Tales of the Traveling Tote 35 - Mediterranean Cruise Plus a Giveaway

Welcome to our June 2023 

Tales of the Traveling Totes.

Miss Madi K and I went all 

the way to the Mediterranean 

on a 12 day cruise.

This was our first trip back to 

Europe since Covid hit and we 

had a marvelous time.

We started with a three day 

pre-cruise trip in Rome 

where we stayed in the 

Hotel Twenty-One.  It was 

so centrally located so we 

could walk everywhere.  We 

lucked out and got a junior suite, 

which had a luxurious round 

bed and a soaking tub up 

behind the bed.  The flowers 

in the lobby were the most 

exquisite color of peonies.  I 

had to touch them, and sure 

enough, they were real. 

The first day we walked to the 

Spanish Steps and they had the 

most beautiful display of flowers 

going down the full length of the 

steps.  Alas, when we came back 

at the end of the cruise, they had 

all been removed.  It had been such 

a glorious sight.  We had been here 

in 2019, also in May and I knew 

they hadn't had flowers then either. 

We did a tour of the Colosseum 

during the day, but we got an 

Uber and went back again at 

night as our friends had never 

seen it at night. 

We were also able to visit St. 

Peter's Basilica, which had 

been closed in 2019, and 

the Vatican Museums and 

the Sistine Chapel.  We hadn't 

been there since the late 90's, 

so that was amazing.

We also got to visit the 

Rome Temple of 

The Church of Jesus Christ 

of Latter-Day Saints, the 

church we belong to.  Our 

tour group was mostly 

members of our church. 

We had been here in 2019 

with our kids, so I told our 

friends to get off the bus and 

quickly get pictures before 

9 other buses arrived!!! 

We sailed on the Odyssey 

of the Seas, a 

Royal Caribbean Ship.  

You can see my hat box and 

I watched videos before I 

left that suggested magnetic 

hooks for your wall, so my 

hats were displayed on the wall.

Our big motivation for taking 

this trip was being on the cruise 

with one of our favorite singing 

groups, Gentri - the 

Gentlemen Trio.  They are 

local guys that met while 

singing in Les Miserables and 

formed this amazing group.  

You can find their music on 

ITunes.  We especially love 

their Christmas albums.  

The first day at sea we had a 

private meet and greet with 

them and a mini concert.  

When I say private, there were 

400 in our tour group!  They 

ended up doing two private 

performances and two public 

performances, to a packed theater. 

The second night we had our 

first formal night.  We all loved 

dressing up for the formal nights.  

This wasn't a carry-on bag only 

trip for us!

Miss Madi K's first outing was 

in Cyprus, where we had booked 

a catamaran tour.  

After that we headed to Israel.  

Unfortunately, there was bombing 

taking place down by the Gaza Strip.  

The ship bypassed Ashdod and went 

up to Haifa because of the 

bombings.  We got off and went 

through immigration, took this 

photo which says "Israel

Vacation" and then were to 

stay on the ship until everyone 

had finished immigrations.  They 

stopped part way through the 

process and announced that we 

wouldn't be going to Israel!  

Now hubby and I have been 

multiple times to Israel, but 

our friends had never been, and 

along with Gentri, that had been 

their big motivation.  They had 

tried twice during Covid and 

hadn't been able to go, so that 

was a huge disappointment.  

Our tour had scheduled a 

private moment in the 

Garden Tomb and Gentri 

were going to sing there.  

So sad!!!  

But the cruise line changed our 

itinerary to now include Santorini!!

We had never been to Santorini.  We 

booked a professional photo shoot 

there, and that was a lot of fun.

Hubby carried Miss Madi K along 

so that we could have a change of 

clothing.  

We all agreed that 

Santorini was a nice 

consolation prize!

Our other consolation prize 

was Crete.  We had amazing food 

there.  I had the best gyro 

sandwich I have ever had.  It 

was chicken and the pita was 

so amazing.  I wanted to stop 

everyone and tell them to eat 

there.  

Next we went to Ephesus.  

We said we didn't get to 

walk where Jesus walked, 

except for on and off the 

boat, but we did get to 

walk where Paul walked.  

Ephesus is truly amazing.

Then we were off to Athens.  

Where we got to visit Mar's 

Hill and the Parthenon - 

again - we got to walk where 

Paul walked and talked.

My pictures in Ephesus and 

Athens don't show the hoards 

of crowds that were there.  

If you were patient, you could 

get a decent picture that looked 

like you had it to yourselves!  

In Santorini they said we were 

the only cruise ship there, as 

their season didn't start until 

the next week, so the crowds 

were very light. 

From our trip in 2019 I fell in 

love with Passion Fruit Gelato, 

so I was on a search for it.  We 

finally found it in Athens and we 

had it with a dark chocolate 

orange gelato.  

I have made both twice since 

we got home.  

The poppies were in glorious 

bloom in Pompeii.  Our guide 

told us before we got back on 

the ship we had to have pizza 

in Naples and especially we 

had to try their fried pizza.  

The fried pizza was like a 

fried calzone and it was 

amazing.  I don't think we 

would have tried it without 

her suggestion.  The pizza 

in Naples was by far our 

favorite pizza.  

We had been told there would

be three formal nights, but 

we only had two. 

So when we went to their 

specialty restaurant 

Wonderland, we 

used our third set of 

dressy clothes.  It is a 

take on Alice in 

Wonderland and 

was a pure delight. 

We loved it so much 

we went there twice. 

We also tried their 

Teppanyaki specialty 

restaurant and had a 

lot of fun there.  We 

had a singing chef and 

he asked if anyone was 

celebrating and we told 

him it was our 44th 

anniversary the next night, 

so we presented us with 

this rice "cake" with an 

electric candle and he 

pretended to blow it out.

Our final night of the cruise 

happened to be our 44th 

anniversary, and we ate at 

Wonderland again and 

Gentri gave their concert 

to the whole ship.  We got 

seats on the third row - our 

friend skipped dessert to 

secure those seats.  What an 

anniversary!  

This is what he missed - 

a Chocolate Globe that 

they pour hot caramel over.  

Hubby wanted his own after 

we had it the first time.  the 

bottom left is another dessert 

and the bottom right is a 

vegetable garden.  This was 

an experience!

After the concert we saw 

another show with drones, 

went out on the deck for 

blue hour and of course 

had to stop for pizza! 

(It was our last night!")

We decided to leave our 

tip for our cabin steward in 

our own towel sculpture!

Even though we ate at 

specialty restaurants three 

out of twelve nights, the food 

in the main dining room on 

Royal Caribbean was outstanding!

I am so glad you were able 

to vicariously travel with 

us!  There was some 

disappointment, but we 

had a marvelous time.  

Now for the giveaway!

Visit lovely Sarah at 

Hyacinths for the Soul  

and leave a comment to enter.

Visit all of the other ladies 

and their totes and see  

where they have been off to!

  Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths 

Emily with Miss Courtney Childs@ The French Hutch

 Patti with Miss Kenzie @ Pandora's Box  

Jenna with Miss Coquille @The Painted Apron

Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda

Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply 

Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul

Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home

Ricki Jill and Countess De Monet @ The Sketchy Reader