March 9, 2016
We’re Going To Europe!
We’ve gotten advice from countless people that we should not be hasty to have kids right away and that we should take advantage of the time we have where it’s just the two of us! One of those things being traveling! We’re not very ‘well traveled’ I guess you could say, and between medical school, my full time job and photography business, there really hasn’t been much time to travel! We know that once Branden starts residency this summer, he will be working 80 hours a week for 4 years with very little vacation, so if we want to do a once-in-a-lifetime vacation together- it would have to be now! So that’s why we are going to Europe this spring!
Last summer when we started thinking about the idea of doing one big trip together before he starts residency, we found a small window of time in May/June where we would be free! We knew this big of a gap in our schedule would never come again, so we booked a 10-day Mediterranean cruise! We have both never been to Europe, so we figured doing a cruise would be a great way to get a ‘sampler platter’ of Europe! Plus we LOVE cruises so it was a win-win!
I was hesitant to commit to a vacation almost a YEAR out, but I know myself and I knew that if I waited, I would probably convince myself that we shouldn’t do this big of a trip during this busy season of our lives. Doing this trip meant blocking of the 3 most popular wedding weekends of the year (ouch!), saving up a lot of money, being away from our puppy for 2 weeks and all while in the midst of the busiest part of wedding season! Oy! But the more I thought about it, I knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to do a trip like this with Branden, so we just had to take it! So this will be our big post-graduation, pre-residency and pre-kids getaway!
Now that the date of our trip is approaching, I am in full OCD Type A planning mode! Like I said, we are certainly not expert travelers and I’m the type that needs to have every minute of our itinerary planned out ahead of time! Our 10 day cruise will be stopping in TEN different cities, so planning out our itinerary for each port has been quite overwhelming at times!! This is where I need YOUR help!! I know that so many of you out there are expert travelers, so I figured I should capitalize on that and ask for your help!! I would love to hear from you guys with advice on what we should (or shouldn’t) do during our vacation!! Since we are doing a cruise, we only have a limited amount of time to spend at each port, so trying to decide what to do at each of these amazing places is quite difficult!! So I would love to know, from those of you that have been to these places, what are the must sees or what we shouldn’t waste our time on! Here are the ports that we will be stopping at!
Athen, Greece
Izmir (Ephesus), Turkey
Rhodes, Greece
Malta
Messina (Sicily), Italy
Naples (Capri & Rome), Italy
Rome, Italy
Livorno (Florence & Pisa), France
Marseille (Provence), France
Barcelona, Spain
Phew! What a whirlwind of a tour! We are so excited to get to experience all these amazing places! If you have any advice about these particular places, or even just European travel advice in general (like I said, we are travel newbies!), we’d love to hear it! Leave a comment or shoot me an email at audrey at audreyrosephoto (dot) com. Yay!!
I just got back from a 10 day solo trip in Rome in January. I’m not sure how long you’ll be at the Citavecchia port in Rome but a must is obviously the colosseum. It blew me away. Buy your ticket online ahead of time to skip the line. Also book a guided tour by an American speaking guide to get the most of your short time. The trevi fountain is amazing after its recent renovation. Skip the Spanish steps if they’re still under renovation. The best thing I did was get a TEP wireless personal mifi. You rent it for $10 a day. With shipping to you and from you, that’s another $20 or so. So worth it. I had my wifi with me wherever I went so I could post and keep in close contact with family since I was alone. It was easy to charge while I was out because I had gotten a battery pack on Amazon. It made navigating the city much easier. There is also a set rate for cabs taking you from the port to the city center so research that to avoid a common scam in Rome. If you bring a reusable water bottle, they have fountains everywhere to refill them. Bring lots of euros. Many places don’t accept credit cards, even the public transit, or have high minimum spending requirements like 25 or 30 euro. If you have any other questions about attractions you’d like to see feel free to ask me!
Athens is one of my favorite cities in the world! Definitely check out the Acropolis, but I’d also challenge you to find a cafe (there are some right below the Acropolis; it’s surreal looking up at the Parthenon with a warm drink in your hands!) and try to stay longer than a native Greek! My friend and I tried many times and couldn’t beat them! The National Garden directly behind the Parliament building is also gorgeous if you have time to check it out! :)