Good tips, thank you.

I used to be in the travel industry, but I left just when things were expanding online in ‘96. Since then my travels have been limited.

…one day soon.

Great news! Thank you for promising to show us more photos and share stories–esp. want to know about the Evzones’ Changing of the Guard at Constitution Square in Athens. And the restaurants you’d recommend….sounds like you had a great tourguide in Athens!
thx

Did you have a chance to visit ‘Constantinople’ and see Hagia Sophia? It’s a marvel of Byzantire architecture. Unfortunately that the Ottoman butchers renamed it to Istanbul!

The islamist-Ottoman fanatic macho-neanderthals desecrated all Churches in 1922 and decapitated hundreds of Armenian and Greek women after raping them. I do hope you agree that Obama’s nerdy flip-flop on the Armenian GENOCIDE to allow the islamists in Turkey to become immune from accepting blame for the 2 million Armenian and Greeks lost in the Genocide…is disgustingly self-serving. I know he’s a Muslim. But he should not let Turkey escape from its genocidal legacy scot-free!
In WWII hundreds of Jewish families (women and kids suffered the most, many relocating to Athens to take refuge) were killed by Turkish and Albanian soldiers in the northern city of SALONICA (French Pres. Sarkozy’s grandfather’s family is from that city! No wonder Sarkozy does not want TURKEY to become European member!) funnily, it was the Serbians and Greeks that provided comfort to Jewish people trying to escape, leaving their life’s belongings behind in attempt to run from certain crued (muslem-Turkish-sponsored of course!)

Glad you enjoyed the camels. I was there 2 years ago and it was great fun. The Egyptians were very friendly and leaving one’s purse in a cab for hours–and returning to find it there–was incredible. Guess dictatorship does have its pluses. The would-be thieves don’t want their arms cut off…

Do you have any photos from Ephesus. The ruins in Smyrni (smyrna) are equal to the breath-taking views of the Acropolis! Beautiful seaside.

P.S. Incidentally, what was the dessert of boozed ice cream that funny Canadian couple had beside your table…?? must have been something, eh?….

thanks for sharing the great itinerary, photos Amy!!Glad you’re back into the grind (?)….

And yes, Sec. Clinton HAS spoken out abt Ms. Saberi. I would have expected nothing less from her…

Tfitz, we booked our cruise through USAA, but found the names of good, reputable tour companies at cruisecritic.com. We had a private taxi driver in Athens who came highly recommended, and he was FANTASTIC. He took us to places the ship excursions did not go, including a local place for lunch (it was DELICIOUS). And, he took us to the Presidential Palace to see the changing of the guard. I’ll be writing more abt that soon.

Same with Ephesus – we got the name of the company off of cruisecritic.com, and couldn’t have been happier. It was a much smaller group than the ship’s excursion buses, and again, the guide took us to a local place for lunch (and again, DELICIOUS). There are message boards for just abt every locale, and helpful tour suggestions, too. It’s a GREAT resource if you are planning a cruise.

Thank you all again for your kind comments. It’s good to be home again with you all!

I’ve always wanted to take a Med cruise, too. Thank you for sharing. I don’t think I can even imagine being there, live, in front of those Pyramids.

Thank goodness you checked in, the end of this week I started doing a bit more wondering on how long your trip was!

Sad information shared by your new Iranian friends on the heels of Ms. Saberi improsonment. I hear she’s been on a hunger strike for several days now. I hope for a miracle there, because that sounds like the only way she’s going to get out. Maybe the miracle will come in the name of Hillary?

Good to have you back. You were missed. And it sounds like by many, including some cute doggies. I’ll await more tales from your adventure.

Ferd and I are going on vacation right after graduation (happy feet dance!), getting to spend a wonderful week with my Dad in S.F. Can’t wait to be with my Dad, and the adventures with him are the best, but also cannot wait to be home and get down to some serious dining!! …Imagining being at the wharf, some wonderful clam chowder in a sourdough bowl, a serious cup of Turkish coffee, and a Ghirardelli Chocolate dipped strawberry for dessert. Ahhhh.

Queenie, your trip sounds FABULOUS! Croatia is supposed to be an incredible place, and – get this – LGBT people have FULL rights there. Who woulda thunk it, right? Anyway, what a great itinerary!

I will definitely get something up abt the puppies – oh, I wish y’all could see them running around all over the yard! They are a BLAST!!

And NO, I did not eat camel! I only eat seafood and poultry anyway, so I didn’t have anything too exotic, but I DID have very tasty food, especially on-board the ship (like lobster/scallop brioche for breakfast, or smoked salmon fritatta, or crabcakes benedict – yum. I’m making myself hungry just writing abt it!).

We were in Rome on Easter Sunday – you probably know (I didn’t) that you have to have tickets to get in, but we did the Hop On/Hop Off bus, which drove through there twice, so that was pretty cool.

And YES, I am glad pirates don’t go in that area – it certainly crossed my mind…

My hubby had never been..and he had a ball!!

I hope you had a wonderful trip with lots and lots of wondeful memories!!