Our Mediterranean Cruise- "Featuring the 'Costa Serena' and Bari, Italy"

I suppose you could say I have been a bit intimidated to blog about our trip to Europe. Not because I have nothing to tell but more so because I have too much to tell. Its a bit daunting to decide how much to share and how many pictures to include. So rather than making one GIGANTIC post on our entire 12 day trip, I am going to keep you "on the edge of your seats" and just post a day or two at a time. I'll start with the beginning of the trip.

We flew from Vancouver to Toronto (5 hr. flight), had a 7 hr. layover in the Toronto airport, flew from Toronto to Venice (approx. 9 hr. flight), took a 20 min. bus ride to the cruise ship port, waited for 2 1/2 hours in the very muggy and over crowded terminal to board the ship, and then FINALLY made it to our wonderful room. By this point, we were sweaty, TIRED, a tad frustrated from all the travelling and line ups, and very ready to brush our teeth and shower! The cruise ship was brand new as of May 2007 and was very impressive. There were over 3700 guests and over 1100 staff on the ship--- as you can imagine, it was a "full house" to say the least. Here are some pictures of the ship:










We then set sail from Venice and by the next day we made it to our first port of call, Bari, Italy. Jon and I walked about 20 min. from the port, into town. We enjoyed walking through an old castle, catching the tail end of an Italian wedding at a gorgeous cathedral, and sipped Fanta sodas as we perused the alley way shops and unique architecture of the town. The weather was great and we had a really nice day.










Then it was back on the ship and off to our next port.

Stay tuned for our second port of call--- Katakolon, Greece (where the very first olympic games were held)...