Sue & Scott’s vacation, October, 2011!

It started in Rome.....had an audience with the Pope, just us...and about 25,000 of our closest friends. Afterwards saw the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Church (Michelangelo’s The Pieta), and the Sistine Chapel (the very famous picture of God and Adam's fingers touching), also with the same 25,000 of our closest friends.....it was CROWDED!!!

After a $300.00 cab ride, (thank God we shared it with our friends that went with us) we got on the Celebrity Equinox and sailed for Ephesus, Turkey where the Apostle John took the Virgin Mary after Jesus’ crucifixion and also where St. Paul preached (Paul’s letters to The Ephesians). Saw Mary's house and the ruins of the Library of Celsus.

Then we sailed to Istanbul, the only city that is on two continents, Europe and Asia, with the Bosporus dividing it. Saw the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, the Cistern, and Topkapi Palace (the famous Topkapi dagger and gems like I've never seen. Even big bowls filled with egg shaped Emeralds), the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar.....and then had a Boat tour down the Bosporus.....all VERY impressive.

Next stop Santorini, Greece that you've all seen pictures of the white houses on the steep hills with the blue domed Greek Orthodox Churches! Beautiful! Took a bus tour all around the island, but had to take the gondola back down to the port...my FIRST and maybe my last cable car/gondola ride down a mountain suspended from a few cables....YIKES!!

On to Athens, Greece...saw the Acropolis with the Parthenon, the Temple of Nike and other temples. Also saw the place where Paul preached. We went an hour out of Athens along the coast line to the very southern tip of Greece to the Temple of Poisidon.

Last stop was Naples, where we got on a hydrofoil to go to the Isle of Capri..... GORGEOUS!! Up the mountain on a funicular (way less scary than the gondola in Santorini!) Then another hydrofoil to Sorrento, also gorgeous, then onto Pompeii!!! OMG!! It was amazing!! Big city, if there were roofs on all the houses and shops, you could live there!!

Had a great time on the ship also, lots of dancing, entertainment, shows, trivia contests, a Corning Glassblowing Shop so we would watch that while we were playing BAGS on the lawn...yes actual grass on the Ship...croquet, bocce, and picnics. Oh, and LOTS of eating!!

Hope I didn't bore you all....we had the trip of a lifetime...just had to tell you about it!!

P.S. OOPS! Almost forgot about Mykonos, Greece!!