Trip Report Our 19-Day Mediterranean Adventure – Greece, Turkey and the Search for Free Wifi

Finally, right? It seems like I’ve been waiting forever to start this, but really we’ve only been back three weeks! And in that time I’ve lived in a hotel for two weeks and driven across the country from Washington DC to our new home in...wait for it...Las Vegas! For some reason I have chosen now, surrounded by boxes that need to be unpacked, as the time to start my trip report. Stalling maybe? :D So here it goes!

What: A massive 19 day (13 days on the cruise with 6 more including travel time and extra days in Europe) trip extravaganza. A 12 night Mediterranean cruise with a day in London beforehand and a few days in London and Barcelona afterwards. So yes. This is going to be a long stinking trip report. Oh, and I took 5239 pictures. On my camera! That doesn’t even count the Instagram/iphone photos you’ll see scattered throughout the report.

Great day in the morning.

Why: Because cruises are awesome mostly. But also because I was able to do a last-minute 11 night Med cruise back in April of 2010 with my daughter and some other family and friends, so this was a makeup cruise for my son and husband. It worked nicely as a graduation trip/present. :)

When: June 13-July 1, 2013

I booked this cruise the day it came out, back in January of 2012.

As time got closer we realized it was going to get crazy. My daughter was going to have to miss the last day of school, my son was graduating from high school the Saturday before the trip, we had a house full of family that whole weekend and a big graduation party on Sunday, he then left and was coming home one day early from his senior trip to make it on time, and we were moving across the country to Las Vegas so our household goods were all moved the day before we left. Then the kids were traveling with their youth group to Scotland 3 days after the cruise ended, so it really didn’t make sense for us to come all the way back home and we needed to stay in Europe for three more days before we dropped them off in London Heathrow. Got all that? Yes. Like I said, a little crazy.

Totally worth it though. :)

Who: Us! Here we are a few days before we left! This picture is a celebration of the whole Whiting family – but mostly Chase. The high school graduate. Also appearing in this photo are myself-Tammy, hubby-Stephen, and daughter – Ally.



My parents! My parents were on our last Med cruise, and have been in several of my trip reports. They had quite the trip in store for them. Here they are in Monaco:



My in-laws! My in-laws were also on my last Med cruise, as well as a few other cruises with us, so they may look familiar if you've ever read one of my reports. Here they are in Palo:



My brother-in-law! Scott has appeared in a few trip cruise trip reports as well. He’s the oldest of three boys with my hubby falling in the middle. Here he is in Mykonos:

 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
When we were ready to head back, we stopped where Chase had found Wi-Fi before, but didn’t have much luck. So we decided to go into the café and order something.

Best. Decision. Ever.

Look at this amazing café. Those aren’t windows, that’s open air:



They were so friendly inside, and didn’t mind at all that our main goal was obviously Wi-Fi. We all ordered some ice cream and we sat enjoying the absolutely amazing view and sea air.






http://tammywhiting.smugmug.com/Tra...81130_CwxJRm#!i=2738173505&k=Jz9GZDc&lb=1&s=A




Awesome café toes!





We buried our head in our phones too.



We stayed probably an hour and loved every minute of it. Mykonos and this incredibly relaxing afternoon, was one of our favorite stops of the entire cruise.

Well done, Mykonos.
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay. Mom’s day out in the sun wore her out, so they missed it again. I forgot to tell you one funny thing that Plamen did. I think when we said Allison went by Ally, he thought we said Alice. He called her Alice all week. We didn’t correct him because we thought it was adorable. We all took to calling her that. :)

So now we had Alice and The Pneumonia traveling with us.

Dinner time!






http://tammywhiting.smugmug.com/Tra...81130_CwxJRm#!i=2738279157&k=Bg2L9Gm&lb=1&s=A

http://tammywhiting.smugmug.com/Tra...81130_CwxJRm#!i=2738279157&k=Bg2L9Gm&lb=1&s=A


Dessert!

 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After the show we did some laundry. This was like our third time! I felt like @sweetpee_1993 ! :)

When we got back to the room we found some gifts from Disney to apologize for our bathroom flooding. Only Disney.

A print:



A bottle of sparkling cider:



And a note:



Tomorrow was another sea day!
 

