This post is part of a continuing series about a Mediterranean Cruise I took with my thirteen year old daughter in the fall of 2012.  Today I am talking about Venice!

You’ve seen Venice in movies, pictures and books all of your life, but still, there is nothing quite like stepping onto a boat in the Grand Canal and taking in the magical beauty of this place.

It is no wonder that Venice is such a well-loved destination.  The floating city lives up to all its hype.  You cannot help but take one million pictures, but you can also just sit and take it all in for hours without getting tired of watching the windows, arches and boats pass by.

The Carnival Breeze ports overnight in Venice, so we got to spend two days wandering the streets and canals. I think Venice is about the best place on earth to let yourself get completely lost for a day.

I’m just sharing a few photos today, because I have about a thousand.  These are some of our first impressions of Venice.  I loved watching Mary Polly see the city for herself.  I told her to wander on and I would follow her wherever.  It seems that all roads eventually lead you to San Marco (St. Marks Square), so we just moved slowly here and there for our first few hours in the city.

We stopped to take pictures of gondolas, windows, bridges and loads of cute little corners in the alleys.  Venice is busting with color and life and we were taking it all in.

We looked into shop windows at Murano glass and elaborate Carnival masks.  We sat on bridges when we got tired and watched people.

We were completely enchanted.

Next up: When we finally wandered into San Marco, we took a spin around the square and then decided to visit The Doge’s Palace. 

The Details, If You Go

The Carnival Cruise Port is near the bus and train stations at the edge of Venice.  There are several ways to get to the main sights of Venice from the cruise port.  There are water taxis and cruise excursions leaving directly from the port, which are the more expensive options.

We opted instead (on both days) to get on the People Mover that is just outside the cruise port.  It is 1 euro to ride it, and from there we walked easily into the city.  Walking quickly, it took us about 20 minutes to reach San Marco, but we were wandering through lovely streets the whole way there.  On our second day we caught the Vapretto #1 (like a bus on the water) at the station just after taking the People Mover.  Both ways were fun and we saw completely different sights each way, so we were glad we did both.

I think I would only take a cruise excursion if I were trying to see some of the other other islands near Venice.  Since Mary Polly had never been to Venice, we wanted to spend our two days there.  (More info about Carnival excursions on and about excursions in general can be found at the end of this Tuscany post and this post on Rome.)

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Barcelona was the first stop on my trip with Mary Polly to Europe in September.  We spent two nights there, exploring this beautiful city before boarding the Carnival Breeze for a 12 Night Mediterranean Cruise. Read all about our first day in Barcelona here. 

Our second day in Barcelona started with a quick stop for pastries and coffee near our hotel.  We were off early on the Metro to see the works of Antoni Gaudi, starting with Park Guell.

We wandered the forest paths of Park Guell, a space I imagine to be a welcome bit of peace in the middle of the city.

We found several spots that overlooked the city and again caught sight of La Familia Sagrada in the distance.

A rock fortress marked the highest point in the park and there were musicians and trinket sellers all around it.  We reached this part of the park first and then took a winding path through trees and gardens to the long mosaic park bench that snakes all the way around a courtyard just above the main entrance of Park Guell.  We realized once we saw the main entrance that we had sort of unintentionally saved the best for last.

It’s difficult to describe, but I have found many photos online that are way better than my own.  I have pinned a lot of them to a Pinterest board, but here is one of the entrance that I found on Ken Kaminesky’s travel blog.

This entrance was fairly crowded even early in the morning in September, so I was fascinated to read about how this traveler managed to get this shot without any people.

We grabbed a spot on the bench (the back of the long bench is at the top of the columns in this picture) and watched the people come and go for a while.

Then we both walked around taking pictures of some of our favorites bits of mosaic.  There were so many to choose from.

As we exited the park between the two whimsical buildings that flank its entrance we walked backwards down the street enjoying the views from further and further away.

Then we made our way back to the Metro. Next stop, La Sagrada Familia.

Nothing makes me feel more proud as a traveler than successfully navigating public transportation!  I know this is silly because millions of people are using it every day but somehow I still get the feeling that I have cracked some sort of secret code when I get from Point A to Point B.

So when we came up from the Metro right in front of La Sagrada Familia, I was both overjoyed to finally see this amazing church close up and ecstatic that I had managed to take the right set of trains to get there.

And wow.  This building is just absolutely amazing.

But it’s not just a building, it is a story.  An ongoing project that calls artists, sculptors, architects, laborers and people of great vision that extends longer than their own lifetimes.

