Nelson County Rocks

Left: our official portrait on board the Celebrity Equinox.

Well, we’d pulled out all the stops for our wedding on May 21st, so we did the same for our honeymoon, which consisted of two back-to-back week-long cruises in the Mediterranean.  We started in Athens, sailing through the Aegean Sea with stops at Santorini, Mykonos, and Rhodes, then going east to Kusadasi and Ephesus in Turkey.  Then back to Athens and on to Malta, Sicily, the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii, and finally to Rome, where we spent several  additional days exploring the city.

Holly and I had a wonderful time, despite security issues in Turkey and a last-minute cancelled flight in Rome.  But we did get in and out of Turkey for a day, and we ended up being switched to Air France for the flight home, which was a major step up from United.  A great trip.

Below: click on the subheadings for pages of pictures.

 

Athens: a tour of the major classical sights

Santorini, Greece: Views of the caldera from below and above; exploring the towns clinging to the cliffs

Rhodes, Greece: the medieval citadel of the Knights of St. John; a ride through the countryside to the acropolis of Lindos, beautifully situated above the Aegean Sea

Mykonos, Greece: a labrynth of picturesque streets and walkways from the bay up the hillsides

Turkey: from the port of Kusadasi to the ancient Roman city of Ephesus, along with a family visit in an upland village

  

 Malta: medieval and modern Valetta and a tour around the circumference of the island

 

Sicily: A street-food eating tour of Catania

Italy: the Amalfi Coast by boat and foot

Italy: Pompeii in the shadow of Vesuvius

(note: the large human sculptures spread across the landscape of Pompeii are not from antiquity, but were created by the late Polish sculptor, Igor Mitoraj.  The display ends in January 2017.)

   

Italy: Rome–a romantic final stop on our honeymoon