Written by: Dan and Annie
View pictures: (Click Here)
We arrived to the port of Corfu Greece at 1:00. This allowed us to sleep in; which was much needed since this is our third straight day of tours. We opted out of excursions and instead decided to explore on our own (the tours didn’t seem to offer much). We found the city to be ok, but nothing special. Some basic shopping, trinkets, etc…. It reminded us of the Southern US states.
We stopped for a great lunch at an authentic Greek restaurant called Restaurant Bellissimo. We sat outside and had shrimp saganiki (not the flaming cheese we thought it was, but good none the less); and authentic Gyros (spelled on the menu “Giros”). They were great. All the fixings were served on a plate separate from the accompanied homemade bread – fresh out of the oven.
We finished lunch and a walk around the city for a little shopping. We next headed to the old fort on the edge of the coast. Greece’s western and most northern spot. The Greeks in Corfu haven’t figured out this tour quite yet. There were no signs explaining what we were looking at, the history, or where to go next. Also, many parts of the fort were blocked off, with no explanation of why.
The highlight came after we discovered the portal to the secret beach. It was literally a whole in the wall of a tunnel. It took us outside the back walls of the fort to a staircase to the sea. Once we arrived we found the most beautiful beach along the side of the fort. We spend the rest of our time cooling off in the clear, crisp waters of the Ionian Sea. Our second swim in the Mediterranean Sea this week! Another special excursion we will never forget.
We spent the final day of our trip at sea. We haven’t left our stateroom much today. The day has been spent on our balcony, in bed, or watching movies. We desperately needed a day of rest after three long, hot days of touring Turkey and Greece.
We are sad our honeymoon is over, but we are looking forward to heading home and sharing our pictures and stories with all of you. We also miss Hobee, a lot.
This has been a special trip we will never forget.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Santorini, Greece
Written by: Annie Hoban
View Pictures: (Click Here)
The third cruise port was Santorini, Greece - Home to wine, olive oil and pirates. We took a tour into the village of Pyrogos, where we learned all about the history of pirates on the island, how the pirates battled with rocks and how these rocks are now incorporated in the architecture of all the streets and homes throughout the village. After touring the local homes and people of Pyrogos we went to a beautiful restaurant where we sampled the local food and wine.
Our tour ended in the city of Fira, which sits along the edge of a cliff with a view of caldera of the volcano (still active). We did a little shopping, drank some milkshakes as we looked over the cliffs and then braved the Greek form of transportation to a local winery where we sampled more wine and sat in the clouds overlooking the volcano. It was quite a day!
To end it all, we took a cable car back down the cliffs to ferry back to the cruise ship. While waiting in line for the cable car we met a nice woman, Sue, from Texas. Sue and Dan quickly bonded on the cable when he announced that he’s terrified of cable cars. Dan grabbed Sue’s hand, closed his eyes and held on tight for the whole ride down the cliff. It was a Kodak moment!
View Pictures: (Click Here)
The third cruise port was Santorini, Greece - Home to wine, olive oil and pirates. We took a tour into the village of Pyrogos, where we learned all about the history of pirates on the island, how the pirates battled with rocks and how these rocks are now incorporated in the architecture of all the streets and homes throughout the village. After touring the local homes and people of Pyrogos we went to a beautiful restaurant where we sampled the local food and wine.
Our tour ended in the city of Fira, which sits along the edge of a cliff with a view of caldera of the volcano (still active). We did a little shopping, drank some milkshakes as we looked over the cliffs and then braved the Greek form of transportation to a local winery where we sampled more wine and sat in the clouds overlooking the volcano. It was quite a day!
To end it all, we took a cable car back down the cliffs to ferry back to the cruise ship. While waiting in line for the cable car we met a nice woman, Sue, from Texas. Sue and Dan quickly bonded on the cable when he announced that he’s terrified of cable cars. Dan grabbed Sue’s hand, closed his eyes and held on tight for the whole ride down the cliff. It was a Kodak moment!
Ephesus, Turkey
Written by: Annie Hoban
View Pictures: (Click Here)
It has been an amazing past two days. Our second cruise ship port was in Kusadasi, Turkey and we took our first guided tour of the Ancient ruins of Ephesus. This incredible city was built by the Romans and included remains of fountains, the temple of Hadrianus, the library of Celsus, the gate of Hercules, the temple of Artemis, a very large amphitheater, and much more. It’s truly an indescribable feeling knowing that you are walking the streets that gladiators and chariots roamed.
After the tour of ancient Ephesus we continued to a Turkish rug making shop in the town of Kusadasi where we sampled some Turkish coffee (very tasty) and pastries as we learned how silk worms are used to make the rugs by hand using a special knotting technique. After seeing many rugs that I thought would look great at home, Dan proceeded to walk her out of the store after learning the prices ranged from $300 to $45,000.