Born into being by a a Catalan bookseller in 1882, the church received its true vision from Antoni Gaudi who worked as its chief designer from 1883 until his death 1926. Less than a quarter of the building was done, but his designs and models have served to inspire the continuing work.

There are three facades or sides of the church: Nativity, Passion and Glory.  The Nativity Facade was completed first, but the Passion Facade was not done until my lifetime and the Glory Facade will probably not be finished until after I am gone.  I have read about cathedrals in Europe that took multiple lifetimes to complete, but I have never stood in the middle of such a project.

The more I continue to read about La Sagrada Familia, the more I feel that the entire project is an extension of the spirit of the town of Barcelona.  Walking around the church drew me to the city in a way I am still unwrapping.

We spent over an hour just walking around the outside.  We got some lunch and ate in the park across the street from the Nativity Facade.  The sculptures on this side of La Sagrada Familia look as though they are growing from the rock of the church. Gaudi wanted them to look like part of nature. All of the models for the sculptures were humble citizens of Barcelona.

The whole story of the first 12 years of Jesus’ life is told in these sculptures.

Even the parts that make you cry are included in the telling.

Opposite the Nativity Facade is the Passion Facade.  This portion was done between 1956 and 1976, and in 1987 a team of sculptors, headed by Josep Maria Subirachs began work on the scenes from the Passion of Christ.

When you walk around to this side, it’s like you are not even looking at the same building.  The fierce, angular lines of this facade contrast the swirls and curves of the Nativity Facade.

Yet, this seems to be on purpose.  As you get closer, you can see the story that’s being told here and somehow the stark sculptures draw lines around this part of the story.  It is harsh and dramatic.

You cannot walk into the building from this side without walking past Jesus, tied to a whipping post.

He is willing and resigned.  And yet just behind him is the sign of the Alpha and the Omega, a quiet reminder that he has always been and always will be.  This is not the end of the story.

These sculptures were my most favorite part.  I could return to them again and again.  I found Subirach’s drawings later in the museum and I loved seeing the progression from paper and pencil to three dimensional figure.

After we wandered around the outside, we went in.

The interior is full of columns that look like they are trees growing from the ground and artwork so beautiful that I strained my neck trying to take it all in.  I had to take a seat and lean back so I could just look.

Again, pictures cannot even begin to capture what it is like to be in this place, especially my pictures, but here is a better image of the ceiling from Wikipedia.

I love to come home from a trip and read more about a place I’ve seen or the people I’ve encountered.  After La Sagrada Familia, Mary Polly and I went to see two more buildings by Antoni Gaudi, so I have been reading more about his life.

Now I could go back to Barcelona and see this same building and notice all new details about it.

Don’t you want to go with me?

The post Snapshots of Barcelona, Park Guell + La Sagrada Familia appeared first on Alison Chino.

The Story of 12 Women Who Went on a Cruise, Part 4: On the boat!

photo by Whitney Loibner

Part 4: Embarkation

There is really no way to describe that first glimpse of your cruise ship.

I mean, I’ve been amazed by boats before.  I remember when my uncle bought a brand new ski boat after we had spent years of weekends on the lake with boats that only sometimes started up.

I was so excited for him to take us all out on its maiden ride on the Arkansas River.  As we filled up the seats and rode up and down the river, I imagined myself laid out with my sister in the front of that boat all summer long.

My daddy schemed every minute he could for us to get away to beautiful Lake Ouachita during my junior high and high school days.

It’s a full moon tomorrow night.  Can you skip school?

Those were common words at the Loibner household.

I can’t decide if Daddy was just anxious to take me away from my current sketchy scene as much as possible or if he was just glad I was finally old enough to drive the boat so he could ski.  Either way we both loved to sneak away and I always felt my heart skip a beat at the first sight of the boat.  And the water.

However, none of my stolen weeknights away on Lake Ouachita prepared me for the sight of a cruise ship.

When we stepped outside the hotel in Mobile last summer after breakfast, we could see it.

The Elation.

It was GI-NORMOUS!  We were all giddy at the sight.  Still, I am astounded at just how big cruise ships are!  I had read how many people were going to be on this boat and I had wondered how in the world they were all going to fit.  Then I saw the boat, and it was just way, way bigger than I had ever imagined.  I still feel a little dumbfounded by it.

8 of the 12 of us had never before been on a cruise ship.  The anticipation and enthusiasm just kept building as we headed over to the cruise terminal and got in line.  We all wore our swimsuits under coverups and carried on bags with our beach towels.  Our travel agent had warned us that we might not get our rooms and luggage until late afternoon, but not to let that stop us from getting on the boat and getting the party started early.

