Santorini. When th
e wind was just right, we could power under the sails. It was quite awsome. We visited many ports. We’d go to Turkish ports, then Greek. Very difference in customs and manners. We met a guide in Ephesus who was fabulous. He was a very somber man, but he was friendly and full of information. He told us that his country is not pronounced like our American bird. It’s called Turh-keh-yeah. I hope I got that right. Some of my favorite ports were Ephesus and Rhodes (pronounced Road-Ohs). We rented a motorcyle on this island and went to the beach. Topless. If I’d had the nerve, I would have bared it all–but I didn’t want to clear the beach.
Here’s a silly photo of us eating at the water’s edge in Mykonos, Greece. One of our favorite couples on the cruise joined us for lunch. That’s me holding a shrimp.
Eight days at sea, good food (the Greek cheese pies . . . I’m in love!), making new friends, seeing fabulous things–it was a wonderful cruise. I’m so glad I don’t get seasick because cruising is the way to see a lot of places in a short amount of time.
Once we got of the ship in Athens, we flew to Rome, then rented a car and drove into the Tuscany region. Our last stay in Italy was on the Amalfi Coast. This time we went inland. The scenery was vastly different from the arid and warm climate we’d just come from.
Unfortunately, it rained every day in Italy. But we took our umbrellas and ventured out. The hotel we stayed in was the home of a Marquis (who we met) and used to be a retreat for Pope John Paul. It was amazing. We stayed in a “stable” room. Really rustic and quaint. We toured the countryside, visiting old villages and shopping for artwork, wine, cheese and my favorite olives of all time.
They have beautiful public markets with fresh fruits and vegetables. I wish we has something like this here in Boise. It would be so great.
After the Tuscan region, we went to Rome and visited a few of our favorite places from our last trip. Lunch at Leonardo’s for sure! This was a wonderful trip and I’m so blessed that we were able to go. I have a great husband who is the very best!!!