Next stop was the Church of St. John the Apostle. We are both very proud of ourselves for finding the church because it was off the beat and path, we took public transportation (quite intimidating in Turkey), and we hiked up yet another large hill to the remains of the Church and we found a mosque (The mosque of Isa Bay) which was constructed in 1375A.D. We both agree that apart from ancient Ephesus, the Church of St. John is one of the most amazing places we have ever seen. The church was built in the 5th century and Turkey must be fairly new to the whole tourism business because nothing was roped off. We were able to walk on every tile and column on the site. We even saw a woman pose for a picture on St. John’s tombstone. This place is quite an amazing part of history.
View Pictures: (Click Here)
It has been an amazing past two days. Our second cruise ship port was in Kusadasi, Turkey and we took our first guided tour of the Ancient ruins of Ephesus. This incredible city was built by the Romans and included remains of fountains, the temple of Hadrianus, the library of Celsus, the gate of Hercules, the temple of Artemis, a very large amphitheater, and much more. It’s truly an indescribable feeling knowing that you are walking the streets that gladiators and chariots roamed.
After the tour of ancient Ephesus we continued to a Turkish rug making shop in the town of Kusadasi where we sampled some Turkish coffee (very tasty) and pastries as we learned how silk worms are used to make the rugs by hand using a special knotting technique. After seeing many rugs that I thought would look great at home, Dan proceeded to walk her out of the store after learning the prices ranged from $300 to $45,000.
Next stop was the Church of St. John the Apostle. We are both very proud of ourselves for finding the church because it was off the beat and path, we took public transportation (quite intimidating in Turkey), and we hiked up yet another large hill to the remains of the Church and we found a mosque (The mosque of Isa Bay) which was constructed in 1375A.D. We both agree that apart from ancient Ephesus, the Church of St. John is one of the most amazing places we have ever seen. The church was built in the 5th century and Turkey must be fairly new to the whole tourism business because nothing was roped off. We were able to walk on every tile and column on the site. We even saw a woman pose for a picture on St. John’s tombstone. This place is quite an amazing part of history.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Leaving Venice, starting our cruise, and our day in Croatia
Written by: Dan
View our photos (click here)
We finished up Venice with a bang. During the day we went to Murano to tour the glass factories. They have the most elegant artwork. The families who own the factories have a special glass “sauce” that allows them to work with the glass at lower temperatures. This allows them the ability to sculpt and mold the glass into very impressive shapes and colors. We purchased our first piece of artwork! It is hard to explain, we will have to show it to you sometime. The best way to explain it is: It is made of glass, and it is pretty.
We ended our night with a trip to Harry’s bar. It is a famous restaurant on the Grand Canal. It is one of the most fancy (and expensive) places I have ever eaten. It was something we will never forget. After that we turned in early to get ready for our cruise.
The next morning, we woke up late, checked out of our hotel, and took a water taxi to Venice Port. It is quite a site. They drove us right in between the large cruise ships. It was a little too close for comfort at times. Made us feel like quite the small fish.
We arrived to the boat, checked into our room, and explored the ship. For those of you who have been on a cruise, I apologize for this paragraph. It will be an “of course” moment. However, this is our first cruise, and was something quite new for us. First off, our room is excellent. It is small, but has a small living area and balcony. As I type this we are passing by a Greek Island that looks nearly uninhabited. It is most stunning. Many tall cliffs and mountains, and a few white houses on the shoreline. We have taken to setting up the camera on a tri-pod outside so it only takes a moment to catch a spectacular site.
Besides the facilities, the atmosphere is something to get used to. Americans are in the minority on this ship, and English is one of a handful of languages spoken on the ship. It takes forever to make an announcement because they have to repeat the same thing in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, etc… I find this to be so interesting, and humbling. Most people on the ship speak multiple languages; and I don’t even talk English good.
After a great dinner and show we retired to our cabin for a good night’s sleep. Our ship traveled throughout the night to arrive in Dubrovnik, Croatia in the morning. We left the ship in the am for a day exploring the city. Again, I was quite interested and humbled by this experience. Being the naive American, I knew nothing about Croatia - besides I remembered something about a war. We soon found Croatia is making many strides to enter the European union and the tourist marketplace – so they are quite inviting to guests and do a great job to explain Croatia, and Croatian history to everyone (even us naïve Americans). Old town Dubrovnik was elegant and awe inspiring. We took about 600 pictures. We started the day by walking on top of the city walls. This gave a great view of the city, coast, and countryside. After a walking for a few hours we stopped for a nice lunch along the waterline. Fresh shrimp and a seafood Risotto. After lunch our waitress gave us directions to a local beach. Since the temperature is about 85 and sunny, a dip was in order. We swam in the Adriatic Sea for about an hour before drying off and returning to our ship. Croatia is something we will never forget. I would not be surprised if we were back one day. I would expect many other Americans to start to look towards Dubrovnik as a vacation destination in years to come.
