So I know it's been forever since my wedding post, but we've finally gotten around to uploading photos from our honeymoon.

At the beginning of August we spent 4 days in Rome, followed by hopping on a cruise out of Civitavecchia (Rome's port) that stopped in Sicily, Ephesus (Turkey), Athens (Greece), and Crete before returning to Rome for one more day.

The trip was awesome, and everything went great except that British Airways lost our luggage on the way back to the states and it took 4 days for them to get it back to us. At least we were back home, though, rather than losing it somewhere in Europe.


Heathrow Airport - We flew Denver -> London -> Rome, and then reversed that on the way home.


I've heard of bags of milk, but a stick of milk?


Front door of the B&B we stayed at in Rome, Arco Del'Lauro


Vicki at our first dinner in Rome, after being up for 36 hours travelling.


This pasta was awesome! Probably the best tomato sauce we had in Italy.


Blood orange juice - never had it before, but it's pretty damn good.




Fountains everywhere


...and churches everywhere.




Random military guarding a seemingly random alley




The Vatican


Self-shot in front of the Vatican




Castel Sant' Angelo -- a Roman-era masoleum later converted into a fortress for the Popes




More awesome food.


Swiss guard at the Vatican


St. Peter's Basilica

 

Inside the Vatican museums, on our way to see the Sistine chapel.





Of course, The Vatican doesn't let you take photos inside of the Sistine chapel, so those photos are conspicuously absent.


We ate gelato every day, sometimes twice a day...


View of Palatine Hill, where Rome's emperors and wealthy lived. You can see the field where the Circus Maximus used to be in the foreground.


Aqueduct.










The Roman Forum (marketplace) from above.




Don't remember which arch this is, but the arches were normally built as monuments to some Roman military victory or another.

 

Colosseum




















More gelato.


I accidentally ordered 2 plates of fries to go with my veal and Vicki's ravioli. I thought I was ordering some sort of Roman potato dish. We never felt more like American tourists than when the waiter set them down at our table.


The River Tiber hosts some sort of street fair in the evenings, it was pretty cool.




Gelato for the second time today? Don't mind if I do.

 

The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II)




The Pantheon was really sweet. Probably the best-preserved building from Ancient Rome. Too bad they were doing construction on the front.


The Pantheon, built in the 2nd century AD, was the largest dome in the world for over 1000 years.






It's got a drain in the middle of the floor, right under the giant hole in the roof (the oculus).


I'm crushing your oculus!


Piazza Navona




These water fountains are actually a relic from ancient Rome, but still provide clean water today. They were a lifesaver when thirsty.




The Bruschetta was probably the most surprising food in Rome, it was excellent everywhere.

 

Trevi Fountain










Combination of high-tech and old school to get around. The Romans don't believe in putting street names up very often.








Pizza from Dar Poeta near where we stayed in Trastevere. So good, it was the only restaurant we ate at twice.


We never left anything behind.

 

Starting our 7 day cruise on the Navigator of the Seas.


It was pretty freakin' big inside.












Sicily




Taormina, an ancient village in Sicily. They don't allow motorized vehicles within the city walls, so it's got a quaint feel.


Mount Etna in the background, the tallest Volcano in Europe.






Apparently, in Sicily wine comes with a side of potato chips.




Formal night on the ship.


The cleaning staff left us towel animals.

 

Hazy morning in Turkey.


This is supposedly where the Virgin Mary came to live after Jesus died.


Ephesus, an ancient Roman settlement in Turkey.


Roman Toilets.


I felt right at home.


Library of Celsus




25,000 seat theater








We ended up buying a Persian carpet. Kind of blew our souvenir budget.




Sunset in Turkey...


...sunrise in Greece.




Stadium from the Athens 2004 Olympics...


...and stadium from the first modern Olympics in 1896.


Acropolis!


Theater on the Acropolis.


Athens was kind of an ugly city, all white concrete that stretched as far as the eye could see.


Parthenon!














38C = 100.4F. It was freakin' hot and humid in Greece.


We were wrecked after hiking around the acropolis, so we bailed on the formal dinner in the ships main dining room and just ate at the ship's Johnny Rockets.

 

Taking it easy on a beach in Crete.














Seared Tuna! Dinner on last night of the cruise.


Back in Rome -- the Spanish Steps.


Lunch at the foot of the Spanish Steps.












Hi!


There was an obelisk in almost every piazza in Rome.






Vicki said it looks like she's standing in front of a giant penis in this shot. I love that woman.




Last gelato of the trip.




Cute restaurant where we ate our last dinner of the trip, right by Trevi Fountain.


Trevi fountain at night.


Adios bags! We'll see you in 5 days. Have fun sightseeing in London without us.




Time to go home...

 

awesome pics dude.

 

Looks like an amazing time, dude. Very jealous.