after graduation my dad decided to take the family on a seven day mediterranean
cruise! it was absolutely amazing! seriously, such luxury. the morning after
graduation we flew to milan, italy via belgrade, serbia, where i was able to
convince the family to go through customs for an extra passport stamp. we drove
from milan to venice and arrived with just barely enough time to get on the
boat. the first stop was dubrovnik, croatia, where we sauntered around the
red-roofed, walled town. then athens, greece, where we took the metro to go
climb the acropolis and see the parthenon with thousands of others. next was
kusadasi, turkey, where we visited the new testament-era ruins of ephesus. the
city is remarkably well preserved and highlights include a huge amphitheater, a
library, and mosaics on ancient apartment buildings. the last stop was split,
croatia, which featured a nice climbable clocktower and cheap ice cream, not
that we needed more food at that point after being on this cruise, which
provided all the gourmet food we could eat. and the hot tubs were great too. thank
you again dad!
we spent a day in venice upon our return. and then my family was kind enough to indulge my desire to visit
more nearby countries. we rented a car and one day my dad and i drove south to
the tiny country of san marino. it is the thrid smallest country in europe, and
is up in some mountains completely surrounded by northeastern italy. there are
some very picturesque castles perched on the mountain overlooking the
countryside, and the roadtrip was fun. on the way back we stopped for pasta in
bologna, a mecca for italian cuisine. the next day the whole family drove east
from venice into nearby slovenia, to the seaside old town of piran. the
slovenian coastline on the adriatric sea is just a couple dozen kilometers
long, but it is truly beautiful. we wandered about the pedestrian-only old city
that sits on a penninsula which juts out into the adriatrc and it was really
nice:)
then we parted ways, but i had a few more stops before stopping. i had
a day-long layover in brussels, belgium, during which i decided to take a train
to luxembourg, a country to which i had not yet been. things always take longer
than you anticipate so i only ended up having exactly one hour to walk around
luxembourg’s old city before having to catch the return train, but it was better
than nothing. quantity over quality i always say:)
the next stop was oslo, norway. stayed in a hostel for two nights and
wandered during the intervening day. very nice city. most interesting to me was
the atrium of the city hall, where the presentation of nobel prizes occurs.