ChuckElias

Well-Known Member
I woke up at 7 this morning and we were all at Parrot Cay at 8.

I see a regular croissant, but not a chocolate croissant. The chocolate croissant is a DCL breakfast "must-have" in our family!

I don’t always have juice for breakfast, but when I do, it's followed shortly by a Coke.

You're preaching to the choir, sister!


So. . . I take it you don't shave your legs while you're on vacation? :joyfull: :p :D :hilarious:
 
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sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Oh my! Mykonos was gorgeous! Is there like a reason they paint everything white with the blue? I'd be the rebel with the red door & shutters just to be different. LOL! I noticed the cactus in your pics. Was the air dry there??? That little cafe with the views looked so heavenly. And, yes, I have another window open to the Harmony Hotel in Mykonos. Nice!

Hahahaha!!! Yep, me and my crazy laundry self! I have built a reputation for being the laundry queen, huh? It's hard to explain exactly why I do this. It reminds me of Riley when she was a little puppy and I had her in my lap in the car one day. We brought 2 of her little toys. She had one in front of her chewing away happily. The other I took and placed on the seat next to my leg. She stopped chewing, looked at the toy she didn't have, then got up to go get it. She returned to her spot on my lap happily chewing the newly chosen toy. So, I took the toy she wasn't chewing and placed it on the seat next to my leg. She stopped chewing, looked thoughtfully at that toy she no longer possessed, then got up to go get it. She returned, again, to her spot on my lap now chewing the original toy. In turn, I took the toy she just released to go get the first one and repeated the process. She and I went round for round with these toys for a solid 5 minutes. It was like watching a small child who needed to have ALL the toys or there could be no happiness. This is how I feel about the clothes/laundry. It's not that I don't like the stuff that's clean that I can still wear. They're just not as good if I don't get to choose them over all the other stuff I have. So I have to keep everything clean so I always have all the choices. Aaaaaand, this has no logic to normal people. I know. :hilarious:

Toootally loving this. Chandler started reading your report yesterday. He had to break off to go mow the lawn but I'm sure he'll catch up in no time. I guess at some point I should get these guys their own usernames so they can post their insights. I dunno, maybe that's a scary thing.

Do your kids read your reports, too?
 

hellowonderland

Well-Known Member
Wow. Just binge-read this TR (it's awesome!) and am in awe at the beauty of Mykonos.

Definitely on my bucket list now... your pictures are simply gorgeous!
 

lurkingBIL

New Member
family.jpg


I had to sign up to tell you how much I've enjoyed reading the TR Tammy! It's like being there all over again, and makes me want to return asap! I find myself still feeling so badly for The Pneumonia, but I have to say she certainly made lemonade from lemons this trip, as did your dad. I'm not sure I would have handled it as well as they did.

Stephen's added info on Ephesus/Turkey was news to me, and so interesting. I definitely missed that part of our guide's presentation, probably because I too, was too busy looking for shade, or free WiFi, or both. :D

As always your pics are beautiful!! You have a real talent, and a fantastic eye. As someone who experienced the trip first hand, I'd like to thank you for all the time and energy you put into planning it for us. It was amazing from start to finish, and that's largely because of your passion and dedication to what you do. Anyone looking to plan a vacation should start by having you as their TA!

I'm off to find the Alaska TR, as I assume there's one on here. I want to relive it through your lens as well. I've included a shot from Athens of you doing one of the many things you do so well, and the rest doing what we did well. ;)

I hope you guys are getting settled in nicely in Vegas. I know what a crazy busy summer you've had, hopefully you've gotten a chance to slow down and take a breath. :)

Thanks again for planning and organizing the trip of a lifetime!

(Sorry for this wall of text, I promise I'm going back to lurking now. ;))
 

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yay! I've been looking forward to the Mykonos portion! It's like heaven on earth!

Isn't it? It's exactly how you picture little seaside towns in Greece. :)

I see a regular croissant, but not a chocolate croissant. The chocolate croissant is a DCL breakfast "must-have" in our family!



You're preaching to the choir, sister!



So. . . I take it you don't shave your legs while you're on vacation? :joyfull: :p :D :hilarious:

I did not get a chocolate croissant! For me, it's all about the breakfast potatoes. Just give me a whole plate of those. Everything else is just for show.

Shoot! You caught me! :)
 

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