View our photos (click here)
We finished up Venice with a bang. During the day we went to Murano to tour the glass factories. They have the most elegant artwork. The families who own the factories have a special glass “sauce” that allows them to work with the glass at lower temperatures. This allows them the ability to sculpt and mold the glass into very impressive shapes and colors. We purchased our first piece of artwork! It is hard to explain, we will have to show it to you sometime. The best way to explain it is: It is made of glass, and it is pretty.
We ended our night with a trip to Harry’s bar. It is a famous restaurant on the Grand Canal. It is one of the most fancy (and expensive) places I have ever eaten. It was something we will never forget. After that we turned in early to get ready for our cruise.
The next morning, we woke up late, checked out of our hotel, and took a water taxi to Venice Port. It is quite a site. They drove us right in between the large cruise ships. It was a little too close for comfort at times. Made us feel like quite the small fish.
We arrived to the boat, checked into our room, and explored the ship. For those of you who have been on a cruise, I apologize for this paragraph. It will be an “of course” moment. However, this is our first cruise, and was something quite new for us. First off, our room is excellent. It is small, but has a small living area and balcony. As I type this we are passing by a Greek Island that looks nearly uninhabited. It is most stunning. Many tall cliffs and mountains, and a few white houses on the shoreline. We have taken to setting up the camera on a tri-pod outside so it only takes a moment to catch a spectacular site.
Besides the facilities, the atmosphere is something to get used to. Americans are in the minority on this ship, and English is one of a handful of languages spoken on the ship. It takes forever to make an announcement because they have to repeat the same thing in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, etc… I find this to be so interesting, and humbling. Most people on the ship speak multiple languages; and I don’t even talk English good.
After a great dinner and show we retired to our cabin for a good night’s sleep. Our ship traveled throughout the night to arrive in Dubrovnik, Croatia in the morning. We left the ship in the am for a day exploring the city. Again, I was quite interested and humbled by this experience. Being the naive American, I knew nothing about Croatia - besides I remembered something about a war. We soon found Croatia is making many strides to enter the European union and the tourist marketplace – so they are quite inviting to guests and do a great job to explain Croatia, and Croatian history to everyone (even us naïve Americans). Old town Dubrovnik was elegant and awe inspiring. We took about 600 pictures. We started the day by walking on top of the city walls. This gave a great view of the city, coast, and countryside. After a walking for a few hours we stopped for a nice lunch along the waterline. Fresh shrimp and a seafood Risotto. After lunch our waitress gave us directions to a local beach. Since the temperature is about 85 and sunny, a dip was in order. We swam in the Adriatic Sea for about an hour before drying off and returning to our ship. Croatia is something we will never forget. I would not be surprised if we were back one day. I would expect many other Americans to start to look towards Dubrovnik as a vacation destination in years to come.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Venice - Day 2
Written by: Dan
View pictures: Click Here
Where to begin! What a time. We kept busy during the day yesterday being tourists. We went to St. Mark's square, Palace of the Doges, St. Mark's basilica, and the Campanile.
It was quite a busy day. We went back to the hotel to to rest up and take a quick nap. On the way out a hotel employee recommended a great place for dinner. His favorite place, but not a popular place with tourists. It was great. Annie had a whole slew of things she would normally never eat, and our main course was pasta served out of a cheese bowl! This rivals the big honkin reeses peanut butter cup from San Diego!
After dinner we walked along the Grand Canal and found a spot to have dessert and a bottle of wine. Our seat was right on the river. We spent the better part of an hour watching the boats go by.
After dessert, we headed back to St. Mark's square to drink more wine and listen to a 4 string band. The setting was amazing. We drank (a lot) of wine in this vast square, listened to music, and stayed up way to late.
We returned to our hotel (no idea what time, but just about all of venice was sleeping), and drank one last bottle of champaigne on our balcony. It was the perfect ending to great day in Venice.
View pictures: Click Here
Where to begin! What a time. We kept busy during the day yesterday being tourists. We went to St. Mark's square, Palace of the Doges, St. Mark's basilica, and the Campanile.
It was quite a busy day. We went back to the hotel to to rest up and take a quick nap. On the way out a hotel employee recommended a great place for dinner. His favorite place, but not a popular place with tourists. It was great. Annie had a whole slew of things she would normally never eat, and our main course was pasta served out of a cheese bowl! This rivals the big honkin reeses peanut butter cup from San Diego!
