The World of Joel Szerlip It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward.

Europe Trip 2008 Day #10: Welcome to Greece, Mykonos To Be Specific

Well today marked the first port of call for our 12 Day Mediterranean Cruise that began in Rome, and now made its first port Mykonos, Greece. We didn’t port until 1:30PM here in Mykonos, so for the first half of the day we watched the strong winds and white water throw this humongous boat around the ocean like it was a feather being tossed every which way. I did take a Bonnie this time (a different brand for anti-nausea) and it seemed to be less drowsy then the first but still just knocked me out and had me sleeping until we left for Mykonos at around 4PM. We originally had a tour to the island of Delos which has some ancient artifacts but the tour was canceled due to the strong winds, which ended up being a good thing.

Right Off of the Ship in Mykonos, Greece

One of the big things in cruising is the ability to dock at a location or to tender in, and we originally were going to tender, and I can honestly not imagine tendering with these high winds. When we were approaching Mykonos everything was just getting tossed and turned every which way the ship was truly rocking. But once we docked the winds seemed to die down quite a bit, and made for a great time for a nap. As I mentioned we left at around 4PM to head into town, and took the Royal Caribbean shuttle bus to get us from the dock to the town itself. We did some shopping, walked around town, and had dinner with Jenn’s parents at this authentic Greek restaurant. The house white wine at this restaurant was some of the best I have had.

Sitting at Dinner at Eva’s Restaurant

Great Greek Food, My Lamb

One of the highlights of the dinner was one of the waiters, one of the owners sons, came up to Jenn and saw her engagement ring, he gave me a big pat on the back and said, “hey he did her right”, which was really a great feeling. It was a family run restaurant, a little off the road from all of the shops, but it was really a great meal. We spent a good four hours in Mykonos, it was one of our shorter stops, but it reminded me of everything I thought of Greece when thinking about it. It was a small town, all the buildings painted in a pristine white, with beautiful blue and red doors, and a great view of the Mediterranean ocean. There wasn’t a lot to necessarily do in town, outside of shopping, which Jenn bought another oil painting for our upcoming house/apartment, but it was just nice to get off the boat, get some fresh air, and check out a really beautiful Greek town.

A Beautiful View in Mykonos, Greece

A Picture of Me, Right Before We Leave Mykonos, Greece

Tomorrow is a big day, we have to wake up at the crack of dawn, and meet at 7:30 for a 7+ hour excursion in Kusadasi, Turkey. Yes we have heard of the shootings in Turkey, but if the cruise thinks we are good to go, we are going with that. The long tour is taking us through both Kusadasi and Ephesus, and has one of the seven wonders of the world to see as well. It is going to be a long day, but should be interesting nonetheless. My post will hopefully come on time tomorrow, but so far the cruise is going great, and I am looking forward to seeing what the next few ports have to offer, as Mykonos was a great way to start it all off.

Europe Trip 2008 Day #7: When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do

So today was our one and only day in Rome, and you really wouldn't know it by how late Jenn and I slept in. It wasn't until 10:45 where we made our way to breakfast a few minutes before closing that we started to get ready for the day. We ended up leaving the Rome Hilton Airport on the shuttle bus at 2:00pm where we were in town about 30 minutes later. The airport in Rome is a bit of a hike to the main drag, but the drive went by relatively quick and we were let off a bit of a walk away from the Coliseum and the Ruins. We split ways immediately with Jenn's parents they were off to a leather store and we went straight for lunch.

Jenn Overlooking the Ruins

Next to a Random Statue On the Way to Lunch

One of Jenn and my favorite experiences in Rome last time we traveled there two years ago was a restaurant across from the ruins that had this set three course meal with a glass of wine that I loved last time, and Jenn loved there food as well. Not much has changed in two years, the same meal I had two years ago was there (this time excluding the inclusive glass of wine) which started with a small plate of Lasagna and then a full Roman Chicken Dinner and topped off with a pace of chocolate cake. I had a glass of the house white wine and Jenn had her normal Pasta a la Bolognase and as much water as we both could drink.

