Troy, NY

We woke up around 4:30am to get to the airport by 5 and flew from Phoenix to Baltimore, then after a couple of hours, on to Albany. The taxi driver seemed to know where Euclid Avenue was, but once I saw that he passed South Lake Ave, I knew it was just an act. I told him to turn around and he gave me the dirtiest look, but I tipped him anyway because he seemed to be the type that holds a grudge and I didn't want that negativity associated with my Grandmother's house.

Because we were only going to be in town for approximately 45 hours, we decided to spend as much time with Lilly as possible. Saturday night we had some sandwiches and some of my Dad's clam chowder that had been sitting in the freezer since the 4th of July weekend. It was all good and really hit the spot after a long day of travel.

Afterwards we watched the movie "Something About Mary" which my grandmother laughed pretty hard at, even though she commented that a movie like that wouldn't have been made in her day.

On Sunday, we thought about driving to see my cousins in Glenn Falls, but we decided to spend more time with Lilly instead. We were going to go to DeFazio's for a Pizza Putanesca, but alas and alack, they were closed. When we got back to the house, Lilly suggested that she could make some shrimp scampi for dinner. I watched her as she made it and it all seemed so simple. The scampi was delicious and we rounded off the meal with a crisp salad.

We had a nice visit with Grandma Lilly, but it was very quickly approaching the time we had to make the long journey back to Phoenix. It actually seemed longer because we had to fly to Las Vegas and catch a connecting flight to Phoenix. We got home around 9pm. Even though it was a short trip, I'm glad we got to visit.

Mike and Julie - Jacksonville, Florida

Our trip to Jacksonville, Florida for Mike and Julie's wedding began on Thursday August 11, 2006. I had an 11pm flight out of Phoenix that arrived in Jacksonville at 8:30am the next day. Seemed like I might be able to catch a few winks on the flight there, but little did I know that red-eye flights are named as such for a good reason.

There was not much time to sleep on the 3 hour and 18 minute flight from Phoenix to Atlanta. What little sleep I did get was in between PA announcements and air turbulence. But, I did get enough sleep to get me through the Atlanta airport to my connecting flight to Jacksonville.

Mike picked me up from the airport at 9am and we headed out to the Crowne Plaza. My room wasn't ready at that time in the morning, so I crashed in Mike's room for a few hours. Mike, Cole, Jake and James went to the social hall to help decorate.

After a few hours, I got up and called the front desk to inquire about my room. They told me again that it was not ready and would not be ready until after 4pm. I then became agitated and I called the Crowne Plaza 800 number. The agent that handled my call said that my reservation did have early arrival, but that it was not guaranteed early arrival and told me that I was going to have to wait until after 4pm.

I decided to go for a walk to calm down. I walked to the science museum across the street from the hotel, but it looked like it was mostly for kids. I didn't want to shell out the $8 to find out. I cruised around the gift shop which had some cool toys, but I decided to move on.

I walked around the block looking for a convenience store. A few minutes later I saw a BP gas station that had a little mini-mart. I went to the mini-mart and bought some pork rinds, a diet coke and a bottle of water. It was hot outside, so the bottle of water helped out. It was nearing 3pm, so I headed back to the hotel. Once inside, I explored the various conference rooms and other areas open to guests. I found a little room with tables and chairs. I sat in there enjoying the cool A/C and the rest of my bottle of water. After a bit, I got up and went back to the lobby. On my way there, I called my Mom who was supposed to be arriving shortly. Turns out she was in the lobby waiting for my Dad and my Sister for a bite to eat at the hotel cafe. We all joined up and had some drinks and snacks. Afterwards, I went to the front desk again to check in.

My room was ready and it was on the top floor. I was excited about that and thought it would be a great hotel room. However, when I got up to the room, the room was warm and the "Sunset View" was nothing more than a west-facing view of a parking garage surrounded by trees. I called the front desk to ask about possibly getting a refrigerator while I was waiting for the A/C to cool the room down. But, a fridge would have cost me an additional $15 per day. The front desk person was short with me and I did not like the attitude. I called the 800 number again and really let them have it. No early arrival, hot room, crappy view, too expensive and poor front desk reception. After a few minutes, the agent transferred me to another customer service rep who was very understanding and promised to help rectify the situation.

