Stromboli Eruption

Stromboli Eruption
Originally uploaded by dmmaus.

During our Mediterranean cruise, our ship made a special trip out to Stromboli. We were lucky enough to see one eruption like the one in this photo.

We didn't even attempt to take pictures so we could fully appreciate the moment.

To see more great pictures taken of Stromboli, visit Flickr.

Stromboli is one of the Aeolian Islands of Italy. It is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth. It has been in nearly continuous eruption for about 2,000 years.

More trip pictures

Here are more pictures-- one picture from each city we visited during our trip to Europe.

To see more pictures of our Rome trip and Mediterreanean, visit our Kodak Gallery. No need to sign in, just click on the link "View Slideshow".

Inside the Vatican Museums

On top of Mt. Vesuvius in Naples

One of the excavated dead in the amazing city ruins of Pompeii

On a gondola in Venice-- the ultimate touristy thing to do!

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Taormina, Sicily

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

The Benedictine Abbey in Montserrat (Barcelona)

In the Old City in Nice, France

In Cannes, France

A rainy day in Florence

View from the glass elevators on the Liberty Ship

To see more pictures of our Rome trip and Mediterreanean, visit our Kodak Gallery. No need to sign in, just click on the link "View Slideshow".

Rome - October 7-10, 2006

Rome, a city that blends the urban new and romantic old. Good food, good wine, warm and friendly people, and a rich, rich, fascinating history. Although, arguably, the same can be said about most of Italy.

We started our vacation in Rome. Spent a few days in the city before starting our cruise. After the cruise, we spent one more day in Rome before flying back to Toronto.

We had a lot of gelati of course (Isak is having one in this pic).

Highlights:
My goodness, where do I start? From marvelling at the breathtaking Pantheon to being overwhelmed by St. Peter's basilica and the Sistine Chapel; devouring what seems to be the best pizza ever and having gelato every hour; from gawking at the ridiculous number of tourists everywhere to simply watching Romans go about their daily lives-- it was sensory overload and it was all good-- too good that we experienced a bit (just a tad) of a let downdown when it was time to start our Mediterranean cruise.

Photos:
All pictures of our Rome trip and Mediterreanean cruise are in our Kodak Gallery. No need to sign in, just click on the link "View Slideshow".

It seemed like there were Roman ruins at every corner we turned-- the power of the Empire that built Rome could be felt everywhere. The Colosseo (below) is a major tourist attraction.

Here is a view of Rome at night from the gardends of Villa Borghese.

Rows and rows of vespas and motorcycles parked on the street is a common sight in Rome.

All pictures of our Rome trip and Mediterreanean cruise are in our Kodak Gallery. No need to sign in, just click on the link "View Slideshow".

Mediterranean Cruise!

Our itinerary. After a few days in Rome, we sailed on the Carnival Liberty on October 10 and disembarked on October 22, 2006.

Havana, Cuba

In February, I had a list of places I wanted to visit when we got to Havana. Well I got to see 4 out of 5-- not bad. Although, I saw the lineups to Coppelia Ice but didn't get to actually buy some ice cream... oh well, maybe next time.

We didn't have time to visit (or even try and find) Havana China Town.

We spent a day in Havana. And since we only had week in Cuba, that's the best we could do. The trip was well worth it. Havana is as they say, like a place trapped in time. She is beautiful in her own right. The people were warm, friendly, musical... the local emotion-filled music we heard from locals singing and playing instruments made us smile.

Check out the pictures.

There is no need to sign in to view the gallery.

Finding time for Cuba

Isak and I are still savouring in the memories of our recent cruise and already, we are planning our next vacation. Normally, we wouldn't even think of going on our next holiday until months down the road except that this time, we have a deadline. Deadline for a holiday? Yup.

Last July, we went to Varadero, Cuba for our honeymoon. Excellent vacation except for 2 days of food poisoning-- ugh! Those 2 days were not pleasant to say the least. Anyways, the resort generously gave us a voucher for a free one week all-inclusive stay in the same resort. It's good for one year and all we have to do is pay for our flight. So, we have until July to make use of this free vacation.

However, we'd like to go to Cuba before May, the start of the hurricane season. And after the number of hurricanes we had last year, I'd rather not take any risks. Although we had great weather during our honeymoon, we had actually just missed a hurricane when we arrived. The resort was intact but power was just being restored when we got there.

I am looking forward to sunny, lazy and luxurious days on white sandy beaches. And I'm also excited about walking through the streets of Old Havana (cross my fingers we get to go this time). I've been reading up on Havana in general and there is so much culture and music to soak up -- definitely not doable in one day. So here's my short list of places to visit:

1. Catedral de San Cristóbal de la Habana - according to Lonely Planet, this church was described by novelist Alejo Carpentier as 'music set in stone'.
2. Capitolio Nacional - an architectural highlight, Cuba's equivalent of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington
3. Coppelia Ice - a popular ice cream parlour in the Vedado district on 23 esquina L
4. Malecón - the world famous seaside avenue which is apparently "the soul of Havana"
5. Havana China town - China town in Havana, who knew? All I know is that it's on Dragones Street.

11 nights of great memories

Isak and I are back to our normal work routine. We came back from our 11-night cruise on January 10--- a bit heavier, and filled with fantastic memories of an unforgettable vacation. It was our first cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience of living on a ship for 10 days, and also loved the places we visited on port days. Our ship's passage through the Panama Canal, and swimming with the stingrays in the Cayman Islands were enough to make this trip definitely worth it. It's difficult to pick out my favourite things from this fab vacation, but if I must, here are my top ten in no particular order:

Top Ten Highlights:
1. New Year's Eve in the middle of the ocean
2. Going through the Panama Canal with only 27 inches between the ship and the canal wall
3. Swimming with the stingrays and feeding them squid in the Cayman Islands
4. Fine dining every night
5. The most decadent desserts I've ever had
6. Seeing poison dart-arrow frogs and a sloth in the rainforest of Costa Rica
7. Getting bumped to first class on our flight to Houston
8. Formal nights where (almost) everyone looked fabulous
9. Never hearing "No, Ms., we can't do that.." from any of the staff
10. Being on the top most deck and seeing miles and miles of calming ocean with no land in sight

Low points:
1. Feeling nauseous during a couple of rough sea days (though not to the point of being sick)
2. Eating too many cookies and desserts :-) which has left me with sugar cravings every afternoon since I've been back (yes, I'm such a whiner)
3. A disappointing 'nothing to see' snorkelling excursion in Cozumel
4. Leavin the ship on our last day :-(

Check out our pictures.

Cruising soon

Five days before Christmas, and seven days before I leave for my cruise vacation! My Christmas shopping is done, so is my holiday decorating. Isak is Jewish so both the Christmas tree and the menorah are out. Interesting tidbit: the eve of Hanukkah and Christmas Day both fall on the same day this year.

I still have some holiday baking to do; and I need to wrap my presents. Yet I must admit, the constant thing on my mind is 11 nights of cruising in warm waters, having fancy dinners in our best dress, and soaking up the atmosphere of each exotic destination.

Isak and are will be on this holiday with his parents. Esther, Isak's mom, will be celebrating her 56th birthday during this vacation.

We are sailing on the Galaxy, part of the Celebrity cruise line. I've read good and bad reviews about this ship on Cruise Critic, as well as on Cruise Reviews. Generally though, I have only great expectations for this vacation, my first cruise, and intend to have a fabulous time.