Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Back in DC!

Back from vacation blues. You know what I am talking about. After 24 days of vacation it is definitely an adjustment being back! I thought I would do a fun post-cruise entry today. Tomorrow will be my first photo post (starting with Rome). I will be posting about my trip (with photo collages) every other day so you won't be overwhelmed ;)

5 favorite cities visited (in no order):
1. Santorini, Greece
2. Dubrovnik, Croatia
3. Kusadasi, Turkey
4. Florence, Italy
5. Barcelona, Spain

5 things I miss about cruising (in no order):
1. It's a floating hotel and I am not gonna lie: it is nice to have someone cleaning up your bathroom every day, making your bed, leaving you chocolates, etc.
2. The towel animals. Seriously. After a long day nothing makes you feel better than coming back to your room and finding a towel animal on your bed.
3. The choices. Movie and popcorn? Dance club and drinks? Trivia or a game show? Swimming and laying out? I even did karaoke!
4. The food. Chocolate chip pancakes, pizza, ice cream, pasta, waffles, cake. YUM.
5. The people. I loved our Aussie "name that tune" group (we were the reigning champions). I met some very interesting and impressive cruisers. Plus the cute Australian crew guys? A match made in nautical heaven!

5 things I WON'T miss about cruising (in no order):
1. The majority of the old/slow people and the lines for food. Now, I never had to wait for more than 4 or 5 people which is apparently way better than some of the other cruise lines (like Carn*ival). The only lines were ever in the morning when everyone was going ashore and getting breakfast at the same time. But sometimes I really did want to mow them over.
2. The food (see #4 above).Totally a double edged sword. But hey, it was vacation! ;)
3. The hurrying to get back on the ship. I loved cruising: no lugging suitcases from city to city. But spending only one day in a city didn't always seem like enough. I definitely got my exercise running for that train or bus that we couldn't miss! I don't know if the ship will really leave without you but I didn't want to find out!
4. The slow internet. It was so hard to get used to at first. It would take so long to check email. Forget about checking blogs or facebook. But a couple of days in, it was sort of liberating not to be checking online every day. I actually had minutes left on my plan! But then I get back home, sign on, and realize I don't think I could have gone much longer ;)
5. Two words: CASHLESS ACCOUNTS! All you have to do is show your ship ID and sign. So easy. And then the bill comes at the end and you have a slight heart attack. But then it was vacation so I'll just have to start saving again ;)

30 comments:

  1. yay! welcome back.. cant wait to see photos and hear more stories, xxooo

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  2. It sounds like you had a blast. I love Florence too. It was one of my favorite cities when I lived in S. France and Italy.

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  3. Sounds absolutely wonderful. I have never cruised but now I'd sure love to give it a try. You had me at the towel animals. ;)

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  4. So jealous! It sounds amazing. And yes, the cashless accounts are the devil!!!!!

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  5. yay for being back safely, and so glad you loved your trip!!!

    btw: Im coming to DC!

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  6. I'm Greek and I am superrr jealous you got to travel there! But I'm glad it was your favorite place.

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  7. Now I'm hungry for chocolate chip pancakes! Sounds like you had a wonderful time:) Looking forward to the photos.

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  8. Glad you had fun! I can't wait to see pictures!

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  9. Welcome home! So glad you enjoyed your vacay. Looking forward to the photos.

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  10. It looks like we have the same pros and cons of cruising. My biggest gripe was being on a schedule when I really like a certain island or place.

    I am so happy you made it home okay and that you had a nice time. You must be so relaxed :)

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  11. Love your lists. Thanks for sharing. Welcome back! I can't wait to see your pics.

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  12. Awesome break down! I feel the same about a lot of the things you mentioned. :)

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  13. Welcome back to some killer humidity, glad you had the time of your life! Can't wait to see pictures :)

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  14. Welcome back. I can't wait to see all your photos!

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  15. Glad you had a fun trip and made it back safely!!

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  16. Welcome back! Wow, 24 days of vacation, that is one long vacation. I believe the longest vacation I took was 12 or 13 days. Looking froward to seeing all your picture, which I am sure are amazingly beautiful.

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  17. I can't wait to see how you liked everything. I love Barcelona!

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  18. Welcome back!!! I'm so excited you had a great time and I'm so glad that three of your favorite places are three places I'm visiting (Florence, Barcelona, Santorini). I love cruising so much...maybe I'll write a post about this tomorrow and credit you as inspiration of course. What cruise line did you take? I'm sad we didn't get to meet up in Rome, I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it!

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  19. So jealous right now =) Can't wait to see all the pics from your amazing journey!!

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  20. We're so glad you are back, we missed you! But it sounds like a fab trip, definitely a great escape after all your hard work in school. We're in sync on Florence (sigh) and Barcelona, such beautiful places!

    The folks in line probably would have made our pointy little head explode, but we would be such a blimp from the food, we wouldn't be able to mow over anyone, they would be rolling us around like a big ole' Elvis jelly donut. Hee-hee!

    Welcome home Miss Nautical!
    tp

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  21. Welcome back! I ♥ Croatia - so beautiful! I can't wait to see pictures of your grand adventure!

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  22. Welcome back! I can't wait to see the posts. What a trip.

    I need to send an anchor picture I took for you... an anchor made out of aluminum foil. I thought of you immediately!

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  23. So glad you are back. Sounds like you had a LOVELY time. Can't wait to see the pictures...

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  24. I love your list. I'm glad you had an amazing time! Moving to Cali...sounds exciting. We used to live there. Good luck packing.

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  25. Sounds like a wonderful vacation experience!

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  26. Did your ship not have free room service? The last few cruises I had breakfast delivered to my room each morning to avoid the lines. I now feel bad I didn't mention that to you BEFORE your trip. Next time...just eat that meal in your room while getting dressed for the day. Far less annoying than waiting in lines.

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