After a few more minutes, the customer service rep called me back and told me that she spoke with the hotel manager and was able to find me another room on the opposite side of the hotel with a "Riverside View" and that the rate for the room would be lowered significantly. I went down to the front desk to change my room key and once again, they were a bit un-friendly and stated that I would be charged a different rate than what I was just told. At this point, I had to get ready for the wedding rehearsal, so I just went to the new room. The new room had a much better A/C unit because the room was cool and the view was spectacular. There was a view of the river and the bridge. Much better than the other room. After I was showered and ready to go, I got a call from the customer service rep who asked how the new room was. I told her it was much better but that the front desk person quoted me a different rate. The customer service rep told me not to worry because she would make sure that I was charged the lower rate. She gave me the case number for my complaint and wished me a happy weekend. I thanked her for making the changes for me and taking care of my complaint. I hate making complaints, but this time it all worked out.

The wedding rehearsal went pretty well. I had to read a few lines of the psalm that I was told to read which was kind of funny because it was written from the perspective of a woman. Mike and Julie picked it, so I decided to read it for them.

After the rehearsal, we went over to Julie's parents house for drinks and dinner. Pete and Diane were very nice and welcoming. We had a great time at their house, meeting our new family and eating some great Cajun food.

The next day, Saturday, went very well...for the most part. I had to wake up a little early to go to the airport to pick up Samantha because she took the same red-eye flight that I did only 1 day later. However, her flight was delayed, so I had to wait a little longer to pick her up. Once we got back to the hotel, we had some breakfast and then went up to the room to go back to sleep. Later that afternoon, we started getting ready for the wedding.

I went to my brother's room to help him get ready and to get the rings. I must have checked my pocket about 100 times to make sure they were still there. The plan was that James would take Mike's car and I would drive James' rental. So, at about 5:20pm Mike and I headed to the parking garage to go to the wedding. We were leaving the parking garage and the attendant asked us where we were going. We told her that Mike was getting married and she wished us well. That's when I noticed that the car's parking brake light was lighted. I thought that I would release the brake and be on our way, but the parking brake did not release when I pushed it in. My experience has been that when you push the foot-operated parking brake all the way in, it then releases. This was not the case. I pushed and pushed, but nothing happened. Mike got out of the car and pushed the brake with his hand and nothing happened. Mike got back in the car because it was hot out and we were starting to get panicky. The parking attendant just sort of stared at us. Finally, I noticed a lever below the steering wheel with a big P printed on it. I pulled it and the parking brake released! We were elated and went on our way. After that little panic episode, everything else went extremely smoothly for the rest of the day.

After the wedding, we went across the street to the social hall for the reception. The food was fantastic, the drinks were great and the jazz band sounded cool. After we all ate and were ready for the champagne toast, I got up on stage and toasted Mike and Julie and said a few things about being Mike's brother. It was a great moment, and several people came up to me afterward to congratulate me on a job well done. We partied late into the night, then I helped shuttle people back to the hotel. Samantha and I turned in about 1am after hanging out with a few people in the lobby.

It was a fantastic weekend and a beautiful wedding. Another great trip!

On The Way Home

So we got up again very early and went to the airport to go home!!! Our flight out of Barcelona was over an hour late, so we were pretty set that we were going to miss our connecting flight from London home. Isaac ran through Heathrow Airport and we made our flight! 10 hours later we were back in the states and home!!!!! The travel fairy's were with us and our luggage made it to Phoenix the same time we did!!! It was great to be back home!!!

Back to Barcelona

Early risers today. We were up at 6:30 am and out of our room and waiting to depart by 7:40. Around 8:30 they called our color and like that the cruise was done. They were departing again this evening so off we went. As Isaac and I were waiting in line for a taxi to the hotel, Brandee comes running by and said that someone took Judy´s suitcase. We are finding this hard to believe since you had to write your name, address and phone number on a tag and put it on your suitcase. In any event, Brandee found the bag and I think this lady thought she worked for the ship. Judy, Mark and Sarah were off to the airport and Isaac, Brandee and I went back to Barcelona. We got to Hotel MonteCarlo and it is very nice!!! Brandee found a Hostel and then we took the Metro to the Unfinished Church which was done by Gaudi. It will not be finished until 2026!!!! This church is amazing! The detail in every little corner was great to see!!! Back on the Metro and back to the hotel for some rest. We are now on our way to dinner and then to sleep for the long trip home tomorrow!!!

Last Day At Sea

Our last day at sea was a great day to sleep in, at least until 10am when the announcements for the last day activities started. We went to breakfast and enjoyed ourselves with food. We relaxed most of the afternoon until the big jackpot Bingo game. Samantha did not volunteer to be the Bingo Commissioner again, but it was ok because there were a lot more people attending the last bingo game and she probably did not want to do a bingo boogie in front of such a large crowd.

Before dinner, we went to the comedy and cruise in review show. It was very funny because the performer made a lot of jokes about how much food we eat on the ship and how small the rooms are...for most of us. Dinner was great and we called it an early night because they would begin kicking us off the ship as early as 7am the next day.

