Dublin!

Here are our pictures from our recent trip to Dublin! We left on a Friday and stayed for 3 nights, and had the BEST time! Dublin is a huge, bustling city with tons to see and do. We spent all day and night touring around the sights, enjoying this lively city during the holiday season. Of course the weather was frigid and a little rainy, but that didn't stop us from roaming around. Being here reminded us of cold winters in Chicago, when we would bundle ourselves up with hot coffee in hand, and wander the city! The food here was great, the Guinness of course was the best, and the people were the friendliest I've ever met throughout Europe. We highly recommend making a trip here, and we definitely plan on coming back to Ireland to see the countryside!

This means "town of the hurdled ford." Not sure what that really means, but the sign is modern Irish for "Ireland"!!!

O'Connell street at night

The Liffey Bridge

Grafton Street

Dublin Castle...dates back to Medieval times

Christ Church

St. Ann's Parish. This is the church where Bram Stoker was baptized and married.

St. Patrick's cathedral

A part of Trinity College

The very famous statue of Molly Malone. "Molly Malone" is Dublin city's national anthem, and the song is about a girl who was a fishmonger by day and part-time prostitute by night. Although there is no proof of her existence, Molly has become the most photographed sight in Dublin.

The well known Temple Bar

Hanging out in the Temple Bar district

The coziest, cutest little French cafe we've ever been in. We warmed up in here after being out in the rain and helped ourselves to a few treats :)

Yum.

And last but not least, the main reason for us going to Dublin. Seriously :)

CHEERS!!!

Happy Anniversary To Us!

We survived 2 years! Here's a pic of us blowing out our "2" year candle on our anniversary doughnut. We are too cool :) Now we get to go to Tuscany this weekend to celebrate!

Lazy Sunday in Procida...

Last Sunday we spent a day with our friends and took a boat out to the island of Procida. M.T.'s parents were in visiting and they were nice enough to invite us along...we had a relaxing day cruising around and laying out in the sun. Here are some pics!

Mediterranean Cruise!

Hi everyone! Here are the pictures from our Western Mediterranean cruise we took in July with our friend Matt from Arizona. It was a 10 day Holland America cruise that sailed to Livorno (Italy), Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Malta (South of Sicily), Tunisia (Northeast Africa), Palermo (Sicily) and back to Naples. Not only did we have a wonderful time seeing all the sites, but we had TONS of fun on the ship! The food was out of this world and the service was 1st class. There were always entertaining things to do, and we got plenty of sun laying out on deck. And of course, we spent every single night in the casino! While I am known for winning on cruises, I only won a little bit of money this time :) Jason and I had so much fun though playing poker, roulette and my new favorite game, black jack. We were so sad to leave the ship, and we are already planning our next cruise!

The Noordam

Jim and Marty, the wonderful couple at our dinner table

Jason holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa...its a good thing he works on those guns!

I love being a tourist!

Pisa

The tower was more impressive in person than I thought!

A Tunisian Marketplace






The Zooks on a tunisian rooftop

The Bardo Museum in La Goulette, Tunisia

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Monte Carlo, where the rich and famous live!






The church where Princess Grace is buried









Overlooking Monte Carlo

I should have a yacht here, don't you think??!!!

The famous casino in Monaco...it's a good thing Jason didn't let me get inside, I might never have left!

Barcelona, Spain!!!

La Rambla, the main street in Barcelona

Mi Amor!

Downtown Barcelona

The Gaudi Museum

We had heard that sailing into Malta was one of the most beautiful sights to see, and we were lucky enough to witness it. We woke up around 5:30 to get on deck and watch the ship pull in. Seeing Malta from this perspective was unbelievable...it is truly one of the most breathtaking sights.

The outer walls of Malta

The cathedral in Valletta, Malta. Without a doubt one of the most beautiful and impressive churches we've ever seen.

The lovebirds in Malta

Palermo! Here we took an organized tour of the Capuchin catacombs. The catacombs, which housed a few thousand corpses, was perhaps the most unique sight we've ever seen. The catacombs date back to 1599 and the mummified corpses are lined along the walls for all to see. Some of the corpses still have their flesh, hair and eyes, and are still wearing their own clothes! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures, but here is a picture I found from another website. If you want to learn more about the crypts or see more photos, just google "Palermo catacombs!"

After the cruise, we spent a day in Rome before coming home...here's another pic of us lovebirds in front of Trevi fountain!

Piazza Navona...Ciao Tutti!