We all got through the embarkation lines at different times.  Whitney and I made it on somewhere in the middle.  We entered the boat off a long, hot ramp and into a chilled lavish lobby full of bright colors, round leather couches and tall glass elevators.  I felt like a little girl and I wanted to get in that elevator and ride up and down until I had seen it all. However, someone with an Australian accent was telling us via the loudspeaker to proceed to the Lido Deck where lunch was being served.  (Incidentally, we now all pronounce Lido Deck with an Aussie flare.)

When we found our way to the Lido Deck, we were greeted by Elle and Skeeter who were carrying fruity umbrella drinks and grinning ear to ear.   We squealed when we saw them.

photo by Whitney Loibner

We practically ran all around the deck checking everything out, oohing and aw-ing at the perfectly lined blue deck chairs.  We took a gazillion pictures, texted our families and yelled over and over again, We’re on a cruise!

The excitement was beyond contagious.  Each time another pair of us came through the doors out onto the deck the rest of us would yell,

Hey!  Look at this!  Isn’t it amazing?!?  We’re on a cruise!

This went on for approximately four hours.  I am not even kidding.  We were just so excited.

We pulled out our towels and claimed a bank of twelve chairs and then found all kinds of wonderful things for lunch.  Hey look!  You can just walk right over there and get a hamburger if you want!  Or if you don’t want, you can have a salad.  You can wait an hour and eat when you get hungry.  Whatever you want!

We jumped in the pool, slid on the water slide, drank more umbrella drinks and took more pictures.

Sometime after 4pm the Australian gal came back on and told us we were about to leave port and that the Sail Away Party was happening on the Lido Deck.  Sail Away Party is just a fancy way of saying the ship is about to leave.  I think they call it a a Sail Away Party so you will be more excited.  And you know what, it totally works!  The ship’s big horn blew and suddenly everyone was yelling,

We’re moving!  Look the boat is MOVING!!!

Like we had expected to just stay docked in Mobile forever.  We were AMAZED I tell you.

There was all kinds of fun music and silly party games happening.  Some joined in.  Some watched.  But we all laughed.

You could feel it in the air, that wonderful light-hearted anticipation,

This is going to be the MOST fun!

Next up: Karaoke Time!

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The Story of 12 Women Who Went On a Cruise, Part 3: Road Trip to Our Cruise Port

photos by Whitney Loibner

The day finally arrived for us to leave!  Lots of us put our kids on a bus that was going to Kids Across America (a camp in Missouri) early that morning.

Then around 10am we met at our church (NOTE: This was NOT a church trip!).  Whitney and I had matching shirts.  Sarabeth surprised us all with feather extension clips for our hair that she and her very talented daughter, Elizabeth had made.

We all squealed as we picked out feathers to match our hair and outfits.  Then we circled up, said a prayer and took a picture before we loaded up in 3 cars to head to Mobile, Alabama.

Two hours down the road, we made our first stop at a restaurant about which Rhonda had heard wonderful tales.  I later learned it has also been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

It did not disappoint.  We all LOVED Rhoda’s.  We also loved Rhoda, her husband and her daughter.  One of us even changed her cruise name to Rhoda while we were there.

photos by Whitney Loibner

The hamburgers and the fried pies were out of this world.  And the tamales.  I could get in my car right now and drive the two hours just to taste them again.  Out. Of. This. World.

We filled up the place, not just because it was small but also because we were becoming a presence.  The 12 of us.  Between spouting opinions, shouting out cruise names and laughing VERY loudly, we began to be somewhat noticeable.  Plus we just kept exclaiming, We’re going on a cruise!!  And then we would all yell Whoop! Whoop!

Somehow this Whoop! Whoop! chant sort of evolved.  What began as one or two people saying, Woo Hoo! here and there started to sound like a pack of siamangs calling back and forth to each other all over the cruise ship.  By the end of the cruise our wait staff Whoop Whoop-ed us as we came into dinner, which thrilled us to no end, but back at Rhoda’s, we were still whooping in smaller tones.  However, I could say peach fried pie to any one of the other 11 girls this very minute and she would definitely give me a Whoop! Whoop! with a hand in the air.

After Rhoda’s we had our first conflict.  And that my friends, is a miracle.  We were pretty far into this adventure already as a group of 12 opinionated Southern women and we were just now having our first conflict.

The gist of the conflict was this:

To stop or not to stop.

And more specifically, to stop to shop or not to stop and shop.

