Home again, home again

Wow. What a trip. What adventures, what family bonding, what shopping expeditions, what sights, what monuments, what sore feet, what stuffed suitcases, what long plane rides, and what jet lag. All so wonderful.
I don’t remember if I gave y’all the itinerary before, so let me show you some pictures in some semblance of order. I’ll probably have to go into much more detail {with more pictures} in a later post, but for now, we’ll do an overview.

Sister Nayn and I flew to Amsterdam, then to Berlin on Monday-Tuesday. Amsterdam is where I first got out my camera, so ta-da!

Here we are on the plane, about to land in Berlin!

Prepare for landing!

We landed about 10:30am Berlin-time on Tuesday. We. were. wiped. But after only a short nap and a shower, our lovely hostess J was taking us out to see some of Berlin’s sights. We spent the week exploring this lovely, huge city. I’ll do a Berlin post soon!

On Saturday, we flew to Barcelona to meet the family. Unfortunately, my camera battery pooped out on me halfway through the week, and the charger did not fit into the converter J’s family had. So I had to wait until Sunday morning to charge up the battery; hence, the next picture I have is of Sunday’s sunset at sea.


We had a day at sea, during which we slept in {lovely time change-grr!} and relaxed in our swimsuits. The next day we were in Napoli, and my family took a two-hour tour of Pompeii. Behold.



Then we went back to Napoli to a) try an authentic Margarita pizza and b) shop.


Our next stop was Rome. Sadly, there was a problem with our driver {as in, he never showed} and we ended up joining the masses on a bus tour. But we had good attitudes and were glad to be going somehow.

Here we are waiting for our driver.


Almost to Rome!


My favorite part of Rome

The next day we were in Florence, and I confess: I did not bring my camera to Florence because I knew that a sister and I would be shopping for the majority of our visit, and that even when we were in the museum to see David, we couldn't take pictures. But to recompense, I will take pictures of my purchases from Florence :)

After Italy, we went to Cannes, France. My family decided to head a little bit away to Saint Paul de Vence, a medieval village on the top of a cliff. It was a really cute, artsy little town, and we got a lot of shopping done, much to my dad’s chagrin. But he really has no choice, with 5 women in the fam.


Isn’t it quant?

After Saint Paul and Cannes, we went to Marseilles. My sister and I were really hoping to purchase a chess piece. Not a set, but just a piece. From The Count of Monte Cristo. Yeah, we didn't find any chess kings for sale. But my other sister bought a ton of clothes! Didn't take my camera that day either, because who needs a camera to go shopping? Not this chick.

That was our last stop with the cruise; the next day we were back in Barcelona. And then we toured Barcelona! It was really fun; the two main highlights for me was the Church of the Holy Family that has been being built for 140 years! The following pictures just don’t do it justice.

This is one façade of the church.


Coming around to the other side.


The side depicting the Nativity-note the Christmas tree above and the manger scene below.


La Sagrada Familia- the Holy Family

After this extensive tour, we checked into our hotel, took showers, and attempted to get to sleep sharing a bed. As in, the 4 of us “children” were sharing a bed. Yup. Guess how much sleep we all got.

But it didn't matter, because the next day we got on an airplane to Malaga {southern Spain} and we arrived at our condo and got into our swimsuits and relaxed by the pool. All week. Well, we went to Gibraltar one day, but other than that, I took no pictures. We were at the beach, the pool, or inside choosing from the 10 English channels on the t.v. It was delightful, and I am so glad to have ended with the relaxing week.

It was a marvelous vacation, and I’m so, so grateful. My parents and sisters and I worked hard to be able to do this together, and I’m so glad we did. We had our window of opportunity and we took it. Yesterday, the day we woke up in our own beds, one sister started college. This Saturday is the baby sister’s orientation into the Master’s Commission AND the second sister’s move-in day at her new college, two-and-a-half hours north of home. I’m so glad all I have to do is move across the hall. :)

It’s good to be home!