We left for Barcelona on Friday morning, April 30th and got there Saturday morning. Saturday, we explored Barcelona ourselves the entire day and then crashed that night and slept 12 hours! Sunday afternoon, we boarded the ship and headed out. It was a fabulous trip! Below are the many photos!!
Thursday night right before we put Roman to bed. It was so sad to leave him!!!
We had a layover at JFK and found the plane that Matt flies! 
We just found out that we got two first class seats to Madrid! It was a fabulous flight with a 4-course meal, movies, drinks, breakfast, and the chairs laid out to beds. We were really rested for a full day in Barcelona!
Barcelona, Spain May 1st
The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona!
Sitting at a cafe in front of the Sagrada Familia enjoying our coffee! Love that Spanish coffee!!!
Enjoying our Spanish tapas!
Playing around at Parc Guell
Parc Guell
Parc Guell
Parc Guell
At the top of Parc Guell overlooking Barcelona
Walking along the beach in Barcelona
They had an exhibition set up along the beach for the World Cup
Breakfast Sunday morning at Placa de Catalunya
Our room on the ship! Matt is so silly!
Leaving Barcelona!
View of the ship looking down from our floor.
View of the ship. Looks like Vegas!
Sitting on our balcony eating our room service! We're about to start the day in Naples, Italy!
Naples, Italy May 4th The Almafi Coast tour
The Almafi Coast!
So they say!!!
Ravello, Italy
A little fishing village in the Almafi Coast!
they're known for the huge lemons along the coast!
The city of Almafi
So they say!!!
Ravello, Italy
A little fishing village in the Almafi Coast!
they're known for the huge lemons along the coast!
The city of Almafi
The amazing restaurant that we ate in overlooking Positano!
We had to get a picture with 'mama'! The restaurant is family owned and she makes everything from scratch! The food was unbelievable!! They even make their own wine!
Eating lunch with Adamo and Cruzy Sue. I met them on Cruise Critic website and we decided to share the private tour together for the day. They were so much fun! The meal was amazing and the view of Positano was unbeatable!!
View from my seat at lunch!
Exploring Positano!
Positano, Italy!
Carmine was our tour guide. He was such a typical Italian man!
Listening to our tour at the Colosseum
We then took the bus and walked a few blocks to the Pantheon. Amazing!
We shared an amazing pizza and a bottle of wine for lunch in the Piazza outside the Pantheon. It was so wonderful!
Next, we walked to the Trevi fountain and threw our coins in to ensure that we would be back to Rome! It really works because I did it 14 years ago when I went to Rome with my family and now I'm back!!
Next we walked to the Spanish Steps. So beautiful!
We're sitting in front of the Spanish steps in Rome!
I love Rome!
We then took the metro to the Vatican City. Here is a quick shot I snapped inside the Sistine Chapel!
Florence, Italy May 6th
We had to get a picture with 'mama'! The restaurant is family owned and she makes everything from scratch! The food was unbelievable!! They even make their own wine!
Eating lunch with Adamo and Cruzy Sue. I met them on Cruise Critic website and we decided to share the private tour together for the day. They were so much fun! The meal was amazing and the view of Positano was unbeatable!!
View from my seat at lunch!
Exploring Positano!
Positano, Italy!
Carmine was our tour guide. He was such a typical Italian man!
Rome, Italy May 5th
Matt and I took to train to Rome and then the Metro to the Colosseum. We got the little remote tour guides to tour on our own.
Listening to our tour at the Colosseum
We then took the bus and walked a few blocks to the Pantheon. Amazing!
We shared an amazing pizza and a bottle of wine for lunch in the Piazza outside the Pantheon. It was so wonderful!
Next, we walked to the Trevi fountain and threw our coins in to ensure that we would be back to Rome! It really works because I did it 14 years ago when I went to Rome with my family and now I'm back!!
Next we walked to the Spanish Steps. So beautiful!
We're sitting in front of the Spanish steps in Rome!
I love Rome!
We then took the metro to the Vatican City. Here is a quick shot I snapped inside the Sistine Chapel!
Florence, Italy May 6th
We took a bike tour in Florence, but it was raining, so we ended up walking around the city instead so we could hold our umbrellas!
The beautiful bridge in Florence
We love the different tomatoes in Italy!
The Duomo in Florence
It was cold that day in Florence, so Matt had to buy a jacket. He felt so "European" in his new attire! 
Formal night on the ship!
The beautiful bridge in Florence
We love the different tomatoes in Italy!
The Duomo in Florence
It was cold that day in Florence, so Matt had to buy a jacket. He felt so "European" in his new attire! Formal night on the ship!
These were our dinner friends every night on the ship. The two ladies on the left were from England, the couple in the back live in Miami but originally from Cuba, and the couple on the right live in Brazil. Matt and I really enjoyed their company!
May 7th Villefranche, France 
Villefranche, France was beautiful!!
The amazing train station in Monte Carlo!
Monte Carlo!
The Yahts in Monte Carlo. I can't imagine having that much money!!