After dinner we walked along the Grand Canal and found a spot to have dessert and a bottle of wine. Our seat was right on the river. We spent the better part of an hour watching the boats go by.
After dessert, we headed back to St. Mark's square to drink more wine and listen to a 4 string band. The setting was amazing. We drank (a lot) of wine in this vast square, listened to music, and stayed up way to late.
We returned to our hotel (no idea what time, but just about all of venice was sleeping), and drank one last bottle of champaigne on our balcony. It was the perfect ending to great day in Venice.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Our Honeymoon - The trip to Venice
Written by: Dan
View some pictures (click here)
Our trip was long (over 20+ hours), but successful. We traveled from Detroit to Chicago, and after a short layover, got on the plane to Amsterdam. It was the biggest plane I have been on - 474-400. It had an upstairs! The plane was not full, so we started with our own row in coach. After we took off the crew bumped us up to business class! The seats were great (the even recline to allow us to lay down). We had our own screen and movies and such to keep us busy. So, of course, we didn't sleep a wink. After another layover we were headed to Venice (On this plane ride I was sound asleep before they showed us how to use the seatbelts).
Once we arrived we quickly got our baggage and headed for the city. We opted out of a water bus for a private water taxi. Though much more expensive, we are glad we did it since it gave us a great tour of the city, and a fantastic ride.
Our Hotel (Bauer Hotel) is located on the other side of Venice a block from St. Mark's Square. This room is amazing. It is huge for a european hotel room. It has a hottub, little living area, and an ass washer! Plus, we have our own private balcony that overlooks a canal and an old church. We have yet to get inside this church, but have plans.
Last night we took a walk to get dinner. Dinner was a fantastic, we had thier house drink, pasta and pizza. The house pizza had egg on it! I am totally giving this a shot on my own when I get home with our new pizza maker. The walk back was interesting, we sorta got lost. This should be no suprise since we can't navigate with streets in the town we grew up in. Give us a foreign country and waterways instead of roads - we had no chance. Anyway, we came back to the room after a long walk back to a complimentary bottle of champaign and a long night's sleep.
Today is the "touristy" stuff like the Palace of the Doges, St. Mark's Square, and the Basilica. We will post picture from those stops later. Tomorrow we may travel to Verona to see an opera at an old roman arena.
We are at the hotel resting up now, looking for a place to eat. So far this has been the most amazing place. We can't wait to get back outside, break into that church next to us, and tear up the city.
View some pictures (click here)
Our trip was long (over 20+ hours), but successful. We traveled from Detroit to Chicago, and after a short layover, got on the plane to Amsterdam. It was the biggest plane I have been on - 474-400. It had an upstairs! The plane was not full, so we started with our own row in coach. After we took off the crew bumped us up to business class! The seats were great (the even recline to allow us to lay down). We had our own screen and movies and such to keep us busy. So, of course, we didn't sleep a wink. After another layover we were headed to Venice (On this plane ride I was sound asleep before they showed us how to use the seatbelts).
Once we arrived we quickly got our baggage and headed for the city. We opted out of a water bus for a private water taxi. Though much more expensive, we are glad we did it since it gave us a great tour of the city, and a fantastic ride.
Our Hotel (Bauer Hotel) is located on the other side of Venice a block from St. Mark's Square. This room is amazing. It is huge for a european hotel room. It has a hottub, little living area, and an ass washer! Plus, we have our own private balcony that overlooks a canal and an old church. We have yet to get inside this church, but have plans.
Last night we took a walk to get dinner. Dinner was a fantastic, we had thier house drink, pasta and pizza. The house pizza had egg on it! I am totally giving this a shot on my own when I get home with our new pizza maker. The walk back was interesting, we sorta got lost. This should be no suprise since we can't navigate with streets in the town we grew up in. Give us a foreign country and waterways instead of roads - we had no chance. Anyway, we came back to the room after a long walk back to a complimentary bottle of champaign and a long night's sleep.
Today is the "touristy" stuff like the Palace of the Doges, St. Mark's Square, and the Basilica. We will post picture from those stops later. Tomorrow we may travel to Verona to see an opera at an old roman arena.
We are at the hotel resting up now, looking for a place to eat. So far this has been the most amazing place. We can't wait to get back outside, break into that church next to us, and tear up the city.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
4th of July
The Hoban's have envaded Roger's city again. Some highlights from this year included:
Beer tasting
Magic Show
Keg-o-rator
Beer Olympics
Fireworks on the beach (fight the power)
Kevin's fire sing along
Another year on my margarita glass (I've made the brim mow)
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