EuroTrip?

What's more exciting than getting married? The honeymoon! Kevin and I have been planning the honeymoon for a while. At first we decided to stay within the United States. But then we talked it over and talked to other people. We decided to go abroad. When will we ever have this opportunity again? Maybe not for many years, if ever.
Kevin has never been out of the country. This is going to be exciting and really great for him. Well, both of us. But really interesting for him. Culture shock! Also, if you know Kevin, you know he's a picky eater. So we'll see how this goes! I promise, I'll take pictures!
Princess offers a Grand Mediterranean cruise for varying lengths. We chose the 12 day cruise. This is where we started our planning. We start in Barcelona, Spain. We thought it would be nice to stay a couple days in Spain before the cruise to see the area. We started looking a little more and somehow we decided we'd fly from Chicago to Toulouse, France. I think there was a book I read that took place in Toulouse. This was many years ago but I've always wanted to go. I'm sure it'll be nothing like the book I read but I don't care. I still want to see it. Anyway, Kevin wants to go because of his new interest in wine. It seems Toulouse is in between two major wine countries. What they are I couldn't tell you. I believe one is Bordeaux. I could be wrong. In any case, we've decided we'll take a train from Toulouse to Barcelona. This will be an adventure in and of itself.
We'll spend a couple days in Barcelona before the cruise.
From Barcelona, we port in Monte Carlo, Monaco. We're thinking of taking a land excursion there, the French Riviera Drive. It's a scenic look at Monaco. I think there's a stop in a nearby town. I don't have the print out of the exact details.
From Monaco, we go to Florence/Pisa. There we will see the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa and the cathedral next to it. After Florence/Pisa, we head to Rome. We're really excited about Rome. We've reserved our spot to tour St. Peter's, the Sistine Chapel and the Colosseum. As you know, Kevin and I are nerds and enjoy history. So this is pretty awesome. A person I work with at the hospital just went to Italy. She said luckily her travel agent got her and her travel partner in to a group tour of Rome. When they were outside the Vatican, it was a 4 hour wait. But since they were part of a tour, they were able to walk right in. Very good information to have.
From Rome, we head to Naples/Capri. I know, I know. So many people have told us Naples is awful and have called it the "armpit of the world." One of Kevin's friends even told us not to get off the boat there. But we are. I desperately want to see Pompeii. And we're also taking a day trip of the Amalfi Coastal drive. Sounded pretty and it was part of the Pompeii package.
The next day we're at sea. I think we'll get a nice massage and lounge and try really hard not to get sun burned.
Then we head to Greece. We're spending a few hours on the beach at Mykonos. The photos are really beautiful and I can't wait. Though, I'm worried I'm going to die in the sun.
The next stop is Istanbul (not Constantinople), Turkey. There's a tour of St. Sophia, Topkapi, the Blue Mosque, and the Boshporus area. Kevin is excited because they show how to make carpets. I had to break the news to him that they do not in fact fly. He doesn't believe me.
After that we head to Ephesus, Turkey. It's a short stay there. And we signed up to see the Virgin Mary Shrine. This is the place where the Virgin Mary lived at the end of her life. The Catholic Church recognizes it as the last home she had before her death. Daily masses are held there.
The next stop is Athens, Greece. Again, I'm super excited about this. Here we'll see the Acropolis, Plaka and the Temple of Poseidon.
After Athens we have a day at sea where I'm sure we'll rest and try to recover from all the activity. And I think I'll get my nails done.
Then we port in Venice. We'll visit San Giorgio, the Murano Glass Factory and take a Gondola ride.
We have one night left on the ship and then we leave our cruise.

But that's not really the end. We thought we'd spend a couple days in Italy to finish things up. But then Kevin had a brilliant idea. He thought maybe we could travel a little more outside of Italy since we had already spent some time there. So we started looking at the map. On one of the longer cruises we looked at there was a stop in Slovenia. Some of our friends told us that Slovenia (formerly part of Yugoslavia) was really lovely. So we started looking at Slovenia. We found Bled. Bled is a touristy area. Though, I'd venture to say not many people I know have ever been there. I think maybe it's more touristy for Europeans. We looked at pictures and read up on the area. It's a town on Lake Bled. The pictures are amazing! Just breathtaking. There's a small island with a church on it. There's a boat that takes a trip out there and people can tour the church and the little island. From Bled we'll drive to the bigger town, which I have forgotten the name of, where the international airport is and we'll fly home.

Are you tired yet? I'm exhausted just from trying to keep track of it all! We are very lucky that both our jobs have been very accommodating in the needed time off. Our coworkers have been a great help as well.
So basically the whole month of September is jam packed full of fun. We start off getting married and then traveling Europe. I can't wait!

Things are going well with the planning. I'm trying to get all the invitation stuff done soon. The person that's making them is driving me a little insane but that's okay. As long as I can mail them out two months before the wedding I'll be happy.
The florist was great. We're really happy with the ideas she had. And she's super affordable. Bonus!

So far so good. Kevin hasn't killed me during my bridal meltdowns. And I haven't killed him during his less than brilliant moments. I think we'll actually make it!