Matt loved the Yahts!
In front of the Casino in Monte Carlo!
We got lost in Monte Carlo somehow! It's only a little over a mile long! I was tired!!
Monte Carlo was so clean and nice! Beautiful!
Next, we headed to Eze, France for an amazing lunch at the Chateua De La Chevre D'or.
The city of Eze was so beautiful! It's an old fortified village!
The train station in Eze
May 7th Villefranche, France
We're riding on the Tender boat from the ship
View of our ship from the tender boat
Villefranche, France was beautiful!!
The amazing train station in Monte Carlo!
Monte Carlo!
The Yahts in Monte Carlo. I can't imagine having that much money!!
Matt loved the Yahts!
In front of the Casino in Monte Carlo!
We got lost in Monte Carlo somehow! It's only a little over a mile long! I was tired!!
Monte Carlo was so clean and nice! Beautiful!
Next, we headed to Eze, France for an amazing lunch at the Chateua De La Chevre D'or.
Our view at lunch. We got there late, so we could only eat off of their appetizer menu. A plate of assorted cheeses, meats, bread, duck patte, and a bottle of wine cost us around $130! It was so worth it , though for the view! AMAZING!
The city of Eze was so beautiful! It's an old fortified village!
The train station in Eze
Villefranche, France was so quant and adorable!
Toulon, France May 8th
Toulon, France May 8th
We were exhausted on the final day of the cruise, so we just went to La Seyne Sur-Mer, France and walked around their daily market. It was amazing!
The market had everything!
We bought cheese, bread, chorizo, olives, and assorted French pastries at the market and went to have a picnic!
It started pouring down rain on our picnic, so we took cover under this building. We looked homeless!! I covered my head in my scarf for protection. Ha!
We got this huge water bottle filled with local wine from a barrel at the market for only 3 Euro! It was a nice addition to our freezing cold, rainy picnic.
We got back to ship on the last day and decided to go ice skating! Yes, they made us wear the helmets!! 
We flew back early Sunday morning to JFK. We got seats in first class again! It was wonderful! They filled us up with another 4 course meal and then again later with a warm cookie while we enjoyed our movies. We were lucky to get on the flight because they closed Barcelona airport down the day before we left and the day after! When we got to JFK, they had closed down a runway, so many of the flights were canceled. We were panicking looking for a flight to get on to come home! Our only option was to hop on a shuttle bus through NYC and go to Newark to catch a flight to DFW. The shuttle ride took 2 hours and we thought for sure that we'd miss our flight. Here we are on the shuttle in New York!
We stopped in Grand Central Station to catch another shuttle to Newark!
Who would have thought that I would be driving through Times Square on our Europe trip!
We finally made it home around Midnight on Sunday, May 9th! The next morning, I got to wake up Roman! It was so fabulous to see our little boy!!! We missed him so much!!
The market had everything!
We bought cheese, bread, chorizo, olives, and assorted French pastries at the market and went to have a picnic! 
It started pouring down rain on our picnic, so we took cover under this building. We looked homeless!! I covered my head in my scarf for protection. Ha!
We got this huge water bottle filled with local wine from a barrel at the market for only 3 Euro! It was a nice addition to our freezing cold, rainy picnic. 
We got back to ship on the last day and decided to go ice skating! Yes, they made us wear the helmets!! We flew back early Sunday morning to JFK. We got seats in first class again! It was wonderful! They filled us up with another 4 course meal and then again later with a warm cookie while we enjoyed our movies. We were lucky to get on the flight because they closed Barcelona airport down the day before we left and the day after! When we got to JFK, they had closed down a runway, so many of the flights were canceled. We were panicking looking for a flight to get on to come home! Our only option was to hop on a shuttle bus through NYC and go to Newark to catch a flight to DFW. The shuttle ride took 2 hours and we thought for sure that we'd miss our flight. Here we are on the shuttle in New York!
We stopped in Grand Central Station to catch another shuttle to Newark!
Who would have thought that I would be driving through Times Square on our Europe trip!
We finally made it home around Midnight on Sunday, May 9th! The next morning, I got to wake up Roman! It was so fabulous to see our little boy!!! We missed him so much!!
Overall, this was the best vacation we've ever had! We got to do and see so much! Thanks so much to our parents for taking care of Roman while we were gone. I know he was in the best hands ever!
6 comments:
WOW! What a trip! Great pictures!
Great pics Ash! I'm glad you and Matt had fun! I'll have to catch up with you soon... I'm hoping to get Chris to go on one eventually... the idea of a cruise scares the crud out of him... hehe!
I love it! Great pictures. It looks like you all had a great time!
Awesome trip!!! I know you will have memories for a lifetime. That looked fantastic!
What an amazing time and you did such a great job of capturing the whole trip and documenting it! Wonderful pics!!! And super impressed with your "only a carry-on" packing skills, too :).
What an amazing trip! The pictures are fantastic! So glad you all had such a great time, but I cannot imagine how much you must have missed the little guy!
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