Jenn's Spaghetti ala Bolagnase

My First Course: Lasagna

Have to have Wine with an Italian Meal

The Roman Chicken (Loved the Red Peppers)

Another thing about Rome that hasn't changed is the heat, just like my last trip to Rome, I got a nice heat rash. Since we are not sure about my suit that was in the lost luggage (which was originally bought from Rome) I went back to the same suit store after lunch which was by the Fountain de Trevi and purchased a new Italian Suit. With the help of Jenn we got the price knocked down a bit, and what was even better was the store owner remembered us from two years ago right when we walked in which was a good feeling. We bought a suit, tie and belt which I could potentially have lost if the luggage doesn't turn up.

Jenn's Favorite Italian Dish: The Vanilla Gelato

Jenn In front of the Coliseum

Jenn has potentially lost 4 dresses, one of which she bought specifically for the cruise, and to be honest I have never seen Jenn love a dress more, so we went to look for Jenn a formal dress for the cruise following buying the suit. Went to a few different stores, one which was more like an American department store, another that had some dresses she liked and then the final stop was a formal dress only store which Jenn pointed at from accross the street and told me "that's the place". Let me tell you when we got in there this very nice elderly Italian women who spoke no english was extremely helpful, Jenn feel in love with a white dress but they didn't have her size so they kept trying other white dresses until her last dress she tried on which was really the nicest one she did try on. She told me that it was the one, and that was that. What was so great about the experience was that everyone in the store continually said "bella, bella" or "beautiful, beautiful" I thought they were talking about me but I realized when Jenn walked out they were talking about her. A common mistake I know, but the shopping was quick easy, and if Jenn I did potentially loose our formal wear we did manage to find some amazing replacements.

We concluded the day by going to dinner with Jenn's folks, this was a restaraunt we had gone to last trip and everyone had agreed to come back. It was a nice meal, that concluded our short time in Rome extremely well. We got back from Rome at around 11:30pm where we now pack back up and get ready for the big part of our trip the 12 Day Mediteranian cruise. I do want to make a note for all the faithful readers of this vacation portion of my blog, posting "may" be delayed on the cruise. From past experience, cruises are extremely expensive to use internet with, and also very slow so pictures will probably limited, and time is a bit more limited as well. I will do my best to keep it on a daily basis, but please be patient as I know my internet in 1995 can sometimes be faster then what you get At Sea. We leave tomorrow afternoon from our Hotel to the Cruise ship and I hope to post tomorrow night with pictures of the room, and ship, and a recap of what transpired on our first night on the cruise. Until then, arrivedercci!

Europe Trip Day #1: Were Engaged!!!

The day has finally come, at around 6:30pm London time, Jenn and I became officially engaged. I managed to smuggle the ring through Airport security and managed to hide it from her for the past three months. At St. James Park right across from Buckingham Palace and in sight of the London Eye on a beautiful park bench (pictured below) I asked Jenn for her hand in marriage. ! And surprise, surprise, she said yes! It was easily the best moment of my life, and to just witness her eyes light up, her facial expressions turn from shock to pure glee was priceless. We have pictures of where it took place which are below, as well as a video that we shot that I will try to post later. Bottom line, I am officially the luckiest man in the world!

Picture of St. James Park

The Ring

Jenn In Front of Pond at St. James Park in London

Standing in Front of the Pond

Sitting at the Bench where I asked Jenn to Marry Me

Update: As promised, I have the video what was taken with my Digital Camera ready for everyone's viewing pleasure. This was taken about ten minutes after I popped the question and show's Jenn's ring and the area of the park we got engaged, enjoy!

Europe Trip 2008: Packing

Jenn is officially packed. I cannot believe that she managed to fit all that she managed to fit but she did it. Jenn is bringing a rather small suitcase, especially for this legnth of trip, however she is packed and ready to go as you can see below us.

I on the other hand just got my packing rolled, and now awaiting Jenn's approval. I am not one to dress myself, I have 0 style, and really 0 desire to figure out what matches, which is why I have Jenn who does a much better job on that end then I could ever do.

Can you believe it is only 2 days away from departure at LAX? This time in two days we will be at LAX eating dinner awaiting our flight. Ten hours later in London. How crazy is that? Check back tomorrow for a deeper look into the packing and preparation for our big Europe 2008 Trip.