Our last day was perfect, but we are ready to sleep in our own bed!

Naples, Pompeii and Capri

Our arrival in to the port of Naples was a little different than the others because all excursions had to exit the ship on Deck 5 instead of Deck 2, but we figured it out pretty quickly. We also received a notice on our cabin door that due to a strike at Pompeii, the shore excursion would be delayed by 1 hour. So, we had breakfast and got ready for a hot day on shore. Everything with the tour seemed to be going according to plan early on. The tour guide was an older gentleman who was excited to tell us about Naples and Pompeii and gave us interesting details on the countryside as we headed toward Pompeii. We arrived in Pompeii a short while later and went through the gates toward the ruins. Michele, our guide, told us just about everything he could about the remains of Pompeii while we snapped photos of the ruins and the views of Mount Vesuvius in the background. But, the weather was hot and after the strike, many many people entered the grounds at the same time, so it was extremely crowded and difficult for the 42 people in our tour group to stick together. Finally, after Michele took one corner too fast and we almost lost a few people including my Dad, Michele became upset with us for not taking the responsibility of following him as good little tourists should. The guy lost his cool big time and started yelling at my Dad and accusing us of being self-centered Americans only interested in ourselves and in taking pictures instead of listening to him talk. Well, he was wrong on several points. We did listen with interest to his discussion of the ruins, the frescoes, who lived in which houses and the deities of the temple remains. Second, there were more than just Americans on the tour. And lastly, we're tourists! Of course we are going to take pictures. Anyway, the bus ride back to the ship was pretty quiet and several people filled out complaint forms with Royal Caribbean after getting back on board the ship. I don't think Royal Caribbean is going to do anything though, because the shore excursions are all pre-paid anyway. It was still an interesting tour of Pompeii even though we experienced a classic tour guide melt-down.

When we got back to the ship, Samantha and I along with my Dad decided to take the hydrofoil ship to the Isle of Capri. We were uncertain what time we should head back because the trip took 40 minutes and we had to be back on the Brilliance by 6:30pm. Fortunately, there was a hydrofoil leaving at 2:40pm and a return at 4:30pm. We could have taken the return at 5:05pm, but we decided that was pushing it a little. Good thing we took the earlier return, because the hydrofoil trip actually took about 50 minutes. That meant we only had about 45 minutes on Capri, but it was definitely worth it. We stopped for some photos, and at a little pizzeria for some Margherita pizza which was absolutely delicious! We shopped for a little bit and then headed toward Bay 3 for our return hydrofoil back to Napoli. We got back to the Brilliance at about 5:30pm which was just enough time to relax before dinner. It turned out to be another great day in the Mediterranean! Unfortunately, we have to pack up our luggage today and place it outside our cabin door tonight because tomorrow morning we port in Barcelona and then head home on Sunday. So the goal today is to enjoy our last day on the ship and get ready for going back to work in a few days...yikes! See y'all back in the States, I'm going to get a Pina Colada!

Day At Sea Numero Dos

After Venice, we had a wonderful day at sea where we slept in until about 10am. We probably would have slept longer, but there was some announcement in the hallway about some cruise activity...probably Bingo...that woke us up. That's ok though, because we had enough time to catch breakfast at the Windjammer Cafe. The cook who makes omelets to order knows his eggs. I have been inspired by his egg-cooking abilities and he makes a great salmon and onion omelet although Samantha did not want to try it.

We enjoyed our sea-day by not doing much of anything. We did go play some Bingo and Samantha volunteered to be the Bingo Commissioner. But, in order to be the Bingo Commissioner, she had to perform a "Bingo Boogie" in front of the crowd. They all approved of her style of Bingo Boogie and she was rewarded with a Royal Caribbean keychain and a complimentary drink of the day. Unfortunately, that's all we got from the 5 games of Bingo that day...but it was fun anyway!

Later that night we had our second formal dinner. We had pictures taken in front of the backdrop of the Brilliance ship at night, but they did not come out as well as we liked. The picture of our group at our table came out very nice. We then walked around the ship for awhile before going to bed to rest for Naples. Another wonderful day on vacation, even though we are pretty much ready to go home.

Venice Day 2

Slept until about 9 am and went to breakfast. I was still not feeling great so decided to stay on the ship while Isaac went and explored Venice. I am bummed that I am not going but atleast I went last night and have been there before. Isaac went to the Rialto bridge and did some shopping but did not have a lot of time before we were leaving. Had a good night. The theme for the night was a Masquerade Ball. A lot of people had masques which was neat to look at. After dinner we went to the card room and played Scrabble with his parents. Went to look at the midnight buffet by the pool but dod't look that great. It was about 12:30am and time to sleep. We are at sea so another relaxing day to come.