This conflict simply stems from some of us doing road trips with people like my father who are not above handing you a can to pee in so that he doesn’t have to make an extra stop and others of us doing road trips where when their mama said,

Ooh, honey, there’s a cute little antique store right there!  Let’s turn around and go back.

well, their daddy would actually turn around and go back.

In recent years, I travelled with a family who did not fuel their car and go to the bathroom at the same stop where we ate lunch and so we had to stop about 30 miles later to take care of those things.  This behavior was completely baffling to me.

My daddy would no sooner turn the car around for a surprise outing than he would pay 50 cents more for a 12 pack of diet coke at the grocery store when it’s on sale for less at the drug store.  It’s just nonsense.

So, you can guess which side of the conflict I fell on.  However, we all decided to stop at the first shopping destination.

Because we were on vacation.  Relaxed.  Not in a hurry.  Playing nice.

The first shopping stop was  a home furnishings store that was only about 10 minutes from where we ate lunch, which is not even far enough down the road for a refuel I tell you.  We all 12 went in.  But in less than ten minutes, eight of us were back at the front of the furniture store.

As an aside, I should mention that none of us had packed light for a week full of fun in the sun, so we had no room for furniture anyway.

In some way I don’t really remember, the eight of us who were not meandering around the furniture store managed to load on up in two of the three cars and start on down the road.  We weren’t leaving the other gals really.  Just getting on down the road bit.  They had yet another stop they were hoping to make to purchase special kinds of flip flops so we thought maybe we’d head on in that direction.

Only somehow we miscommunicated (12 women.  A miscommunication.  No!) and our two cars went one way and the third car ended up leaving the furniture store and taking a different route.  Apparently there’s more than one way to skin a chicken.  Or drive to Mobile.

However, much to the delight of the ladies in the third car, who were smarting a bit at being left behind at the furniture store, even though in their extra hour there they did not purchase even a candlestick, much less any real furniture, we were soon stopped in stand still traffic because of a wreck.

Of course, we only KNOW we were stopped because of a wreck because after we had been sitting for some time, Mercedes (I am using her cruise name to protect her identity) and I got out of our car to see if we could walk up and over a hill to see what the problem was.  I’m not sure why we thought this was a good idea but we all just got tired of waiting.

So we walked for a while on the side of the road, passing the other car of cruise ladies.

We’re just going to see what the problem is.

Now it was June.  In Alabama.  On the interstate.

We did not anticipate how hot it was.  So after about 100 yards, we looked like we were dying.  After we walked about a half a mile, we were able to tell that it was a wreck and they were starting to get the traffic shuffled over to the median so cars were slowly beginning to move.

We turned around to walk back, and by this time we were beyond hot.  Strangers began to offer us rides.  Mercedes looked like she might keel over right there on the median. She was hoping we could get to the car and get to a service station quick for a drink.  And maybe some ice cream.

Soon, we saw Stormy’s car which was travelling a few hundred yards in front of ours and was just beginning to merge into the lane of traffic that was starting to move.  We thought we’d just hop in with her and catch up to our car at the exit ahead, so we headed for her car.  But she waved us away.  She would not even let us in!

We totally thought she was kidding but then she locked the doors and pulled on ahead and away from us.

Later she explained that she felt that she was just getting her car rolling and she was afraid that if she stopped for us she would miss her opportunity to get into the line of moving traffic.

This of course did not stop us from teasing her mercilessly all week about it.

If you are ever in a tight spot, don’t count on Stormy to help you out.  She would not even pick her friends up from the side of the road!

We finally made it back to our car and soon we were in an air conditioned service station guzzling cold beverages and eating jamocha almond fudge ice cream.

Once back on the moving road, we conferred with the third car to see how much time we’d lost.  We figured out that they were just enough ahead of us to make their flip flop stop and still arrive in Mobile just ahead of us.

Thank heavens for that.  I did not want to stand between Isabella and her flip flops.

But we were done stopping.  Mobile, here we come.

It was beginning to get dark as we all came into Mobile.  And somehow car number 3 took a wrong turn and moved from being first to the hotel to last.  Once a meanderer, always a meanderer.

By 8pm we were walking from our hotel to a restaurant around the corner and we were all tired and famished.  We split plates of shrimp salads and seared tuna.  We had drinks and laughs and all the days’ crazies were smoothed away.

Soon we were giggling in our hotel rooms.  We crammed six of us to a room so we’d only have to get two rooms at 20 bucks each.  Mercedes prank called the other room just as I was drifting off.

Then we laughed for 30 more minutes.  Snickers and giggles finally turned to snores. I dreamed of summer camp and laughing with friends until late at night.