Venice Day 1

So we were out on the 11th floor as we came into Venice. It was cool to see all the little islands as we were getting ready to dock! Once docked we met in the theatre to leave for our excursion to Murano and Burano. Our little boat took us past Venice and onto Murano. We went into a glass blowing shop (same one I was at 2 years ago when I was there, they must have a deal for all the tourists to come to their shop) We got to see this man make a vase and then this horse figurine. It is neat to see how movable glass can be. Then of course there was time to shop. Isaac got a paperweight. We continued to the island of Burano which is known for their production of lace and their colorful houses. Again went to the same place I was at 2 years ago but watched as this older woman created a lace design. They had some local wine and cookies for us. Isaac and I walked around the island took some pictures of the houses and sat and had a drink. Back to the boat we went. We got ready and at night went to celebrate our 2 year anniversary in Venice. Found a nice restaruant by St. Mark's Square. Had some Chianti to drink. I had this huge Caprisi Salad to start and Isaac had great ravioli. I then had some spaghetti with clams as Isaac had shrimp that looked like mini lobsters. Back to the boat we went.While we were waiting for the shuttle to take us back to the boat we heard this rumbling behind us. There were 2 men selling fake designer purses on the street and a cop must have seen them. They grabbed their stash and ran. They dropped a few purses on the way and some guy picked them up like he was going to take them. The cop saw this and made the gut give the purses to him. It was amuzing to watch.

I have started to get a cold. So wanted to get some sleep. We are in Venice again tomorrow.

Dubrovnik

We docked in Dubrovnik and did not sign up for a tour, which was actualy nice to be in a port and on our own schedule. We took the shuttle to the old city. The streets look like they are made of marble! We decided to take a walk around the city by way of the wall. We walked up a lot of steps and what a view!! It took about an hour to walk the wall and stop and take pictures. I am so glad that we did that! Once we finished we walked over to the temple. This is the 2nd oldest temple in Europe. The first being the one we were at in Barcelona. The temple was small. The red velvet drapes that my mom had told us about were still hanging. There was a little museum and torah were there that were from the 1400's!!! Amazing! After that did a little shopping which was difficult because Dubrovinik's money is not really Euro's eventhough they take them. Got back on the boat and relaxed. Next will be Venice! Can sleep in since we don't dock until about noon.

Escargot and Corfu

The formal dinner was pretty nice. Samantha and I had our picture taken before dinner. They came out pretty nice, but I'm not sure if we'll purchase them or not. Dinner was nice too. We ordered the escargot appetizer which was more butter and garlic than snail, but Samantha had a couple which was really impressive!

The next day we got up earlier than we had for the other ports because our tour for Corfu left the meeting place at 7:45am. We got up, had breakfast and then got ourselves to the Pacifica theater on time. We got on a bus that trasferred us to the port terminal, then we got on another bus, but the A/C was on and our tour guide seemed pretty cool. Our tour guide, Dimitrius and our bus driver, Nico took us to our first stop, a little town outside Corfu called Palaeokastritsa. We got there around 9am and it was not crowded at all. Dimitrius suggested that we take a little boat tour of the sea caves. It was only 6 euro per person, so we went. It was breath-taking how blue the water appeared to be in all of the caves we stopped in. The sights from the boat also made the boat tour a definite highlight of the entire trip. Afterwards, we stopped at a cafe and tried an iced coffee drink they call Frappe. Then we got back on the bus and went up this very narrow, winding road to Lakones for a Greek snack and some wine tasting. The trip up the road was an experience in and of itself because there were more than a few surprise turns and tight spots that the bus driver successfully negotiated. This same road was apparently featured in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only. Anyway, when we got to the restaurant, the wait staff had the snack plates all setup for us along with white and red wine and some Ouzo. There were also some little tourist shops with postcards, olive wood carvings and other local trinkets. We made it back to the ship by 12:30pm and that gave us plenty of relaxation time before dinner. The Corfu stop was probably the most beautiful, but we are currently on our way to Venice, which probably has equally beautiful scenery!

Day At Sea

So a much deserved break! We slept in to about 9am. Isaac went to the gym and I relaxed. We read, napped and I got a massage and facial which felt great and Isaac took a Tai Chi class! We also went to a Shabbat service on board. There is no Rabbi so this man from Australia led the service with everyone helping. There were people from South Africa, Scottland, Israel and the US. Even someone from the Woodlands, TX who knows my Great Aunt!!!!That night was our formal night. Got dressed up , went to a meet the captain cocktail thingy (got free champagne) and then to dinner. It was nice to see everyone dressed so nice. It was early to bed since we had to be up at 6am to go to Corfu! They day flew by!!!!!