The next thing I remember was Elle coming in the room with cups of coffee for all of us and when she opened the door she said,

Y’all!  I have seen our boat!

Next up: We actually get ON the Boat!

The post Caribbean Cruise Notes: Road Trip to Our Cruise Port appeared first on Alison Chino.

photo by whitney loibner

The Story of 12 Women who went on a Cruise: Part 1, The Planning

OR

How I went from being a Cruise Skeptic to a Cruise Addict

In the winter of 2011, I was strongly encouraging two of my dearest friends to follow through on a dream they had about something that is near and dear to my heart…

A trip.

The longing for travel is embedded in my DNA, from my grandparents I suppose, and then most recently, my father.  It’s just part of who I am to always be longing for the next adventure, to want to get far, far away from wherever I currently happen to be and to spend money on traveling that might be more reasonably spent on a lawn, a roof or a new washing machine.

So when my friends, Sarabeth and Rhonda, who were turning 40 and 50, were throwing ideas around for a birthday vacation with a group of women, they didn’t have to twist my arm too hard for me to be supportive.  In fact, since they are both just a wee bit indecisive, I began to send them friendly reminders, emails with links to beautiful destinations.  I even gave them deadlines.

I don’t want to take away from them that they did all the work to make it happen, but let’s just say that I lived the process with them.  And friends, the process of trying to get commitments from a group of women who have full lives and lots of children to take into account is not easy.  Just trying to nail down dates for the trip was hard enough, but then when we started looking for places large enough to house the group of us, a group that was varying from 4 people to 20 people on any given day, I thought our heads might explode.

I kept up the pressure though.  Being that I am the daughter of a CPA and a bit of a planner, I was concerned with each passing hour about booking the trip early enough to give people time to pay for it.

Finally, with the much appreciated help of a good travel agent, and with all of the rest of us weighing in with our strong opinions, Sarabeth and Rhonda decided on a Caribbean cruise with Carnival.  The cruise was chosen chiefly because it was by far the least expensive option.  It just felt the most accessible, especially since we could drive to our port and save buying airplane tickets.

Now I should admit here that of all the options that had been considered, the cruise was at the bottom of the list.  Somehow, I had the preconceived notion that a cruise out of the deep South was quite possibly one of the cheesiest vacations one could go on.  Images of large bodies rolling around like in the movie Wall-E filled my head.  Also, I was afraid of finding myself hiding out in a cramped hole of a room trying to get away from salsa music and Casino lights.  I was concerned that my aversion to crowds would make cruising one long bout of social anxiety.

But, being the very good friend that I am, I jumped into the cruise planning with both feet.

So it’s not our own private beach in Puerto Vallarta! Well, that’s ok.  We’ll make it fun!  It’s us! 

A group of strong Southern women who have weathered multiple all night drives to Colorado, endured the breaking down of vans and Suburbans, and suffered through what others would deem an unbearable lack of privacy could certainly make a vacation away from our families fun for each other, no matter how ridiculous the surroundings.

And of course I had to keep coming back to the fact that the cruise was the best deal, and people, it’s no secret around here that I am a complete sucker for a good deal.

Almost as soon as the cruise was chosen, it began to reveal itself as the superior choice for a group of women.  First of all, the deadlines were made for us.  We had to book it and once your room (including your roommate) was booked, you couldn’t change it.  Also, you could not add anyone to your room.

Now I know how it is when you get an email saying, Hey do you want to do this?  I always think that I can think about that later.

I don’t have to decide right now.

Or I can say: YES!  That sounds fun! Maybe I’ll do that, but then I can change my mind later.

The thing about booking a cruise is that you cannot put off your response to an email that says, Hey do you want to go on a cruise?  Or if you do put off, you are not going.

The fact that I think that this is an absolutely wonderful thing about a cruise might sound kind of harsh, but I have more than once upon a time been in a situation where a condo or house was rented by a party and then the splitting of that cost was reduced to being divided by 12 to being divided by 4 or by 6 because no one really had to commit.  And by commit, I mean pony up actual money.

So emails flew back and forth for a couple of weeks and then D(ecision)-day came and the final reckoning of actual swiped credit cards with a travel agent rendered us 12 gals who would be in just a few short months, going on a cruise.  The group was in many ways a surprise.  A lovely wonderful surprise.

I know that I have not yet even gotten to the part of the story where we actually GO on the cruise, but I will have to finish it later.  Because today, I have to get finished packing.  I have a boat to catch.

 to be continued…

Next: Cruise Meetings or Laughing Hysterically While Planning for our Cruise

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